I first met Mary Taylor over 20 years ago when we were both making our way in the wine world in New York City.  I am so impressed by the classically made wines that she has curated under her innovative own label.

 Loving the European tradition, where food and wine are named after the place where they are grown (from cheese to wine to butter), she has set out to some of the lesser-known areas in Burgundy, Beaujolais, the Loire Valley and the Savoie to find small, ethical growers who are practicing sustainable to organic farming. With them, she has created her own label that showcases wines that are distinctly “from their place”, expressing their unique terroir.  She doesn’t feel that you need to be a serious wine expert to enjoy honest, authentic wines that Europeans have been enjoying for centuries. The quality of these wines is impeccable, especially for their very reasonable price points. I feel very lucky to be able to reconnect with her and work together.

Chignin
100% Jacquere from limestone and glacial marl soil. Average age of the vines is 40 years. Chignin is located as the eastern edge of the Rhône Alps in the Savoie (directly facing the hill of Chartreuse). Chignin AOP runs up the southwest facing slopes of the Bauges Mountains, including the larger Chignin-Bergeron. One of 16 subregions of Vin de Savoie, Chignin AOC permits the use of Jacquère and up to 20% of a small selection of white varietals, including Chardonnay and Aligoté. Their 100% Jacquère showcases the vibrancy and minerality of this alpine grape variety, benefiting from lots of sun, cool climate, and high-drainage, sloping vineyards. Benjamin Ravier works the vines according to HVE 3 standards of sustainability, committing to practices that allow for unadulterated expressions of Chignin. The grapes are hand harvested, pressed very gently, and fermented without maceration in stainless steel. In addition, indigenous yeasts are selected from the vineyards and the wine does not go through secondary malolactic fermentation.

Apremont
100% Jacquere from limestone and glacial marl soil. Average age of the vines is 40 years. Apremont is a small Alpine village in the Savoie that sits at the foot of Mont Granier. These extremely high-altitude vineyards are east facing and chalk-full of limestone. Benjamin Ravier works the vines according to HVE 3 standards of sustainability, committing to practices that allow for unadulterated expressions of the Apremont terroir. They Mary Taylor plot is 1 hectare of Benjamin’s 7-hectare holding. The grapes are hand harvested, pressed very gently, and fermented without maceration in stainless steel. 

Macon-Villages
100% Chardonnay from clay-limestone vineyard sites. Tucked neatly in the rolling hills of Davayé, in the southernmost part of Mâcon, the Paquet family vinifies fruit from both their own 32 hectares and their negociant projects. Michel Paquet’s son Camile is now the chief winemaker, and he continues their family legacy of winemaking in Burgundy. It is their mission to work their vineyards with minimal intervention as they convert from organic to biodynamic production. Hand harvested from several parcels in 5 different villages, this wine is a true expression of the variegated soils and exposures spanning the region. 80% of the plots are located in the north of Mâconnais, and 20% from the south across these villages: Loché, Lugny, Prissé, Cruzille, and La Roche-Vineuse. Grapes arrive from the vineyards in small crates and are gravity fed, thus negating the need for pumping and allowing for gentle handling of the grapes before vinification.

Coteaux du Giennois Blanc
100% Sauvignon Blanc from 30-year-old vines. Just a few miles north of the super popular Sancerre lies the hidden treasure of Coteaux du Giennois. Little known outside of France, Coteaux du Giennois just received AOP status in 1998 - yet it has been producing wine since the 2nd century, and vineyards here were given as gifts by the French royal court as early the 800s. Alice Berthier’s vineyards are planted on hillsides that have the same classic Sauvignon Blanc terroir of Sancerre and Pouilly without the trappings of international fame. The terroir is a mix of 50% silex soil from the town of St Père, and 30% limestone and 20% clay from the town of Pougny, both in the heart of the central vineyards along the Loire River. Alice and her team work with the utmost respect for the environment, planting grass between rows, encouraging biodiversity, and using natural forms of pest control such as sexual confusion. Yields are carefully controlled, and the estate is in organic conversion. Each plot is vinified separately and brings its own complexity to the wine. As soon as they arrive at the winery, grapes are gently pressed, and the juice is allowed to settle naturally for 36 hours. Spontaneous fermentation with ambient yeasts takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel. The wine goes through natural malolactic and is matured for a few months on its fine lees until the bottling is carried out in the spring. It rests for 8 months in bottle before release.

Coteaux du Giennois Rouge
85% Pinot Noir and 15% Gamay from 30-year-old vines. This wine was the first in the MT3 series. Just north of the famous Loire appellations Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume lies the small and quiet Coteaux du Giennois. Little known outside of France, Coteaux du Giennois just received AOP status in 1998 - yet it has been producing wine since the 2nd century. Vineyards here were given as gifts by the French royal court as early the 800s, and with the establishment of monasteries in the Middle Ages, vineyards and viticulture flourished. Here between Gien and Cosne-sur-Loire, the cold continental influence from the east is tempered by the Loire River. Alice Berthier and her team work their hillside vineyards with the utmost respect for the environment, planting grass between rows, encouraging biodiversity, and using natural forms of pest control such as sexual confusion. Yields are carefully controlled, and the estate is in organic conversion. The vines are planted on the complex soils of Pougny and Saint Père, small villages in the heart of the Central Vineyards. The terroir is a mix of 50% silex soil from the town of St Père, and 30% limestone and 20% clay from the town of Pougny, along the Loire River. Each plot is vinified separately and brings its own complexity to the final wine. In the cellar, grapes are pressed gently with a pneumatic press and fermented with indigenous yeasts in vats for 10 to 14 days, with twice daily pump-overs for gentle extraction. When the wine completes malolactic fermentation, it is racked and aged for 10 to 12 months before bottling.

Julienas
100% Gamay from blue stone and schist soils at an altitude over 400 meters. Julienas is the northernmost village in the Beaujolais, and this small appellation is known for its steep and ancient bluestone schist slopes. The Descombe family has farmed these south-facing slopes for over 120 years. In their farming and winemaking, they are staunchly dedicated to sustainable practices for their soil and for their vines. Juliénas is characteristically named after Julius Caesar, whose troops occupied the area around 100 BC and may have already been cultivating wine back then. Julienas has high sloping vineyards and the most varied terroir in all of Beaujolais, which strengthen the vines in their poor soil and high drainage: struggling vines make excellent wines. Ensuring the highest quality of fruit for this bottling starts in the fields, with hand harvesting and strict sorting of the clusters in the vineyard and in the cellar. Whole clusters are fermented in concrete tanks and assisted by native yeasts for a 19-day maceration before pressing. The wine then rests in concrete for 15 months to age.