Reviews — Fine Wine Tradition
🌿 Champagne vs. Le Clos: Why Two Fleurie Sites Speak So Differently
It is one of the pleasures of serious Beaujolais that the answer is rarely as simple as “it is all Gamay.” At Domaine de la Grand’Cour, Jean‑Louis Dutraive makes Fleurie from old vines, granite soils and a deliberately restrained cellar philosophy. Yet the wines from Champagne and Le Clos are never interchangeable. They share a producer, a grape and an appellation, but they are shaped by different positions, soils, vine material and élevage choices—and the differences become very clear once the bottles are side by side. For anyone who thinks Fleurie is merely floral, light and easygoing, this is exactly...
🍇 Domaine David Duband: From the Hautes-Côtes to Grand Cru Burgundy, One Very Personal Vision
Domaine David Duband is one of Burgundy’s most convincing modern success stories: a producer who began with family vineyards in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits and built a portfolio that now stretches from fresh, site-driven Chardonnay to Grand Cru Pinot Noir in Charmes-Chambertin and Clos de Vougeot. The wines currently available at Symbolic Wines offer a particularly clear view of that progression—from the deceptively serious 2023 Coteaux Bourguignons Blanc to 2023 Grand Crus that show just how far Duband’s precise, whole-cluster style can travel.
🌌 Jacques Lassaigne ‘Autour de Minuit’ Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature: Midnight Chalk and Vin Jaune Shadows
‘Autour de Minuit’ is one of the most distinctive Champagnes in the Jacques Lassaigne range—a Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature from Montgueux that takes its character not only from chalk and Chardonnay, but from time spent in barrels that previously held Vin Jaune from the Jura. With both 2018 and 2019 vintages available on Symbolic Wines, this is a cuvée that rewards close attention from collectors and Champagne lovers who appreciate strong terroir identity and unusual élevage.
🥂 Chavost: Zero‑Sulphur Champagne With Real Character (and a Few Very Cool Side Roads)
Chavost is one of the most interesting new names in Champagne for people who care about both wine and how it’s made: a historic cooperative south of Épernay that has reinvented itself as a producer of zero‑sulphur, no‑additive wines with real personality. The bottles we’ve brought into Symbolic Wines—from Brut Nature Champagne to Coteaux Champenois and a solera‑aged Ratafia—tell that story in very different, but very coherent, ways.
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