Archive for the ‘Tasting notes’ Category
MWG January 8th tasting: A pair of dry Tokajs
Manufacturer of a vitamin supplement popular in Hungary, the Béres family acquired a 45-hectare estate near the village of Erdőbénye, in the heart of the Tokaj-Hegyalja wine region, in 2002.
Tokaji 2009, Naparany Cuvée, Béres ($20.60, 12178922)
A 50-50 blend of Furmint and Hárslevelü from nearly decade old vines. Naparany (“sungold”) refers to the latter’s colour. Manually harvested. Alcoholic fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast takes place in stainless steel tanks lasts three weeks. Prevented from undergoing malolactic fermentation. Matured on the lees three months in third- and fourth-fill Hungarian oak casks. Filtered before bottling. Aged six months in bottle before release. 6.3 g/l acidity, 2.3 g/l residual sugar, 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Valmonti.
Intriguing nose of peach, dried leaves, parsnip, hints of orange peel and caramel. Dry, medium-bodied and intense yet buoyant and fluent, the ripe fruit carried on a gurgling stream of acidity. Turns a little fiery – not hot – on a long finish that’s full of salty butterscotch notes. Exotic, saucy and impressive. The winemaker suggests smoked goose breast with kidney beans, cream of spinach soup with dry ham, and potato, egg and smoked pork hash with garlic sour cream as pairings. (Buy again? For sure.)
Tokaj-Hegyalja 2009, Löcse Furmint, Béres ($23.90, 11766335)
The estate’s flagship wine. 100% Furmint from 30-year-old vines growing in the Löcse vineyard. Alcoholic fermentation with indigenous yeasts in Hungarian oak casks lasts one month. Prevented from undergoing malolactic fermentation. Maturation on the lees in 30% new Hungarian oak barrels lasts eight months. Filtered before bottling. Aged three months in bottle before release. 6.1 g/l acidity, 1.7 g/l residual sugar, 14.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Valmonti.
Complex, umami-rich nose of quince, mushroom, faint nuts, hints of dried herbs. Rich, broad, deep and super long. Powerful and weighty yet balanced, even elegant. Bone-dry fruit, a mother lode of minerals and incandescent acidity dominate the mid-palate and last well into the super-long finish, where they’re joined by subtle oak and that palate-slapping fieriness. Wow-worthy and even better than the impressive 2008. As pairings the winemaker suggests “woodcutter’s roast” (sliced pork loin braised with onion, mushroom, bacon and, optionally, tomatoes and green pepper, and served with fried potato bread) or potato soup with smoked sausage, paprika and sour cream but I couldn’t stop thinking of chicken or tripe paprikash. (Buy again? Absolutely.)
For many of the assembled tasters, this was the flight of the night. The QPR for both wines is off the charts.
(Flight: 3/8)
MWG January 8th tasting: A pair of organic Soaves
Soave Classico 2013, Inama ($20.65, 00908004)
100% Garganega from organically farmed 30-year-old vines. The grapes are manually havested, destemmed, crushed, macerated on the skins for four to 12 hours, then pressed. The must is chilled and allowed to settle for 12 to 14 hours followed by alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. The fermented wine is racked into vats for eight months’ maturation. Sees only stainless steel until bottling. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Bergeron-les-vins.
Lovely, delicate, nuanced nose of lemon, white peach and just mowed flowery fields. Subtle and nuanced in the mouth too, fine-grained and dry. The pure fruit is infused with a rainwater minerality and soft-glow acidity. A faint carbon dioxide tingle only adds to the impression of freshness, while hints of almond and honey colour the bitter-threaded finish. (Buy again? Gladly.)
Soave Colli Scaligeri 2013, Castelcerino, Cantina Filippi ($20.10, 12129119)
100% Garganega from organically farmed vines most of which average 45 years old. Manually harvested. After pressing, the must is gravity-fed into stainless steel tanks. Temperature control is used sparingly if at all. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Does not undergo malolactic fermentation. Matured on the fine lees for about six months, with occasional stirring, and an additional year in the bottle. Minimally sulphured before bottling. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Lemony and a bit Sauvignon Blanc-like with pear, limestone and faint floral notes. Clean and business-like on the palate, a delicate complex of minerals, white fruit and citrus that fade into a telltale bitter-almond finish. There’s acid aplenty but, oddly, the wine stays earthbound (“ça manque d’éclat,” in the words of one taster), which is surprising given its excellence in earlier vintages and the reception the 2013 has been getting from local restaurateurs and sommeliers. Perhaps ours was a slightly off bottle? (Buy again? At least another bottle for research purposes.)
(Flight: 2/8)
MWG January 8th tasting: A pair of Sud-ouest whites
As custom has it, the Mo’ Wine Group’s first tasting after the holidays focuses on inexpensive and affordable wines. This year we began with a couple of dry whites from southwest France.
IGP des Côtes de Gascogne 2012, Les Tours, Domaine La Hitaire ($10.20, 00567891)
About two-thirds Ugni Blanc and one-third Colombard with a dollop of Gros Manseng from half-century-old vines. Cold-macerated on the skins for six to eight hours. Low-temperature fermentation. The finished wine is stored in tanks at near-freezing temperatures and bottled year-round on an as-needed basis. Sees only stainless steel. Vegetarian-compatible. Screwcapped. 10.5% per the label, 11.5% per the SAQ. Quebec agent: Mosaïque.
Opens with a whiff of screwcap funk evocative of mesclun past its best before date. As that blows off, canned peach and rock aromas emerge and are eventually joined by Sauvignon Blanc-ish grass and gooseberry notes. In the mouth, the wine’s a middleweight but lacks substance (“a bit watery” one of the tasters noted). That said, it’s fresh and clean despite the hint of residual sugar, which effectively counterbalances the crisp acidity, adds some heft and tames the citrus-pithiness. Suffered from the comparison with a significantly more expensive wine; would probably have fared better on its own. (Buy again? Sure though not in preference to the similarly priced Robertson Chenin Blanc.)
Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh 2010, Les Jardins de Bouscassé, Alain Brumont ($17.10, 11179392)
A blend of Petit Courbu and a little Petit Manseng from vines planted in various parcels and averaging 15 years old. After pressing, the must is fermented in tanks at between 16 and 18°C. Maturation on the lees with regular stirring lasts 10 to 12 months. 14.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Mark Anthony Brands.
Perfumy, floral (orange blossom?) nose with faint fresh herb and brown sugar overtones. Smooth and fruity in the piehole. Fatter, deeper, broader and more layered than the Les Tours. Frisky acidity enlivens the satin-textured yellow fruit and minerals. Finishes clean, dry and on a faint aniseed note. Hides its alcohol well. (Buy again? Sure though I’d be tempted to chip in another $6 and buy the more accomplished Montus Parcherenc instead.)
(Flight: 1/8)
Bordel De Noël workshop (6/6)
Alsace Gewürztraminer 2011, Rosenberg, Domaine Barmès Buecher ($32.25, 11655774)
100% Gewürztraminer from organically and biodynamically farmed vines grown in the Rosenberg vineyard. Manually harvested. Gently pressed. The must is allowed to settle and clarify for 12 hours, then fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in stainless steel tanks. Lightly sulphured on first racking and at bottling. Lightly filtered at bottling. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
An echt Gewürz nose of lychee, honeysuckle and rose with white spice overtones. Off-dry, richly fruited and unctuous, saved from heaviness by just enough acidity. The long, clean finish shows none of the bitterness or heat often found in wines made from this grape. Probably best viewed as a dessert wine to pair with a not-too-sugary cake, mincemeat pastry or – be still, my beating heart – mirabelle plum and almond tart. Might also work with cheese, raw-milk Munster being a prime candidate. Too sweet to accompany most savoury dishes, I’d guess, though foie gras au torchon could be just the ticket. (Buy again? Sure.)
Bordel de Noël workshop (5/6)
Champagne, Extra Brut, Blanc de blancs, Les vignes de Montguex, Jacques Lassaigne ($59.00, 12061311)
Planted to Chardonnay and a little Pinot Noir, the approximately five-hectare estate is located in Montgeux, a chalky hill in the southernmost part of the appellation. A small quantity of grapes is also purchased. All the grapes are organically farmed and the wine-making is as natural as possible. Disgorgement is performed monthly. This cuvée is always a blend of 100% Chardonnay wines from two successive vintages and several parcels. Manually harvested. Sulphur is added only as the grapes come into the winery. Each parcel is vinified separately. 15% is matured in cask. Riddling is mechanical, disgorging manual. No or minimal dosage. Unfiltered and unfined. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Pale electrum with a fine, streaming bead. Pleasing nose of lemon, apple, minerals, yeast and a whiff of yogurt. Dry, dimensional and appealingly austere, with clean fruit and chalky minerals in equipoise. The tingly effervescence provides lift, the crisp acidity cut. Finishes on a long, savoury, faintly saline note. Such a tonic wine. In its style and at its price point, you won’t find better at the SAQ or maybe anywhere. (Buy again? Yes.)
Emmanuel Lassaigne, Jacques’s son and the current winemaker, describes this as an aperitif wine, a role it plays supremely well. That said, it proved a delightful palate cleanser after the meal. It also makes a killer accompaniment for sushi.
Bordel de Noël workshop (4/6)
IGT Terre Siciliane 2013, SP68, Arianna Occhipinti ($55.75/1.5 L, 12429470)
A 50-50 blend of organically farmed Nero d’Avola and Frappato from vines averaging 11 years old. Manually harvested. Fermented with indigenous yeasts and macerated 30 days on the skins with daily pump-overs and punch-downs. Matured six months on the lees in tanks and two months in the bottle. Sees only stainless steel until bottling. Bottled unfiltered, unfined and with minimal sulphur dioxide. 12.5% ABV. Also available in 750 ml bottles ($28.45, 11811765). Quebec agent: oenopole.
Delightful nose: candied rose petal, plum, cherry and basalt dust. A supple middleweight in the mouth. The ripe and juicy fruit – so not heavy or sweet – is framed by lacy tannins and tanged with a mineral sourness. The long finish shows some tannic astringency and exits on a white pepper and anise note. A shade lighter than the 2012 perhaps but, as ever, one of the most drinkable reds on the planet. One of the most food-friendly too, as demonstrated by its compatibility with all the foods on the plate. Along with the Canarelli rosé, my turkey dinner pick of the evening. (Buy again? Automatically.)
Côtes du Rhône 2012, Lieu-dit Clavin, Domaine de la Vieille Julienne ($28.75, 10919133)
Organically farmed Grenache (80%), Syrah (10%), Mourvèdre (5%) and Cinsault (5%). Manually harvested and partially destemmed. Temperature-controlled maceration and fermentation with indigenous yeasts lasted 20 days. Matured 12 months in 50-hectolitre foudres. Unfiltered and unfined. Sulphur was added – and then minimally – only just before bottling. 14.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
A nose both exuberant and savoury: dusty plum, spice, turned earth, slate, dried herbs. Rich and dense with satiny, ripe, remarkably pure fruit. Tannic but not harshly so. Any sweetness is checked by the vibrant acidity. Bitter, earth and fired mineral flavours mark the long, full finish. Fundamentally dry and – that word again – savoury. Too intense for unadorned turkey and in no way synergistic with the Brussels sprouts, this really needs food that’s darker and more substantial: grilled lamb, say, or a beef daube. (Buy again? Absolutely, just not for Thanksgiving dinner.)
And that roasted turkey that even us turkey haters loved? Cooked using what some refer to as the blast-furnace method, which is nicely explained by chef Marek’s co-blogger here.
Bordel de Noël workshop (3/6)
Corse Figari 2013, Rosé, Clos Canarelli ($35.75, 11917666)
Based in Figari, the southernmost wine-growing region in Corsica and the sunniest in France, Yves Canarelli today has 28 hectares of vineyards in production and makes his wines in a new gravity-fed facility. This rosé is a blend of Sciaccarellu (50%), Niellucciu (30%) and Grenache (20%) from organically and biodynamically farmed vines planted in 1997. Manually harvested. The whole clusters are directly pressed and fermented with indigenous yeasts. The wine is then transferred to stainless steel tanks for partial (50%) malolactic fermentation. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Musky dried raspberry, peach, sun-baked granite, spice and distant maquis carried on a sea breeze. In the mouth, it’s more minerally than fruity, tensely balanced between acidity and extract: an ethereal presence that’s haunted by flavours and aromas, including a faint floral note somewhere between orange and jasmine. An appetizing bitterness tinges the long finish. A gastronomic wine par excellence and yet another confirmation that Corsica has become the source of some of the world’s best rosés. One of my two favourites with the turkey, this also worked with most of the trimmings, though it was less successful than the whites with the Brussels sprouts and, like most of the other wines, wilted before the cranberry relish. (Buy again? Definitely.)
Bordel de Noël workshop (2/6)
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.)
Bordel de Noël workshop (1/6)
In the run-up to the holidays, the good and generous folks at oenopole held another of their theme wine-and-food tastings for sommeliers, journalists and bloggers. The seasonally appropriate theme for this event was wines for a traditional Christmas dinner – and not just any Christmas dinner but one prepared by Foodlab chef Michelle Marek. In sending out the invitations, partner Theo Diamantis promised that Michelle’s bird would make believers out of even the biggest turkey skeptics (a group that includes me) and he was right. I’ll post a description of Michelle’s dead-simple recipe/technique in a day or three.
But back to oenopole world headquarters, where we got the ball rolling with a newly arrived sparkler.
Champagne, Brut, Blanc de blancs, Horizon, Pascal Doquet ($48.50, 11528046)
After taking over the helm of the 8.7-hectare family estate, Doquet began selling wines under his own name in 2004. The grapes for this 100% Chardonnay come from organically farmed vines planted in the 1970s. After manual harvesting, the grapes are pneumatically pressed and transferred to either stainless steel or enamel-lined steel tanks. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation are with indigenous yeasts and bacteria respectively. Matured four to five months on the lees before natural clarification and blending (the blend usually consists of two vintages and ours may well have been two-thirds 2011 and and one-third 2010). Lightly filtered before bottling, which usually takes place in late April or early May. Aged around three years in the bottle. Dosage (7 g according to some sources) is with sugar and concentrated grape must but no liqueur. Bottles are shipped six to 12 months after disgorging. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Complex, delicate nose of lemon peel, lees, yeast, chalk, quartz, candied orange and a yogurt-like lactic note. Softly but deliciously present in the mouth. Fine, caressing bubbles lift the ripe fruit and lighten the round texture. Any residual sugar is held in check by shining acidity, meaning this is at the dryish end of the scale. Lingering minerals mark the long, sourish finish. Not remarkably deep – more an aperitif than a food wine, I’d say – but what it does it does very well. Undoubtedly one of the best under-$50 Champagnes to be found at the SAQ. (Buy again? Sure.)
Sancerrenity
Sancerre 2011, Les Grands Groux, Domaine Fouassier ($25.25, 12259423)
100% Sauvignon Blanc from a 5.5-hectares of organically and biodyanmically farmed vines between 15 and 40 years old. The groux in the name is a local term for shallow chalky limestone soil with few rocks. Manually harvested. Destemmed. Pressed pneumatically. The must is gravity fed to stainless steel tanks for chilling and settling. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Malolactic fermentation takes place during the winter. All work in the cellar is done according to the lunar calendar. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: La QV.
Wafting nose: gunflint and chalk, pomelo and pear, green-turning-yellow grass, honey. Smooth on first sip with a slightly viscous texture. Echoing the nose, the fruit has a pearish laidbackness in combo with citrusy acid and a pith-like bitterness that lingers into the minerally finish. When the fruit fades, you’re surprised at how dry the wine actually is. Less exuberant and dazzling than some but so satisfying to drink on its own or with simply prepared seafood, including salads, or goat cheese. A recent limited release that, unsurprisingly, has nearly sold out. (Buy again? Yes.)
Brett happens 