Archive for October 2015
Trocken und korken
Rheinhessen 2014, Riesling, Trocken, Weingut Keller ($27.45, 10558446)
100% Riesling. Manually harvested. The must gets around 20 hours of skin contact. Cool-temperature fermentation with indigenous yeasts takes place in stainless steel tanks and lasts two months. Matured on the lees with no stirring in stainless steel tanks for four months. Reducing sugar: 4.1 g/l. 11.5% ABV (12% per SAQ.com). Quebec agent: Valmonti.
Developing, minerally nose that turns a little perfumy, is shaded by lemon-lime-grapefruit and “vanilla ice cream” aromas and eventually gains green melon notes. Faintly spritzy in the mouth. Full of ripe fruit and minerals. Bright – not sharp – with acidity, showing some depth (age will bring more) and possessed of an appealing sour edge. Dry but not austerely so. Finishes long and clean. While this didn’t appear to push the assembled tasters’ buttons, I liked its focus and balance. Would make an excellent pairing for trout and other freshwater fish (all the better if there’s some bacon present) or a simple roast chicken, not to mention herb-inflected southeast Asian cuisine. (Buy again? A bottle to take to Nhu Y, for sure, and maybe a couple more for the cellar.)
Nahe 2014, Riesling, Trocken, Vulkangestein, Weingut Schäfer-Fröhlich ($29.50, 12721454)
12% ABV. Quebec agent: Avant-Garde.
Corked. Which was a shame because you could tell this is, if anything, even finer than the Keller.
MWG October 8th tasting: flight 1 of 7
The mayor of Dogliani
Trim, dapper and personable, Piedmont winemaker Nicola Chionetti was in town a few weeks ago. His youthful appearance notwithstanding, Nicola served a five-year term as mayor of Dogliani, a Langhe village whose surrounding vineyards are generally considered a top source for Dolcetto wine. In fact, Dogliani was the first of the only two Dolcetto appellations to have been granted the exalted DOCG status and the appellation’s identification with the grape is so complete that its denominated wines may be identified simply as Dogliani instead of Dolcetto di Dogliani.
One of the two or three leading Dogliani estates, Chionetti was founded in 1912 by Nicola’s great grandfather, Giuseppe. The name of Quinto, Nicola’s grandfather, continues to feature on the estate’s labels: Azienda Agricola Chionetti Quinto e Figlio. While farming techniques have always been sustainable, the estate is officially converting to organic practice. Its 16 hectares of vineyards produce around 85,000 bottles of wine in a normal year. Only three wines are widely marketed: the Dogliani DOCGs San Luigi and Briccolero and a Langhe Nebbiolo.
The winemaking for the two Dolcettos is nearly identical: manual harvesting, destemming, soft pressing, fermentation and maceration on the skins and with indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks (29-30°C), maturation for around 11 months in stainless steel tanks, cold-stabilization and no filtering. The differences are the vineyards’ soils (clayey in San Luigi, more calcareous in Briccolero), the vines’ average ages (25 years old versus 45), yields (6,000 kg/ha versus 5,000), the typical length of maceration (10 days versus 14) and the usual alcohol level (13% versus 14). In a good vintage, the San Luigi can age up to 15 years, the Briccolero 20-25.
Among the activities slated during Nicola’s visit was a commented tasting and feast of a lunch at Hostaria for a large table of sommeliers, restaurateurs and wine writers, among whose company I was flattered to be included. Many thanks to oenopole for the opportunity to spend time with an artisan whose wines I have always enjoyed.
All told, we tasted six wines, two of which are currently available at the SAQ. You’ll find my notes after the jump.
Cistus regnat
Douro 2013, Cistus, Quinta do Vale da Perdiz ($12.80, 10841161)
Tinta Roriz (aka Tempranillo, 75%), Touriga Francesa (15%), Tinta Barroca (5%) and Touriga Nacional (5%). Fermented in stainless steel vats at controlled temperature. Twenty percent is matured in second- and third-fill barrels. Reducing sugar: 3.4 g/l. 14.5% ABV. Quebec agent: LBV International.
Typical but unexpectedly fresh nose of plum, wet slate, turned earth, black pepper and a hint of black cherry yogurt. In the mouth, it’s unexpectedly fluid, more of a middleweight than a heavyweight. The fruit, vivid and layered upfront, soon recedes, leaving a hollowing-out mouthful of inky minerals, old wood and faint alcohol fumes that gains a bitter cocoa note on the quick-fading finish. On the plus side, the tannins are supple, the acidity bright, the wine has a sense of place and it tastes like it came from a winery, not a factory. Not a coup de cœur, then, but if there’s a better red at this price point, I’d like to know about it. (Buy again? When the budget is tight, sure.)
Here now and how!
This may be yet another of the select group of SAQ wines sold only at the Atwater outlet and not listed on SAQ.com*. I picked up my bottle on Friday. Calling a few minutes ago to reserve a couple more, I was told they have 150 in stock.
Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine 2014, Amphibolite, Domaines Landron ($21.50, 12741084)
100% Melon de Bourgogne from organically and biodynamically farmed vines between 23 and 40 years old. The soil in the 7.5 ha vineyard is mainly decomposing amphibolite, whence the cuvée’s name. Yields were abnormally low in 2014: 37 hl/ha vs. the usual 45 hl/ha. The grapes were manually harvested and whole-cluster pressed. The must was chilled and allowed to clarify by settling. Fermentation with indigenous yeasts and no chaptalization took place in temperature-controlled, glass-lined cement tanks, with sulphur dioxide being added at the end to prevent malolactic fermentation. The wine was matured on the lees for four months, then cold-stabilized and gravity-bottled. Unfiltered and unfined. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
The nose of wet stones, gooseberry and ash only hints at the transfixingly vibrant mouthful to come: intertwining green fruit, crunchy minerals, lip-smacking acidity and salinity that’s off the charts. Ends long and clean with lingering bitter almond and bitter lemon notes. The kind of wine where one sip demands another and the bottle is empty before you know it. Not a keeper – even the winemaker says so – but killer here and now with Trésors du large on the half shell adorned with only a squirt of lemon and a grind of black pepper. (Buy again? Done!)
*Mystery solved: the wine was part of the October 8th natural wines release and should have been embargoed until then. In other words, Atwater jumped the gun. At 9 a.m. on Friday, October 9, bottles can be found in 74 stores across Quebec.
White and red Mogadors
Priorat 2011, Nelin, Clos Mogador ($65.00, 12159140)
The number and proportion of grape varieties in this blend vary from vintage to vintage, though Grenache Blanc always dominates. The 2011 is 52% Grenache Blanc, the balance being mostly Macabeo with a little Viognier and Escanyavelles (or Escanyo Velles, about which I have found no information, not even in Wine Grapes or the new, fourth edition of the Oxford Companion to Wine). The farming is organic. Fermented with native yeasts in oak barrels and wooden vats. Matured 16 months in 1,200-litre oak vats and 600-litre lined concrete vats. Bottled in December 2012. About 8,000 bottles made. Reducing sugar (per winemaker): 1.2 g/l. 14% ABV. Quebec agent: Divin Paradis.
A nose as surprising as it is complex and savoury: game (!), “toasted sesame” (quoting another taster), seaweed, vineleaf, “white miso,” white flowers, golden raisin, resin. Rich and elegant on the palate, weighty but not heavy. The pure fruit – ripe but not sweet – is lightly infused with minerals and herbs, buoyed by welcome acidity. Finishes long and faintly honeyed. Impeccable. (Buy again? Irrespective of price, sure. In real life, it’s a little rich for my budget, especially when equally interesting, similarly styled blends can be had for significantly less from the likes of Domaine Matassa.)
Priorat 2010, Manyetes, Clos Mogador ($89.00, 12159131)
Organically farmed Carignan (90%) and Grenache (10%). Matured 16 months in assorted oak barrels (half new, half second-fill). About 7,000 bottles made. Reducing sugar (per the winemaker): 0.2 g/l. 14.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Divin Paradis.
The nose is dominated by volatile acidity, which, despite two hours’ decanting, does not blow off. Through the VA veil one catches glimpses of red and black fruit, slate and dark spice. In the mouth, it’s full-bodied and intense, finely if tightly structured with lithe tannins and sleek acidity. The dark mineral core and buttressing oak are mostly cloaked by dark fruit, albeit less so on the finish. Breadth and length it has in spades but depth is only hinted at. Monolithic, brooding, even a little sullen for now though the potential is not in doubt. Virtually demands a few years in the cellar or, failing that, carafing hours in advance. (Buy again? If price is no object and if the superlative and even pricier flagship isn’t available, sure.)
MWG July 16th tasting: flight 6 of 6.
Though the conceit of serving flights comprised of a white and a red from the same producer was interesting to put to the test and undoubtedly provided a novel set of clues for those tasting double blind, several tasters said they found it difficult to return to the white after tasting the red.
Brett happens 