Posts Tagged ‘White wine’
Limoux times two
Crémant de Limoux 2013, Expression, Antech ($20.60, 10666084)
Chardonnay (60%), Chenin Blanc (20%) and Mauzac (20%) from vines rooted in argilo-calcerous soil. Manually harvested. After pressing, the musts are chilled and clarified by settling, then transferred to stainless steel fermentation vessels. First fermentation lasts 15 to 21 days. The wine is then clarified by fining and sparkled using the traditional method. Spends at least 18 months on the lees in the bottle before disgorging. Reducing sugar: 8.1 g/l (for the 2014). 12% ABV. Quebec agent: AOC.
Cookie dough, chalk and lemon. Fine and persistent effervescence. Clean and dry on the palate, the fruit tending to apple, with good acidity and a dusting of minerals. A hint of bitterness creeps in on the faintly honeyed finish. It’s a bit anonymous – more cava- than champagne-like – but certainly drinkable. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Crémant de Limoux 2013, Brut, Clos des Demoiselles, J. Laurens ($23.90, 10498973)
Chardonnay (60%), Chenin Blanc (30%) and Pinot Noir (10%). The varieties are manually harvested and vinified separately. First fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks. The wine is then bottled with added yeast for second fermentation, matured on the lees for 15 months and disgorged, all per the traditional method. Reducing sugar: 12 g/l. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: Sélections Oeno.
Cookie dough again, this time with marzipan, “matches” and a sour edge. Gained faint notes of “slightly rotting tropical fruit” and candied apple. Richer, more complex and less cava-like than the Antech, with softer, rounder bubbles. The fruit – pear and a little citrus – is upfront but the wine comes across as dry, due in part to the lively acidity. Chalky minerals thread through the mid-palate and into the long finish. Fresh, balanced and satisfying. The usually shaped bottle is quite slippery. (Buy again? Sure.)
The Antech was supposed to be the newly arrived 2014 and I didn’t notice that it wasn’t till unveiling the bottle at the tasting. The vintage information is in the SAQ’s product database yet, perversely, SAQ.com doesn’t make use of it. Why the site usually lists only the latest vintage received and thus sometimes misidentifies the vintage in a given store is a mystery, a source of frustration and a major fail.
MWG April 14th tasting: flight 1 of 6
Not so cat-like
Savennières 2012, Domaine des Baumard ($31.00, 12202021)
100% Chenin Blanc from vines averaging 35 years old. Manually harvested in several passes. The whole clusters are direct-pressed in a pneumatic press. Lengthy fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. Nine months’ maturation on the fine lees also in stainless steel tanks. Screwcapped. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: Vintrinsec.
Ash and lemon at first, then pear, honey and “something pencil erasery.” Medium-bodied and satin-textured. The sweet fruit is overtoned with oyster liqueur, dusted with minerals and carried on a stream of bright acidity. A touch of quinine colours the bitterish finish. Pleasant if a little short on oomph and dazzle; Guiberteau’s similarly priced 2013 Saumur “Clos de Guichaux” ($29.65, 11461099) delivers more bang for the buck. (Buy again? Maybe.)
Savennières 2013, Clos de Saint-Yves, Domaine des Baumard ($33.75, 12797272)
100% Chenin Blanc from vines averaging 35 years old. Harvesting and vinification are identical to the estate bottling. Screwcapped. Reducing sugar: 5.6 g/l. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: Vintrinsec.
Seashells, quince and citrus but quite subtle, even closed. With time, lime, linden, beeswax, “stewed fruit” and “tulip” scents appear. In the mouth, it’s richer and more dimensional than its flight mate, albeit somewhat inscrutable. The lightly honeyed fruit is pure and minerally, the acidity fluent. Swirling and chewing reveal an incipient layered depth. The long finish again sounds a bitter/quinine note. Savennières have a reputation for being closed and even rebarbative in their youth, so this is a bit more typical of the appellation though still without the expected austerity or need to age for a decade. Approachable now, probably better in five years. Setting questions of typicity aside, it’s a lovely bottle of Chenin. (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG March 31st tasting: flight 3 of 6
Anticlimax
Quincy 2013, Siam, Domaine de la Commanderie ($18.95, 12748219)
100% Sauvignon Blanc from vines at least 15 years old. Mechanically harvested. The must is cold-settled for 8 to 10 hours. Fermented in temperature-controlled (18-20°C) tanks with regular stirring. Matured 10 months on the less. Sees only stainless steel until bottling. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Balthazard.
An echt Sauvignon Blanc nose of gosseberry, flint and kiwi segues into dessicated coconut and unripe pineapple or, as one taster put it, “umbrella drink zone.” In the piehole, it’s medium weight and citrusy with crisp-bordering-on-mordant acidity that’s softened by the rich, extracted texture (the must reportedly spends some time on the skins). The honey note adds interest but the kind of dazzling minerality found in some Loire Sauvignon Blancs is absent here. A decent but unexciting wine that doesn’t quite live up to the hype (three Hachette stars, for example), though it may well show better with food. (Buy again? Meh.)
Montsant 2014, Vespres Blanc, Josep Grau Viticultor ($26.45, 12782177)
Grenache Blanc (90%) and Sauvignon Blanc (10%) from organically farmed vines averaging 32 years old. The manually harvested grapes are pressed for 12 hours. The resulting must is transferred to 2,000-litre oak casks for fermentation with indigenous yeasts and five months’ maturation on the lees. Reducing sugar: <1.2 g/l. 13% ABV. Quebec agent: Vintrinsec.
Odd nose, described variously as “faintly acrid,” “banana medicine” and “tea tree oil.” The strangeness continues in the mouth, where the wine’s initial (apparent) sweetness is countered by bright acidity and contradicted by a dry finish with a light touch of astringency that has me thinking of alum. And yet a taster rightly sums up the wine as “very flat.” Add the lingering note of dishwasher detergent and you’ve got a bottle best avoided. Could ours have been off? (Buy again? Based on this showing, no.)
MWG March 31st tasting: flight 2 of 6
Fizzle
Crémant du Jura 2011, Délire des Lyres, Zéro, Les Chais du Vieux Bourg ($31.95, 12814221)
Based in Arlay but with additional vineyards in Poligny, L’Étoile and Château-Chalon, the four-hectare estate was founded in 2003 by former architect Ludwig Bindernagel and Nathalie Eigenschenck. All work in the vineyard is done manually. While not officially organic, the estate does not use insecticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers and expects to obtain biodynamic certification in a few years. This traditional method, undosed sparkler is made 100% from Chardonnay grapes (per the SAQ; some claim it contains 10% Savagnin) from 30-year-old vines. The individual parcels are vinified separately. The grapes are manually harvested, pressed in a wooden press and fermented in large oak barrels. The resulting wine is given extended maturation on its lees. Added sulphur: 3 g/hl. Reducing sugar: 1.5 g/l. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Ward et associés.
Attractive nose of browning pear and apple, honey, minerals and faint yeasty brioche notes. In the mouth, it’s medium-bodied, tightly wound and very dry, with very fine bubbles producing an almost prickly sensation. Tending to apple and citrus, the mineral-dusted fruit is “less rich than the nose suggests” (quoting another taster). Despite the effervescence and bracing acidity, the wine is oddly inert on the mid-palate. Fairly long with a bitter aftertaste. A second bottle tasted three weeks later was identical. (Buy again? Maybe a bottle to cellar for a year or two to see if we caught it during a dumb phase.)
Expectations around this bottle – a naturalish, no-dosage sparkler from a new-to-us but highly regarded producer in one of our favourite wine regions and represented by one of our favourite agencies – were high. Which made its lacklustre showing all the more disappointing. Not that the wine was bad. Far from it. But no one around the tables thought it represented good value when you can get, say, Baud’s Brut Sauvage for under $24 or Tissot’s basic crémant for $28 and change.
MWG March 31st tasting: flight 1 of 6
Green dream
IGT Terre Siciliane 2014, Vignaverde, Marco De Bartoli ($26.90, 12755152)
This is the second vintage of the wine and the first vintage sold at the SAQ (the 2013 was available through the private import channel). 100% Grillo from organically farmed 20-year-old vines grown in the Samperi vineyard. Manually harvested and gently pressed, 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. The must was chilled and clarified by settling for 48 hours, then fermented with indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled 50 hl stainless steel tanks. Matured on the lees for six months, also in stainless steel tanks. Sulphur use is kept to a minimum. 11.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oneopole.
Wafting nose of honey-dipped apple, lemon peel (pith included), sour pineapple and chalk dust. Medium-bodied, smooth and fluid. The flavours are gorgeous and unassertive – this is a wine drawn in pastels – a cross between a lemon and an apple, say, with some pear notes chiming in on the finish. A mineral underlay adds savour while delicate acidity keeps everything fresh. Limestone, chamomile and the faintest hint of anise linger long. So suave and drinkable, a beaut. (Buy again? If only I could but it’s virtually gone from the island.)
As an accompaniment, the winery suggests “whole wheat pasta dishes, sea bass rolls [or] Sicilian truffle from Hyblaean Mountains,” all of which sound good to me. That said, this seemingly mild-mannered wine proved the best pairing yet for a darkly flavourful Sicilian rabbit stew whose ingredients include onion, celery, parsnip, olive oil, bay, pine nuts, golden raisins, garlic, fennel seed, vinegar, sugar and chocolate. Go figure
Odds and ends
The tasting technically ended with the preceding flight. But, as noted earlier, Steve is irrepressible. So when the Chocalán prompted someone to inquire about the reds from a Chilean producer in Rézin’s portfolio, Steve excused himself and reappeared a few minutes later with a bottle of one of those reds as well as a couple of newly arrived private imports.
Named after one of Montreal’s more dynamic young chefs, the Valle del Maule 2013, Cuvée Charles-Antoine, Louis-Antoine Luyt ($73.15/1500 ml, private import, 6 bottles/case) is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (55%) and Carignan (45%) from 70-year-old vines growing in the commune of Cauquenes. The grape varieties were vinified separately and matured five months in stainless steel tanks. 15% ABV. The complex nose of cassis, plum and savoury herbs comes with a musky/horsey note. In the mouth, the wine is rich and glyceriny yet fluid, heady but not hot. Finely structured by firm but far from rigid tannins and bright acidity, the ripe-sweet fruit is overtoned with red pepper and spice while the finish is long, clean and minerally. (Buy again? Sure.)
The Bordeaux 2014, Château de Bellevue ($28.72, private import, 6 bottles/case) is 100% Sauvignon Gris from a 1.5 ha plot of organically farmed vines averaging 35 years old and grown in the Lussac Saint-Émilion appellation. The manually harvested grapes were directly pressed. The must was fermented with indigenous yeasts and occasionally stirred during maturation on the lees. The unfiltered wine was bottled in early March 2015. 13% ABV. Classy nose of ripe white fruit with honey and anise notes. Lively and refreshing in the mouth, the fruit remarkably clean and pure. Minerals and citrus mark the long finish. A delight. (Buy again? Yes.)
And lastly, a red from the maker of the Montlouis we enjoyed earlier in the tasting: Chinon 2014, Le Dolmen, Jaulin Plaisantin ($21.30, private import, 12 bottles/case). The fruit for this 100% Cabernet Franc comes from organically farmed vines. Manually harvested. Gently pressed, macerated, fermented (with indigenous yeasts) and matured on the fine lees for six months in concrete tanks. The only additive is a tiny squirt of sulphur (20 mg/l) at bottling. 12.5% ABV. Lovely nose of red and black berries, spice, earth and a faint herbaceousness. A sip tells you this is Chinon done in a highly drinkable style: forward fruit, bright acidity, lightly astringent tannins and a clean, minerally finish. Seems a bit hollow on the mid-palate though both Steve and I think that’s a passing phase. Lightly chilled, this will be a great summer sipper. (Buy again? A refreshing, organic, private import Chinon for a shade over $21? Yes!)
Rézin is the Quebec agent for all three wines.
MWG March 12th tasting: flight 7 of 7
Not your ordinary champers
Something of a cult producer – they’re currently accepting no new clients – Vouette et Sorbée has been making idiosyncratic champagnes since 2001. The estate is located in the village of Buxières-sur-Arce, which is geographically, geologically and maybe even spiritually closer to Chablis than to the champagne capital of Épernay.
Champagne 2011, Cuvée Fidèle, Vouette et Sorbée ($76.73, private import, 6 bottles/case)
A blanc de noirs. 100% Pinot Noir from organically and biodynamically farmed vines rooted in Kimmeridgian marl. The manually harvested grapes are gently pressed. The free-run juice is transferred to 400-litre oak casks for fermentation (with indigenous yeasts) and maturation. Undergoes malolactic fermentation. Indigenous yeasts are used for primary and secondary fermentation. The wine is aged on its lees on lattes (stacked in piles with small pieces of wood inserted between the bottles to prevent them from moving) and riddled on racks. This is nearly all 2011 except for a dollop of reserve wines. Sulphur dioxide is added to the incoming grapes but not at bottling. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Extremely complex nose: miso, black pepper, “apples on the floor of the orchard” (quoting another taster), roasted white meat, barley sugar and more as the wine breathes. Dry and intense on the palate. The effervescence is light and fine but also very insistent. The remarkably pure fruit tends to red berries and apples, is grounded in chalky minerals and coloured by spice and umami notes. Lively acidity adds tension that relaxes only on the long finish with its lingering spice and brioche flavours. Not so much a vin plaisir as a vin de contemplation and quite unlike any other champagne I’ve tasted. Next time I’ll carafe it a couple of hours before serving. (Buy again? Yes.)
Champagne 2012, Saignée de Sorbée, Vouette et Sorbée ($124.85, private import, 6 bottles/case)
A rosé champagne. 100% Pinot Noir from organically and biodyamically farmed vines averaging 22 years old. More than three-quarters of the vines are planted on Kimmeridgian hillsides, the remainder in fragmented Portlandian limestone. Manually harvested. Made using the saignée method with extended carbonic maceration. Vinified in 400-litre oak casks. Undergoes malolactic fermentation. Indigenous yeasts are used for primary and secondary fermentation. The wine is aged on its lees on lattes and riddled on racks. Sulphur dioxide is added only to the incoming grapes. 12% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Strawberry carpels, miso, cooked rhubarb, pastry cream, apple peel and more. In the piehole, the wine is weighty but not heavy, textured by a fine, soft bead and mouth-watering acidity. Once again the fruit is as savoury as sweet and intertwined with minerals. Pink grapefruit, including the pith, is joined by spice and umami notes on the long finish. Continues evolving in the glass; I suspect this, too, would benefit from an hour or two in the carafe. Complex and fascinating, a rosé to contend with. (Buy again? When my boat comes in…)
These showed much better than the 2007s that the group tasted in December 2010. Or maybe our palates have evolved. In fact, at one point during the tasting, I found myself wondering whether the adage about vin jaune didn’t also apply here: you don’t appreciate it until your third encounter.
MWG March 12th tasting: flight 4 of 7
Only a little cray
Montlouis 2014, Le Petit Cray, Jaulin Plaisantin ($31.60, private import, 6 bottles/case)
The estate’s name is the conjoined family names of its two owner-partners. Chinon and Montlouis are made and 2011 was the first vintage. The fruit for this 100% Chenin Blanc comes from organically farmed vines averaging 50 years old. Manually harvested. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Matured in neutral 600-litre oak barrels. Lightly filtered before bottling. No additives except a small squirt of sulphur dioxide at bottling. Residual sugar: 2 g/l. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Attractive nose exhibiting a range of fruit aromas described variously as membrillo, “mango” and “guava jelly” along with chalk and honey. Smooth and round in the mouth with the faintest touch of carbon dioxide spritz. So ripe the attack seems off-dry though the wine is actually quite dry. That said, the fruit is more subdued than on the nose, tending to apple and pear, and joined by threads of lemon verbena and white minerals. While mild, the acidity is sufficient to do the trick. The finish is long and clean. Lovely with a last slice of raw scallop dusted with Madagascar pepper and quite compatible with the sheep milk cheeses. Well made and enjoyable, this is still a youngster albeit a very approachable one; if I were a restaurateur, I’d be offering it by the glass. (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG March 12th tasting: flight 3 of 7
Un bien andalou
The idea for the second flight and, indeed, the tasting was sparked by an unsuccessful food paring at a sommeliers’ showdown at Manitoba, where the second course was a sauté of duck hearts in a sauce flavoured with maple syrup. Not having tasted the dish beforehand and thinking of its mineral and nutty notes, Steve had chosen Lustau’s Mazanilla “Papirusa” to accompany it. Unfortunately, the sauce’s inherent sweetness clashed with the wine’s dryness (for those at our table, Theo “oenopole” Diamantis’s pairing of La Stoppa’s 2013 “Trebbiolo,” whose residual sugar levels I’d previously found disconcerting, worked far better). Post-meal, Steve said he’d be curious to try the Papirusa and some of its stablemates with more appropriate, iodine-rich and salty fare. Always happy to lend a hand, I suggested the MWG’s underground lair as a venue and plans were hatched.
The iodine-rich and salty fare included three sheep milk cheeses, Serrano ham, dried sausage, olives, almonds and raw shellfish (British Columbia and New Brunswick oysters and Maine scallops) from the consistently impressive Bleu Marin, currently a wholesaler but reportedly soon to open a storefront in Montreal.
Manzanilla, Papirusa, Bodegas Lustau ($12.40/375 ml, 11767565)
100% Palomino. Matured in American oak casks in the traditional criaderas and solera system. Reducing sugar: < 1.2 g/l. 15% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Complex, lightly oxidized nose of brown sugar, nuts, raw whole grains and faint dried flowers. Dry, intense, light and long in the mouth. Alive with fresh acidity. Iodine notes appear on the mid-palate, fruit (dried apple?) and nuts (almonds?) on the finish. A briny tang runs throughout. The QPR is off the charts. Perfect with green olives, delicious with the New Brunswick oyster and good with the cheeses. (Buy again? Def.)
Manzanilla Pasada de Sanlúcar, Almacenista, Manuel Cuevas Jurado, Bodegas Lustau ($33.00/500 ml, 11767565)
100% Palomino. The solera consists of 80 butts plus the supporting criaderas, which are matured in Manuel Cuevas Jurado’s bodegas in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. 17% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Intriguing nose of “grilled peanuts” (per one taster), distant straw, dried corn, dulse and dried orange peel. Richer and more intense than the Papirusa. Lean and well-delineated. The salinity is very present here. Fresh despite the nutty oxidative notes. Ends elegantly with a long, tangy, minerally finish. Perhaps the most versatile with food. Played interestingly off the the BC oyster’s cucumber flavours. (Buy again? Yes.)
Fino del Puerto, Almacenista, José Luis Gonzáles Obregón, Bodegas Lustau ($21.80/500 ml, 12340150)
100% Palomino. Matured in American oak casks in the traditional solera system in El Puerto de Santa María. 17% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
White fruit and a hint of citrus along with white spices, chamomile, crushed oyster shells and a sour edge. Light and delicate in the mouth, dry but not drying. Brightly acidic yet softer, more glowing than the Manzanillas. Delicious minerality and a long tangy finish. The best of the bunch with the jamón. (Buy again? Yes.)
Palo Cortado de Jerez, Almacenista, Vides, Bodegas Lustau ($35.25/500 ml, 12365761)
100% Palomino. Matured in American oak casks in the traditional solera system. 19% ABV. Quebec agent: Rézin.
Darker, deeper nose: dried stone fruit, citrus peel, coffee overtones and hints of walnut and butterscotch. Rich, round and dry on the palate but also sweet-seeming. Caramel, sweet spice and nuts dominate though there’s plenty of briny salt and tang if you look for it. Some orange peel creeps in on the long, long finish. A beautiful wine. Excellent with the raw scallop dusted with Madagascar pepper, loveliest of all with the cheeses and the only one of the quartet that worked with the dried sausage. (Buy again? Oh, yes.)
MWG March 12th tasting: flight 2 of 7
Thinking globally, drinking locally
The MWG’s early March tasting was led by the irrepressible Steve Beauséjour, who daylights as a sales rep of Rézin. To say he outdid himself would be an understatement.
We got things rolling with a stupendous dry white served double-blind from a labelless bottle.
The bouquet is a kaleidoscope of seashells, citrus, oats, limestone, bread, a hint of nuts and more. On the palate, it’s a mouth-watering mix of saline minerals, restrained fruit and trenchant acidity, dazzlingly pure and so dry, especially on the long finish. As bracing and engaging a white as I’ve encountered in a coon’s age.
I happened to be sitting next to two French expats, both of them Loire lovers, and all three of us had the same initial reaction: a faintly oxidized Chenin Blanc from a top Loire producer. As we spent more time with the wine and listened to Steve, doubts began to creep in. “Un chablis peut-être,” hazarded one of the français. Other tasters guessed the Jura, Italy, Austria and South Africa. All were shot down.
“Maybe it’s from Laval,” quipped a taster, throwing up his hands. (Île Jésus’s improbable Château Taillefer-Lafon has become something of a meme for the group.)
“You’re getting warm,” said Steve to the astonishment of everyone.
The wine? A special bottling of Québec 2014, Chardonnay, Les Rosiers, Les Pervenches, the regular bottling of which retailed for $25 during the few weeks it was available. This 100% Chardonnay is made from fruit from organically and biodynamically farmed vines grown near Farnham. The grapes are manually harvested and sorted, vinified naturally (indigenous yeasts, no additives, minimal intervention) and matured in casks. The 24 bottles of this special bottling were filled with wine drawn directly from the cask after one year’s maturation. In contrast to the regular cuvée, the wine is unfined, unfiltered and unsulphured.
If I’ve tasted a better Canadian Chardonnay, I don’t recall it. Truly world-class.
MWG March 12th tasting: flight 1 of 7
Brett happens 