Posts Tagged ‘screwcap’
Three lighter reds
Württemburg 2014, Trollinger, Without All, Weingut Knauss ($28.00, private import, NLA)
100% Trollinger from organically farmed though uncertified vines. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. No added anything, whence the “without all.” Unfiltered and unfined. 9.5% ABV. Screwcapped. Quebec agent: Ward & associés.
A bit spritzy and reduced at first, then sour berries, slate and developing clay and animale notes. Light and fluid on the palate. Airframe tannins and bright acidity provide some structure and faint minerals some depth but this is mainly about the pure fruit. Lip-smacking, sweet and sour finish. Light-bodied almost to the point of lacking substance and yet refreshing and ultra-drinkable, this ethereal wine was a hit with several around the table, despite its high price. (Buy again? Gladly.)
Côtes du Forez 2014, La Volcanique, Cave Verdier-Logel ($21.80, private import, 12 bottles/case)
Based in Marcilly-le-Châtel, the certified organic 17-hectare estate grows Gamay and a little Pinot Gris and Viognier. This cuvée is 100% Gamay from old vines rooted in basalt soil. Manually harvested. Macerated 21 days at around 20°C. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Lightly filtered (earth filters) before bottling. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: La QV/Insolite.
Sappy in the way of a good Beaujolais, though the red berries are a little candied and shot through with some greenness. Supple and tasty. Juicy fruit and sustained acidity play against a schisty backdrop while the tannins turn a little bitey on the sustained finish. Finely balanced yet appealingly rustic. To my surprise, this didn’t create the same sensation that the 2013 did (different contexts?). (Buy again? Yes.)
Quebec 2012, Pinot Noir Réserve, Domaine les Brome ($26.00, 12685879)
100% Pinot Noir according to the winery’s website (SAQ.com says the wine contains 7% Maréchal Foch). Macerated and fermented in stainless steel tanks. Matured 12 months in oak barrels. Reducing sugar: 1.9%. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: Univins.
A nose that tasters described as “electrical fire,” “cordite” and simply “weird.” Reactions to the taste were similar, “copper penny” being the one I noted. The not very pinot-ish fruit is brightened by good acidity but deflated by saggy tannins and muddied by extraneous flavours. Odd-tasting finish. I’m hoping ours was an off bottle. (Buy again? Unlikely.)
This flight was built around the Trollinger and the other two wines were chosen in the hope that they might be close to its light body. Neither was. In fact, I’ve encountered only one wine recently that is: Domaine de la Pinte’s 2012 Arbois “Poulsard de l’ami Karl,” which we tasted back in October.
MWG November 12th tasting: flight 4 of 6
Sehr guter Zweiglet
Burgenland 2013, Zweigelt, Heideboden, Weingut Pittnauer ($20.30, 12677115)
100% biodynamically and organically farmed Zweigelt. Fermented with indigenous yeasts (thee only addition is a little sulphur at bottling). Matured 12 months in netural oak barrels. Reducing sugar: 4.3 g/l. 13.5% ABV. Screwcapped. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Spicy meatloaf, slate, dried cherries and an earthy-mushroomy note. Medium-bodied, fundamentally supple and quite dry. Layered, with the sweet-tart fruit on the surface and minerals, earth and wood below. The tannins are light and raspy, the acidity bright and nippy. Long-steeped blackcurrant tea – tannic astringency and all – colours the sustained finish. Suave but with an appealingly rustic edge, this seems a little primary at present, though I’m sure it would make a great pairing for a hearty stew. Would rank this alongside the more elegant Meinklang as one of the best Zweigelts I’ve tasted. (Buy again? For sure, though only a few bottles are left in the system.)
Better than ever
Kamptal 2014, Riesling, Domaene Gobelsburg ($19.05, 10790309)
100% Riesling from vines between three and 20 years old. The farming is technically sustainable but close to organic. Harvested in late October. Fermented and matured in stainless steel. 6.9 g/l. 12.5% ABV. Screwcapped. Quebec agent: Les vins Alain Bélanger.
Slate and limestone, lemon-lime, green apple, white flowers and sawed pine. The faint spritz and crisp upfront fruit fade across the mid-palate revealing a matrix of minerals. Zingy acidity nips any sweetness in the bud and turns the finish mouth-wateringly tart. Ends on a salty lemon note. So clean and bracing. Always a good buy but better than ever in 2014. (Buy again? Yes.)
Get ’em while you’re hot
Will be posting notes on the COS wines soon. In the meantime, a heads-up on a couple of newly arrived, perfect summer wines that also happen to be in short supply. Interested? Act fast.
Niederösterreich 2014, Grüner Veltliner, Am Berg, Weingut Bernhard Ott ($20.85, 12646520)
(Not currently listed on SAQ.com. Reportedly part of an experiment involving a few wines stocked in fairly large quantities exclusively at the Atwater SAQ Sélection store, where you’ll find it in front of the organic wine section.) Am Berg translates as hillside. Ott’s wines are usually organic and biodynamic but this, a cuvée made from grapes grown in the estate’s and nearby vineyards, may be neither. In any case it’s 100% Grüner Veltliner from vines averaging 25 years old. Manually harvested and whole-cluster pressed. Fermented (with selected yeasts) and matured, on its lees, in stainless steel tanks. Screwcapped. Residual sugar (according to the estate): 1.6 g/l. 11.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Avant-Garde.
Textbook nose: lime, green apple, lemon grass, chalk and white pepper. In the piehole, it’s fresh and fruity from the get-go. Clean and bracing with acidity so crisp it feels almost like spritz. Minerals galore, especially on the tangy finish, whose overtones of salt marsh grass linger long. A beguiling GV at a great price. Fine on its own as an aperitif, very enjoyable with a salad of cucumbers, red onion, fresh dill, lemon juice and crème fraîche. (Buy again? Absolutely.)
Valpolicella 2013, Borgomarcellise, Marion ($20.00, 12328311)
Corvina (60%) and Rondinella (40%) according to the SAQ (while Corvina-dominated, earlier vintages have involved four or five varieties, so you might want to take this info with a grain of salt). Reportedly from young vines. The only winemaking info I’ve been able to find is that this is the estate’s only wine that doesn’t incorporate raisinated grapes. Reducing sugar: 4.8 g/l. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: L’Enoteca di Moreno De Marchi.
Pale ruby in the glass. Wafting nose of fresh cherry, red Twizzlers, dried earth, dried herbs and sandalwood. Light and bright on the palate, an alluring combination of gossamer fruit, juicy acidity and slender tannins. The sweet-tart cherry dries as it moves through the mouth, while minerals and a faint astringency inflect the lip-smacking finish. Serve lightly chilled. (Buy again? Yes.)
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.
MWG February 19th tasting: Kung Fu fighting
One evening late last spring, friends and I were downtown and in the mood for good East Asian fare but not for waiting in line. We decided they would drop by Kazu for takeout while I’d hit an SAQ Express for wine. Predictably, the selection of compatible bottles at the store was pitiful. After much dithering, I ended up with a 2012 Kung Fu Girl Riesling and a crémant de Bourgogne. It was our first experience with the KFG and we were not impressed. In fact, I’ve never heard the end of it.
Yet KFG regularly gets rave reviews from local and international critics: “Mid-priced marvel … great job” (Bill Zacharkiw in The Gazette); “91 points … Top 100 Wines … Best Value” (Wine Spectator); “clean, fresh, incredibly pure … rock star effort … 90 points” (Wine Advocate); “flat out delicious … 91 points … Best Buy” (Wine Enthusiast); “shows Riesling’s fun and funky side … 16.75/20 points” (Decanter); etc. Such praise seemed hard to reconcile with our impressions of the 2012.
Obviously a double-blind test was in order. And that was the idea behind this flight.
Okanagan Valley 2012, Riesling, Tantalus ($29.80, 12456726)
100% Riesling from five- to 35-year-old vines grown in several parcels. Fermented in small lots over two months, more or less. Blended and bottled in the spring following harvest. Screwcapped. 15 g/l residual sugar, 10.5 g/l total acidity, 2.85 pH, 12.8% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Fetching nose of creamy lemon-lime, quartz and flint. Smooth, fluid even rainwatery at first though turning richer as it breathed. Sweet-tart and fruity (“green apple Jolly Rancher” noted one taster) with lots of chalk and a long finish with some petrolly retro-nasal action. The sweetest (bordering on off-sweet) and most overtly Riesling of the three. The weightiest too, though not at the expense of liveliness. The exuberant fruit lasts through the finish while the acidity just zings. Minerals are there if you look for them. Initially winsome but coming across as a little slutty by the end. Several around the table said they’d buy it if, like the other wines in the flight, it were priced in the $20-$22 range. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Nahe 2013, Fröhlich Trocken, Weingut Schäfer-Fröhlich ($21.25, 11897159)
In my flu-induced fog, I assumed this, like Schäfer-Fröhlich’s other wines at the SAQ, was a Riesling but it’s actually 100% Rivaner (aka Müller-Thurgau), not that the variety is mentioned anywhere on the bottle or the winery’s website. My bad. The grapes come from several parcels and the wine is made entirely in stainless steel tanks. 7.3 g/l residual sugar, 11% ABV. Quebec agent: Avant-Garde.
A nose more Sauvignon Blanc than Riesling: cat pee with the lime and apple relegated to the background. Definite sulphur aromas too that more or less blew off. In the mouth, it’s light-bodied and as minerally as fruity. While there’s not a lot of depth, a spritzy tingle lends height. The residual sugar is effectively neutralized by the brisk acidity. My initial reaction was meh but the wine grew on me until I quite liked it by the end. Would make a credible aperitif or summer evening deck wine and might accompany Thai food quite well. (Buy again? Sure.)
Washington State 2013, Riesling, Kung Fu Girl, Charles Smith Wines ($20.05, 11629787)
100% Riesling from vines planted in 1998 and now in the new Ancient Lakes AVA bordering the Columbia River. Given a long, cool fermentation. Sees only stainless steel until bottling. Screwcapped. 13 g/l residual sugar, 7.9 g/l total acidity, 3.21 pH, 12% ABV. MSRP: US$12 but can easily be found for $1 or $2 less in the States. Quebec agent: AOC & cie.
Floral, boudoiry nose with pineapple and stone fruit in the background. Off-dry and fruit-forward on the attack but drying and hollowing out as it moves through the mouth. Short on acidity, depth and follow-through. Along with crushed rock, there’s an odd, vaguely chemical edge to the finish – one taster likened it to McDonald’s apple juice. Not awful but nothing to get excited about, especially when you can buy a superior German Riesling for less. Tellingly, this was the only bottle with a glass’s worth of wine remaining in it at the end of the tasting and nobody wanted to take it home. Why do critics constantly rate it so highly? (Buy again? Only if in dire need of a Riesling and nothing better is available.)
(Flight: 1/5)
Slow mo’ Somló
Located on the east shore of the Neusiedler See in eastern Austria (Burgenland), not far from the Hungarian border, the 55-hectare Meinklang estate is run by Werner and Angela Michlits. (The estate’s name is the German noun Einklang – unison, harmony – prefixed with the first letter of the owners’ family name.) The estate also has a vineyard in Somló on the Hungarian side of the border (you can see pictures of the area, the vineyard and the owner-manager in this short video in German and English with Hungarian subtitles).
The Michlits could be poster kids for the slow food/wine movement. Not only is the estate organic and biodynamic, it is largely self-sufficient, growing the grain for its beer, bread and animal feed, the hops for its beer, the apples and other fruit for its ciders and juices, the beef for weed control, fertilizer, sausages and horns so important in biodynamic farming, and so on. The wine- and beer-making is non-interventionist and uses indigenous yeasts.
Meinklang’s wines have been favourites of the Mo’ Wine Group since our first encounters with them. In fact, Meinklang is among the small group of producers whose wines we buy automatically, even without tasting them first. That was the case last fall with the new-to-us entry-level Somló white. And, true to form, it didn’t disappoint.
Somló 2013, Meinklang ($24.65, private import, 12 bottles/case)
A blend of organically and biodynamically farmed Hárslevelü (50%), Juhfark (20%), Olaszrizling (25%) and Furmint (5%) grown at the base of the Somlo volcano in southwest Hungary, not far from the Austrian border. The region’s balsat is weathered and topped with loess and light sand deposits, producing a fertile soil. Screwcapped. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: La QV.
Peach, pineapple, grass and straw, basalt dust and hints of honey and white flowers. Intense even a little fiery in the mouth. The unctuous texture is shredded to ribbons by razor-sharp acidity. The ripe stone fruit barely holds it own against the crushing minerality. The peppery (white and paprika), savoury (sour and bitter) finish goes on and on. Such presence and character! Lovely as an aperitif but has the wherewithal to stand up to Hungary’s robust cuisine. Why is this not on the SAQ’s shelves? (Buy again? Moot – the 2013 is NLA – but multiples of the 2014 for sure.)
MWG January 8th tasting: A pair of Chilean Pinot Noirs with a French connection
Casablanca 2012, Pinot Noir, Refugio, Montsecano y Copains ($25.05, 12184839)
The estate is a joint project involving three Chileans and Alsatian 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. 14% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
After the faint screwcap reducto-fartiness blows off, a nose more mulberry than red berry with whiffs of undergrowth, minerals and spice (had I been drinking double-blind, I would have guessed it was a young-vine, cool-climate Syrah). Supple and juicy, full of sun-drenched fruit, grounded in minerals, structured by light tannins and bright acidity, faintly streaked with a stemmy greenness. Kirsch and a hint of smoke scent the credible finish. Far from profound but certainly drinkable. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Valle del Aconcagua 2012, Pinot Noir, Subsollum, Clos des Fous ($24.05, 12304335)
“Clos des Fous is about four friends who decided to grow vine in gloomy, cold and unpredictable places in the southern regions of Chile.” The estate’s first commercial vintage was 2010; the 2012 is the first vintage of the Subsollum. The grapes for this 100% Pinot Noir come from organically and semi-biodynamically farmed young vines in Malleco and coastal Aconcagua. Fermented with indigenous yeasts in lined concrete vats. A small proportion is matured in barrels. 13.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Réserve & Sélection.
Not what you’d call a Burgundian nose: red berries and plum intermixed with “cinnamon candy,” “Worcestershire sauce,” “green ketchup” and “a leather jacket with mothballs” (to quote four tasters). A medium-bodied mouthful of solarized but not very sweet fruit, raspy tannins and trickling acidity, all shadowed by earthy mineral and spice flavours/aromas and a faint underlying bitterness. Long. On the plus side, the wine’s got character in spades. Unfortunately, it’s also somewhat coarse and unfocused. Maybe it needed more time in the bottle or carafe or maybe it’s the young vines. In any case, it leaves me curious about future vintages. (Buy again? In years to come, quite possibly.)
Both wines were a hit with the New World aficionados, a bit less so with the Old World fans. But even the latter had to admit they had a certain appeal and were true to their origin, not slavish imitations of Pinots made elsewhere, including Burgundy. In an article on Chilean wines published last fall, the Gazette’s Bill Zacharkiw advanced that “once they [Chilean winemakers] stop trying to please export markets and simply make the wine that is the best expression of what they have, those markets will come to them.” Wines like these and Clos Ouvert’s various offerings are a definite step in that direction.
(Flight: 4/8)
MWG January 8th tasting: A pair of Sud-ouest whites
As custom has it, the Mo’ Wine Group’s first tasting after the holidays focuses on inexpensive and affordable wines. This year we began with a couple of dry whites from southwest France.
IGP des Côtes de Gascogne 2012, Les Tours, Domaine La Hitaire ($10.20, 00567891)
About two-thirds Ugni Blanc and one-third Colombard with a dollop of Gros Manseng from half-century-old vines. Cold-macerated on the skins for six to eight hours. Low-temperature fermentation. The finished wine is stored in tanks at near-freezing temperatures and bottled year-round on an as-needed basis. Sees only stainless steel. Vegetarian-compatible. Screwcapped. 10.5% per the label, 11.5% per the SAQ. Quebec agent: Mosaïque.
Opens with a whiff of screwcap funk evocative of mesclun past its best before date. As that blows off, canned peach and rock aromas emerge and are eventually joined by Sauvignon Blanc-ish grass and gooseberry notes. In the mouth, the wine’s a middleweight but lacks substance (“a bit watery” one of the tasters noted). That said, it’s fresh and clean despite the hint of residual sugar, which effectively counterbalances the crisp acidity, adds some heft and tames the citrus-pithiness. Suffered from the comparison with a significantly more expensive wine; would probably have fared better on its own. (Buy again? Sure though not in preference to the similarly priced Robertson Chenin Blanc.)
Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh 2010, Les Jardins de Bouscassé, Alain Brumont ($17.10, 11179392)
A blend of Petit Courbu and a little Petit Manseng from vines planted in various parcels and averaging 15 years old. After pressing, the must is fermented in tanks at between 16 and 18°C. Maturation on the lees with regular stirring lasts 10 to 12 months. 14.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Mark Anthony Brands.
Perfumy, floral (orange blossom?) nose with faint fresh herb and brown sugar overtones. Smooth and fruity in the piehole. Fatter, deeper, broader and more layered than the Les Tours. Frisky acidity enlivens the satin-textured yellow fruit and minerals. Finishes clean, dry and on a faint aniseed note. Hides its alcohol well. (Buy again? Sure though I’d be tempted to chip in another $6 and buy the more accomplished Montus Parcherenc instead.)
(Flight: 1/8)
Lush life
“Here. Try this,” says the wine advisor as he hands me a glass filled with an opaque, deep purple wine. It’s his response to my asking whether he’d tasted anything interesting lately.
“This” has a heady, effusive nose of black and red fruit and toasted coconut. Vigorous swirling brings out spice and dark mineral notes. The first sip reveals it’s full-bodied to the max, a velvety mass of fruit saved from bombdom by the wine’s dryness and a subset of savoury slate and tar flavours. Acidity is notable only because it isn’t and while tannins are present, they’re so round and compliant you can’t honestly say they structure the wine. If anything does, it’s the glyceriny wave of alcohol that buoys and carries the fruit from entry to exit. An underground stream of sweet vanilla oak surfaces on the long, vaporous finish.
“Obviously a warm-climate, sun-soaked wine,” I advance. “Lots of oak.” The wine advisor nods encouragingly. “The dryness and savour put me in mind of the Old World, though if so, from a place where international grape varieties are added to the traditional mix and oak is viewed as a desirable flavour…” I’m grasping at straws. “A newfangled Spaniard like you sometimes get in Castilla-La Mancha?”
The advisor takes pity on me and reveals the bottle.
Brett happens 