Wine favorites #1: from Rhone to New York

Guillaume, CEO @orsayconsulting, New York

Guillaume is a wine enthusiast from Lyon in France. He had his first sips of Beaujolais and Cotes du Rhone during the family Sunday lunches when he was still a teenager (yes, that’s France!).

Guillaume loves wines from California and Oregon. But when he is not tasting a new wine from Napa or Willamette, he enjoys great bottles from all over the world, with a preference for wines from France, Italy, and New Zealand.

What are your three favorite wines of the moment and why?

I LOVE champagne, this is my favorite wine. Champagne is so festive and we drink it all the time is France. It flows when we party and when we celebrate. And it’s the perfect wine for a brunch or an apero (pre-dinner drink) with friends. I recently discovered the Champagne R&L Legras, Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru, the house champagne of Sotheby’s Wine in New York. It’s an elegant, light, and fresh champagne, perfect for pairing with fine food. Blanc de Blanc indicates it is made from 100% Chardonnay, my favorite type of champagne. It’s a bargain, and probably one of the very best champagne you can buy at this price point in New York. Always trust a French when it’s about champagne!

I recently attended a wine tasting organized by Marie Vayron, who is the talented Head Sommelier at 3-star Michelin restaurant Le Bernardin in New York. She introduced me to Sandhi Wines, a Santa Barbara County winemaker that makes fantastic red and white wines. I love their Burgundy style whites, and the quality and purity of their chardonnays is really impressive. Their most accessible Chardonnay is the Sandhi Rita Hills Chardonnay. It’s a medium-bodied Chardonnay, crisp and mineral, with a nice acidity. A great introduction to their more exclusive (and more expensive) single vineyard wines such as the superb Bentrock.

One of my favorite everyday wines is the Warwick Estate Pinotage, an unpretentious red from South Africa. Pinotage is a crossing of Cinsault and Pinot Noir, and it is South Africa’s signature grape variety for red. Warwick Estate produces great wines and the quality is very consistent. This wine was recommended by a friend of mine who works at Lavinia, the largest and most incredible wine cellar in Paris, and it’s definitively a great find. This red is smooth and fruity, with soft tannins. It pairs very well with beef and game, but I usually enjoy it with a good home-made pizza.