The Game Changers

At Cellar Trading we pride ourselves on having access not just to the classics, but also to the hard to find, up and coming producers from around the world. These wines almost always come from small family-owned growers whose production can be minuscule. Demand usually far outstrips supply, so having the right source who can ensure both impeccable provenance and competitive prices is crucial for the serious collector. Many of these growers follow biodynamic and/or organic principles, and all express extreme care and precision in their winemaking. They could be next in the line of succession of an established winemaking family or could be new at the helm of a brilliant upstart, but the commonality is an intense dedication to making the absolute best expressions of place.

Cedric Bouchard’s Roses de Jeanne bottlings are young by Champagne standards, but he has unquestionably created a well-deserved buzz over the last two decades by seeking out a less-beaten path; focusing on his vines mostly located in Celles-Surs-Ource. Most interestingly, La Bolorée is Pinot Blanc, a daring foray into a rarely used varietal in Champagne. Production is tiny across all seven cuvées, with great attention to detail: organically grown, hand-picked, foot-crushed, with short lees time and no dosage.

Egly Ouriet is perhaps considered the king of grower Champagne, ripe and very much lees-influenced. Burgundian inspired and known for its allegiance to terroir-specificity, each bottling is a journey and a destination. Over generations, Egly Ouriet seamlessly and fully engages those lucky enough to open a bottle in a path of discovery.

Jean-Francois Ganevat produces the Jura’s most sought-after wines. Only made in extremely small quantities from a variety of premier lieux-dits, Ganevat’s wines are setting the standard for the exciting developments in this corner of France. With both domaine-grown and purchased grapes, Ganevat only uses the best available fruit to create exquisite and unique Burgundian-styled reds and whites with a distinct cool-climate Alpine influence.

Grange des Peres‘s late founder Laurent Vaillé was literally a groundbreaker. To establish his vines, he painstakingly removed tons of rock and scree from his ideal site, clearing the way for what would become the Languedoc’s finest red wine, crafted beyond the usual varietal boundaries of traditional Languedocs. This desire to innovate and challenge norms was a recipe for success – the wines soon garnered a cult following, ensuring rarity and collectability. The wines, both the rouge and blanc, are known for balancing their great power and density with structure and finesse, while providing sheer drinking pleasure and a continuously evolving long life.

Arnoux Lachaux is no longer just for the cognoscenti. The Domaine is reaching new heights in Vosne-Romanée under scion Charles Lachaux, who works with 100+ year old vines and has sharpened up everything at the Domaine both in the vineyard and in the caves. From the Bourgogne to the three Grand Crus, concentration and elegance permeates every bottle.

Selosse’s pure expressions of multiple lieux-dits and intense, almost sherry-like flavors form the backbone of these Champagnes. Very small production, these are far from the typical luxury cuvées seen in every restaurant around the globe. These bottlings are true expressions of the diversity of the incredible variety of Champagne’s vineyards, all shepherded by the iconic Anselme, who is in the process of passing the legacy to son Guilllame.

Vatan’s exquisite Sancerres are known as a gateway drug around Cellar Trading. One taste and you will pursue it to the ends of the earth. Complex and age-worthy yet always spry and elegant, these are the world’s highest expressions of Sauvignon Blanc, and arguably some of the greatest white wines on the planet.