Archive for the ‘Tasting notes’ Category
MWG June 12th tasting: Return of an old friend
Cour-Cheverny 2010, Domaine des Huards ($21.65, private import, 12 bottles/case)
100% Romorantin from 35-year-old organically and biodynamically farmed vines. Manually harvested, lightly pressed, fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured on the lees for six months. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: La QV/Insolite.
Sour wax, yellow apple, straw, chalk and a touch of honey. Medium-bodied. Smooth, even a little waxy on the surface but with a acidic lemony core. Pear and minerals last well into the long, clean, bone-dry finish. Pure and intense, fresh and savoury: a delight. Can be aged up to a decade. (I successfully cellared several bottles of the 2001, for example. It probably peaked around 2007 though the last of my bottles, uncorked in 2012, was glorious for 15 or 20 minutes after opening and then quickly expired.) This used to be a staple at the SAQ and will be returning to the monopoly next year, likely in the form of the 2011. (Buy again? Absolutely.)
MWG June 12th tasting: A classic Riesling in half bottles
La QV’s Cyril Kérébel recently joined the Mo’ Wine Group to lead a memorable tasting of 12 of his agency’s newly arrived private imports (“truly outstanding,” “one of the best,” “excellentissima” and “a fascinating selection of invariably drinkable wines” were some of the post-tasting comments). We wet our whistles with a wine imported in half bottles in response to local restaurant demand.
Alsace 2007, Riesling, Domaine Moritz ($14.00/375 ml, private import, 12 bottles/case)
The 12-hectare estate is located in Andlau, halfway between Strasbourg and Colmar. Half of its holdings, which include three grand cru vineyards, are given over to Riesling. Farming is, for all intents and purposes, organic but not certified as such. The vines average 40 years old. The grapes for this Riesling (100 %) were manually harvested, gently pressed, fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in large old oak barrels. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: La QV/Insolite.
Classic and classy nose of lemon/lime, chalk and a hint of petrol. Dry and tart in the mouth. The upfront fruit dissovles in a swirl of minerals and lingers well into the long saline finish. Not particularly deep but pure and delicious. A hit with just about everyone around the table, this versatile wine is light and refreshing enough to make a great aperitif and substantial enough to accompany seafood and white meats. The half-bottle format only adds to the appeal. (Buy again? Definitely.)
Dolcetto misterioso
With the 2011 having garnered a rave from Dolcettoman, I’d had an eye peeled for Silvio Grasso’s 2012 Dolcetto for the better part of a year now. But I’d missed its arrival at the SAQ until the Gazette’s Bill Zacharkiw mentioned it yesterday in his must-read article on the trend toward high sugar levels in red wines (the Grasso was, rightly, listed as a wine that bucked the trend).
Technical information on the wine is in short supply. What are the estate’s farming practices? How are the grapes picked? Are they destemmed? Are the fermentation yeasts indigenous or selected? Is the wine filtered, fined or sulphured? The producer and its distributors apparently don’t think its important for the public to know.
Langhe Dolcetto 2012, Silvio Grasso ($18.90, 12062081)
100% Dolcetto from 15 to 20-year-old vines. Not listed on the producer’s website. According to the Quebec agent, it’s fermented and macerated on the skins for four to five days and matured for seven to eight months, all in stainless steel tanks. 14% ABV per the SAQ, 13.5% per the label. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Popped and poured. Changing nose: at various times mulberry, plum, spice (cinnamon?), turned-over log, sawed wood, graphite, old books and whiffs of alcohol. Medium-bodied and very dry. The fruit takes a back seat here, leaves the driving to fine, tight tannins, tickling acidity and a fleet fluidity. An alcoholic kick – not a burn – lifts the lightly astringent finish. Sleek and savoury in a way that Dolcettos normally aren’t. Zacharkiw says “It has the high and the low end, and whatever you eat will fill out the middle.” Let’s agree it’s better with food than without. But I also found it a bit hollow on its own – until I vigorously swirled it in my mouth, that is, at which point it exploded with fruit. That and the fact that it deepened and smoothed as it breathed suggest it may be passing through a dumb phase and that, if opened now, it should be carafed or double-carafed an hour or two. A fine match for spaghetti with pesto rosso and a plate of sliced prosciutto. (Buy again? A bottle or two to continue investigating WTF is up with this wine.)
Drunken cathedral
Pardon the Debussy pun…
Dâo Reserva 2008, Catedral, Cavas Velhas ($13.45, 00739680)
Tinta Roriz (aka Tempranillo, 50%), Alfrocheiro (30%) and Touriga Nacional (20%). Fully destemmed. Macerated and fermented in temperature-controlled (28°C) tanks. Matured for six months in Allier oak barrels and two months in the bottle. 13% ABV. $11.15 in Ontario. Quebec agent: Mosaiq.
Red plum, blackberry, spice, cocoa, blood, slate and something fresh, green and sappy, like crushed berry leaves and stems. Medium-bodied. Smooth but textured by nipping acidity, fine tannins and a faint astrengency. The nose’s slate and sap come out on the fair finish. The ripe fuit is a little too laden with oak. Were it not, this would be better – a pure and juicy quaffer. As it is, not bad, though best served lightly chilled and with food than without. (Buy again? Meh, though people less allergic oak needn’t hesitate.)
Un Côtes de Francs franc de goût
Bordeaux Côtes de Francs 2008, Château le Puy ($27.35, 00709469)
The estate makes several wines. This, the only one brought into Quebec, is the Emilien bottling, though that description appears nowhere on the front label. A blend of biodynamically and organically farmed Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Carménère (85%, 14% and 1% respectively in typical vintages) from 50-year-old vines. The grapes are fully destemmed. Fermentation in open, temperature-controlled vats with indigenous yeasts and no chaptalization lasts two to four weeks. Matured 24 months, 60% of the time in large foudres and 40% of the time in third- to fifth-fill oak casks. Bottled unfiltered. 12.5% ABV. Also available in 500 ml bottles ($18.70, 00896399). Quebec agent: A.O.C. & cie Châteaux et Domaines.
Wafting nose of cassis and red fruit with faint herbs, spice and mushroom, a pianissimo floral note and, unlike some bottles, not a hint of barnyard. Medium-bodied and smooth textured. The bright fruit and supple tannins flow to the clean finish on a long stream of soft acidity. Less compelling than the 2005? If so, only a little. With all its elements integrated, this civilized, honest, eminently drinkable wine is approachable now but balanced and alive enough to continue developing for at least another five or maybe even ten years. Probably not the first choice for a grilled T-bone (look to Argentina for that), this would accompany braised meats, grilled veal chops or meat pies to perfection. It also made a synergistic match with za’atar hummus, picking up on the earthy, citrus and herb flavours in a most surprising way. (Buy again? Sure.)
The summer sipper par excellence
Bugey Cerdon 2013, Méthode ancestrale, Domaine Renardat-Fache ($28.74, private import, 12 bottles/case)
Organically and biodynamically farmed Gamay and Poulsard from vines planted between 1960 and 2010. Manually harvested. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. The wine is bottled before fermentation is complete and continues fermenting in the bottle, creating the gas that makes it sparkle. After two months, the wine is filtered and recorked. 7.5% ABV. Quebec agent: La QV/Insolte.
An especially beguiling vintage of this perennial favourite. Deep pink or pale red (take your pick), with abundant if short-lived foam. Redolent of cherry, strawberry and cranberry. Floral overtones, slate undertones and a hint of yeast add complexity, while a soft effervescence tickles and lifts. Would be tart were the acidity not balanced by a touch of sweetness. Chalky minerals flavour the finish. So light, refreshing and fun. The summer sipper par excellence, this also accompanies not-too-sweet red berry desserts, grilled hamburgers (the adult version of strawberry soda!) and – you heard it first here, folks – mild to medium-hot Punjabi-style Indian food.
EDIT: An earlier version of this note mistakenly named the producer as Patrick Bottex, whom La QV also represents. The price, links and technical information have been updated accordingly.
15 in 2012
Santorini 2012, Cuvée No. 15, Hatzidakis Winery ($31.50, 11901189)
100% Assyrtiko from ungrafted vines grown in three organically farmed parcels. Macerated on the skins for 12 hours, the must is then separated, clarified and fermented with indigenous yeasts at 18°C. Matured on the lees in stainless steel tanks for eight months. A small amount of sulphur is added at bottling. 2,700 bottles produced. 14.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Pale gold-bronze in the glass, surely an artifact of the skin-maceration. Complex nose: briny minerals against a backdrop of ash, lemon zest and peach leather. Rich and intense in the mouth. Full-bodied though so alive with acidity you hardly notice. Ripe-sweet on the attack, the densely extracted but otherwise restrained fruit quickly turns dry and ebbs into a sea of crunchy minerals. The saline finish is endless. A wine with every dimension, with the kind of presence, structure, delineation and authority found in white Burgundies costing two and even three times as much. Like most whites of its stature, best served cool (13-14°C), not chilled. Food pairings? Working from the winemaker’s suggestions, seared tuna or pan-roasted, stewed or grilled oysters seem like naturals. Or – surprise! – marinate some single-rib lamb chops in olive oil and lemon juice at room temperature for 30 minutes, then grill over hot charcoal, season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and serve.
MWG May 15th tasting (6/6): Cretan legend
Crete 2006, Sitia, Domaine Economou ($42.00, private import, NLA)
100% organically farmed Liatiko from 65- to 75-year-old dry-farned, low-yielding, ungrafted vines grown on the Ziros plateau in eastern Crete. Fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks. Matured in French oak barrels. Natural except for a minimal shot of sulphur dioxide at bottling. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
A transporting, umami-rich nose of dried cherry, blackberry, sun-baked earth and leather with hints of cocoa and dried orange peel. Against all expectations for such a southern wine, medium-bodied (if the frequent comparisons to Barolos have merit, it’s mainly with respect to the wine’s body and weight). Dry. Lightly structured, with supple tannins and lively acidity. The layers of flavour range from fresh and dried fruit (including fig) to spice, dark minerals, Mediterranean scrub and old wood. The wine’s affirmed presence lasts through the long, savoury finish. At this stage, less structured and ethereal than the 2000 opened a few months ago but still special, even unique. One of the great Mediterranean reds. (Buy again? Imperatively.)
MWG May 15th tasting (5/6): Three vintages of Lo Vièlh
Clos du Gravillas’s flagship red is Lo Vièlh (“the old one” in Occitan), a 100% old-vine Carignan that’s a vin de pays because Minervois AOC wines are not permitted to contain more than 40% of the variety. Planted in 1911, the vineyard was slated to be uprooted when the Bojanowskis convinced the owner to sell it to them in 1999.
The three wines in our vertical were essentially made the same way. The organically farmed grapes were manually harvested, fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured 12 months in French oak demi-muids. As the winemaker explained in a recent comment, the 2009 Lo Vièlh was showing some brettiness (the 2010 was made into the Côté Obscur), so all the barrels were replaced with new ones for the 2011.
Around 2,800 bottles are produced each vintage.
VDP des Côtes du Brian 2011, Lo Vièlh, Clos du Gravillas ($35.38, private import, 6 bottles/case)
14% ABV. Quebec agent: Plan Vin.
Bordeaux-ish nose, the red and black fruit intermixed with graphite, wood, ash and vanilla scents and eventually joined by spice and undergrowth. Dry, smooth and round but also coming across as somewhat primary and unintegrated, with the oak in particular standing out. The finish is long. At least a few of us found the new style disconcerting and not fully convincing – the wine’s high quality was not in doubt but we didn’t understand why the oak was thought necessary. Now we do. I’ll give my remaining bottle at least a couple of years to digest the oak and knit together. (Buy again? Maybe, though I might be tempted to wait for the 2012, in which, in the winemaker’s words, “the oak is down a notch and the pure carignan fruit can completely shine through.”)
VDP des Côtes du Brian 2008, Lo Vièlh, Clos du Gravillas ($34.07, private import, NLA)
14% ABV. Quebec agent: Plan Vin.
Dark fruit, old wood, hints of elderberry, spice, forest floor, distant barnyard. Medium-bodied, silky and balanced, with fine acidity and a soft but persistent tannic undertow. A faint sourness adds dimension to the fruit, which is covered in thin veils of minerals, old leaves, wood. Long. A lovely wine that’s in a good place now and probably for some years to come. Would make a believer out of all but the most confirmed Carignan skeptics. (Buy again? Done!)
VDP des Côtes du Brian 2004, Lo Vièlh, Clos du Gravillas ($36.60, private import, 6 bottles/case)
14% ABV. Quebec agent: Plan Vin.
Leather, slate, black raspberry, smoke and faint meat. Satiny texture. Not much structure or backbone, though with enough acidity to keep the fire burning. Some wondered whether the bottle was off, others thought it was simply a little past peak but still delicious. (Buy again? A bottle for research purposes.)
MWG May 15th tasting (4/6): Moonstruck
Finding their stone-covered vineyards reminiscent of a moonscape, the owners of Clos du Gravillas have chosen a crescent moon as their logo. It also appears on several of their labels.
VDP des Côtes du Brian 2010, Côté Obscur, Clos du Gravillas ($24.96, private import, 12 bottles/case)
100% Carignan from organically farmed 99-year-old vines, the grapes normally used for the estate’s flagship red, Lo Vièlh. In 2010, the wine took much longer to ferment and tasted so different from the usual Lo Vièlh, the owners decided to make it into a different wine named The Dark Side. Manually harvested. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. 3,500 bottles produced. 14% ABV. Quebec agent: Plan Vin.
Appealing nose of dill, spice, raspberry candy and a mass of black fruit. Medium-bodied. Fruity on the surface but with a dark undercurrent. Supple tannins and medium acidity keep things structured and fresh. Minerally and spicy, especially on the kirsch-toned finish. Tasty. (Buy again? Yes.)
VDP des Côtes du Brian 2012, Sous les Cailloux des Grillons, Clos du Gravillas ($22.44, private import, 12 bottles/case)
A blend of organically farmed Syrah (30%), Cabernet Sauvignon (30%), Carignan (10%), Grenache, Counoise and Mourvèdre. Manually harvested. Destemmend then lightly crushed by foot. Traditional but short vinification. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Matured 12 months in stainless steel tanks. 8,000 bottles produced. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: Plan Vin.
Odd, stinky nose dominated by leather, animale and oyster shell aromas. Spritzy, as intended by the winemaker. Rich, fluid and quite dry. The fruit is clean, the tannins smooth, the acidity buoyant. The berry and slate flavours linger long. (Buy again? A bottle to see what’s up with the nose.)
VDP des Côtes du Brian 2010, Rendez-vous du Soleil, Clos du Gravillas ($28.23, private import, 12 bottles/case)
Organically farmed Carignon, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah in equal proportions. Manually harvested. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Matured a little over two years, mostly in stainless steel tanks, though the Cab and Syrah spend half the time in old oak barrels. 3,000 bottles produced. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Plan Vin.
Complex nose: leather, slate, candied cherry, mincemeat, hint of burned coffee. Round and dry and very present – a mouthful of spicy, peppery, blackcurranty fruit, sustained, velvety tannins and lowish acidity. The slatey finish has a lingering astringency and bitterness. The kind of generous red the Languedoc is known for. (Buy again? Maybe, though I wish it were $5 cheaper.)
Updated on June 10, 2014, with information provided by the winemaker (see comments).
Brett happens 