Posts Tagged ‘Organic’
The SAQ does natural wines – part 1
On April 23, the SAQ came out with its first ever official release of natural wines* (“official” because a few natural wines have made their way onto the monopoly’s shelves in the past, a recent example being the Jean-Michel Stephan Côte-Rôtie that the Mo’ Wine Group swooned over in July). Friends and I had planned to taste through the lineup soon after the release but, for various reasons, the event was postponed until last Friday.
Due to the postponement, most of the wines are – like my free time – now in short supply, so it hardly seems worthwhile to give them the full Brett Happens treatment. Yet the release is a milestone of sorts for the SAQ and for local lovers of natural wines, one that shouldn’t go unremarked. What’s more, the tasting left me with a few thoughts about the operation and the future of such wines at the SAQ. My solution is a set of quick notes followed by a comment or two.
Of the eight wines in the release, two – a Chardonnay and a Syrah made by Gérard Bertrand – were either new vintages or restockings of unmemorable wines that the SAQ started carrying a few months ago. We focused on the other six and on a mystery wine served at the end.
The 100% Gamay, near-Beaujolais Vin de France 2013, Le P’tit Poquelin, Maison B. Perraud ($21.75, 12517998) smells of jujubes and spice with unmistakable meat and soy sauce notes. While the wine is fruity, it’s also very dry, especially on the extremely short, black pepper-scented finish. What structure there is comes from acidity, not tannins. The bottom line? To riff off Gertrude Stein, there’s not much there there. In fact, I don’t know if I’ve ever encountered a red wine with so little presence. Buy again? No.
Another 100% Gamay, this time from 50-year-old vines in the Loire valley, the Touraine 2013, Première Vendange, Henry Marionnet ($24.20, 12517875) has a strikingly lactic nose that, when combined with the fruit, has you thinking of raspberry-strawberry yogurt. In the mouth, it’s richer, deeper, plusher-tannined and more minerally than the P’tit Poquelin, and the juicy finish has a lingering astringency. On its own terms, enjoyable enough – though, when you can get excellent Morgons from Brun for the same price and from Foillard for $3 more, the QPR seems way off. Buy again? No.
If you score a bottle of the 100% Cabernet Franc Chinon 2012, Cuvée Beaumont, Épaulé Jeté, Domaine Breton ($22.70, 12517921), be sure to carafe it before serving because on opening the wine has little to say. After breathing for an hour, it suddenly blossoms. The nose gains notes of red fruit, cured meat, forest floor, green sap, sawed wood and spice. The austere, ungiving palate turns rich and expressive: the texture supple, the fruit bone dry but juicy and pure, the acidity singing, the tannins caressing, the finish long and clean. In short, a beaut. Buy again? Definitely.
_________
*What is a natural wine? According to the Association des vins naturels, the basic principles of natural winemaking are organic or biodynamic farming (not necessarily certified), manual harvesting, fermentation with native yeasts and the avoidance of harsh physical procedures (reverse osmosis, cross-flow filtration, flash pasteurization, thermovinification, etc.) and of additives, including sugar, with an exception being made for small amounts of sulphur dioxide added as a stabilizer at bottling. As a definition, that works for me, though I’d add that many natural winemakers say that their wines are made in the vineyard, not the cellar, that their goal is to add nothing and take nothing away, which leads them to adopt a non-interventionist approach in the cellar and to largely or completely avoid filtering and fining.
The upsides of natural wines include their individuality and a juicy vibrancy that, in the best examples, seems very close to the fruit and terroir. Many also have a rustic appeal – a sense of not taking themselves too seriously – that their more polished and manipulated counterparts lack. Downsides include greater bottle-to-bottle variability, the ever-present possibility of reductive notes on opening, the need to store the bottles at cool temperatures (ideally 14ºC/57ºF or less) and, for some drinkers and some wines, their cloudy appearance and funky bouquets.
SAQ natural wines tasting: post 1 of 3.
La Laïsité n’a nul besoin de charte
Côtes du Roussillon 2012, Cuvée Laïs, Domaine Olivier Pithon ($26.20, 11925720)
The Laïs line is named after Pithon’s pet cow. Organically farmed Grenache Noir (40%), Carignan (40%) and Mourvèdre (20%). Manually harvested at the beginning of maturity, often a week or two before the neighbours start, the idea being to make wines that are fresher and less heavy than the norm. Vinification is traditional (native yeasts, non-interventionist). The wine is matured in concrete tanks and foudres. Reducing sugar: 3.2 g/l. 13.6% ABV. Quebec agent: Planvin.
Unlike several bottles of last year’s 2011, free of reductive and barnyard aromas. Clean as a whistle, in fact. Fragrant nose, redolent of plum and blackberry, graphite and sun-baked earth with sawdust, spice chest, dried herbs and animale notes. Medium-bodied and fundamentally supple. The upfront, ripe-sweet fruit gives way to a taut, drying mid-palate lightly soured by smooth acidity and structured by pervasive fine tannins that lend an astringent haze to the long, minerally, juicy finish. Fresh, balanced and so, so drinkable. Well nigh perfect with bœuf à la Robespierre. (Buy again? Yes.)
When is the SAQ going to start carrying the white?
Pink bliss
Two rosés that the Mo’ Wine Group used to buy as private imports are hitting the SAQ’s shelves for the first time this spring. This is the first; the second, the Alzipratu rosé, should be released soon.
Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence 2014, Les Béatines, Domaine Les Béates ($20.45, 11232261)
The estate’s name translates as “the blissfully happy.” This is made from organically farmed Grenache Noir (75%) and Syrah (25%). The grapes are manually harvested and immediately destemmed and pressed. The must is fermented with indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled (17°C) tanks. Matured on the fine lees in stainless steel tanks for four months. Sulphur use is kept to a minimum. Reducing sugar: 1.4 g/l. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: La QV.
Pale gauzy pink. Soft, wafting nose: minerals and red berries with a whiff of garrigue. In the mouth, dry as a bone, a quartzy mineral complex infused with delicate fruit. Ethereal on the attack, it gains some glyceriney weight as it moves across the palate. Sleek acidity keeps things fresh and an appetizing saline thread runs through the clean finish. (Buy again? Yes.)
At one end of the rosé spectrum are exuberantly fruity, dark pink wines that feel and taste like reds without the structure. At the other end are rosés that seem more like minerally whites with a dash of red fruit. This falls squarely in the latter camp: light enough to serve as a nuanced aperitif; substantial enough to accompany Provençal dishes like salade nicoise and pissaladière.
Orange is the new white
IGT Emilia 2011, Ageno, La Stoppa ($41.00, 12512046)
Malvasia di Candia Aromatica (60%) with Ortrugo and Trebbiano (for whatever reason, SAQ.com says 60% Malvaisa Nera and 40% Tebbiano) from organically farmed vines averaging 40 years old. Macerated on the skins for 30 days. Fermented with native yeasts. Aged 12 months, 50% in stainless steel vats and 50% in used French oak barrels, followed by another two years in bottle. Unfined. Lightly filtered but no added sulphur. Reducing sugar content: 2.3 g/l. 13.5% ABV. About 10,000 bottles made. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Kaleidoscopic nose redolent of fresh and dried fruit (white, yellow and citrus), spice, flowers and lots more. Equally multifaceted in the mouth. Bone dry. Bright yet weighty, fluid yet chewy. The fruit tends to apricot and is shot through with straw and minerals. Surprisingly tannic especially on the long, bitter-edged finish. Involving and fascinating, though about as far from your basic vin plaisir as a white wine gets. Will surely benefit from a few more years in the bottle. If opening now, carafe it up to a day in advance, serve it at cool room temperature and drink it with food (veal in cream sauce or various cheeses spring to mind). (Buy again? Definitely.)
MWG March 12th tasting: flight 7 of 7.
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.
Aglianico × 3
Irpinia 2011, Rubrato, Feudi di San Gregorio ($22.45, 12476680)
100% Aglianico. Macerated and fermented for two to three weeks in stainless steel tanks. Matured eight to ten months also in stainless steel tanks. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Italvine.
Cherry, slate, leather, spice, blackberry yogurt. Structured but medium-bodied and surprisingly fluid. The firm tannins and bright acidity are balanced by the dark, faintly juicy fruit. Volcanic minerals tinge the mid-palate and last well into the finish. Moreish though it needs an hour or two in the carafe to uncoil. Modern but in a good way. The SAQ used to stock several of Feudi’s wines and this bottling shows why it’s great to have them back. (Buy again? Done!)
Aglianico del Vulture 2009, Piano del Cerro, Vigneti del Vulture (Farnese) ($27.40, 12015470)
100% Aglianico from the Acrenza area. The grapes are gently destemmed. Maceration and fermentation in small wood vats with four manual pump-overs a day last 25 to 30 days. Matured in new oak barriques for 24 months. 14% ABV. Quebec agent: Montalvin.
Cassis liqueur, shoe leather, black olives and mocha. Full-bodied and, due to the combination of super-ripe fruit and heavy oak treatment, sweet (“the better to cover the rubber,” noted one taster). Spice and minerals are there but only if you look for them. The tannins are plush, the acidity downplayed. Creamy vanilla oak dominates the finish. Cloying and unrefreshing. The style may be popular – the Montreal allocation sold out fast and there’s very little left in the province – but it’s not one I find appealing in the slightest. (Buy again? No.)
IGP Basilicata Rosso 2012, Antelio, Camerlengo ($25.60, 11951961)
Contrary to what you’ll read on SAQ.com, this is neither a DOC wine nor the estate’s flagship (that honour falls to the eponymous Aglianico del Vulture, which is available through the private import channel). 100% organically farmed Aglianico from the Rapolla area. Manually harvested. Fermented with native yeasts and macerated for 25 days. Matured in 50-hl Slavonian oak botte. Unfiltered and unfined. Lightly sulphured at bottling to increase stability during transportation. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
With its vinegary aromas and sharp taste, the bottle at the tasting seemed off. That it was was confirmed by a pristine and delicious second bottle purchased and opened a few days later: a fragrant, medium-bodied wine whose black currant and blackberry fruit is veined with obsidian and Drum tobacco, framed by tart acidity and fine, drying tannins and sustained through the long, savoury finish. A perennial favourite in fine form in 2012. (Buy again? Done!)
MWG March 12th tasting: flight 5 of 7.
Lucid and solar
In the late 1970s, his youthful obsession with race car driving behind him, Marco De Bartoli returned to the family estate and set out to save Marsala wine from the quantity-over-quality mindset that had tarnished if not destroyed its once sterling reputation. To say he succeeded would be an understatement, as his terroir-driven, Grillo-only Marsalas are widely viewed as exceptional and peerless. In the mid-1980s, De Bartoli expanded his operations to the island of Pantelleria, renowned for its sweet Muscats. In the mid-1990s, his sons came on board, leading to the production of dry reds and whites made from local grape varieties. While the farming has always been organic, it is only now being certified as such.
We tasted two of the dry whites. A third, the 2013 Zibibbo (Muscat of Alexandria) “Pietranera,” didn’t make it out of the SAQ warehouse in time. The Marsalas we hope to taste before long, the good news being that at least one of them will soon be available at the SAQ Signature stores.
IGT Terre Siciliane 2013, Vignaverde, Marco De Bartoli ($29.35, private import, 12 bottles/case)
This is the first vintage of the wine. The grapes were picked earlier than is the case for the fruit used to make the estate’s Marsalas and oak-aged Grillo (late August as opposed to early September), the idea being to produce a fresher wine. 100% Grillo from organically farmed 18-year-old vines grown in the Samperi vineyard. Manually harvested. Gently pressed. The must is chilled and clarified by settling for 48 hours. Fermented with indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled 50-hectolitre stainless steel tanks. Matured on the lees for six months also in stainless steel tanks. 11.5% ABV. 15,000 bottles made. Quebec agent: oneopole.
Minerals, preserved lemon peel and a hint of mango, gaining sweat and quartz notes as it breathes. Medium-bodied but possessing a certain weight and roundness. The ripe-sweet fruit is dusted with minerals and checked by sourish acidity. A saline thread runs through the long finish. So smooth and solar you could be forgiven for not immediately noticing its complexity and depth. (Buy again? Gladly.)
IGT Terre Siciliane 2013, Lucido, Marco De Bartoli ($21.85, private import, 12 bottles/case)
100% Catarratto Lucido from organically farmed 11-year-old vines. Manually harvested. Gently pressed. Fermented with indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. Matured on the lees for seven months also in stainless steel tanks. 11.5% ABV. 10,000 bottles made. Quebec agent: oneopole.
Shy rainwatery nose with peach and floral overtones. Drier, fleeter and even more savoury than the Vignaverde, packed with rocky minerals. Acidity is sustained but not souring, while the finish is clean and appetizing. Opening, deepening, drinkable and delicious. Great QPR. (Buy again? Done!)
MWG March 12th tasting: flight 2 of 7.
Textbook trio
Natural wine nuts Primavin hosted Piedmontese winemaker Alessandro Barosi of Cascina Corte at a series of events in Montreal this weekend. A friend and I caught up with him on Saturday evening at the always enjoyable if often noisy Le Comptoir charcuteries et vins.
The estate sits in the San Luigi hills near the village of Dogliani, a stone’s throw from the Barolo and Barbaresco appellations. The farming is rigorously organic and loosely biodynamic. Yields are kept low and all harvesting is manual. Alessandro is a firm believer that good wines are made in the vineyard, not in the cellar, so the winemaking is non-interventionist. Only indigenous yeasts and manual pump-overs are used. Extraneous flavours like new oak are avoided and the wines are bottled unfiltered and unfined. All three wines we tasted shared an authenticity, directness and purity that gave them no small appeal.
Dogliani 2013, Cascina Corte ($24.39, private import, 12 bottles/case)
100% Dolcetto from 60-year old vines. Spends 10 months in stainless steel. Quebec agent: Primavin.
Redolent of red berries and cherries, supple and juicy with smooth tannins and acidity, a dark mineral substrate and a lingering bitter almond finish. Not as rustic or in-your-face as some but undeniably a pleasure to drink. (Buy again? Sure.)
Langhe Barbera 2012, Cascina Corte ($29.34, private import, 12 bottles/case)
100% Barbera from 10-year-old vines. Matured six months in large neutral oak barrels. Quebec agent: Primavin.
Berries again but darker ones along with some slate and hints of licorice and spice. Medium-bodied and juicy, the wine is lit up by brilliant acidity. Tannins are sotto voce, not that the wine needs more of them: the excitement here is the fruit that rings clear as a bell. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Our favourite of the three, a real coup de cœur for both of us. (Buy again? Oh, yes.)
Langhe Nebbiolo 2011, Cascina Corte ($35.32, private import, 6 bottles/case)
100% Nebbiolo from 10-year-old vines. Matured 24 months in large neutral oak barrels and two years in the bottle. Quebec agent: Primavin.
Closed and ungiving at first but soon opening up Classic Nebbiolo nose of cherry, turned earth, violet, dried rose petal, the faintest hint of tar. Medium-bodied and far more structured than the other two – taut with airframe tannins, tense with acidity. Once again the fruit is naturally sweet and remarkably bright and clear. Finishes clean and long. A delight. (Buy again? Yes.)
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)
Salt and pepper
The last time I saw one of Weingut Jurtschitsch’s bottles on an SAQ shelf was in 2002. In the intervening years, a new generation has taken over the winemaking, the estate has been certified organic and the Little J line of affordable Grüner Veltliner and Zweigelt has been introduced. Technical info on this is hard to find; the wine’s not mentioned on the producer’s website and no details are provided on the Quebec agent’s. Is it made from estate-grown grapes? Is it fermented with native yeasts? Is it filtered or fined? Your guess is as good as mine.
Kamptal 2013, Grüner Veltliner, Little J, Weingut Jurtschitsch ($17.75, 12486562)
100% organically farmed Grüner Veltliner. Manually harvested. Destemmed. Gently pressed. Fermented and matured in stainless steel tanks. Screwcapped. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Textbook nose of lime and white grapefruit, crushed seashells, white pepper. In the mouth, it’s clean, fruity and not bone dry. A faint spritz and souring acidity enliven. Abundant minerals deepen. The running thread of salinity is most obvious on the attack and finish. White pepper lingers after the fruit has disappeared. Fresher and finer than many similarly priced GVs, this seems tailor made for sipping as an aperitif and accompanying raw seafood (shellfish, sushi, tartare), Vietnamese fare, maybe even salads. Would so hit the spot on a sweltering July evening. (Buy again? Several bottles with an eye to July.)
Released a couple of weeks ago, this has already disappeared from several SAQ stores, so don’t dawdle if you’re interested. An extra inducement for acting fast is the Generous Wines campaign: for every bottle of white wine purchased at the SAQ (in stores and online) today and tomorrow, the monopoly will donate $1 to Food Banks of Quebec.
Brett happens 