Posts Tagged ‘Loire’
Muscadet and mussels
Muscadet Sèvre et Maine 2014, Château du Coing de Saint-Fiacre ($16.60, 11154259)
100% Melon de Bourgogne from 65-year-old vines rooted mainly in decomposed gneiss. After alcoholic fermentation, the wine is overwintered on its lees until bottling in March. Sees only stainless steel. Reducing sugar: 2.1 g/l. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: StarVin.
Classic Muscadet nose of citrus, pear, chalk, stone and a floral (jasmine?) note. In the mouth, it’s clean and fruity with crisp acidity. A light mineral underlay lasts through the tangy, briny finish. There are deeper Muscadets around but not at this price. A drinker, not a keeper. (Buy again? Sure.)
Mussels with white wine and aromatics made an ideal match.
Easy-drinkers from Tuscany and Touraine
Rosso di Montalcino 2013, Altesino ($26.45, 11472345)
100% Sangiovese Grosso from younger vines in the Altesino, Pianezzine, Macina and Castelnuovo dell’Abate vineyards. Given a one- to two-day cold soak and seven to ten days’ maceration with racking and pump-overs. Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled (28-30°C) stainless steel tanks and lasts 15-20 days. Matured six to eight months in old 5,000- to 10,000-litre Slavonian oak barrels and a minimum of three months in bottle. Reducing sugar: 2.2 g/l. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Le Marchand de Vin.
Red berries, black cherry, iodine, marzipan and, as another taster noted, “umami.” Medium-bodied, silky textured and very dry. The deliciously pure fruit is structured by lacy tannins and bright acidity, while minerals and bitter black cherry mingle on the clean, nicely astringent finish. Faint tobacco and floral (violet?) notes linger. Fans of here-now Sangioveses need not hesitate. (Buy again? Yep.)
Touraine 2014, Le Bon ami, Domaine de La Garrelière ($26.65, private import, 12 bottles/case)
100% biodynamically farmed Cabernet Franc. Manually harvested. Destemmed. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. No chaptalization. Matured six to eight months in concrete tanks. Lightly filtered before bottling. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Le Marchand de Vin.
Complex nose of Chinese preserved plums, pepper brine, black tea leaves and more. Medium-bodied, supple, smooth, fresh and pure. The fruit (cherry and black currant) comes with a faint green note pitched somewhere between cedar shoot and tobacco leaf. The acidity’s sleek and the tannins are low-key, though there’s a bit of astringency on the long finish, which also brings a hint of spice. Not a grab-you-by-the-throat wine but drinkable indeed. It may well gain depth and complexity with a couple of years in the cellar. (Buy again? Sure.)
MWG February 26th tasting: flight 5 of 7
Oak and ashes
Touraine 2013, Cuvée Cendrillon, Domaine de la Garrelière ($23.45, 10211397)
A blend of Sauvignon Blanc (80%) and Chardonnay (20%) from biodynamically farmed vines averaging 25 years old. The grape varieties are vinified separately. After gentle pressing, the must is allowed to clarify by settling. Fermentation – full alcoholic with indigenous yeasts and partial malolactic – takes place in stainless steel tanks and lasts two months. A third of the wine by volume is aged in old 500-litre oak barrels. Blending is done one month before bottling. Fined with bentonite and filtered through a 0.65 membrane. The cuvée’s name, French for Cinderella, refers to the winegrower’s practice of spraying the vines with a preparation of crystallized ashes made from burned vine clippings. Reducing sugar: 2.3 g/l. 14% ABV. Quebec agent: Le Marchand de Vin.
Ashy minerals, peach, honeysuckle, “fennel” and faint, dusty potpourri. Fresh and briny on the palate with subtle citrus flavours. The combo of Chardonnay and relatively mild acidity give the wine a round and satiny texture. A touch of bitterness colours the minerally finish. “Clean and precise,” as another taster pointed out. (Buy again? Yes.)
Bourgogne 2013, Chardonnay, Caves Ropiteau Frères ($22.40, 11293953)
100% Chardonnay from vineyards across Burgundy (purchased grapes?). Fermented in stainless steel (with industrial yeasts?). Matured in barrels for six months. (Filtered? Fined?) Reducing sugar: 2.3 g/l. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Le Marchand de Vin.
Apple and pear, hints of oats and white flowers and an unmissable shot of oak. Medium-bodied. The fruit is rich but not tropical and there’s enough acidity to keep it from being flabby. A hint of sweetness marks the smooth attack but the wine finishes dry. Faint minerals and not-so-faint caramel are noticeable from the mid-palate on. Fair length. To my oak-sensitive palate, a bit cloying. Give it a year in the cellar to digest the wood? (Buy again? If you aren’t allergic to oak, sure.)
MWG February 26th tasting: flight 3 of 7
Two affordable Cab Francs
The teaser sent to MWG members prior to the tasting described this flight as “Two more structured reds. Same vintage, same grape variety, same country, neighbouring appellations, different producers.”
Saumur-Champigny 2014, Cep by Cep, Thierry Germain Sélection ($20.15, 12424767)
Thierry Germain’s estate wines are marketed under the Domaine des Roches Neuves label. TGS is his and his brother Phillipe’s négociant label. 100% Cabernet Franc from organically farmed grapes. Manually harvested and fully destemmed. Macerated and fermented on the skins 15 to 18 days in temperature-controlled tanks. Matured eight to 12 months in stainless steel tanks. Reducing sugar: 1.9 g/l. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: Société Clément.
Classic nose of red berries and slate, hints of game meat, caraway and a green pepper herbaceousness. Dry. On the light side of medium-bodied. Ideal balance of ripe fruit, tart acidity and supple tannins, all against a gauzy backdrop of minerals. Clean, fresh and pure from juicy start to spicy finish. For drinking here and now, carafed a couple of hours beforehand and served at cool room temperature. You can find cheaper entry-level Cab Francs at the SAQ but you probably won’t find better. (Buy again? Yes.)
Saumur 2014, Domaine Guiberteau ($24.30, 10516465)
100% Cabernet Franc from organically farmed vines planted in 1955 and 1957. The grapes are picked by hand, sorted and fully destemmed. Fermentation with indigenous yeasts and maceration take place in concrete vats and last around two weeks. Maturation is in neutral (third- and fourth-fill) barrels for nine to 18 months depending on the vintage. Nothing is added during the winemaking process except a minimal amount of sulphur dioxide at bottling. About 10,000 bottles made. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: LVAB.
Forewarned that the wine was closed and very reduced in 2014, I violently double-carafed our bottle and let it breathe for five hours, which helped but only a little. Funky nose of ash, animale, ripe if retiring fruit, clay. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied and tightly coiled yet full of potential: well structured, with ripe fruit and dark minerals at its core. Vigorous swirling and chewing give glimpses of the unfurling and depth to come. Long ashy finish. At this point, quite a different animal(e) from the 2013. Another six to 12 months in the bottle should help sort things out. (Buy again? A qualified yes: you gotta have faith and I do.)
MWG January 14th tasting: flight 6 of 7
Two dry Loire whites
The teaser sent to MWG members prior to the tasting described this flight as “Two dry, bright still whites from the same broad region. No other connections.”
Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine 2011, Clisson, Ollivier Père et Fils ($21.15, 12259992)
A small restocking of a wine I enjoyed back in October 2014. Clisson is one of the crus communaux (village crus) now recognized in Muscadet (2011 was the first vintage where the commune name could be mentioned on the label). The producer is also known as Ollivier Frères and has no connection with Marc Ollivier of Domaine de la Pépière. 100% Melon de Bougogne from vines between 30 and 75 years old. Matured on the lees for 24 months in stainless steel tanks. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: A.O.C. & Cie.
Chalk and granite, sea breeze, white fruit and, eventually, a whiff of “barley sugar” (quoting another taster). A fundamentally dry, richly textured mouthful of minerals and citrus Nik-L-Nips. Bitter saline minerals and a faint, not unappealing soap aroma mark the long, unctuous finish. Quite substantial for a Muscadet but saved from heaviness by a sustained stream of acidity, this would be dandy with sauced seafood dishes like coquilles St-Jacques as well as rich cheeses. (Buy again? Yes.)
Cheverny 2014, Pure, Domaine des Huards ($20.10, 00961607)
A blend of Sauvignon Blanc (85%) and Chardonnay (15%) from biodynamically farmed vines. The grapes are manually harvested and gently pressed. The must is clarified by settling. Fermentation with indigenous yeasts takes place in temperature-controlled (18-20°C) stainless steel tanks. The wine is then racked into stainless steel tanks for maturation on its fine lees. Reducing sugar: 3.5 g/l. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: La QV (redesigned website!).
Nose dominated by unmistakable jalapeño. Get past it and you discover floral, ash and faint stone fruit aromas. The pepper (sans heat, of course) pops up on the palate along with saline minerals and just enough residual sugar to take the edge off the sharp acidity. Long, tangy finish. The wine’s “juicy freshness” is delightful. Though the jalapeño faded as the wine breathed, earlier bottles of this have been totally chile-free, so let’s assume ours was oddly off. (Buy again? Another bottle to check out what’s up, for sure.)
MWG January 14th tasting: flight 2 of 7
Quality price Orthogneiss
Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine 2013, Expression d’Orthogneiss, Domaine de l’Écu ($22.70, 10919141)
100% Melon de Bourgogne (aka Muscadet) from biodynamically farmed, half-century-old vines grown in a three-hectare vineyard with a thin, gravelly top soil and an orthogneiss subsoil. Manually harvested. The whole clusters are pneumatically pressed and the juice unclarified. Fermented with indigenous yeasts at 15–17ºC (59–63ºF). Matured on the lees for 18 months. The winery uses gravity, not pumps, to move the must and wine. Reducing sugar: 1.2 g/l. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: Raisonnance.
Subdued nose of stones and apple with whiffs of honey and dried lemon peel. Slightly viscous texture. The subtle fruit – again apple and lemon – is wrapped in minerals, overtoned with honey. Acidity is brisk but unassertive, the finish long and aromatic with long-held notes of paraffin, seawater, bitter herbs and durian. Bone dry yet rich enough that you don’t really notice. Impeccable and age-worthy (up to 10 years from the vintage). Ridiculously high QPR (Muscadet may be France’s most unappreciated white wine). Though Muscadet is the raw oyster wine par excellence, this has the wherewithal to accompany more elaborate, richly sauced dishes. (Buy again? Definitely.)
Three lighter reds
Württemburg 2014, Trollinger, Without All, Weingut Knauss ($28.00, private import, NLA)
100% Trollinger from organically farmed though uncertified vines. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. No added anything, whence the “without all.” Unfiltered and unfined. 9.5% ABV. Screwcapped. Quebec agent: Ward & associés.
A bit spritzy and reduced at first, then sour berries, slate and developing clay and animale notes. Light and fluid on the palate. Airframe tannins and bright acidity provide some structure and faint minerals some depth but this is mainly about the pure fruit. Lip-smacking, sweet and sour finish. Light-bodied almost to the point of lacking substance and yet refreshing and ultra-drinkable, this ethereal wine was a hit with several around the table, despite its high price. (Buy again? Gladly.)
Côtes du Forez 2014, La Volcanique, Cave Verdier-Logel ($21.80, private import, 12 bottles/case)
Based in Marcilly-le-Châtel, the certified organic 17-hectare estate grows Gamay and a little Pinot Gris and Viognier. This cuvée is 100% Gamay from old vines rooted in basalt soil. Manually harvested. Macerated 21 days at around 20°C. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Lightly filtered (earth filters) before bottling. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: La QV/Insolite.
Sappy in the way of a good Beaujolais, though the red berries are a little candied and shot through with some greenness. Supple and tasty. Juicy fruit and sustained acidity play against a schisty backdrop while the tannins turn a little bitey on the sustained finish. Finely balanced yet appealingly rustic. To my surprise, this didn’t create the same sensation that the 2013 did (different contexts?). (Buy again? Yes.)
Quebec 2012, Pinot Noir Réserve, Domaine les Brome ($26.00, 12685879)
100% Pinot Noir according to the winery’s website (SAQ.com says the wine contains 7% Maréchal Foch). Macerated and fermented in stainless steel tanks. Matured 12 months in oak barrels. Reducing sugar: 1.9%. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: Univins.
A nose that tasters described as “electrical fire,” “cordite” and simply “weird.” Reactions to the taste were similar, “copper penny” being the one I noted. The not very pinot-ish fruit is brightened by good acidity but deflated by saggy tannins and muddied by extraneous flavours. Odd-tasting finish. I’m hoping ours was an off bottle. (Buy again? Unlikely.)
This flight was built around the Trollinger and the other two wines were chosen in the hope that they might be close to its light body. Neither was. In fact, I’ve encountered only one wine recently that is: Domaine de la Pinte’s 2012 Arbois “Poulsard de l’ami Karl,” which we tasted back in October.
MWG November 12th tasting: flight 4 of 6
Le gros lot de Greg Leclerc
A historian by training, Grégory Leclerc did stints as a journalist and marketer before falling into the world of natural wine-making. He purchased his four-hectare estate – downsized from the original 6.5 hectares, named Chahut et Prodiges and located in Chargé in the hills near Amboise in the Tourraine – in 2007. He farms organically and makes wines from Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Gamay, Côt and Grolleau. The land is worked using a tractor, though Leclerc says he may switch to horses at some point. Harvesting is manual. Vinification of the reds involves placing the whole clusters in concrete tanks for two to three weeks with no added sulphur and no punch-downs or pump-overs – a form of carbonic maceration, what? Pressing is slow and gentle. The wines are unfined and lightly filtered. No sulphur is added to the reds; a tiny amount is added to the whites at bottling.
Vin de France 2013, Le Coup de Canon, Domaine Chahut et Prodiges ($26.87, private import, 12 bottles/case, NLA)
100% Grolleau from 60-year-old vines grown on clay and flint. Matured around nine months in fibreglass tanks. 11% ABV. Quebec agent: Deux Caves.
Lovely nose of Swedish berries, sandalwood, green earth and clean horse stable. Light-bodied and dry. The tart fruit is set on slate. Barely tannic with a silky texture and clean finish. The bottle at the second tasting showed even brighter and cheerier than the one at the first. Simple and appealing, as wines made from this variety should be. A vin plaisir that goes really well with charcuterie. (Buy again? Done!)
Vin de France 2013, La Meule, Domaine Chahut et Prodiges ($26.87, private import, 12 bottles/case, NLA)
100% Gamay from 25- to 30-year-old vines grown on clay and limestone. Matured around nine months in fibreglass tanks. 11% ABV. Quebec agent: Deux Caves.
Sour red berries, smelling a bit candied, with gamy, slate and pastry overtones. Wonderfully pure, tart and juicy fruit, vibrant acidity and lacy tannins. Long, smooth finish. A complete wine that even Beaujolais sceptics might like. If Deux Caves hadn’t been sold out of this, the group would have ordered two or three cases on the spot. (Buy again? If only…)
Vin de France 2013, Les Têtes Noires, Domaine Chahut et Prodiges ($26.87, private import, 12 bottles/case)
100% Côt (aka Malbec). Matured in used barrels. 11% ABV. Quebec agent: Deux Caves.
Darker, meatier nose, the fruit tending to roasted cherries and blackberries with slate and wood notes. Smooth on the palate, due in part to acidity that’s softer than the other Leclerc wines and a tannic structure that’s lighter than expected. Savoury finish though not a lot of follow-through. For me, the wine’s best quality is the purity of its fruit. (Buy again? Done!)
Vin de pays du Val de Loire 2012, Grolleau, Clau De Nell ($40.00, 12411763)
100% Grolleau from biodynamically farmed vines between 60 and 90 years old and grown in silty clay on tufa. Yields were a low 17 hl/ha. Harvested by hand and destemmed. Maceration and fermentation (indigenous yeasts) at 18 to 25°C and involving gentle punch-downs and limited pump-overs lasted 20 days. The grapes were then gently and slowly pressed with a pneumatic press. Half the wine was transferred to fifth-fill French oak casks from Burgundy and half to large vats for maturation on the fine lees, which lasted 12 months. The wine was bottled on a fruit day without filtering or fining. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: Séguin-Robillard.
Raspberry-green pepper jelly with a hint of sawed wood. Extracted and dense bordering on heavy. Oddly, given the avoidance of new barrels, the oak treatment seemed a little too lavish and obvious for such a modest grape variety (and I wasn’t the only one to complain of such). Combine that with relatively low acidity and you have a lethargic wine, albeit one with a certain hefty presence. Bottom line: it’s a wine that tries to hard, that gives itself airs. Tellingly, the wine was served double-blind and no one guessed it was made from the same grape as the archetypal Coup de Canon. A few years in the cellar may improve things but who knows? While I’ve enjoyed earlier vintages, this is not what I’m looking for in a Grolleau. (Buy again? Nope.)
Mo’ Wine Group September 27th tastings: flight 2 of 3
Les elixirs de Xavier Marchais
In late September, the Mo’ Wine Group initiated what we hope will be a near-monthly series of agency tastings, at which a representative from one of Quebec’s many wine agencies presents a selection of wines, usually private imports, from the agency’s portfolio.
Kicking off the series was one of the newest kids on the block, Deux Caves. (The agency’s name is a play on words, une cave being a cellar in French and un cave being a dumbass, an incompetent, a sucker.) The cave leading the tasting was Max Campbell, who earns an actual living pouring wine, serving tables and shucking oysters at Joe Beef and Vin Papillon; the other cave, Alexander Campbell (no relation to Max) is a Montrealer currently based in Dijon, where he’s studying oenology.
Deux Caves’s portfolio may be small for now but their focus is already clear: ultra-drinkable natural wines. In other words, right up the MWG’s alley, which is part of the reason why demand for seats at the tasting was so high that we ended up holding two sessions back to back (the promise of food, including a dish from Vin Papillon, may also have had something to do with it).
♦
We began with a white and a red from Xavier Marchais, a young winemaker based in the Anjou region. His four hectares of vines (half Chenin, half Cabernet Franc) are farmed biodynamically using a horse and manual labour. Pesticides, herbicides and other synthetic products are systematically avoided. Wine-making is non-interventionist. For the two Elixir cuvées, fermentation (with indigenous yeasts, naturally) and maturation take place in used barriques. Cellar techniques are pretty much limited to crushing and punching down by foot, manual pressing and racking. No sugar or sulphur are added. The unfiltered and unfined wines are bottled by hand and closed with a crown cap (the red’s cap reportedly allows more oxygen exchange than the white’s, which may partially explain the white’s reductive side).
Vin de France 2013, L’Elixir de Jouvence, Xavier Marchais ($28.54, private import, 12 bottles/case, NLA)
100% Chenin Blanc grown on schist. Yields in 2012 were an incredibly low 13 hl/ha (probably similar in 2013). Matured 12 months. Crown-capped. 11.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Deux Caves.
Reductive aromas on the nose and a faint spritz on the palate; carafing the wine well in advance helped to eliminate both. Engaging nose of wax, quince, lemon, minerals, honey, honeysuckle and straw/hay. Coming across as very close to the juice in the mouth. Dry, though, with zingy acidity, ethereal fruit, lots of minerals and a good, clean, tart finish. Light but vibrant and mouth-filling. The winemaker says this is young and more reduced than in other vintages. He also foresees a long life for it, predicting that the acidity will decease while the wine will become rounder and more aromatically complex. In the meantime, he suggests carafing it “violently.” (Buy again? In multiples.)
Vin de France 2013, L’Elixir de Longue Vie, Xavier Marchais ($26.87, private import, 12 bottles/case, NLA)
100% Cabernet Franc grown on schist and spilite. Yields in 2012 were 27 hl/ha (probably similar in 2013). Crown-capped. 11% ABV. Quebec agent: Deux Caves.
Exuberant nose of red fruit with floral, spice and incense overtones but no green pepper. Less exuberant than expected on the palate. Medium-bodied and satin-textured. Very dry, again with ethereal fruit. The acidity is bright and the tannins soft. A streak of slate runs throughout and is joined by spice on the long finish. The bottle at the second tasting was mushroomier than the first. The group’s resident Cab Franc hater actually enjoyed this enough to buy a couple of bottles. (Buy again? Yes.)
Mo’ Wine Group September 27th tastings: flight 1 of 3
Here now and how!
This may be yet another of the select group of SAQ wines sold only at the Atwater outlet and not listed on SAQ.com*. I picked up my bottle on Friday. Calling a few minutes ago to reserve a couple more, I was told they have 150 in stock.
Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine 2014, Amphibolite, Domaines Landron ($21.50, 12741084)
100% Melon de Bourgogne from organically and biodynamically farmed vines between 23 and 40 years old. The soil in the 7.5 ha vineyard is mainly decomposing amphibolite, whence the cuvée’s name. Yields were abnormally low in 2014: 37 hl/ha vs. the usual 45 hl/ha. The grapes were manually harvested and whole-cluster pressed. The must was chilled and allowed to clarify by settling. Fermentation with indigenous yeasts and no chaptalization took place in temperature-controlled, glass-lined cement tanks, with sulphur dioxide being added at the end to prevent malolactic fermentation. The wine was matured on the lees for four months, then cold-stabilized and gravity-bottled. Unfiltered and unfined. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
The nose of wet stones, gooseberry and ash only hints at the transfixingly vibrant mouthful to come: intertwining green fruit, crunchy minerals, lip-smacking acidity and salinity that’s off the charts. Ends long and clean with lingering bitter almond and bitter lemon notes. The kind of wine where one sip demands another and the bottle is empty before you know it. Not a keeper – even the winemaker says so – but killer here and now with Trésors du large on the half shell adorned with only a squirt of lemon and a grind of black pepper. (Buy again? Done!)
*Mystery solved: the wine was part of the October 8th natural wines release and should have been embargoed until then. In other words, Atwater jumped the gun. At 9 a.m. on Friday, October 9, bottles can be found in 74 stores across Quebec.
Brett happens 