Lafarge is a top producer of Volnay who is among the pantheon of great natural wine makers that Burgundy lovers pursue year after year. He also happens to be one of the small handful of Burgundy producers that makes great, cellar-worthy Pinot Noir under the humble Bourgogne Rouge A.C.

The 2006 Lafarges were imported at the peak of our financial problems, so the A.C. Bourgogne–a wine that normally sells out almost immediately–just sat in the warehouse. We recently made a deal to clear out the importer. As a result, our price of $27 on the straght Bourgogne is likely the best you will ever see (until maybe the next crisis…).

The wine, with air, is already delicious, but this is definitely another example of a moderately priced wine that would love to spend a year or two in your cellar.

France has lots of competition from (so-called) newcomers like Argentina and Australia, but it still has the best deals on the planet for simple, refreshing quaffers. Here are two new ones worth checking out:

La Croix Blanche ($9) – Our friend Laurent sourced this bargain white for us from Gascony. Crisp but weighty and way better than it deserves to be for the price.

Marc Roman Malbec ($8) – Malbec, but lighter and way fresher than the Argentinian version. A great Beaujolais substitute, this bottle drinks fast!

In between bottles of funky, natural wine from the Loire or Jura or even the Languedoc and the continuous pursuit of Burgundy I often forget about one of my favorite grapes: Nebbiolo! But a bottle of 2004 Cantalupo Ghemme on Sunday evening was all the reminder I needed. Deep, spiced cherry fruit and raspy tannins followed by perfectly balanced acidity, this is classic Nebbiolo. No doubt that 2004 is an exceptional vintage for Piedmont, but there are delicious examples of this variety from other years and communes and despite the propensity for high price tags we have some amazing values as well.

On the border of the Valle D’Aoste, the alpine slopes around Carema offer a great expression of Nebbiolo, and Ferrando is easily the star producer from this area. Although his reserve black label gets the most attention, I often prefer the grace and purity of his normal white label bottling, and at $38 the 2005 offers great value.

Of course, Barolo and Barbaresco are at the top of the Nebbiolo hierarchy, but even in these catagories we have been able to find great wines that come in under $50. Though not the most famous Fantino, Alessandro and Gian Natale Fantino offer serious pleasure for the money and their 2001 Barolo is already in a great place for drinking now, and of course their basic, declassified Nebbiolo is a continous staff and customer favorite. For Barbaresco the 2004 Pelissero is easily one of our best deals in Northern Italian wine and possibly the whole shop.

If you are in the market for a show-stopper, then Barolo can definitely fit the bill. We have had great experiences with the cellar releases from Giacomo Borgogno, but for the quintessential combination of explosive strength, an ethereal, perfumed bouquet and a graceful, silky mouthfeel look no further then the 1985 Vietti Castiglione Falleto.

For more information on Nebbiolo, check back soon as I’ll be posting a link to a more extensive, informative article.

In December I wrote about my go to under $30 red Burgundy (the M. Gros Hautes Cotes de Nuits — sorry, we’re now sold out until next year). For many, January is time to reign in the budget, so today I present my go to under $20 red Burgundy.

Jerome Chezeaux, Bourgogne 2006 ($19). Chezeaux is a staple among Neal Rosenthal’s Burgundy imports. And at $19, this Bourgogne has become a staple beside my dinner plate. Pure, dark-berried Pinot flavors that punch way above its price point, this is already a great drink. My guess, though, is that this will only get better, so this is also a great candidate for your bargain cellar!

If you must practice self-denial as a way of bringing in the new decade, here are a few ideas for wine-friendly new year’s resolutions:

Drink Organic — Villemade makes a delicious, all-natural and fresh-tasting blend of Pinot and Gamay ($17).

Drink Local — New York’s own Finger Lakes produces seriously good Riesling. The Salmon Run is a fine, inexpensive choice for a local wine ($14).

Drink Lower Alcohol — Too many wines have seen rising alcohol levels in the last decade. Kick off the new one with this highly drinkable Carignan blend from Axel Prufer. Only 11.5%! ($19)

Drink Cheap — The Verasol “MCS” is inexpensive, organic (so you kill two birds) and delicous! ($11)

Drink Well — Superstar wine-maker Chave buys grapes from local small farmers and makes delicious natural wine. The Croze Hermitage is the sweet spot in this line up. ($25)

Drink Great Wines at Reasonable Prices — The amazing deal we got on the older Duclaux Cote Roties is worth mentioning again here — it’s a reasonable way to keep your fine wine purchases in budget for the new year. ($26)

Hanukkah and Christmas have passed and as we recover from the feasting and imbibing it is time to set our sites on the next celebration: New Year’s Eve! Of course at UVA that means bubbly, in all shapes and sizes and lots of it. In that spirit here are a few specific recommendations along with some general guidelines.

Juve y Camps Cava: A delicious, estate bottled cava. Dry and toasty this is a perfect, stylish choice for under $20 sparkling wines. When you have a lot of flutes (or glasses or cups) to fill it makes sense to buy large quantities of just one sparkling wine in your budget. No need to make things difficult by providing choices, it’s a celebration not a tasting, after all.

But you want real Champagne (bottle fermented sparkling wine from the designated Champagne producing region in Northern France) and you want to stay in your budget. No problem, UVA has a great NV Brut from a lesser known producer. Gardet’s Pol Gardere is a delicious and exciting wine that comes in under $30.

Our favorites are often in the category of Grower-Producer Champagnes. These are wines that are made by the same people who tend the vineyards (as opposed to House Champagnes which are made of blends of purchased grapes). Two excellent examples are the Guy Larmandier NV Blanc de Blancs and Jacque Lassaigne NV Blanc de Blancs. Both are made from %100 Chardonnay and both are organic, the Larmandier is the bigger, breadier version while the Lassaigne is lean and mineral driven. Both are elegant and exciting.

If you really want to go all out then we have plenty of Marquee wines and vintage Champagnes as well. Krug and Dom Perignon are not only famous but are of exceptional quality and have their own unique and exquisite personalities. And vintage Champagnes from big houses like Laurent Perrier or from small winemakers with cultish followings like Prevost and Bouchard are some of the most amazing wines around.

Whatever route you decide to go get your orders in soon or stop by the shop if you are in the neighborhood. We will be well stocked and well staffed and ready to help you celebrate the beginning of a new decade!

Yes, in between bottles of Pinot Noir I also drink some Chardonnay…

The 2007 vintage was a fantastic one for white Burgundy, resulting in a couple of under $30 white Burgundies that I find myself returning to again and again:

Agnes & Didier Dauvissat, A.C. Chablis, 2007 ($28) – Not related to the more famous Dauvissats, Becky Wasserman’s lone selection from Chablis is certainly worthy of the name.  This is definitely premier cru quality.

Dureuil-Janthial Rully, 2007 ($29) – Michael Skurnik quotes legendary white Burg producer Jean-Francois Coche on his web site:  “If I see [Dureuil-Janthial's] name on a wine list, I don’t give it a second thought and simply order the wine.”  That says it all.

Last night the UVA family gathered for our annual staff tasting and holiday celebration where we have the arduous task of tasting a number of wines in order to help everyone make better informed wine decisions this holiday season. So in the spirit of the end of the year award shows here are few of the winners:

Best White Wine of the Night: Domaine Huet Clos de Bourg Sec 2007. Classic Chenin Blanc from the top Vouvray producer. We’ve had the pleasure of drinking older vintages of Huet (the wines can age extremely well) and forgot how delicious they can be when young (though decanting is recommended).

Most Classic: Domaine Monpertuis Chateauneuf du Pape 2006. Spot-on Chateauneuf with loads of herbs, spice and fennel balanced by deep, dark berry fruit and great structure.

Most Potential: Nicolas Potel Vosne-Romanee VV 2007. Potel is an amazing negociant and his wines always show exemplary terroir. This Vosne was already exploding out of the glass but certainly will evolve into something really special w/ a little more time.

Most Controversial: Bouchard In Flouresence Blanc de Noirs 2002 “La Parcelle”. Bouchard’s Champagnes are quickly becoming legendary in the wine-geek world. This all Pinot, vintage bottling has a lower amount of pressure (less bubbles) and is unlike 99.9% of the rest of Champagne. But there was no debating its exquisite uniqueness, so good and so fun.

Wine of the Night: Domaine Robert Arnoux Echezeaux 1998. Dense, powerful and intense but also extremely elegant and precise, this is why Grand Cru Burgundy can produce the world’s best wine. We all gushed over this wine and the only problem was that we didn’t open another bottle!

We have slowly been acquiring Chateauneufs and now can boast a fairly extensive selection of current and back vintages of some of the leading Estates as well as lesser known producers we really enjoy. Some of our favorites include Chateau Rayas, Domaine du Mont-Olivet, Vieux Telegraphe and Domaine Monpertuis. For more information on the history of the region, wines and producers see my article to the right.

Here are some reasons I love Michel Gros’s Haute Cote de Nuit:

1) It’s a great drink every year, no matter what the vintage was like.

2) You don’t have to wait — it’s always good on release.

3) You can wait if you want. I had a 1990 recently that was smoking.

4) Unlike most generics, this has true Nuit, even Vosne character. You don’t just taste nice Pinot; you get serious terroir.

5) For a delicious naturally-made wine from an esteemed producer of Burgundy, the price is absurdly low ($27).

The 2007’s arrived a few weeks ago. After allowing them a brief rest in our cool cellars we’re now putting them on our shelves for sale.

We buy more and more of this stuff every year but never seem to have enough (thanks in part to all the bottles that get gobbled up by staff!). Last year we ran out in January.