BY ANTONIO GALLONI | OCTOBER 01, 2020

As the reality of a prolonged lockdown started to settle-in this past Spring, I thought it would be fun to do something different, to write an article on regions and estates I don’t usually cover and that have been missing from our pages. I hope you enjoy this tour through some of my favorite properties.

This report includes a number of estates, many of them reference-points. Some of the highlights include a large section dedicated to François Chidaine’s stunning whites, both young and old. Domaine Huet’s new releases are off the charts. Gerhard Kracher turned out a collection of TBAs in 2015 that literally took my breath away. Olivier Humbrecht’s 2018s are gorgeous. Domaine de Trévallon and Mas de Daumas Gassac, in Provence and Languedoc respectively, make superb, ageworthy wines, yet somehow remain largely under the radar. Readers will find extensive coverage of both properties. Guillaume d’Angerville introduces a number of new wines at Domaine du Pélican, his Jura estate, with the 2018s, all of them covered here. And that’s just for starters.

I often hear from consumers who are disappointed by escalating prices in many regions around the world. That may be a fact of life, but it is equally true that many wines of real pedigree and character remain affordable, it just takes looking beyond the usual suspects. Readers will find many bottles in this article that deliver both exceptional quality and value.

I tasted all of the wines in this report in New York during the summer of 2020. The exception is the Bonneau du Martray wines, which were not enough for a stand-alone article and had been without a home since I tasted them at the domaine last year.

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