Posts Tagged ‘Loire’
Claude Courtois’s 2009 Quartz
Vin de France 2009, Quartz, Domaine Claude Courtois/Les Cailloux du Paradis ($28.00, 12 bottles/case, La QV)
Thought this was a second shipment of the 2008, which I so enjoyed last June, but it turns out to be the 2009, which I enjoyed even more. Popular with the province’s new-wave bistros and wine bars, this will sell out quickly, especially as it’s about 10% cheaper than the 2008.
100% Sauvignon Blanc. 12.2% ABV.
Nose of minerals and rain. Hints of citrus zest (more lime than lemon) and herby hay but no extroverted grassiness, boxwood or cat pee.
Very dry. Initial fruit quickly joined by a crystalline, citrusy sourness and a faint quinine-like bitterness. Brightly, not screechingly acidic. Long, clean, minerally finish. Subtle, pure, transparent: a watercolour, not an oil painting
So refreshing and tonic, like water from a mountain spring. What Chablis would be if it were made from Sauvignon Blanc.
Perfect with oysters Rockefeller. Almost as good with pan-seared scallops drizzled with a Meyer lemon and white wine reduction.
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Domaine Claude Courtois/Les Cailloux du Paradis is in Sologne, a Loire Valley district located just south of Touraine. Courtois likes to describe himself as a winemaking peasant with a deep respect for nature. That means old-fashioned farming, with no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides, and using atypical winemaking techniques designed to bring out the essence of the terroir. Currently 13 ha (32 acres) in size, the estate is planted mainly with Gamay (for the Nacarat cuvée); Cabernet Franc, Cot and Cabernet Sauvignon (Racines cuvée); Sauvignon Blanc (Quartz and Plume d’ange cuvées) and Pineau (Alkimya cuvée). He has got into trouble with local authorities for planting Syrah (not to mention the rumoured Barbera, Sangiovese, Tempranillo, etc.), even though historical records show that it was part of the region’s grape mix prior to the phylloxera crisis.
Wine Terroirs profile
French Facebook page run by fans (Courtois is said to be, well, if not exactly a Luddite, someone who has little time for modern technology)
The estate’s way out-of-date website
Some excellent photos of Courtois and his estate and of Olivier Cousin
My life as a high-roller
Updated October 24, 2010. See note below.
Tastes of two wines served double-blind at SAQ outlets. The first bottle had been open for about 18 hours, the second for about five. I didn’t take notes, so this is from memory.
Wine 1 was unmistakably Sauvignon Blanc, the nose all gooseberries, grapefruit and grass on wet stones. But from where? There was a roundness and weight that seemed New Worldish, yet it wasn’t caricatured like New Zealand SBs so often are: no one would accuse this of tasting like Fresca. On the other hand, the creamy texture, hints of oak, mineral- and acid-dominating fruit didn’t exactly scream, oh, Sancerre. Still, the wine had presence: a lithe muscularity, great follow-through and, despite the flashiness, undeniable class. It drew me back, made me want to spend more time with it. Waiting for the bottle to be unveiled, I studied the store’s Loire section, looking for candidates. Not many. It couldn’t be that $20 Chard-heavy Cheverny, could it? That would qualify as the bargain of the century. Had I looked instead in the locked display case, I might have guessed right: Blanc Fumé de Pouilly 2007 2006*, Silex, Didier Dagueneau ($95.00, 1151947). Dagueneau’s next-to-last vintage before his untimely death in an ultralight plane accident. It would be interesting to track the wine’s evolution over the next decade or so, but his wines have become cult objects and have prices to match (though the tax-inclusive C$95 is a relative bargain; there are lots of stores in the States where it’s running over US$100 before taxes).
Wine 2 was more red than purple but far from light. A gorgeous nose: red berries and forest floor, a touch of sweet oak and a spice chest that put me in mind of a Quintarelli Valpolicella. A sip ruled out the Italian connection. Likely Pinot Noir. Possibly French. Yet, again, so rich and dense – the texture more velvet than silk, the fruit so ripe, the tannins so cushioned – you had to wonder whether it wasn’t some damn-the-expense New World bottling. Nope: Bonnes-Mares grand cru 2006, Fougeray de Beauclair ($165.25, 10926608). Impressive and even accessible now (if the store hadn’t been about to close, I’d have spent another five minutes with my nose stuck in the glass) but still a baby.
*UPDATE: As at least one SAQ wine advisor has discovered, the labels on some of the bottles of the Silex currently sold at the SAQ give the vintage as 2007 but all the corks have 2006 printed on them (as the bottles don’t have capsules, it’s easy to check). In this case, the cork trumps the label: the estate has confirmed that the SAQ’s current “2007s” are in fact mislabelled 2006s. See this discussion on La Paulée En Ligne for details. As of Sunday, October 24, the SAQ’s website still listed the wine as the 2007.
Double double
I’ve always had a soft spot for traditionally styled Cahors. There’s something about the dark, wild flavours, innate terseness and mix of rough and smooth that speaks to me. It also helps that they’re natural partners for some of my favourite eats: the traditional dishes of southwest France. And it’s with food that I tend to open them; like equally terse, traditionally styled Chianti Classicos, they show better at table than at tastings.
Cahors 2005, Clos de Gamot ($22.05, 00913418)
100% old-vine Malbec. Blackberry, raspberry, wet earth, minerals, fresh leaves or herbs on the nose, flavours more black cherryish. Medium-bodied and fluid. Round on the attack. Acid and tannins kick in on mid-palate. Tannic astringency dominates the finish. At this stage, an odd combination of suave and rustic. Will probably smooth out with a year or two more in the bottle.
Cahors 2004, Clos Triguedina ($22.65, 00746412)
About 3/4 Malbec with a little Merlot and less Tannat. Nose similar to the Gamot’s, though a bit plummier. Smoother and silkier until the tannins coat your teeth with a velvet astringency. If you can get past that, there’s sweet fruit at the core. The finish is more felt than tasted, though hints of port, leather and tobacco linger. A more structured but only slightly deeper wine. For depth and every other dimension, seek out the estate’s splendid Prince Probus bottling.
Let what you’re serving determine whether to open them now or wait a couple more years: now with duck confit, cassoulet and similar dishes that stand up to the tannins and embrace the young fruit; later with grilled or roasted beef or duck, braised hare and other stews.
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The Mo’ Wine Group’s and my first encounter with Michel Gendrier’s Le Pressoir was in February, when it was part of a red Cheverny flight. I’d chosen the wine for the tasting because I’d recognized Gendrier’s name: he’s the owner of biodynamically farmed Domaine des Huards, two of whose whites – the Sauvignon-dominated Cheverny blanc and, especially, the 100% Romorantin Cour-Cheverny – have long been among my automatic buys (until the SAQ inexplicably stopped carrying the Cour-Cheverny, that is).
The 2006 Le Pressoir, an 80–20 blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay, was an instant hit with the group, which immediately began scouring the city and, eventually, the province in search of the dwindling number of bottles. One MWG member served it to a friend who has a small négociant operation; the friend spent the next day tracking down a couple of cases to pour at his upcoming wedding. The 2008 showed up on the SAQ’s shelves last summer, but a few weeks ago, another member found a small stash of the 2006 in Sherbrooke, one bottle of which he was kind enough to offer me (I long ago exhausted my store). And last weekend, yet another friend popped the cork on the 2008 to go with Thanksgiving turkey.
Cheverny 2006, Le Pressoir, Michel Gendrier ($20.65, NLA)
Funky nose becoming red-berried with spicy notes as it breathed. Surprisingly fruity on the palate but in no way heavy. Medium-bodied. Structured as much by acidity as tannins. There’s a ripe sweetness to the fruit and no hint of greenness, though a stemmy/sappy streak, along with the acid, keeps the wine refreshing. Long beet- and mineral-tinged finish. Perfect in its unpretentious way.
Cheverny 2008, Le Pressoir, Michel Gendrier ($18.50, 11154021)
Pure red berries and cherries, along with some stems and leaves, a whiff of incense but no barnyard. Fresh, clean and supple, a little lighter than the 2006 but no less fruity. Bright acid, fine and silky tannins. Not particularly structured or deep. Fair length. An appealing, food-friendly bottle and a great buy at its new price. That said, while it may gain weight and depth over the next year or two, I’m not convinced it will ever prove as alluring as the 2006.
Brett happens 