Posts Tagged ‘Under 13 percent’
Octavin and Gahier tasting (3/4): Trousseaus
Vin de France 2012, Corvée de Trousseau, Domaine de l’Octavin ($32.83, Les Importations du Moine, 6 bottles/case)
100% organically and biodynamically farmed Trousseau from the Les Corvées vineyard (and maybe other parcels). The whole grapes are vinified using carbonic maceration. The wine is denied Arbois AOC status because the alcohol level, 9.7% ABV, does not reach the required minimum (10%). “Boire du trousseau, ce n’est jamais une corvée” (Drinking Trousseau is never a chore) is written on the label.
I’ve seen darker rosés, though few as murky. Kaleidoscopic nose of cedar, “pale red tomato,” banana peel, red grapefruit, rhubarb and more. Faint carbon dioxide prickle. Light-bodied is putting it too strongly: the fruit is diaphanous, almost rainwatery (“eau de gazpacho” was how one taster described it) and yet the wine has the wherewithal to stand up to dried sausage, which brings out its fruit and makes you appreciate its mineral and acid backbone, dryness and length. A watercolour of a wine, quite unlike anything else I’ve encountered. (Buy again? At $23, I’d jump on it. At $33, a single bottle will have to do.)
Arbois 2011, Zerlina, Domaine de l’Octavin ($35.52, Les Importations du Moine, 6 bottles/case)
Biodyanmically and organically farmed Trousseau (50%) and Pinot Noir (50%) from the En Curon vineyard. 12% ABV.
Red berries with a hint of rubber and spice. Light- to medium-bodied, dry and silky textured. Clean on the attack, lightly structured and brightly lit. The fruit is ripe and fleet, shaded with earthier flavours. A lingering astringency and fine minerality colour the finish. (Buy again? Yes, with only a little grumbling about the price.)
Arbois 2011, Trousseau, Les Grands Vergers, Domaine Michel Gahier ($31.50, Primavin, NLA)
Les Grands Vergers is the lieu-dit (named place) where the 60- to 70-year-old vines for this 100% Trousseau are grown. (The area around Gahier’s village, Montigny-les-Arsures, is considered the homeland of Trousseau.) 12.5% ABV.
Perfumy red fruit with a few black currants thrown in, faint cinnamon, old wood and smoke. Medium-bodied. There’s a freshness and a bell-like clarity to the fruit, a hallmark of all the Gahier wines. Structured with fine, firm tannins, tensed with acidity, grounded in minerals and earth that last well into the finish. A beauty. (Buy again? Yes, in multiples with no grumbling whatsoever.)
Octavin and Gahier tasting (2/4): Poulsards
Arbois 2011, Cul Rond à la cuisse rose, Domaine de l’Octavin ($27.54, Les Importations du Moine, 6 bottles/case)
100% organically and biodynamically farmed Poulsard from the En Curon vineyard. Immediately after the grapes are crushed, the skins are removed to avoid colouring the juice (which, like that from nearly all red grapes, is clear); in other words, this is a blanc de noirs (assuming you’d call the pale Poulsard a black grape, that is). 11% ABV.
Muted, yeasty, sweaty nose that required coaxing to reveal the rumoured stone fruit. A bit spritzy on opening, which may explain the nose. Medium-bodied, possessed of a relatively dense, heading toward waxy texture. There’s an appealing tartness and a cider-like quality to the fruit. The finish is long and mineral-packed. Should probably be carafed an hour before opening. (Buy again? Sure.)
Arbois 2012, Dorabella, Domaine de l’Octavin ($31.27, Les Importations du Moine, 6 bottles/case)
100% organically and biodyanmically farmed Poulsard from 50-year-old vines from the La Mailloche vineyard plus a little form the En Curon vineyard. Vinified using carbonic maceration, like many Beaujolais. 11% ABV.
Pale red, the colour locals term rubis. Fruity, yeasty, cedary, tomatoey nose with a whiff of stinky feet. Light-bodied with lowish acid. The discreet fruit is marked by meaty, bloody and spicy notes. There’s also a bit of fizz, which may be intentional. A little disappointing compared with the disarmingly charming 2011 tasted last November but quite possibly in need of a few months to find its footing. (Buy again? A bottle to see how it evolves.)
Arbois 2012, Ploussard, Domaine Michel Gahier ($25.00, Primavin, NLA)
100% Poulsard (aka Ploussard) from 50-year-old vines in various parcels around Montigny-les-Arsures. 12.5% ABV.
Medium red. Raspberry (a bit candied), sweet spice, quartz and blossoms (musk rose and violet?). Medium-bodied. Iron and light red fruit are the dominant flavours (“blood on white strawberries” quoth one taster), while acidity streams and tannins lightly rasp. Decent length and a lingering tang. A textbook example of the grape and an excellent pairing for charcuterie. (Buy again? Yes.)
Octavin and Gahier tasting (1/4): Chardonnays
Breaking from its usual focus on a single winemaker, the most recent Jura Oenorama tasting was a study in contrasts that featured two lesser known estates: the dynamic, even edgy Domaine de l’Octavin and the more traditional Domaine Michel Gahier.
Founded in 2005 by Alice Bouvot and Charles Dagand, Domaine de l’Octavin owns five hectares of vineyards around its home base of Arbois. Its wines are as natural as they come: made from organically and biodynamically farmed grapes using a non-interventionist approach with no added anything (including sugar, yeast or sulphur) and bottled unfiltered and unfined. What’s more, the winemakers are open to experimentation; one of their wines is a blanc de noirs made from Poulsard, for example. As the owners are amateur musicians and classical music nuts, several of the wines have been named after characters in Mozart operas.
Media-shy Michel Gahier is based in Montigny-les-Arsures, where one of his neighbours and friends is Jacques Puffeney. Farming at the 6.5-hectare estate is fundamentally organic, though not certified as such. The wine-making is very traditional. The red grapes are destemmed and cold-macerated, then fermented for about one month with some punching-down of the cap early on. The wines, both red and white, are matured in old foudres and barrels and bottled unfiltered. Though off many drinkers’ radar, Gahier’s wines are much prized by Jura connoisseurs (they feature prominently on the list of Arbois’s Jean-Paul Jeunet, the Jura’s only Michelin two-star restaurant) and remain reasonably priced.
We began with a flight of Chardonnays.
Arbois 2010, Pamina, Domaine de l’Octavin ($34.15, Les Importations du Moine, 6 bottles/case)
100% organically and biodynamically farmed Chardonnay from the La Mailloche vineyard. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Underwent malolactic fermentation. Matured on the lees in second- to fifth-fill barrels for two years, occasionally stirred and regularly topped-up. Unfiltered, unfined. No added sulphur. 13% ABV.
Yeasty nose with nuances of lemon, browning apple, chalk and a whiff of burned rubber. Medium-bodied. Tart yet the wine remains more soft than angular. There’s straw upfront, fruit (yellow apple?) in the background and plenty of chalky minerals. A faint hazelnut note creeps in on the finish. Not what you’d call a tightly focused wine but fun to drink. (Buy again? Sure.)
Arbois 2011, Les Follasses, Domaine Michel Gahier ($25.50, Primavin, NLA)
100% Chardonnay from the high-elevation, slow-ripening Les Follasses vineyard. Matured in neutral barrels, which are kept topped-up. 12.5% ABV.
Appealing nose of limestone, spice, apple, lemon zest and a faint lactic note. Fruity but dry, round but also ethereal. Crunchy minerals add flavour and texture while the zingy acidity combines with a saline note to make the long finish a lip-smacker. Fresh and tasty – what’s not to like? (Buy again? Def.)
Arbois 2010, Les Crêts, Domaine Michel Gahier ($27.50, Primavin, NLA)
100% Chardonnay from the hilltop Les Crêts vineyard. Matured about 15 months in a large foudre and then another 12 months in smaller (600-litre) demi-muids. 12.5% ABV.
Strong burned match odours slowly gave way to hints of stone fruit, lemon and minerals. The richest and smoothest of the three. The fruit tends to apple and pear, the minerals to flint as much as chalk. Dry but a shade less than Les Follasses, the residual sugar rounding the wine and taking the edge off the sustained acidity. A faint nuttiness echoes through the very long and minerally finish. Balanced and complex – just lovely. (Buy again? With pleasure.)
Contrary to what some U.S. merchants claim, Gahier’s Les Follasses and Les Crêts bottlings are not made in an oxidative style: the barrels are kept topped up, so no yeast veil develops and the only oxidation that occurs is through the barrel staves. Gahier does make a sous voile Chardonnay, the La Fauquette bottling.
A night in Villeray
Fou du vin’s Chapitre de Villeray tasting group sometimes has a seat or two available for outsiders and I was lucky enough to snag one at their most recent event.
While there was reportedly some Pinon Vouvray sec floating around, for me the evening began with a glass of Givry 2010, Clos de la Servoisine, Domaine Joblot. The nose was textbook Côte Chalonnaise Chardonnay: lemon, apple, chalk, oats, a hint of butter and vanilla. Rich and mouth-filling but still fluid with a firm acidic backbone, tons of chalk, very pure fruit, well-integrated oak and a long clean finish. Tonic and delicious.
Glasses were shuffled as we moved on to the main event: a 12-bottle vertical of the Patrimoine line of Saint-Nicolas de Bourgueil from Domaine Sébastien David (no website that I’ve found but the winemaker does have a blog). Turning 40 this year, David comes from a long line of Loire vignerons. His 15 hectares of Cabernet Franc vines were planted by his grandparents in the 1940s. The vines are farmed organically (the estate began converting to biodynamic farming in 2003) and the wine-making is fully natural. All the Patrimoine wines are made the same way: the whole clusters are crushed by foot, then macerated and fermented with indigenous yeasts in open wood vats for around 25 days. This is followed by a light pressing in a manually operated vertical press. After maturation in barrels for 24 months, the wines are bottled unfiltered, unfined and with minimal added sulphur. In the winery, the grapes and wine are transferred by gravity, not pumping.
One particularity of the Patrimoine line is that the label, bottle shape and name is different for each vintage: 1999 through 2004, 2005 through 2010.
All the wines were carafed several hours before the tasting. All are listed as 12.5% ABV except the 2007, which officially clocks in at 12%. You’ll find my notes after the jump.
Classy Cassis
Cassis 2012, Clos Sainte Magdeleine ($28.50, 12206129)
A blend of Marsanne (50%), Ugni Blanc (25%), Clairette (20%) and Bourboulenc (5%) from organically farmed 20- to 30-year-old vines. Manually harvested. Destemmend and crushed before pressing, which is pneumatic. The juice is transferred by gravity to a temperature-controlled stainless steel tank, where it is chilled and clarified though settling, then fermented at 17°C. Malolactic fermentation and 14 to 18 months’ maturation follow. 12.5% ABV.
Discreet nose with hints – but only hints – of white flowers, honey, quartz, white pepper and dried herbs. Rounder and weightier than the SAQ’s only other Cassis, the Clos d’Albizzi, but still fresh and appealing, albeit in that elusive way of some northern Rhône whites. The ethereal fruit is quince-like and scattered with dried lemon zest. Sustained if unassertive acidity, a definite saline streak and a bitter-tinged finish round out the picture. Inscrutable on its own, this really needs food – bouillabaisse or grilled seabass with a squirt of lemon juice and drizzle of olive oil, for example – to show its mettle. First-rate if a little pricey (the appellation is small and demand for its wines is high). (Buy again? Yes.)
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.
MWG April 17th tasting (6/6): On and off
IGT Sicilia 2011, Plumbago, Planeta ($22.20, 11724776)
100% Nero d’Avola from vineyards in west-central Sicily. The grapes are destemmed, lightly crushed and transferred to stainless steel vats for 14 days’ fermentation at 25°C with regular pump-overs. The wine is then racked into stainless steel tanks for malolactic fermentation before being moved into third- and fourth-fill oak barrels for eight months’ maturation. 13.5% ABV.
Tertiary, leathery and dried herbal along with the expected blackberry, dried cherry and chocolate cake. Smooth and juicy on the surface but with something dark, angular and faintly acrid and metallic underneath. A Bizarro World version of the charmer tasted a couple of weeks earlier. One intrepid taster reports that he bought and drank a bottle the weekend after the tasting and found it quite different from the wine we tasted and quite in line with my description of the earlier bottle. (Buy again? Based on two out of three bottles, yes.)
IGT Sicilia 2010, Nero di Lupo, COS ($27.25, 12135084)
Biodynamically farmed Nero d’Avola from 18-year-old vines grown in southeast Sicily. Temperature-controlled fermentation (30-33°C) with indigenous yeasts in concrete vats. Aged in barrels for 18 to 24 months. Bottled unfiltered. 12% ABV.
Nuanced, savoury, wafting nose of sour cherry, plum, fired mineral and herbs. Fluid and supple – closer in texture and weight to the preceding flight’s Savigny than to the other Neros in this flight. The dark, dusty fruit is sweet at its core and carried on soft tannins and taut acidity. Earth and licorice notes colour the finish. As always, an elegant wine, though this bottle left us wondering whether the 2010 lacks some of the depth and presence of earlier vintages. (Buy again? Maybe.)
IGT Sicilia 2010, Sàgana, Cusumano ($30.00, 11292580)
100% Nero d’Avola from the Sàgana vineyard near Butera in south-central Sicily. The vines average 18 years old. Manually harvested. Destemmed. Fermented on the skins at 28-30°C in stainless steel tanks for ten to 15 days. Transferred to used 20-hectolitre barrels for malolactic fermentation and 12 month’s maturation. 14% ABV.
Blackberry and plum, dark minerals, carob and faint hints of dried mint and tobacco. The densest, biggest-boned and most structured of the three, with a trickle more than a stream of acidity and round tannins that dry on the finish. The fruit is sun-drenched but not jammy. Broad and long but not what you’d call deep. On the up side, it’s impeccably made and shows admirable restraint for a wine that could have been a fruit bomb. On the down side, it doesn’t have a strong sense of place and isn’t exciting or memorable. Might be interesting to revisit in four or five years. (Buy again? Probably not.)
The Sàgana was the last-minute replacement for a corked-to-high-heaven IGT Sicilia 2008, NeroBaronj, Gulfi ($41.25, 12152757) that’s no longer available without a trip to the burbs. In other words, of the 14 wines in the original tasting, five were off. So it goes.
MWG April 17th tasting (4/6): The Greek, the Beauj’ and the Funky
Naoussa 2012, Jeunes vignes de Xinomavro, Domaine Thymiopoulos ($18.70, 12212220)
100% biodynamically farmed Xinomavro from ten-year-old vines. Manually harvested. 80% destemmed, 20% whole cluster pressed. Very gentle pressing. Fermented with indigenous yeasts and no pump-overs. Macerated about one week, then matured nine months in stainless steel tanks. Bottled unfiltered. 13.5% ABV.
A bit stinky on opening, as sometimes happens with this wine. That quickly blew off, leaving a charming nose of slate, candied red berries and spice. Denser than some earlier vintages but still fresh and supple, the fruit pure, the acidity bright and the tannins light and just a little raspy. Dried herbs, spice and minerals add savour. Finishes clean and tangy. Yet another winner from Thymiopoulos. (Buy again? In multiples.)
Morgon 2012, Marcel Lapierre ($30.50, Rézin, NLA)
This was the “nature” bottling available through the private import channel, not the filtered and more heavily sulphured SAQ bottling. 100% organically farmed Gamay from 60-year-old vines. Manually harvested late in the season. Whole-cluster fermentation with indigenous yeasts at low temperatures lasts ten to 20 days. Matured nine months on the fine lees in old Burgundy oak barrels. Bottled unfiltered, unfined and with minimal sulphur. 12.5% ABV.
Cherry, stones, vine sap and faint spice. Silky fruit, bright acidity, supple tannins and that Lapierre trick of being both etherial and intense. Slow-fade finish with lingering scents of minerals, berries and flowers. Classic and delicious. I’m guessing this will peak in two to three years. (Buy again? Yes.)
Vino da tavola 2011, Rosso frizzante, Sottobosco, Ca’ de Noci ($24.00, Ward & associés, NLA)
A blend of organically farmed Lambrusco Grasparossa (30%), Lambrusco di Montericco (30%), Malbo Gentile (20%) and Sgavetta (20%) from ten-year-old vines. Manually harvested. The grapes are macerated for around ten days on their skins and fermented with indigenous yeasts. Refermentation in the bottle (to produce the sparkle) is also natural. Unfiltered and unfined. 11% ABV.
Popped and poured. The wildly funky nose elicited all kinds of reactions, including the descriptor fetid. The miasma lifted some as the wine breathed, allowing hints of slate and red and black fruit to emerge. (A taster who had previously encountered the wine said ours was an unusually stinky bottle.) In the mouth, it’s bone dry, tart and astringent. The light fizz adds a mild creaminess that polishes, if only a little, the coarse texture. Surprisingly mouth-filling fruit and earthy flavours last well into the finish. Despite everything, good enough to make you think a cleaner bottle might have a genuine rustic appeal. (Buy again? With my fingers crossed.)
The common thread in this flight was wines that would work with charcuterie. Our cured meats came in the form of duck prosciutto and pork and duck rillettes from Pork Futures and a gifted dry sausage whose provenance I don’t recall. While all three wines proved up to the task, I found the Naoussa best with the prosciutto, the Morgon best with the fatty, mild rillettes and the Sottobosco best with the prosciutto and the dark flavoured sausage.
Brett happens 