Posts Tagged ‘oenopole’
Salon VIP 2014: Domaine du Possible
A friend and I spent yesterday afternoon at the Salon des vins d’importation privée, the private import expo run by RASPIPAV. Over the next few days, I’ll be posting sketchy notes on some of the highlights. Our first stop was at the oenopole booth, specifically to taste the four newly arrived wines from the wryly named Domaine du Possible, which can be rendered in English several ways, including the realm of possibility.
Forty-something Loïc Roure, the owner-winemaker, set up shop in the Côtes du Roussillon in 2003 and has since assembled 10.5 hectares of parcels in Latour-de-France, Lansac and Caudiès-de-Fenouillèdes. The wines are made in Lansac’s old winegrowers’ cooperative, which facilities Roure shares with Édouard Laffitte of Domaine Le Bout du Monde.
Roure farms organically and is a non-interventionist in the cellar. The grapes are picked by hand, brought to the winery and cooled, usually overnight. The reds are typically made using semi or full carbonic maceration. All fermentations are spontaneous, using only indigenous yeasts. Punch-downs are rare and pump-overs non-existent while racking is occasional. That plus reasonable extraction and low alcohol levels, little or no sulphur, no filtering or fining, a prizing of acidity and an avoidance of strong tannins equal fresh and juicy wines that are remarkably drinkable.
Roure was supposed to visit the city for the salon but went AWOL. Fortunately, four of his seven wines didn’t.
Côtes du Roussillon 2012, Cours Toujours, Domaine du Possible ($32.00, private import, 6 bottles/case)
Mostly Macabeu with a little Grenache Gris. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Wafting nose of star fruit, quince, quartz, straw and ash. More appley in the mouth. Ripe-sweet on the attack but drying with a long, sourish, saline finish. A lovely mix of crystalline minerality and fruit. (Buy again? Def.)
Côtes du Roussillon 2013, Charivari, Domaine du Possible ($30.50/750 ml, private import, 6 bottles/case)
Côtes du Roussillon 2013, Charivari, Domaine du Possible ($63.75/1500 ml, private import, 3 bottles/case)
100% Carignan from vines between 35 and 110 years old. Undergoes carbonic maceration. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
The nose is a basket of red fruit along with some reductive aromas (the bottle had just been opened). A smooth and juicy mouthful of sweet and sour fruit, supple tannins and tangy acidity. So easy to drink. (Buy again? Yes.)
Côtes du Roussillon 2013, Tout bu or not tout bu, Domaine du Possible ($28.70, private import, 6 bottles/case)
About three-quarters Grenache and one-quarter Mourvèdre. Made from purchased organically farmed grapes. Some of the grapes are placed in vats and trod by foot. Whole bunches are then added and the vats are closed, resulting in a kind of semi-carbonic maceration. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Deeper, darker nose of plum and slate. Less exuberantly fruity in the mouth. Mild tannins, glowing acidity, underpinning dark minerals. (Buy again? Yes.)
Côtes du Roussillon 2013, C’est pas la mer à boire, Domaine du Possible ($37.50, private import, 6 bottles/case)
Grenache (c. 75%), Carignan (c. 20%) and Syrah (c. 5%). Some of the grapes are placed in vats and trod by foot. Whole bunches are then added and the vats are closed, resulting in a kind of semi-carbonic maceration. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Faintly bretty nose that segued into roasted cherries and plum and graphite. A fluent, smile-inducing blend of pure, bright fruit and crunchy minerals. Irresistible. (Buy again? The price is steep for a vin plaisir – damn you, high euro – but yes.)
Aïoli monsters, unite!
While the weather forecast may not be particularly Provençal, you can be sure the food, wines and atmosphere will be when the Foodlab holds its annual aïoli monstre tomorrow. The garlic-rich menu features vegetables from Birri and rosés from oenopole stalwarts Gros’Noré, Breton and Thymiopoulos. Be there or be square!
Aïoli monstre par oenopole
Thursday, August 14, 2014, from 5 p.m. on
SAT Foodlab
1201 St. Lawrence Boulevard, 3rd floor
MWG July 17th tasting: A rosé is a rosé is a rosé?
Côtes du Rhône 2010, Rosé, Domaine Gourt de Mautens ($73.50, private import, NLA)
The inaugural vintage of this wine. A blend of co-planted organically and biodynamically farmed Grenache Noir, Carignan, Mourvèdre and Counoise from nearly century-old vines. Very low yields (10 to 15 hl/ha). Manually harvested. Sorted on picking and in the cellar. The grapes are pressed on arrival. The must is then co-fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured ten to 18 months in stainless steel tanks and neutral demi-muids. Bottled unfiltered and unfined. The winemaker says this is essentially a blanc de noirs and can be aged up to ten or 15 years. 14% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Soft orange-pink. Impossibly complex nose that never stops evolving: grilled peach, red currant, blood orange, white pepper, quartz, garrigue, dried flowers, roast chicken, talc. In the mouth, a dry and savoury middleweight with sustained acidity and layer upon ethereal layer of fruit and flinty minerals. Structured and tense in the manner of a fine white. An orange wine-like hint of tannin textures the long finish. Delicious even when warm. The alcohol is totally unapparent. Phenomenal. (Buy again? If the price isn’t a barrier, yes.)
Le plus gros BBQ de l’été
The summer’s biggest barbecue is happening at Foodlab this Thursday.
What’s the draw?
- A special grill menu concocted and cooked by chefs Gabrielse and Marek with their usual flare and featuring meats from Boucherie Lawrence.
- Grill-friendly wines from oenopole‘s portfolio, including three whites, one of them a sparkler, from Sébastien Brunet and two reds from Le Coste.
- Affordable prices, a convivial atmosphere, a perfect weather forecast and the SAT’s fantastic rooftop terrace.
Unmissable!
Le plus gros BBQ de l’été
Thursday, July 17, 2014, from 5 p.m. on
SAT Foodlab
1201 St. Lawrence Boulevard, 3rd floor
MWG May 15th tasting (6/6): Cretan legend
Crete 2006, Sitia, Domaine Economou ($42.00, private import, NLA)
100% organically farmed Liatiko from 65- to 75-year-old dry-farned, low-yielding, ungrafted vines grown on the Ziros plateau in eastern Crete. Fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks. Matured in French oak barrels. Natural except for a minimal shot of sulphur dioxide at bottling. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
A transporting, umami-rich nose of dried cherry, blackberry, sun-baked earth and leather with hints of cocoa and dried orange peel. Against all expectations for such a southern wine, medium-bodied (if the frequent comparisons to Barolos have merit, it’s mainly with respect to the wine’s body and weight). Dry. Lightly structured, with supple tannins and lively acidity. The layers of flavour range from fresh and dried fruit (including fig) to spice, dark minerals, Mediterranean scrub and old wood. The wine’s affirmed presence lasts through the long, savoury finish. At this stage, less structured and ethereal than the 2000 opened a few months ago but still special, even unique. One of the great Mediterranean reds. (Buy again? Imperatively.)
MWG May 15th tasting (1/6): Pink of course
Corse Calvi rosé 2013, Fiumeseccu, Domaine Alzipratu ($22.80, private import, NLA)
A blend of saignée and directly pressed juice, mostly Sciacarello though a little Nielluccio may also have made its way into the mix. If memory serves, this is 13% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Effusive nose of pink grapefruit, nectarine, garrigue, cat pee and cotton candy. Clean, citrusy and peachy on the palate. The gush of ripe fruit is carried on a stream of acidity to a dry, savoury finish with a saline snap and a quartz aftertaste. While I thought it was true to form and therefore excellent, especially for the price, most around the table – including several longtime fans – were unconvinced. One taster in particular, who’d bought a case with a party in view, expressed disappointment and regret. Note, however, that she opened one of her bottles the following weekend and totally revised her opinion, declaring the wine classic and delicious (top sommeliers around town agree with that assessment). A QPR winner. (Buy again? Done!)
Patrimonio rosé 2012, Domaine d’E Croce, Yves Leccia ($24.80, 11900821)
100% Nielluccio. Manually harvested. Made from the same juice used for the estate’s red wines but bled off (saignée) after 12 hours’ maturation. Cold-settled for 12 hours, then fined. Fermented in stainless steel tanks at 18°C for 15 to 20 days. Malolactic fermentation is prevented. Matured six months in stainless steel tanks. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Le Maître de Chai.
Compared with the Alzipratu, smoother, sweeter, rounder and grapier – redolent of peach, strawberry and watermelon with maquis overtones. Weightier too, though kept from heaviness by glowing acidity and a faint carbon dioxide tingle. The rainwater minerality turns saline on the long finish. Not light and refreshing enough to be a first choice for sipping on the deck or balcony. On the other hand, if you’re looking for something to serve with your aïoli monstre… (Buy again? Sure.)
oenopole workshop: picnic wines (4/4)
Italians claim vin santo (aka vino santo) as their own invention. After all, they say, the name means holy wine. That no one can offer a convincing explanation of the wine’s holy connection is conveniently overlooked.
Greeks tell a different story. They claim the name is a contraction of vino di Santorini and that the style is basically copied from the Greek island’s legendary sweet wine that was first brought to the Italian peninsula by seafaring traders.
Despite the similarities – both wines are made from partially dried grapes, usually white – there are plenty of differences: different grape varieties, drying methods, maturation methods, ageing requirements and sweetness levels, with the Greek version almost always being quite sweet. The spelling of the name is also different: Italian vin santo, Greek vinsanto.
Vinsanto 1990, 20 years, Estate Argyros (NLA, though more may be on the way. When last sold at the SAQ, the price was $99 for a 500 ml bottle.)
A blend of Assyrtiko (80%), Aidani (10%) and Athiri (10%) from very old vines, some in excess of 150 years. The grapes are dried in the sun for 12 to 14 days, pressed, fermented with ambient yeasts and aged 15 years in old French oak barrels, two years in new French oak barrels and another three years in the bottle. 14% ABV.
Mahogany with orange glints. Complex nose of raisin, wet earth, nuts, orange zest, graphite and hints of vanilla and old wood. Though unctuous and sweet, not cloying due to the high acidity. The swirl of savoury fig, raisin and caramel flavours seems to last forever. There’s a category of wines with a special quality: you take a sip and time stops, the outside world disappears and, for a moment, only you and the wine exist. This falls into that select group. (Buy again? Would that I could.)
> A transporting delight with Hof Kelsten’s “Jewish biscotti,” a kind of mandelbrodt filled with walnuts and bitter chocolate and topped with a dollop of lemon-zested, sea-salted crème fraîche. The wine picked up the cookie’s walnuts and the cookie brought out the wine’s orange. Perfection.
oenopole workshop: picnic wines (3/4)
The reds were also served with three sandwiches: a Jewish-French fusion of chopped chicken liver and mousse de foies de volaille on raisin bread; open-faced corned beef garnished with red cabbage; and beef salami with chiles on a lobster roll-style hot dog bun. As is always the case at Hof Kelsten, everything – including the corned beef, salami, pickles and ballpark mustard – was made in house.
Achaïa 2012, Kalavryta, Tetramythos ($16.10, 11885457)
The estate is located in Achaea, on the Gulf of Corinth in the northern Peloponnese. This wine is made using the free-run juice from organically farmed Black of Kalavryta (Μαύρο Καλαβρυτινό) grapes, an indigenous variety once widely grown in the area but now nearly extinct. Alcoholic fermentation (with native yeasts) and nine months’ maturation are in stainless steel vats. Malolactic fermentation is prevented. Use of sulphur dioxide is kept to a bare minimum. The wine is unfined but coarsely filtered before bottling. 13% ABV.
While other bottles have often been reductive, the wine needing at least a couple of hours in a carafe to right itself, this was sweet from the get-go. Lightly candied red fruit, dark spice, slate, undergrowth and a hint of band-aid. Medium-bodied, supple, juicy and dry, with enough acidity to keep things perky. Not very tannic though a faint astringency and bitterness mark the finish. A savoury vin plaisir and a QPR winner. Drink slightly chilled. (Buy again? Yes.)
> A surprisingly good match for the chicken liver, which brought out the wine’s fruit. Excellent with the salami, unfazed by the smouldering chiles. Serviceable with the corned beef. Based on this sampling, the most picnic fare-friendly of the reds.
Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes-de-Nuits 2011, Domaine Henri Naudin-Ferrand ($27.65, 11668698)
100% Pinot Noir from vines averaging 43 years old. Manually harvested. Destemmed. Three days’ cold maceration was followed by 11 days’ alcoholic fermentation with indigenous yeasts, punch-downs and pump-overs. Undergoes malolactic fermentation. Matured 12 months on the lees, 20% in new oak barrels. Blended and filtered before bottling. 12.5% ABV.
Classic red Burg nose: red berries, old wood, beet, minerals, forest floor and hint of new oak. A medium-bodied, silky textured delight with sweet-ripe fruit, supple tannins, bright acidity and darker mineral and wood flavours that linger through the clean finish. As elegant as in earlier vintages but even purer and fresher. (Buy again? Yes.)
> Good with the chicken liver, the berry fruit coming to the fore. Worked with the salami but not with the chiles, which killed the wine. The best of the three wines with the corned beef.
Côtes du Rhône 2011, Daumen ($21.00, 11509857)
Biodynamically and organically farmed Grenache (60%), Syrah (30%) and Mourvèdre (6%) according to the SAQ (earlier vintages have included a dollop of Cinsault) from vines averaging 60 years old. Although marketed under Jean-Paul Daumen’s négociant label, the grapes come from the estate’s own vineyards. Manually harvested, partially destemmed, fermented in temperature-controlled vats with indigenous yeasts and punch-downs for about 20 days, matured approximately 12 months in concrete vats and neutral 50-hl barrels and bottled unfiltered and unfined. Sulphur is added – and then minimally – only just before bottling. 14.5% ABV.
Heady nose of lightly stewed plum, sweet spice, black pepper, leather and graphite. A suave middleweight filled – but not packed – with sweet fruit, enlivening acidity and ripe, round tannins. Pepper and spice perfume the long finish. So fresh and drinkable, the kind of wine the QPR Winner tag was made for. (Buy again? Absolutely.)
> Didn’t sing with the chicken liver. Not bad with the salami, though the chiles did the wine no favours. Very good with the corned beef. Would really shine with grilled red meat – a lamb burger, say.
oenopole workshop: picnic wines (2/4)
The food for the workshop – variations on a sandwich theme – was prepared by Jeff Finkelstein, owner of Boulangerie Hof Kelsten. All the sandwiches were excellent and several were adaptations of ones available at the bakery. Based on this encounter, I’d say Hof Kelsten is not only the source of some of the city’s best bread (something restaurants like Brasserie T!, Joe Beef and Leméac well know) but also one of Montreal’s top sandwich spots.
In this flight, the wines were served with gravlax on a pumpernickel crisp, roasted yellow beet and labneh with fresh pumpernickel crumbs, and chicken salad on soft white sandwich bread.
IGP Peloponnese 2012, Foloi, Domaine Mercouri ($17.85, 12131471)
The wine is named after Mount Foloi, on the highlands around which the grapes grow. The 2012 is a blend of Roditis (85%) and Vigonier (15%). Low-temperature fermentation with selected yeasts. 12.5% ABV.
Mineral, floral (honeysuckle?), melon and a hint of peach stones. Smooth, fruity, even a bit superficial on entry but gaining depth, acid bite and minerality as it goes along. Floral overtones and citrus flavours colour the mid-palate and a faint astringent-like sensation textures the finish. Fragrant, flavourful and above all fresh. Probably not a keeper, this has summer sipper written all over it. (Buy again? Sure.)
> Not a particularly good match with the gravlax, the combo leaving a faint metallic and fish oil taste in the mouth. Much better with the beet and labneh (especially the mildly tangy cheese) and just dandy with the chicken salad.
Sancerre 2012, Domaine Paul Prieur et Fils ($24.50, 11953245)
100% Sauvignon Blanc from grapes grown in the estate’s three terroirs (light limestone, clayey limestone and flint). The vines average 25 to 35 years old. Manually harvested and whole cluster pressed. After 24 to 48 hours’ cold settling, the must is fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and then matured on its lees for about seven months. 13% ABV.
Classic nose of gooseberry and gunflint with a soft floral top note. Sits lightly on the palate and yet is quite intense. The fruit’s natural sweetness notwithstanding, the wine is dry. Brisk acidity and a vein of chalky minerals run throughout and are joined by a saline note on the long finish. Remarkable purity and balance. (Buy again? Yes.)
> Good with the gravlax, very good with the beet and labneh and best with the chicken salad, whose celery and apple it picked up. One taster said the wine is a knockout with Crottin de Chavignol, a claim I have no trouble believing.
Santorini 2012, Estate Argyros ($24.60, 11901091)
100% Assyrtiko from ungrafted vines averaging 150 years old. Temperature-controlled fermentation with selected yeasts. Maturated six months, 80% in stainless steel tanks and 20% in 500-litre French oak barrels. 13.2% ABV.
Lemon, quartz, sea spray, distant smoke. Dry and oh, so minerally. The bracing acidity might be biting were it not softened by the fruit extract and sugars and rounded by the barrel. The saline finish lasts forever. “I’d drink this with everything, even on my cornflakes,” said one taster. That sounds about right. (Buy? Oh, yes.)
> Excellent with the gravlax, somewhat to my surprise (salmon and Assyrtiko, who knew?). Good with the beet and labneh, echoing the beet’s minerals. Very good with the chicken salad. The most versatile of the three wines (see “cornflakes” above). Would be killer with oysters on the half shell.
oenopole workshop: picnic wines (1/4)
Earlier this week, oenopole held another of its workshops for wine writers and bloggers. Titled Atelier pique-nique, the workshop was devoted to wines that would lend themselves to picnic-friendly sandwiches. While waiting for the hordes to assemble, we sipped a sparkler.
Brut rosé 2005, Talento Metodo Classico, Bisol ($32.00, 11612598)
100% Pinot Noir from low-yielding vineyards. Manually harvested. Prior to fermentation, the must is macerated on the skins at low temperature until it turns pink. Unlike Bisol’s renowned Prosecco, this is made like champagne, using the traditional method with the second fermentation taking place in the bottle. 12.5% ABV.
Pale coppery salmon pink, with little foam or visible bead. Nuanced nose of oxidizing apple, red berries, peach and brioche. Finely effervescent in the mouth. Dry but rounded by subtle fruit. Chalky minerals and an elusive strawberry overtone add complexity. The long finish brings a faint bitter almond note. Crisp, clean, elegant and delicious. (Buy again? Yes.)
Tasted in 2009 alongside rosé champagnes costing twice as much, the 2003 – a private import retailing for $39 – came across as somewhat stern and austere. Don’t know if it’s the different vintage or different context, but neither of those descriptors apply to the 2005. On its own, it made a fine aperitif. I can also see it working with light fare such as chicken salad or salmon tartare.
Brett happens 