Right Bank Bordeaux Bargains

We love digging through stacks of old Bordeaux in search of mature values from great vintages. Not everyone wants to crack a $300 bottle of Lynch Bages on a random summer evening, which is why finding little gems from outstanding vintages like 2015 bring us immense joy. 

A recent search through an importer’s warehouse revealed five extra cases of 2015 Château Corbin from St. Emilion on Bordeaux’s famed Right Bank. Owned by the Cruse family since 1924, and today led by Anabelle Bardinet, the wines have been improving steadily since new investment was made in the late 1990s. 

With a cepage of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, the wines of Château Corbin are reminiscent of the old school Right Bank style we love: loads of plummy fruit, balanced with hints of tobacco and cigar box with plenty of grip. After almost a decade in bottle, the wine is in an absolutely beautiful spot and begging for a place around your summer grill. 

Our hot price of $39.95 is nothing to sneeze at either! Grill up a steak, sauté some mushrooms, roast something savory, or just pop the cork and enjoy it. Drinking mature, old school Bordeaux with great press at a great price doesn’t have to cost hundreds of dollars. 

Sometimes the best wines are the ones you least expect (although look at all the amazing reviews below):

2015 Château Corbin, St. Emilion $39.95

93 POINTS: JAMES SUCKLING - Plum pastries with violets and spiced blueberry fruits. The palate has impressive plushness and rich, fleshy appeal. Long finish. Try from 2022.

92 POINTS: ROBERT PARKER’S WINE ADVOCATE - A blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc aged for 18 months in barrels, 40% new, the 2015 Corbin is medium garnet-purple colored with cigar box and spice box notions accenting the core of red and black plums, blackberry preserves and earthy layers plus a hint of lavender. The palate is medium to full-bodied, firm, elegant and well balanced with grainy tannins, finishing lively and long.

90 POINTS: WINE SPECTATOR - A rather chunky style, with fig, boysenberry and blackberry confiture notes thoroughly embedded with grippy, brambly structure. Roasted apple wood and licorice snap notes fill in on the finish. Relies on power more than guile. 

90 POINTS: VINOUS - The 2015 Corbin shows much better from bottle than it did from barrel. Plump, juicy and forward, with lovely depth, it has much to recommend it. The dark red plum, mocha, chocolate, savory herb, leather, licorice, tobacco and smoke flavors are nicely delineated. The 2015 has come along nicely. I would prefer to drink it over the next handful of years

Beaujolais Brilliance from Brouilly

“This remains one of my absolutely favorite examples of Côte de Brouilly in the appellation and the wine deserves to be even better known.”

-John Gilman, View From the Cellar

Since 2009, every vintage of Domaine du Pavillon de Chavannes “Cuvée des Ambassades” has received amazing press from the folks at Vinous, and we expect 2022 to be no different. While we’re still waiting for the official score to be released, let us tell you what we know in the meantime:

• Domaine du Pavillon de Chavannes has the highest-elevation vineyard sites in Brouilly

• Roughly 60% of their vines are over 40 years old

• The old vine fruit is used to make the annual Cuvée des Ambassades, described by Vinous as “one of the most delicate and precise wines in Beaujolais”

• The wine is made with whole clusters and carbonic maceration, fermented in concrete tanks, and aged in old oak foudres without filtration

Beaujolais, unlike its Burgundian cousin, is made from Gamay rather than Pinot Noir,  and serious cru Beaujolais like the Pavillon de Chavannes has finally shed the “nouveau” moniker that kept older generations from discovering it. Dark, sumptuous, fleshy, and more brooding than its Pinot Noir relatives, French wine fans have been gravitating towards Brouilly for the better part of a decade, making the wines harder and harder to secure.

The takeaway is this: Cru Beaujolais is being appreciated outside Burgundy like never before, the quality has never been better, and the prices are still incredibly reasonable!

Beaujolais is also one of France’s most historic wines, with the Romans having cultivated vines on Mont Brouilly’s steep slopes where Domaine du Pavillon de Chavanne’s vineyards sit today.

While the word is still out on the 2022’s rating, why wait until the wine gets another rave review and then promptly sells out? At Mission, we want you to get in now while the wine is still available! For $21.99, there are few French reds that deliver this much quality for this low of a price, year after year after year.

2022 Domaine du Pavillon de Chavannes “Cuvée des Ambassades” $21.99

This is a very old school Beaujolais in the best sense: beautiful garnet color, beguiling aromatics, and a burst of refreshment in the mouth—and that burst is a savory, mineral, toothsome thing because of the domaine’s high elevations and because of Brouilly’s meager volcanic soils that provide depth of flavor. Some crus emphasize soil notes, others give fruit, but only good Côte de Brouilly gives stone in the flavor. Blackberries, cherries, and cassis permeate every inch of the palate with violets on the finish.

American Classics for the 4th

If you remember the pre-sale email we sent out a while back about the incredible (and collectable) wine bottle collaboration with famed LA tattoo artist Mr. Cartoon, then you’ll remember that limited edition project was put together by a man named Matt Suroff, who once worked in the fashion industry while living in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan.

Matt and his wife Alana, whose fondness for art and wine blossomed over their courtship in Tribeca, had long dreamt of starting their own wine label and—after splitting time between Paso Robles and New York, working harvests and soaking up every bit of knowledge they could—realized that dream with the Tribeca Wine Collective. Matt’s ability as a winemaker also came into focus, and the press he’s garnered thus far is fantastic.

Working with small growers and sustainably-farmed fruit, Matt and Alana’s refined palates are coupled with their keen eye for fashion in the first editions of the Tribeca Wine Collective’s eponymous labels. Working with winemaker Tyler Russell (who made the Bordeaux blend for the Mr. Cartoon project) and varietals from California’s Central Coast, these two have put together a portfolio of classic American style wines of quality, garnering press and praise wherever they go, with a modern take on curation.

We highly recommended these two wines in particular for your 4th of July backyard barbecue or evening fireworks celebrations! Check out the press:

2020 Tribeca Wine “Ocean Ave” Cabernet Sauvignon $49.99

93 POINTS: WINE ENTHUSIAST - Macerated blackberry, cherry cola and woodsmoke aromas converge on the nose of this bottling. The palate deftly integrates oak smoke with rich strawberry fruit, as toasted herb and peppercorn touches add ample spice. The name of the street Alana grew up on, Ocean Ave is an homage to a hotel on that same street where Matt cast many photo shoots.

Winemaker: Matthew Suroff

Consulting Winemaker: Tyler Russell

Vineyard: Happy Canyon, Grissini & Two Wolves Vineyards

AVA: Santa Ynez Valley

Grapes: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, Sustainably Farmed

Aging: 20% New French Oak, Unfiltered & Unfined

Production: 81 Cases

2022 Tribeca Wine “Leonard St” Gruner Veltliner $29.95

91 POINTS: WINE ENTHUSIAST - A very golden color in the glass, this bottling explores the denser side of Grüner, offering aromas of melon rind, dried grass clippings and toasted nuts. The richly textured palate is cut by citrus-peel acidity and a wet-clay minerality. Leonard Street Grüner is an ode to their TriBeCa roots, and memories of warm weather brunches where locals are often found drinking this cold, crisp white.

Winemaker: Matt Suroff

Consulting Winemaker: Tyler Russell

Vineyard: Davenport Vineyard

AVA: Edna Valley

Grapes: 100% Grüner Veltliner, SIP Certified (Sustainable)

Aging: 60% Stainless Steel, 40% Neutral French Oak - 6 months on lees, Filtered & Unfined

Production: 115 Cases

A Hot Deal In Napa

Once again, we call upon Google as the great equalizer for marketing hype when it comes to wine and spirits emails here at Mission.

We implore all of our customers to Google the Hess Collection Iron Corral Cabernet to see the savings here for yourself. $62.95 is the standard MSRP for this classic Napa Cab and today we’re offering the outstanding 2019 expression for the unbeatable price of just $34.95.

There are no tricks with this offer, nor with this wine. This is a classic Napa specimen of the old school California style: loads of cassis, savory spices, and hints of tobacco rolled up inside a big, plush mouthfeel and soft, integrated tannins that melt in your mouth when paired with the right meal.

Made from the Hess Estate’s Iron Corral vineyard, it’s a wine of quality and depth, with refined elements of oak showcasing a composition built for aging. Yet it’s balanced, well-integrated tannins allow this wine to show beautifully for those unwilling to wait.

When you think about the incredible savings, you’re almost getting two for the price of one! You can drink one now and save the other for a special occasion down the road!

**2019 Hess Collection Iron Corral Cabernet Sauvignon $34.95 (Elsewhere $60+)**

93 POINTS: JEB DUNNUCK - The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Iron Corral Estate is rock-solid, with a rich, velvety, medium to full-bodied profile that's very much in the style of the vintage. Nicely balanced, with lots of redcurrants, spiced plum, cedary incense, and tobacco, it has outstanding balance as well as length on the palate. It's well worth seeking out.

92 POINTS: WINE SPECTATOR - Fresh and direct, with cassis, raspberry and red licorice notes enlivened by a hint of bramble and touch of applewood on the finish. Drink now through 2032.

90 POINTS: WINE ENTHUSIAST - An affordable, approachable wine with small amounts of Malbec and Petit Verdot, this is a full-bodied, smoothly integrated expression of plush, lush texture and robust fruit. Boysenberry, black cherry and cinnamon glide easily across a soft, rich palate.

Château d'Issan's Second Wine Delivers the Goods

“This elegant, mid-weight Margaux is all class.” - Antonio Galloni of Vinous reviewing the Blason d’Issan

What is a “second wine” in Bordeaux, you ask?

A second wine quite literally means the wine made after the grand vin at each major château in Bordeaux, and in strong vintages like 2016 it can even be made with the same fruit that goes into the first wine.

The top properties in Bordeaux have two goals in mind when they produce a wine each vintage: control the quality and control the price. Too much wine can mean too much availability, which can sink the evaluation. Hence, in strong vintages like 2016 where there are extra grapes available, that leftover fruit will go into a second label.

For Margaux’s esteemed Château d’Issan, that second label is called Blason d’Issan and, as you can see in the reviews below (and from Galloni’s quote above), it holds its own as a finely-crafted Cabernet from the 2016 vintage. What stands out about the top wines of Margaux, and Château d’Issan as a producer, is the effortless elegance of the region’s best wines. There is a seamlessness and effortless grace that adorns these heady elixirs, and the 2016 Blason d’Issan has this quality in spades.

You could also try Château d’Issan’s **2016 grand vin for a side-by-side comparison, but that would run you $70+ per bottle. We’ll be the first to admit, the 2016 Château d’Issan is a more complete wine, but it’s also nowhere near its expected maturity. While you’re waiting for your 2016 d’Issan to evolve in your wine cellar, there’s the outstanding second wine to enjoy tonight: the 2016 Blason d’Issan, made from much of the same fruit, and tasting fantastic right now!

Get the grill fired up, decant a bottle tonight, and see what the fuss is all about. This wine already has almost 8 years of bottle age and is ready to go!

Blason d'Issan Margaux 2016 750ml $34.99

93 POINTS: JAMES SUCKLING - Very pretty and finely formed with currant, cherry and raspberry character. Medium to full body, firm and silky tannins and a long and fresh finish. Fine textured. Lovely second wine for d’Issan.

89 POINTS: VINOUS - Two reviews: The 2016 Blason d’Issan has a rich, generous bouquet of ample blackberry, tar and light violet aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with gentle grip, smooth tannin and plenty of tobacco-tinged black fruit that fans out nicely toward the sharp finish. A very capable second wine from d’Issan. -Neil Martin

The 2016 Blason d'Issan is a plump, forward second wine from Issan. Sweet tobacco, cedar, leather and licorice add character to this supple, fruity Margaux. Drink it over the next few years. -Antonio Galloni

Your Chartreuse Substitute

It’s a familiar problem in the wine and spirits industry. The world discovers an artisanal producer, goes crazy for it, gobbles up all the supply, and then leaves retailers and customers with a shortage.

The latest craze has been Chartreuse, the long-standing French herbal liqueur that has been made by Benedictine monks in small batches for centuries. And that, of course, is the issue—these monks can’t work fast enough to keep up with supply!

In the meantime, cocktail fans who rely on Chartreuse for a number of insanely-popular drinks (like The Last Word, along with others) have been left without one of their key ingredients and forced to pay scalper prices for what little Chartreuse they can find.

Here at Mission, we’d like to introduce you to another historic French herbal liqueur that can take over in the meantime and we’d hardly call it settling. Fontbonne has been produced in France’s Burgundy region since 1874, a Dijonaisse delicacy that dates back 150 years. Maison Fontbonne, the sole producer, distills 26 plants, roots and spices in Dijon to create this unique liqueur whose production process has remained a secret since its inception.

The recipe includes: estragon, fennel, pine bud, liquorice, rosemary, cardamom, lavender, elderflower, gentian, basil, cinnamon, thyme, chamomile, sage, laurel, caraway, cumin, coriander, maniguette, orange peel, juniper, angelica, iris, lemon peel, and black tea in quantities that will remain a secret.

However, for those of you who are in dire need of a Last Word substitute, we’ve got you covered. Check out Fontbonne for all your mixology needs in the new era of contraband Chartreuse!

Fontbonne Herbal Liqueur $56.99

Bordeaux Bargains Are Back

They say the cool kids don’t drink Bordeaux anymore, opting instead for non-interventionist Beaujolais or natural wines from around the world.

Here at Mission, we say: FANTASTIC! Or as Neal Martin writes in his Vinous review about the following wine: “SUPERB!”

The fewer people drinking our beloved Bordeaux right now, the lesser the demand and the lower the prices. Look at the 2019 Château Fonreaud as a shining example, one of the esteemed properties of the Listrac whose wines continually achieve higher-than-expected standards of quality. We’ve just scooped up a chunk of cases from France for one of the best Bordeaux values we’ve sourced in over a year and we couldn’t be more excited to tell you about it.

Bordeaux has hit a string of great vintages for the last few years running, starting with 2019 and moving into 2022. With all the great wines being made year after year, and with prices inching higher and higher due to the great press (and some greed, of course), things had to adjust at some point—and now we’re seeing that great correction.

Over the past few months, a number of the top châteaux began slashing their prices, allowing us here at Mission to snatch up back vintages of top wines at fantastic prices, and then pass those savings along to you. We’re always keeping our eye out for Bordeaux discounts and this one really delivers.

Let’s look at the key points:

• Château Fonreaud is located in the Listrac appellation along Bordeaux’s left bank, one of the most important regions up until the economic crisis of the 1930s. While the other Médoc appellations—St. Julien, Margaux, Pauillac, St. Estèphe—get all the fanfare, Listrac has the highest elevation on the left bank and gets the best drainage, which is important and often completely overlooked in today’s cult Cabernet climate.

• Building on that last point, the highest elevation vineyards in Listrac are at Château Fonreaud. Planted in gravel over limestone soils, the reds tend to be split somewhat evenly between Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with just a touch of Petit Verdot, but all three varietals have a beautiful balance of fruit and minerality due to their fantastic vineyards.

• The wines at Fonreaud were somewhat inconsistent between 1988 and 2001, but really began to hit their stride in 2005. A decade after that, with new investment and vineyard management, the potential of these prime vineyards was unlocked and the reviews began pouring in.

The best part about the 2019 Fonreaud is that it already has a few years of bottle age and is ready to drink tonight. Decanting helps, and of course a finely cooked steak unlocks one of the most magical flavor combinations in the entire world (beef + Bordeaux), but you don’t need to be a meat eater to appreciate what’s going on in this bottle. Check out the glowing reviews for more information and grab your bottles tonight!

2019 Chateau Fonreaud Listrac-Medoc (Elsewhere $20+) $16.99

93 POINTS: DECANTER - Rustic on the nose, bramble fruits and a touch of herbaceousness. The palate is well textured, good grip from the tannins but the fruit is coming across a little dry at this point. Good initial juiciness - bright and vivid cherry - and great acidity which is lively. I like the chalky, almost mineral aspect to it once the tannins have subsided with an enjoyable cooling finish. Lots of excellent potential. Drink 2023-2035.

92 POINTS: VINOUS - The 2019 Fonréaud has a well-defined, focused bouquet offering blackberry, bilberry, cedar and light minerally aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiseled tannins, great depth and poise, and good density and definition on the cedary finish. What a great Listrac we have here! Superb. Drink 2025-2042.

The Most Anticipated Cognac Release of 2024

Remember when the Scotch world was limited to Johnnie Walker, Dewar’s, Chivas, and Cutty Sark?

That wasn’t because dozens of single malt distilleries didn’t exist all across Scotland fifty years ago, but rather because each distillery sold its whisky to a blending house rather than releasing its own individual single malt brand. As a category, single malt whisky is a relatively new phenomenon!

The same situation has been at work in France’s Cognac region for the last century, with brands like Hennessy, Remy, Martell, and Courvoisier purchasing various brandies from smaller distillers in the area, and blending them into the products we know and love.

Only recently have smaller distillers begun venturing out on their own, releasing their self-distilled Cognacs under their brand labels, just like we’ve seen with single malt Scotch whisky over the last thirty years. Perhaps the most anticipated of those brands is the heralded Martingale Cognac, which launched recently in America to huge fanfare.

Developed by the Thomas family, a generations-deep distiller that has been producing Cognac for more than 100 years, Martingale is the first stand-alone release from the storied label. Historically, the Thomas family’s Cognac has been sold to the aforementioned blending houses, but with times (and tastes) changing, the younger generation thought it was time for Martingale Cognac to market itself on its own merit.

Free of any additional caramel coloring, sweeteners, or boisé, Martingale allows its heavy Borderies component (the sub-region known for fuller, fruitier Cognacs, as opposed to Grand Champagne and Petit Champagne) to shine through. That freshness and unbridled vibrancy stands in stark contrast to the overly-sweet and cloying characteristics we see in mass market Cognacs today. The Thomas family’s 600 hectare property spans between four of the main Cognac regions, giving it depth and differentiation within the blend from the various terroir-driven characteristics.

This first release of Martingale is brimming with white flower blossoms, vanilla, stone fruits, a distinctive nuttiness, and a vivacious lift of spice that leaves you wanting more with every sip. With its beautiful bottle and sleek, modern design, it’s clear that the Thomas family is going after a completely new generation of Cognac lover. We think they’re on the right track, as the clean, unadulterated flavors of Martingale are a far cry from the heavier, more wood-driven (and dare we say “artificially-enhanced”) elements from the big brands.

We think it’s one of the best new Cognac releases we’ve tasted in the last decade.

And…while other stores are selling the new Martingale for $120+, we’ve got it here at Mission for just $99.95 for a limited time only (price good through 6/11/24).

Buy your bottle of Martingale Cognac here!