France is where it's at! By Michael Lutzmann and Greg Rinehart, Opimian Managing Directors
Literally, one out of every three bottles of wine sold and consumed in the world is made in France. Among Opimian Members, that percentage is even higher. For good reason. The French have a wine culture like none other and they protect it through regulation and, more importantly, through meticulous grape growing and winemaking
Within that national pride, individual wine regions take their wines very seriously and rise to the top of an already elevated class. The three regions featured here belong to this elite club. The Rhône Valley, White Burgundy and Champagne have proven themselves for centuries. The wines in the Cellar continue that tradition.
The Southern Rhône, with its classic GSM (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre) blend, provides an endless array of wine-drinking pleasure. Our Rhône partners, too numerous to mention here, wowed our Masters of Wine this year. The scores were outstanding! In addition to the south, if you’ve never explored the Northern Rhône, the birthplace of Syrah, this is your chance. The Northern Rhône produces Syrah unlike other region in terms of style, and it the benchmark with which all other French Syrah’s are compared against.
The white burgundies from our long-time partner, Lamblin Fils, mainly from Chablis, express Chardonnay in a way that even ABC’ers (anything but Chardonnay) love. The clean, fresh, crisp wines are a delight and belong in every cellar. Lamblin has graciously provided a wide range of price points to appeal to every budget. Speaking of Lamblin, make sure to stock up on their Folies Parisiennes on pages 22 and 23. They have informed us that they will be rebranding this everyday drinker next year so this will be the last time it is being offered., and, with Michel and Didier retiring, a new generation is taking over to carry on the legacy.
You’ll notice that, by popular demand, we have increased the Everyday Drinking section from two pages to three. While we can’t promise to do so in every Cellar (sourcing Opimian quality wines at this price point is a constant challenge), we were delighted to do so for you here.
What can we say about Champagne that hasn’t already been said? These celebratory wines speak for themselves! It’s fair to say that Carole Doyard’s Champagnes elevate every occasion. The Cuvée Immersion in Collector’s Corner was such a huge hit last year, that we convinced Carole to put a few bottles aside for you this year. À votre santé! Michael & Greg