No need to hot-foot it to the Big Apple…
…for your obscure Italian varietal hit, Herr Doktor. Not when oenopole’s around, though you may have to wait till summer for the next shipment.
Verduno Pelaverga 2009, Fratelli Alessandria ($24.30, oenopole)
100% Pelaverga. Clear light red. Nose of dusty strawberry candies, light spice (black pepper, cumin), terra cotta, dried wood and a floral note (violets?). A savoury and very dry welterweight. Not particularly fruity, more acidic than tannic. Substrate of dried earth and mineral flavours. Hint of chocolate on the slightly raspy, sour strawberry finish. 13.5% ABV. Lovers of light, tart, savoury Italian reds tailor-made for salume shouldn’t hesitate.
MWG March 2nd tasting: report (2/4)
Venezia Giulia IGT 2008, Red Angel on the Moonlight, Jermann ($27.35, 11035786)
Pinot Noir and possibly a dollop of Merlot. Aged a year in French oak barrels and tuns. Deep burgundy to the eye. Mint, light red berries and a hint of oak on the nose. Medium to full-bodied, dry and silky. Ripe fruit shares spotlight with slatey minerals and oak. Bitterish finish. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Pinot Noir 2009, Unfiltered, VQA Prince Edward County, Hardie Wines ($35.00, LCBO 125310)
Update (12-03-22): This wine (and two others from Hardie’s stable) has just been added to the SAQ catalogue ($38.50, 11638499).
Clear, pale ruby, almost corail. Sour cherry, beet, earth, a little spice. Light, acidic, refreshing despite some woody overtones. Sweetens as it breathes, showing more structure (minerals and fine tannins). Decent finish. (Buy again? Hard to justify from a QPR standpoint but if the price ever drops to $25, sure.)
Breganze 2009, Pinot Nero, Maculan ($18.80, 11580987)
Again, deep burgundy. Cherry – a bit candied – and a hint of smoky tar. Smooth and velvety, the juicy fruit given shape by supple tannins and soft acidity. Not particularly deep, long or Burgundian but at $19, who’s complaining? (Buy again? Sure.)
MWG March 2nd tasting: report (1/4)
While the March 1st release was one of the weakest in Cellier‘s history, it wasn’t totally devoid of interest, as these three wines show.
Thomas Bachelder, the winemaker who got Le Clos Jordanne rolling, has struck out on his own. His latest project is to make Chardonnays and, eventually, Pinot Noirs in the three regions he’s worked in – Burgundy, Oregon and Ontario – all using the same recipe. What better way to illustrate regional differences? For the 2009 Chardonnays, the recipe involved, to the extent possible, organically farmed grapes, native yeasts and 16 months’ aging in mostly neutral barrels. (Much of my information comes from newspaper articles and other blogs, as Bachelder’s website is lacking in technical details.)
Chardonnay 2009, Bourgogne, Bachelder Bourgogne ($34.00, 11584620)
Grapes sourced from vineyards in Puligny, Beaune and Saint-Aubin and vinified at Alex Gambal’s facilities. Classic Burgundian nose of chalk, minerals, lemon and oats. Dense and winey texture (millésime oblige) but with enough acidity to keep the wine taut and bright. The dry fruit (mostly citrus and stone) is shot through with minerals, and a faint lactic note fades in and out. The finish is long. The wine seems to retreat as it breathes, probably a sign that it needs another year or two in the bottle. (Buy again? Yes, but…)
Chardonnay 2009, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Bachelder Niagara ($33.75, 11584857)
Grapes from the Beamsville Bench, vinified at Southbrook. Lemon and tropical fruit. Rounder in the mouth – the fruit riper, the acid lower – than the other two wines. A hint of residual sugar adds to the New World feel. Minerals, such as they are, and a little spice emerge on the sustained finish. Friendly and likeable if, to my palate, less attention-worthy. Ready to go. (Buy again? Yes, but…)
Chardonnay 2009, Willamette Valley, Bachelder Oregon ($34.00, 11584814)
Vinified at Lemelson Vineyards. Closed nose: hints of coral and coconut. A mass of minerals surrounding a core of dense fruit (yellow and green apple above all). Lively acid. Quartzy finish with a whey – eventually butter – note. Perhaps the least immediately appealing of the three but also in ways the most intriguing. (Buy again? Yes, but…)
The wines were served blind. That several tasters unhesitatingly pegged the first as Burgundian attests to its typicity. All three had their partisans among the tasters, with fans of New World wines tending to coalesce around the Niagara even before it was unveiled.
Why the “yes, but…” then? In a word, price. For $35, a single loonie more, you can buy a bottle of Pattes Loup’s 2009 Chablis 1er cru Beauregard, a classier and far more enthralling Chardonnay. And tellingly, even without that benchmark in mind, when the tasters were asked what they’d be willing to pay for their favourite of the Bachelder Chards, most said $25.
Vin de terroirs
As explained by the young and personable Mathieu Deiss, who was in town last week for the Renaissance des appellations event, the Marcel Deiss estate has two basic lines of wine: variety-driven and terroir-driven.
Vineyards where, in the winemaker’s opinion, the expression of terroir is muted are planted with single or segregated grape varieties, and the wines are made and labelled as varietals: Riesling, Muscat, etc. With the exception of a handful of high-end bottlings (the so-called vins de temps, which are vendange tardive and sélection de grains nobles wines considered particularly expressive of the character of their vintage), these are marketed as vins de fruits.
Vineyards where terroir trumps variety are planted with mixed varieties, all of which are harvested, pressed and fermented together (Mathieu says co-planted, biodynamically farmed grapes “learn” to ripen at the same time). These vins de terroirs are the estate’s flagship wines. Although such field blends were once the norm in Alsace, it wasn’t until 2005 that Deiss convinced the INAO authorities to allow estates to label wines from grand cru vineyards with only the vineyard name and sans the grape variety.
Alsace 2009, Marcel Deiss ($22.60, 10516490)
The estate’s entry-level vin de terroirs is a field blend of biodynamically farmed Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer. Gold with a pale green cast. Attractive if hard-to-pin-down nose: dried lemon peel, quartz, grapefruit, sweeter fruit in the background, a hint of pine needles and alcohol. Soft and round on entry – yellow-fruity and verging on off-dry – followed by a faint, spritzy tingle. Dries as it goes along, the fruit becoming more citric, the flavours more savoury. Bit of heat and bitterness on the longish finish. Lingering straw and brown sugar notes.
We’re so accustomed to associating fine Alsatian whites with varietal characteristics that drinking such an unmistakably Alsatian yet varietally elusive wine is disconcerting. Nonetheless, this bottle delivers pleasure by the glassful and convinces me that tasting through a range of Deiss’s vineyard-specific vins de terroirs would be a fascinating exercise.
MWG February 9th tasting: report (4/4)
Domaine Lemaire Fournier was a 30-hectare estate located in Vernou sur Brenne, close to Vouvray. In 2003, the estate was in its second year of conversion to organic farming. The wines were made with native yeasts and abjuring enzymes, chaptalization, deacidification, fining, added nutrients, tartric stabilization and sulphur. The estate’s remaining stocks of wine are being liquidated, which explains the reasonable prices.
We tasted the three wines on their own and then with four cheeses.
Vouvray 2003, Tartemains, Domaine Lemaire Fournier ($27.15, La QV)
Honey nose, brown sugar palate. Notes of beeswax, yellow apple, golden raisins. Medium-bodied, medium sweet. Soft texture despite the underpinning acidity. Lengthy finish with a hint of bitterness. Delicious, especially with the Tome de Savoie. (Buy again? Yes.)
Vouvray 2004, Demi-sec, Domaine Lemaire Fournier ($21.30, La QV)
Complex nose: apple, honey, herbs, fall leaves. Light, cidery and dryish on the palate, the residual sugar just taking the edge off the acid. Lingering cedary finish. Tasty and refreshing, the kind of versatile wine you could serve as an aperitif, with fish or pork dishes or with cheese (soft bloomy rinds, aged Gouda, mild blues). (Buy again? Sure.)
Vouvray 2003, Réveilleries, Domaine Lemaire Fournier ($27.15, La QV)
Oxidized and spritzy. Browned apple and a cheesy, volatile note. Odd, sour/bitter finish. An off bottle, as confirmed by a taster familiar with the wine, though not undrinkable. Strangely, it achieved a kind of synergy with the Bleu bénédictin. (Buy again? As a believer in second chances, yes.)
We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming…
…to bring you the following public service announcement.
The dry Tokajis available at the SAQ come in two styles: fresh and bright if somewhat internationalized (see Château Pajzos) or substantial and savoury, wines to contend with (see Oremus). This new arrival falls squarely in the second group. At things stand now, there’s not much in the system; if you’re interested, don’t dawdle.
Tokaj-Hegyalja 2008, Furmint, Löcse, Béres Vineyards and Winery ($23.05, 11607490)
100% Furmint from 30-year-old vines in the Löcse vineyard. Fermented using native yeasts. Aged eight months in 30% new Hungarian oak casks. Did not undergo malolactic fermentation. Filtered before bottling.
Pale gold with a faint green cast. Subtle, complex, elusive nose: peach, ash, fern fronds, quartz. Plump and sweet-seeming at first though actually quite acidic and dry. Fruit fades to a honeyed, minerally finish with an intriguing sourness, a faint but persistent bitter almond note and a WTF?! warming/burning sensation like you get after eating a fiery goulash or chewing a peppercorn. Unique, formidable and pretty fantastic.
Paired nicely with a chicken roasted with cumin and Seville oranges. Can also see it working with pork, veal and white fish.
MWG February 9th tasting: report (3/4)
Petite Sirah 2008, Russian River Valley, Foppiano Vineyards ($24.00, 00611780)
100% Petite Sirah (aka Durif). Aged in oak barrels, 30% new. Dark, spicy plum nose. A velvety mass of inky, tarry fruit in the mouth. Some astringency and heat (15.2% ABV) on the chocolate and oak-inflected finish. Became a bit characatured – one-noteish, fruit-bombish, more harshly tannic – as it breathed. (Buy again? Unlikely.)
Petite Sirah 2008, Napa Valley, Girard Winery ($34.00, 11604061)
89% old-vine Petite Sirah, 8% Zinfandel, 2% Mourvèdre and 1% Grenache. Fresh and lilting nose of raspberry and spice with a hint of chocolate. Upfront fruit saved from facileness by darker undertones, chewy tannins and structuring oak. Long but could use more zing on the finish. (Buy again? If I were a bigger fan of New World wines, probably.)
Petite Sirah 2007, Napa Valley, Stags’ Leap Winery ($56.00, 00349910)
More than three-quarters Petite Sirah blended with homeopathic amounts of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Carignan, Pelousin and Viognier. Aged 18 months in American oak barrels. Evolving nose: chocolate napoleons then hazelnut then plum and cordovan leather. Less dense and fruit-driven than the Girard and Foppiano. Powerful – structure and tannins galore – yet civilized, even elegant. Long, herby/woody finish with lingering slate notes. Needs a decade or maybe two. (Buy again? Yes.)
Petite Sirah 2009, Green Truck, Mendocino County, Red Truck Wines ($16.35, 10985966)
Made from organically farmed grapes (79% Petite Sirah, 21% Merlot) though fermented with commercial yeasts. Sees only stainless steel up to bottling. Wood, plum, ink. Surprisingly rich and velvety, the sweet fruit underpinned by tannins and brightened by acidity. Pure, uncomplicated, easy-drinking and relatively low alcohol (13.5%). A great barbecue wine. (Buy again? Sure.)
True to their New World selves, all the Petite Sirahs were built around a core of sweet fruit. The big disappointment for me was the Foppiano. I’d picked it over other candidates at the price point because a decade or two ago, back when I used to buy the occasional bottle for personal consumption, it was made in a lighter, Pinot Noirish style.
MWG February 9th tasting: report (2/4)
Burgenland 2008, Blaufränkisch, Szapary, Uwe Schiefer ($47.00, 11515966)
Schiefer, whose last name fortuitously means schist in German, is a former sommelier who decided to get his hands dirty. Located in south Burgenland, a cool-climate region on the Hungarian border, his up-and-coming estate is currently organic but converting to biodynamism. His approach to winemaking is minimalist; “less is more” he says. The grapes for this 100% Blaufränkisch cuvée are grown on a steep schist slope.
Restrained but complex nose of blackberries, herbs, spice (anise seed?) and slate. Burgundian – or maybe Barbarescan – mouth feel. Deeply flavoured (cherry, blackberry, black pepper, minerals) and broad but also supple and fluid. Tingly acid, fine, velvety tannins and a long, caressing finish. My wine of the night. The winemaker says it’s best at four to six years but capable of aging up to ten years. (Buy again? The price gives pause but, bucks permitting, yes.)
Frankovka modrá 2009, Južnoslovenská, Výber z hrozna / Suché, Mavín (c. $15, importation valise)
The name translates as Blaufränkisch 2009, Southern Slovakia, Selected grapes / Dry, Mavín.
Recognizably Blaufränkisch but quite different from the other two wines. Nose of berries, puff pastry and a hint of band-aid with dried blood. Red fruity in the mouth with spice and earthy/slatey notes, light tannins and an astringent finish. A bit simple, short and rustic – as the “importer” rightly pointed out, it tasted less expensive than the other two wines – but enjoyable all the same. (Buy again? At $15 or under, sure.)
Burgenland 2009, Blaufränkisch, Heinrich ($21.05, 10768478)
100% Blaufränkisch from 10 to 25-year-old vines. Fermented in stainless steel tanks, finished in oak vats and used casks. Vino-Lok closure. Straightforward and appealing. Spice, blackberries, baked earth and dried wood on the nose. Red fruit on the palate. Fluid, light and tight with an appealing astringency and lots of acid. Long, dryish, minerally finish. Delicious. (Buy again? Absolutely.)
MWG February 9th tasting: report (1/4)
Demands on my time mean the notes for the Mo’ Wine Group’s latest tasting will be served, like the wines, in four flights.
Sancerre 2010, Les Chailloux, Domaine Fouassier ($28.15, La QV)
100% biodynamically farmed Sauvignon Blanc from 20-year-old vines; fermented with native yeasts. Chalk and bath powder, then boxwood and jalapeño, then a hint of peanut. Light, fluid and quite dry. More minerally than fruity, and what fruit there is is of a crystalline purity. Longish finish and a lingering impression of freshness. (Buy again? Yep.)
Sancerre 2010, Terroirs, Sylvain Bailly ($22.10, 10861808)
100% Sauvignon Blanc. Textbook nose: grass, cat pee, white fruit, gunflint. Taut and vibrant, with a smooth surface, acid undertow, minerals and green fruit. Long, bright finish. A classic Sancerre and great QPR. (Buy again? Def.)
Sancerre 2010, Domaine Vacheron ($30.25, 10523892)
100% biodynamically farmed Sauvignon Blanc. Closed nose hinting at seashells, hay, green pear. The driest of the four wines. Green fruit, grapefruit and minerals, bracing acidity. Long albeit muted/soft finish. Elegant. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Sancerre 2009, Cuvée Edmond, Domaine la Moussière ($56.50, 10269273)
100% biodynamically farmed Sauvignon Blanc from 40 to 70-year-old vines. Fermented in oak casks (60% new). Pale gold (quite the contrast to the other wines’ silvery-green). Complex nose of ripe yellow fruit, kiwi, camphor, custard, lemon verbena. Round and weighty in the mouth, showing a bit of residual sugar. Just enough acid to save the wine from heaviness. Long, honeyed finish. Imposing and impressive if atypically rich for a Sancerre or even a Cuvée Edmond. (Buy again? Probably not.)
Cassoulet wines
It’s a bold claim but one I’m prepared to make: the best wines for cassoulet – and duck confit, for that matter – are traditionally styled reds from southwest France. The wines’ austere fruit doesn’t overwhelm the dish’s mellow flavours while their solid tannins and fine-edged acidity cut its inherent richness. For its part, cassoulet seems to soften the wines’ astringency and bring out their fruity sweetness. Add to that the compatibility of flavours – not surprising since the dish and the wines grew up speaking the same language – and you have a potential marriage made in heaven.
To test the claim, an authentic and rather glorious cassoulet de Toulouse (pork, duck confit, the eponymous sausage and beans purchased last summer in Tarbes) was recently paired with four such reds:
- Irouleguy 2009, Etxegaraya, Domaine Etxegaraya ($24.00, La QV), a blend of 60% old-vine Tannat and 40% Cabernet Franc, a dry, quite structured, medium-bodied wine whose red and black fruit was shot through with a leafy/stemmy greenness and buttressed by fine but astringent tannins.
- Irouleguy 2009, Cuvée Lehengoa, Domaine Etxegaraya ($25.60, La QV), which, despite being a blend of 80% Tannat (from 100 to 150-year-old vines) and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, was rounder, softer, fruitier and a touch sweeter than the Etxegaraya – to the point that I mistakenly informed the group that it was a blend of Tannat and Merlot.
- Cahors 2008, La Fage, Cosse Maisonneuve ($23.45, 10783491), 100% Malbec that spends 14 months in second vintage barrels. Somewhat young and tight but full of savoury red fruit, ripe tannins and bright acid.
- Cahors 2006, Les Laquets, Cosse Maisonneuve ($35.75, 10328587), 100% Malbec from 40-year-old and older vines, aged for 18–22 months in new and second vintage barrels. A deeper and more complete wine, finely structured and long, with layers of flavour (black cherry, licorice, balsam, iron), a velvety texture and that “fluid savour” that is the hallmark of the best Cahors.
In the event, all the wines worked well and, on its own, any one of them would have made a satisfactory match. That said, the consensus around the table was nearly universal: from a pairing standpoint, the best of the bunch was the Etxegaraya, whose austerity, astringency and flavours – especially that herbaceousness – meshed beautifully with the dish.
Earlier tests support this finding, with standouts being a Madiran from Château Aydie, an organic Irouleguy from Domaine Illaria, the Fronton cuvée Don Quichotte from Domaine Le Roc and a Canon-Fronsac from Château Grand-Renouil. Further testing is planned, though likely not for another year.
Brett happens 