Les elixirs de Xavier Marchais
In late September, the Mo’ Wine Group initiated what we hope will be a near-monthly series of agency tastings, at which a representative from one of Quebec’s many wine agencies presents a selection of wines, usually private imports, from the agency’s portfolio.
Kicking off the series was one of the newest kids on the block, Deux Caves. (The agency’s name is a play on words, une cave being a cellar in French and un cave being a dumbass, an incompetent, a sucker.) The cave leading the tasting was Max Campbell, who earns an actual living pouring wine, serving tables and shucking oysters at Joe Beef and Vin Papillon; the other cave, Alexander Campbell (no relation to Max) is a Montrealer currently based in Dijon, where he’s studying oenology.
Deux Caves’s portfolio may be small for now but their focus is already clear: ultra-drinkable natural wines. In other words, right up the MWG’s alley, which is part of the reason why demand for seats at the tasting was so high that we ended up holding two sessions back to back (the promise of food, including a dish from Vin Papillon, may also have had something to do with it).
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We began with a white and a red from Xavier Marchais, a young winemaker based in the Anjou region. His four hectares of vines (half Chenin, half Cabernet Franc) are farmed biodynamically using a horse and manual labour. Pesticides, herbicides and other synthetic products are systematically avoided. Wine-making is non-interventionist. For the two Elixir cuvées, fermentation (with indigenous yeasts, naturally) and maturation take place in used barriques. Cellar techniques are pretty much limited to crushing and punching down by foot, manual pressing and racking. No sugar or sulphur are added. The unfiltered and unfined wines are bottled by hand and closed with a crown cap (the red’s cap reportedly allows more oxygen exchange than the white’s, which may partially explain the white’s reductive side).
Vin de France 2013, L’Elixir de Jouvence, Xavier Marchais ($28.54, private import, 12 bottles/case, NLA)
100% Chenin Blanc grown on schist. Yields in 2012 were an incredibly low 13 hl/ha (probably similar in 2013). Matured 12 months. Crown-capped. 11.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Deux Caves.
Reductive aromas on the nose and a faint spritz on the palate; carafing the wine well in advance helped to eliminate both. Engaging nose of wax, quince, lemon, minerals, honey, honeysuckle and straw/hay. Coming across as very close to the juice in the mouth. Dry, though, with zingy acidity, ethereal fruit, lots of minerals and a good, clean, tart finish. Light but vibrant and mouth-filling. The winemaker says this is young and more reduced than in other vintages. He also foresees a long life for it, predicting that the acidity will decease while the wine will become rounder and more aromatically complex. In the meantime, he suggests carafing it “violently.” (Buy again? In multiples.)
Vin de France 2013, L’Elixir de Longue Vie, Xavier Marchais ($26.87, private import, 12 bottles/case, NLA)
100% Cabernet Franc grown on schist and spilite. Yields in 2012 were 27 hl/ha (probably similar in 2013). Crown-capped. 11% ABV. Quebec agent: Deux Caves.
Exuberant nose of red fruit with floral, spice and incense overtones but no green pepper. Less exuberant than expected on the palate. Medium-bodied and satin-textured. Very dry, again with ethereal fruit. The acidity is bright and the tannins soft. A streak of slate runs throughout and is joined by spice on the long finish. The bottle at the second tasting was mushroomier than the first. The group’s resident Cab Franc hater actually enjoyed this enough to buy a couple of bottles. (Buy again? Yes.)
Mo’ Wine Group September 27th tastings: flight 1 of 3
More research required
IGT Emilia Rosso 2013, Trebbiolo, La Stoppa ($21.80, 11896501)
A blend of Barbera (60%) and Bonarda (40%) from organically farmed six- to 23 year-old vines. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Matured five months in stainless steel. Unfiltered and unfined. A small squirt of sulphur dioxide is added at bottling. Reducing sugar: 7.9 g/l. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Earthy nose of spicy red fruit with slate and leather overtones. Medium-bodied. Rounder and less dry than in earlier vintages. A little hard-candied on entry, the fragrant fruit is savouried by dried herb notes, souring acidity and a soft astringency that lingers through the medium-long finish. Still, even when drunk with food (in this instance, an onion and meguez pizza), the wine’s residual sugar is apparent; it’s not enough to be disagreeable but it is enough to be distracting. I suspect and hope it’s an artefact of the vintage and not a concession to the North American fad for off-dry red wines. (Buy again? Another bottle to see what’s up. And bottles of the 2014 when it rolls around, for sure.)
Trebbiolo and its predecessor, Gutturnio, have long been among my favourite everyday Italian reds, so I jumped on this new arrival when I ran across it at the SAQ. On opening a bottle, I was surprised to find it sweeter than expected – enough that I immediately went to SAQ.com to check the wine’s reducing sugar content, which turned out to be nearly double the 4 g/l widely considered the upper limit for dry reds. Not finding the wine really compatible with the savoury pizza, I drank half the bottle and saved the other half, which I tried a couple of days later with a roasted rack of suckling pig. And, indeed, the wine showed better, though whether that was due to the dish, my mood or two days’ carafing is unclear to me. What is clear is that the two wine advisors I’ve since spoken to at two SAQ stores both loved the wine and claimed not to have noticed any sweetness; one of them even described it as food-friendly and un peu rustique, which is exactly how I would have characterized the 2010, 2011 and 2012. Obviously, more research is required.
In vino Valréas
Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages Valréas 2011, Clos Bellane ($21.35, 12577085)
The 48-hectare estate, which used to be known as Clos Petite Bellane, was acquired in 2010 by Stéphane Vedeau. It is located on the Vinsobres plateau, southwest of Valréas in the Vaucluse. Vedeau claims the relatively high elevation (400 m), northerly situation and eastern exposure give Clos Bellane’s wines a freshness and balance unusual for the area. The farming is organic (the estate has applied for Ecocert certification) and the winery is gravity-fed. The grapes for this 50-50 blend of Grenache and Syrah were picked by hand and destemmed. Fermentation took place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. The wine was matured in concrete tanks. Reducing sugar: 2.3 g/l. 14% ABV. Quebec agent: Vinealis.
Dark fruit and cherries along with some dried pine needles and a floral note. Balanced and silky textured in the mouth. Medium- to full-bodied, with smooth tannins and glowing acidity. The pure fruit brings blackberries to mind, while savoury overtones, including a hint of animale, add complexity. Slatey minerals come out on the bitter-edged finish and the alcohol is warming, not hot. The overall impression is indeed one of freshness. An honest wine sold at an honest price. Very food-friendly. Carafe an hour or two ahead of time and don’t serve it too warm. (Buy again? Yep.)
Not my style…
…but maybe yours?
Vino de la tierra de Castilla 2011, Cala N.2, Tinedo ($19.15, 12595259)
A blend of organically farmed Tempranillo (85%) and Graciano (15%). Manually harvested. Maceration and alcoholic fermentation with manual pump-overs take place in temperature-controlled (25°C) tanks, at least some of them unlined concrete, and last about two weeks. The wine is then transferred to concrete tanks and used barrels for malolactic fermentation. Maturation in used 225-litre barrels lasts 18 months and is followed by further time in concrete tanks. 15% ABV. Quebec agent: Vinicolor.
Dark, Bordeaux-like nose: plum and black cherry, leather, tobacco and spice. A full-bodied mouthful of super-ripe, lightly candied fruit and spice, round tannins and lithe acidity. Concentrated from start to long, coffee- and chocolate-overtoned, alcohol-flaring finish. The overall effect is New Worldish though, in its way, the wine is balanced. Fans of big, fruit-driven wines should make a beeline – for them, this will be a real QPR winner – but I find it unrefreshing, even palate-fatiguing, and can’t imagine it working with anything except grilled red meat. (Buy again? Unlikely.)
Not memorable but…
Vinho Regional Terras do Dão 2013, D. Fuas Reserva, Caves Velhas ($13.95, 882696)
Caves Velhas is part of the Enoport stable. Touriga Nacional (30%), Tinta Roriz (aka Tempranillo, 30%), Alfrocheiro (20%) and Jaen (aka Mencia, 20%). Destemmed. Given extended maceration on the skins. Maceration and alcoholic fermentation are temperature-controlled (28°C). Reducing sugar: 2.8 g/l. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: Mosaiq.
Cocoa, graphite and spice with rose and raspberry yogurt in the background. Smooth, dry and subdued in the mouth, more medium-bodied than full. The plummy fruit is tart and dark while slender tannins give the wine a pervasive light astringency. Dried herb notes and a blessedly faint hint of mocha add some complexity. Dries out a little on the fair finish. Not memorable but greater than the sum of its parts. Might benefit from a year or two in the cellar. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Odd mix
Chianti Classico 2011, Castello d’Albola ($20.00, 11472337)
Sangiovese with 5% Canaiolo. Manually harvested. Macerated and fermented on the skins. Matured 12 months in Slavonian oak barrels. Reducing sugar: 2.1 g/l. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: Mosaiq.
Fragrant nose: black cherry, kirsch, terracotta, dried mushrooms, leather and a little black spice. Medium- to full-bodied. The fruit is ripe and upfront – while this isn’t a bomb, it’s definitely fruit-driven – with sandalwood joining the juicy cherry and a lactic note chiming in toward the end. Supple if drying tannins, typically bright acidity and a respectably long finish marked by notes of Cherry Blossom and tobacco leaf, an odd mix if ever there were one. Carafing two or three hours mutes the oak so, if like me, you don’t enjoy heavily made-up wines, you might want to do that. On the other hand, you could always plunk down $2 more for a bottle of San Fabiano. (Buy again? Probably not, given the competition.)
Sehr guter Zweiglet
Burgenland 2013, Zweigelt, Heideboden, Weingut Pittnauer ($20.30, 12677115)
100% biodynamically and organically farmed Zweigelt. Fermented with indigenous yeasts (thee only addition is a little sulphur at bottling). Matured 12 months in netural oak barrels. Reducing sugar: 4.3 g/l. 13.5% ABV. Screwcapped. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Spicy meatloaf, slate, dried cherries and an earthy-mushroomy note. Medium-bodied, fundamentally supple and quite dry. Layered, with the sweet-tart fruit on the surface and minerals, earth and wood below. The tannins are light and raspy, the acidity bright and nippy. Long-steeped blackcurrant tea – tannic astringency and all – colours the sustained finish. Suave but with an appealingly rustic edge, this seems a little primary at present, though I’m sure it would make a great pairing for a hearty stew. Would rank this alongside the more elegant Meinklang as one of the best Zweigelts I’ve tasted. (Buy again? For sure, though only a few bottles are left in the system.)
WMD @ NG
Events around the Salon des vins d’importation privée are thick on the ground this year. From both a food and wine standpoint, one of the most interesting will be a winemakers’ dinner – six courses with wine pairings – held at Nora Gray at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and featuring four stars from oenopole‘s stellar portfolio: Matassa‘s Tom Lubbe (Roussillon), Domaine du Possible‘s Loic Roure (Roussillon), Domaine de la Cadette‘s Valentin Montanet (Burgundy) and Remi Dufaitre (Beaujolais). Here – maybe en exclusivité – is the menu:
Foccacia toast, house-made mascarpone, marinated capelins and Provençal olives
Vin de France 2014, Petillant Naturel Rosé, Herbe Tendre, Domaine du Possible
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Razor clam and mussel salad
Bourgogne-Vézelay Blanc 2013, La Châtelaine, Domaine de la Cadette
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Braised pork belly, charred Brussels sprouts, spicy honey
Côtes du Roussillon Blanc 2014, Cours Toujours, Domaine du Possible
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Parsley pappardelle with wild mushrooms
Côte de Brouilly 2014, Laurence et Rémi Dufaitre
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Braised lamb shoulder, roasted rosemary potatoes and cassis
Vin de France 2014, Matassa Rouge, Domaine de la Matassa
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Lemon-spruce tip sorbet and hazelnut biscotti
Marc d’Alsace, Riesling, Domaine Gérard Schueller et fils
Price is $125 per person before taxes and tip. To reserve, call 514 419-6672.
Better than ever
Kamptal 2014, Riesling, Domaene Gobelsburg ($19.05, 10790309)
100% Riesling from vines between three and 20 years old. The farming is technically sustainable but close to organic. Harvested in late October. Fermented and matured in stainless steel. 6.9 g/l. 12.5% ABV. Screwcapped. Quebec agent: Les vins Alain Bélanger.
Slate and limestone, lemon-lime, green apple, white flowers and sawed pine. The faint spritz and crisp upfront fruit fade across the mid-palate revealing a matrix of minerals. Zingy acidity nips any sweetness in the bud and turns the finish mouth-wateringly tart. Ends on a salty lemon note. So clean and bracing. Always a good buy but better than ever in 2014. (Buy again? Yes.)
Rad icon
IGT Venezia Giulia 2007, Ribolla Gialla, Radikon ($52.00/500 ml, 12493121)
100% organically farmed Ribolla Gialla. Manually harvested. The grapes were destemmed, then placed in neutral Slavonian oak vats (no temperature control) for maceration and fermentation with indigenous yeasts and manual punch-downs three or four times a day. When alcoholic fermentation was complete, the vats were topped up and closed. In all, the wine remained in contact with the skins for between three and four months. The grapes were gently pressed and the wine racked into neutral 25- to 35-hectolitre Slavonian oak barrels for about 40 months. Further racking was performed as needed. No added sulphur, no filtering, no fining. Reducing sugar: 1.7 g/l. 13.75% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Carafed. Hazy bronze, looking a little like raw cider. Very funky-reduced for the first four hours, then redolent of cedar, dried apricot, straw, white spice, sawed pine and shoe polish. Similarly complex and disconcerting on the palate. Medium-bodied. Extracted and yellow-fruity yet so dry and savoury. Richly textured with subterranean limestone, fine-edged acidity and light tannins that swell on the long, long finish. Fascinating. Serve no cooler than cool room temperature (16-18°C). (Buy again? Yes.)
The wine’s balance and structure make it a candidate for aging. And age well these wines do: opened last winter, a bottle of the first Radikon wine available in Quebec, the 2002 Oslavje (a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc), was a thing of beauty – perfectly at peak, tannins resolved, sweet and savoury and, against all expectations, totally funkless.
The wine comes in 500 ml bottles because Stanko Radkion feels that 500 ml is the ideal amount of wine for one person to drink by himself or for two people to share, assuming they’ll also share a 500 ml bottle of red. Convinced that using a standard cork would allow too high a rate of oxygen exchange, he designed his bottles to have smaller bore necks that take very long, narrow corks.
MWG October 8th tasting: flight 7 of 7
Brett happens 