Archive for the ‘Tasting notes’ Category
MWG December 14th tasting (1/4): Two Proseccos and a ringer
The Mo’ Wine Group celebrated its seventh anniversary on December 14. As usual, the tasting featured sparklers, Champagnes, some potentially sublime still wines and an odd bottle or two. We began with two Proseeccos and a mystery wine contributed by one of the group’s original members.
Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore 2011, Extra Dry, Bandarossa, Bortolomiol ($19.50, 10654956)
100% Glera (aka Prosecco). Pressed off the skins, fermented with selected yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats. Sparkled using the Charmat process, which lasts close to a month. Matured one to three months. 18.0 g/l residual sugar. 6.0 g/l total acidity. 11.5% ABV.
Sliver to the other wines’ yellow-gold. Perfumy nose: bath powder, lemon and a candied note one taster dubbed “Hubba Bubba.” The foam lasted several minutes around the edge of the glass – the first time I’ve encountered that – though in the mouth the effervescence was fine and soft. Drier and more acidic than expected (a good thing) but also shallow. (Buy again? No, not when the far more enjoyable 2011 Bisol can be had for less.)
Vidalsecco 2010, Ontario, Huff Estates ($19.95, purchased at the winery)
100% Vidal Blanc. Sparkled using the Charmat process. Matured in stainless steel vats. 12 g/l residual sugar. 11.5% ABV. 400 cases made. Crown-capped.
Noticeably different nose: lemon and chalk but also mastic, star fruit, chewing gum (“Juicy Fruit” said another taster, continuing the Wrigley theme) and a hint of foxiness. A little like sipping ginger ale, though dry and fine-textured with an appealing tang and a long, clean finish. (Buy again? Sure.)
Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore 2010, Extra Dry, Le Rive di Ogliano, Masottina ($23.15, 11791750)
100% Glera. Fermented with selected yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats. Sparkled using the Charmat process. 13.0–15.0 g/l residual sugar. 5.2–6.2 g/l total acidity. 11.5% ABV.
Perfumy again, though not to the Bortolomiol’s boudoiry excess, with a honeyed edge and a hint of lemon zest. Soft, almost caressing effervescence. Very dry. A certain complexity of flavours, including a floral note on the finish. Tasty. (Buy again? Yes.)
Considering the oyster
The good people at oenopole recently invited a number of local wine and food bloggers and writers to a workshop, possibly the first in an occasional series focused on pairing wines with a single food. In this case the food was raw oysters, Coville Bays to be precise. Impressively fresh and impeccably shucked, the medium-sized, meaty bivalves were some of the briniest I’ve tasted. Aside from four white wines, all that was on the table were mollusks on half shells, lemon wedges and bread – about as straightforward as it gets.
Bourgogne 2010, Sœur Cadette, Domaine de la Cadette ($18.25, 11460660)
In this vintage though maybe not for long, a négociant wine. 100% organically farmed Chardonnay. Slow-pressed, fermented in stainless steel with natural yeast. Matured 12 months in stainless steel tanks. Lightly filtered before bottling. 12.5% ABV.
Light lemon, chalk and quartz with a lactic note. Fresh and bracing on the palate, the fruit (lemon and green pear and apple) discreet. Taut with a tension between acidity and minerals. Long, clean, appetizingly sour finish. You won’t find a better brisk and minerally Chardonnay at the price.
> Lean and bright on its own, the wine was richer, rounder and fruitier with the oyster. A good match.
VDP des Cyclades 2011, Atlantis, Argyros ($16.65, 11097477)
Assyrtiko (90%), Aidani and Athiri (each 5%) from ungrafted vines. Fermented in stainless steel vats with selected yeasts. 13.0% ABV.
Rainwater on stones, crystal lemon, a hint of herbs. Denser than the Sœur Cadette but much less fruity, the sharp-edged minerals and trenchant acidity here softened by the wine’s weightiness. A saline tang flavours the finish. If possible, even better than the excellent 2010. Unbeatable QPR.
> A superb pairing, a whole greater than the sum of its parts. The wine’s minerality and brininess echoed the bivalves’ while its acidity cut their richness. In contrast to the Sœur, the wine’s flavour was little transformed by the naked oyster, though adding a few drops of lemon juice did bring out the otherwise shy fruitiness.
Champagne, Blanc de Blancs, Brut, Pascal Doquet ($43.25, 11528046)
100% organically farmed Chardonnay from the communes of Bassuet and Bassu. Vinified entirely in stainless steel. Matured six months, three of them on the lees. A blend of three vintages. 12.5% ABV.
Faintly floral, candied lemon, chalk, lees. Crisp and delineated yet soft and caressing. The flavours are clean and pure. Dry, the sweetness coming only from the fruit. Leaves on a mineral note. Beautiful and, once again, offering tremendous value.
> If an oyster transformed the Sœur Cadette, here it was the wine that transformed the oyster, amping up its seawater taste (iodine, saltiness, even fishiness). As these were already exceptionally briny oysters, that was perhaps too much of a good thing; I suspect the Champagne would work better with a milder oyster. As before, a squirt of lemon sweetened the wine.
Champagne grand cru 2002, Le Mesnil sur Oger, Brut, Pascal Doquet ($74.00, 11787291)
100% organically farmed Chardonnay from the Le Mesnil sur Oger vineyard. Based on the 2002 harvest (65%) with 35% reserve wines from 2001. About a third of the wine is matured in casks, the rest in tanks. 12.5% ABV.
Classic, refined champagne nose of brioche and yellow apple. Light, even ephemeral on the palate yet rich, complex, layered. Soft, fine effervescence. Some fruity sweetness is apparent on the attack; otherwise very dry. A load of minerals on the long finish. So elegant. A complete and beautiful wine comparable to blanc de blancs costing up to half again as much.
> Interacted with the oysters much like the non-vintage did, though a little less forcefully.
A last-minute addition:
Bourgogne 2011, Les Saulniers, Domaine de la Cadette ($47.00/1500ml, oenopole, six bottles/case)
100% organically farmed Chardonnay from a single parcel located on a path once used by salt smugglers, whence the name. Sorted on the vine, slow-pressed, fermented with native yeasts in wood and stainless steel vats. Lightly filtered before bottling.
Stony, ashy nose with some lemon/lime zest. Fluid. Dry. Pure. Weightier and rounder than its little sister though still acid-bright. Full of green apple, sweet lemon and mineral flavours. Long, clean finish. Tasty.
> Naked oysters made an acceptable pairing, lemoned oysters a better one.
As the crowd chatted and prepared to leave, the cork was popped on a magnum of the always delicious and refreshing Bisol Prosecco ($19.10/750 ml, 10839168; $40.25/1,500 ml, 11549349). Didn’t take notes but the fact that it didn’t taste like a letdown after such an excellent sequence of whites should tell you all you need to know.
Unsmiling Sangiovese
Rosso di Montalcino 2010, Argiano ($22.60, 10252869)
100% Sangiovese. Manually harvested. Fermented on the skins in stainless steel vats for two to three weeks. After malolactic fermentation, transferred to second vintage French oak barrels and Slovenian oak botti for maturation. Botttled the following fall. 14.0% ABV per the SAQ, 14.5% per the label.
Dusty cherry and terracotta with hints of baled hay, sage/bay, cinnamon, alcohol. Medium bodied. Silky on the attack. The foreground is occupied by fine but very firm tannins and bright acidity, the background by fruit that’s more kirschy than fresh. Not much depth, not much to chew on. Initially so dry that arid might be a better descriptor, so astringent that I wanted to go brush my teeth, it sweetened and softened a little as it breathed. Fair finish with some tobacco joining the cherry and alcohol.
Definitely a food wine but not now or probably ever a very beguiling one. Next time I’ll look a little further north to Chianti for my Sangiovese hit.
Tasting with Aldo Vacca
Aldo Vacca, the managing director of Produttori del Barbaresco, was in Quebec recently to attend a series of events. One of them was a trade tasting of eight PdB wines – the 2010 Langhe and seven 2007 Barbarescos, including six single-vineyard wines. I was lucky enough to be offered a place and ended up sitting immediately to Aldo’s left. Many thanks to oenopole for this rare opportunity to taste these wines – long among my favourites – and to spend time chatting with Aldo, a man very much like the wines of the cooperative he heads: down-to-earth, dapper, focused, eloquent and ultimately inspiring.
Considered by many to be the top wine-growers’ cooperative in the world, Produttori del Barbaresco made its first wines in 1960. That, however, was a “terrible vintage” (quoting Aldo) in the region, so the first wines that bore the PdB’s label were the 1961s. In 1967 the co-op and Gaja became the first winemakers to produce single-vineyard bottlings. The co-op currently has 52 members.
Aldo says there are four keys to the co-op’s high quality and reputation:
- The region. All the grapes, even those in the entry-level Langhe, come from the Barbaresco DOC.
- Co-op members must sell all the Nebbiolo grapes they grow to the co-op – “100% belonging,” as Aldo puts it – though they’re free to do whatever they want with the other grapes they grow (usually Barbera and Dolcetto).
- Each load of grapes is evaluated and paid for based on its quality (sugar, colour and tannins are the current evaluation criteria). In 2012, the prices ranged from €2.00 to €5.20 a kilo and averaged €4.20.
- Most importantly, in Aldo’s opinion, are the single-vineyard bottlings.
Not only are the Produttori admired for making some of the most classic and beguiling Barbarescos, their wines are also seen as delivering unbeatable QPR. As I wrote of the 2001 Rio Sordo a few years back, “It may seem odd to refer to a $50 bottle as a bargain, but that’s exactly what this is.” When I asked Aldo why the co-op didn’t raise its prices, he shrugged and said the members make a good living as it is and “they’re not greedy.”
All of PdB’s Barbarescos are made the same way. Fermentation takes place in large, temperature-controlled cement and stainless steel vats using cultivated “Barolo” yeasts and lasts about three weeks. It is followed by lengthy maceration with regular pump-overs and punch-downs of the cap. The wines are then transferred to Slavonian oak botti for 36 months’ maturation, after which they are bottled unfiltered and with a small squirt of sulphur dioxide and laid down another six or more months before release.
There are nine single-vineyard bottlings. As all are made exactly the same way, the only difference between them is the vineyards the grapes were grown in. This makes a horizontal tasting an opportunity to taste the influence of terroir.
The Barbaresco vineyards run from fertile land near the Tanaro River to vineyards higher up the slopes of the valley, where the soil is less rich and more limestoney. The lower vineyards produce fruitier, more forward wines, the higher vineyards wines with more depth and power.
2007 was a mild winter with early bud break; the growers were afraid of frost damage but the temperature never went below freezing. The summer was also mild. Rain was manageable. The fall was near ideal and the harvest was the longest on record. Aldo feels the single-vineyard wines from this vintage should peak at “seven to ten years of life.”
Aldo characterized the most recent vintages as follows: 2010 “light,” 2011 “extremely ripe” and 2012 “ideal, between the two.”
You’ll find my tasting notes after the jump.
My life as a high-roller, part deux
Dropped by my neighbourhood SAQ yesterday to pick up wines for next week’s tasting. After saying hello, the senior wine advisor disappeared into the back room and reemerged holding a glass that contained a small pour of a deep maroon-coloured wine. All he said about it was that the bottle had been uncorked more than 12 hours earlier and was only now beginning to open up.
Bordeauxish nose of candied cassis, cedar, tobacco and some graphite. Full-bodied and rich on the palate though not heavy, the texture somehow both silky and velvety. The mouth-filling fruit is too ripe and sweet – not austere enough – for a Bordeaux. The structure is fine-grained, the tannins tight but not forbidding. Oak, obviously of very high quality, has been lavishly but not overwhelmingly applied. The finish is long. Possessed of a restraint, balance, fluidity, savour that seem more Old Worldish than New. A handsome wine, clearly a thoroughbred, with no flaws other than, perhaps, a lack of soul.
I guessed Italian but it didn’t occur to me that a lowly Classique store would stock, let alone pour the latest vintage of one of Italy’s highest-profile wines, the first super-Tuscan: Sassicaia Bolgheri 2009, Sassicaia, Tenuta San Guido ($169.00, 00743393). A blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc. Macerated on the skins for about two weeks, with regular pump-overs and rack-and-returns. Matured in French oak barrels (one-third new) for 24 months. 13.5% ABV.
If I lived in a parallel universe and actually owned a bottle of this, I wouldn’t touch it for another eight to ten years.
MWG November 22nd tasting (5/5): Three Zins and a Syrah
Like many North American wine lovers, I cut my teeth on California wines. I used to buy them regularly; these days, hardly ever. Part of the reason is my evolving palate. But it’s also true that the wines have changed. With a few blessed exceptions, they’ve gotten bigger, heavier, fruitier, sweeter, oakier, more alcoholic, less refreshing, less food-friendly and, oddly, less characterful. Early vintages of Ridge’s Geyserville, including some legendary ones, regularly clocked in at 13% ABV or less. Martini used to make a light, supple, relatively pale Zin as quaffable as a Beaujolais. Good luck finding wines like those these days. Anyway, when reading these notes, bear in mind that these wines aren’t really up my alley anymore. And, as the tasting showed, people with palates more receptive to the fruit-driven New World style will probably find them more interesting than I did.
Zinfandel 2009, East Bench, Dry Creek Valley, Ridge Vineyards ($29.75, 11817690)
100% Zinfandel (rare for Ridge) from dry-farmed vines planted in 2000 and 2001. Destemmed, crushed and fermented with native yeasts and twice daily pump-overs. Pressed after ten days’ maceration. Matured 13 months in American oak barrels, 20% new. Lightly sulphured at crush and during maturation. Lightly filtered at bottling. 15.2% ABV. This is Ridge’s fourth vintage of the wine.
Textbook Zin. Bramble berries, fresh fig, oak, spice, dried black tea. Rich, smooth and balanced. Fluid despite the weight. Built around an intense core of pure, unjammy fruit, with just enough acidity and tannins to avoid galumphingness. Dry, the high glycerin levels notwithstanding. Flaring finish. (Buy again? Maybe a bottle to go with grilled lamb next summer.)
Lytton Springs 2009, Dry Creek Valley, Ridge Vineyards ($42.25, 00513929)
71% Zinfandel, 23% Petite Syrah, 6% Carignane from dry-farmed vines some planted recently, others as far back as 1901. Destemmed, crushed and fermented with native yeasts and occasional pump-overs. A small amount of tartaric acid was added to a few very ripe lots. Pressed after eight days’ maceration. Matured 14 months in American oak barrels, 18% new. Lightly sulphured at crush and during maturation. Lightly fined”to moderate tannins.” Lightly filtered at bottling. 14.4% ABV.
Plum, spice and a hint of modelling clay. Similar to but deeper, broader and weightier than the East Bench. Pure, savoury fruit. Oak present but in check. Heady but not hot. Good structure and a long finish. Unfortunately, at this point it’s heavy and unrefreshing, less than the sum of its parts. Maybe time will improve things. (Buy again? Nope.)
Zinfandel 2009, Brandlin Vineyard, Mount Veeder, Peter Franus ($38.75, 00897652)
92% Zinfandel, 8% Charbono, Mourvèdre and Carignane from old, dry-farmed vines. Fermented 12 days at a relatively cool 80ºF (27ºC). Macerated 14 days before pressing. Matured 17 months in French oak barrels, 35% new. 15.5% ABV.
Blackberry and peppermint with sweet and savoury spice in the background. Smooth, satiny texture and not a lot of structure: this is mostly about the fruit, which is pure, sweet-and-sourish and given some depth by dried wood flavours. Dry, especially on the long, alcoholic – though not hot – finish. (Buy again? Only if in the mood for a full-bore Zin.)
Syrah 2009, Estate, Santa Ynez Valley, Beckmen Vineyards ($29.20, 11746941)
100% biodynamically farmed Syrah from eight different clonal selections grown in Beckman’s Purisima Mountain vineyard located in Ballard Canyon. The various lots were gently crushed and cold-soaked for two to five days. Fermented five to ten days with native yeasts and thrice daily punch-downs. Basket-pressed. Matured ten months in French oak barrels, 35% new. 14.6% ABV.
Appealing though un-Syrah-like nose: gingerbread, cassis and plum with some slate in the background. Full-bodied but fluid and fresh, due largely to its bright fruit and brisk acidity. Vanilla oak is noticeable but not cloying. To my palate, the flavours evoke a baked plum tart. Decent structure and length. While not a fan of the all-about-fruit style, I admit this has a certain charm. (Buy again? Probably not, though fans of California wines shouldn’t hesitate.)
MWG November 22nd tasting (4/5): Tre rossi eclettici
Sicilia IGT 2011, Frappato, Terre di Giumara, Caruso & Minini ($16.65, 11793173)
Caruso & Minini is a Marsala-based producer of a wide range of wines made from Sicilian and international grape varieties. Could find no technical information about this Frappato, which isn’t even mentioned on the winery’s website, nor have I learned which agency represents it in Quebec. The SAQ also carries one of C&M’s white varietals, the tasty 2011 Grecanico ($16.65, 11793181), whose constituent grape DNA profiling has shown to be the same as Soave’s Garganega. Both it and the Frappato are 14% ABV.
Dusty cherry, a hint of black licorice, faint herbs and not a lot else. Quite extracted but avoiding heaviness. The ripe fruit has a candied edge, though the wine is dry and savoury, with supple tannins and just enough acidity. Dried herbs mark the finish. Easy-going and affable if far from profound. Comes across as a warmer-climate take on the grape than Occhipinti’s and COS’s supreme – and, yes, much pricier – interpretations. A fairer comparison might be the Frappato from Tami, Occhipinti’s négociant label, which beats this on elegance and quaffability but not on fruity/juicy exuberance. (Buy again? Sure.)
Cesanese di Olevano Romano 2008, Cirsium, Cantine Ciolli (c. €20, importation valise)
100% Cesanese di Affile from a vineyard planted in 1953 and located about 40 km east of Rome. Manually harvested. Fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks with frequent punching down. Macerated ten days, then racked into barrels for malolactic fermentation. Aged in barrels for about one year, bottled unfiltered and aged another two years before release. 14% ABV.
Savoury, even earthy nose: horse, graphite, dried herbs, tobacco. Medium- to full-bodied, more silky than velvety, dry. The dusty red fruit is pure and intense if not remarkably deep. Rough-hewn tannins and bright acidity make for an angular structure. Good length. An appealingly rustic wine that tastes like it might benefit from a couple more years in the cellar. (Buy again? Yes, if I could.)
Barolo 2007, Fratelli Alessandria ($40.25, 11797094)
100% Nebbiolo from six vineyards. Manually harvested. Fermented and macerated from 12 to 15 days in temperature-controlled tanks. Matured 32 to 34 months in large Slavonian and French oak casks, two months in stainless steel tanks and six or more months in the bottle. 14.5% ABV.
A bit of bricking at the rim suggests quick evolution. Raspberry rose, old wood and a hint of tar on the nose; silky, savoury red fruit and dried herbs on the palate. Somewhat austere despite the ripeness, and the tannins are still a little rebarbative. The long, aromatic finish shows some heat. Relatively approachable for a Barolo of this age, though a few more years in the cellar will do it no harm. If drinking now, carafe it at least a couple of hours before serving. (Buy again? If I weren’t so distracted by the Produttori del Barbaresco single-vineyard 2007s…)
MWG November 22nd tasting (3/5): A case study of terroir
While not part of the pioneering “Gang of Four” natural Beaujolais producers (Marcel Lapierre, Guy Breton, Jean-Paul Thévenet and Jean Foillard), Jean-Paul Brun has been making natural-leaning wines for a long time (his first vintage was 1977). Based in Charnay, in the southern Beaujolais, he also owns several cru vineyards in the north. He farms organically, harvests manually, ferments using the yeasts on the grapes’ skins and, preferring naturally lower alcohol levels, doesn’t chaptalize.
His other wine-making practices are more Burgundian than modern-day Beaujolaisian. Many Beaujolais producers favour carbonic maceration of whole clusters. But at Terres Dorées, the grapes are table-sorted, destemmed, placed in open vats and stomped. The resulting juice is macerated for three to four weeks, then transferred to concrete and/or oak vats, all depending on the cru and vintage. The wines are very lightly filtered and sulphured before bottling.
Though Brun’s wines have featured in several Mo’ Wine Group tastings, we’d never had the opportunity to taste side-by-side the three crus carried by the SAQ in the same vintage (Brun also produces a Fleurie that I’ve never seen on the monopoly’s shelves). As the wines are, for all intents and purposes, made identically, any discernible differences should be attributable to terroir. The idea behind this flight was to see what those differences would be.
Morgon 2010, Terres Dorées, Jean-Paul Brun ($19.85, 11589746)
100% Gamay from low-yielding old vines planted in very poor granitic and sandy soil in the Grand Cras section of the appellation, south of the Côte de Py. 12% ABV.
Effusively scented nose dominated by lightly candied cherry and slate. Rich and fluid. The ripe fruit is brightened by tangy acidity and deepened by faintly bitter minerals. The overriding impression is one of purity and freshness. Lovely and accessible, though like the other crus, capable of improving with some time in the cellar. (Buy again? Definitely.)
Côte de Brouilly 2010, Terres Dorées, Jean-Paul Brun ($19.25, 10520237)
100% Gamay from 50-year-old vines planted in blue granitic scree in the Petite Roche and Croix Desseigne sections of the appellation. 12% ABV.
Plummier, with a sappy, ferrous note. In the mouth, similar to – though more fruit-driven than – the Morgon, with the same mineral substrate. Silky texture, crisp acidity, good length. Enjoyable today but probably even better in two or three years. (Buy again? Yes.)
Moulin-à-Vent 2010, Terres Dorées, Jean-Paul Brun ($22.05, 10837331)
100% Gamay from low-yielding old vines planted in granitic soil in the Tour du Bief section of the appellation. 12% ABV.
Dark, inky, elegant nose: a step closer to Burgundy. The texture is smooth and velvety and the wine is the most structured of the three. But it’s also, for now, the most closed and least expressive. Vigorous chewing cracks open the door a little, revealing hints of cherry and black raspberry, forest floor and minerals. The potential is clearly there. Give it at least a couple more years in the cellar and up to ten. (Buy again? A patient yes.)
MWG November 22nd tasting (2/5): Three dry Vouvrays
Vouvray 2011, Les Argiles, Domaine François Chidaine ($25.55, 11461056)
100% biodynamically farmed Chenin Blanc from 40-year-old vines in several parcels. Manually harvested in several passes. Pneumatically pressed, fermented with native yeasts and matured in old wood demi-muids. No malolactic fermentation. 12.5% ABV.
A kaleidoscope of aromas and flavours: chalk, quince, melon, white and yellow stone fruit, citrus, linden, ginger and more. Thrilling balance between rich fruit and vibrant acidity. Long finish with crystalline minerals and a quinine-like bitter note. Wow! (Buy again? Definitely, for drinking now or cellaring up to a decade.)
Vouvray 2010, Clos Naudin, Philippe Foreau ($30.75, 11797220)
100% Chenin Blanc. Manually harvested in several passes. Pneumatically pressed with the stalks. Fermented with native yeasts. No chaptalization, acidification or malolactic fermentation. Matured in old barrels. Bottled with minimal sulphur. 13.5% ABV.
Reticent nose: “green almonds,” green pear, chalky minerals. Lacking coherence on first sip. Very dry with coursing acidity, pale white fruit and a streak of bitter minerals. Gained depth and appeal as it breathed and warmed, hinting at its potential. (Buy again? Only to stick in the cellar and forget about for a few years.)
Vouvray 2010, Domaine Vincent Carême ($23.45, 11633612)
100% organically farmed Chenin Blanc from vines 45 years old on average. Manually harvested. Fermented – full alcoholic, partial malolactic – and matured in old barrels. 14% ABV.
Ripe pear, flower sap, browning apple but the flavours turn cheesy in the glass and the wine falls flat. Different from – and far less attractive than – other bottles of this I’ve tasted and probably defective. The cork on our bottle was wet all the way to the top; since the wine showed well enough when carafed, I poured it; in retrospect, I should have exchanged it. (Buy again? Yes but maybe from another store.)
MWG November 22nd tasting (1/5): Two French sparklers
A tasting of 15 wines, including five from the November 22nd Cellier release and one importation valise. We began with two French sparklers.
Champagne grand cru, Réserve, H. Billiot ($49.75, 11818220)
75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay from up to 18 grand cru vineyards in Ambonnay. Usually a blend of three vintages. Fermented in stainless steel tanks. Does not undergo malolactic fermentation. Unfiltered. 13% ABV.
Browning apple and bread crust. Softly effervescent. Dry but rich, with a ripe-sweet fruit core (yellow apple and dried apricot) and plenty of acidity. A suggestion of brown sugar joins the minerals on the finish. Not bad though more complexity, tension and, well, dazzle would be welcome. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Vouvray mousseux 2010, Brut, Domaine Vincent Carême ($21.70, 11633591)
100% Chenin Blanc. The estate has been farming organically since 2002 and either has recently received organic certification or is about to. Made using the traditional method, with only yeast added for the second fermentation. Zero dosage. 13% ABV.
Complex and appealing nose: sour apple, lees, yeast, barley sugar, a hint of kerosene. Fine, sharp effervescence. The abundant acidity is checked by the faint residual sugar. Not a lot of flavour depth but a crystal-like structural depth. A minerally, faintly bitter streak that one taster described as burnt match lingers through the finish. Earlier bottles of this have shown better; the current shipment is just off the boat and may need a few weeks to settle down. (Buy again? Sure.)
Brett happens 