Posts Tagged ‘Under 13 percent’
Le génie de la Loire
In honour of Bastille Day (because these beauties could only have come from France), notes from a recent tasting of Loire wines chosen by Sam with a connoisseur’s eye. Most were private imports, a few were importations valise and, as far as I know, none are currently available in Quebec.
PRELUDE
Vouvray 2008, Brut, Méthode traditionnel, Philippe Foreau (Clos Naudin)
100% Chenin Blanc. 13% ABV. The 2011 can be found at the SAQ for $30.
Limpid gold. Tiny bubbles and not tons of them. Yellow fruit, lemon blossom and toast against a chalky background. Dry and minerally with a nipping acidity and effervescence. Long, toasted brioche finish. Impeccable.
FLIGHT 1
Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine 2010, Clisson, Domaine de la Pépière
100% Melon de Bourgogne. The estate is represented in Quebec by Vinealis.
Closed nose: faint lemon, pear and chalk. Dry, extracted and dimensional. Trenchant acidity. As much about minerals as fruit. Long, saline finish. Great presence. Austere bordering on severe but oh, so pure and beautiful. My wine of the flight.
Sancerre 2001, Clos de Beaujeu, Gérard Boulay
100% Sauvignon Blanc. 12.5% ABV. Represented in Quebec by Rézin.
Intriguing bouquet: overripe white peach, crystalline minerals and, as one taster noted, a suggestion of mushroom. Dry. Minerally more than fruity – faint citrus and gun smoke. A not off-putting acrid note surfaces on the long finish. Tasting double-blind, I didn’t peg this as either a Sauvignon Blanc or – due to its vibrancy and tension – a 12-year-old wine.
Saumur 2009, La Charpentrie, Domaine du Collier
100% old-vine Chenin Blanc. 13% ABV. Represented in Quebec by oenopole.
Rich nose: peach and some tropical fruit, honey, sour white flowers. Silky and rich with a touch of residual sugar. Brisk acidity provides welcome cut, faint herbs and chalky minerals welcome complexity. Immaculate, authentic and delicious though not particularly deep, at least at this point in its probably long life.
FLIGHT 2
Bourgueil 1993, Busardières, Domaine de la Chevalerie
100% biodynamically farmed Cabernet Franc. 12.5% ABV. Represented in Quebec by La QV.
Delicate but complex: ash, spice, ripe but not jammy boysenberry, humus and hummus, slate and stems. Smooth and supple with fully resolved, velvety tannins and bright acidity. Seemed a bit thin next to the Chinon. On its own, however, complete and surprisingly vibrant at 20 years of age.
Chinon 2005, Domaine Les Roches (Alain and Jérome Lenoir)
100% Cabernet Franc. 12.5% ABV. Represented in Quebec by Glou. This bottle cost around $25.
Initially closed, the nose became more complex and perfumed over the course of the evening. Elderberry liqueur, floral overtones, a hint of meat, some old wood and the faintest note of bacon and new leather. Concentrated, even chewy, yet silky and not heavy. Layers of rich fruit and dark minerals structured by fine, firm tannins and energizing acidity. Long, lightly astringent finish. Superb. My wine of the flight and Cab Franc of the night.
Saumur-Champigny 2008, Clos Rougeard
100% Cabernet Franc. 12.5% ABV. Last I heard, the estate was represented in Quebec by Réserve & Sélection.
Darker, meatier with a hint of fresh tomato, background slate, sawed wood. Tighter than a drum: structured more than fruity and the élevage is showing. You can see that the wine is perfectly proportioned, that the fruit is pure, ripe and deep, that the use of the barrel is masterful. You can also see that the wine needs – at a minimum – another decade to open up. Tasted 24 hours later, the tail end of the bottle had hardly budged.
FLIGHT 3
Chinon 2009, Coteau de Noiré, Philippe Alliet
100% Cabernet Franc. 13% ABV. Represented in Quebec by Le Maître de Chai. The 2010 is sold at the SAQ Signature for $46.
Young, unresolved nose: choco-cherry, sawed wood, dill, ash. Smooth, dapper, restrained. Fine albeit tight tannins. The clean, ripe fruit – showing some tobacco but not a hint of greenness – is deepened by dark minerals and subtle wood. A delicate astringency velvets the long finish. Good potential. Revisit in five years.
Saumur 2009, La Charpentrie, Domaine du Collier
100% Cabernet Franc. 13% ABV. Represented in Quebec by oenopole.
Plummy (a sign of the hot vintage?) and slatey. Round, rich and balanced. The tannins and acidity are fruit-cloaked but there’s plenty of underlying structure. Lightly yet pervasively astringent. The élevage shows on the long finish. While its potential is obvious, this is another case of a bottle too young.
Chinon 2009, La Croix Boisée, Domaine Bernard Baudry
100% Cabernet Franc, aged in barrel, not filtered or fined. 13.5% ABV. Represented in Quebec by Balthazard.
So closed on the nose: wood, wet slate and not much else. Closed on the palate, too. Ripe, even liqueurish fruit, old wood, minerals. Sleek tannins. Rich, complete and in need of time, much time.
POSTLUDE
Vouvray moelleux 1986, Clos du Bourg, Domaine Huet
100% biodynamically farmed Chenin Blanc. 12% ABV. The 2007 runs $50.50 at the SAQ.
Amazing nose: dried pear, wax, straw, honey, turbinado sugar… Intense on the palate yet also elegant, reserved and nuanced. Neither dry nor sweet. Brilliant acidity. Chewing reveals all kinds of complexity. Spice, chalk, quartz, caramel, candied pineapple are only some of the flavours. A crème brûlée note lingers through the long finish. Astonishingly young and fresh. Wine of the tasting for most people around the table.
Côteaux du Loir 2009, Les Giroflées, Domaine Bellivière
A 100% biodynamically farmed Pineau d’Aunis rosé. 13.5% ABV. Represented in Quebec by Le Maître de Chai but I’m not sure they bring this wine in (our bottle was purchased at Flatiron Wines and Spirits in New York City).
Strawberry, wax, quartz on the nose. Smooth and quaffable. Off-dry. A basket of fresh berry fruit with just enough acidity and a touch of peppery spice. Simple but charming. Flavourwise, it made a fine pairing for pâte sucrée bars filled with a thin layer of pastry cream and topped with fresh raspberries and a rhubarb marshmallow, though in the best of all possible worlds the pastries would have been a little less sweet.
Alternate Altano
Douro 2010, Organic / Biologique, Altano ($16.95, 11157097)
Altano is owned by the Symington family of Port fame. This is a 100% Touriga Nacional made from grapes grown in the estate’s three organcially farmed vineyards, planted in the 1980s, in the Vilariça Valley in the Douro Superior sub-region, near the Spanish border. After manual sorting, the grapes are fermented at 25-26ºC in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats with extended maceration and regular pump-overs. The wine is matured ten months in second-vintage French oak barrels. 12.9% ABV.
Fragrant – blackberry, blueberry and spice – at first but then shut down (or maybe my sinuses shut down). Medium-bodied and thus lighter than most Douros (which regularly clock in at 14%, 15% and even 15.5%), and all the better for it. Sweet-fruited at its core but also savoury with slate, old wood, a faint stemminess and a bitter plum pit note. The tannins are light, pervasive and just a little raspy and there’s plenty of acidity to brighten and sour the fruit. Finishes dry and surprisingly long. Nothing profound but fresh, tasty and, as the French untranslatably say, digeste. A natural with grilled pork or chicken and a definite step up from the regular Altano. Oddly, though this is a new arrival, there aren’t many bottles around. (Buy again? Yes.)
Hard to read
Meursault 2011, Domaine François Mikulski ($53.00, 11436070)
100% Chardonnay, organically farmed though not certified as such. The grapes come from several estate-owned parcels in various climats and are fully destemmed, gently pressed, clarified by settling and separately fermented and matured before blending. Fermentation is with indigenous yeasts and lasts about two weeks. Racked into French oak barrels (<15% new) for malolactic fermentation and 10 to 12 months’ maturation. Fined before bottling. 12.8% ABV.
Attractive if monolithic nose: lemon, flint, faint cut hay. Taut, acidic and limestoney in the mouth, full of citrus and green apple. Some salinity and a white pepper note mark the long, clean finish. Concentrated more than rich (not a hint of butter), this starts and ends strong but is oddly uneventful in between. I’ve nothing but respect for Mikulski’s wines, so I’m guessing it’s in a closed-down phase. If that’s due to travel shock, a couple of months should be enough time for the wine to find its footing, though it probably won’t peak for another four or five years. (Buy again? Maybe.)
MWG June 20th tasting (5/8): Valle d’Aosta v. Vallée de l’Isère
Valle d’Aosta 2011, Torrette, Les Crêtes ($21.30, 11951987)
Petit Rouge (70%) with Mayolet, Tinturier and Cornalin making up the remaining 30%; the estate is converting to organic farming. Manually harvested. Fermented at 28ºC in stainless steel tanks for eight days. Matured in stainless steel barrels for eight months. 13.5% ABV.
Cherry, old wood, obsidian dust, faint flowers (violets?) and a whiff of cheese. Medium-bodied but dense with ripe fruit that’s lifted by grippy acidity and firmed by soft tannins. Earth and animal notes lend the finish a rustic edge. Easy to like and a favourite of several around the table. (Buy again? Sure.)
Vin de Savoie 2011, Arbin, Mondeuse, Domaine Louis Magnin ($27.50, 10783272)
100% Mondeuse from vines averaging 35 years old and grown in various parcels in Arbin commune. Manually harvested. Fully destemmed. Fermented eight days in stainless steel tanks with once-daily pump-overs. Matured 12 months in stainelss steel tanks on the fine lees. 12.5% ABV.
Initial tomato-meat sauce eventually turns more to red berries, cassis, stones and pepper. Smooth and supple on the palate with fleshy fruit, bright acidity and round tannins (and not a lot of ’em). Cherry pits on the finish. Not much depth but considerable juicy appeal. (Buy again? While it’s a little pricey, sure.)
MWG June 20th tasting (3/8): Frankly pink
Ladybug rosé 2012, Niagara Peninsula, VQA, Malivoire Wine Company ($15.95, LCBO 559088)
Cabernet Franc (74%), Gamay (19%) and Pinot Noir (7%). After crushing, the grapes were left to macerate on their skins for 12 to 24 hours. Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks. 13% ABV.
Pink heading toward cherry red. Engaging nose of red berries and spice. Smooth texture. Clean and fruity though with a savoury streak. Off-off-dry though with enough acidity to lightly sour the finish. A summer sipper, nothing more but also nothing less. (Buy again? At that price, sure.)
Bourgueil 2011, Équinoxe, Domaine Yannick Amirault ($20.55, 11900872)
100% organically farmed Cabernet Franc from 30-year-old vines. Manually harvested. Barrel fermented with indigenous yeasts. Matured 12 months in barrels. The winemaker suggests aging this for two to five years after bottling. 12.5% ABV.
Pale coppery pink in the bottle but pallid in the glass, a straw-coloured white with rosy glints. Faintly fruity nose (strawberry-rhubarb?) with whiffs of dried dill, seaside rocks, dried chlorine. Less spectral on the palate: dry, lightly and tartly fruity, chock-a-block with minerals and firm acidity. A bitter note chimes in on the finish. Seems to straddle the line between rosé and white. Its savour and strictness make it a food wine (I’m thinking a cool slice of seafood terrine). (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG June 20th tasting (1/8): Les Compères et un confrère
Côtes du Jura 2010, Chardonnay, Les Compères, Essencia ($26.70, 11544003)
Essencia is a joint venture between Puligny-based caviste and cheesemonger Philippe Bouvret and cult winemaker Jean-François Ganevat. 100% Chardonnay (not 90% Chard and 10% Savagnin as SAQ.com claims). I haven’t found much technical information about the wine other than that the vinification is “traditional,” which in Ganevat’s case probably means organically or biodynamically farmed grapes, whole cluster alcoholic fermentation with indigenous yeasts, no racking of the must, malolactic fermentation, maturation in large and/or small barrels, no filtering or fining and minimal use of sulphur dioxide. 12.5% ABV.
Lovely fresh nose of ripe apple, dried hay and lemon. The freshness continues onto the palate with its round, ripe-sweet fruit (more pear than apple), buoyant acitidy and crunchy minerals. The long finish brings a hint of salty hazlenut brittle. Mouth-filling yet the farthest thing from heavy, tense yet oh, so accessible. More complete than the 2005 yet equally pleasureable. (Buy again? Posthaste – this is a second shipment and there’s not a lot left.)
Côtes du Jura 2009, Tradition, Domaine Berthet-Bondet ($25.00, 11794694)
A blend of organically farmed Chardonnay and Savagnin (70-30 according to most, 80-20 according to SAQ.com). Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Matured two years sous voile, under a yeast veil, in large barrels. 13% ABV.
Textbook oxidized Jura nose: apple, silage and walnut. Medium-bodied and dry. Fine, even delicate bolts of fruit, straw, minerals and nuts unfurl and are wafted by smooth acidity. Fresher and less oxidatively full-bore than some (which is probably truer to the true traditional Jura style) but impeccably well-mannered and balanced, this would make a good introduction to non-ouillé wines as well as a fine accompaniment to Comté cheese, not to mention white fish and lobster, especially if in a creamy curry sauce. (Buy again? Sure.)
A Greek bearing gifts
Sideritis 2012, Les Dons de Dionysos, Parparoussis ($18.95, 11900995)
100% Sideritis (which is a grape variety as well as an herb) from purchased grapes grown near Patras in the Achaea region of the northern Peloponnese. Fermented and matured in stainless steel. 12.5% ABV.
Subdued but unusual nose: lemon/grapefruit, yellow apple, dried honey, camomile, quartzy sand and tree sap. Light-bodied and lightly fruity – think lemon and pear – but dry. The smooth surface doesn’t quite gloss over the coursing acidity. A surprising vein of barley sugar (the flavour, not the sweetness) runs throughout and surfaces on the saline finish, giving a salted caramel spin to the aftertaste. A sensation of heat – not from alcohol, more like you get from fresh chile or black pepper – lingers long. Fascinating. An excellent aperitif and a natural with mezze. Not a keeper, though; the next day, the wine was still tasty but had lost a lot of its individuality. (Buy again? Yes.)
A hexing Hexamer
Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg 2010, Riesling “Quarzit”, Weingut Hexamer ($21.65, 11885684)
As far as I know, this is the first Hexamer wine offered in Quebec and also the first product brought in by a new agent, Roland Bambach, a caterer and chef-for-hire whose wine portfolio appears to consist solely of this estate’s products. Based in Meddersheim in the Nahe region, Harald Hexamer believes wines are made in the vineyard, not the winery. This 100% Riesling comes from a plot in the Rheingrafenberg vineyard that is almost pure quartzite. The grapes are manually harvested, whole cluster pressed and fermented cold. The wine sees only stainless steel. Screwcapped. 10.5% ABV.
Beautiful wafting nose: lime zest, lemon verbena, linden blossom, quartz. Faint carbon dioxide tingle. The texture is rich, even luscious texture yet the wine is barely off-dry. Peach joins the expected citrus while piquant acidity adds a rhubarb-like tang. Long finish. Not a lot of layers here but as the fruit fades it reveals a plane of chalky quartz and leaves a faint sourness that erases any memory of residual sugar. If anything, the wine was even more impressive the next day. It may not have the dazzle of an MSR but its weight, wininess and subdued aromatics probably make it even more versatile with food. (Buy again? Definitely.)
Glou trade tasting with Guy Breton
In 1987, working as a mechanic and encouraged by his friend Marcel Lapierre, Guy Breton took over the family estate, founded in 1935, from his grandfather. At the time, the estate sold all its grapes to local cooperatives that churned out soulless industrial wines, in particular faddish Beaujolais nouveau. Joining with Lapierre, Jean Foillard and Jean-Paul Thévenet, the so-called Gang of Four, he decided not only to start making his own wines but to do so as naturally as possible.
The principles are simple. The grapes come from old vines and are harvested late. Synthetic pesticides and herbicides are avoided (the only chemicals used in the vineyard – and then lightly and on an as-needed basis – are sulphur against oidium and copper against mildew). Sorting is rigorous. Fermentation is spontaneous, using indigenous yeasts. Chaptalization is banned. Sulphur dioxide is used minimally if at all. The wines are bottled unfiltered and unfined.
Breton markets five wines: Marylou, a Beaujolais-Villages named after his daughter; a generic Morgon; a Morgon Vieilles Vignes; P’tit Max, a Morgon from very old vines; and the most recent addition to the lineup, a Régnié. All are made using carbonic maceration, the length of which depends on the wine and the year, pressed in an old wooden vertical press and matured either in epoxy tanks or, for the old-vine cuvées, in used Burgundy barrels. A minute amount of sulphur dioxide is added at bottling.
Once again, I was struck by the resemblence of the wines to the winemaker. Honest, approachable, down-to-earth, easy to get along with. I’d gone to the tasting thinking I’d stay for an hour and ended up spending more than three. The wines – especially the Vieilles vignes, which got better with every sip – were part of the reason, of course, but so was the company.
Morgon 2010, Guy Breton ($26.45, Glou, 12 bottles/case)
100% Gamay from 35-year-old vines. 12.5% ABV.
Lean and supple. The fruit is ripe but this is as savoury as fruity, with underlying minerals and black pepper overtones. Smooth acidity and good length. (Buy? Sure.)
Régnié 2011, Guy Breton ($30.15, Glou, 12 bottles/case)
100% Gamay, half from 100-year-old vines, half from 35-year-old vines. Spent five months in barrels. 12% ABV.
Fresh and pure with a hint of spice. Burgundy-like texture. Silky fruit, perfectly dosed acidity and a light but tight grip. The finish is long and slatey. Straightforward and elegant; if Beaujolais crus were clothes, this would be a simple black dress and a string of pearls. (Buy? Yes.)
Morgon 2011, Vieilles vignes, Guy Breton ($78.50/1500 ml, Glou, 6 bottles/case)
100% Gamay from vines averaging 80 years old. Spent seven months in barrels. 12.7% ABV.
Grapey, rich, floral note. Richer, fleshier, more masculine. The fruit is ripe but not sweet, deep-rooted in earth and slate and balanced by glowing acidity. Long. So drinkable. Breton says this is more ageable than the 2010. Absolutely classic Morgon if less tannic than some. (Buy? A must for Beaujolais lovers.)
Morgon 2011, P’tit Max, Guy Breton ($36.05, Glou, 12 bottles/case)
Don’t let the petit fool you: this is Breton’s most serious cuvée, the one that bears his nickname (his dad was Max, so everyone calls him petit Max). The early vintages were denied AOC status. 100% Gamay from century-old vines. Spent 12 months in barrels. 12.5% ABV.
Rich and deep but not very expressive nose with a bit of élèvage showing. The densest and, for now, least giving of the quartet. Liqueurish core of fruit against a backdrop of herbs and slate. Bright acidity. Long, minerally finish. (Buy? To lay down for a decade.)
Glou trade tasting with Nicolas Vauthier
As affable as he is scruffy, Nicolas Vauthier entered the wine scene as the owner of a bar, Aux crieurs de vins, that was one of the first to specialize in natural wines. In 2008, he decided to start a négociant firm, Vini Viti Vinci, based in Avallon, near Auxerre, in northern Burgundy dedicated to making unmanipulated, terroir-driven wines with no added sulphur. He learned the basics by working with Philippe Pacalet in Beaune, who continues to advise him. Nicolas sees himself as a winemaker, not a winegrower. When I asked him if he thought he might at some point acquire his own vineyards, his reply was clear: no, never. He does, however, have a talent for sniffing out parcels with great potential. And while he’s happy when the winegrower farms organically, he doesn’t insist they do: the quality of the grapes and their expression of terroir are what matter most.
He buys the grapes à pied, on the vine, harvests them with his own pickers and transports them to his winemaking facilities. Fermentation, with native yeasts, is in old wooden foudres. Some of the reds undergo semi-carbonic maceration to bring out their fruitiness.
Though his first two vintages included AOC wines, Vauthier has decided to buck the appellation system and now labels his wines as vins de France. And speaking of the labels, their whimsical line drawings of men and women in various states of undress (to view three, click on the cuvée names below) so alarmed the SAQ that it refused to accept responsibility for the bottles in case scandalized buyers returned them. In other words, the monopoly suspects that private import customers are prudes. Go figure.
Back to the wines. The common thread is purity, freshness and not just drinkability but guzzleability (look at the alcohol levels!). Unpretentious, unadulterated, expressive of their origin, a pleasure to down: what’s not to like?
Vin de France 2011, O L’Agité, Vini Viti Vinci ($25.90. Glou, NLA)
100% Aligoté, which cannot be mentioned on the label, hence the anagram. 11% ABV.
Bright and citrusy with some chalk and quartz. Light-bodied yet intensely present. Restrained fruit, tart acidity, chalk. Long finish with an appetizing sourness. Lovely. The aperitif par excellence. (Buy? Definitely.)
Vin de France 2011, Sauvignon, Vini Viti Vinci ($27.20, Glou, 12 bottles/case)
100% Sauvignon Blanc from young vines grown in the Saint-Bris area. Manually harvested and sorted. Pressed in a vertical press, transferred by gravity into vats and Burgundy barrels for fermentation and maturation. Racked and blended the summer following the harvest. Natural clarification. Bottled using a gravity feed. No added sulphur. 12.5% ABV.
Definitely Sauvignon Blanc but not of the in-your-face variety: minerals, citrus and gooseberry, a hint of grass. Light, clean, pure: ephemerally intense with laser-like acidity and a leesy/yeasty aftertaste that Vauthier says is an artifact of the winemaking and will soon disappear. (Buy? Yes.)
Vin de France 2011, L’Adroit, Vini Viti Vinci ($27.75, Glou, 12 bottles/case)
100% Pinot Noir. 11.5% ABV.
Red berries, some of them candied, slate and dried wood. The fruit is sweet and tart, shot through with minerals and wrapped in lacy tannins that come to the fore on the finish. Lingering dried herb note. Simple in a good way: direct and to the point, a wine with no complexes. (Buy? Gladly.)
Vin de France 2011, Les Rouquins, Vini Viti Vinci ($28.30, Glou, 12 bottles/case)
100% Pinot Noir from 20-year-old vines. Manually harvested and sorted. The whole grapes are macerated for about two weeks with occasional push-downs. Pressed using a vertical press. The free run and press wines are gravity-fed into Burgundy barrels for eight months’ maturation. Naturally clarified. Bottled using a gravity feed. No added sulphur. 11.5% ABV.
Like the L’Adroit but with more spice and a fresh, herbal note. Light-bodied, more structured, less of a vin plaisir but very tasty. Vauthier says it will benefit from some time in the bottle. (Buy again? Yes.)
Vin de France 2011, Le Molomon, Vini Viti Vinci (price TBA, Glou, arriving fall 2013)
100% Pinot Noir. 11.5% ABV.
Even more closed: less fruit, more wood, more structure. Tight though fine tannins. The potential’s apparent. Du sérieux as they say around here. (Buy? Probably.)
Vin de France 2011, Et pis, neuneuil !, Vini Viti Vinci (price TBA, Glou, arriving fall 2013)
100% Pinot Noir. 11% ABV.
Charming nose, a bit candied, with a crushed-leaf-like freshness. Rich and spicy, almost meaty, the fruit somehow deeper and more savoury than the other Pinots’. Beautifully structured. Fine, firm tannins give a lightly astringent edge to the long finish. (Buy again? Definitely.)
Brett happens 