Posts Tagged ‘Mid-priced’
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
Three Arbois reds
Arbois 2012, Poulsard de l’Ami Karl, Domaine de la Pinte ($24.25, 12616515)
100% biodynamically and organically farmed Poulsard from a single vineyard planted nearly 40 years ago. Manually harvested. Destemmed. Maceration and fermentation, with indigenous yeasts and daily pump-overs, take place in tanks. Matured in 50-hl oak barrels for eight or nine months. Lightly filtered before bottling. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: Raisonnance.
Fragrant nose of red berries, sweet spice, cedar and slate. Light- to medium-bodied, silky textured, wonderfully fresh, fluid and alive. The pale cherry-cranberry fruit is bright with acidity and deepened by a savoury, woodsy substrate. Chewing reveals fine, tight tannins, showing the wine to be more structured than first appears. Long, spicy finish. Bordering on magical – even New World fans and self-proclaimed Poulsard haters gave it a thumbs-up. Serve lightly chilled. (Buy again? Done and done again!)
Arbois 2011, Trousseau Grevillière, Domaine Daniel Dugois ($24.55, 12210419)
100% Trousseau from vines planted in the one-hectare Grevillière lieu-dit in the 1950s. Manually harvested. 100% destemmed. The lightly crushed grapes are cold-macerated then fermented with indigenous yeasts for around 18 days. Matured in large oak barrels for 18 months. Lightly filtered before bottling. Reducing sugar: 1.7 g/l. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: Symbiose.
Jammy red berries and crushed leaves. Round, extracted and mouth-filling. The fruit, which tastes stewed, is structured only a little by the streaming acidity and soft tannins. Decent length but heavy for a Jura red, lacking detail and devoid of excitement. Some drinkers report it needs a few years in the cellar or many hours in a carafe to start strutting its stuff; maybe that explains it. (Buy again? A bottle to age and see what gives?)
Arbois 2013, Poulsard, Jacques Puffeney ($31.50, private import, 12 bottles/case)
100% organically farmed Poulsard from several different parcels in Montigny and Arbois. Manually harvested. Fermented in vats with indigenous yeasts for 15 to 20 days, then racked into neutral foudres for malolactic fermentation. Matured in barrels for around two years. Unfiltered and unfined. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Vini-Vins.
Closed nose, somewhat slatey and offering up an unusual aroma one taster described as “cold poutine.” Slowly develops minty raspberry and cedar shake notes. Similarly closed and unexpressive in the mouth. Light- to medium-bodied. The fruit is lean, the acidity brisk, the tannins light and tight. Minerals and spice come out on the long finish. Classic natural Poulsard – hazy, earthy and complex – but somewhat enigmatic and austere for now. Will be interesting to revisit in a couple of years. (Buy again? Yes, especially since this is the retiring Puffeney’s next-to-last vintage.)
MWG October 8th tasting: flight 4 of 7
Blancs de Provence
IGP Méditerranée 2013, Viognier Sainte-Fleur, Triennes ($22.30, 12625681)
Triennes in the project of two well-known Burgundians (Jacques Seysses of Domaine Dujac and Aubert de Villaine of Domaine de la Romanée Conti) and a Paris-based friend. The estate is located in the Var, east of Aix-en-Provence, was founded in 1997 and began converting to organic farming in 2008 (the 2011 vintage of the Sainte-Fleur was the estate’s first certified organic wine). This 100% Viognier is fermented in temperature-controlled tanks and matured in tanks. Reducing sugar: 1.8 g/l. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Séguin & Robillard.
Quartz dust and faint peach filigreed with honeysuckle, smoked salt and garrigue. Bordering on unctuous in the mouth, where it proves more of a fruit cocktail, albeit a dry and alcoholic one that’s freshened by smooth acidity and backdropped by sun-baked stones. A faint bitterness threads through the long finish. Not bad for an inexpensive Viognier – no one’s going to mistake it for a Condrieu – and pleasant enough to drink but not really memorable and not the bargain that the red is. Might well show better at the dining table than it does at the tasting table. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Bandol 2014, Domaine du Gros’Noré ($30.75, 12206989)
Despite what you’ll read on SAQ.com and on the Quebec agent’s website, this is a 70-30 blend of Ugni Blanc (aka Trebbiano) and Clairette from sustainably farmed vines averaging 30 years old. The must is macerated on the skins for 24 hours, then fermented at low temperatures with indigenous yeasts. Sees only stainless steel until bottling. Unfiltered and unfined. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Shy nose of quartz, wet ash, earth and white flowers. The rich texture is balanced by a steady stream of underlying acidity. Somewhat neutral in flavour yet somehow savoury and mouth-filling. Stones and lemon pith haunt the long finish. While this will never be an exuberant wine, it is a baby at this point and, as a second bottle showed, it doesn’t stop evolving for hours after opening. Definitely a food wine: I thought sea bass with pesto might make a good match but that second bottle was transporting with the winemaker’s recommended pairing of grilled mussels with rosemary, my recipe for which you’ll find after the jump. (Buy again? Done!)
MWG October 8th tasting: flight 2 of 7
White and red Blots
Two estates but the same owner-winemaker: Jacky Blot.
Montlouis-sur-Loire 2012, Clos de Mosny, Domaine de la Taille aux Loups ($32.50, 12303674)
100% Chenin Blanc from the oldest vines (averaging will over 50 years) in the centre of the 12-hectare stone-walled clos. Farming is organic but uncertified as such. The grapes are manually harvested during the second of several passes though the vineyard. Depending on the condition of the fruit, whole and/or partial clusters are harvested. Fermented with indigenous yeasts and no chaptalization. Matured on the lees in oak barrels (one-quarter new, one-quarter second fill, one-quarter third fill and one-quarter fourth fill) for 12 months. Racked once or twice to clarify the wine. Before bottling, the barrels are tasted, selected and blended. Bottled unfiltered and unfined. Reducing sugar: 4.3 g/l. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: Vini-Vins.
Complex, changing nose: honeycomb, citrus, soap, seaside minerals and a hint of honeysuckle, then gaining parsnip, raw honey and quince nuances. Full and rich in the mouth, albeit a little austere at this stage in its development. Flavours tend to apple, peach, powdered ginger and something more root vegetable-like (“Japanese turnip” per one taster) with a definite mineral underlay. Comes across as quite dry, its reducing sugar levels notwithstanding, perhaps due to its glowing acidity. Long, layered and delicious, full of potential, a lovely wine with at least another decade of life ahead of it. (Buy again? Yes.)
Bourgueil 2013, Mi-Pente, Domaine La Butte ($36.00, 10903684)
Blot’s top red cuvée. 100% Cabernet Franc. The grapes come from vines averaging 60 years old and grown in a five-hectare plot located in the middle of Blot’s sloping 12-hectare Bourgueil vineyard. Yields are an exceptionally low 25 hl/ha. Farming is organic but uncertified. Manual harvesting. After destemming, the grapes are transferred to oak vats for alcoholic fermentation with indigenous yeasts (no chaptalization), daily punch-downs for 10 days and regular pump-overs. Maceration lasts an unusually long five weeks. After malolactic fermentation in oak vats, the wine is matured in oak barrels (one-third new, one-third second fill, one-third third fill) for 16 months. Bottled unfiltered and unfined. Reducing sugar: 1.4 g/l. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: Réserve & Sélection.
Expressive nose of slate, turned earth and ripe red fruit (initially in the background though coming to the fore as the wine breathes) along with faint kirsch and green pepper and a streak of oak that one taster termed “mid-range chocolate ice cream.” Equally expressive in the mouth, despite its youth. Quite extracted – on the top side of medium-bodied – but not heavy. The velvety fruit is tense with fine if tight tannins and firm acidity. Layers of flavour, including well-integrating oak, unfurl as the wine moves across the palate. Finishes, minerally, clean and long. Carafe several hours in advance if drinking now or cellar until it peaks, probably in 2020 to 2025. If this wine were a Bordeaux or Burgundy, it would be retailing for two or three times as much. (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG July 16th tasting: flight 4 of 6.
White and red ABCs
Santa Barbara County 2013, Pinot Gris–Pinot Blanc, Au Bon Climat ($27.70, 12510690)
Pinot Gris (66%) from purchased grapes grown in the El Camino and Sierra Madre vineyards and Pinot Blanc (34%) from old vines grown in the estate’s Bien Nacido vineyard. Barrel-fermented. Underwent full malolactic fermentation. Matured on the lees in neutral barrels for six months. Reducing sugar: 1.7 g/l. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Smoky, slightly sour, vaguely mineral nose with yellow fruit evocative of ground cherry jam. Plump and a little lumbering in the mouth. Round, chewy and, reducing sugar levels be damned, coming across as off-dry. The impression of sweetness is countered by streaming acidity but reinforced by unignorable butterscotch flavours. Dries out a little on the long finish overtoned with white grapefruit pith. Might work better in the context of a meal, especially one featuring white meat, though even then the lack of refreshment would be a downside. (Buy again? No.)
Santa Barbara County 2013, Pinot Noir, Au Bon Climat ($31.50, 11604192)
A blend of Pinot Noir (95%, from six vineyards in the Santa Maria Valley, two vineyards in the Los Alamos Valley and one vineyard in the Santa Rita appellation) and Mondeuse (5%, from the Bien Nacido vineyard). We kept most small lots of Pinot Noir separate for the first 6 months. Matured in oak barrels. Reducing sugar: 2.2 g/l. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Red berries, cola and sweet spice on the nose. A lactic note marks the palate. Fine tannins and fluent acidity give the fruit a semblance of structure but do nothing to counter its candied edge. Finishes clean and spicy if a little short. Supple and admirably un-Syrah-like for a Santa Barbara Pinot Noir but ultimately a bit cloying. That said, the wine will probably benefit from six months in the cellar. In the States, this can often be found for well under US$20, at which price its lack of éclat might be more forgivable. (Buy again? No.)
Technical information for these wines has been hard to find. They may have been made from organically farmed grapes. They may have been fermented with indigenous yeasts. They may or may not have been filtered or fined. Neither the ABC website nor the Quebec agent’s website are particularly helpful in this regard.
While members of the group, myself included, have enjoyed Au Bon Climat wines in the past, neither of these bottles pushed our buttons. Indeed, a couple of tasters declared that both wines’ “sweetness” (more properly termed their perceived sweetness, if the residual sugar figures are to be believed) made them difficult to drink. Even those who didn’t complain weren’t excited about them. A disappointment then.
MWG July 16th tasting: flight 3 of 6.
White and red clay
Domaine des Ardoisières is one of the up-and-comingest estates in the Savoie if not all of France. Its steep, terraced, mountain-side vineyards, formerly forest land above the village of Villard, were created in the late 1990s.
IGP Vin des Allobroges 2012, Argile blanc, Domaine des Ardoisières ($38.20, private import, 6 bottles/case, NLA)
Organically and biodynamically farmed Jacquère (40%), Chardonnay (40%) and Mondeuse Blanche (20%). The varieties are vinified separately. After manual harvesting and sorting, the whole clusters are lightly pressed. The musts are chilled, clarified by settling and transferred to third- to fifth-fill barrels for alcoholic fermentation using indigenous yeasts. Malolactic fermentation is not systematic. The wine is matured nine months (two-thirds in tanks, one-third in thrid- to fifth-fill barrels), then racked, blended, lightly filtered and bottled. Annual production: 10,000-15,000 bottles. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: La QV/Insolite.
Fresh and bracing nose of white minerals (think limestone, talc), spice, pear and apple. Direct and to the point on the palate. Ethereal despite its weight of extract. A mouth-filling matrix of quartz and flint lightly infused with lemony fruit and taut with acidity. The long, clean, faintly saline finish draws you back for another sip. A delight. (Buy again? Yes.)
IGP Vin des Allobroges 2012, Argile rouge, Domaine des Ardoisières ($47.35, private import, 6 bottles/case)
Organically and biodynamically farmed Gamay (80%) and Persan (20%). The varieties are vinified separately. After manual harvesting and sorting, the whole clusters are placed in open vats for alcoholic fermentation using indigenous yeasts. After two to three weeks’ maceration, the grapes are pressed and the must is transferred to vats for malolactic fermentation. The wine is then matured nine months in three- to five-year-old barrels, racked, blended, lightly filtered and bottled. Annual production: around 5,000 bottles. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: La QV/Insolite.
An explosion of red berries and dark minerals with hints of peppery spice and flowers (violet?). Light- to medium-bodied. Lithe, fresh and pure, pure, pure. Lifted by lip-smacking acidity and structured by light, velvety tannins, the tart and juicy fruit lasts well into the long finish, where it’s joined by undertones of dark earth, ferrous minerals and game. A truly memorable alpine red with a definite wild side. Pricey but I kept tasting it on my mind’s palate for days after the tasting – hard to put a price on that. (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG July 16th tasting: flight 2 of 6.
Orange juice
Last up were COS’s two orange wines.
IGP Terre Siciliane 2012, Ramì, Azienda Agricola COS ($30.00, 12461525)
Inzolia (50%) and Grecanico (aka Garganega, 50%) from biodynamically and organically vines averaging ten years old. The grapes are manually harvested, destemmed, soft-crushed and macerated on the skins and pips for ten days. Temperature-controlled fermentation (with indigenous yeasts) and maturation take place in concrete tanks. The wine is filtered before bottling with a 2-micron filter. No sulphur is used during the wine-making but a small squirt of sulphur dioxide is added at bottling. Reducing sugar: 1.5 g/l. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Delicious nose of straw and beeswax with hints of dried apricot, sun-baked stone and spice. Smooth and full in the mouth. The muted fruit is perfumed by dried orange, blanched almond and faint powdered ginger overtones. Bright acidity and supple tannins add tension and firmness. Long, balanced and remarkably fresh. While this may not be a radical example of the category – Orange Wine 101? – on its own terms it is wholly satisfying. It may also be the most versatile cheese wine in existence. (Buy again? Definitely.)
IGP Terre Siciliane 2012, Pithos, Bianco, Azienda Agricola COS ($42.00, 12316352)
Grecianico from biodynamically and organically farmed vines averaging a bit less than 15 years old. Manually harvested. The whole-clusters are fermented (with indigenous yeasts) and matured seven months in 400-litre terracotta amphorae, which are buried up to their necks to impede oxidation. Further maturation takes place in the bottle. Unfiltered. Minimally sulphured. Reducing sugar: 1.5 g/l. 10.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
By both the winemaker’s and agent’s admission, high in volatile acidity, not that you can see it. Complex nose of straw, banana peel, white spice, almond, dried yellow fruit, crushed rocks. So suave in the mouth. Smooth textured, fluid and fresh. The fruit is understated – though you definitely taste the skins along with grapes – and lightly tinted by salted caramel. Faint tannins add structure and an intriguing astringency, particularly on the finish. Not a shouter but no less wonderful for it. (Buy again? Yes.)
Carafe these several hours in advance and don’t make the mistake of drinking them too cold; remember, they’re as akin to red wines as to whites. I usually find 14-16°C (around 60°F) about right.
MWG April 14th tasting: flight 6 of 6.
Brett happens 