Posts Tagged ‘Mo’ Wine Group’
MWG June 20th tasting (8/8): Two savoury reds
Dâo 2008, Reserva, Àlvaro Castro ($25.20, 11902106)
Touriga Nacional (65%) and Tinta Roriz (35%). Fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats. Transferred to old French oak barrels for 14 months for malolactic fermentation and maturation. 13% ABV.
Coffee, plum, blackberry, spice, background herbs. Smooth, rich and dry – the fruit is ripe but not sweet or heavy. Fine-grained tannins, firm acidity, some subtle slate and a long finish. Remarkably balanced and pure. Perhaps a shade less impressive than its white sibling, this is still one of the most elegant red Dâos I’ve tasted. Sr. Castro’s got talent. (Buy again? Yes.)
Faro 2010, Rosso, Azienda Agricola Bonavita ($37.50, oenopole, NLA though found on resto wine lists)
Faro is a DOC located between Messina and Mount Etna on Sicily’s northeast coast. This is a blend of organically farmed Nerello Mascalese (60%), Nerello Cappuccio (30%) and Nocera (10%) from six- to 50-year-old vines. Manually harvested. The winemaking is non-interventionist: spontaneous fermentation, no additives, long maceration with manual punch-downs, gentle pressing in a basket press. Matured 16 months in neutral oak botti and four months in the bottle. 13.5% ABV.
Complex, wafting nose of red cherry, faint rubber, cut wood, dried herbs, dried ink and eventually cheese. Medium-bodied and fluid but with a dense core of ripe, balsamic- and anise-accented red fruit. Tannins and acidity are firm, though more deep-running than upfront. The bitter-edged finish is long and savoury. A pleasure to drink, this would make an interesting ringer in a flight of terroir-driven Etna wines; I suspect it would come across as rounder and earthier but no less fresh or delicious. (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG June 20th tasting (7/8): Le beau et la bête
Corse Calvi 2011, Clos Culombu ($23.15, 11910368)
Nielluccio (50%), Sciacarello (30%), Syrah (10%) and Grenache (10%). Six days’ cold maceration are followed by a 26-day fermentation/maceration with punch-downs. Matured on the fine lees. 14% ABV.
Jammy red berries, vanilla and toasty oak equal one thing: strawberry Pop-Tarts. Very ripe, very sweet fruit, velvety tannins and just enough acidity to keep the wine from collapsing on itself. The oak is laid on with a trowel. So confected and cloying I couldn’t take more than two or three sips. And where’s the terroir? A real disappointment after the estate’s seductive 2010 Ribbe Rosse. An SAQ wine advisor tells me this is popular with a certain segment. If so, it’s one I’m not in. (Buy again? No way.)
Ajaccio 2010, Faustine, Domaine Comte Abbatucci ($28.85, 11930060)
Sciacarello (70%) and Nielluccio (30%) from biodynamically farmed 10- to 15-year-old vines. Macerated 40 days, fermented with ambient yeasts, matured in concrete vats. 13% ABV.
Beautiful. Subtle strawberry and cherry, garrigue (well, maquis), sawed cedar, schist. So smooth and suave, so poised and perfectly pitched. Medium-bodied and satin-textured. Alive with pure fruit, fine tannins and energizing acidity, all grounded in earth and herbs. A faint medicinal tang threads through the clean finish. The perfect antidote to the Culombu. (Buy again? In multiples.)
MWG June 20th tasting (5/8): Valle d’Aosta v. Vallée de l’Isère
Valle d’Aosta 2011, Torrette, Les Crêtes ($21.30, 11951987)
Petit Rouge (70%) with Mayolet, Tinturier and Cornalin making up the remaining 30%; the estate is converting to organic farming. Manually harvested. Fermented at 28ºC in stainless steel tanks for eight days. Matured in stainless steel barrels for eight months. 13.5% ABV.
Cherry, old wood, obsidian dust, faint flowers (violets?) and a whiff of cheese. Medium-bodied but dense with ripe fruit that’s lifted by grippy acidity and firmed by soft tannins. Earth and animal notes lend the finish a rustic edge. Easy to like and a favourite of several around the table. (Buy again? Sure.)
Vin de Savoie 2011, Arbin, Mondeuse, Domaine Louis Magnin ($27.50, 10783272)
100% Mondeuse from vines averaging 35 years old and grown in various parcels in Arbin commune. Manually harvested. Fully destemmed. Fermented eight days in stainless steel tanks with once-daily pump-overs. Matured 12 months in stainelss steel tanks on the fine lees. 12.5% ABV.
Initial tomato-meat sauce eventually turns more to red berries, cassis, stones and pepper. Smooth and supple on the palate with fleshy fruit, bright acidity and round tannins (and not a lot of ’em). Cherry pits on the finish. Not much depth but considerable juicy appeal. (Buy again? While it’s a little pricey, sure.)
MWG June 20th tasting (4/8): A $55 rosé lives up to the hype
Palette 2012, Château Simone ($55.00, 11657489)
The SAQ lists the varieites as Grenache (50%), Mourvèdre (30%) and Cinsault (20%). The château’s website says Grenache (45%), Mourvèdre (30%), Cinsault (5%) and “secondary varieties” (20%) including Syrah, Castets, Manosquin, Carignan and assorted Muscats, though it’s not clear whether they’re talking about the vines in the vineyard or the grapes in the blend (I suspect the latter). Manually harvested and sorted in the field and again in the winery. Lightly crushed and partially destemmed. Pressed using a vertical hydraulic press. The press juice is blended with some saignée juice, usually in a 2:1 ratio. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Matured on the fine lees in small oak barrels. 13.5% ABV.
Deep orange-pink bordering on red. Slow to open but eventually offering a prismatic array of aromas: dusty herbs, spice chest, raspberry, cherry, yellow stone fruit, mandarin orange, flowers, hints of earth and smoke. Round and winey yet buoyant, fruity yet dry. Savouried by garrigue, minerals, threads of powdered ginger, saffron and licorice. Primary at first but revealing layer after layer as it breathes. Possessed of every dimension, in particular volume, not to mention balance and finesse. A favourite of nearly everyone around the table, this was the only bottle drained of the 14 in the tasting. As it was still developing after two hours in the glass, it will surely benefit from a year or two in the cellar. That said, the cork is as long and sound as a first growth Bordeaux’s, lending credence to claims that the wine is capable of aging a decade or longer. The very definition of a vin gastronomique and able to stand comparison with the finest reds and whites in the same price range. The world’s best still rosé? (Buy again? Yes (gulp).)
If you’re thinking about taking the plunge, the SAQ is offering 10% off all rosés, beers and coolers this Saturday and Sunday, June 29 and 30.
MWG June 20th tasting (3/8): Frankly pink
Ladybug rosé 2012, Niagara Peninsula, VQA, Malivoire Wine Company ($15.95, LCBO 559088)
Cabernet Franc (74%), Gamay (19%) and Pinot Noir (7%). After crushing, the grapes were left to macerate on their skins for 12 to 24 hours. Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks. 13% ABV.
Pink heading toward cherry red. Engaging nose of red berries and spice. Smooth texture. Clean and fruity though with a savoury streak. Off-off-dry though with enough acidity to lightly sour the finish. A summer sipper, nothing more but also nothing less. (Buy again? At that price, sure.)
Bourgueil 2011, Équinoxe, Domaine Yannick Amirault ($20.55, 11900872)
100% organically farmed Cabernet Franc from 30-year-old vines. Manually harvested. Barrel fermented with indigenous yeasts. Matured 12 months in barrels. The winemaker suggests aging this for two to five years after bottling. 12.5% ABV.
Pale coppery pink in the bottle but pallid in the glass, a straw-coloured white with rosy glints. Faintly fruity nose (strawberry-rhubarb?) with whiffs of dried dill, seaside rocks, dried chlorine. Less spectral on the palate: dry, lightly and tartly fruity, chock-a-block with minerals and firm acidity. A bitter note chimes in on the finish. Seems to straddle the line between rosé and white. Its savour and strictness make it a food wine (I’m thinking a cool slice of seafood terrine). (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG June 20th tasting (2/8): Roussanne and Roussette
Vin de Savoie 2008, Chignin Bergeron, Domaine Louis Magnin ($28.95, 11901154)
100% Roussanne (aka Bergeron) from several parcels in Montmélian commune. Manually harvested. Gentle, slow whole-cluster pressing. The juice is allowed to clarify by settling at room temperature. Undergoes complete alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. Matured on the fine lees in stainless steel tanks. 13.5% ABV.
Acacia, chalk, pear, faint smoke. The combo of restraint and zingy acidity give it an airy texture. The pure fruit has wispy overtones of nuts and honey, the finish is long, bitter-edged and minerally. Fresh, balanced and beautiful, a draught of mountain air. (Buy again? Yes.)
Roussette de Savoie 2009, Domaine Louis Magnin ($40.50, 11901146)
100% Altesse (aka Roussette) from two parcels located in Arbin commune, one with vines 35 years old, the other with vines around 10 years old. Manually harvested. Gentle, slow whole-cluster pressing. The juice is allowed to clarify by settling at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours. Undergoes complete alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. Matured for 11 months in 500-litre oak barrels and, on the fine lees, in stainless steel tanks. Only 3,000 bottles produced each year. 14% ABV.
Maple-walnut doughnut, yellow fruit and a hint of something floral. A real mouthful. Delineated and tense almost to the point of unyielding. Thankfully not bone dry. Broad, deep, long and dense – but not heavy – with pure fruit, crunchy minerals, trenchant acidity and a pithy bitterness. The tail end of the bottle had relaxed and rounded the next day. A wine to contend with and, if you’re like me, surrender to. (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG June 20th tasting (1/8): Les Compères et un confrère
Côtes du Jura 2010, Chardonnay, Les Compères, Essencia ($26.70, 11544003)
Essencia is a joint venture between Puligny-based caviste and cheesemonger Philippe Bouvret and cult winemaker Jean-François Ganevat. 100% Chardonnay (not 90% Chard and 10% Savagnin as SAQ.com claims). I haven’t found much technical information about the wine other than that the vinification is “traditional,” which in Ganevat’s case probably means organically or biodynamically farmed grapes, whole cluster alcoholic fermentation with indigenous yeasts, no racking of the must, malolactic fermentation, maturation in large and/or small barrels, no filtering or fining and minimal use of sulphur dioxide. 12.5% ABV.
Lovely fresh nose of ripe apple, dried hay and lemon. The freshness continues onto the palate with its round, ripe-sweet fruit (more pear than apple), buoyant acitidy and crunchy minerals. The long finish brings a hint of salty hazlenut brittle. Mouth-filling yet the farthest thing from heavy, tense yet oh, so accessible. More complete than the 2005 yet equally pleasureable. (Buy again? Posthaste – this is a second shipment and there’s not a lot left.)
Côtes du Jura 2009, Tradition, Domaine Berthet-Bondet ($25.00, 11794694)
A blend of organically farmed Chardonnay and Savagnin (70-30 according to most, 80-20 according to SAQ.com). Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Matured two years sous voile, under a yeast veil, in large barrels. 13% ABV.
Textbook oxidized Jura nose: apple, silage and walnut. Medium-bodied and dry. Fine, even delicate bolts of fruit, straw, minerals and nuts unfurl and are wafted by smooth acidity. Fresher and less oxidatively full-bore than some (which is probably truer to the true traditional Jura style) but impeccably well-mannered and balanced, this would make a good introduction to non-ouillé wines as well as a fine accompaniment to Comté cheese, not to mention white fish and lobster, especially if in a creamy curry sauce. (Buy again? Sure.)
MWG April 13th tasting (5/5): Napa seconds
A trio of Cabernet Sauvignons, all arguably Napa Valley equivalents of a second wine.
Napanook 2009, Napa Valley, Dominus Estate ($61.00, 11650439)
Dry-farmed Cabernet Sauvignon (87%), Petit Verdot (8%) and Cabernet Franc (5%) selected for its more accessible, earlier maturing characteristics. Manually harvested. Fermented on a lot-by-lot basis with gentle pump-overs. Vertical low-pressure pressing followed by racking into French oak barrels (20% new) for 18 months’ maturation. Fined with egg whites. 14.5% ABV.
Odd nose: smoke, sea salt, background red and black fruit, eventually red meat. Rich and sleek. The fruit is pure and beautiful but doesn’t have much to say.The tannins are less prominent than expected. Balance and dimension – breadth, depth and length – it’s got, up to a point. So, in its way impeccable but also faceless, a little like those Bordeaux blend Tuscans that taste like they could have been made anywhere. Let’s give it the benefit of the doubt and saying it’s passing through a phase. (Buy again? Well…)
Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, Le Petit Vice, Napa Valley, Vice Versa Wines ($60.00, 11089725)
The winery’s owner, Patrice Breton, hails from Quebec. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Manually harvested. Destemmed. Fermented on the skins in stainless steel tanks for 25 days and cold-soaked for five days. Matured 23 months in 100% French oak barrels (80% new). Unfiltered and unfined. 15.3% ABV.
Red currant jam, a hint of dill and quite a bit of pickle (high volatile acidity). Started out odd, with plastic overtones marring the fruit. In time, the wine came around: the fruit clean and ripe, brightened by a fresh current of acidity, darkened by a tannic undertow, nicely framed by minerals, with the oak an element, not a looming presence. The sustained finish is kirschy but not hot. The big boy of the three. (Buy again? Well…)
Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Napa Valley, Stags’ Leap Winery ($49.25, 00962837)
100% Cabernet Sauvignon according to the SAQ. The winery’s useless website provides zero technical information about its products. 13.9% ABV.
Elegant, textbook Cab nose: cassis and blackberry with an underlay of oak and graphite and hints of mint, green pepper and cedar. Smooth and rich with pure dark fruit, bright acidity and resolved tannins. Good length. The QPR winner of the trio. (Buy again? Well…)
Well, what? Assuming you’re not allergic to the fruit-forward style, all three wines are enjoyable. But they’re also somewhat short on personality, not to mention wow factor (the same criticism has been levelled at Bordeaux second wines, let us note). That said, the real issue here – as so often is the case with California wines – is bang for the buck: the least expensive bottle was $50 and the other two cost 20% more, for wines that most people around the table liked but didn’t get excited about. Buy again? If you’re a fan of Cal Cabs and money isn’t an issue, sure. My $60 will be going toward two or three bottles of more characterful, alive, versatile and exciting wines, many of them natural, from the Jura, the Loire, the Languedoc, Galicia, Dão, Sicily, Puglia, the Peloponnese, Austria…
MWG April 13th tasting (4/5): Twixt Old World and New
Syrah 2009, Syrocco, Domaine des Ouleb Thaleb ($20.60, 11375561)
A joint venture between Crozes-Hermitage-based winemaker Alain Graillot and Morocco’s largest wine producer, Thalvin. This 100% young-vine Syrah is made with grapes grown mainly in vineyards near the winery, which is located between Rabat and Casablanca and about 40 km inland from Morocco’s Atlantic coast. The vineyards are manually weeded and ploughed and no herbicides and fungicides are used. In 2009, the grapes were fully destemmed and fermented in closed concrete vats with daily pump-overs. Total maceration time was ten days. The wine then spent seven and a half months in tanks followed by seven and half months in French oak barrels (50% new, 50% second vintage). Lightly filtered before bottling. 13.5% ABV.
Rich, berries, smoke, sweat, hint of animale, eventually cola. Velvety and liqueur-ish, the ripe almost sweet fruit saved from bombdom by the tonic acidity, soft if puckery tannins and savoury edge. Slow-fade finish. Not as pure, complex or deep as Graillot’s Rhône Syrahs but enjoyable in its own right. The best wine from this project to date. (Buy again? Sure.)
Syrah 2010, No. 2, Central Victoria, Graillot Australia ($41.50, 11844815)
A joint venture between Alain Graillot and Bidbendum’s Robert Walters. Two cuvées are made – this second wine and the flagship Graillot Syrah – and 2010 was the first vintage of each. Both are 100% Syrah from organically farmed (though not certified as such) ten-year-old vines. The winemaking is identical for both cuvées: mostly destemmed but about 10% whole bunches; fermented in small open tanks with native yeasts; aged in a mix of old and new oak barrels. The batches for the cuvées are selected on a barrel by barrel basis and, as it turned out, in 2010 the oakiest batches went into the second wine (still only about 10% new oak). Screwcapped. 13% ABV.
“Wet rubber-clad dog” was one taster’s description of the initially dominant smell (probably related to screwed-up screwcapping). I also got plum, bacon, pepper and tomato sauce. Rich, dense and intense but still more Syrah- than Shiraz-like. The ripe fruit is structured with round tannins and welcome acidity. A minerally substrate grounds and deepens the wine. Long finish with faint chocolate notes. Ready to go. (Buy again? Not at the current asking price.)
Syrah 2009, Le Pousseur, Central Coast, Bonny Doon ($26.80, 10961016)
100% Syrah made from purchased grapes grown in three Central Coast vineyards. Each vineyard’s production is manually harvested and fermented separately. Indigenous yeasts. Maturation in French oak barrels. Both tartaric acid and sulphur dioxide are added. Screwcapped. 13.5% ABV.
Rich and savoury nose: red meat, leather, dusty minerals, plum, background oak and a whiff of alcohol. Plush yet fluid. Full of ripe fruit but not a bomb. Fine tannins and juicy acidity. It all adds up to a vin plaisir, albeit a slightly pricey one. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Syrah 2009, Les Côtes de l’Ouest, California, Terre Rouge ($23.20, 00897124)
98% Syrah, about 60% coming from a Sierra foothills vineyard and the rest from various mountain sites, and 2% Viognier. The grapes were lightly crushed, co-fermented in large tanks with regular pump-overs. Matured 17 months in French oak barrels (20% new). 14.5% ABV.
Herbs, earth, blackberry liqueur with a red meat note. Pure and, despite the high alcohol, balanced. There’s a certain depth of flavour (though not of structure), a vein of slatey minerals and a clean, lightly astringent finish. The most Rhône-ish of the bunch. If this were under $20, it’d be a certifiable QPR winner. (Buy again? Sure.)
MWG May 16th tasting (3/5): Hatzidakis cubed
A native of Crete who worked for Boutari, Haridimos Hatzidakis founded his eponymous estate in 1996, starting with vines owned by his wife’s family. The vineyards surrounding the canava are certified organic, a rare occurrence on the island, and the vines are trained into the traditional basket or nest shape, which offers some protection from the wind and sun and helps conserve precious moisture. Like all vines on phylloxera-free Santorini, they are ungrafted.
Santorini 2011, Assyrtiko, Domaine Hatzidakis ($21.95, 11901171)
Assyrtiko (90%), Aidani (5%) and Athiri (5%), which, oddly enough, is the exactly the same blend as Argyros’s Atlantis. No maceration. After clarification, the must is fermented at 18ºC with selected dry yeasts. Matured on the lees for 40 days. Aged in stainless steal tanks. Lightly filtered and dosed with sulphur dioxide before bottling. Around 50,000 bottles made. 13.5% ABV.
Minerals on steroids, lemon and a whiff of turpentine. Smooth on entry but with some bite on exit. A mouthful of lemon with the pith, chalk, quartz and trippy acid. Long, saline finish. (Buy again? Automatically.)
Santorini 2011, Assyrtiko, Cuvée No. 15, Domaine Hatzidakis ($28.95, 11901189)
100% organically farmed Assyrtiko. Macerated on the skin for for 12 hours. The must is then separated from the grapes, clarified and fermented with indigenous yeasts at 18°C. Maturated on the lees in stainless steel tanks for eight months. Bottled manually, unfiltered with only a small amount of sulphur. 2,700 bottles made. 14.5% ABV.
Minerals and lemon again but with a candied edge. Not bone dry on the attack. The mid-palate is laden with extract, polished stones and firm acidity. A dry astringency and a bitter note creep in on the finish along with the expected sea spray. Long, long, long. Wow-worthy. (Buy again? Imperatively.)
Santorini 2009, Cuvée spéciale nº 15, Domaine Hatzidakis ($28.15 in 2011, oenopole, NLA)
100% organically farmed Assyrtiko. Wine-making is similar to that for the 2011. 14% ABV if I’m remembering correctly.
While the 2011s were silver-gold with pale green glints, this was tending more toward gold-bronze. Striking, magnetic nose of preserved lemon, dried pine needles, oxidized honey and more. Dry and complex in the mouth, dense but saved from heaviness by the firm acidity and general savour. Layer after layer of bitter minerals. The finish is long and, yes, saline. Impressive. (Buy again? Gladly.)
Brett happens 