Cape Classics continues to grow its French portfolio with the addition of seven Philippe Pacalet wines.

Pacalet approaches winemaking with an innovative style, the company says, relying on independently farmed vineyards that capture characteristics of terroir. The wines are crafted using organic farming.

The seven Pacalet offerings will be available nationally (excluding California, Massachusetts, Oregon and Texas) through Cape Classic’s distribution partners in each state.

The nephew of natural winemaker Marcel Lapierre, Philippe Pacalet is a Burgundy vintner committed to the same sustainable winemaking practices as his uncle, the company says. Without his own vineyards or a permanent group of workers, Pacalet has the freedom to choose what he considers the best vineyards for the wines produced, using purchased grapes sourced from carefully-selected vineyard sites and vines.

Pacalet makes a point of using the same set of pickers to insure a berry selection that will express the terroir of the vines, the company says. Once selected, the grapes undergo a long maceration process during which they are pressed by foot. At vinification, he relies on wild yeasts for fermentation to produce and further express the “sense of place” for his wines.

Philippe Pacalet

The seven imported wines are as follows, with the winemaker’s tasting notes and suggested retail price:

• 2013 Chablis 1er Cru Beauroy: This premier cru Chablis has white flower, peach and mango fruit aromas segueing to a balanced palate with a mineral edge. (SRP $89.99)
• 2013 Pommard: Full bodied and slightly tannic, this mineral-driven wine is both spicy and fruity, offering prominent notes of red berries. (SRP $94.99)
• 2013 Gevrey-Chambertin: Fresh and fruity, this Pinot Noir is round and generous with mineral undercurrents and wild, musky aromas. Notes of salt, rosewood and wild flowers are on the substantial, fleshy palate. (SRP $99.99)
• 2013 Nuits-Saint-Georges Rouge: Clean and fruit forward, this red is well-structured with traces of wild berries and musk on the nose that lead to a smooth, velvety palate that conjures hints of salinity with an underlying minerality. (SRP $104.99)
• 2013 Chassagne-Montrachet: This structured Chardonnay has aromas from the east—caraway and saffron—along with notes of white flowers and pineapple. Balanced, the mouthfeel is fresh and chalky, yet rich and round. (SRP $119.99)
• 2013 Puligny-Montrachet: This Puligny Montrachet has white flower and lime on the nose and a mineral-driven, chalky palate that has hints of salinity. (SRP $124.99)
• 2013 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru: This offers a fragrance of delicate flowers—more precisely roses and violets—along with traces of tea, ambergris and fur. The palate is silky, complex and deep lingering. (SRP $184.99)

To promote the introduction of Pacalet to its portfolio, Cape Classics will use a targeted approach to the launch, and first ensure that existing customers are accommodated on these limited production bottlings.

On- and off-premise pre-sale tasting events and dinners are slated for the key markets, some event hosted by Philippe Pacalet himself, who will be visiting New York and Washington D.C. in late October.