You Trusted Me on Muellen, Murat, Dampt, ... This is the Next Big Thing...

Of all the new wineries that I found on my last French trip the one I am the most excited about is the brilliant estate in Chignin of Gilles Berlioz. They are on the boat now and I am, a word I confess to

have used a lot, giddy about giddy about their arrival. Gilles Berlioz is on the level of the Jura's Ganevat (they also happen to be very good friends). Very few of Gilles' wines make it here but that is about to change as 4 are on the boat and this is one I have been waiting to sell as it is one of his most limited wines and a testament to his brilliance with the indigenous Jacquere grape. Jacquere is sometimes low in acidity as that is the natural makeup of the grape but it makes up for this with incredible texture and alpine minerals with the acidity being complementary but not a feature the wine is built around like Chablis or Mosel Riesling.

But today I have a Jacquere, actually the Jacquere, which is Gilles' most limited and highly prized Jacquere Cuvee, the 2014 Gilles Berlioz Chignin Chez l'Odette which can be had for $26.99 a bottle on a 4 pack. That is a stupid price for one of his top cuvees. He only makes 100 cases or so and I have a tiny allocation today. My note cannot be reprinted here as it dives into expletives as the mineral component of the nose was so intense, multi-dimensional and vivid only curse words came to mind. When a wine smells this good, one can go primal. That honeyed character combined with the amazing minerality made it one of the aromatic highlights of the trip. Incredible delicacy and texture along with such a juiciness factor it is unlike any Jacquere as the acidity is very high as this is from a very steep solo parcel of somewhat youngish vines planted on very solid limestone. Odette is the name of the lady that Gilles rents the vines from. The grapes create a very dense juice and the yields are cut to around 28-30 hl/ha. He also uses less sulfur here than in his other Jacquere Cuvee Ja Ja. The minerality that results is striking as limestone is just go good and works so well with certain white grapes. The finish is so long, so winding and so complex. This is limited as well.

The Savoie has become trendy in wine geek circles. It's a relatively undiscovered region (in the US) and as much as 80% of the production is drunk locally. It is a place of great value and variety. Gilles Berlioz is , in my opinion one of the top two winemakers in the region. I think that, after tasting his entire range, that he is one of the most talented winemakers in all of France. I've sold his wines before but, for some reason, the best cuvees don't come to the States. I think that's because once the triple markup of the three tier system gets ratcheted on to the price, they are $50 and no one will pay that for a wine from the Savoie. The wines are "Ceiling Wines." No matter how great they are, they can't cost more than $40 or so.

As you approach the small wine village of Chignin it is hard not for your jaw to drop out of your mouth. Situated at the foot of the Alps these hills are majestic with some vineyards at the same slope and exposure as some sites in the Mosel. They are that steep. Chignin is part of the great Savoie wine region, which is one of the coolest places I have visited in recent memory. There is a majesty to Chignin. It does not seem real. Almost like a place out of Lord of the Rings. I am absolutely thrilled to be able to represent, what I think is one of the greatest producers of not just the Savoie but one of the greatest producers in France, and that person is Gilles Berlioz. Gilles has been available in limited quantities over here for many years. In fact, I bought the wines when I was in New York retail for a while. At max, only 2 or 3 cuvees came into the United States and all of it to New York City. The thing is Gilles Berlioz makes many more cuvees than that. I had always heard great things about the cuvees that don't come here. It always seems the cuvees that don't come here are better. Possibly because they are too high priced at the estate to then crank through the 3-tier system and become the first $50 wine from region x. It happens a lot I notice with the Loire, Beaujolais and now Savoie as these are what I call "ceiling regions" where the market has established a price ceiling. Burgundy, Champagne and Bordeaux don't really have that, so prices can be crazy exorbitant and no one bats an eye. But in the ceiling regions there is so much value to be found because no one wants to become that guy who charges so much more than anybody else. So no one raises their prices and 3-tier focused importers and distribs only carry wines that work for them in this paradigm. At Fass Selections we want the best wine for the money and I am obsessive about seeking value, and I think with these incredible, never before imported, special cuvees from Gilles Berlioz I have hit the jackpot.

Gilles Berlioz is wildly popular amongst the Parisian wine bars and tastemakers. One thing that I admire about the French approach to wine is that there are incredible wines in regions outside of Champagne, Burgundy and Bordeaux. Why? Because great winemakers find the best terroir, work their butts off and make incredible wine. The French know this, we are still getting to know that idea.

2014 Gilles Berlioz Chignin "Chez l'Odette" - $28.99 ($107.96 4-pack) (VERY LIMITED)