Posts Tagged ‘Gaillac’
My mother’s cousin’s kitchen…
…or something like that.
Life – well, work – will prevent me from posting the next instalments of the July 27th MWG tasting for another day or two. In the meantime, a heads-up on a new arrival that’s disappearing fast.
Gaillac 2016, La Cuisine de ma mère… En vacances à Gaillac, Nicolas Grosbois ($20.50, 13349800)
Nicolas Grosbois is based in Chinon. In most vintages, his entry-level wine, a drink-now Cabernet Franc, is called La Cuisine de ma mère. In 2016, however, having lost nearly all his harvest to bad weather, he decided to source grapes elsewhere. The result is this vin plaisir from Gaillac, which in France appears to be marketed as La Cousine de ma mére and comes in a Burgundy bottle. Duras (25%), Merlot (25%), Braucol (aka Fer, 25%) and Syrah (25%) from organically farmed vines. Manually harvested. Short maceration. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Barely sulphured. Reducing sugar: 1.5 g/l. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: La QV.
Fun nose of black and sour cherry segueing to plum, slate, papier d’Arménie and dried wood. In the piehole, it’s medium-bodied and supple, packed with ripe-sweet fruit atop a gravelly substrate. Souring acidity adds intrigue, slender tannins turn a little raspy on the finish. Hints of stem, old wood, red licorice, incense and faint burnt caramel linger. Nothing profound but food-friendly and ultra-drinkable, like a lip-smacking Beaujolais with extra savour and a bit of torque. (Buy again? Absolutely.)
Here’s hoping Grosbois has a great 2017 vintage in Chinon but also continues making this Gaillac!
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.)
Brett happens 