MWG July 18th tasting (2/5): Three pink Pinot Noirs
Sancerre rosé 2012, La Louée, Sylvain Bailly ($22.00, 12052246)
100% Pinot Noir from vines averaging 15 to 30 years old. The grapes are pressed with no preceding maceration. The must is chilled and clarified by allowing large particles to settle out for 24 to 48 hours. Alcoholic fermentation lasts two weeks and takes place in temperature-controlled vats. The wine is matured on its fine lees, racked, cold stabilized and lightly filtered before being bottled in the spring following the harvest. 13.5% ABV.
Pale coppery pink. Minerals, cherry and peach on the nose. Fresh and light in the mouth, with a bell-like clarity: sweet and tangy strawberry, crushed minerals, bright acidity and a clean finish. A vin plaisir if ever there were one, a pure delight. (Buy again? Absolutely.)
Vireton Rosé 2012, Willamette Valley, Archery Summit (US$24.00, importation valise)
100% Pinot Noir from five estate-owned vineyards. A saignée method rosé: the still-pink juice is “bled” from the red wine vat after a short maceration on the skins. Fermented in neutral oak barrels. 13.5% ABV if I’m remembering correctly.
Bright pink bordering on scarlet. Cherry again but sterner and stonier with a hint of something green (watermelon rind? rhubarb?). Quite intense: mouth-filling fruit, coursing acidity (softened by a hint of residual sugar) and even some tannins. The finish is drier and a little less juicy – a good thing. Substantial enough to serve with grilled salmon or even Thanksgiving turkey. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Sancerre rosé 2012, Vincent Pinard ($30.00, 11804178)
100% organically farmed Pinot Noir from vines averaging ten years old. Manually harvested. The uncrushed grapes are pneumatically pressed. The resulting must is fermented and matured entirely in stainless steel tanks. 13% ABV.
Medium pink with a grey cast. Muted nose, mainly chalk and strawberry. Dry, clean and tasty enough but also a bit flat, even monotone and not remarkably fresh. In fact, the pleasure quotient is pretty low. Could well show better at the dining table but on its own and at that price… (Buy again? No.)
MWG July 18th tasting (1/5): Swiss quartet
Valais 2011, Fendant de Sierre, Domaines Rouvinez ($19.95, 11598538)
100% Chasselas. Vinified in tanks. Matured on the fine lees. 12% ABV.
White flowers, flint, faint lemon. Light- to medium-bodied. Slight residual sugar and spritziness at first. Clean and bright if a bit hollow on the mid-palate. A fresh mint note scents the dry, bitter-edged finish. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Neuchâtel 2011, Auvernier, Domaine de Montmollin ($20.95, 00721233)
100% Chasselas from vineyards located near the village of Auvernier. No winemaking information found. 11.5% ABV.
Similar to the Fendant though showing some pear and a hint of ash. Dry and just a little spritzy. The pure fruit and bright acidity intertwine with bitter quartz on the finish. Simple but fresh and lovely. (Buy again? Yes.)
La Côte 2010, Doral, Expression, Uvavins-Cave de la Côte ($23.25, 11885609)
100% Doral, a relatively new cross between Chardonnay and Chasselas. Uvavins is a large growers’ cooperative. No winemaking information found. 12.9% ABV.
Slightly oxidized sour apple. Clean and rich with ripe fruit, just a hint of sugar, soft acidity, faint chalky minerals, a honeyed note and some hay and straw on the solid finish. (Buy again? Sure.)
Valais 2011, Petite Arvine, Château Lichten/Domaines Rouvinez ($34.75, 10867599)
100% Petite Arvine from 20-year-old vines. Vinified in tanks. Prevented from undergoing malolactic fermentation. Matured on the fine lees. 13.5% ABV.
Quartz, lemon, mountain air, faint apricot, rhubarb and apple. Smooth and rich on entry, with a winey, almost creamy texture. Somehow both present and ephemeral, the fruit is carried over smooth stones on a gurgling stream of acidity. A faint bitterness surfaces on the long, lightly sour and saline finish. Such poise and balance. Unique and delicious. (Buy again? Done!)
Moon landing
Cuvée de la Luna 2009, California, Valley of the Moon ($25.60, 11306136)
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (86%), Merlot (8%), Malbec (5%) and Cabernet Franc (1%) from vineyards in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma Mountain and Dry Creek Valley. Fermented in stainless steel. Matured 24 months in French, American and Hungarian oak barrels. 14% ABV.
Plum and cherry but no cassis, a light overlay of smoky oak, hints of dark spices. Sun-ripe but dry. Plush textured. Verging on full-bodied. There’s enough acidity and tannic structure to keep things focused and dark minerals to avoid monotonality. A surprising umami note joins the excpected oak on a decent finish. An admirable restraint is showing here – this isn’t a fruit bomb – and the winemaking is textbook. Unfortunately, textbooks don’t teach you how to add soul. (Buy again? If in the mood for a $25 industrially produced New World Cabernet Sauvignon, maybe.)
Go-to Gaillac
Gaillac 2011, Peyrouzelles, Causse Marines ($18.60, 00709931)
Organically farmed Syrah (35%), Duras (30%), Braucol (aka Fer, 25%) and Jurançon Noir (5%) from 15- to 20-year-old vines. Mechanically destemmed. Fermented with indigenous yeasts and macerated in temperature-controlled fiber vats for about two weeks. After a brief settling, the wine is racked into old barrels for maturation. 14% ABV.
A bit farty and sulphurous at first – probably due to the reduction-prone Duras though nothing 30 minutes in a carafe can’t take care of – then spicy red plum and blackberry with pencil shavings, turned earth, a whiff of red meat and a hint of flowers (distant lilac?). Medium-bodied if a little heady. Smooth, silky and very dry. Your first impression is that it’s fruitier than is actually the case. There’s fruit, of course, but it’s as savoury as sweet, riddled with acidity and plushed by tannins. Earth, wood and stone persist into the finish and leave faint sour, astringent, bitter and alcoholic notes bobbing in their wake. You’ll want to drink this lightly chilled, ideally alongside herby grilled pork or, once the cool weather returns, a confit duck leg, whose fat the acidity will cut like a scalpel. (Buy again? For sure.)
A new trip down Strada provinciale 68
This showed up unannounced in 23 SAQ outlets yesterday. What’s more, in contrast to last year’s Occhipintalypse, the outlets involved have received multiple cases. While we may be looking at the first wave of an eventual wider release (the Quebec agent reports that this year’s allocation is 2,400 bottles, nearly 10% of the total production), chances are good it will fly off the shelves. You have been warned.
IGT Sicilia 2012, SP68 Rosso, Arianna Occhipinti ($25.20, 11811765)
A blend (usually 50-50, though one or two Italian sites say the 2012 is 70-30) of organically farmed Nero d’Avola and Frappato from vines averaging ten years of age. Manually harvested. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Macerated 30 days on the skins with daily pump-overs and punch-downs. Aged 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.
The expected cherry and berries are there but in 2012 they’re sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper and joined by earth, slate, spice (fennel seed?) and a lifting floral note. In the mouth, it’s a fresh and fluid middleweight. The fruit starts out juicy, sweet and bright but is soon darkened by minerals, souring acidity and a light tannic astringency. After the other flavours fade, a faint bitterness lingers, drawing you back for another sip to sweeten the palate and start the cycle anew. As loveable as ever and one of the food-friendliest wines in the universe. (Buy again? In multiples.)
The price has crept up $2.50 from the 2011 sold last November. Yet as a Web search shows, shops in New York City are listing the wine for US$28 and even US$30, and that’s before sales taxes, which are included in the SAQ’s price. The exchange rate may be a factor in the rise, as may Arianna’s growing renown. That said, you can bring the price down to last year’s level by reserving your bottles now and buying them on Friday through Sunday, August 2 through 4, when the SAQ is offering a 10% discount on purchases of $100 or more.
Greybeard or bore?
In Italian, grigio means grey or, of a person, grizzled. Figuratively, it also means dull, drab, dreary.
Chianti Classico Riserva 2008, Il Grigio, San Felice ($26.35, 00703363)
Also available in half bottles ($14.80, 00702100). 100% Sangiovese from various estate-owned vineyards. Fermented on the skins at 28-30ºC for close to three weeks followed by malolactic fermentation, all in stainless steel tanks. Transferred to a mix of Slavonian oak botti and fewer French oak barriques for 24 months’ maturation. 13% ABV per SAQ.com for the 750 ml bottle; 13.5% ABV per the label; 14% ABV per SAQ.com for the 375 ml bottle.
Dark nose: black cherry, plum, slate, terracotta, a whiff of fresh cut hay and overtones of cedar and kirsch. Medium-bodied. The lean fruit nearly gets lost among the other flavours, especially the tobacco, wood (as distinct from oak) and spice. The acidity is piquant, the fine tannins unresolved enough to leave a mouth-coating astringency. Chocolate, dried blood and nutmeg mingle on the drying finish. Decent enough but also earthbound, lacking dazzle, excitement. (Buy again? Meh.)
Le génie de la Loire
In honour of Bastille Day (because these beauties could only have come from France), notes from a recent tasting of Loire wines chosen by Sam with a connoisseur’s eye. Most were private imports, a few were importations valise and, as far as I know, none are currently available in Quebec.
PRELUDE
Vouvray 2008, Brut, Méthode traditionnel, Philippe Foreau (Clos Naudin)
100% Chenin Blanc. 13% ABV. The 2011 can be found at the SAQ for $30.
Limpid gold. Tiny bubbles and not tons of them. Yellow fruit, lemon blossom and toast against a chalky background. Dry and minerally with a nipping acidity and effervescence. Long, toasted brioche finish. Impeccable.
FLIGHT 1
Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine 2010, Clisson, Domaine de la Pépière
100% Melon de Bourgogne. The estate is represented in Quebec by Vinealis.
Closed nose: faint lemon, pear and chalk. Dry, extracted and dimensional. Trenchant acidity. As much about minerals as fruit. Long, saline finish. Great presence. Austere bordering on severe but oh, so pure and beautiful. My wine of the flight.
Sancerre 2001, Clos de Beaujeu, Gérard Boulay
100% Sauvignon Blanc. 12.5% ABV. Represented in Quebec by Rézin.
Intriguing bouquet: overripe white peach, crystalline minerals and, as one taster noted, a suggestion of mushroom. Dry. Minerally more than fruity – faint citrus and gun smoke. A not off-putting acrid note surfaces on the long finish. Tasting double-blind, I didn’t peg this as either a Sauvignon Blanc or – due to its vibrancy and tension – a 12-year-old wine.
Saumur 2009, La Charpentrie, Domaine du Collier
100% old-vine Chenin Blanc. 13% ABV. Represented in Quebec by oenopole.
Rich nose: peach and some tropical fruit, honey, sour white flowers. Silky and rich with a touch of residual sugar. Brisk acidity provides welcome cut, faint herbs and chalky minerals welcome complexity. Immaculate, authentic and delicious though not particularly deep, at least at this point in its probably long life.
FLIGHT 2
Bourgueil 1993, Busardières, Domaine de la Chevalerie
100% biodynamically farmed Cabernet Franc. 12.5% ABV. Represented in Quebec by La QV.
Delicate but complex: ash, spice, ripe but not jammy boysenberry, humus and hummus, slate and stems. Smooth and supple with fully resolved, velvety tannins and bright acidity. Seemed a bit thin next to the Chinon. On its own, however, complete and surprisingly vibrant at 20 years of age.
Chinon 2005, Domaine Les Roches (Alain and Jérome Lenoir)
100% Cabernet Franc. 12.5% ABV. Represented in Quebec by Glou. This bottle cost around $25.
Initially closed, the nose became more complex and perfumed over the course of the evening. Elderberry liqueur, floral overtones, a hint of meat, some old wood and the faintest note of bacon and new leather. Concentrated, even chewy, yet silky and not heavy. Layers of rich fruit and dark minerals structured by fine, firm tannins and energizing acidity. Long, lightly astringent finish. Superb. My wine of the flight and Cab Franc of the night.
Saumur-Champigny 2008, Clos Rougeard
100% Cabernet Franc. 12.5% ABV. Last I heard, the estate was represented in Quebec by Réserve & Sélection.
Darker, meatier with a hint of fresh tomato, background slate, sawed wood. Tighter than a drum: structured more than fruity and the élevage is showing. You can see that the wine is perfectly proportioned, that the fruit is pure, ripe and deep, that the use of the barrel is masterful. You can also see that the wine needs – at a minimum – another decade to open up. Tasted 24 hours later, the tail end of the bottle had hardly budged.
FLIGHT 3
Chinon 2009, Coteau de Noiré, Philippe Alliet
100% Cabernet Franc. 13% ABV. Represented in Quebec by Le Maître de Chai. The 2010 is sold at the SAQ Signature for $46.
Young, unresolved nose: choco-cherry, sawed wood, dill, ash. Smooth, dapper, restrained. Fine albeit tight tannins. The clean, ripe fruit – showing some tobacco but not a hint of greenness – is deepened by dark minerals and subtle wood. A delicate astringency velvets the long finish. Good potential. Revisit in five years.
Saumur 2009, La Charpentrie, Domaine du Collier
100% Cabernet Franc. 13% ABV. Represented in Quebec by oenopole.
Plummy (a sign of the hot vintage?) and slatey. Round, rich and balanced. The tannins and acidity are fruit-cloaked but there’s plenty of underlying structure. Lightly yet pervasively astringent. The élevage shows on the long finish. While its potential is obvious, this is another case of a bottle too young.
Chinon 2009, La Croix Boisée, Domaine Bernard Baudry
100% Cabernet Franc, aged in barrel, not filtered or fined. 13.5% ABV. Represented in Quebec by Balthazard.
So closed on the nose: wood, wet slate and not much else. Closed on the palate, too. Ripe, even liqueurish fruit, old wood, minerals. Sleek tannins. Rich, complete and in need of time, much time.
POSTLUDE
Vouvray moelleux 1986, Clos du Bourg, Domaine Huet
100% biodynamically farmed Chenin Blanc. 12% ABV. The 2007 runs $50.50 at the SAQ.
Amazing nose: dried pear, wax, straw, honey, turbinado sugar… Intense on the palate yet also elegant, reserved and nuanced. Neither dry nor sweet. Brilliant acidity. Chewing reveals all kinds of complexity. Spice, chalk, quartz, caramel, candied pineapple are only some of the flavours. A crème brûlée note lingers through the long finish. Astonishingly young and fresh. Wine of the tasting for most people around the table.
Côteaux du Loir 2009, Les Giroflées, Domaine Bellivière
A 100% biodynamically farmed Pineau d’Aunis rosé. 13.5% ABV. Represented in Quebec by Le Maître de Chai but I’m not sure they bring this wine in (our bottle was purchased at Flatiron Wines and Spirits in New York City).
Strawberry, wax, quartz on the nose. Smooth and quaffable. Off-dry. A basket of fresh berry fruit with just enough acidity and a touch of peppery spice. Simple but charming. Flavourwise, it made a fine pairing for pâte sucrée bars filled with a thin layer of pastry cream and topped with fresh raspberries and a rhubarb marshmallow, though in the best of all possible worlds the pastries would have been a little less sweet.
The good, the bad and… the ugly truth
Chardonnay 2011, Napa Valley, Stags’ Leap ($35.00, 00747444)
100% Chardonnay. A blend of estate-grown and purchased grapes. Hand-picked and whole cluster-pressed. A quarter of the wine was fermented in new French oak, a quarter in stainless steel and the rest in used oak. Malolactic fermentation was prevented. Matured six months on the lees with weekly stirring. 13.5% ABV per SAQ.com, 14.1% per the label.
A pretty promising nose, especially for a CalChard: citrus, pear, understated peach, stones, subtle oak, a whiff of alcohol. A let-down in the mouth. The good: middleweight; clean fruit, mostly grapefruit and green apple, with the expected tropical mix only hinted at; it’s not devoid of acidity; there are actually some minerals albeit vaguely metallic ones; the oak is a minor player; it’s butter-free. The bad: lacks precision; the minerals and acidity don’t coalesce into a structure, so the wine’s a little flabby; an odd bitter note lingers; the alcohol flares lightly on the finish. In short, a wine that’s less than the sum of its parts. It’s not terrible – certainly far more drinkable than some of the butter bomb Chards coming out of the Golden State – but, if you’re like me, you won’t be keen to have a second glass. The ugly truth: hard to justify when $35 gets you an all-singing, all-dancing white Burg. (Buy again? No.)
Alternate Altano
Douro 2010, Organic / Biologique, Altano ($16.95, 11157097)
Altano is owned by the Symington family of Port fame. This is a 100% Touriga Nacional made from grapes grown in the estate’s three organcially farmed vineyards, planted in the 1980s, in the Vilariça Valley in the Douro Superior sub-region, near the Spanish border. After manual sorting, the grapes are fermented at 25-26ºC in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats with extended maceration and regular pump-overs. The wine is matured ten months in second-vintage French oak barrels. 12.9% ABV.
Fragrant – blackberry, blueberry and spice – at first but then shut down (or maybe my sinuses shut down). Medium-bodied and thus lighter than most Douros (which regularly clock in at 14%, 15% and even 15.5%), and all the better for it. Sweet-fruited at its core but also savoury with slate, old wood, a faint stemminess and a bitter plum pit note. The tannins are light, pervasive and just a little raspy and there’s plenty of acidity to brighten and sour the fruit. Finishes dry and surprisingly long. Nothing profound but fresh, tasty and, as the French untranslatably say, digeste. A natural with grilled pork or chicken and a definite step up from the regular Altano. Oddly, though this is a new arrival, there aren’t many bottles around. (Buy again? Yes.)
Props to Propolis
Propolis, Saison multi-grains au miel, Brasserie Dunham ($7.99/750 ml at La Fromagerie Atwater)
Brewed from April through August. Ingredients: water, barley malt, wheat malts, oats, rye, hops, honey, spices, yeast. Unfiltered. Available only in 750 ml bottles. 5.2% ABV.
Hazy straw-gold. Abundant, creamy snow-white head. Fine effervescence with tiny bubbles. Complex nose: white flowers, crushed yellow fruit, wheat and oat with hints of lemon yogurt, honeycomb and spice. Light yet flavourful. The initial bready sweetness is quickly checked by a citric sourness and clean bitterness that last well into the finish and prompt another sip. The honey and spice are present as perfumes as much as flavours. Longer than many wines. Refreshing as befits a summer ale but far from facile. One of the best Quebec beers I’ve tasted in ages. (Buy again? Definitely.)
Brett happens 