JL Chave - Both white and red are world class
Leroy - Some of the best pinot and chard in the planet
Jadot
Ganevat
between the two of them they probably pump out 75 cuvees a year!
Bartolo Mascarello and Montevertine
Assuming money is no object, Haut Brion and Giacosa.
Ben
Interesting exercise…more interesting than it seems superficially…
For me…after a day of (intermittent) thinking:
Domaine Patrice Rion for sure’-shot red Burgundies of all levels , with a 30-year track record of consistent satisfaction for me. (Bourgogne to grand cru) in every vintage that please and more…and satisfy intellectually, too. (Some whites, too, including aligote, so a “one stop” shopping place…for those who don’t require trophy wines.
Albert Boxler (Alsace): a range of beautiful grand cru rieslings that, like Rion, never ever disappoint and reward age, and pinot blanc, grand cru muscat (Brand) and sylvaner that is memorable…and gewurtz/pinot gris that is sweetish, but…also nice to have… Even if that lawyer in CA sells it and touts it…Boxler is great stuff. (Dauvissat in Chablis would be a candidate too for similar reasons, but…if had to choose one, Boxler is more diverse and, as is Patrice Rion, capable of satisying almost all of my wine “needs” if limited to 2.)
Despite lack of diversity, I would miss Truchot too much so I have to have his wines on my list.
Then, the second producer would have to give me something else. Haut Brion is interesting as I get both Cab and a white, but for a white I would rather have Riesling or Chardonnay than white Bordeaux. A second idea obviously would be from Germany, like Prum or Zilliken.
But, I decided to go with Leflaive. I will miss the diversity, but with Truchot and Leflaive I guess I can suffer without the diversity. Also, the rules only say that I can only buy from two producers. With these wines in hand, I bet I could convince friends to serve me other things.
Cecile Tremblay
Coche-Dury
Both make great wines across their ranges of Bourgogne to Grand Cru.
This is a tough question as you must consider diversity and budget. I think saying money is no object is avoiding the question. Unless, of course, money is already no object. Given the amount of wine I consume, I need to be able to buy in significant quantities. I’d have to go with Zepaltas first. Ryan makes phenomenal wines at several prices points and uses several varieties including chardonnay, pinot, rose, and cab franc. The second is much harder my love of classic, aged wines pushes me to Bordeaux but most make only one or two wines. Piedmont is another option, where producers make multiple wines. I think I’d go with produtorri but veiti and cantemerle were on the short list.
how can you pick buying from a producer who no longer produces? Truchot is gone.
Gunderloch and Pahlmeyer. Gunderloch for the amazing Rieslings and Pahlmeyer for big Napa stuff including Cab, Pinot Noir and Chard.
I guess I’d go with Jadot and Produttori. Ridge and the Rothschild family were close considerations too. Fun question to think about.
This makes me think that it might be an interesting experiment to try only drinking wines from one producer for a specific period of time. Might give a different understanding and insight into their style than more cursory passes do.
I am going to make these selections with price in mind.
Ceritas and (likely) Bollinger. Gotta have bubbles, steely chards, and racy pinots.
If money was no object, this would change to Krug and DRC.
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Dujac
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LVMH
I could get my red fix drinking only Giacomo Conterno and my white fix from Alzinger, but i’d be screwed for my bubbles fix and would have to cheat for some Cedric Bouchard. I know it wasn’t the question, but I could live with only those 3 producers. Thankfully, I don’t have to live by those constraints.
Benjamin Leroux and Charles Heidsieck. Because price is low and quality is the very finest.
Ridge and Niepoort
DRC
Krug (If I can have LVMH, I’ll take 'em for sure.)
Baudry, to satisfy my old world French preferences, keep my expenses in check, and offering a broad range of bottlings, each distinct, and which seem to out-perform the vintages.
Ridge, to satisfy the simple demand of pure pleasure, and like Baudry, offering a range of wines that always perform and don’t hurt the wallet.
This wins.