March 2024 Tasting Report: Beaujolais Sophistication, Mountain Fresh from California and Antipodean Delights

We rated more than 3,500 wines in March from 12 countries, and although we uncovered only a single 100-pointer, dozens of outstanding cabernet sauvignons, pinot noirs, malbecs, chardonnays and blends came out of France, the United States, Germany, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia.

Senior Editor Stuart Pigott was in Beaujolais, France, during much of the month, where his visits to top producers – and our tasting team’s ratings of 416 wines – yielded some insights into how they coped with the hot and dry 2022 vintage. At Chateau des Bachelards in Fleurie, it was mostly about getting the harvest date right to lock in freshness in their wines, and they did this in spades with their Château des Bachelards Fleurie 2022, which has great concentration and vitality and is one of the stars of the vintage, in Stuart’s eyes.

Jean-Marc Burgaud in Morgon said 2022 was even better than the outstanding 2020 “because it also has the exceptional ripeness, but better balance,” and his magnificent Jean-Marc Burgaud Morgon Côte du Py 2022 stands as testament with its enormous structure. Mee Godard also touted the freshness of the 2022 vintage, with her Domaine Mee Godard Côte du Py Cuvée Passerelle 577 2022 a “crazy good expression of this great site, with deep minerality and a wealth of savory and earthy nuances at the very long finish,” according to Stuart.

But it was Anita Neveu of Domaine Anita who really hit 2022 out of the park with her perfect-scoring Domaine Anita Moulin-à-Vent Coeur de Vigneronne 2022. The wine not only turns up the sophistication level of Beaujolais, it perfectly combines the freshness we associate with the red wines of this region with enormous concentration, plus an overwhelming minerality at the almost endless finish – and at a reasonable price. Stuart has proclaimed it the new “cult wine” of Beaujolais. Neveu is helped by the fact that she is assisted by Guy Marion, the former chief winemaker of the region’s powerhouse, Georges Duboeuf, who has more than 50 vintages under his belt.

Winemaker Boris Gruy of Chateau de La Chaize also sparkled in 2022 with his Château de La Chaize Brouilly Clos de La Chaize Monopole 2022, which has an incredible concentration of sour cherry, cassis and forest berry aromas, with a long finish that is at once compact and energetic.

Other 2022 Bojos to check out from our March tastings are the Dominique Piron Fleurie La Madone 2022 and the Domaine de Vernus Fleurie La Dîme 2022.  From 2021, the Domaine de Mont Joly Beaujolais-Blacé 85.45 2021 was just released and is one of the high points of the vintage.

Stuart also made an important discovery during his tastings of Loire Valley wines – the offerings of Belgian winemaker Kathleen Van den Berghe, who owns Chateau de Miniere in Bourgueil, an appellation devoted to red wines from the cabernet franc grape, and Chateau de Suronde in the valley of the Layon, a tributary of the Loire where the focus is on dry and naturally sweet chenin blanc.

It was Van den Berghe’s Château de Minière Bourgueil Vignes Centenaires de Minière 2020 that Stuart called “the most impressive Loire red wine he has encountered in many years, with its depth and concentration melded to stunning stunning elderberry, violet and bark aromas,” while her dry Château de Suronde Anjou Blanc L’Oeuvre 2019 is “a marvelous example of what chenin blanc can do as a dry wine,” with its concentration, structure, elegance and energy giving it many years of life ahead.

Senior Editor Ned Goodwin MW was in Burgundy, meanwhile, where he was focused on what he called the “plump” 2022 vintage. His visit to Domaine Vincent Dauvissat, he said, reassured him that although the warming climate is challenging the typicity of wines there, plenty of great bottles can still be found. This was especially true of Vincent Dauvissat’s Chablis, which showed precision and energy with a remarkable consistency and “toothsome restraint.”

Ned was thrilled by the 1er Cru Séchet 2022, which comes from a cool site of meager topsoil that imbues the estuarine notes and febrile acidity that define top Chablis, as well as by the rocky phenolic ride and cool, demure pose of the 1er Cru Montée de Tonnere 2022, a wine that nudges the Grand Cru Les Preuses 2022 for top billing. The latter, he said, is “incredibly powerful and expansive, with a stony, phenolic drag across a long finish.

MOUNTAIN FRESH

We tasted 922 wines from the United States, about equally split between California and Oregon along with a smattering of Washington offerings. Two unique vineyards in California, both at high elevations, caught Executive Editor Jim Gordon’s attention.

At one, the Cornell estate in the Mayacamas Mountains, near Napa Valley’s Spring Mountain appellation at 550 meters (1,800 feet) above sea level, Jim tasted an eight-vintage vertical of the Cornell Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County Fountaingrove District Estate, culminating in the 2021 vintage, which Jim called “a fabulous young wine with a long career ahead,” and advised those with patience to cellar it until at least 2030.

And at Hyde Vineyard in Carneros, in the foothills of Mount Veeder overlooking the San Pablo Bay, Hyde de Villaine makes chardonnays that compete with the best in the state. The Hyde de Villaine Chardonnay Napa Valley Carneros Comandante Hyde Vineyard 2021 and its sibling, the Chardonnay Napa Valley Carneros Hyde Vineyard 2021,  received equally rave ratings but contrasted stylistically. The Comandante is made from six barrels of Wente clone vines planted in 1979 and fermented in 30 percent new oak that lends a toasty, spicy hazelnut expression, while the “regular” Hyde Vineyard chardonnay is a mix of 70 percent Wente clone and 30 percent Calera clone grapes that give it a wonderful intensity, piling on the fruit and mineral character.

We were also impressed by two nicely concentrated cabernet sauvignon 2021s from Napa Valley – the Signorello Cabernet Sauvignon Padrone 2021 and Cakebread Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Benchland Select 2021 – which underscore the excitement for high-quality 2021 reds after the smoke-troubled 2020 vintage.

Of the dozens of top-quality Oregon wines we tasted, pinot noirs from 2021 and 2022 stole the show, with a new wave of vibrant, medium-bodied chardonnays providing an agreeable balance. The highest-rated new releases of pinot noir are dominated by the 2021 vintage, which was a relief for winemakers after the smoky 2020.

The Nicolas Jay Pinot Noir McMinnville Momtazi Vineyard 2021 is a great example, showing pungent, wild, herbal aromas and what Jim called “fine-grained tannins and a linear feel that balances the ample fruit and spice flavors,” while the Rose & Arrow Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Eola-Amity Hills Stonecreek 2021 makes up for skipping both the 2019 and 2020 vintages.

The well-aged, perfectly developed Soter Pinot Noir Yamhill-Carlton Mineral Springs Vineyard 2008, meanwhile, proves again the ageability of the region’s best wines.

Oregon chardonnay remains a bit under the radar, but the creamy and ethereal Bergstrom Chardonnay Willamette Valley Sigrid 2021 and wonderfully energized and linear Antica Terra Chardonnay Willamette Valley Abeona 2021 are both worth seeking out.

Jim also tasted the stellar wines of Argentina’s Viña Cobos at the home base of their creator, Paul Hobbs, in Sonoma County, California. The Viña Cobos Malbec Mendoza Cobos 2021 is a “small-production gem" made from selected lots of grapes from different vineyards, while we also highly rated the powerful, stylish Hobbs Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, the gorgeous Malbec Los Arboles Valle de Uco Chañares Estate 2021 and the cabernet sauvignon-based blend Volturno 2021, which is silky, layered and focused.

GERMAN PINOTS AND AUSTRIAN HANDWERK

Pinot noirs were also front and center of our German tasting, with Stuart uncovering a unique, new wine from Klaus Peter Keller in Rheinhessen: the breathtakingly brilliant and supernaturally fresh Keller Spätburgunder Rheinhessen Zellerweg Am Schwarzen Herrgott GG 2022.

Its concentration and incredibly graceful finish are in part due to its provenance: the Schwarzen Herrgott, comprised of blue clay over limestone soil, is one of the highest-altitude sites in Rheinhessen.

It's about 300 meters above sea level in the Zellertal Valley, and the plantings – at a density of 20,000 vines per hectare – result in a one-meter gap between the rows and just 50 centimeters between the vines within the row. And if you can’t get a bottle of this one – only 600 were produced – a great alternative is the impeccably balanced Keller Spätburgunder Rheinhessen Bürgel GG 2022.

Also check out the Dautel Spätburgunder Württemberg Forstberg  GG 2020, which Stuart said “is the most complex and exciting pinot noir made to date in this region.

And our monthly tastings wouldn’t be complete without a dynamic Austrian dry riesling. It was rising winemaker Leo Sommer who gave us the Sommer Riesling Burgenland Handwerk 2022, which has an enormous nose of white peach, dried red flowers and wild herbs. “For a dry riesling, it has a generous tannin structure but also the concentration to easily carry this,” said Stuart, who also loved the peach puree and sea salt character at the very dynamic finish.

Stuart also found an “embarrassment of riches” in Hannes Schuster’s just-released 2021 reds from Burgenland, Austria. Two bottles that showed exquisite tannins were the concentrated and tightly wound Schuster Blaufränkisch St. Margarethen 2021 and the Schuster Blaufränkisch Burgenland Müllendorf 2021, which exudes a super-structured palate and electric acidity thanks to the extremely chalky site it comes from.

ANTIPODEAN DELIGHTS

James was down on the farm in New Zealand during the month, picking, sorting and fermenting grapes at his Martinborough vineyard, but he also rated a range of nearly 260 wines from the challenging 2023 and 2022 vintages as well as from the outstanding 2020 and 2021. The issues from 2022 and 2023 included botrytis and heavy rains, and a cyclone on the North Island wreaked havoc in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay and also affected Martinborough and other parts of Wairarapa.

John Kavanagh, the chief winemaker for Te Kairanga in Martinborough, said 2022 and ’23 “were the toughest years in my 30-year career,” but producers still managed to make some outstanding wines – particularly South Island whites from 2023.

It was 2020 and 2021 reds that shined in our March tastings, though, with the top wines from 2020 showing slightly richer fruit and those from 2021 exhibiting more freshness and energy, according to James. Notable among them were Terra Sancta’s bright 2021 offerings, from top single-vineyard pinot noirs made from old ungrafted vines to an idiosyncratic multi-vintage blend of dolcetto, barbera and lagrein. The Trinity Hill Syrah Homage from 2021 also “delivers its usual high quality although it shows a little more tension and dryness than in the past,” James said.

Finally, Senior Editor Ned Goodwin MW was in Australia tasting the latest releases from Torbreck winery in the Barossa Valley. Ned called The Struie 2022 “among the most refined wines of the region” while Torbreck winemaker Ian Hongell said the Torbreck Shiraz Barossa Valley The Factor 2021 is “among the finest in recent memory.” But their inaugural release of The Forebear Shiraz 2019 is their most exciting offering, Ned averred: “Despite the typical Barossan weight, there is ample freshness, detail and thrust in this wine, with baking spice, licorice strap, saturated dark fruits, forestry accents and iodine.”

Ned also raved about the new release of the Vanguardist Wines Grenache McLaren Vale 2022, which he called “among the most exciting wines in the New World and among the greatest expressions of grenache, period," as well as Curly Flat’s three 2022 cuvees – the Curly Flat Pinot Noir Macedon Ranges, Pinot Noir Macedon Ranges Central and Pinot Noir Macedon Ranges Western.

As for the imperious Seppeltsfield Para Vintage Tawny 1924, Ned said it was “arguably Australia’s greatest expression of fortified wine and certainly among the world’s exemplars of depth, poise, scintillating length and oxidative complexities that glimpse the exotica of the Moroccan souk.”

– Vince Morkri, Managing Editor

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