This Chablis from Céline and Frédéric Gueguen Delivers Character Beyond its Price!

Today we’ve got a classic Chablis from one of our favorite family-owned producers, the wife and husband team of Céline and Frédéric Gueguen.

As the daughter of famed vigneron Jean-Marc Brocard, Céline has Chablis in her blood. With this 2023 release, she and Frédéric have nailed it. This $24.99 village level Chablis drinks more like a 1er Cru bottling. If there's a better value from Chablis, we haven't found it yet!

We've been buying their wines for nearly a decade, but it was just last year that we had a chance to visit their estate and meet Céline. It was then that we first tasted the wine we bring you today. Comparing it to previous vintages, of which we were big fans, we wrote...

“More concentration, more nervosity, more minerality, and more mouthfeel. A serious Chablis. The best vintage yet of this wine!” 

Read on for tasting notes on this overdelivering white Burgundy, and a special artisan red discovery from Beaujolais, then click on the Big Yellow Button to get these delicious French wines in your life!

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2023 Robert Goulley Chablis
Burgundy, France
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Chablis is the northernmost zone of Burgundy, and it makes a uniquely mineral-laden style of white wine. How far north? Well, it's actually closer to Paris than it is to Beaune, not much more than a two hour drive southeast of the City of Lights!

Produced from Chardonnay, the wines of Chablis are deliciously bone dry, with mouthwatering minerality that gives them a clean, flinty character that makes them uniquely appealing.

Fermented using wild yeasts, this 2023 release from Céline and Frédéric comes from 45-year-old vines planted on their certified-organic estate. Leading with layered aromas and flavors of citrus, yellow pear, white peach, orchard blossoms, and green herbs, it continues on with plenty of white chalk minerality and a classic saline quality. This wine literally has it all, including a plump accessibility and a long, zesty, delicious finish.

The unofficial word on the street, which we are inclined to believe, is that this bottling - named after Frédéric's grandfather Robert Goulley - is the exact same wine that the couple sells under their Domaine Gueguen label using regular distribution channels. The Robert Goulley label is what they use for the streamlined importation that allows us to bring you this wine for such a fantastic price.

Offering loads of Chablis goodness, we give a very solid 91 Points to this generous-yet-classic wine. As we said in the intro, if there's a better Chablis for the money, we haven't found it yet!

Vin Chicago Price: 24.99

2022 Famille Guerin "Les Thorins"
Moulin-a-Vent, Beaujolais, Burgundy, France
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We were introduced to the soulful wines of Elisa Guerin by a gift from a wine merchant friend of ours in France. On a recent visit, he grabbed a bottle and said...

“You have to try this bottle. The wine is alive!”

Calling a wine “alive” is one of this caviste's highest compliments. It turns out that the wine was Elisa's 2021 “Les Thorins” Moulin-a-Vent. Back stateside, we opened the bottle and were entranced. We were also a bit bummed, because at the time we did not have a source for her wines. Fast forward just a few months and we were thrilled to learn that the 2022 vintage of this wine would be available in Chicago and, it turns out that this new bottling of "Les Thorins" is every bit as enticing as the 2021.

It is now our mission to get Elisa's wine into the glasses of as many people as possible. This old-vine bottling from the Moulin-a-Vent cru of Beaujolais is deep and complex with notes of red and black berries, black tea, violets, and a hint of smoke, all wrapped in light, elegant tannins. It’s wonderful now, gaining complexity with air, and should age marvelously for 7 to 10 years. And, as our friend so enthusiastically exclaimed, it is very much alive!

Vin Chicago Price: 34.99