Posts Tagged ‘Mo’ Wine Group’
A rocky landscape shimmering in a summer haze
Crete 2014, Rosé de Liatiko, Domaine Economou ($32.50, private import, 6 bottles/case)
100% Liatiko from organically farmed, ungrafted old vines. After a short maceration on the skins, the grapes are pressed and the must is fermented with indigenous yeasts. Maturation is in old barrels. Unfiltered and unfined. Minimal added sulphur and then only at bottling. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Wafting, complex nose: pumice, dried herbs, distant red fruit and a touch of animale. In the mouth, it’s both mysterious and present, like a rocky landscape shimmering in a summer haze. Dried strawberry and stony, sun-baked earth are carried on a stream of acidity. The gauzy layers include garrigue, salt and dried flowers. Dry and long. A rosé with the colour and weight of a Poulsard but aromas and flavours that transport you to a Mediterranean mountainside. A profoundly beautiful wine. (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG August 12th tasting: flight 4 of 8
White gold
The centrepieces of the August 12th tasting were five newly arrived wines from one of the stars in the Greek wine firmament, Domaine Economou. We began with the whites. Reliable technical information for Economou wines is hard to come by. As far as I can ascertain, both wines are made in a similar way: fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks, matured in assorted containers (possibly including old casks, stainless steel tanks, fibreglass vats and underground cement tanks) and bottled unfiltered and unfined with a tiny shot of sulphur dioxide.
Sitia 2013, Vilana/Thrapsathiri, Domaine Economou ($51.25, private import, 6 bottles/case)
A blend, typically 70-30, of Vilana and Thrapsathiri from organically farmed, ungrafted, estate-grown vines. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Fascinating, nuanced nose: honey, almond, sea salt, distant apple, pear and maybe even pumpkin, a not unappealing hint of rancid butter. Dry, rich and savoury with a slightly oily texture. Fresher than the 2009 due, I think, to sustained acidity and discreeter oxidative notes, which give the white fruit a yellow facet, as if it were poached with apricot and dried orange peel. The smooth, underlying minerality has me thinking of river stones. Long, layered and profound though not as deep as its flightmate. Unique and involving. (Buy again? Yes.)
Crete 2013, Assyrtiko, Domaine Economou ($51.25, private import, 6 bottles/case)
100% Assyrtiko from organically farmed, ungrafted vines. Assyrtiko not being a permitted variety in the Sitia PDO, the wine qualifies only for the broader Crete PGI designation. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
“Round nose, like a Bâtard-Montrachet,” notes one taster. If there’s fruit, it’s poached pear intertwined with threads of pine tar, salt-rimed stone and an scent I peg as oak but the aforementioned taster characterizes as “roasted chestnuts.” In the mouth, the wine is weighty, structured, complex, deep and glowingly acidic. There’s an oxidized edge though not a distracting one, as it allows notes of lemon, honey, white nuts and anise seed to come through. Possessed of a long, uniquely savoury finish with a delectably bitter aftertaste. Different from its high-end Santorini counterparts – rounder, richer and less crystalline – but fully worthy of standing alongside them. (Buy again? Yes.)
In a discussion about the Assyrtiko, agent Theo Diamantis drew an analogy with a grand cru Riesling. He also wondered about food pairings. My ideas: fine white fish in a rich sauce, butter-poached lobster, grilled lamb chops, beef tartare (don’t knock it till you’ve tried it).
MWG August 12th tasting: flight 3 of 8
Maverick Malagousia
Achaia 2014, Malagousia, Domaine Tetramythos ($18.50, 12910335)
100% organically farmed Malagousia from vines grown at just under 1,000 m. Manually harvested. Destemmed. Macerated on the skins for 30 hours. Only the free-run juice is used. Fermented in temperature-controlled (18°C) stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeasts for 100 days. Undergoes full malolactic fermentation. Reducing sugar: 1.8 g/l. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Aromatic but not exaggeratedly so: floral (jasmine, lily), fruity (pineapple, peach, lemon), minerals (chalk, quartz) and a hint of green herbs. Fresh and lively in the mouth. Very dry. Most present on the attack, the fruit quickly gives way to crystalline minerals. The long citric finish has a lingering bitterness and touch of heat that I don’t recall from a bottle tasted at the winery six weeks earlier. A bit more rustic than I remember, too, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Well chilled, an aperitif wine par excellence; slightly warmer, a fine accompaniment to grilled prawns with a herby pineapple salsa. (Buy again? Done!)
More subdued, acidic and minerally than is usual for this grape, a fact the winemaker attributes above all to the vineyard’s altitude.
MWG August 12th tasting: flight 1 of 8
All’s well that gins well
Gin Sauvage, Cirka ($46.50, private import, 3 bottles/case)
Made in Montreal from non-GMO Quebec-grown corn and more than 30 boreal forest botanicals. A pot still and custom botanicals basket are used. 44% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Nose dominated by the expected juniper and coriander aromas but faceted by a complex of floral, herbaceous, spice and fruit notes. Smooth and silky, mouth-filling and long, with little alcoholic burn even when drunk neat at room temperature. Subtle, elegant and involving. Just lovely. (Buy again? Done!)
Cirka’s Terroir vodka ($43.50, 13012414) is available online via SAQ.com.
MWG July 15th tasting: flight 8 of 8
Serious whites
Bourgogne 2013, Les Bigotes, Domaine de Chassorney/Frédéric Cossard ($58.15, private import, 6 bottles/case)
100% Chardonnay from organically farmed vines. The manually harvested whole clusters are sorted and placed directly in a pneumatic press, then slowly and gently pressed. The free-run and pressed juice is transferred to the same vat, then racked into large barrels. Low-temperature (c. 12°C) fermentation with indigenous yeasts lasts three to six months; in some years, malolactic fermentation finishes before alcoholic fermentation does. The wine remains on its lees, with no stirring or racking, until the contents of all barrels are racked into a single vat, allowed to rest one month and then gravity-bottled without filtering or fining. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Surprisingly fresh nose of ripe yellow fruit (“mango skins” per one taster), golden raisins and light brown sugar. Smooth, rich and round in the mouth but in no way heavy, with complex flavours, a mineral matrix and just enough acidity. Good depth and length complete the picture. In short, a textbook white Burgundy whose only downside is its price (Cossard blames it on the cost of grapes and the high overhead associated with his version of natural winemaking), though that’s true for many wines from the region these days. (Buy again? If feeling flush, yes.)
Anjou 2014, Domaine Thibaud Boudignon ($46.64, private import, 6 bottles/case)
Bordeaux native Thibaud Boudignon is head of operations at Château Soucherie. On the side, he makes wine under his own name from two hectares of vineyards in Anjou and Savennières. This 100% organically farmed Chenin Blanc comes from vines averaging a third of a century old and grown in shallow soils on grey schist, ryholite and sand. The grapes are manually harvested and gently pressed. The must is fermented with indigenous yeasts in French and Austrian oak barrels of various volumes. Does not undergo malolactic fermentation. Matured eight to 12 months in second- and third-fill 225-litre barrels and new 500-litre barrels. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Ashy oak, quince, quartz, chalk dust. Remarkably pure fruit, sleek acidity and crystalline minerality fill the mouth. A saline tang colours the extremely long finish. Quintessential Chenin. A little less dazzling than the 2012, at least for now, but oh, so beautiful and full of potential. (Buy again? Done!)
MWG July 15th tasting: flight 7 of 8
Pais keeper
Vino de Chile 2014, Huasa Pilen Alto, Louis-Antoine Luyt ($31.86, private import, 6 bottles/case)
Luyt owns no vineyards but has a long-term relationship with more than a dozen small growers. This 100% Pais (aka Mission, Listan Prieto) cuvée is made from organically farmed 220-year-old vines (that’s not a typo) rooted in shallow clay-loam over a granitic basement (that’s not a typo) in the Maule region at an elevation of 580 metres (1,900 feet). The grapes are manually harvested and given two weeks’ carbonic maceration. Alcoholic fermentation is at low temperatures and with indigenous yeasts. After gentle pressing, the wine is transferred to third- and fourth-fill French oak barrels for six months’ maturation. 14% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
The reductive nose of band-aid seguing to cedar, “peat,” “dehydrated strawberry,” “plum vinegar” and “a summer roofing quality” (quoting other tasters) comes around after a while. In the mouth, the wine is fluid, supple and elusive, hard to pin down. Broader, deeper and darker than the 2014 Pipeño but, like it, full of juicy fruit, minerals, soft tannins and bright acidity. So rustic yet so drinkable. Returning to my glass at the end of the tasting (an hour or two after it had been poured), the wine was transformed, smelling cleaner and red fruitier with overtones of new leather and tasting remarkably pure, bright and fresh. (Buy again? Yep.)
If the description of the wine’s nose seems familiar, it’s because, due to a transcription error, it was mistakenly attached to the earlier note for the 2014 Refugio. Apologies for any confusion.
MWG July 15th tasting: flight 6 of 8
Impeccable
Vouvray 2013, Brut, Domaine Vincent Carême ($26.05, 11633591)
100% Chenin Blanc from organically farmed vines. Manually harvested. Alcoholic fermentation took place in temperature-controlled fibre vats and was stopped when 28 g/l of sugar remained; in-bottle fermentation of that residual sugar created the effervescence. Reducing sugar: 4.7 g/l. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Dusty minerals, pear, a little peach and an earthy, maybe even cheesy note. Fine effervescence. In the mouth, it’s dry, round, quite complex and delightfully fresh. The fruit – here tending to apple and lemon – and minerals intertwine with a thread of bitterness and are lit up by crisp-verging-on-trenchant acidity. Long, clean finish. Impeccable. (Buy again? Definitely.)
MWG July 15th tasting: flight 5 of 8
Three takes on Pinot Noir
Alsace 2014, Pinot Noir, Vignoble d’E, Domaine Ostertag* (ca. $32, private import, 12 bottles/case)
A preview bottle of a wine that will be available this fall. Part of Ostertag’s Vins de Fruit line, this 100% Pinot Noir is made from grapes from two-decade-old organically and biodynamically farmed vines rooted in gravelly clay near the village of Epfig. Manually harvested. Destemmed. Macerated at 26°C for around 10 days. Fermented with indigenous yeasts and daily pumpovers but without chaptalization. Matured in stainless steel tanks until the end of the spring following the harvest. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Complex, savoury nose: red berries, bitter almond, fresh and dried herbs, prosciutto. Light- to medium-bodied, fluid and silky. The lean fruit is shaded by dark minerals and structured by bright acidity and supple tannins that turn a little gritty on the sustained finish. Definitely not a Burgundy but definitely a Pinot Noir, and a tasty and pure one at that. An intriguing pairing with a salad of raw rhubarb, fresh raspberries and greens. (Buy again? Yes, though not without wishing it were a few bucks cheaper.)
*I’ve not linked to Ostertag’s website as my Internet security software indicates it has been hacked and launches an Exploit Kit Redirect 5 Web attack. If your device is protected and you’re feeling adventurous, you can visit the site here.
Casablanca 2015, Pinot Noir, Refugio, Montsecano y Copains ($26.05, 12184839)
The estate is a joint venture involving three Chileans and André Ostertag. Two wines, both 100% Pinot Noir from organically and biodyanmically farmed vines, are made. This is the second wine. Manually harvested. Macerated and fermented with indigenous yeasts for 12 to 18 days. One-quarter is matured in 16-hectolitre concrete eggs for 12 to 18 months, three-quarters in stainless steel tanks. Unfiltered and unfined. A tiny amount of volcanic sulphur is added at bottling. Screwcapped. Reducing sugar: 1.4 g/l. 14% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
An initially reductive nose soon gives way to spice, red currant and strawberry-rhubarb.In the mouth, the wine is denser and more fruit-forward than its flightmates though still fluid and supple. Bright acidity and light if rustic tannins add welcome texture. Long, earthy finish. At this stage, benefits from a hour or two’s carafing. (Buy again? Sure.)
Bourgogne 2013, Bedeau, Domaine de Chassorney/Frederic Cossard ($58.42, private import, 6 bottles/case)
100% Pinot Noir from organically farmed vines. The manually harvested whole clusters are sorted and placed in tronconic wood vats, with carbon dioxide being added along the way to prevent oxidation. Once filled, the vats are loosely covered with plastic and left for 40 day’s maceration and fermentation with occasional pumpovers and/or punchdowns (by foot). The grapes are manually shovelled into to a pneumatic press and the press and free-run juice are pumped into a large vat for malolactic fermentation, then racked into oak barrels (30% new) for 12 to 15 months’ maturation. The finished wine is racked into a vat, allowed to rest one month and bottled by gravity. Unfiltered and unfined. Sulphur is used in the vineyard but not in the winery (Cossard even cleans his barrels with ozone), except for a tiny amount of sulphur dioxide added at bottling. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Strawberry, gunflint, background green herbs and leather, then classic Burgundy notes of red berries, spice and cedar. Medium-bodied, svelte and silky. Airframe tannins and bright-but-sleek acidity structure the remarkably pure fruit, while a mineral vein runs well into the long, clean finish. A savoury red Burg with great energy. (Buy again? If feeling flush, yes.)
MWG July 15th tasting: flight 4 of 8
Fluid and energetic, juicy and tart
Quebec 2015, Pinot Noir, Les Pervenches
100% Pinot Noir from biodynamically farmed, estate-grown wines. The grapes were destemmed, crushed, macerated several days and fermented with indigenous yeasts. The wine was transferred to plastic vats for eight or nine months’ maturation, then siphoned into bottles without filtering, fining or adding sulphur. Ours was one of only 12 bottles made. The rest of the wine was used in the estate’s ultra-chuggable Zweigelt-Pinot Noir blend. 11.5% ABV.
Complex if not effusively Pinot Noirish nose: “cinq épices” (quoting another taster), lees, “raspberry vinegar,” thread of green, “dried mushroom,” cedar. Fluid and energetic, a light-bodied mouthful of ethereal raspberry and rhubarb fruit, delicate but raspy tannins, electric acidity and a mineral backbone that last well into the nicely sustained finish. Pure, refreshing and tonic. Once again, Les Prevenches proves that authentic and delicious vinifera wines can be made in Quebec. (Buy again? If only…)
Cheverny 2015, Domaine du Moulin/Hervé Villemade ($26.46, private import, 12 bottles/case)
Pinot Noir (60%) and Gamay (40%) from organically farmed vines averaging between eight and 37 years old and rooted in sandy clay with flint. Manually harvested. Macerated on the skins for 15 days. Whole-cluster fermentation is with indigenous yeasts and no chaptalization. Matured in wood vats. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Cherry and raspberry upfront, ink and slate in the background with cedar and spice overtones. In the mouth, it’s on the lighter side of medium-bodied. Juicy and tart, it flows like a stream over smooth stones. A faint astringency textures the clean finish. Another dangerously drinkable wine and a delight with Boucherie Lawrence’s headcheese terrine. (Buy again? Oh, yes.)
MWG July 15th tasting: flight 3 of 8
Loire et blanc
Cheverny 2014, La Bodice, Domaine du Moulin/Hervé Villemade ($35.34, private import, 6 bottles/case)
Sauvignon Blanc (70%) and Chardonnay (30%) from organically farmed, 34-year-old vines. Manually harvested. Fermented with indigenous yeasts and no chaptalization. Matured on the lees in 550- and 228-litre barrels. Unfiltered. Minimal sulphur. Residual sugar: < 2 g/l. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Rice Krispies, pear, under-ripe lemon, hints of white cardamom, arak, powdered ginger and oxidation and, eventually, white pepper and kalonji. Medium-bodied and round, dry and satin-textured. Great balance between the sleek acidity and the dense fruit and minerals. Clean, precise and long, a pleasure to drink. (Buy again? Yes, despite wishing it were under $30.)
Touraine 2014, La Tesnière, Puzelat-Bonhomme ($33.33, private import, 6 bottles/case)
Among Thierry Puzelat’s négociant wines was a line made with a friend and former apprentice at Clos du Tue-Bœuf, Pierre Olivier Bonhomme. As Pierre Olivier has bought all of Thierry’s shares in the business, future vintages will be labelled with only Bonhomme’s name. This Touraine is made from purchased, organically farmed Menu Pineau (aka Arbois, 75%) and Chenin Blanc (25%) grown in flinty clay over hard limestone near the hamlet of La Tesnière. Fermented with indigenous yeasts in 228- and 500-litre vats. Matured 12 months in barrel. Sulphur use is kept to a minimum. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Powdered ginger again, “packing tape,” apple, pear and a whiff of something funky/cidery likened by some to “citronella” and “turpentine.” Great presence in the mouth: round, minerally and smoothly acidic from the attack through the long finish, with its lingering notes of honey, white spice and a faintly medicinal/floral aroma reminiscent of crushed marigold. A bite of smoked salmon on rye brings out the fruit, which tends to apple and lemon. Complex and engaging. If only it cost a few dollars less. (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG July 15th tasting: flight 2 of 8
Brett happens 