Mind-Bending
2014 Lucas Chasselas
Un Matin Face au Lac & Marin
Dominique Lucas turns out head-spinning wines.
They are exhilarating wines. It's for this reason that I made Lucas' Savagnin my wine of the year.
In many ways, it's his work with Chasselas that is the most shocking. Chasselas doesn't have a stellar reputation. Most Chasselas are simple wines to quaff without much thought after a day of skiing. Lucas' are mind-bending examples of the grape.
Taste Lucas' Chasselas and you'll never look at the grape the same way.
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Dominique Lucas comes from a Burgundian winemaking family, but decided to work in Savoie near Lac Leman (what the French call Lake Geneva). His wines immediately attracted a cult following. I'd been hearing about this game-changing Chasselas for years before I could even get my hands on a bottle to try.
When I tasted my first Lucas wine, I immediately understood all the fuss. Along with Belluard and one or two others, Lucas' wines show the heights that Savoie can reach in the hands of a careful, thoughtful winemaker.
Across the range, the wines have striking mineral purity, subtle textural complexity and boundless, citrus-animated energy. Simply put, it all adds up to thrilling drinking.
Of the two Chasselas, Un Matin Face au Lac comes from soils of glacial moraines and clay. It's the slightly richer of the two wines with an enveloping minerality and complex layers of citrus. Marin comes from glacial moraine and granite soils. Neither of these are shy on acidity, but Marin is the sharply mineral, tensile of the two. For all of Marin's mountain purity and zip, there's a fascinating, building depth on the finish.
Both of these are profoundly exciting wines. Lucas' wines appear and then rapidly disappear. Word has quickly gotten out about the wines. Please give us your ideal order and we'll try our best.
To order, email offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits
Un Matin Face au Lac & Marin