Posts Tagged ‘biodynamic’
Seaside Sangiovese
IGT Maremma Toscana 2011, Carandelle, Podere San Cristoforo ($25.85, 11546922)
100% biodynamically farmed Sangiovese from the eight-year-old Carandelle vineyard. Spontaneous fermentation and maceration for seven days in stainless steel tanks followed by ten months’ maturation in old French oak barrels. Bottled unfiltered. 13% ABV.
Pleasing nose of cherry, terracotta, dried herbs and oak with hints of spice and pepper. Medium bodied, fluid, smooth. The juicy fruit is held in check by bright acidity and shaped by silky tannins that dry a little on the finish, where they’re joined by a typically Italian bitter note. A dapper wine that’s ready to go. Those in the market for a Sangiovese with a sunny disposition need look no further; others may find the aloof austerity of some similarly priced Chiantis has even more appeal.
Got rocks
Saumur-Champigny 2011, Domaine des Roches Neuves (Thierry Germain) ($18.80, 10689622)
100% Cabernet Franc from biodynamically farmed vines averaging 25 years old. Manually harvested and sorted. Fermented in stainless steel tanks at 16 to 22ºC (61 to 72ºF). Around a third of the must is cold-macerated for three days at 10ºC (50ºF). Matured on the lees in stainless steel tanks and wood barrels for three to four months with no added sulphur. Bottled unfiltered and unfined. 13% ABV.
Quite the nose: cherry, plum, flint, humus, sarsaparilla, flowers (violet? daffodil?) and stems. Supple, juicy and tart with an almost Burgundian texture. Very dry. The red fruit is shot through with dark minerals and framed by a fine tannic astringency. There’s a faint bitter note on the clean finish. Refreshing and food-friendly, though a shade too light to make an ideal pairing for chicken stewed in vinegar (the search continues). A better bet would be braised beef or pork in a less assertive sauce. Hamburgers and kefta kebabs might work too.
MWG January 10th tasting (4/7): Two Pinot Noirs
Beaune 2010, Lulunne, Château Genot-Boulanger ($36.50, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
100% Pinot Noir from 40-year-old vines. The estate practises lutte raisonnée (manual weed control, organic fertilizers, etc.) and has been experimenting with organic “treatments” since 2007. The grapes are destemmed, macerated 15 to 20 days in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, pneumatically pressed and fermented with indigenous yeasts. Matured eight to ten months in barrels, 20% new. 13% ABV.
Classic red Burgundy nose: red berries, beet, wood, background spice and forest floor and a whiff of barnyard. Medium-bodied. Fluid. Intensely flavoured with fine astringent tannins and bright acidity. Dry, especially on the finish. Pure, clean, droit. Accessible now but will probably benefit from a year or two in the cellar, though it’s not a long-keeper. Would be a good addition to a restaurant wine list. (Buy again? A bottle at this price; a case if it were $5–10 less.)
Pinot Noir 2011, Willamette Valley, Montinore Estate ($30.25, La QV, 12 bottles/case)
100% biodynamically farmed Pinot Noir from various vineyards. Spent ten months in French and Hungarian oak barrels, 20% new. 13% ABV.
Red berries, slate, faint flowers and, with time, spice. Supple and medium-bodied. Ripe but shy fruit, minerals and a little smoky wood. It’s more astringent than outright tannic and is marked by an acidic streak. Fresh, alive and not without appeal if not exactly full of charm, at least at this young stage. The farthest thing from the West Coast cherry Coke-style of Pinot Noir. More of a food wine (cedar-planked salmon!) than a tasting wine. A recently opened bottle of the 2010, which at this stage of its life tasted very similar to the 2011, had evolved into a fragrant, silky-fruited wine. (Buy again? A bit pricey but sure.)
MWG January 10th tasting (2/7): Two cool-climate whites
Sancerre 2011, Sur le Fort, Domaine Fouassier ($26.40, 12 bottles/case, La QV)
100% biodyanmically farmed Sauvignon Blanc from ten- to 20-year-old vines. Manually harvested. Destemmed. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Work in the cellar is based on the lunar calendar.
Classic Sancerre nose: gooseberry, kiwi, grapefruit, chalk and flint. Ripe and extracted though bone dry and surprisingly unfruity. Superficially soft and round but possessed of a strong acidic undercurrent. Long, extremely saline finish. Less immediately dazzling than some Sancerres, this grew on me. I suspect it’s quite food-friendly; the producer suggests Thai-style shrimp or seared tuna with sweet potatoes (!) as pairings. (Buy again? Sure.)
Chardonnay 2011, Alto Adige, Peter Zemmer ($24.50, 12 bottles/case, La QV)
100% Chardonnay. The estate’s vineyards are located on the valley floor around Cortina, one of the southernmost villages in the Alto Adige. Zemmer’s website refers to “natural” wines but doesn’t go into specifics; La QV labels the estate’s viticultural practices as raisonné (sustainable). The grapes are given a short maceration before being pressed. The resulting must is clarified by settling. Fermented with selected yeasts at 19ºC (66ºF). 13.5% ABV.
Discreet nose: pear, mineral, smoke and white flowers evolving into lemon. Medium weight, fresh and very dry. The fruit is ripe and clean but could use more oomph, more zing. Turns a little sour on the minerally finish. Not a ton of depth or character, leading one taster, a look-on-the-bright-sider, to describe it as “linear.” (Buy again? While it’s a decent wine, probably not, especially when knock-out Chards can be had for $6 less.)
MWG January 10th tasting (1/7): Fleith’s Crémant d’Alsace
The MWG recently spent an enjoyable evening with La QV’s Cyril Kérébel tasting through an impressive and wide-ranging selection of the agency’s new arrivals, all of them private imports. We wet our whistles and whet our palates with an Alsatian sparkler.
Crémant d’Alsace, Domaine Fleith ($30.75, 6 bottles/case, La QV)
A blend of biodynamically farmed Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois (65%), Riesling (20%) and Pinot Noir (15%). The producer’s website appears to indicate that the grapes are botrytized, though I can’t say I detected any botrytis aromas or flavours.
Pale yellow with electrum glints and a fine bead. Yellow apple, yeast, lemon, chalk and a white floral note. Bright in the mouth, dry, complex and pure. Soft, caressing effervescence. Long, lemon-pithy finish. Delicious and refreshing: light enough to serve as an aperitif, substantial enough to accompany the first course if it’s something like coquilles Saint-Jacques. (Buy again? Gladly.)
Riesling rules
If the photographs of dishes in Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s excellent new Jerusalem: A Cookbook leap out at you, the one of the crazy-good and super-easy Roasted Chicken with Clementines and Arak (adapted recipe follows) may be the long-jump champion. The combo of citrus, fennel (blubs, seeds and spirits) and a hint of sweetness present a wine-pairing challenge that Riesling seems uniquely qualified to meet.
Alsace 2009, Riesling, Grafenreben, Domaine Bott-Geyl ($27.80, 11778037)
100% biodynamically farmed Riesling from the Grafenreben lieu-dit in Zellenberg. The manually harvested whole bunches are gently and slowly pneumatically pressed. The resulting must is allowed to settle for 24 hours. Fermentation with native yeasts begins two or three days later and can last up to six months. When fermentation is complete, the wine is racked off the lees. No chaptalization or fining. 13.5% ABV.
Bone dry. Slight fizz at first. Among the most crystalline Rieslings I’ve encountered. Considerable extract and biting acidity. The ripe fruit is lemony and has a lot of pith. As the wine breathes and warms, it gains green apple and peach notes. The fruit quick-fades on the finish, leaving bitter minerals, a hint of hard caramel and maybe, just maybe, a whiff of petrol.
A fine bottle. The clerk I queried about the wine hadn’t tasted it but thought it would be a step toward off-dry. We should have looked more closely at the label, which bears a useful dry-to-sweet scale rating the wine 1 out of a possible 10. In any event, the flavours and weight worked well with the chicken, though a slightly less dry wine would have made for an even better match.
MWG December 14th tasting (4/4): Cornas × 4
The final flight featured three private-import Cornas from a young, up-and-coming producer with a decade-older bottle from another winemaker thrown in for comparison.
Farmed organically since 2001 and biodynamically since 2002, Domaine du Coulet is a 13-hectare estate run by 30-something Matthieu Barret, who says his aim is to make vins 100 % raisin (100% grape-driven wines). His Cornas vineyards are terraced and face southeast. The soil is mainly old, decomposed granite locally called gore. The vines are pruned to produce low yields (no more than 25 hl/ha). The harvested grapes are fed to the fermenting vats by gravity, with a single daily punching down of the cap. After fermentation (with indigenous yeasts), the must is gently pressed to avoid extracting hard tannins. The wines are allowed to clarify naturally, without filtration or fining. Barrels are large (400 or 500 litres) and neutral (having been used for at least eight vintages). Since 2006, a little less than a third of each wine is matured in egg-shaped concrete vats. Sulphur dioxide (a mere 2 g/hl) is added only at bottling and only for bottles that will be shipped.
Alain Voge has been growing grapes on his family’s farm since 1959. In Cornas, the 6.5 hectares of Syrah vines are rooted in decomposed granite. Harvest is manual and on a parcel-by-parcel basis. The grapes are destemmed, then fermented in small stainless steel vats, with daily or twice-daily punching down of the cap. The resulting wine is matured from 14 to 24 months in barrels.
Cornas 2009, Billes Noires, Domaine du Coulet ($108.00, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
Like all Cornas, 100% Syrah. The vines here are, on average, 55 years old and located at the top of the Arlettes slope. The grapes were fully destemmed before fermentation, which lasted two weeks. Clarified by settling, then twice-racked into barrels. Maturation lasted 24 months, 12 of which were in 10-year-old 500-litre barrels and 12 in vats. 5,500 bottles made.
Deep nose of slate, blueberry, char, smoke and a hint of rubber. Rich and chewy in the mouth, the texture poised between velvety and silky. Spellbinding tension between fruit and acidity with sleek tannins in a supporting role. Tangy, slatey finish. Long, balanced and complete if a little austere at this youthful stage. A beautiful bottle. (Buy again? If I were a rich man…)
Cornas 2010, Brise Caillou, Domaine du Coulet ($57.50, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
The estate’s entry-level Cornas, designed to be more immediately accessible than traditional Cornas (should peak at around four years of age, according to the winemaker). A blend of old- and young-vine Syrah from all the estate’s vineyards except the tops of the slopes. Maturated 13 months in 400-litre barrels and egg-shaped concrete vats. 8,000 bottles made.
Bright nose of red and blue berries, spice, animale, polished leather, earth. More understated on the palate. Soft, smooth texture. Fine, faintly astringent tannins and vibrant acidity. Long, graphite-edged finish. (Buy again? Yes.)
Cornas 2009, Les Terrasses du Serre, Domaine du Coulet ($81.00, La QV, 6 bottles/case; a very few bottles of the reportedly graceful and accessible 2007 are available at the SAQ for $78.75)
The Syrah is from vines averaging 45 years of age and grown in the Arlettes, Reynards and Patronne vineyards. Fully destemmed before fermentation, which lasted three weeks. Clarified by settling before transfer into barrels. No racking. Matured 15 months in six- to ten-year-old 400- and 500-litre barrels and 600-litre egg-shaped concrete vats. 10,000 bottles made.
Fruit tending more toward cassis, slate, a hint of marzipan. Singular – the closest thing to an odd man out in this flight. Medium-bodied. Velvety yet supple texture. Pure, intensely flavoured fruit. Crunchy acidity and round tannins. Lingering smoke, slate, blackberry. The driest of the three Coulets. Initially seemed more about the surface but gained depth with an hour in the glass, so it may be passing through a phase. (Buy again? Maybe, though if making the investment, I’d be tempted to throw in another $25 bucks for a Billes Noires.)
Cornas 1999, Cuvée Vieilles Vignes, Alain Voge ($55.00 in 2004; a few bottles of the 2007 are available at the SAQ for $67.50)
Made from manually harvested grapes from various hillside parcels. The vines are at least 30 years old and rooted in old, decomposed granite. Vinified in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats, macerated four to five weeks, with daily punching down and pumping over. Matured 18 to 20 months in barrels, 20% new.
The most evolved and complex bouquet: forest floor, violet, animal, obsidian dust. Still vibrant, the dark fruit is tart and juicy, cloaked in tertiary flavours, pointed by fine acidity, underpinned by resolved tannins. Long, sourish finish. In a good place now. (Buy again? Moot but yes.)
A lovely flight. As a group, the Coulet wines were remarkable for the purity and clarity of their fruit. They’re also elegant, showing none of the chunkiness often associated with the appellation’s wines, especially in youth. At the tasting, it seemed to me their only downside was their relatively high prices. Yet in the days that followed, I found they had a rare length: I could – can – still taste them on my mind’s palate. Like only a very few wines, they’ve stayed with me – thinking about them causes my mouth to water – while in retrospect the Voge Vieilles Vignes seems less characterful and less memorable. So, I’m not so sure the Coulets are overpriced after all. And I’m convinced the estate is one to keep an eye on.
MWG December 14th tasting (3/4): Four Quebec reds
Besides bubblies, the December tasting always includes a few off-the-beaten-track wines. This year, they came from Quebec.
Pinot Noir 2010, Venice, Vignoble Carone ($36.00, 11345258*†)
The winery is based in the Lanaudière region, about a hour’s drive north-northeast of Montreal. 85% Pinot Noir, 15% Landot Noir. Manually harvested. 12.5% ABV.
Oak, candied cherry, undergrowth, licorice, spice, faint vinyl. Medium-bodied and silky tannined with good acidity. Oak – in the form of sweet vanilla, coffee and smoke flavours – initially dominates the ripe fruit. Seemed better – by which I mean drier, less manipulated, more natural – on the finish than the entry. Not bad but not typical: no one around the table guessed it was a Pinot Noir. (Buy again? Probably not.)
Double Barrel 2009, Vignoble Carone ($55.00, 11506630†)
92% Cabernet Severnyi, 8% Sangiovese. Manually harvested as late as possible. Manually sorted, destemmed, crushed and given a 24-hour cold soak. Fermented in temperature-controlled tanks using Saccharomyces cerevisae yeast. Matured 12 months in new American oak barrels and four months In new French oak barrels. 14.5% ABV.
Tastes like it smells: ripe red and black fruit, some sweet spice and above all oak. Full-bodied, velvet-textured and richly extracted. Round tannins and sufficient acidity. Not heavy but also not refreshing. Showed oakier, sweeter and more monolithic than the bottle tasted in January 2012, possibly due to that bottle’s having been open for several hours and, with repeated pours, being well aerated. (Buy again? While I’d be curious to see what happens to this, arguably Quebec’s first ageable red, in five years or so, no.)
Solinou 2011, Les Pervenches ($15.00, La QV†, NLA)
Blend of Frontenac, Maréchal Foch and Zweigelt farmed biodynamically near Farnham, about an hour’s drive southeast of Montreal. Like many Beaujolais, made using carbonic maceration. 12.5% ABV.
Fresh, bright, juicy, tart and, unfortunately, corked.
Bin 33, Vignoble Carone ($18.50, 11004550*†)
100% Frontenac. Manually harvested. 13% ABV.
Nose of red fruit and, of course, sweet oak along with hints of mineral and turned earth. The flavour profile includes crushed strawberry and not much else. Guessing here but the acid levels seem low and the residual sugar levels, well, not so low. Sweet-tart finish. Little depth or charm. (Buy again? No.)
*Also sold at the Marché des Saveurs (Jean-Talon Market).
†Also sold at the winery.
As usual, the wines were served double-blind. Initial guesses as to their place of origin ranged wide and were limited to warm-climate regions: Australia, Greece, California, Mexico, South Africa, etc. Some guessed the first two were Shirazes. As a group, the Carone wines came across as designed to impress, albeit not in ways we found appealing. They also seemed to lack a sense of place (unidentifiable expression of terroir, cool climate, grape variety), to be wines made in the winery more than in the vineyard. The model appears to be New World; that would explain the bin reference, the big fruit, the heavy oak regime and the “I can’t believe it’s not Syrah” Pinot Noir (like some from California’s Santa Rita Hills). Whatever you think of the style, the winery is to be applauded for marching to its own beat, for pushing the envelope: what other Quebec winemaker is producing reds from Pinot Noir and Sangiovese, wines that can be mistaken for Australian Shirazes? That its wines are antithetical to the MWG’s collective palate (as we’ve explained, “our tastes tend to Old World ‘natural’ wines”) and strike many of us as overpriced is irrelevant. Consumers will determine whether there’s a market for blockbuster Quebec reds or whether wines like Les Pervenches’s eminently quaffable Solinou are the way forward. My money’s on the latter.
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 (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.)
Brett happens 