Brett happens

All wine, most of the time

Bordel de Noël workshop (2/6)

leave a comment »

Bourgogne Vézelay 2012, La Piècette, Domaine de la Cadette ($27.15, 11589691)
See the delightful Wine Terroirs blog for background on and pictures of the estate and many of its wines, though not the Piècette. 100% organically farmed Chardonnay from several parcels. The hand-picked whole clusters are pressed and the must is transferred to stainless steel tanks and new oak barrels (two-thirds to one-third for the 2010; not sure about the 2012) for six months’ alcoholic and malolactic fermentation (no added yeasts or bacteria). Unfiltered. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Powdered quartz and lemon, some green apple and a floral note. Fruity but dry. Fresh and just tense enough, with a clean attack, smooth mid-palate and lingering faint bitterness. The oak is so discreet as to almost be unnoticeable. Complex and elegant, showing more than a little of the rectitude and integrity that makes good Chablis so appealing. Worked with nearly everything on the plate except the cranberry relish, which proved more than the wine could handle. (Buy again? Yes.)

Côtes du Jura 2012, Fleur de Savagnin, Domaine Labet ($35.25, 10783248)
Like a few other Jura winemakers, the Labets use the “fleur” (flower) moniker to designate unoxidized wines. 100% Savagnin from organically farmed vines averaging 25 years old in several parcels, including the celebrated En Chalasse vineyard. After pressing, the must is allowed to clarify by settling for 24 hours. Fermented with indigenous yeasts in large, neutral oak barrels. Matured in newer 228-litre oak barrels that are topped up weekly. 14% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Fragrant nose of Meyer lemon, apple/pear, wax candles and hints of almonds and porcini. The richness of extract doesn’t interfere with the wine’s fluidity, due largely to the grape’s inherent acidity, here present if not as trenchant as in some earlier vintages. The sharp strata of fruit and minerals are softened by a gossamer scrim of creamy oak. Finishes long and clean. Very impressive. In a tasting full of delicious wines, this was the most popular with the assembled tasters. Perhaps not surprisingly, it was also the most versatile in terms of food pairing, handling everything from smoked salmon to turkey to cranberry relish with aplomb and positively singing with the roasted Brussels sprouts. (Buy again? Imperatively.)

Written by carswell

January 11, 2015 at 12:18

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: