I was unable to get to any of the wineshops or bars that folks were so kind to recommend. I had tracked down one myself in the 5th Arrondissement (Latin Quarter) near where I was staying, and I made it there. It’s called Philovino, run by Bruno Quenioux; my visit proved to be everything a Paris wine shop visit should be.
Bruno’s store is modern, well-lit, but not particularly large or fancy. He himself is an empassioned caviste, surrounded by a cast of characters (an older man with a beard, an young Franco-Asian assistant, dressed in jeans, and phenomenally knowledge about wine, as well as the only English speaker.) Bruno referred to himself and his friends as a “culte.”
On the first evening I went there, I chatted with Bruno extensively about his quite impressive collection of Burgundy (though none aged). In the end I offered to purchase a bottle about which he had been very excited and that was not that expensive, and suggested that we taste it together: a Haute Cote de Beaune 2010 Domaine Giboulot. A crowd soon gathered; in addition to the aforementioned assistant and the older gent, who, when he caught wind of what was going on, exclaimed “quelle bonne idee,” there were two younger friends from the neighborhood, and eventually Bruno roped in two younger woman who had stopped by to purchase a bottle.
Like all the wines Bruno favored, the Giboulot was very transparent in the glass, light in weight, well balanced, neither exceptionally sweet or acidic, w/a delicate minerality. While we tasted, Bruno described at great length the agricultural practices of Giboulot, apparently all performed by the winemaker himself, without assistance. In his recent tasting in Burgundy, he preferred Giboulot’s wines to his far more famous neighbors.
The wine was a pleasure and very fine for its class; it was not, I would say, in itself off the charts. After one of the young man poured a 2011 St Germain des Pres Chenin Blanc that he somehow had with him in his suitcase, already relatively well chilled, Bruno went on under his own steam to pour a stunning Burgundy from a producer with whom I was unfamiliar: the 2011 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Les Combottes by Alain Jeanniard. This was an intense, focused, beautiful wine. The nose was evocative of minerals and flowers along with blue and red fruits. On the palate, Bruno detected kirsch, which made sense, accompanied by a subtle nub of bois in the middle palate and a beautiful buoyant finish. It had a very solid, though still almost weightless core and the finish was very long.
Jeanniard, I am told, makes some wines for the Hospices de Beaune. Another producer Bruno favors, of whom I also had not previously heard, Pierre Morey, it appears, used to make wines for Leflaive. I returned the next day, and along with picking up a bottle of the Chambolle to take back to the states, I bought, to have at dinner that evening, Morey’s 2010 Pommard 1er Les Grand Epenots. (Bruno had recommended this over a A.Rousseau G-C village. All these wines, with the exception of the Giboulet which was far less, retailed for 60-70 E.) The Pommard was lighter (in mouthfeel and weight) than what I expect from this site, but here again there was an astonishing purity, balance and lightness to the wine. In also showed Pommard character: a deep earthy undernote, along with red and black fruits (plum?). It was, again, light on its feet and had a very long finish. As with the Chambolle, the taste of the Pommard returned again and again the next day owing to its intensity and precision.
I encourage any Forumite with a little French (Bruno speaks no English) who is in the neighborhood to drop by the shop; it is well worth a visit.
. Anything I buy in a wine shop would be a reason for PO's spending the equivalent (meaning x3+) in rue du Faubourg St.Honoré or on horses 
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