Posts Tagged ‘Burgundy’
A not-so-basic basic white Burgundy
Bourgogne 2009, Les Champlains, Domaine Simon Bize & Fils ($28.15, 11815643)
100% Chardonnay from vines planted between 1993 and 1996. The grapes are pressed on arrival in the vatting cellar. The resulting juice is pumped into vats, chilled, allowed to settle and then racked, with the fine lees, into fermenting vats, where alcoholic fermentation starts spontaneously and lasts four to six weeks at a temperature between 20 and 24ºC. Spontaneous malolactic fermentation and initial maturation take place in a mix of vats and barrels (around 15% new) for a few months. The wine is then transferred to stainless steel vats for additional maturation, if necessary. Blended, fined (with egg whites) and lightly filtered before bottling. 13% ABV.
Lemon, green apple, oatmeal, chalk and light charry oak. Strikingly acidic, like a good Chablis but with a richer texture. Ripe if discreet fruit, a minerally underlay and a faint ashy note give way to a citrusy, faintly bitter finish. Clean and bracing, impeccably made and enjoyable now, though the oak will be less obvious after a year in the cellar.
Côte-de-Beaune duo
While neither wine knocked my socks off, they’re both solid examples of Côte-de-Beaune reds. The Rollin doesn’t strike me as a long ager but the Rapet should hold up for ten or 15 years. Buy ’em both this weekend and you’ll just make it over the $100 threshold that earns you a 10% discount.
Beaune 2010, Grèves premier cru, Domaine Rapet Père et fils ($60.50, 11801882)
100% sustainably farmed Pinot Noir from 50-year-old vines. The bunches are manually harvested and sorted, then transferred by conveyor belt to the vat. Fermentation lasts 15 days, with regular punch-downs. Maturation takes place in oak barrels, 20% new. Pumping is avoided. 13% ABV.
Classic upmarket Burgundy nose: red berries, forest floor, spice, smoldering leaves, whafting sweet oak. In the mouth, the wine is medium bodied, well dimensioned and quite structured with ripe if young tannins. The astringency and dryness give it a velvety texture. The fruit is clean and pure albeit unsmiling, the finish long. There’s a a faintly ashy aftertaste. Needs time to knit together, sweeten, turn silkier, deep-six the oak, develop secondary and tertiary flavours and reveal its depth. But to all appearances, the potential is there.
Pernand Vergelesses 2009, Île des Vergelesses premier cru, Domaine Rollin Père & fils ($40.75, 11845341)
100% Pinot Noir. Manually sorted. Vatted without pumping. Temperature controlled fermentation. In most vintages, unfiltered and unfined. 13% ABV.
Textbook nose of red berries, humus, quartz and asky oak. Open, medium bodied, fluid. Good balance between ripe fruit, minerals, oak and structure. Elegant tannins and acidity and a long, dry finish. If you’re not allergic to a whiff of oak, pop the cork now. Otherwise, give it a year or two in the cellar.
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.)
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.
MWG November 9th tasting: report (2/5)
Chablis premier cru 2010, Beauregard, Domaine Pattes Loup ($35.75, 11784998)
100% organically farmed Chardonnay (reportedly biodynamic too, though apparently not yet certified as such). Manually harvested, which is quite rare in the region. Fermented (with native yeasts) and aged mostly in neutral oak with a fraction in stainless steel. Left on the lees through malolactic fermentation. Bottled unfiltered and unfined with minimal sulphur dioxide. 12.5% ABV.
Classic nose: lemon, flint and a faint lactic note. Rich, fluid, pure and open. At this point the vibrant fruit seems more of a driving force than the ripe acidity, giving the wine a Beaune-ish allure, though the long, minerally finish speaks with a definite Chablis accent. Elemental and delicious. (Buy again? Yes, but quick – the SAQ’s stocks are dwindling fast.)
Arbois 2010, Chardonnay, Les Bruyères, Domaine André et Mureille Tissot ($35.25, 11542139)
100% biodynamically farmed Chardonnay from 30- to 70-year-old vines. Manually harvested, pneumatically pressed, fermented with native yeasts. Vinified and aged in oak barrels, a fraction of which are new. Lightly filtered and sulphured at bottling. 13% ABV.
Complex, and-now-for-something-completely-different nose: banana (including the peel), straw, “Jägermeister,” white lily and, wait, is that popcorn? Rich, broad and dense in the mouth. Oxidized but not nutty fruit with a saline edge – think brined apple and pear – structured by acidity and chalky minerals. Subtle oak and dried honey notes emerge on the persistent finish. Will benefit from a couple of years in the cellar or a couple of hours in a carafe. (Buy again? Yes.)
Textbook Chablis
The staff at the Laurier SAQ outlet were swooning over this wine. It made a great pairing for salmon with leeks and cream (recipe after the jump).
Chablis premier cru 2010, Montmain, Domaine de Bois d’Yver ($29.95, 11635108)
100% Chardonnay from 30-year-old vines; the estate is converting to organic farming. Pneumatically pressed, fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats with native yeasts. Undergoes malolactic fermentation. 13% ABV.
Classic – and therefore irresistable – Chablis nose: intense lemon and green apple over chalk and straw with the faintest hint of smoky gun flint. Eventually gained floral (hawthorne?) and honey notes. Clean, delineated and tense with acidity. Minerals dominate and what fruit there is is lemony. The finish is bitter-tinged with a little butter creeping in. Broadened and deepened as it warmed and breathed: pull it from the fridge and pop the cork if crystals and acid are your thing; carafe a couple of hours and serve at something closer to 12ºC (53ºF) if in search of fruit and richness.
Backroom Burgundies
Quick tastes of two recent arrivals, both available at the SAQ.
The Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes-de Nuits 2009, Domaine Henri Naudin-Ferrand ($24.55, 11668698) is the bottle I’d buy, at least for opening now. Lovely “pinoting” nose of red berries, beet, forest floor and, oddly for a 12.5% wine, alcohol (the bottle my glass was poured from was too warm). In the mouth, it’s a medium-weight easy drinker, with supple tannins, ripe fruit, dark minerals and a clean finish. Acid freaks might dock it a point for relatively low acidity, but that’s the vintage speaking and it in no way affects the wine’s pleasure quotient.
The Chorey-les-Beaune 2010, Tollot-Beaut & fils ($34.25, 11473209) is more earthbound and primary, less nuanced. All the components – ripe fruit, acidity, tannins, oak – are in place and in balance but need more time to knit together. Breadth and length the wine also has; depth I’m less sure of, though that could come with aging. 13% ABV.
Just drink it!
Bourgogne 2010, Sœur Cadette, Domaine de la Cadette ($18.05, 11460660)
100% organically farmed Chardonnay from both the Saint-Père–sous-Vézelay estate and nearby grape-growers. Slow pressed, fermented with indigenous yeasts, allowed to undergo malolactic fermentation and aged five months (according to Kermit Lynch) or 12 months (according to oenopole), all in stainless steel vats. Lightly filtered before bottling. 12.5% ABV.
Lemon, minerals, oats and whey on the nose. In the mouth, zingy lemon over a peach nectar substrate, the ripe fruitiness rounding the sharp acidity. There’s a vaporous lift, felt but not really tasted, like you get from citrus peel oil or turpentine (but in a good way!). Long, sour-chalky finish. A lip-smacking wine, straight and to the point and guaranteed to perk you up on a sweltering day. Understandably popular with sommeliers and restaurateurs (for their personal consumption as well as their wine lists), this is selling out fast.
MWG June 21st tasting: report (3/4)
Zweigelt 2010, Burgenland, Meinklang ($24.50, La QV)
100% biodynamically farmed Zweigelt. 13% ABV. The winemaker recommends serving this lightly chilled (17ºC/63ºF).
Raspberry and turned earth. Suave with smooth tannins, some muted oak and a Burgundian weight (very similar to the Givry in fact). Round but with good acid; sweet-tasting (ripe fruit) but dry; initially spicy but gaining earthiness as it breathes. Long, clean finish, a common thread in all the Meinklang wines. The best Zweigelt I’ve ever tasted. (Buy again? For sure.)
Fleurie 2010, Les Moriers, Domaine Chignard ($23.50, 11305686)
100% Gamay. Whole cluster fermentation (in stainless steel and cement vats) with vatting for six to eight days before pressing. Aged in neutral foudres for 13 months. For some markets, the wine is bottled unfiltered and unfined with no added sulphur, though the SAQ may require otherwise (as they do with Lapierre’s Morgon). 12.5% ABV.
Raspberry, slate and a whiff of kirsch. Sappy, smooth and dry on the palate, a mouthful of tangy, ripe strawberry. Lighter and less structured than expected – the vines are 40 years old, after all, and the vineyard overlooks Moulin-à-Vent – but wonderfully pure and fresh. (Buy again? When in the mood for a vin plaisir, yes.)
Chinon 2009, Domaine Bernard Baudry ($20.20, 10257571)
100% Cabernet Franc from 30- to 35-year-old vines grown without herbicides or synthetic chemicals. Slow fermentation in cement vats. Aged 12 months in neutral oak vats and barrels. 12.5% ABV.
As usual, a reductive nose that slowly gained red plum, animale and a hint of tobacco leaf. Supple, dark and ripe, with fine tannins, a gravelly substrate and no herbaceousness. Balanced in its brooding manner. (Buy again? Maybe, though the superior Grézeaux bottling is only a few dollars more.)
Givry premier cru 2010, Clos Salomon, Domaine du Clos Salomon (Gardin-Perrotto) ($31.75, 00918086)
100% Pinot Noir from the 40-year-old vines of the fabled 7-ha Côte Chalonnaise vineyard (a monopole because the estate owns the entire clos). Farmed without herbicides or insecticides. Vatted at low temperatures for five days, then fermented with wild yeasts in open vats. Aged 12 months in 25% new French oak barrels. Unracked, unfiltered and unfined. 13% ABV.
Red berries, forest floor, background oak. Medium-bodied and relatively supple with bright, almost biting acidity and sleek tannins. The fruit is ripe and, for now, primary though embellished with a floral overtone. Long. A tasty wine that will only be better in a few years. Excellent QPR. (Buy again? Sure.)
Two La QV cuvées
La QV‘s new season of Wednesday evening apéros, with Cyril pouring glasses of a couple of private imports and Julie serving small dishes featuring local ingredients, is in full swing. This evening’s edition was built around Domaine Ribiera’s 2010 Causse Toujours, tasting better than ever, with a couple other wines of interest sharing the spotlight.
Bourgogne-Aligoté 2010, Domaine Sarnin-Berrux ($25.35, 12 bottles/case, La QV)
100% Aligoté, possibly organically farmed. 11% ABV if I remember correctly.
Nose of citronella, wax and a faint hint of ash. Crystalline lemon and acidity so keen the wine tingles. Very dry. Softens a little on the clean, limestoney finish. Another lip-smacker, just about perfect for a scorcher like today. Stocks are beginning to dwindle; if you want some, act fast.
Beaujolais Villages 2010, Roue libre, Domaine Grain de Sénevé ($24.75, 12 bottles/case, La QV)
Domaine Grain de Sénevé – whose name translates as the wild mustard seed estate – began converting to organic production in 2007; 2010 is its first certified organic vintage. This is the estate’s unsulphured cuvée. 100% organically farmed Gamay. Fermented with native yeasts. Bottled unfiltered and unfined.
Cloudy pale maroon. Savoury and surprising nose of candied raspberry, cinnamon, lily flower, quartz and a hint of fur. Light, fresh and juicy – though remarkably dry – on the palate. Structured more by its pure fruit and bright acidity than by tannins, which are virtually non-existent. Sarsaparilla and slate notes on the lingering finish. Lightly chilled, this tart and refreshing wine is about the only kind of red you’d want to drink with the humidex pushing 40ºC/104ºF.
Brett happens 