Destination Wineries

Adrien Glover January 17, 2007

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"The Chave estate in Mauves in the Northern Rhone Valley makes amazingly complex wines. Jean-Louis Chave and his family take great pride in the integrity of their wines, and that's what wine-lovers look for—passion," he said. "In my experience, however, the real treasures lie in the smallest Burgundian villages, places such as Domaine Georges Roumier. This 35-acre family estate on the Cote d'Or has been producing beautiful harmonious wines since the 1920s."

Eight years ago, the long-time sommelier at Chanterelle, Roger Dagorn, and his wife decided to take their high school daughters to spend two weeks in France and two in Italy. The girls' only request? No wineries. "They finally relented and let me choose just two," said Dagorn. "The decision was easy."

"Chateau de Saran is surrounded by vineyards in Champagne, an area with wonderful, chalky soil that's perfect for growing Dom grapes. We all spent a magnificent dinner drinking ourselves silly on Dom Perignon. Our second stop was Prince Poniatowski in the Loire Valley, where the Prince himself was a very gracious host. He gave us all a tour of the vineyard and then invited us for dinner at Jean Bardet. My girls spent the evening in a real château drinking more Dom with a real prince, and it didn't matter that he was 70 years old."

We talked to some of the finest sommeliers in New York to compile this list of destination wineries—the spots that the professionals seek out. And if you can't get there right away, you can always buy a bottle, or two, and imagine yourself far, far away.

See our slideshow of world-class wineries suggested by top NYC sommeliers.

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