Posts Tagged ‘Mid-priced’
Vittoria! Vittoria!
In Italian, cerasuolo means cherry-red. The word also appears in the names of two appellations. Cerasuolo d’Abrruzo is a Multepulciano-based rosé from central Italy. Cerasuolo di Vittoria is a red wine made in southeast Sicily, specifically in the province of Ragusa and parts of Caltanissetta and Catania.
Though Cerasuolo di Vittoria has been made since the 17th century, it wasn’t granted DOC status until 1974. Since 2004, it has been Sicily’s only DOCG. By law, Cerasuolo di Vittoria must be a blend of Nero d’Avola and Frappato, with the former constituting between 50 and 70%. Within the DOCG is a large zone, centred around Vittoria and including the original DOC, whose wines are entitled to the Classico designation provided they have been matured 18 months or longer.
Viewing Cerasuolo di Vittoria as the wine with the deepest roots in the region and the most expressive of the regions’ terroir, COS has made it the estate’s flagship.
Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico 2011, Azienda Agricola COS ($34.75, 12484997)
Nero d’Avola (60%) and Frappato (40%) from organically farmed vines. Fermented in stainless steel tanks on the skins and with indigenous yeasts. Matured 15 months in 20 and 40-hectolire oak foudres and several months in bottle. Unfiltered. Reducing sugar: 2.7 g/l. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Cherry with a hint of pastry and overtones of balsam and spice. Medium-bodied. Fresh and fruity from start to finish, laced with bright acidity, graced by silky tannins. A mineral backdrop and touch of earthiness add welcome dimension. The long finish is appetizingly tart. Not what you’d call complex but so approachable and drinkable. (Buy again? Yes, though not without wishing it were a little less pricey.)
Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico 2011, Delle Fontane, Azienda Agricola COS ($79.00, private import, 6 bottles/case)
Nero d’Avola (60%) and Frappato (40%) from organically farmed vines around 20 years old grown in the Delle Fontane vineyard. Fermented with indigenous yeasts in glazed cement tanks. Matured 15 months in 20- and 40-hectolire oak foudres for the Nero d’Avola and in glazed concrete tanks for the Frappato. After blending, the wine is matured several additional months in the bottle. Unfiltered. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
A nose to get lost in: cherry again, a whack of limestone and overtones of earth, dark minerals, marzipan, flowers (rose?) and dried herbs (bay?). A sip reveals a gorgeous surface and considerable depth, a wine denser but somehow not heavier than the estate Classico. The fruit is sweet yet the wine is dry. The layers of flavour – more like veils, actually – include minerals, tar, licorice and mushroom. Fine tannins and sleek acidity are in perfect balance. The structure, texture, complexity and weight are very Burgundian, in fact, though the aromas and flavours are anything but. The finish goes on and on. Gorgeous. I could drink this forever. (Buy again? If you can spare the pennies, sure.)
And, yep, the post’s title is another opera reference, this time to the second act of Tosca.
MWG April 14th tasting: flight 5 of 6.
COS and effect
The second half of the April 14th tasting was led by Giusto Occhipinti, one of the two partners of Azienda Agricola COS. Giusto’s last name contributed the O in the estate’s acronym (current partner Giambattista Cilia contributed the C, while the S comes from former partner Cirino Strano). Though the wines made by Giusto’s niece Arianna Occhipinti arguably have a higher profile these days, it was COS, founded in 1980, that showed the way, that spearheaded the revolution in winemaking in the region. (Back in 2010, when she she led a MWG tasting, Arianna herself said it was Giusto who initiated her into winemaking.)
The estate is located in Acate-Chiaramonte, outside of Vittoria in Ragusa province in southeast Sicily. Originally owing only three hectares, COS acquired the nearby Villa Fontane estate and its nine hectares of vines – which they have since expanded to 17 hectares – in 1991. In 2005, they purchased a neighbouring estate with an additional 20 hectares of vines and an 18th-century wine cellar. They renovated the wine cellar and built new winemaking facilities, with 150 in-ground amphorae, which they inaugurated in 2007.
Early experiments with then-modish international varieties led them to focus – though not exclusively – on local varieties, especially the Nero d’Avola and Frappato for their flagship Cerasuolos. The partners also adopted biodynamic practices in the early 1990s, as they consider them the best option for expressing the region’s terroirs. Clay amphorae were first introduced in the fall of 2000. Cellar practices are non-interventionist: ambient yeasts; no additives except for a small squirt of sulphur dioxide at bottling; no fining or filtering. The unusual shape of the squat bottles is inspired by an ancient flask unearthed during excavations on the property.
Our tasting began with the estate’s three entry-level wines.
IGP Terre Siciliane 2013, Il Frappato, Azienda Agricola COS ($28.20, 12461488)
100% Frappato from organically farmed vines around a dozen years old. Macerated and fermented on the skins with indigenous yeasts for 10 days. Matured 12 months in glass-lined concrete tanks. Reducing sugar: 2.3 g/l. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Fresh nose of crushed raspberry, light spice and pumice. It’s a supple wine, on the lighter side of medium-bodied, with pure sweet fruit, sustained acidity and lacy tannins. As the fruit dries and fades, background minerals come to the fore on the long, bitter-edged finish. Very elegant and drinkable. Food friendly, too (think pasta, rabbit stew or grilled tuna). (Buy again? Yes.)
IGP Terre Siciliane 2013, Nero di Lupo, Azienda Agricola COS ($29.30, 12538561)
100% Nero d’Avola from organically farmed vines around a dozen years old. Macerated and fermented on the skins with indigenous yeasts for 10 days. Matured 18 to 24 months months in terracotta amphorae and glass-lined concrete tanks. Reducing sugar: 2.3 g/l. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Reductive at first, then yielding a fresh nose of red fruit, slate and sandalwood. Medium-bodied. Supple but more structured and dimensional than the Frappato. A fundamentally dry and savoury wine, remarkable for its dark, tart fruit, mineral underlay, overall balance and lightly spicy finish. Delicious. About as far as you can get from the run-of-the-mill Nero d’Avola. I’ll drink to that. (Buy again? Yes.)
IGT Sicilia 2010, Maldafrica, Azienda Agricola COS ($31.00, 12465155)
When I asked about the origin of the name, Giusto explained that, in Italian, maldafrica is, among other things, a kind of homesickness for an exotic place. In this case, the non-Sicilian varieties were planted by a régisseur who hailed from Bordeaux. This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (45%), Merlot (45%) and Frappato (10%) from organically farmed vines around 20 years old. Fermented on the skins with indigenous yeasts in terracotta amphorae. Matured in Slavonian oak barrels and in the bottle. Reducing sugar: 1.8 g/l. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Cassis, slate, hints of tobacco, red meat, leather and spice. Medium- to full-bodied and, like every other COS wine, balanced, civilized and supple. The ripe, solar, savoury fruit is intense yet lithe, the acidity smooth, the tannins round. Work your way through the layers of flavour and you’ll find a substrate of minerals. Tobacco and cedar scent the long finish. True to both its Bordeaux and Sicilian roots, this elegant wine is the “kind of pure and racy warm-climate red that should have New World winemakers seriously questioning their modus operandi (looking at you, Napa),” to quote my note on the 2009. Unfortunately, there is very little left in Quebec. (Buy again? If the opportunity presents itself, absolutely.)
MWG April 14th tasting: flight 4 of 6.
Flight of the Rosenbergs
The first half of the tasting ended with a pair of wines from the Rosenberg vineyard, which the estate describes as a “gentle to moderate slope facing east-northeast … a terroir of fairly deep soil, with limestone rocks covered with small parcels of sandstone or flint. The limestone confers power, the clay gives fatness, the sandstone and flint, minerality, subtlety and breeding.”
In both cases, the manually harvested grapes were sorted at the vine and in the cellar, where the whole clusters were gently pressed. The must was allowed to settle for 12 hours, then racked into stainless steel vats for fermentation with indigenous yeasts. Nothing was added except a squirt of sulphur dioxide at the first racking and at bottling. Lightly filtered at bottling.
Alsace 2011, Pinot Gris, Rosenberg, Domaine Barmès Buecher ($31.50, 11655811)
Matured 16 months, 10 of them in demi-muids. Reducing sugar: 11 g/l. 15.1% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
A fairly funky nose off the bat, some candied pear and white peach and a dusting of ashy minerals but mainly hay and straw with flowers in it. Rich and not devoid of residual sugar though coming across as fundamentally dry. The unctuous texture is cut by a current of bitter acidity. Impressive breadth and length. The alcohol adds power but otherwise is transparent. Went very well with some of the cheeses served after the tasting. (Buy again? Yes.)
Alsace 2012, Gewürztraminer, Rosenberg, Domaine Barmès Buecher ($31.50, 11655774)
Reducing sugar: 28 g/l. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Perfumy but not to the point of caricature: rose, citrusy Muscat grape and a hint of honey. Rich and verging on off-dry, though fluent acidity, a mineral matrix and white spice overtones hold the sugar in check. A bitter thread wends its way through the long finish. A beguiling, classic expression of the grape. (Buy again? Yes.)
It says something about the balance of these wines that I was dumbfounded when, post tasting, I learned the alcohol content of the Pinot Gris and the sugar content of the Gewürz.
MWG April 14th tasting: flight 3 of 6.
Three of one
A trio of Rieslings followed, all made essentially the same way. Harvesting was manual. The grapes were sorted in the vineyard and the cellar. The whole clusters were gently pressed. The must was allowed to clarify by settling for 12 hours, then racked into stainless steel fermentation vats. Fermentation was with indigenous yeasts. No chaptalization or other additions, including fining agents, were used. Minimal amounts of sulphur dioxide were added at the first racking and at bottling. All the wines were lightly filtered at bottling.
Alsace 2012, Rosenberg, Riesling, Domaine Barmes Buecher ($31.50, 11896121)
Clayey limestone (mainly chalk) with sandstone and flinty substrates. Matured in stainless steel tanks. Reducing sugar: 6.3 g/l. 12.8% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Winey nose of apple, white flowers, quartz and hints of pineapple and petrol. Smooth, supple and pure. Fruity but ultimately dry with high but well-integrated acidity. Long. “Des beaux amères,” rightly remarked Giusto Occhipinti. Accessible now but with the potential to improve. (Buy again? Yes.)
Alsace Grand Cru 2011, Steingrübler, Riesling, Domaine Barmes Buecher ($48.00, 12214161)
Limestone with clay, marl and coarse sand of granitic origin. Matured 12 months on the lees in demi-muids. 15% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Deeper, more complex, classic nose: crystals galore, vaporous sweet yellow and white fruit and citrus zest and a whiff of kerosene. In the mouth, it’s tense, tightly coiled and multidimensional. Very dry. The fruit tends to grapefruit including some pith on the long, minerally finish. The steeliest and most powerful of the three, though the alcohol is far less apparent than the percentage might lead you to believe. Will surely benefit from another four or five years in the cellar. (Buy again? Definitely.)
Alsace Grand Cru 2010, Hengst, Riesling, Domaine Barmès Buecher ($48.00, 11010343)
Marl limestone. Matured 12 months on the lees in demi-muids. Reducing sugar: 3.8 g/l. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
More open and upfront, fruitier than the Steingrübler: apple and lemon against a backdrop of minerals and distant petrol. Richer and sunnier in the mouth, the fruit more voluptuous. Approaching off-dry though the sugar is held in check by buoyant acidity and a fainly bitter, white-mineral underlay. Long. A bit monolithic for now but the potential is obvious. The pick of the trio for several of the tasters present. (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG April 14th tasting: flight 2 of 6.
Sibling Teroldegos
IGT Vigneti delle Dolomiti 2011, Teroldego Rotaliano, Foradori ($30.75, 712695)
100% Teroldego from organically farmed vines averaging 40 years old and grown in various sites (10 ha in all) around the town of Mezzolombardo. Manually harvested. Fermented separately by lot in temperature-controlled cement tanks. Matured 12 months in used Austrian and Slovenian oak barrels and cement tanks. 13% ABV. Around 90,000 bottles made. Quebec agent: Balthazard.
Layers of sour cherry, slate, herbs and eventually smoky ash. An elegant, medium-bodied mouthful of pristine fruit, fine, velvety tannins and lively acidity. The long, clean finish is coloured by an appetizing bitter almond note and textured by a light astringency. The balance and energy are spellbinding. In its way, perfect. (Buy again? Absolutely.)
IGT Vigneti delle Dolomiti 2010, Granato, Foradori ($67.75, 12162120)
100% Teroldego from three organically and biodynamically farmed vineyards (4 ha in all) near the town of Mezzolombardo. Manually harvested in late September and early October. Fermented in large wooden vats. Transferred to French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation. Matured 15 months in used Austrian and Slovenian oak barrels. 13% ABV. Around 20,000 bottles made. Quebec agent: Balthazard.
Darker, richer, more primary nose with soy sauce-like umami notes. In the mouth, richer, weightier and more monolithic. Vanilla and spice overtone the dark fruit, indicating the oak needs more time to integrate. Plush tannins and extract-wrapped acidity make for a velours like texture. Impressively broad, deep and long but brooding, too, only hinting at its sure to be glorious future. Enjoyable now but won’t start strutting its stuff for another five to ten years. (Buy again? If feeling flush, yes. That said, I’m not sure I wouldn’t rather have two bottles of the regular Teroldego.)
MWG March 12th tasting: flight 6 of 7.
Petite Arvine × 3
Valais 2013, Petite Arvine, Nobles Cépages, Charles Bonvin ($38.00, 11339915)
Bonvin is the oldest estate in the Valais region. This 100% Petite Arvine is manually harvested and gently pressed. Fermentation and maturation take place in stainless steel tanks, with regular stirring of the lees. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: AOC & Cie.
Limestone, citron, whiff of herbs (or maybe it’s the rumoured rhubarb compote). Medium-bodied. Light and clear, the fruit tends to citrus with stone fruit overtones. Grippy acidity and tons of minerals structure while a touch of residual sugar and faint spritz round and lift. Long, clean, appetizingly saline finish. Elegant and complex, tense yet balanced, the most interesting of the three. (Buy again? Yes.)
Valais 2013, Petite Arvine, Grand Métral, Provins ($34.75, 11194963)
Founded in 1930, the Provins cooperative is Switzerland’s largest wine producer and the Grand Métral is their upscale line of wines meant for consuming young. This 100% Petite Arvine is fermented in temperature-controlled tanks. 14.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Sélections Fréchette.
Nose not unlike the Bonvin’s – lemon and quartz – though fruiter and displaying honey, floral and ramen-like umami notes. In the mouth, it’s rounder and richer, more glyceriney, though similarly possessed of high acidity that’s balanced by a little residual sugar and the fruit. Again, lots of minerals and a faintly saline finish. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Valais 2012, Petite Arvine, Valais d’Or, Maurice Gay ($33.50, 12319991)
No technical info on this wine that I could find other than that it’s 100% Petite Arvine. The grapes may come from the estate’s vineyards or they may be purchased. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: SAQ.
Rich nose of cantaloupe, sweat and candied lemon. Still rounder and denser yet also – surprisingly – more rainwatery. Less acidic too. The fruit occupies the centre stage, the minerals the background. Ends on a salted caramel note. More immediate than the Bonvin but with little of the latter’s tesnion, elegance or nuance. (Buy again? Probably not though several other tasters said they would.)
MWG March 12th tasting: flight 3 of 7.
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)
MWG February 19th tasting: Mostly Macabeu
IGP Côtes Catalanes 2013, Blanc, Clos du Rouge Gorge ($45.00, private import, NLA)
All or mostly Macabeu (some claim it also contains a dollop of Carignan Blanc) from vines around 80 years old that had been abandoned and were about to be torn out when winemaker Cyril Fahl acquired the vineyard and revivied it using biodynamic methods. Manually harvested. Non-interventionist winemaking with spontaneous fermentation. Matured nine months in neutral 500-litre barrels. Minimally sulphured at bottling, with some carbon dioxide added by way of compensation. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
When young, the wine needs to be carafed hours before serving (one MWG member reports carafing it 24 hours before paring it “memorably” with oysters). After nearly two hours in the carafe, ours had an initially odd nose of “canned tuna” (quoting one of the tasters) that soon evolved into acacia blossom, pear and pineapple water, “pine nuts,” crushed stone and so much more. Complex and layered in the mouth. The ethereal fruit tends to pear, apple, faint citrus. Minerals abound. Acidity shimmers. Saline and bitter notes colour the long finish. A unique, spellbindingly protean wine, more elegant and profound than the Cours Toujours and slower to give up its many secrets. While the paradigm is different from, say, a Meursault’s, this is one of France’s great whites and, as such, it’s a QPR winner at under $50. (Buy again? In future vintages, as many as I can afford and lay my hands on.)
Côtes du Roussillon 2012, Cours Toujours, Domaine du Possible ($32.00, private import, NLA)
The estate farms organically. This is mostly Macabeu with a little Grenache Gris. Manually harvested. Non-interventionist wine-making with spontaneous fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. Matured 12 months in used barrels. Bottled unfiltered, unfined and with very little or no added sulphur. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Initially reticent but evolving nose: dried pineapple, yellow apple, quartz dust, background straw and honeycomb. More fruit-forward than the Clos du Rouge Gorge. A little wilder and more rustic too. Ripe-sweet on the attack; full of crunchy minerals on the mid-palate; turning drier, sourish and saline on the long finish. A here-now joy to drink. (Buy again? For sure.)
(Flight: 2/5)
Bordel De Noël workshop (6/6)
Alsace Gewürztraminer 2011, Rosenberg, Domaine Barmès Buecher ($32.25, 11655774)
100% Gewürztraminer from organically and biodynamically farmed vines grown in the Rosenberg vineyard. Manually harvested. Gently pressed. The must is allowed to settle and clarify for 12 hours, then fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in stainless steel tanks. Lightly sulphured on first racking and at bottling. Lightly filtered at bottling. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
An echt Gewürz nose of lychee, honeysuckle and rose with white spice overtones. Off-dry, richly fruited and unctuous, saved from heaviness by just enough acidity. The long, clean finish shows none of the bitterness or heat often found in wines made from this grape. Probably best viewed as a dessert wine to pair with a not-too-sugary cake, mincemeat pastry or – be still, my beating heart – mirabelle plum and almond tart. Might also work with cheese, raw-milk Munster being a prime candidate. Too sweet to accompany most savoury dishes, I’d guess, though foie gras au torchon could be just the ticket. (Buy again? Sure.)
Bordel de Noël workshop (3/6)
Corse Figari 2013, Rosé, Clos Canarelli ($35.75, 11917666)
Based in Figari, the southernmost wine-growing region in Corsica and the sunniest in France, Yves Canarelli today has 28 hectares of vineyards in production and makes his wines in a new gravity-fed facility. This rosé is a blend of Sciaccarellu (50%), Niellucciu (30%) and Grenache (20%) from organically and biodynamically farmed vines planted in 1997. Manually harvested. The whole clusters are directly pressed and fermented with indigenous yeasts. The wine is then transferred to stainless steel tanks for partial (50%) malolactic fermentation. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Musky dried raspberry, peach, sun-baked granite, spice and distant maquis carried on a sea breeze. In the mouth, it’s more minerally than fruity, tensely balanced between acidity and extract: an ethereal presence that’s haunted by flavours and aromas, including a faint floral note somewhere between orange and jasmine. An appetizing bitterness tinges the long finish. A gastronomic wine par excellence and yet another confirmation that Corsica has become the source of some of the world’s best rosés. One of my two favourites with the turkey, this also worked with most of the trimmings, though it was less successful than the whites with the Brussels sprouts and, like most of the other wines, wilted before the cranberry relish. (Buy again? Definitely.)
Brett happens 