Collection: Wine Share Picks

This month we focus entirely on France, with particular attention to the French South and two delights from the Loire Valley. First, we have our good friend Fred Agneray’s ‘Gare du Nord’ from 2021 that has aged impeccably in bottle. Very, very pure at the moment with bits of integrated tannin making it a truly vibrant Grenache-based vin de soif adorned with some just-emerging secondary characteristics. Next from the south is a step up in terms of savory complexity in the form of Edouard Laffitte’s Syrah from the Roussillon’s self-declared Kingdom of Jajakistan – the tiny bit of land around Lansac that was self-established by Loïc Roure of Domaine du Possible and Edouard when Loïc purchased the old Lansac cooperative a number of years ago and its accompanying 15 hectares. The Syrah is a great representation of this land and the ‘Jajakistan’ style – a still lighter Syrah with just a touch of southern rigor. Also from Laffitte (aka Le Bout du Monde) is his ‘Brave Margot,’ a pitch-perfect colder season white composed of 100% Roussanne. Medium-bodied, rich and still buoyed by the bright acidity one might expect from these purveyors of true natural wine – the aromatics are kaleidoscopic and simply beautiful. Enjoy over a long dinner! Rounding out the selections from the south is FX Daure’s skin-contact Maccabeu/Grenache Blanc/Muscat à Petits-Grains. Sometimes referred to as “Mini-Matassa” owing to his time working with Tom Lubbe, these wines show off the honeysuckle-sweet-flower aromatics of Muscat based wines with the chalky textures and length derived from macerated, lower-acid grapes like Grenache Blanc/Maccabeu. Really nice! For the final two wines from the share, we look to the lieu-dit of Hauts-Baigneux in the middle Loire Valley, just across the forest from Chinon, for two clean and classic expressions of this region given life by a project aiming to achieve the purity of true, pre-industrial vintage Loire bottlings. We have the entry Sauvignon Blanc in ‘Les Chênes’ that shows, perhaps, what Sancerre might once have been like; and their deep, brooding Cabernet Franc ‘Sanguine’ that is fit for any Thanksgiving table you might find yourself at.