Archive for the ‘Tasting notes’ Category
MWG July 17th tasting: EGBB shoot-out
EGBB = easy-going Bordeaux blend.
North Fork of Long Island 2010, First Crush Red, Bedell Cellars ($25.30, 11040180)
Merlot (76%) and Cabernet Franc (24%) from young vines. Manually harvested. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Vinified and matured in stainless steel tanks at low temperatures.13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: ???.
Black cherry cordial, cassis and a hint of graphite and a candied note that led one taster to remark “sports card bubble gum.” In the mouth, it’s a smooth-textured middleweight that somehow also manages to be light-bodied. Juicy, bordering-on-overripe fruit, light dusty tannins, sufficient acidity. The noticeable residual sugar weighs on the palate and rules out refreshment. A wine for people who don’t care much for wine? (Buy again? Nope.)
Côtes du Marmandais 2012, Le vin est une fête, Elian Da Ros ($20.65, 11793211)
A blend of organically farmed Merlot (60%), Cabernet Franc (20%) and Abouriou (20%). Manually harvested. The Merlot and Cabernet are destemmed, macerated for ten to 15 days and gently pressed. The Abouriou clusters are kept whole and vinified using semi-carbonic maceration. All fermentations are with indigenous yeasts. The wine is matured 14 months in old barrels. Unfined and lightly filtered before bottling. Sulphur is added only on bottling. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Closed, initially funky nose showing lots of Bordeaux qualities – pencil shavings and cigar box, for example – but also exuberantly un-Bordeaux-like fruit along with some black pepper, red meat and a vegetal edge. The young, lightly raspy, appealingly rustic tannins notwithstanding, a fundamentally supple, silky-textured wine. The fruit – so pure and juicy – shines bright against a backdrop of dark minerals and lasts well into the tart finish. True to its name, this fresh and lively wine is a celebration of wine-making and wine-drinking. Drink slightly chilled. (Buy again? In multiples.)
MWG July 17th tasting: A rosé is a rosé is a rosé?
Côtes du Rhône 2010, Rosé, Domaine Gourt de Mautens ($73.50, private import, NLA)
The inaugural vintage of this wine. A blend of co-planted organically and biodynamically farmed Grenache Noir, Carignan, Mourvèdre and Counoise from nearly century-old vines. Very low yields (10 to 15 hl/ha). Manually harvested. Sorted on picking and in the cellar. The grapes are pressed on arrival. The must is then co-fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured ten to 18 months in stainless steel tanks and neutral demi-muids. Bottled unfiltered and unfined. The winemaker says this is essentially a blanc de noirs and can be aged up to ten or 15 years. 14% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Soft orange-pink. Impossibly complex nose that never stops evolving: grilled peach, red currant, blood orange, white pepper, quartz, garrigue, dried flowers, roast chicken, talc. In the mouth, a dry and savoury middleweight with sustained acidity and layer upon ethereal layer of fruit and flinty minerals. Structured and tense in the manner of a fine white. An orange wine-like hint of tannin textures the long finish. Delicious even when warm. The alcohol is totally unapparent. Phenomenal. (Buy again? If the price isn’t a barrier, yes.)
MWG July 17th tasting: Marsanne shoot-out
Saint-Joseph 2011, Les Granilites, M. Chapoutier ($39.25, 11873018)
100% Marsanne from organically framed vines. Manually harvested. The whole clusters are pressed, with the must going directly into vats, where it is chilled and clarified by settling for 48 hours. It is then racked into 600-litre fûts and fermented with indigenous yeasts. Matured ten months in fûts with stirring of the lees for the first two months. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Vins Philippe Dandurand.
Complex nose: honey, white spices, wax, pear, lychee, minerals and a whiff of cheese. On the palate, it’s rich, dry and mouth-filling, weighty but balanced , possessed of a satiny texture. There’s a suggestion of spiced pear and peach though, as with its flightmate, the fruit flavours are elusive. Long and complete. If the wine has a downside, it’s that it’s not particularly refreshing. That said, it might prove the perfect accompaniment to a dish like scallops or langoustines in curry cream. (Buy again? If in the market for a 100% Marsanne, sure.)
Northern White 2011, Washington State, Rôtie Cellars ($33.00, 12115462)
100% Marsanne. Slow, cool (13°C) alcoholic fermentation with indigenous yeasts. Malolactic fermentation is not completed. Sees only stainless steel until bottling. 13.9% ABV. Quebec agent: Insolite.
Inscrutable nose of minerals and ash. Middleweight and balanced but lean and not exactly characterful, the firm acidity notwithstanding. Flavours? Saline with hints of pear and white peach and a faint oxidized honey note. “A lot of surface but doesn’t stick around very long,” noted one taster. The tail-end – tellingly about a quarter of the bottle was left at the end of the tasting – had lost all personality the next day. (Buy again? Probably not.)
MWG July 17th tasting: Pinot Gris shoot-out
Except for a pink singleton in the middle, the rest of the tasting was a series of two-bottle flights in which a New World wine was pitched against a similar and similarly priced Old World wine. First up were a couple of affordable Pinot Grises.
Pinot Gris 2012, Willamette Valley, Elk Cove Vineyards ($26.10, 11640011)
100% Pinot Gris from vines three to 27 years old grown in various northern Willamette Valley vineyards. Manually harvested, whole-cluster pressed. Fermented at low temperatures in stainless steel tanks. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Vintrinsec.
Appealing nose of pear, chalk and wax. Fruity but not to excess, with bright acidity and a hint of residual sugar. A saline undercurrent threads into the long, dry finish. Pure and vibrant – an easy-drinker with no complexes. (Buy again? Sure.)
Alsace Pinot Gris 2012, Les Princes Abbés, Domaines Schlumberger ($22.85, 00913897)
100% Pinot Gris from estate grown grapes, mostly from the Schimberg lieu-dit. The grapes are manually harvested and pneumatically pressed. The must is clarified by settling, then fermented in large temperature-controlled barrels for one to four months. Maturation on the fine lees lasts six to eight months. 13.45% ABV. Quebec agent: Les Vins La Rochelle.
A more savoury nose: less fruity, more minerally, with hints of herbs and smoke. Smoother and drier on the palate, the texture slightly more viscous, the acid less bright. The wine’s weight notwithstanding, there’s not a lot of depth here. Clean, rainwatery finish. Not bad but, compared with the Elk Cove (not to mention Scheuller’s electrifying Pinot Grises), a bit of a wallflower. (Buy again? Maybe.)
MWG July 17th tasting: Lip-stingers?
A word of Occitan/French origin, piquepoul is usually translated as “lip-stinger.” The grape variety is reportedly so named due to its high acidity.
Languedoc 2013, Picpoul de Pinet, Château Saint-Martin de la Garrigue ($19.15, 11460045)
100% Piquepoul Blanc from vines averaging 25 years old. The grapes are picked late in the season, pressed, macerated ten hours on the skins, then cold settled and racked into the fermentation vessels. The slow, temperature-controlled fermentation is followed by four-months’ maturation on the fine lees in stainless steel tanks. 14.5% ABV according to SAQ.com, 15% (!) according to the label. Quebec agent: Bergeron-les-vins.
Lemon, quartz and chalk, hints of honey and paraffin. Very dry but fruity, with lots of extract. Electric acidity keeps things fresh. An herbal/floral note – think lemon verbena – perfumes the mid-palate while minerals come to the fore on the bitter-tinged, lightly saline finish. Surprisingly cool, with no alcohol apparent on the nose or palate. Puts the lie to the old saw that Picpoul is the Muscadet of the Midi. Would make a fine pairing for grilled fish and shellfish but is also substantial enough to accompany a local specialty, encornets à la sétoise (aïoli not optional). (Buy again? For sure.)
Languedoc 2013, Picpoul de Pinet, Ormarine, Maison JeanJean ($13.50, 266064)
100% Piquepoul Blanc. The grapes are pressed and macerated on the skins, then allowed to cold-settle. Enzymes are added for enhanced aromatics. Low-temperature fermentation involves selected yeasts. Screwcapped. 12.5% ABV. Maison JeanJean’s website is broken so I can’t verify, but this appears to be made by the Cave de l’Ormarine and to be very similar if not identical to their “Carte noire” bottling. Quebec agent: Sélect Vins.
Lime zest, pear and passion fruit. In the mouth, a light spritzy prickle, straightforward fruit and some creaminess. Crisp if not as vibrantly acidic or minerally as the St-Martin. Short finish and a faint buttery aftertaste. A perfectly correct, simple wine that wowed no one around the table, though a few did say they’d buy it as a cooking wine they could also drink in a pinch. (Buy again? Unlikely, especially as my go-to cooking wine runs about $3 cheaper.)
Wild thing?
A couple of weeks ago, the Pork Futures guys and I got together for an evening of baby sitting and burger grilling. Among the wines popped and poured was a bottle N had brought back from a recent trip to Greece. It left us scratching our heads. You’ll find our comments below.
Santorini 2012, Assyrtiko by Gaia – Wild Ferment, Gaia Wines (€13.00 in Athens)
100% Assyrtiko from an upland vineyard reputed to produce grapes more aromatic than those from other parts of the island. After pressing, the must is macerated on the skins for 12 hours at 10°C. About half is then transferred to stainless steel tanks and half to new 225-litre barrels (40% French oak, 40% American oak, 10% acacia). Fermentation with ambient yeasts is spontaneous; the tank batch ferments at 16 to 18°C, the barrel batches at 26 to 28°C. After fermentation is complete, selected tanks and barrels are blended and bottled. 13% ABV.
N: “Disjointed at first (website says to decant it for 1/2 hour). Makes no sense why one would oak Assyrtiko. Slightly narrow and linear (also a bit surprising for a wild yeast ferment – maybe the oak tramps it down). Much more agreeable with the potato salad and even the burger.” (Speaking of that potato salad, which truly did make a fine pairing, you’ll find the recipe after the jump.)
A: “Bizarre. Smelled funny. Not banana or butter but something vaguely off-putting. There’s a sourness to the nose, a bit like the drain of my sink. And the oak came off as cheesy. In the mouth, the wine had a unique texture – viscous. Quite nice with food though.”
Me: Ashy nose. Extract-rich but balanced. Honeyed but dry. Unexpected cantaloupe at the back of the palate. Minerals mainly take the form of salinity on the finish. Subdued acidity for a Santorini Assyrtiko. The oak isn’t heavy but seems beside the point. Less crystalline, rounder, smoother, softer-focused and, paradoxically, tamer than my go-to Santorinis like the Hatzidakis. On its own terms, not bad. But not what I’m looking for in an Assyrtiko.
Gaia is represented in Quebec by Le Marchand de Vin. At the Printemps grec tasting in May, one of the agency’s sales reps was pouring the 2013 vintage of the wine, which he implied may be showing up at the SAQ for around $24. My sketchy note reads: “Nose: Mineral, a bit farty, lemon, white grapefruit. Mouth: Clean and snappy. Fruit and white flowers on finish. Only a bit of an acid bite. The wood is discreet. ‘Sweet’ up front but very dry on the finish. Buy again? Maybe.”
Get a grip?
Douro 2012, Diálogo, Niepoort ($16.85, 12098033)
A blend of Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (aka Tempranillo) and Tinta Amarela, among others (for what it’s worth, SAQ.com gives the proportions of the named varieties as 40%, 30%, 20% and 10% respectively), from vines averaging ten to 20 years old. Manually harvested. Alcoholic fermentation takes place in stainless steel vats, malolactic fermentation in large barrels and stainless steel vats. The wine is matured 12 months in used 225-litre French oak barrels and stainless steel tanks. 13% ABV. If I’m not mistaken, the wine is marketed with country-specific comic strip labels and even cuvée names (e.g. Twisted, not Diálogo, in the States). The local bottling – titled Hunter – comes with a critter label of sorts drawn by Montrealer Claude Cloutier. Quebec agent: Alivin Canada.
Subdued, dry-smelling nose of plum, black cherry, pencil lead, old wood, savoury herbs and definite balsam notes. Disconcerting on first sip: not limp but virtually gripless. The acidity and tannins are so soft your attention settles on the supple, pure and fresh if dry fruit. A faint lactic vanilla streak colours the otherwise ephemeral finish. A half-hour in the carafe adds a little depth and vibrancy, but this welterweight is most notable for its elusive substantiality. Looking for a red wine to go with your piri-piri chicken? You got it. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Morel certainty
Gigondas 2010, Pierre Henri Morel ($33.00, 11996157)
Grenache (60%), Syrah (30%) and Mourvèdre (10%). Fermented in concrete vats for three to four weeks, with daily pump-overs. Matured for 12 to 18 months, mostly in concrete vats but partly in 600-litre barrels. 14.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Clos des vignes.
A nose more closed and subdued than the Signargues‘s, the blackberry and sour cherry wrapped in leather, garrigue and old oak. Bigger, sterner and more structured too, with grippier if fine tannins. The fruit is pure, focused and held in check by savoury and mineral flavours and sleek acidity, while the spice-scented finish lasts long. This has leg of lamb written all over it. Carafe an hour before serving at cool room temperature. In contrast to some overachiever Gigondases, not a blockbuster and all the better for it. (Buy again? Sure.)
Morel ambiguity
Based in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Domaine Pierre-Henri Morel – no website that I could find – is a recent joint venture between Morel and Michel Chapoutier, for whom Morel works as commercial director. The wines are made at Chapoutier’s facilities but Morel is responsible for all wine-making decisions.
Côtes du Rhône Villages Signargues 2011, Pierre Henri Morel ($19.25, 1233249)
Another of those blends whose composition nobody seems to agree on. The bottle’s back label says Grenache and Syrah, while an official looking technical information sheet says mostly Grenache with some Syrah. SAQ.com claims it’s 70% Syrah and 30% Grenache but the wine tastes more like 70% Grenache and 30% Syrah. Various US and UK vendors refer to Grenache, Syrah and Mouvèdre, often in a proportion of 50-25-25. The Quebec agent doesn’t even list Morel on its website and doesn’t include wine lists or technical information for any of the producers it does list. Whatever. The wine is reportedly fermented in concrete vats with daily pump-overs for three to four weeks and matured in concrete vats for 12 months. 14.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Clos des vignes.
Appealing nose: spiced plum and black cherry with hay loft, graphite and smoke notes, evolving toward raspberry liqueur. A heady, silk-textured, bone-dry middleweight. The peppery, tangy fruit, rasping acidity and fine mesh of tannins are the main show, while a mild astringency and flaring heat mark the finish. Carafe an hour before serving and drink at cool room temperature (20-30 minutes in the fridge on these warm summer evenings) to temper the heat. (Buy again? Sure.)
Basic Bret
Mâcon–Uchizy 2012, Cuvée La Martine, Bret Brothers ($28.75, 11491677)
Owners of the La Soufrandière estate since 2000, Jean-Guillaume and Jean-Philippe Bret also make wines using grapes purchased from a handful of trusted growers in southernmost Burgundy. The latter are sold under the Bret Brothers négociant label. The grapes for this 100% Chardonnay come from a single parcel of vines more than 50 years old located just outside the village of Uchizy. Manually harvested and whole cluster-pressed. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Vinified and matured for 11 months in 228-litre oak barrels. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: Trialto.
Textbook Chardonnay nose: oats, chalk, lemon and a hint of tropical fruit. Medium-bodied and mouth-filling. The tense balance between fruity extract and racy acidity really holds your attention. Some ripe fruit sweetness notwithstanding, dry and minerally, especially on the bitter-edged finish. Clean, pure, intense, layered, even complex – what’s not to like? Cellar for a year or two or carafe for an hour or two. (Buy again? Sure.)
Brett happens 