At Vino we’ve been getting down and dirty this holiday, delving into the depths of our cellar to bring you some special selections you might not find elsewhere. Two weeks ago we highlighted a handful of Tuscan favorites; now we bring you the best from France. Check out these rare and delightful offerings that we feel are guaranteed to satisfy the francophile in you and yours.

Ludwig Bindernagel Les Chais du Vieux Bourg Côtes du Jura B.B.1 2005 (Jura, France)
$37
Though Ludwig Bindernagel only established his winery, in the Jura region of Eastern France, in 2003, he is blessed by old vines and small yields which have been key to his success. His wines have a unique quality thanks to the soil which is close to two marly layers and a calcareous stratus rich in fossilized oysters. Bindernagel’s wine is labeled “lutte raisonnée”; he uses no insecticide, fertilizer, or herbicide with a goal to being certified biodynamic. Some of the grape varieties Bindernagel cultivates are so obscure they are still in the process of being identified. Bindernagel can confirm that his “B.B.1″ is made from hand-selected Chardonnay and the lesser-known Savagnin. His winemaking process is deliberately old-fashioned: an authentic wood wine press is used, and vinification takes place in oak casks, allowing plenty of time for the wine to mature.

Château Rocher Corbin Montagne Saint Émilion 2005 (Bordeaux, France)
$35
The single estate vineyard of Château Rocher Corbin consists of 10.5 hectares in one block, situated on the western slope of the Calon mound. The grapes come from vines that are on average 45 years old with 15% being more than 80 years old and a parcel of Merlot which is 140 years old! Under the careful guidance of Philippe Durand this estate has improved year after year through thorough practices of pruning, de-budding, low yields and hand harvesting. The wine is then aged 14 months in French oak barrels with 40 to 50% new barrels added each year depending on the vintage. It is well structured and full bodied with a fleshy, fruity palate, rich aromas and fabulous aging potential for each vintage.

Yves Gangloff Côte Rôtie La Barbarine 2008 (Rhône, France)
$96
Yves Gangloff arrived to Condrieu in the Northern Rhône thirty years ago, buying and renting small patches of vineyard until he was able to release his first wines in the mid 1990s. Now, with the spectacular quality and style of his wines, and the extremely limited production, he’s one of the stars of the Côte Rôtie. La Barbarine is made from 92% Syrah (the remainder is Viognier) grown on steep hillsides in the southern sector of Côte Rôtie at Tupin, Mollard and Combard, where labor must be carried out by hand. This is the “Côte Blonde” so named after the granite soil which results in a more elegant wine than the schist in the “Côte Brune”. Aged for almost two years in small oak barrels of various age, “La Barbarine” offers richly perfumed aromas of cassis, pepper, date and coffee.

Jean Marc Millot Echézeaux Grand Cru 2008 (Burgundy, France)
$120
Jean-Marc Millot began estate-bottling at the family domaine in 1990, working the six hectares of vines originally purchased by his grandparents after World War II. He added another 1.4 hectares when his wife inherited her share of her family’s estate, and today he will tell you he has enough property (“more than eight hectares is too much for one man to work alone”). A traditionalist par excellence, Jean-Marc is committed to working the land and making his wines by hand. Work in the vineyards is all done manually and the vines are tended organically without pesticides or fertilizers. This profound Pinot Noir boasts all the finesse and power of the finest Burgundy.

Jean Grosperrin Vintage Fins Bois Cognac 1983
$145
This cognac comes from a wine grower of the Fins Bois region and was aged under state-control after its distillation, on March 1984. Because of the hail that damaged the vineyards, the total volume produced in 1983 was small compared to the previous years, especially 1982 which was a big year. Grosperrin is unusual in that rather than produce cognac, it acts as a merchant, purchasing barrels of cognac, aging it and releasing it. This approach, combined with attention to the so-called lesser regions of Cognac, has made Jean Grosperrin among the best-selling single vintage cognacs in France. Guilhem Grosperrin took over the business from his ailing father, Jean, in 2003. By releasing unblended, unsweetened, non chill-filtered single vintage cognacs from all the regions of Cognac, Grosperrin showcases the wealth of possibilities beyond the typical blended cognac.

For more information please call 212-725-6516 or email info@vinosite.com.

Just like when giving directions or discussing politics, when it comes to Bordeaux it’s important to know your right from your left. The term “right-bank Bordeaux” refers to wines made from fruit grown on the Eastern side of the Gironde river around the city of Libourne. Unlike wines from the Left Bank, which tend to be Cabernet based, the predominant grape on the Right Bank is Merlot, which is blended with smaller amounts of Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Sauvignon. Hailing from the satellite AOC Montagne-Saint-Émilion and the tiny Canon-Fronsac appellation, these bottles from the 2005 vintage best represent winemaking on Bordeaux’s right-bank.

Château Mazeris Canon Fronsac 2005
$22
Château Mazeris has been in the Mazeris Cournand family since 1769; today Patrick de Cournand manages the winery. The property boasts seventeen hectares of vines, of which 80% is Merlot (the remaining 20% is Cabernet Franc). Located at the confluence of two rivers, the Dordogne and the Isle at Libourne, the estate’s geography helps protect the vineyards from spring frost. Each variety is harvested and vinified separately. After fermentation, the wines go into barrel and are blended into the final cuvée twelve months later.

Château Rocher Corbin Montagne Saint-Émilion 2005
$35
The single-estate vineyard of Château Rocher Corbin consists of 10-and-a-half hectares in one block, situated on the western slope of the Calon mound. Most vines were planted after the war, although some are much older: one parcel of Merlot is 140 years old! Under the careful guidance of Philippe Durand this estate has improved year after year through thorough practices of pruning, de-budding, low yields and hand harvesting. The wine is aged for fourteen months in French oak barrels with new barrels added each year depending on the vintage. An 80%-20% Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon blend, this   well-structured and full-bodied Bordeaux exudes a fleshy, fruity palate, rich aromas and fabulous aging potential.

For more information please call 212-725-6516 or email info@vinosite.com.

We like wines from the Rhône Valley because they provide everyday drinking pleasure from which we never grow tired. Like many of our favorite Italian wines, the best Rhône wines feature varieties native to the region vinified to best reflect their terroir. They smell of herbs, olives, rocks and pepper with subtle fruit and little or no new oak. They might be described as “workhorse” wines, but that belies the fact that, while simple on the surface, they can often offer subtleties and charms not immediately apparent. They are great at the table and often a better bargain.

For reds, Grenache and Syrah are key. The former is dominant in the Southern Rhône, where wines from Chateauneuf du Pape, Gigondas and Vinsobres boast sweet-cherry fruit up front and richness and warmth on the palate. The latter stars in Northern Rhône wines such as Crozes-Hermitage, which are sturdier with more of a bramble-fruit-and-bacon profile. In the best examples of each we also get pleasant bitter notes, beautiful Provençal herb scents, or garrigue, and even baking spices that take the wines into a more pensive realm.

Vino has a burgeoning selection of wines from this terrific Southern French region, including a white Châteauneuf-du-Pape, made from white Rhône varieties Grenache Blanc and Clairette. These are straightforward, immensely food-friendly wines that you can drink everyday. Taste two of them this Friday from 5:30pm!

Château La Baume Costières de Nîmes 2007 (Rhône Valley, France)
$15

Domaine Courtois “La Grande Vigne” Côtes du Rhône 2008 (Rhône Valle, France)
$16

Domaine Bernard Ange Crozes-Hermitage 2007 (Rhône Valley, France)
$20

Domaine Lou Dévet Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 2009 (Rhône Valley, France)
$45

For more information please call 212-725-6516 or email info@vinosite.com.