Posts Tagged ‘Expensive’
Three Triguedinas
Cahors 2010, Clos Triguedina ($28.40, 00746412)
A blend of Malbec (80%), Merlot (15%) and Tannat (5%) from 30-year-old vines. The grapes are manually harvested and sorted. Maceration and fermentation with pump-overs last 15 to 18 days. Matured 18 months in Allier oak casks (one-third new). Reducing sugar: 2.4 g/l. 14% ABV. Quebec agent: Sélections Fréchette.
Wafting nose of plum, blackberry, spice, cedar, turned earth, leafmould and, eventually, a floral note. In the mouth, it’s on the lighter side of full-bodied. The ripe fruit is structured by fine, silky tannins and bright acidity, overtoned with spice and a hint of game. Finishes long and savoury. Earthy yet refined, modern though not to a fault, above all delicious. (Buy again? Yes.)
Cahors 2009, Probus, Clos Triguedina ($38.75, 12450287)
100% Malbec from vines more than 50 years old (the estate’s oldest parcels). The various lots are vinified separately. The grapes are hand picked and sorted, then destemmed. Maceration and fermentation at 30-32°C last 20 to 25 days. Matured more than 18 months in new Allier oak casks. All the lots are tasted and only the best are blended to make the wine. Reducing sugar: 3.1 g/l. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Sélections Fréchette.
Gorgeous, inexhaustible nose with all of the above and more, including an integrating dose of faintly smoky oak. Full-bodied and intensely flavoured yet fresh and beautifully balanced. Layered, structured, long and complete. Accessible now if still young and tight, this will improve with another five to ten years in the cellar. Probus is always a good wine but this 2009 is exceptional. If it were a Médoc, it would cost upwards of $100. (Buy again? Done!)
Cahors 2009, The New Black Wine, Clos Triguedina ($69.00, 10706293)
To explain the origin of this bottling’s name, I can do no better than quote the Cahors entry in Hugh Johnson’s Wine Companion: “The ancient town [of Cahors] on the River Lot […] is linked in the public mind with dramatic-sounding ‘black wine’. This was because so much of the wine made in Bordeaux was thin and travelled badly, and the merchants needed something to give strength and body to their exports. Their position at the commanding mouth of the Garonne enabled them to call the tune at Cahors, whose growers they encouraged to produce a thick, dark brew by boiling some of their wine, even fortifying it. This was the famous ‘black wine’, so celebrated, at least in myth, that Crimean winemakers produced a ‘Cahorski’ in tribute.” First produced in the mid-1990s, The New Black Wine is owner-winemaker Jean-Luc Baldès’ homage to the long-lost tradition. 100% Malbec from old vines. The grapes are hand picked and sorted, then laid on trays and gently heated overnight in a prune oven, slightly desiccating the fruit and concentrating the flavours. The wine is macerated and fermented in tanks and matured 18 months in new Allier oak casks. Reducing sugar: 2.4 g/l. 14% ABV. Quebec agent: Sélections Fréchette.
While the other two wines are a deep magenta in colour, this is indeed much darker, purpler and opaque, though not black. Brooding nose of plum, prune, clean raw beef and a hint of virtual acidity. On the palate, it’s dense, rich and tightly wound, finely but intensely tanninc, possessed of fluent acidity and a velvety texture. The fruit is dark and dense but, somewhat to my surprise, not at all cooked or jammy. At this early point in its long life, it’s a bit monolithic though obviously deep, broad and long. Gets better and better as it breathes, indicating it will benefit greatly from extended cellaring (the winemaker recommends 20 to 30 years). (Buy again? Maybe, but I think I’d rather have two bottles of the splendid Probus instead.)
MWG November 12th tasting: flght 5 of 6
Double Barral
Faugères 2012, Valinière, Domaine Léon Barral ($61.00, 12427052)
A 80-20 blend of Mourvèdre and Syrah from biodynamically farmed vines between 15 and 30 years old. Manually harvested. Gravity-fed into cement vats. Macerated and fermented with indigenous yeasts three to four weeks with regular manual punch-downs. Aged 24 to 36 months in oak barrels (10% new). Never racked, filtered or fined. No added sulphur. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Vini-Vins.
Complex, unplumbable nose: Médoc-like aromas with notes of spice, cherry, “burned popcorn,” hazelnutty dry-aged beef and, eventually, flowers, cedar and clay. Brooding and introverted on the palate. Full-bodied. Balanced though displaying a tight, rigid frame. Possessed of every dimension. The endless finish has a spicy note that one taster likened to tourtière and another to incense. Magnificent. A complete wine that won’t peak for a decade. (Buy again? Budget permitting, yes.)
Faugères 2012, Jadis, Domaine Léon Barral ($42.00, 12427010)
A blend of Carignan (50%), Syrah (40%) and Grenache (10%) from biodynamically farmed 30- to 60-year-old vines. Manually harvested. Gravity-fed into cement vats. Macerated and fermented with indigenous yeasts three to four weeks with regular manual punch-downs. Aged 24 to 36 months in oak barrels (10% new). Never racked, filtered or fined. No added sulphur. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Vini-Vins.
Deep and savoury nose of slate, graphite, plum and dried beef. In the mouth, it’s juicy yet dry, tight yet beautifully balanced. The dark fruit, redolent of spice, is set on slate, structured with tingly tannins and acidity. The long finish strikes a peppery note. Such purity, precision and just plain deliciousness. It may be a baby but it’s a gorgeous one. (Buy again? Done!)
Both wines were carafed and poured back into their bottles at 4 p.m. We tasted them at about 9:30. I kept my glasses and returned to them after everyone had left and I’d finished straightening up the room, at 11 p.m., i.e. seven hours later. Only then were they really beginning to sing.
MWG October 8th tasting: flight 5 of 7
White and red Mogadors
Priorat 2011, Nelin, Clos Mogador ($65.00, 12159140)
The number and proportion of grape varieties in this blend vary from vintage to vintage, though Grenache Blanc always dominates. The 2011 is 52% Grenache Blanc, the balance being mostly Macabeo with a little Viognier and Escanyavelles (or Escanyo Velles, about which I have found no information, not even in Wine Grapes or the new, fourth edition of the Oxford Companion to Wine). The farming is organic. Fermented with native yeasts in oak barrels and wooden vats. Matured 16 months in 1,200-litre oak vats and 600-litre lined concrete vats. Bottled in December 2012. About 8,000 bottles made. Reducing sugar (per winemaker): 1.2 g/l. 14% ABV. Quebec agent: Divin Paradis.
A nose as surprising as it is complex and savoury: game (!), “toasted sesame” (quoting another taster), seaweed, vineleaf, “white miso,” white flowers, golden raisin, resin. Rich and elegant on the palate, weighty but not heavy. The pure fruit – ripe but not sweet – is lightly infused with minerals and herbs, buoyed by welcome acidity. Finishes long and faintly honeyed. Impeccable. (Buy again? Irrespective of price, sure. In real life, it’s a little rich for my budget, especially when equally interesting, similarly styled blends can be had for significantly less from the likes of Domaine Matassa.)
Priorat 2010, Manyetes, Clos Mogador ($89.00, 12159131)
Organically farmed Carignan (90%) and Grenache (10%). Matured 16 months in assorted oak barrels (half new, half second-fill). About 7,000 bottles made. Reducing sugar (per the winemaker): 0.2 g/l. 14.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Divin Paradis.
The nose is dominated by volatile acidity, which, despite two hours’ decanting, does not blow off. Through the VA veil one catches glimpses of red and black fruit, slate and dark spice. In the mouth, it’s full-bodied and intense, finely if tightly structured with lithe tannins and sleek acidity. The dark mineral core and buttressing oak are mostly cloaked by dark fruit, albeit less so on the finish. Breadth and length it has in spades but depth is only hinted at. Monolithic, brooding, even a little sullen for now though the potential is not in doubt. Virtually demands a few years in the cellar or, failing that, carafing hours in advance. (Buy again? If price is no object and if the superlative and even pricier flagship isn’t available, sure.)
MWG July 16th tasting: flight 6 of 6.
Though the conceit of serving flights comprised of a white and a red from the same producer was interesting to put to the test and undoubtedly provided a novel set of clues for those tasting double blind, several tasters said they found it difficult to return to the white after tasting the red.
MWG February 18th tasting: Clos du Rouge Gorge rouge
A transplant from the Loire Valley, Cyril Fahl owns and farms a number of parcels around the village of Latour-de-France in the Côtes Catalanes region of the Roussillon, inland from the Mediterranean coast and just north of the Spanish border. The area forms the historic boundary between France and Catalonia and lies on the geologic frontier between Corbières and the foothills of the Pyrenees. Fahl’s hillside vineyards, which face north and east, are biodynamically farmed, worked by hand or horse and planted to local varieties (his reds don’t qualify for the AOC because they don’t contain Syrah or Mourvèdre, neither of which is native to the region). The winemaking is non-interventionist, even minimalist. As a result, the terroir is there for the tasting.
IGP Côtes Catalanes 2013, Cuvée du Patron, Clos du Rouge Gorge ($30.25, private import, NLA)
A blend of Grenache and Cinsault. Fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in 500-litre wooden barrels. Bottled unfiltered and unfined. 14% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Reduced, sulphurous nose that eventually gives up some red fruit and earth notes (so carafe it a couple of hours before serving, all right?). No funk in the mouth, though, just pure, rich yet ethereal fruit on a frame of silky smooth acidity and supple tannins that turn a little raspy on the clean finish. Straightforward and eminently drinkable, this would be the perfect everyday red if only it were a few dollars cheaper. (Buy again? Sure.)
IGP Côtes Catalanes 2013, Jeunes vignes, Clos du Rouge Gorge ($38.00, private import, NLA)
100% Grenache from 30-year-old vines in a single parcel with gneiss subsoil. Manually harvested, trod by foot, vinified with indigenous yeasts in wooden vats for three months, matured eight months in stainless steel. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Cherry cough drop, slate, hints of violet and dill. Medium- to full-bodied, smooth, supple, dry. A delicious mouthful of ripe-sweet spicy fruit, silky tannins and bright acidity. Longer and deeper than the Cuvée du Patron, cooler and more satiny that your typical Rhône Grenache. Lip-smackingly good. (Buy again? Yes.)
IGP Côtes Catalanes 2012, Vieilles vignes, Clos du Rouge Gorge ($55.75, private import, NLA)
A blend of Carignan (80%) and Grenache (20%) from 50- to 100-year-old vines rooted in gneiss. After light foot-treading, the whole bunches are transferred to wooden vats for low-temperature fermentation with no punch-downs or pump-overs. Matured 12 months in 500-litre barrels and old casks. Unfiltered and bottled by gravity. Total sulphur dioxide is less than 20 mg/l. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Fragrant, terroir-redolent nose of raspberry, turned earth and wood with earthy and floral overtones and the promise of much more. Dense but not weighty. The fruit is profound – “soulless dark” to quote one taster, like the eidos of black currant juice – and perfectly balanced by the round/soft tannins and sleek acidity. Smoky minerals inhabit the long, savoury finish. The wonder is how it manages to be both immediate and remote, both upfront and enigmatic. The sweet spot of the flight. (Buy again? Imperatively.)
IGP Côtes Catalanes 2012, Ubac, Clos du Rouge Gorge ($93.75, private import, NLA)
100% Cinsault from a single parcel of 40-year-old vines. The gneiss slope is steep and faces due north. Extremely low yields (c. 15 hl/ha). The whole berries are macerated for 10 days, then foot-trod and transferred with the stems to wooden vats for fermentation. Matured 20 months in Austrian demi-muids. Bottled by gravity. Total sulphur dioxide around 20 mg/l. 14% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Brooding, profound, turning more fragrant as it breathed: raspberry cordial, turned earth, garrigue.
Fluid yet dry and velvety tannined. Young, so primary and closed, but hinting at great depth. The dark fruit is both savoury and sweet-tart, while the mineral substrate is most apparent on the minutes-long finish. Absolutely gorgeous: du grand vin as they say around here. Probably won’t peak for another 10 to 15 years. (Buy again? If the price isn’t prohibitive, go for it!)
Demand for the Jeunes vignes is high (so much so that oenopole requires that purchasers also buy a case of the Vieilles vignes). One of the reasons is that restaurateurs find it hard to convince customers to lay down a C-note and change – what the VV will run you in a resto – for a vin de pays, however amazing. And while the MWG has been buying the white, JV and VV since they first became available in Quebec, the JV – largely because of its price – has always elicited the most interest. Yet this flight, our first time tasting the reds side by side, showed the VV to be the real QPR winner, combining some of the JV’s fruity appeal with much of the Ubac’s complexity and depth.
(Flight: 4/5)
New wave vin jaune?
While many delicious wines were poured at last Sunday’s Small Secrets x Bar Barbara pop-up, this stood out in more ways than one.
Arbois 2007, Vin Jaune, Domaine André et Mireille Tissot ($77.25/620 ml, 10322581)
100% organically and biodynamically farmed Savagnin from several parcels. (This is the generic bottling. Now in charge of the estate, André and Mireille’s son, Stéphane, has also been making vineyard-designated vins jaunes since 1993 and recently introduced a Château Chalon.) The grapes are manually harvested, pneumatically pressed and fermented in tanks with indigenous yeasts. The resulting wine is transferred to 228-litre barrels for maturation. Contrary to conventional practice, the barrels are not topped up (the wine lost to evaporation is not replaced). A yeast veil soon forms on the surface, protecting and flavouring the wine. After six years, the wine is racked, lightly filtered and bottled in clavelins, squat 620-ml bottles (620 ml said to be the amount left from a litre of wine). No sulphur is added. 15% ABV. Quebec agent: Les vins Alain Bélanger.
Gorgeous outgoing nose. Lightly oxidized yellow plum and apple with hints of limestone, nuts and curry powder. Bone dry yet there’s a sweet fruitiness unlike anything I’ve encountered in a vin jaune and a freshness whose only parallel (in my experience) is found in Gahier’s 2005. Buoyant acidity enlightens the rich bordering on dense texture, while the fruit is faceted by mineral and butterscotch undertones and white and yellow spice overtones that perfume the long, long finish. Wonderfully pure and clean. Is Tissot pointing the way to a more immediately accessible, fruit-driven vin jaune? In any case, even in its infancy, this is delicious on its own and synergistic with aged Comté and walnuts. It also worked well with shards of old Gouda. (Buy again? Oh, yes. In fact, it’s the kind of wine that, if I had the money, I’d buy a dozen bottles of and open one every two or three years to track its evolution over its sure to be decades-long life.)
MWG November 24th tasting: Bandol bliss-out
Bandol 2006, Domaine du Gros’Noré ($55.00, 11553938)
A blend of Mourvèdre (75%), Grenache (10%), Cinsaut (10%) and Carignan (5%) from vines averaging 30 years old. Partially destemmed.Traditional vinification with 15 days’ maceration and fermentation (indigenous yeasts). Matured 18 months in old oak foudres. Unfiltered, unfined. 15% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Effusive nose of plum, dark earth, hints of tobacco and herbs. Youthful but resolving. The dark heart of plush, ripe fruit and inky minerals is framed by round tannins and soft acidity. Olives and garrigue perfume the long finish, the alcohol unapparent. Surprisingly elegant for a wine of its size and inherent earthiness. (Buy again? Gladly.)
Bandol 2007, Domaine Tempier (c. $50 as a private import in 2009)
The so-called cuvée classique. Typically 75% Mourvèdre, 14% Grenache, 9% Cinsault and 2% Carignan from vines averaging around 40 years old. Manually harvested. The destemmed grapes are macerated and fermented (with indigenous yeasts) for two to three weeks in stainless steel tanks. The must is pressed and the wine is transferred to oak foudres for malolactic fermentation and 18 to 20 months’ maturation. Unfiltered and unfined. 14.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Initial bottle funk blows off, leaving a rich, evolved nose of plum, spice, graphite, earth, composted leaf, old wood and cigar box. Full-bodied despite the Gros’Noré wines making it seem more like medium. Smooth on the surface, the fruit ripe and satiny, yet resilient tannins provide some grit while acidity brightens and slate darkens. Long. A savoury, earthy, somehow elegant wine that tastes like it’s approaching its plateau of maturity, though the stuffing, structure and balance point to another decade of life. (Buy again? Yes.)
Bandol 2010, Cuvée Antoinette, Domaine du Gros’Noré ($74.00, 12207033)
Only a few hundred bottles of this cuvée named after the winemaker’s mother are made each year. Mourvèdre (95%), Grenache (3%) and Cinsault (2%). Not destemmed. 15% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Better after 30 minutes in the glass. Plum skin, grassy meadow, humus, Asian spice, game.
On the palate, it’s rich, dry, full-bodied, broad and deep – primary and powerful but not forbidding. The sweet core of ripe fruit is wrapped in savouriness and finely if firmly structured by velvety tannins and sustained acidity. The endless, dark, minerally finish has an astringent rasp. Pure and complete. Delicious now, amazing in 2020. (Buy again? Would love to.)
(Flight: 5/5)
MWG November 24th tasting: Barbaresco v. Barolo
Barbaresco 2009, Muncagota, Produttori del Barbaresco ($56.50, 11863223)
The 3.9 ha Muncagota (formerly Moccagatta) vineyard lies east of – and thus further from the river and the warm, fertile valley floor than – the Asili and Pajè vineyards and it faces southeast, toward the cooler morning sun. 100% Nebbiolo. Fermented with cultivated “Barolo” yeasts in temperature-controlled (30ºC) concrete and stainless steel vats. Fermentation and maceration – with regular punch-downs and pump-overs – lasted 28 days. Matured 30 months in large Slavonian oak barrels. Bottled unfiltered and with a small dose of sulphur dioxide. Aged another eight months in bottle before release. 14.5% ABV. 13,333 bottles made. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Such a complex nose for a wine still in its adolescence: truffle, kirsch, plum, turned earth, drying plaster, rose, anise, slate, a whiff of tar. More primary on the palate: a full-bodied, satin-textured mouthful of ripe and chewy fruit, juicy acidity and still-tight, fine-grained tannins. Evolved flavours are just beginning to be hinted at. A faint bitterness gilds the long, heady finish. Can power and elegance be more perfectly balanced? Enjoyable now, especially with extended carafing, but only good will come from another five or ten years in the cellar. (Buy again? Oh, yes.)
Barolo 2009, San Lorenzo, Fratelli Alessandria ($66.00, 11650720)
100% Nebbiolo from a 0.8 parcel of vines averaging 25 years old and grown in the San Lorenzo vineyard in Verduno commune. Manually harvested. Fermented (with indigenous yeasts) and macerated from 12 to 15 days in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. Matured six to ten months in 500-litre tonneaux, 22 to 24 months in 20- to 30-hectolire Slavonian and French oak casks and six months in the bottle. 14.5% ABV. Around 4,000 bottles made. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Intertwining threads of fresh (cherry, red currant, fern fronds) and savoury (chocolate, red miso, caramel, iodine, dried beef, old wood) aromas. The palate is dense and structured, the sweet-ripe fruit backdropped by dark minerals and tar and lasting well into the still-astringent finish. Somewhat primary and tasting like it will peak around 2020. True to the estate’s style: less flashy, even a tad more rustic than some but firmly rooted in terroir and tradition. A satisfying wine that almost begs to be consumed with food. (Buy again? Yes.)
(Flight: 4/5)
MWG November 24th tasting: Perfectly Pinot
Côtes-de-Nuits Villages 2012, Viola odorata, Domaine Henri Naudin-Ferrand ($76.75, private import, 6 bottles/case)
Each of the estate’s unsulphured cuvées is named after a different wildflower found growing in the vineyards. The grapes for this 100% Pinot Noir come from sustainably farmed 70- to 85-year-old vines grown in three parcels. Manually harvested. The whole clusters are vatted under carbon dioxide for two weeks’ maceration and fermentation (with indigenous yeasts and occasional punch-downs), followed by a quick, gentle pressing, The must is transferred by gravity into large barrels for 48 hours’ settling and then into French oak barrels (80% new) for malolactic fermentation and maturation (18 months in all). Bottled unfiltered and unfined using gravity and compressed air (no pumping). No added sulphur. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
The kind of fragrant nose that makes Pinot Noir lovers swoon: red berries, forest floor, ferns, cola, beet, turned earth, slate, ash and a hint of iodide. A sip shows the wine to be a medium-bodied, silky textured, expansive mouthful of ripe fruit with firm yet lacy tannins and glowing acidity, all grounded in earth and minerals and slow-fading in a long, woody (not oaky) finish. Am not sure how it pulls off the trick of being both rustic and elegant but it does. Carafe an hour or longer if serving now or cellar for another five or ten years. (Buy again? If you can afford it, go for it!)
Vosne-Romanée 2011, Les Jachées, Domaine Bizot ($179.00, 11381953)
The 3.5-hectare estate produces a total 900 cases of wines a year. 100% Pinot Noir from sustainably farmed 80-plus-year-old vines grown in the Les Jachées vineyard. Manually harvested. The whole clusters are vatted, fermented with indigenous yeasts for 14 to 20 days and gently pressed. The must is transferred to new oak barrels for 15 to 20 months’ maturation. Unpumped, unracked, unfiltered and unfined, with not added sulphur. Manually bottled, barrel by barrel (the label specifies which barrel the wine came from). 11.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
More assertive but equally textbook nose redolent of spice, cherry, wood, cedar, turned earth, beet: ça pinote, as they say around here. Richer, rounder and deeper, too. Structured though not at the expense of fluidity. Silky fruit unfurls over fine velvety tannins and sleek acidity. Layers of minerals and wood hint at unplumbable depths. Gains a liqueurish note on the seemingly endless finish. Dry but so ripe and pure you don’t notice. In a word, spellbinding. Remarkably accessible for such a primary wine, which isn’t to say it shouldn’t be cellared for a decade. (Buy again? If you can afford it, go for it!)
An interesting flight for several reasons. First, it was arguably the most memorable of the tasting. Also, both wines come from the Côtes-de-Nuits and are made with grapes from old vines. Both estates have similar farming and winemaking practices. And lastly, Claire Naudin and Jean-Yves Bizot were once an item and remain good friends.
(Flight: 3/5)
Brett happens 