Posts Tagged ‘Organic’
An evening with Olivier Guyot (5/6)
Gevrey-Chambertin 2010, En Champs, Domaine Olivier Guyot ($66.50, oenopole, 6 bottles/case)
100% Pinot Noir from 60-year-old vines. 12.5% ABV.
Intense nose. Berries and black cherry, slightly candied, with hints of leather, wood and ink and a faint medicinal note. In the mouth, the rich, even weighty fruit is joined by mineral, oak and Asian spice flavours. Beautifully structured though still fluid: the tannins are firm but not astringent, the acidity present but not sharp. The sensation of fullness lasts well into the long finish. Young, true to the appellation (more country gent than city slicker) and full of potential. (Buy again? Sure.)
Gevrey-Chambertin 2007, Les Champs, Domaine Olivier Guyot ($66.50, oenopole, 6 bottles/case)
100% Pinot Noir from 60-year-old vines. 12.5% ABV. And, no, that’s not a typo; the cuvée recently changed names.
Defective bottle. The wine was heavily oxidized.
An evening with Olivier Guyot (4/6)
Chambolle-Musigny 2010, Vieilles vignes, Domaine Olivier Guyot ($92.75, oenopole, 3 bottles/case)
100% Pinot Noir. 12.5% ABV.
Textbook – if primary – nose: red berries, kirsch, faint notes of forest floor, violet, mushroom. Medium-bodied. Smooth and silky, rich and layered. Fruit, tannins and acidity are finely balanced, a balance that lasts through the lengthy finish. Even at this point, the oak is subtle and well integrated. A charmer. (Buy again? If I could scrape up the bucks, sure, though I’d probably be tempted to push the boat right out and fork over another $30 for the Fuées instead.)
Chambolle-Musigny 1er cru 2010, Les Fuées, Domaine Olivier Guyot ($125.00, oenopole, 3 bottles/case)
100% Pinot Noir. 12.5% ABV. Our bottle had been open for several hours.
Complex, earthy, engaging nose of Marmite, slate and mushroom against a backdrop of strawberry, black raspberry, violet and black tea, along with a faint oxidized note. Intense and fresh in the mouth. Supple yet structured. Possessed of every dimension, including the ability to suspend time. Great purity and balance and the most beguiling satiny texture. Beautiful. (Buy again? Would that I could.)
An evening with Olivier Guyot (3/6)
The Favières vineyard is located toward the bottom of the Marsannay hillside. The Guyot vines were planted in the 1980s. The estate makes another red Marsannay (dubbed La Montagne) from 90-year-old vines located at the top of the slope.
Marsannay 2010, Les Favières, Domaine Olivier Guyot ($35.75, 11906035)
100% Pinot Noir. 12% ABV. SAQ.com shows small quantities of this as being available. At the date of this posting, those bottles are all 2009s. The 2010s are in the SAQ’s warehouse and will be released in the coming weeks.
Primary: grapey nose only hinting at berries, spice, kirsch and oak. Supple, with airframe tannins and sleek acidity – silk to the 2009’s velours. The clean, ripe fruit is joined by some darker humus and mineral notes that linger into the sustained finish. Seems full of potential but a little out of sorts for now; will probably hit its stride in six months or a year. (Buy again? Yes.)
Marsannay 2009, Les Favières, Domaine Olivier Guyot ($35.75, 11906035)
100% Pinot Noir. 13% ABV. A few bottles remain in the system (showing as the 2010 on SAQ.com.
Darker and more reticent, the berries tending to black, the forest floor mixed with savoury herbs and charred oak. On the palate, the fruit is very ripe – not jammy but a little candied. Plush tannins and relatively low acidity give the wine a chewy texture. Broader than the other two but also not as deep. Some smoke appears on the finish. On its own, an amiable wine though more earthbound, less vital than its older and younger siblings. (Buy again? Not in preference to the 2010.)
Marsannay 2008, Les Favières, Domaine Olivier Guyot ($36.25 as a private import in 2012, NLA)
100% Pinot Noir. 12.5% ABV.
Beginning to express itself: red berries, leafmould, spice, kirsch and a touch of cola and vanilla oak. In a phrase, ça pinote. Still tight – maybe firm is a better word – but full, round and well balanced. The ripe fruit is structured by sinewy tannins and shot through with sliver threads of acidity. Sustained finish. The most complete of the three, though that may be partly a function of age. (Buy again? Moot but yes.)
This vertical showed the accuracy of Olivier’s vintage judgements: the unappreciated 2008 turning out classic, structured, long-lived wines; the overhyped 2009 giving birth to fruit-forward wines often short on finesse and best drunk in their youth; and 2010 a winegrower’s vintage capable of producing elegant, balanced expressions of terroir. He suggests drinking the Favières fairly young with grilled beef tenderloin.
An evening with Olivier Guyot (2/6)
Bourgogne rouge 2011, Domaine Olivier Guyot ($34.50, oenopole, 6 bottles/case)
100% Pinot Noir from “vines planted by my father and grandfather.” Like all of Olivier’s wines, spends 14 months in large fûts. Not cask aged, however. 12% ABV.
Fragrant nose: red berries, leafmould, hints of spice and old wood. Medium- bordering on light-bodied. Fluid and elegantly fruity but so dry. Animating acidity and fine, tight tannins add texture and some astringency. A faint bitterness – not like that found in Italian wines though – emerges on the finish. Straightforward, fresh and very easy to drink. (Buy again? A bottle or two to enjoy while waiting for the similarly priced 2010 Favières to show up at the monopoly.)
An evening with Olivier Guyot (1/6)
In town in late January on his way to the Gaspé peninsula for a week of snowmobiling, Côtes-de-Nuits winemaker Olivier Guyot made time for a tasting – his second – with the Mo’ Wine Group. Many thanks to oenopole for making this happen.
Initially mentored by the late Denis Mortet, Guyot farms organically and biodynamically but hasn’t bothered with certifications, preferring to call his approach traditional. The vineyards are worked with a horse. The grapes are harvested manually, rigorously sorted and, for the reds, partially destemmed. All wines are made using the same non-interventionist approach: fermentation with indigenous yeasts in open wood vats; gravity flow into untoasted oak barrels, a portion of which are new for the higher-end cuvées; and maturation ranging from 11 to 18 months depending on the cuvée and the vintage. In stark contrast to many Burgundy estates, racking is avoided and chaptalization is kept to a minimum. Sulphur is used sparingly. Ditto filtering and fining, if at all.
Having now tasted through two sets of bottles from a range of vintages, I think it must be the house style to make wines that are accessible at most or all stages of their development. If there’s a downside to the wines, it’s that the prices are a little higher than ideal; then again, that’s true for most Burgundies. Also, the wines are popular with restaurateurs – quite possibly due to the accessibility factor as well as their inherent quality – so they tend to sell out fast. Indeed, of the wines we tasted, only the Marsannay blanc and 2010 Chambolle-Musigny “Vieilles Vignes” remain available for purchase, though the 2010 Marsannay “Les Favières” is slated to show up at the SAQ in a few weeks.
When asked about recent vintages, Guyot (whose contrarian take on 2008 and 2009 has proved spot on) said 2010 produced classic if not marathon wines, 2011 was uneven but, when good, very good and 2012 was exceptional, though yields were low, allocations will be tiny and prices will be high. His advice: either start saving now or stock up on more affordable earlier vintages.
Aligoté 2011, Domaine Olivier Guyot ($24.50, oenopole, 12 bottles/case)
100% Aligoté from 70-year-old vines. 12% ABV.
Clean nose: minerals, apple, fresh straw, dusty lemon. Light but fruity and quite complex for an Aligoté. The piquant acidity comes out on the long, minerally finish. A fresh and refreshing Aligoté that ranks with the best. Drink young. (Buy again? Done!)
Marsannay blanc 2010, Domaine Olivier Guyot ($46.25, oenopole, 6 bottles/case)
100% Chardonnay from 70-year-old vines. Aged in a mix of new and used barrels. Olivier says this ages well, gaining an oily texture and nutty overtones with the years. 12% ABV.
Light tropical fruit (mango?), chalk, dried lemon peel and a lingering note of freshly mown field. Light to medium-bodied yet possessed of a real presence and a certain richness. The fruit is fully ripe but the wine borders on bone dry. Great minerality and good acidity. Pure and savoury, with a hint of spice on the finish. Delicious. Classic. (Buy again? If only it were a little less expensive… but a bottle or two quand même).
MWG January 16th tasting (8/8): Pheasants under glass
Kartli 2011, Tavkveri, Pheasant’s Tears ($28.50, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
100% organically farmed Tavkveri, which Cyril described as being a Georgian analogue to Gamay. 12.5% ABV.
Sweet-smelling nose, the red fruit sprinkled with maple sugar and joined by notes of spice, ink and wood. Smooth and supple in the mouth, with just enough tannin to lend the wine a velours-like texture. The red cherry-like fruit has a definite tang. Fun. (Buy again? Making a point of it.)
Kakheti 2011, Saperavi, Pheasant’s Tears ($29.75, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
100% organically farmed Saperavi, another red-fleshed grape. 12.5% ABV.
Surprising nose of oysters, slate, spice and a whiff of barnyard. Approachable if tense tannins and sustained acidity give this middleweight good structure. The silky fruit takes on an earthy edge that lingers through the long finish. There’s not a lot of depth here but a really interesting surface. Seems a shade lighter than the 2010 tasted last spring. (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG January 16th tasting (7/8): Bella Stella
Rosso di Montalcino 2009, Stella di Campalto ($51.75, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
The 13.5-hectare Podere S. Giuseppe estate with its 5.5 hectares of vineyards has been certified organic since 1996 and using biodynamic methods since 2002. It makes only two wines (this Rosso and a pricey Brunello), a grappa and olive oil. The grapes for this 100% Sangiovese Grosso were manually harvested, destemmed, transferred into old wooden vats (the winery uses a gravity system) and fermented with indigenous yeasts. The resulting wine was matured 21 months in 225- and 900-litre barrels and nine months in the bottle. Small amounts of sulphur may have been added throughout the wine-making process. 14% ABV.
Wafting Sangiovese nose: terracotta, dried herbs (including tobacco), cherry, a hint of anisette. Medium-bodied and satiny. The fruit is sweet, the acidity bright, the tannins fine and supple. An faint iron note emerges on the long, savory finish. Lean bordering on austere but admirably pure, and the alcohol in no way stands out. While a couple of tasters dismissed it as “crantini,” the only thing holding me back is the price. (Buy again? Thinking about it.)
MWG January 16th tasting (6/8): Beau, bon, pas cher
IGP de l’Aude 2011, Kézako?, Domaine Mâmârutá ($23.50, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
Run by 30-something Marc Castan, the 13-hectare estate, which is located in La Palme near the Mediterranean coast, is converting to organic and leans biodynamic. This cuvée is almost entirely Carignan with a dollop of Syrah. Manually harvested, fermented with native yeasts, unfiltered, unfined. Minimal added sulphur. 13.5% ABV. The name means “what’s this?” in Occitain.
Plum, spice and evanescent barnyard. Pure, fluid and refreshing. Rich but not heavy, in no small part due to the vibrant acidity. Supple tannins and good length. The quaffability quotient is almost as high as for Castan’s Coupe Soif tasted in October. (Buy again? Definitely.)
Minervois 2011, Viti vini bibi, Benjamin Taillandier ($25.00, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
Thirty-something Taillandier founded his eponymous estate in 2007. This blend is made from organically farmed Grenache (60%) Cinsault (20%) and Carignan (20%). Manually harvested, indigenous yeasts, unfiltered, unfined, with a minimal amount of sulphur added only at bottling. Vegan-compatible. 14% ABV.
Plum, spice, shoe leather, a whiff of animale. Full-bodied and smooth, with soft, juicy fruit, lowish acidity, a tannic substructure and a long slatey finish. Very popular with some around the table though I found it a bit overshadowed by the Kézako’s vibrancy. (Buy again? Sure.)
MWG January 16th tasting (5/8): Biodynamic duo
Bourgueil 2012, Diptyque dernier cri, Domaine de la Chevalerie ($22.25, La QV, 12 bottles/case)
The 38-hectare organic and biodynamic estate is located in Restigné. Each year, it makes a special cuvée for immediate drinking, dubbed Diptyque dernier cri in 2012. Like all Chevalerie wines, this is a 100% manually harvested Cabernet Franc. Fully destemmed and handled gently (no pumping). Temperature-controlled fermentation with indigenous yeasts. Matured in large neutral barrels. Unfiltered. Minimal added sulphur. 12.5% ABV.
Barnyard giving way to pepper, blackberry, slate. On the lighter side of medium-bodied. Dry but full of ripe fruit (sweet at its core), raspy but not astringent tannins and refreshing acidity. Pure and tasty, an easy-drinking vin plaisir. Serve lightly chilled. (Buy again? Yep.)
Vin de Sologne 2010, Élément-Terre, Julien Courtois ($31.75, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
100% Gamay teinturier de Chaudenay, a red-fleshed grape once common in the Loire. The estate is run according to organic and biodynamic principles. Wine-making is non-interventionist. Matured in large oak foudres for ten to 12 months. Bottled unfiltered and unfined. 12.5% ABV. As of the 2011 vintage, the cuvée’s name is changing to Éléments.
Spicy/cedary nose of cherry, leather and eventually a hint of bacon. In the mouth, it’s an odd mix of juicy fresh cherry and old leather. Medium-bodied and supple yet somehow chewy, with light rustic tannins. There’s a candied edge to the fruit, especially on the flavourful finish, yet the wine is dry. As one taster pointed out, it’s actually quite Piedmontese in style. (Buy again? It’s a little pricey but sure.)
MWG January 16th tasting (3/8): Rkatsiteli à l’orange
According to some estimates, Rkatsiteli is, by acreage, the third most planted vinifera grape in the world. It’s also one of the oldest. Most is grown in the countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc, though it also has a toehold in North America, most famously in New York’s Finger Lakes region, where Dr. Konstantin Frank’s version has developed a minor cult following. The Frank Rkatsiteli is made in a modern, clean-as-a-whistle style, in sharp contrast to the three qvevri-fermented orange wines in this flight.
Kakheti 2011, Rkatsiteli, Pheasant’s Tears ($28.50, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
100% organically farmed Rkatsiteli. 12.5% ABV.
Yellow apple, oxidized pear, hints of spice, honeycomb, roasted poultry juices. Light yet intense and flavourful, with noticeable acidity and tannins. Long. Ultimately fruity and fresh, especially in comparison to the other two wines. (Buy again? Yes.)
Kakheti 2011, Rkatsiteli, Teleda ($30.50, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
100% organically farmed Rkatsiteli. 13.5% ABV. For background on the winery, which was founded in 2010, see here.
Oxidized butter, dried yellow fruit, dried herbs, dried flowers, hazelnut skins, whiff of sourness. Very dry and mouth-filling. Lots of flavour, including brown pear skin and apricot. There’s a core of vibrant fruit, acid galore and lingering faint tannins. The finish has a heady, almost volatile edge. A favourite of several around the table. (Buy again? Yes.)
Kakheti 2010, Rkatsiteli, Alaverdi ($40.00, La QV, 6 bottles/case)
Founded in the sixth century of the common era, the Alaverdi monastery has been making wine since at least the 11th century. The grapes for this 100% Rkatsiteli come from 40-year-old organically farmed vines. Unfiltered and unfined, with minimal added sulphur. 13% ABV.
Deep bronze as opposed to the other wines’ amber. Powerful, wild nose with notes of house paint and plaster along with more conventional apricot, minerals and herbs. Rich bordering on dense though in no way heavy. Structured by firm tannins and gleaming acidity. Very long. Fascinating. Needs food – something you might say about all the Georgians. (Buy again? Another bottle.)
Brett happens 