Jacqueline Friedrich: The Wine Humanist WINE BY PEOPLE, FOR PEOPLE

As of February 2008 all wine tasting notes will appear on this page. They will be organized by date. As time permits, I'll include an index -- by region -- in the margin. (Previous Loire notes can be found under "A Wine & Food Guide to the Loire" as well as in FrenchFeast -- which also has a lot of miscellaneous tasting notes.)

NO WINE IS AN ISLAND

THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION ON EVERY WINE LOVER'S MIND: YES HE CAN!
Read for yourself, below.

June 9, 2009 : Tasting the 2008s of Louis-Benjamin Dagueneau:

Following the sudden and tragic death of Didier Dagueneau last September, many in the wine world wondered if the domaine could continue, if Didier’s son, Louis-Benjamin, was ready to take over.
I knew Benjamin had worked with Didier. I knew he had done stages with vignerons in Jurançon and Montlouis where he worked with François Chidaine (who remains something of a mentor) but I hadn’t seen Benjamin since 1990 when he was a sweet and mischievous boy of about 8.
At the funeral (held a day before the onset of the 2008 harvest) and at tastings in Paris I saw Benjamin. He seemed as gentle as he had been as a boy.
Then I went to visit about two weeks ago and he was so resolute in his ideas on every aspect of grape growing and winemaking it made me wonder whether he had channeled Didier.
As you’ll see from my tasting notes, Benjamin is every bit ready to fill Didier’s heavy shoes. The 2008s are stellar. At one point, in the car, Benjamin said, “I used to blame Didier for having robbed me of my youth. But now I’m grateful.” And, tasting the results, we can be both grateful and reassured that the future of this seminal Loire winery is in very capable hands.

After a passionately commentated tour of all the Dagueneau’s Pouilly vineyards – an expedition much like those Didier conducted – followed by a tasting of all the domaine’s 2007s, Benjamin and I attacked the 2008s from barrel:

2008 Blanc Fume de Pouilly (this cuvee replaces the En Chailloux bottling): A cascade of freshness and gleaming, chiseled flavors of mint, ginger and apricot with a tart and lipsmacking lemon curd finish.

2008 Pur Sang: Voluptuous yet crystalline, this wine is the apotheosis of the Loire. It wraps its crystallized flavors of grapefruit and lemon zests around the tongue. Grandiose. A vin de meditation.

2008 Buisson Renard (80% of production was lost to hail. The harvested grapes, 15 hl/ha, had potential alcohol of 14.5º): There was none of the foxiness I often find in this cuvee, though there were flavors of apple and beer which suggested an unfinished wine.

2008 Sancerre Monts Damnés (13.1º alcohol and 5.6 acid): Simply magnificent. The oak is there but is merely a light support. The wine flows over the palate like satin over bare skin. Chiseled, racy, fresh. A joy.

2008 Silex ( 60 to 70% of the harvest was lost to hail, resulting in a harvest of 16 to 19 hl/ha): Barrel #1, the most austere in the blend: very structured, very pure, very rectilinear, a weave of steel and lace with flavors of minerals, stone, and grapefruit and lemon zests; Barrel #2: the largest percentage of the cuvee, 14.2º with 6.2 acid: Stunning in its purity, full yet astonishingly fresh, deep and racy. The light flavors of oak are just seasoning. Great tension. Superb.

2008 Clos du Calvaire:(The final vintage of an experimental vineyard, with a vine density of 20,000 plants per hectare, 40% of which were sauvignon rose. The vines have been ripped up because Benjamin felt the vines could not ripen successfully at this density.) 11.5º alcohol. Scents of cassis buds and a light, sugary quality. Tight finish.

2008 Asteroid: (sauvignon blanc franc de pied and, sadly, there is phylloxera): The wine is as tense as a high wire, chiseled. It’s like taking a bit out of a glacier, with flavors of steel and herbal tea. Majestic, achingly regal.

OTHER GRAPES, OTHER WINES:

As with the experimentation with vine density, Didier experimented with grapes not commonly found – indeed, mostly prohibited – in the appellation’s vineyards. Benjamin continues this practice and I hope the law isn’t such a ass that it will stop him. Here are some 2008 notes on wines from unauthorized grapes (again, all tasted from barrel).

2008 Sauvignon rose (from the vineyard that produces Silex): fresh, ample and yet tart with light oak flavors. What’s most intriguing are the rich, exotic fruit flavors which don’t recall any one specific fruit but just a wave of lush yet subtle fruitiness.

2008 Petit Meslier (from 5 or 6 rows of vines, ie one barrique, even after cluster-thinning and hail damage, the vines yields 55 hl/ha): Naturally high in acid (7 in this case), the wine tasted like lemonade without sugar. Benjamin said that it ages and oxidizes quickly. It was once commonly planted in the region and used for the making of sparkling wine.

2008 Riesling (from 20 year old vines): Simply magnificent. Like bone dry ice wine. Majestic too.

2005 Jurancon (11º alcohol, 7º acid, 115 grams residual sugar): Succulent and mouth-watering, the wine’s honeyed lusciousness seemed the product of passerillage, not botrytis. With accents of lemon zest and preserved lemon, it was beautifully structured, fresh and mouth-watering.
2002 Pinot Noir: According to Benjamin, Didier made this only once. Too bad. It was cool and fresh and lightly truffley.

June 10, 2009: Tasting of Clos la Néore Sancerre with Anne Vatan and Nady Foucault:
You never know who you’re going to bump into in a good wine village. When walking to a winery in Chavignol two weeks ago, who did I spy but Nady Foucault from Saumur-Champigny. Natural. As he was married to Anne Vatan, a gracious, lovely young woman, who was out working on the one hectare of vines she had just taken over from her father, Edmond. One hectare of Sancerre, on the treasured slopes of Monts Damnés.
Nady, never out of character, corralled us and brought us to their home – in front of which he had installed handsome (and historic) gates retrieved from Fontevraud Abbey near Saumur.
Soon Anne, in pink overalls and flipflops, joined us and brought out the 2008 which had been bottled the week before. With a potential of 14º, the finished wine was 13.8º. It was dense and creamy. The oak was evident but seemed to have melted into the whole. There was a sense of chalkiness, vibrant mint accents and an overall sense of a fast flowing stream.
I had tasted the 2007 about 8 months earlier when my notes read, “crystalline, mineral, light oak, tart but racy.” Now the wine, with 13.5º alcohol, was full and textured, dry but tender, and scented with anise. It had lots of character but demanded attention. Not a wine to savor in a noisy brasserie. It also, as so many fine Chavignols do, made me think of Chablis. And we talked about the similarity of the two different appellations – separated only, when you come right down to it, by a grape variety.
Ample and pungent was the lightly hot 2005, a toothsome weave of menthol, grapefruit and gooseberry. And although this wine did have a whiff of the varietal characteristics of sauvignon blanc, it still recalled Chablis.
Then, a ’96, one of Nady’s favorite years. It was a delectably appetizing blend of creamed corn, cream of asparagus, verbena and honey.
Next, an’83. With its bouquet of hay and wax and herbal tea, it could have been an aged chenin. On the palate, however, it once again made us say “Chablis.” A beautifully aged Chablis.
Anne disappeared and came back with a grimy bottle. “This is very anecdotal,” she said, pouring the burnished gold wine into our glasses. There was the scent of honeyed hay again, and verbena and the furniture wax of a fine antique shop. Very much in the style of the ’83 and the ’96 except that they had a tiny bit more vigor and bounce. So what was it?
“It’s called ChaChaCha,” said Anne, pronouncing the words ShaShaSha (as they should be pronounced). It was a wine made from chardonnay vines, from Chablis, planted on Monts Damnés. Edmond Vatan long ago realized the kinship uniting good grapes grown on steep slopes fashioned by Kimmeridgian soils.

May 19, 2009: QUIET REDS and the 2008 Cabernet Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France, Domaine de l'Ecu:

QUIET REDS

There’s a category of red wine that I’ve been thinking about for a long time. Actually, I’m making it a category: Quiet Reds. These are red wines that tend to be light in color and saturation, relatively low in alcohol, with little to no oak age. The polar opposite of “trophy wines,” these Quiet Reds are not flashy, eye-catching, nostril-permeating, or tooth-staining. They will impress no one but other lovers of Quiet Reds. You need to pay attention to them or they’ll slip by unobserved. And that would be a real pity for they are gems with tons of character packed into a light, lean, gentle, unassuming package.
Some grapes, by their very nature, typify, for me, Quiet Reds: Pineau d’Aunis, for example, or Trousseau and Poulsard. Pinot Noir can slip into the Quiet Red category, particularly when grown in areas like Irancy. But I’ve never come across a Cabernet that I’d put in this category.
Until I tasted a tank sample of Guy Bossard’s 2008 Vin de Pays made from Cabernet Franc (3/4) and Cabernet Sauvignon (1/4) on a granitic slope in Muscadet country.
I thought Guy had tricked me: the wine came across like a Pinot Noir, with its pale color, fine, delicate fruit, scents of plum and cherry pit, light fruit tannins. I’ve often tasted Syrah and Gamay that pinot-ed but never Cabernet. I was thoroughly enchanted and recorked the bottle to taste it again the following day.
In the interim I called Guy. Surprisingly, he wasn’t surprised. He has planted Pinot Noir but this wasn’t it. He credited the “pinot” character to the superiority of the vineyard site, the granitic soils which bring out cherry flavors particular to Burgundy, light pressing and short vatting – as well as to his deep down love of Burgundy.
The wine didn’t last longer than Day 2 chez moi but by that time some Cabernet characteristics began to assert themselves – still in the plum and cherry range but more typical of the way Cabernet expresses plum and cherry (Loire cherry flavors) – and there was still more than a slight gustatory resemblance to Pinot Noir. So seductive!

May 12, 2009: Gardening Day Wines:
(Gardening Day foods are discussed in FrenchFeast.)
With the cod and the smoked salmon we drank Guy’s tank samples of Guy’s Muscadets. My notes were taken four or five days after the event yet all the wines tasted fresh and sprightly. None was identified save by “vigneron’s markings.” The first bottle – “O” – which I’m guessing refers to his cuvee Orthogneiss – had a delicate, textbook Muscadet nose; it was richer on the palate than the nose had led me to believe, quite stony, mineral and salty with a good sur lie core. “BA” I assumed must have come from his vineyard “Bien Aimee.” Minerals and sur lie-ness seemed to leap from the glass. Art and focused, with notes of pear drop and grapefruit, the wine was rousing, with clear flavors of preserved lemon and bitter almond. Last was “BZ”, which I assume refers to Guy’s Baziliere vineyard. Sleek, aerodynamic and lime-driven, the wine was deeply mineral, with an edge of saltiness and a note of bitter almond in the finish.

Abel had brought tank and barrel samples of his 2008 Bourgueils. As with the Muscadets, I got around to taking notes on them several days after the event, three and five in this case. Herewith: 2008 Bourgueil “Varennes” Domaine Nau (open 5 days), deeply colored (see next wine), with flavors of cherry vanilla (another childhood reference) and plum and a tiny whiff of bell pepper, the wine was rich yet sleek and well balanced. 2008 Bourgueil “Vieilles Vignes”, Domaine Nau: (open 3 days) deeply colored and richly saturated – like many of the 2008s – the wine had a primeur nose -- of black cherries and plums – and seemed like a cross of Cot and Syrah. It was full yet cool and smooth, with hints of prune and licorice.

2005 Chateau de Coulaine Chinon “Les Picasses” (already posted those notes, see April 15, 2009: A Necessary Luxury.

Some stuck with reds for the cheese course and some went back to the dry whites – until I all but twisted their arms to switch to a sweet chenin, the 2004 Quarts de Chaume, Domaine des Baumard. Now, although there are exceptions, 2004 was not really a vintage for liquoreux in Anjou so the 2004 came across more like a moelleux, less syrupy and concentrated but beautifully fresh and lissome. An initial whiff of creamed corn – a reference I never even try to explain to the French as creamed corn is not part of their childhood and might come across as a vegetal insult – the wine’s aromas and flavors were a weave of apricot, white fleshed peaches, honey, all strung together with an herbal-quinine thread. It was a lyrical wine, with a lingering finish, and its weight and flavors and sweetness went perfectly with the cheeses.

April 27, 2009 Tasting Notes on the wines consumed on the Eve of Easter.

2004 Muscadet de Sèvre & Maine sur lie “Gorgeois” from Christophe and Brigitte Boucher: An extremely good Muscadet and a fine example of the immense improvement in quality in Muscadets in general. The wine is very mineral and stony and expressive of Gorge’s special terroir; it’s very fresh and refreshing, with fine sur lie texture, good tension, light flavors of grapefruit zests and a hint of old wood. Very appetizing.

2006 Pouilly Fumé ‘les Cris,’ Domaine Alain Cailbourdin: a slight whiff of creamed corn followed by aromas of citrus zests and herbal tea. The wine is extremely stony and mineral, fresh, zesty and urbane. A lovely Pouilly.

2005 Savennières Clos du Papillon, Domaine des Baumard: (Note that the wine was finished with a very handsome screw cap.) What immediately came to mind was force, the wine was powerful --not because of its 13° of alcohol – but because of the compact and distinct way it communicated its crystalline mouthfeel and its stoniness. Initially there was almost no sensation of fruit. Then flavors of citrus zests, slate and verbena emerged and there was a whisper of sweetness, of honey, like a drop of vermouth in a very dry martini. A racy wine that made Pascal sit up and take notice, saying that although he was perfectly comfortable slouching around with the Muscadet and the Pouilly, he felt he needed to sit up straight and put on a suit and tie to drink the Clos du Papillon.

2006 Sancerre rouge “En Grands Champs,” Alphonse Mellot: The wine was neither fined nor filtered. I’d been tasting quite a few red Burgundies -- eg at the tasting of the Domaines Familiaux de Bourgogne – and this Sancerre could have held its own in that very prestigious crowd. Neither fined nor filtered, it had more stuffing – nb: I don’t mean overextraction – than most of those Burgundies. When first uncorked, the oak was a bit too dominant. Several hours later it had blended in nicely. There was nothing rustic about this wine. The balance was beautiful, the flavors lovely , sinuous and pure. Sheer, lipsmacking pleasure.

MYSTERY WINE: Here are some clues: 2003 Layon. The grapes were harvested in six different passes through the vineyard. The wine fermented in barrel. 11° alcohol. OK. The wine was a burnished gold, voluptuous and honeyed, it s flavors masked the oak entirely. Yet the acidity was there, too, making your mouth water. Toasty and creamy, rather viscous yet fresh, it had succulent flavors of pear juice. You could get lost in this wine. It was a meal in itself. Simultaneously opulent and discreet. When Pascal sniffed it, he said “Quince! My mother cooked quince all the time.” Both Pascal and Annette, who come from and live and work in the Bordeaux wine zone, said they much preferred Layon to Sauternes.

April 25, 2009 I meant to post my Easter meal(s) tasting notes here but I've been waylaid by another wine and yet another confirmation of my principle SLOW TASTING: A NECESSARY LUXURY.

Domaine Sylvain Gaudron. This producer sent me a single sample of his production -- a 2004 Vouvray sec "Cuvee du Pere Lucien". The label was corny and old-fashioned, its top a scalloped rim. Inside the top scallop was a photo of a red-cheeked farmer in a beret and work shirt. I took this to be the Pere Lucien.
The label also told me that the wine, which was 13.5% alcohol, had been harvested by hand from old vines and had been patiently aged in barriques in the domaine's cellars which dated from the 13th century.
What the label didn’t say, explicitly, but what I felt, was that the wine was made with love.
I uncorked and poured and was nearly felled by an exhalation of so2. I couldn't taste anything. But something told me that something was there so I left the bottle, uncorked, on the table for four or five hours and tasted again: the so2 was largely gone, the wine was very honest – something of a throw back to 70s-80s style of Vouvray. It had appetizing flavors of quince, lemon zests and quinine. Yes, it was lightly rustic and had a bit of heat in the finish but it was a real Vouvray, one that I wouldn't have minded drinking in any wine bar anywhere. In fact, I liked it so much I decided to follow it a bit longer. This time I put it in the fridge and tasted it again on Day 2 when flavors of herbal tea, lemon zests, quinine, minerals and quince, supported by a thread of bubbles -- elevage sur lie? -- made for a really nice glass of Vouvray. A residual whiff of so2 appeared on Day 3 but was overwhelmed by the fresh mineral/tisane/quince flavors as well as by the sur lie tingle. The wine was fresh, the acidity bountiful, it was very Vouvray. I nearly forgot: I didn't taste any oak at all. Those barrels must have been old demi-muids. Verdict: a really nice, very authentic Vouvray – representative of a certain period, of wines that were made well in an era not known for quality Vouvrays, and here it was, a true and tasty Vouvray.

April 15, 2009
SLOW TASTING: A NECESSARY LUXURY: I’m pretty sure I’ve alluded to my “new” way of tasting before but I’m going to begin being more explicit about it. What I mean by “Slow Tasting” is a) tasting alone, just me and the wine; and b) taking whatever time the wine seems to need for me take with it in order to assess it as accurately as possible.
This can mean a single “hi/goodbye” tasting or it can mean retastes that last over several days or even recorking bottles, leaving a little empty space in the neck, and coming back to the wine weeks or months later. (I’ll later talk about my special corks.)
First case in point: a 2005 Chinon “Les Picasses” from Chateau de Coulaine.
The Chateau de Coulaine, situated at the limits of the commune of Beaumont-en-Veron, sits high on a hill overlooking the main road from Chinon to Bourgueil. For nearly the past 20 years it has been run with great care by Etienne Bonnaventure, the owner of Coulaine, and his wife Pascale. They have converted to domaine to organic viticulture and practice a soft variation on “non-interventionist” winemaking.
Les Picasses is one of Chinon’s best known vineyard plots. A southfacing slope east of Beaumont – and not far from the nuclear power station in Avoine – Les Picasses is blessed with tuffeau soils, the limestone producing the finest cabernet francs.
Some wine specifics: 13,8 degrees alcohol, 3. 2 acidity, 35 hl/ha, hand harvested in small cases, vinified in cement tanks and then transferred to 400 litre barrels of one, two and three wines for a period of 18 months. No filtration.
Day 1: I tasted the wine the day before I planned to serve it. A deep crimson with deep saturation, the wine displayed raw flavors of wild berries, brambles and licorice. There was a slight taste of sweetness from the alcohol, a whiff of gameyness and a revivifying dash of Loire acidity. Such charm as it had came from its purity and the sense that it was handcrafted.
Day 2: What a difference a day makes! The wine had fleshed out and was lusciously zaftig, bursting with flavors of cooked cherries, prunes, of blackberry jam made with a stick of cinnamon. The gameyness and rawness were distant memories. True, it wasn’t an elegant wine but it was a generous, richly flavored Chinon that all my guests – including two vignerons – loved. A great choice for a good wine bistrot.

April 3, 2009 Some Beauties from Chateau de Villeneuve:
In a desperate effort to make order out of chaos, I have been spending days going through cartons packed with old tasting notes, press dossiers, articles clipped from various magazines and newspapers, throwing out piles of outdated material and duplicates and filing the rest in rough categories.
In the process I came across a clip from la Nouvelle Republique, 1999, I think, featuring an interview with Michel Bettane, France’s leading wine critic. Among his dicta, a broad reprimand aimed at the winemakers of Saumur for having given over 90% of vineyard land to cabernet franc rather than chenin blanc.
While I agree that Saumur’s soils are perfect for chenin blanc, I also think they make pretty damned good reds from cabernet franc. And this conviction was brought home to me that very night when I tasted a 2002 Saumur-Champigny from Chateau de Villeneuve.
The owner, Jean-Pierre Chevallier -- a Bordeaux-trained enologist and one of the most talented and dedicated winemakers in the Loire – is one of those rare humans who thinks before he acts. I assume he chose this particular bottle to include among his samples an age-worthy red he thought ready to drink. What a novel idea!
Fragrant, with mingled aromas of cassis, crème de cassis, crème de framboise and cedar, the wine had evolved beautifully, with flavors of spice, leather and oak mixed with dried fruit on the palate. It was very urbane, balanced and dry though it had a slight note of sweetness from its 13.5 degrees of alcohol.
As is my wont, I kept half the bottle for the following night. On day two, the wine had rounded out and was softer – more caressant, as my friend, the sommelier Michel Desroches, would say – and more discreet. It will undoubtedly hold though I think it’s ready to start drinking now – especially if you give it a good hour in a carafe before serving.
As a comparison, I looked at the notes I had taken a couple of months earlier on the 2005 “le Grand Clos” which weighed in at 14 degrees. Big and extracty (but not over-extracted), the wine was dominated by oak flavors and textures. On the second day it was creamier – until the tannins kicked in – and exuded flavors of wild blackberry, black cherry and oak with notes of tar. It was cool and pedigreed but much too young to drink.
Now, getting back to Bettane’s argument, I’ve always believed that Saumur’s tuffeau soils are terrific for chenin and that the Chateau de Villeneuve was stellar proof of that: the domaine consistently turned out racy, mineral-rich chenins even before Jean-Pierre took over from his father.
Chevalier generally makes two cuvees of white under the Saumur AOC, one oaked, one not. The unoaked 2006, 13.5 degrees alcohol, was a crystalline chenin, pure, very stony and mineral with a light thread of citrus zests; with aeration, apple notes came into play so that the wine came across as a fine granité of Granny Smith.
The grapes for “Les Cormiers” ferment in oak. The 2005, with 14 degrees alcohol, was truly gourmand. The oak had melted into the whole, bringing to mind Didier Dagueneau’s masterly use of barrel age. Precise, with citrus accents, the wine seemed florentined – in the sense that if lusters had flavor, this wine would be fine burnished gold.
And it married beautifully with my dinner – a tagine of chicken with green olives, preserved lemon, and carrots. A much worthier partner than the hamburger I ate with my 2002 Champigny!

February 8, 2009 : A Golden Lining: 2007 exquisite sweet chenins from Anjou:
My rule of thumb regarding the 2006, 2007 and 2008 is that they are “vigneron vintages.” While 2005 wasn’t perfect, it is a top vintage. You can pretty much buy blind. In 2006, 2007 and 2008, you should know your vigneron or taste before buying.
In recent tastings, I’ve been more than pleasantly surprised by the excellent quality of sweet chenins from Anjou. Of course, I’m talking about some of my favorite growers but their results reveal a surprising silver (or golden?) lining.
I must stress, however, that success here really does depend upon the grower – those who waited to pick – the Loire enjoyed a magnificent Indian summer – and who were severe in their cluster-thinning and sorting. (Vincent Ogereau, for example, made three or four passes through his vineyards, averaging 20 hl/ha.)

Here are examples from two producers:

Vincent Ogereau: In “great” years, like 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2007, he makes 3 cuvees of moelleux/liquoreux; in off-years, like 2006 and 2008, he makes only one. I tasted the first two of Vincent’s 2007 Layons and was mightily impressed by both:
2007 Coteaux du Layon Villages – St. Lambert: Fresh, floral, with notes of honey, banana, and, with aeration, a strong and appetizing core of quinine, this is an easy-to-drink Layon, one that could unite a jury. While creamy in texture, the wine has fine acidity and a long finish, reprising the above flavors.
2007 Coteaux du Layon Cuvee Prestige: a big step up in unctuosity here. The wine is a sumptuous and layered blend of honey, citrus zests, apple sauce flavors with a whiff of petrol. Because I was tasting this wine at home, I was able to follow its evolution over several days. On Day Three it had developed flavors of pineapple, sultanas steeped in rum, quince leather, apricot leather and honey. The acidity was gorgeous, the wine irresistible. Excellent.

Chateau de Pierre-Bise: Claude & Joelle Papin:
With a cuvee for each terroir, and an ever-expanding number of plots, it’s hard to keep track of the multiplicity of Layons the Papins make every year. Here are tasting notes on four 2007s.
(So that I don’t commit the sin of repeating myself, let me just say that the word “crystalline” applies – in force – to every single one of these wines.)
2007 Coteaux du Layon-Villages “Roannieres”: Made from 100% shriveled grapes, including those attacked by botrytis, this is an extremely rich but beautifully fresh and balanced Layon, with flavors of menthol, medicinal herbs, honey and applesauce.
2007 Coteaux du Layon-Villages “L’Anclaie”: The Papins finished harvesting the grapes for this beauty on the 7th and 8th of December. Deeper than the Roannieres, it has a particularly breezy freshness and vigorous acidity as well as vivid flavors of pineapple, citrus zests, honey and herbal tea. The finish is long and lipsmacking.
2007 Chaume: Luminescent gold, tinged with green, this dangerously succulent wine wraps a blanket of honey around the tongue. Extremely pure, it’s long, racy and pedigreed. Fabulous.
2007 Quarts de Chaume: A patina of green floating on burnished gold, this is a tapestry of velvet, so rich – 220 grams residual sugar – you savor it in little sips, marveling at the succulent weave of honey, herbal tea, lemon zests, and pineapple. Gorgeously balanced, it is grandiose.

January 27, 2009: 2006 St. Nicolas de Bourgueil “Les Malgagnes” Yannick Amirault (A slightly shorter version of this text appeared in The Art of Eating's summer 2008 issue.)

The cabernet franc-based reds from St. Nicolas de Bourgueil have a firmly entrenched image as the quintessential quaffers, light-hearted cousins of reds from neighboring Bourgueil. Don’t you believe it. St. Nicolas de Bourgueil, aside from having an independent appellation controlee, is also part of the Bourgueil appellation. In fact, there’s no reason for the distinction. Both make drink-me-up charmers from sandy and gravelly soils; and both make more serious reds from clayey slopes streaked with limestone or silica.
Yannick Amirault’s wines provide proof, if proof is needed. Currently the best vintner in both appellations , Amirault makes seven delectable, single vineyard reds from his numerous plots which cover 19 hectares in Bourgueil, 6 in St. Nicolas.
In the gulpable, vin de plaisir category are La Coudraye (Bourgueil) and La Source (St. Nicolas); more majestic in weight and style are La Petite Cave (Bourgueil) and les Malgagnes (St. Nicolas).
The latter comes from a well-exposed slope whose soils are clay and silex with an outcropping of limestone. Viticulture is essentially organic, although Amirault does not label his wines as such. Cluster thinning, hand harvesting and sorting of the grapes are systematic .Les Malgagnes ferments in 80 hectolitre oak vats. Vatting lasts for four weeks, complete with old-fashioned foot-stomping, and the wine ages for a year in450 litre barrels, half of which are new, half once-used. Amirault fined Malgagnes (with the whites of organic eggs) in 2006 in order to avoid Brett problems in a wine with naturally low acidity and high pH. That’s intelligent winemaking.
While 2006 was a great year for dry Loire whites, it was a dodgy one for reds. Harvesting had to be done quickly, within the small window of opportunity between underripeness and deterioration. Amirault was one of the vintners who got it exactly right, making gracious, toothsome reds, more delicate than the potent 2005s, but rich and flavorful all the same.
With the saturated color of a coulis of raspberries and blackberries, the 2006 Malgagnes displays ripe but not overripe fruit – predominantly berries when the bottle has just been opened. After aeration, scents of black cherry and cherry pits become part of the weave, along with oak, balsamic notes, hints of licorice, an appetizing bitterness and a definite chalkiness which can’t help but bring to mind the vineyard’s soils. The wine bespeaks a sense of place. Despite its 13.5 % alcohol, it is light on its feet. Fresh, structured, with a cozy, inviting elegance, its balance is spot on.
Amirault likes the wine with coq au vin. Why not? This food-friendly red would compliment any number of dishes. But it shows to its best advantage when partnered by some succulent cut of meat that has been roasted or braised. My favorites are oxtail and spring lamb. Both share a chewy tenderness that seems ideal for the wine. And their subtle meatiness underscores the discreet, etched quality of the fruit. There’s complete collaboration here.
Various recipes offer their own particular pleasures. The deeply infused flavors of oxtail simmered with good Loire cabernet franc, for example, seem to meld with the wine; the silky veneer of oxtail alla vaccinara, made with pork rind, matches the suave attack of Les Malgagnes; and spring lamb, perhaps the gentlest of all meats, is culinary comfort. Even the diced carrots, the unpeeled garlic cloves, and the quartered onions strewn on the bottom of the roasting pan enhance the wine with their soothing caramelized flavors.
Although Amirault says the wine will age gracefully for several decades, its youthful charms are such that it would be a pity not to enjoy some right away – while waiting for the sumptuous 2005, which really ought to be aged for at least five years, to mature. That said, the wine should be carafed a good two hours before serving and served cool. (I pour the wine into a carafe and place the carafe in an unheated room or in a basin of water and then bring it to table about a half hour before pouring.)

December 16, 2008: Vincent Ogereau's Savennieres, Part II: ( Part I starts immediately below this post. It should be read first.)
In the continuing saga of Vincent Ogereau’s chenin blancs, tasting notes on four other vintages of his Savennieres Clos le Grand Beaupreau. (Note that 2002 was Vincent’s first vintage of Savennieres and my comments on that remarkable wine can be seen below.)
2006: The grapes were harvested in three tries. Partial malolactic.
The nose is so seductive it’s hard to get beyond it: peaches, minerals, whiffs of honey, cinnamon. All of these notes are reprised on the palate along with forceful flavors of quinine against a mellow oak backdrop. Day 2: that nubbly texture typical of Loire chenin along with a sensation of crystallized sugar, evolving notes of wax, vivid blasts of citrus zest, stonestonestone, quinine and herbal tea. Very long finish of stone, citrus zests and subtle oak.
2005 (Vincent didn’t want to harvest too late in order to avoid high alcohols. He’s wondering if he didn’t harvest too early.) Though the 2006 is richer, this is a big wine, with flavors of wax and wet wool (when Vincent’s concern. He says the wine is more cepage than terroir). Day two: Clearly the wine was in a dumb phase on Day 1. On Day 2, aromas of citrus zests, verveine and citronella burst forth. On the palate, they combine with mallow and stone and the wine’s texture has become satiny. It is elegant, racy and potent. We're directly on the bedrock.

2004 (A dicey vintage re ripening) : The wine seems a bit rough hewn in texture with notes of wet wool. The raciness is evident and there are appetizing flavors of herbal tea and quinine. The wine is very dry, very energizing. Day 2: a creamy attack with notes of wax, stone and citrus zests. The wine impresses with its power, presence and pedigree. Saliva-inducing.
2003 (Vincent worried that he didn’t add enough so2 to compensate for the high pH and low acid. He may be right but the wine is fascinating. And did we ever think we’d see the day when we’d say, how about a little more sulphur?) Flavors of wax, apple sauce, autumn leaves and petrol. The wine is a bit oxidized. It comes across as Loire meets Chateau Chalon. Day 2: More youthful, curiously, than Day 1. Fresher, too, though it’s still on the road to Jura. Creamy, salty and slightly oxidized, with flavors of wax and fruit compote. Impressive power here. Bedrock again.

December 10, 2008: Wine of the Week: 2002 Savennieres Clos le Grand Beaupreau, Vincent Ogereau:

The first time I met Vincent Ogereau was in August 1989 at Le Fief de Vignes, the leading wine shop of Nantes. I was talking with Jean-Francois Dubreuil, one of the owners of the shop who I had just met but who would become a good friend. When Vincent and his wife Catherine came in, Jean-Francois introduced them, saying “Vincent is one of the current generation of winemakers revolutionizing Anjou.”
I had just started researching the first edition of my Loire book, beginning in the Muscadet region. In early September I moved to Anjou and, when I made my appointment to visit Vincent, I called Jean-Francois to see if he’d like to come along. He did. After we all talked and tasted, Vincent pulled out a bottle of Cauhape Jurancon, my introduction to that appellation and that winemaker.
Over the past 19 1/2 years I’ve followed Vincent’s progress, tasting his wines at the annual Salon des Vins de Loire – and whenever the occasion presented itself.
As Jean-Francois said, Vincent was one of Anjou’s revolutionaries. That band of winemakers – Vincent, Didier Richou, the LeBretons, Claude Papin and others – made Anjou one of the most exciting wine regions in France. And he has become a master of chenin blanc.
In late November I saw Vincent at a tasting of Anjou-Villages (reds based on cabernet franc &/or sauvignon) held in the private townhouse of Gonzague St. Bris (he’s another story) in Paris. We agreed to make a date for him to come visit me in Touraine so we could taste through all his wines and talk about how both he and his region had evolved in the intervening years.
Vincent had one more trie of his chenin vineyards to go and figured he’d finish harvesting by the first week of December. This coincided with a week I’d set aside for, of all things, a series of dentist appointments – in Touraine. So we set a date.
Vincent arrived with roughly 30 bottles of wine – from his roses to mini-verticals of Savennieres, Anjou-Villages and Layon. I’ll write more about his visit later but I want to single out one of the wines as Wine of the Week. A really tough choice because there are a couple of Layons that slayed me but I’m going with: 2002 Savennieres Clos le Grand Beaupreau.
Most of Vincent’s 24 hectares of vines are in St. Lambert du Lattay, on the left (or south) side of the Loire. In the mid-90s winemakers from the Layon began crossing the river, buying or renting vineyards in the Savennieres appellation -- which they are in the process of revolutionizing.
He rents two hectares on a forty-hectare parcel above the Coulee de Serrant and La Roche aux Moines. Called the Clos du Grand Beaupreau, this gentle slope faces full south and, because of its altitude, is extremely well ventilated. The soils are a complex mix of three different types of schist and phtanite with sandy topsoils. Viticulture is essentially organic; yields average 40 hl/ha – with cluster thinning in the summer and deleafing on the part of the plant that faces the rising sun. Harvest is done by hand, in three passes, as Vincent seeks grapes that with fine-textured, gold skins. Vincent ferments his Savennieres in 400 litre oak (not new) barrels. The wines may or may not go through malolactic fermentation. (The 2002 did not.) They spend 14 months on their fine lees before being bottled.
My overall impression of Vincent’s Savennieres is that they resemble the land on which the vines grow: high, fragrant notes of fruit, citrus zests and sometimes sweet spices, which make me think of the thin layer of sandy topsoil, skim above a core of deeper flavors – stone, quinine, verbena – which represent the bedrock of ancient schist. The power is undeniable. And tasting them I’m baffled by people who question the importance of terroir.
A forceful, revivifying wine, it was extremely fresh and full of character. Notes of lemon, wax, lime zest and herbal tea wafted above a core of stone and quinine. I imagined drinking it with grilled Loire eel.
Day Two: As has become my practice, I taste wines over a course of several days. The 2002 Savennieres greeted me with a mellower nose than on Day One and aromas of citrus zests that were more subdued than they had been 24 hours earlier. Then, WOW! On the palate the wine was absolutely stunning. The dulcet citrus zests burst into life, there were flavors of Darjeeling tea and chamomile. Undeniably racy, the wine had immense power. Not for the faint of heart. It was downright grandiose. Impossible to get to the bottom of it. Never mind the grilled eel. Here is a wine for meditation.

November 18, 2008: Loire Primeur
Once upon a time I found the Uncorking of Nouveau Beaujolais at midnight on the third Wednesday/Thursday of November a harmless occasion for tying one on. And until very recently I made an effort (not a strenuous one, mind you) to be in some jolly wine bar when the hour struck. And I actually attended "serious" horizontal tastings of the newly hatched wine. Ah, youth!
Now I attend one event: the annual fete thrown by Henry Marionnet in some sympathetic restaurant in Paris, often La Petite Riche, and always on the Monday before the Thursday.
Of course, this is not Beaujolais. It's Touraine Gamay . And this year, Henry invited two other vintners: Bernard Chereau from Muscadet and Didier Richou from Anjou.
The three wines shown were utter charmers: each of them was light (12 degrees alcohol counts as light these days), perfectly balanced and fresh as a spring breeze. Each was what the French so nicely and so accurately call gourmand and as my friend Jean-Francois Dubreuil likes to say, "On peut en boire des sceaux." (One could drink buckets of it.)
More on each wine later. Now, a couple of words on the 2008 vintage in the Loire. For starters, it's a small harvest -- in every subregion of the Loire. In Muscadet, frost killed off at least 50% of the crop. In other regions, there was some frost but other factors -- bad flowering, bad fruit set, shot berries, removal of malady-affected clusters, etc -- accounted for the small crop.Then, July and August, while somewhat more clement than in 2007, were far from ideal. And, unlike 2007 when a July-like month of April gave the vines an unexpected head-start, spring 2008 was, well, spring, April showers and all that. Once again, beautiful weather in September came to the rescue. Like 2007, 2008 shows all the signs of being very much a vintage of the vigneron . It may also be a year for primeur -style wines: aromatic, low alcohol, high acid, fresh, easy-drinking wines, wines for chilling -- the reds as cold as the whites-- and drinking in the near term. And, where the self-described primeur wines are concerned, in the very, very near term.

2008 Muscadet de Sevre & Maine Domaine du Bois Bruley Primeur, Chereau-Carre: Frisky and high strung, with a thread of sur lie fizz and breezy flavors of lemon zests and minerals, it washes over the palate like Mother Nature's spritzer.

2008 Anjou Gamay “Primeur” (Unfiltered) Domaine Richou: fragrant and inviting with seductive aromas of red cherries. On the palate, equally alluring, the fruit flavors seem to wrap themselves around a delicate superstructure of stone and steel.

2008 Touraine Gamay “Tirage Primeur,” Domaine de la Charmoise (Henry Marionnet): As fragrant as the Anjou gamay but the fruit is darker-fleshed here -- black cherry, wild berry, cassis. Tart and succulent, the wine seems to call out for young Loire Valley chevre.

November 12, 2008: Rhone en Seine:
Dateline: Paris: Rhone en Seine is a yearly ‘must attend’ tasting. Held in early November, it’s tasting-cum-mosh pit as everyone remotely connected to wine descends to sample the wares of forty (or more) top vintners from the Rhone Valley.
As luck would have it, this year’s tasting was held on November 3rd – while I was in high election-obsession mode. Not only was I tracking polls, I was calling around town to see if there was anywhere I could volunteer and if there were any events open to those Obama supporters who, like me, could not afford to pay 100 euros a person to participate.
The day was slipping away from me and I still wanted to get to Hotel Georges V where the tasting was being held. Lo and behold, I found out about a rally that was to be held at Trocadero at 6:30. That’s just a ten minute walk from Georges V. I quickly changed from what Sarah Palin would (rightly, alas) refer to as my blogging pajamas and put on my ‘midtown’ tasting attire and made it to Georges V, promising to limit myself to, say, Northern Rhones, reds only.
The best laid plans…
As I arrived I bumped (literally) into fellow wine writer Egmont Labadie who said his discovery that day had been a Chateauneuf-du-Pape (hereinafter Ch9) from Domaine Marcoux. (He later emailed me to say that he’d meant to say Domaine Font de Michele.) I’ve always liked both the Marcoux wines and the Marcoux women who run the domaine. So I started there.

Domaine de Marcoux: The 2007 Ch9 blanc was ample, almost fat, mineral, vinous, strong and coherent, with a slightly hot finish. The 2006 Ch9 rouge ‘cuvee classique’ was a sunkissed weave of crushed raspberries, strawberries, red cherries, sweet spices and leather. Its attack was smooth and lipsmacking though the finish was somewhat roughened by dry wood sensations. The real star was the 2006 Ch9 VV, a royal velvet carpet, almost a crème of red fruit, with an appetizingly bitter core and a hint of provencal herbs.

Herewith 5 other favorites:

Vieux Telegraphe: The table was mobbed; Daniel Brunier was making heroic efforts to greet everyone and talk business when necessary; his assistant was overwhelmed; so, seeing that the wines had been nicely carafed, I helped myself to whatever and whichever I could reach, making sure not to miss the 2006 Ch9 Vieux Telegraphe. (The La Roquette wasn’t showing all that well.) Though the VT had a classic CH9 flavor profile (eg warm, ripe fruit, provencal herbs, and so forth) the structure and texture were both surprising and alluring: the wine was very pure, very fine, svelte and fluid. It was almost airborn. (Cf comments on 2006 from Yves Cuilleron below.)


Chateau de Beaucastel: 2006 Ch9 blanc: light oxidation was the first impression – on the first whiff – but not anything to take seriously. This is a bigboned, creamy wine with lots of stuffing and alcohol. It will be around for awhile. The red was a smooth, well structured, 3-dimensional wine with a wealth of alluring, fugitive aromas in the fruit, spice, herb, oak families.

Domaine Clape: Situated just across the aisle from Beaucastel and a perennial favorite. Both M. Clape and I agreed that the 2006 La Renaissance was coming across rather strange. But the 2006 Cornas was in fine fettle: a powerful, velvety wine full of black cherry and provencal herb flavors, it flaunted its pedigree. Substantial tannins here so time &/or aeration are needed.

Chateau de Saint Cosme: a clutch of toothsome Gigondas here – particularly Valbelle, the old vines cuvee, in both 2006 and 2007 – but the wine that thoroughly entranced me was the 2007 Gigondas “La Poste,” a pure grenache cuvee made from century-old vines. 2007 is the second vintage for this cuvee and it’s bound to become a cult wine. The dulcet texture of Grenache, seductive flavors of mint and soft fruit, lovely balance, flavors that hold through a long finish, the wine is what the French rightly call gourmand.. And when it’s this gourmand, it often fits into another French category, PMG, pour ma gueule. Literally, this means ‘for my mug’ but you can translate it as “I’ll save this one and drink it all by myself.”

Caves Yves Cuilleron: I just love Cuilleron’s wines. They’ve become a point of reference for me. He makes wine in at least five different Northern Rhone appellations and several cuvees of within most of them. He was showing three wines at this tasting. The 2006 Condrieu ‘Vertige,’ from a hillside parcel, was Ur-Condrieu – a rich weave of lovely viognier flavors, stone and mineral notes. It was fresh and well structured with a pure core of flavor from its attack to its very long finish. His 2006 St. Joseph “Les Serines,” a pure, old vines syrah, was cool and lipsmacking, with focused fruit and fine minerality, a delight. Of his three cuvees of Cote Rotie, he was pouring the “Terres Sombres” cuvee, from old syrah vines in the northern part of the appellation. I asked him to describe the qualities of the 2006 vintage and he said, “Elegant and fresh, the wines are silky, with a lot of finesse…” and I had to laugh because, in addition to ‘jewel-like fruit’ and ‘focused’ and ‘oaky,’ those were the very words I had written to describe the Terres Sombres. Oh, I also deemed it a grand vin.



October 27, 2008: A Clutch of Scrumptious Chinons from Jean-Max Manceau:
DOMAINE DE NOIRE/ JEAN-MAX MANCEAU:
The name Jean-Max Manceau is well-known to lovers of Chinon. The winemaker at Chateau de la Grille, he’s also the president of the Chinon Growers’ Syndicat. (And famously stormed out of an InterLoire meeting when the wines of Chinon were overlooked in a Loire-wide advertising campaign, despite Manceau’s timely objections and call for a vote.)
It was welcome news – however expected – when Jean-Max started making his own wine at the Domaine de Noire several years ago. He is in the process of converting his 11 hectares of vines to organic viticulture and produces 3 to 4 cuvees of red and one rose. (He wisely indicates the style of each cuvee on the back label, with a simple, one word description, eg “fruity.”)
There’s a clear family style here: Manceau’s wines are masterly, all of a piece and compulsively drinkable. Even when the alcohol reaches 14 degrees, the wine comes across as light (ish), fresh and fluid. I tasted three wines this morning – and I’ll retaste tonight, and, at least with the cuvee “Caractere” tomorrow and maybe the next day. Herewith:
2006 Chinon “Soif de Tendresse.” 13 degrees alc. This appears to be Manceau’s drink-me-up bottling. The vines grow on a plateau with southern exposure and clayey-siliceous soils. Yields average 40 hl/ha. The grapes undergo a two-day cold prefermentation and ferment in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks for 8 days at 22 to 25 degrees C. The wine is bottled the March following the harvest. (No oak here.)
Tasting notes: the nose is vibrant, with firm, focused aromas of crushed red fruit and blueberries. The attack is smooth. On the palate ints of violets and licorice join the pure, fresh fruit flavors. The balance is lovely; the wine is elegant and absolutely charming. I expect I’ll drink this with dinner!
2005 Chinon “Elegance” (“Fruity). This mid-range cuvee is bottled a year after the harvest. The grapes grow either on a gravelly, well-drained terrace or on clayey-siliceous soils. The vines are between 35 and 50 years old. Yields average 39 hl/ha. Fermentation is similar to that of “Soif de Tendresse” except that vatting lasts for 16 days. (No oak here either.)
Tasting notes: Deep, rich aromas of black berry, licorice and crème de cassis. The wine spreads across the palate like a weave of silk and velvet, with completely tamed fruit tannins. Despite its 14 degrees alcohol, the wine is graceful, harmonious, as authoritatively supple as a dancer. It is, as the French would say, gourmand. Well, maybe I’ll have this with dinner.
I’ll give my tasting notes on the third cuvee, Caractere, tomorrow or the next day. I want to follow it as it opens and evolves. Manceau’s most age-worthy bottling, this wine comes from his oldest vines, grown on tuffeau terraces, and it ages in newish oak for 13 months.

October 24, 2008: 1999 Coulee-de-Serrant:

Last February I got an email from my pal Terry Theise entitled “limp, flaccid and impotent…”
The body of the message went on to say, “ ....would not be unreasonable words to describe the 99 Coulee de Serrant we drank tonight. Did we have a dud bottle, is this a dud vintage? The wine was 'clean" but limp-wristed. Are things better in recent vintages? One nearly weeps to see this potentially supernal wine reduced to something so....pusillanimous. But at least the alc was within reason.”

I answered, “I did a test with a bottle of the '99. Since his Nibs (NJ)says to decant two days before, I decided to open a bottle and observe it over three days, putting half in a carafe and keeping half in the fridge. I have the notes in Paris -- I'm now in the country -- and will share them with you when I find them. But, while you may have gotten a dud bottle, and while the wine certainly isn't what it could have been if, say, Guy Bossard or Olivier Humbrecht had vinified it, such is the magnificence of that terroir that the wines are never insignificant, ergo never limp, flaccid and impotent. (That is, unless you decant them 2 days ahead, in which case they are oxidized: which led to a disagreement I had with Olivier Poussier who
has never spoken to me since!)

To which Terry responded, “ The "magnificence" of the terroir, with which I am entirely in sympathy,
was seen through a translucent veil in this case, as if the wine were diminished in some way, as if it were convalescing, its energy diluted.
Really Jackie, you could have used it in a class to demonstrate how even a great terroir could produce a mediocre wine in untalented hands. There was
little vitality, the structure, such as it was, was amorphous; the wine was basically a squandering of potential. It tasted as if it had been made by a
freshman in some lycee viticole terrified to make a mistake.”

Ok. Now I’m in Paris and I can share those notes with you. Also, a couple of clarifications are in order:
1) 1999 was far from a great vintage in the Loire. Nevertheless, there were successes, among them the ’99 Coulee-de-Serrant.
2) (NJ) =s Nicolas Joly.
3) I have often found NJ’s wines oxidized – sometimes when poured straight from the bottle. At other times I’ve tasted the wines when NJ has carafed them – perhaps for as long as his recommended two days. These wines have always been hopelessly oxidized in my experience. Two occasions come to mind: the first, at one of the “off” tastings at Vinexpo 2003; once at a tasting in Paris for which Olivier Poussier had selected the wines. (cf my comment re Poussier in the email to Terry.) The wine in question was the 2002. When I observed that I thought it was fatally oxidized Poussier vehemently disagreed, talking about the fraicheur of the 2002 vintage. His entourage nodded in agreement. I responded that, while 2002 was a Loire vintage marked by great freshness, the 2002 coulee-de-serrant I had just tasted was anything but fresh and was well on its way to becoming vinegar.
4) I want to underscore something I said to Terry: I truly believe that no matter how indifferent the winemaking, the Clos de Coulee-de-Serrant is incapable of making an insignificant wine. Viticulture, of course, plays a roll here and no one can doubt that Joly loves his vines even if he doesn’t much care for wine. Credit where it’s due. I'm wondering if we can draw some kind of conclusion or Wine-Truth from this: when you have a truly great terroir and when the raw material (the harvest) is of fine quality, you are bound to make a noteworthy wine. (It may not be "delicious" but it will be remarkable.)

Herewith, those notes on the 1999, tasted over the course of three days:
Day One: The wine is a deep cold with a near-transparent rim. Aromas of wax and lime are echoed on the palate along with the flavor of (not new) oak. There is a sense of greatness and power here, a real presence. For now, it falls off short but, at the point where the flavor is extinguished, it’s quite lovely – lime, herbs, honey, wax, great minerality. There is surely some residual sugar. The finish lengthens as the wine opens although the heat is much more noticeable. Despite the heat, the wine is getting so good that I may not be able to conduct my 3-day test. I could drink it all now. Though there is a lingering taste of so2 and that heat.
(After the first taste, I poured half the wine into a decanter, which I put on a sideboard, and put the half-full bottle in the fridge.)
Evening of Day One: the so2 has disappeared from the carafed wine but is still present in the wine kept in the fridge. Nevertheless, the latter is far superior – fresher, more focused, more gourmand, more textured, more complex and hugely mineral. On the downside, there’s that whiff of wet wool that I so dislike in Chenin.

Day Two: the carafe wine has deepened in color and developed butterscotch notes with undertones of dried apricot. The wine’s heat is problematic. Refrigeration probably would have masked this. The color of the refrigerated wine has evolved only slightly. There are still wet wool notes and the so2 is still evident but the wine has gained in power, presence, depth and texture. It has also gained in viscosity and manifests a rich core of herbal tea flavors. To me, it borders on greatness.
Day Three: there are some unidentifiable floating objects in the carafed wine which has turned the color of manzanilla. Clearly on the decline, with acidity and heat dominating all. The so2 has completely disappeared from the refrigerated wine which is now expressing flavors of minerals, herbs and stone. It is very powerful but I think it was at its best on Day Two.

A postscript here: I’ll be subjecting more recent vintages to the same test in December and will post those notes here. (I have tasted Joly’s range in 2005 and 2006 but quickly. I do sense an improvement but want to taste them when I can fully concentrate on them. I hope they’re among the samples waiting for me in Touraine.)

October 21, 2008: Pugliese Primitivo: Before being introduced to Susumaniello, Primitivo was the Pugliese grape that most interested me. During a week-long trip to the Salento region of Puglia I got to taste a broad sampling of wines made from the grape which is generally bottled (pure) under one of two local appellations, Primitivo di Manduria, a DOC, and Primitivo Salento IGT. Here are my two clear favorites.

Azienda Attanasio is a small family winery with compact, spotless cellars in the town of Manduria. The Attanasios produce 12 to 15,000 bottles yearly of dry Primitivo di Manduria and, vintage permitting, 1000 bottles of Primitivo di Manduria dolce.
Viticulture is “traditional” which, in this part of the world, means that each vine is a freestanding, gnarled alberello. The grapes – from 50 to 60 year-old vines -- are harvested by hand, in small boxes, and undergo cold prefermentation for several days before being pressed and fermented in small, temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks at about 25 degrees C. The wine ages in new and nearly new French barriques and is lightly filtered before bottling.

The 2006, at 15% alcohol (normal, they say), exuded aromas of ripe, wild berries, violets and licorice. On the palate flavors of black cherry, oak, prune, plum and sweet spices joined the mix, along with a hint of raisined grapes. The finish was somewhat sweet – which I attributed to both the alcohol and the fruit quality – and the tannins were soft, almost imperceptible. The wine wore its alcohol lightly; it was more of a caress than a bludgeon. I would have liked a touch more freshness and acidity but that’s just a quibble. The wine was scrumptious.
Attanasio’s Primitivo di Manduria Dolce, from 90 year old vines, is made only when the growing season permits harvesting late, at the very end of September or the beginning of October. The harvested grapes are left to shrivel and dry on straw mats before being fermented in stainless steel tanks. No oak here. Just a smooth, soft blanket of very ripe, pure fruit, a weave of flavors including kirsch, prune, orange peel and dried fig.

Everywhere we went in Puglia we were greeted with fresh mozzarella or homemade cake, sometimes both. At Attanasio, Mama had baked an almond and an apricot cake. The apricot jam used in the latter corresponded to one of the many flavors in the Primitivo Dolce, a wonderful marriage. As midmorning snacks go, this was pretty hard to beat.

I also admired the Primitivo di Manduria from Antiche Terre del Salento, another small, eco-friendly winery, producing roughly 15,000 bottles a year. (Our group didn’t visit this winery but the owner was pouring his Primitivos at a large tasting of the region’s wines and olive oils.) There are two cuvees: an entry level, unoaked version and the Feudo di Conti, which ages in 100% new oak. It is delicious but I found the oak overwhelming. I much preferred the delectable ‘cheaper’ bottling, Cerva Regia, a spicy, warm, very appealing and characterful red.


October 14, 2008: A Discovery in Puglia
I just met a grape called Susumaniello and I have fallen in love. It’s a red vinifera grape, grown only in Puglia, in the Brindisi area. The wines it makes, at least those I’ve tasted, are structured, fresh, nuanced, succulent and unique. Here, I think, is a potentially noble grape variety.
“Susumaniello” means something like ‘black donkey’; it prefers sandy soils; is late-ripening; makes deeply colored, rich wines, high in tannins, healthy in acidity, and best when harvested between 13 and 13.5 potential alcohol.
On a more poetic level, it is described as being both aristocratic and wild. You either love it or hate it.
You already know into which camp I fall.
In the Salento region of Puglia the grape was traditionally blended with other red varieties like Negroamaro and Primitivo. The grape nearly disappeared until it was saved from extinction by the owners of Tenuto Rubino who found 1.5 hectares of 75 year old vines on land they bought in the mid-80s when buying up land for their family domaine, now a state-of-the-art, 200 hectare winery. And they had the great good sense to vinify and bottle it on its own, where it heads a large portfolio of wines made from local grapes (Primitivo, Negroamaro etc) and international ones (Chardonnay).
The 100% Susumaniello bottling is called Torre Testa. It is a Salento IGT. The harvested grapes vat for 16 days with regular punching down and then age for 14 months in new French barriques.
When I visited Tenuta Rubino in September we tasted four vintages, starting with their first, 2001.
--2001—Waves of aromas and flavors – now crushed wild berries and spices, now prunes and then plums, black cherries, mint and licorice. There’s oak, too, lots of it but, as the wine breathes, the woody notes begin to integrate. Seductive and memorable.

2002 – Lightly reduced when first poured, the wine’s oak was prominent, along with balsamic and menthol notes. Unlike 2001, our host pointed out, 2002 was not a great vintage in Italy. I found, however, that I liked the wine’s freshness, its stiff yet stately presence and its licorice scents.
Curiously I may be beginning to have a new appreciation for under-ripeness these days, particularly if the phenolic ripeness is there – which it did seem to be with this 2002. (Can that happen? Having less than fully ripe grapes sugar-wise yet fully ripe grapes in the phenol department?)

2004 – A fragrant wine with a suave, velvety attack (before the oak and accompanying astringency kicked in), the wine was an utter charmer with a beautifully savory finish. Our host, who described 2004 as an interesting vintage – a cool year, made difficult by vine maladies – said that this was his favorite in the line-up. I agreed, though choosing was a bit like counting angels on the head of a pin.

2006- fairly closed and reduced with suggestions of succulent plumy fruit underneath, it struck me as potentially monumental. The vintage, we were told, was very balanced, the winter mild.

I believe in following wines like this as they breathe so I took two unfinished glasses – the 2004 and 2006 – and brought them with me to the dinner table. (I probably also topped them up.) Both wines benefited from aeration, increasing in loveliness over the course of the meal.
I checked the 2008 Gambero Rosso when I got back to Paris and, for those who care, they awarded 3 bicchieri – the guide’s highest rating -- to the 2001 and the 2002 Torre Testa, and 2 bicchieri to 2003 and 2004. We didn’t taste the 2003 but I’m betting that the 2004 wins 3 bicchieri in the 2009 Gambero Rosso.
I’m also predicting a very bright and prolific future for Susumaniello. And I look forward to drinking wines made from it on a very regular basis.



September 9, 2008:
WINE OF THE WEEK:2005 Sancerre Cuvee Edmond, Alphonse Mellot
First, I must admit that my feelings about Sauvignon Blanc as a grape variety have evolved – largely due to the Sancerres I’ve been tasting for the update of my Loire book. I basically wrote off Sauvignon as a very useful grape, one making an an easy wine to like and an easy one to understand but not a varietal that would really express pedigree, raciness, majesty. Added to that, I was underwhelmed by the overall quality of wines in the Sancerrois as well as the lack of dynamism and vitality as compared to the wines and the vignerons of Muscadet and Anjou.
After tasting hundreds of Sancerres –with more to come – for Loire 2, I have new respect for both the grape and the region. The quality of Sancerre wines has improved exponentially – and I know I’ll spend a great deal of time talking about it in the book. And my mind has been blown by the elegance, the beauty, the gravitas of more than a few of the Sancerres I’ve tasted. (The fact that a number of them become Wines of the Week testifies to that.)
As great as PC and GC Chablis, the wines they most remind me of. Look at a map and consider the soils and that’s no surprise. The two are practically kissing cousins.
The big difference is cepage. And what I find breathtaking about fine Chablis and fine Sancerre is that the grape fades to the background. Those simple, pungent varietal flavors that make Sauvignon blanc the first grape debutant tasters can recognize blind is replaced by a ripe, mellow yet fresh vinosity, a resilient support for achingly exquisite minerality, of stone, of tisane and citrus zests. These are wines that have their place alongside the best Chablis.
Now to the particular wine and winery in question. Alphonse Mellot has long been one of the appellations leading domains but, until the mid ‘90s, it was mostly known as a negociant. Alphonse pere (generation 18) began to put the emphasis on domaine wines and to cut back on negociant bottlings. After he was joined by Alphonse fils (generation 19), the negociant line was eliminated entirely and the focus was on ever finer wines from the Mellot’s own vineyards. (As part of this process, the vineyards are now farmed organically or biodynamically; new cuvees have been added, including some luscious red Sancerres.)
When push comes to shove, however, I think my favorite of all the Mellot wines is the Cuvee Edmond, named after Alphonse pere’s father (how an Edmond got mixed in with all the Alphonses is a mystery).
Cuvee Edmond comes from the oldest vines – between 40 and 87 years old – on the south-southeast facing slope of Mellot’s main vineyard, La Moussiere. The soils are composed of compact chalk and Kimmeridgean marl. Yields are low – roughly 40 hl/ha – and the grapes are hand harvested in small baskets. The wine ferments in small oak barrels, 60% of which are new, 40% the barrels of one or two wines, and ages on its lees for up to 14 months. (Increasingly opposed to the use of new and newish oak, I admire the mastery of the barrel aging here: the oak doesn’t mask the fruit or the terroir.)
The 2005 Cuvee Edmond is elegant, crystalline and emphatically racy, its texture a sleek, satin-like sheen. The wine is both mouthwateringly fresh yet lusciously layered, with light toast flavors mingled with notes of verbena and lime. Quite simply, a very fine wine.

August 13, 2008: First installment of the wines drunk with visiting friends over the weekend of August 10-12th. Bubbly.

My friends Ahmed and Lena love to drink sparkling wine so I prepared three different cuvees of Domaine Baumard’s Cremant de Loire.

Masterly is the first word that comes to mind when I think of Baumard’s Cremants, who has long been one of a handful of top producers of Loire sparkling wine. Given the substantial number of sparkling wine houses due south in Saumur – Bouvet-Ladubay, Gratien & Meyer, and Langlois Chateau among the best – this is no small achievement. Yet every last one of these houses, and I weigh my words, would do well to take some lessons from Baumard.

All Baumard’s sparkling wines are Cremant de Loire and thus subject to stricter regulations than your run-of-the-mill mousseux. Among other requirements, the grapes must be hand harvested and transported in small cagettes – to avoid crushing and oxidation. Crushing by pneumatic press, must be gentle, and Baumard uses only the juice of the first press. Cremants must age for a minimum of a year – though Baumard regularly ages his longer.

Carte Turquoise, a blend of chenin blanc and cabernet franc (blanc de noirs) is the ‘simplest’ cuvee. Brightly fruity, with invigorating flavors of lemon and lemon zests, it is well-mannered, fresh and substantial.

The Brut Rose, a non-vintage blend of cabernet franc, may age sur latte for up to three years. In its frosted white bottle it is alluring indeed – a shimmering watered-silk pink. Breezy and dry, with perfectly ripe cabernet fruit – not a whisper of veggies here – it has a lovely, ingratiating vinosity. Extremely appetizing.

Cuvee Tirage 2004, chiefly chardonnay with a percentage of chenin, ages two years sur latte. Sprightly and saliva-inducing with its flavors of minerals and lemon zests, it is layered yet airy and elegant, downright patrician.

Ahmed and Lena adored the wines and seemed particularly enamored of the rose, which Ahmed, after his second or third glass, deemed superb. He plans to buy great quantities of it and kept pestering to find out how he could get it. So I went on line to find shops in Paris that carry Baumard’s wines and, as is not the case in many other wine websites, found out the prices as well. Good website. www.baumard.fr. Check it out.

July 30, 2008:

Over two week ends in July I shared a number of meals with the same people – Abel and Dominique, both of whom you’ve met in prior FrenchFeast posts, and Paul and Helene, who will be introduced when I get to the FF part of this story. Francois Pinon joined us for the last meal, which was at my house. I’ll describe most of the wine s here and the food, setting, etc again, in FF.

As I’m busy tasting for Loire #2, I supply many of the wines, all from the Loire. So if you’re looking for notes on Le Pin or Laurence Feraud’s “Capo,” you’ve come to the wrong site. (But you probably knew that already.)

Herewith:

Dry Whites:

* 2007 Muscadet de Sevre & Maine “Amphibolite Nature, Domaine Jo Landron: This is the first cuvee Landron bottles. Named after its soils – metamorphic rock – it’s never chaptalized and usually “light” – the 2007 has 11.2 degrees alcohol – and it’s never filtered but is bottled off its lees by gravity.

A light wine, yes, but this has character to spare. Extremely mineral with lemon zest accents, it’s as fresh and refreshing as a wine can be. It led Abel, who is Portuguese, to reminisce about old-style vinho verdes. Today, he said, they’re more alcoholic and have lost their former charm.

* 2006 Muscadet de Sevre & Maine Sur Lie “Hermine d’Or” Domaine Jo Landron. Simply a splendid Muscadet, with great focus, flavors of minerals and lime zests and a long finish. Stellar.

Now, you may be asking, what means “Hermine d’Or”? It’s a designation given to selected Muscadets from a small group of excellent and largely like-minded winemakers. The group schedules ‘must attend’ tastings several times a year to select its Hermines d’Or. The wines are tasted blind and must receive scores of no less than 15 out of 20 to be Hermine. Wines that are Hermines receive neck labels with the designation, the vintage and the number of the bottle. It's as near a guarantee of quality as I've found.

* 2004 Muscadet de Sevre & Maine Cuvee Haute Tradition Domaine Jo Landron. (Confusingly, the label does not indicate Cuvee Haute Tradition but Jo told me that’s what it was and I believe him.) As its name suggests, this bottling is deliberately ‘old style.’ It ages on its lees in old demi-muids for roughly two years. It’s very textured and very fresh, though there’s a hint (not unpleasant) of oxidation. Tangy, mineral with flavors of lemon and lemon zests, it comes across meatier and more potent than the Hermine d’Or.

The 3 Landron Muscadets were all outstanding. My favorite, however, was the Hermine d’Or, which was close to ethereal. Helene and Paul seemed to favor the Haute Tradition which, I will say, was the best match with the main course at a Sunday lunch: mussels that Helene had delicately seasoned with saffron and curry.

(By the way, you can read my notes on Landron's 2006 Fief de Breil in an upcoming issue of Ed Behr's The Art of Eating.)

2006 Touraine Sauvignon Blanc “Les Trois Chenes” Domaine Ricard: Here’s a jolly young vintner whose various bottlings are favorites in Paris wine bars. Deservedly so. Vivid and pungent, the wine exuded aromas of grapefruit, cassis buds and pipi de chat. We drank it as an aperitif but it would have been terrific with goat cheese.

Vert de l’Or Vin de Table Domaine Baumard. Because of the wines VdT status, the label may not indicate the vintage (in this case 2004), the geographic origin (Anjou), or the grape variety which, in this case is Verdelho, a grape prized in Madeira. According to the Baumards, Verdleho was brought to Anjou in the first half of the 19th century – the back label says 1810 – probably by the enophilic count Odard. Since the mid-20th century it has almost disappeared from the vineyards of France. It was discovered by accident among Baumards vines and, French law being what it is, the Baumards were obliged to vinify it separately. In 2004 the wine was vinified dry, weighing in at 13.5 degrees alcohol. It’s light on its feet, however, sinewy and fresh, despite a lightly oxidized note, and pleases with flavors of lime, lime zests, ivy and steel. It’s a delightful discovery and a fine aperitif. (Another distinguishing feature: It’s closed with a very attractive screw cap.)

2006 Pouilly-Fume “Triptych”, Alain Cailbourdin: A good Pouilly, somewhat light despite its 13 degrees alcohol. Less than perfect phenolic ripeness, with flavors of grass and pipi de chat, but rather elegant and certainly a pleasure to drink.

2006 Sancerre “L’Authentique”, Thomas-Labaille: A tight, focused wine with lots of grip and heady aromas and flavors of white-fleshed peaches, blossoms, grapefruit zests and minerals, the wine is racy and delicious. (See Wine of the Week below for another cuvee from Thomas –Labaille.)

2005 Savennieres Clos le Grand Beaupreau, Yves Guegniard, Domaine dela Bergerie: Light waxy notes, suggesting an antique shop, and flavors of mallow, herbal tea, and broth, on a framework of steel. Powerful and racy and probably not for beginners. (The back label notes that three vignerons who work this land – Guegniard, Claude Papin and Vincent Ogereau – adhere to rules of viticulture which they, themselves, have established.)

Red Wines (Please note, all of these wines benefit from light chilling.)

2004 Chinon “Pierre de Tuff” Domaine de la Noblaie:
Well, 2004 wasn’t 2005. You’ve read (or can read) the raves about the 2005 served at my birthday meal (see below). A very good job here but the bell pepper aspect speaks to a lack of total phenolic ripeness and the wine is quite tart.

2005 Chinon “Les Blancs Manteaux” Domaine de la Noblaie:
A select old vines cuvee, this Chinon is a beauty, with jewel-like fruit and velvety texture. With a bit of aeration the oak stops hogging the stage and becomes part of the lovely weave. If I'm allowed to have two Wines of the Week, this is it.

2006 Saumur-Champigny, Domaine Antoine Sanzay: warm cherry and cherry jam flavors with a hint of sandalwood. Ingratiating.

2006 Saumur-Champigny ‘L’Expression’Domaine Antoine Sanzay: (from barrel, to be bottled without filtration): The L’Expression cuvee is made from old vines on the lieu-dit “les Poyeux” – made famous by the Foucault brothers. It vats for 30 to 35 days and ages in oak for a year or more.)A fine Champigny whose evident oak is balanced by rich cherry fruit. It will flower in a couple of years.

2005 Saumur-Champigny “L’Expression” Domaine Antoine Sanzay: Velvet texture and inviting flavors of black cherry, sweet spices and oak, it will only improve over the next couple of years but is lovely now if carafed a good hour (or more) before serving.

Sweet Whites

2006 Touraine Cuvee Armand Domaine Ricard: a grapey, somewhat foxy demi-sec of sauvignon blanc. This has never been my favorite style so I’ll just say that it was well made and that my other guests – most of them winemakers – enjoyed it. (It introduced the sweet –wine flight which I paired with the cheese course.)

2006 Touraine “L’Effrontee,” Domaine Ricard: The winemaker’s fact sheet says this is sauvignon blanc. I must call him. It smelled like chenin and tasted like chenin. 13 degrees alcohol, barrel fermented, it was fresh and ambitious and very tasty. I think it was about as fine as sweet chenin is going to get east of Vouvray and Montlouis, ie without their very special terroir. But it’s very much worth trying.

Vin de Table Vert de l’Or, Domaine Baumard: The sweet brother of the dry Verdelho above, this unusual and appealing wine comes from the 2003 vintage. Rich and fresh, with flavors of creamed corn and key lime pie, it’s a delightful discovery – but lacks the structure and complexity of chenin. Still, lovers of footnotes will want to taste it.

2005 Coteaux-du-Layon-Rablay, “le Clos de la Girardiere,” Domaine de la Bergerie: a sumptuous Layon, classic in the best sense of the word, with flavors of honey, verbena, and herbal tea. Although it comes across as being more voluptuous than the 2006 Quarts (below), the wines have similar profiles: around 12,5 alcohol , 134 grams residual sugar and total acidity of 3.5. Go know. One thing’s for sure, as lipsmackingly yummy as the Rablay is, it doesn’t have the majesty of the Quarts. (I always find Rablays blander than Layons from the Rochefort-St.Aubin-Beaulieu zone.)

2006 Quarts de Chaume, Domaine de la Bergerie: There wasn’t much sweet wine made in Anjou in 2006 and, in the realm of Quarts de Chaume, this comes across rather light and delicate. Also beautiful – with fine focus, balance and a velvety texture as well as succulent flavors of honey, quinine and herbal tea.

The Sparkler

1996 Vouvray petillant Domaine Francois Pinon: I had asked Francois to bring this bottle to go with dessert -- Dominiques pasteis de nata (Portuguese cream tartlets) and an apple tart made by Helene. To me, this is one of the most felicitous wines to pair with non-chocolate desserts. The creamy bubbles cleanse the palate and lift the spirits. The wine is mellow yet fresh, with flavors of apple, lemon zest and steel. This is what the Loire should be doing with its sparkling wines, IMHO.

July 23, 2008: Wine of the Week: 2006 Sancerre "Les Monts Damnes" Claude & Florence Thomas-Labaille. When tasting 300+ Chablis for The Wines of France, I was struck by how well made wines from top terroirs resembled their counterparts from Sancerre. The minerality was such that the grape variety seemed to disappear from the picture, or, at any rate, play a decidedly secondary role.

When tasting this majestic Sancerre (unfiltered), from one of the best sites in one of the best communes (Chavignol) in the appellation, I thought 'Chablis in the Loire.' An achingly regal wine, it is fresh, focused, and tight yet layered; its flavors, all minerals, stone and citrus zests -- grapefruit, lemon and lime.

It goes beautifully with food and yet it's so racy that it's almost a vin de meditation. It certainly put me in a reflective mood!

And one of the subjects that came to mind was sauvignon blanc, itself. Am I contradicting myself? Didn't I say that the grape played a distinctly minor role in wines of this caliber? Yes, I did. But I'm not contradicting myself.

Rather, I'm revising an opinion. Given the qualitative advances made by some vignerons in the Sancerre appellation, my estimation of sauvignon blanc has changed. Or evolved.

It's such an easy and easy-going grape; the first grape beginning tasters can identify blind. And it so blithely lends itself to making tangy quaffers that we don't expect it to produce profound wines.

I now believe this is a mistake. Dagueneau's Silex is not the exception that proves the rule. The change is that now Dagueneau has competition. And the wine above is evidence of the beautiful, elegant wines we can expect from sauvignon blanc if it's planted on the right land and treated with respect.

July 1, 8, 9, 2008: Wines served at my birthday lunch: (As I'm trying to put all wine tasting notes in this section I'm limiting myself to the liquid part of the meal here. I'll post the "solid" part and other comments in FrenchFeast later.) The guests: Henry and Marie-Jose Marionnet, Guy Bossard, Jean-Francois and Martine Dubreuil. (J-FD starred in the 'Wines of Memory and Sentiment' section of my Loire book.)

Wines tasted/drunk (almost exclusively Loire):

Dry Whites: 2005 Cour-Cheverny, Domaine de la Desoucherie; 2006 Cour-Cheverny Domaine de la Desoucherie Cuvee Solea; (2005) Romorantin VdT Les Cailloux du Paradis; 2005 Plume d'Ange VdT blanc, Les Cailloux du Paradis; 2005 Pouilly-Fume Chateau de Tracy; 2005 Pouilly-Fume HD- Haute Densite du Chateau de Tracy; 2005 Chinon blanc Domaine de la Noblaie; 2006 Muscadet Sevre & Maine Domaine de l'Ecu "Expression Granite."

Red Wines: 2005 Chinon Domaine de la Noblaie "Pierre de Tuff;" 2005 Racines VdT Les Cailloux du Paradis; 2005 Gascon/Rouge Les Cailloux du Paradis; 2005 Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Estate; 1988 Chinon Domaine Charles Joguet "Clos de la Dioterie;"2007 Premiere Vendange, 2007 le Batard de Marionnet, 1981 Touraine Gamay (Marionnet).

Sweet Whites: 2006 Quarts de Chaume Domaine de la Bergerie; 2005 Bonnezeaux "Malabe" Domaine les Grandes Vignes.

Eau de Vie maison.

Henry makes an astonishingly good white, Provignage, from the Romorantin grape, so I decided to serve a couple of wines from the same grape as an aperitif.

The first two wines came from Domaine de la Desoucherie, each from the appellation Cour-Cheverny in central Loire, an AOC devoted to the Romorantin grape. The first was the 2005 domaine bottling. Its chenin-like nose of apple and quince was classic Romorantin to me; like many Chenins, it had waxy notes, and like many Romorantins it was somewhat oxidized, rather like traditionalwhites from the Jura. The wine was slightly, and agreeably, metallic, very dry, with a fine thread of lemon zests and minerals. At close to 14 degrees alcohol, it was substantial without being heavy. A unique wine, it might not be for everyone. The second was the 2006 Cuvee Solea. Apart from the difference in vintage, this was was hand-harvested from slightly lower yielding vines. It was less alcoholic than the previous wine and had 18 grams residual sugar which were all but imperceptible. Fresh and nervy, the Solea had the crisp juiciness of Winesap apples. Singular and characterful, it was unanimously preferred over the first Cour-Cheverny.

Next came a Romorantin from Les Cailloux du Paradis/Claude Courtois, who sells his wines as Vins de Table or with no marking at all. There’s no vintage date on the label but the cork was dated 2005. Chez Courtois, we’re talking non-interventionist winemaking. Courtois, who has always reminded me of an R. Crumb drawing, has been practicing his brand of organic winemaking for many years and has quite a following. No added yeasts, no so2 etc. No surprise, then, that the wine was amber colored and quite oxidized. Quite fresh, however, with abundant flavors in the nut and toffee range. Rather nice if you were looking for a manzanilla-like white. So I served it with the special olives from California. Everyone drank with interest and Henry enjoyed it more than anyone.

To prepare our palates for different flavors I served another wine from Courtois, his 2005 Plume d’Ange, a white vdt that, we guessed, might have been a blend of chenin and sauvignon. It was lightly oxidized, very mineral and decidedly rugged. Not for the faint of heart. But it might just be the white that could convert red wine-diehards who shudder at the thought of “wimpy” whites. Again Henry was more vocal in his praise than anyone else.

I had served the first two wines, those from Desoucherie, ‘unblind’. But, starting with the Courtois wines, I served everything else blind. Not to stump the stars but because I wanted people to react without preconceived notions. This was particularly true with the Courtois wines – as the winemaker is such a controversial figure. Also, he’s Henry’s neighbor in Soings-en-Sologne though they never speak as their winemaking philosophies are seen as being so divergent as to be antagonistic. It’s daggers drawn. (Actually, they should be comrades: each marches to the beat of a different drum and occasionally having the forward movement of that march blocked by the strict letter of the law – as when Courtois planted Syrah and Marionnet planted Merlot.

In any event, I was particularly pleased to find Henry so pleased with the Courtois wines. “He’s obviously learned a couple of things,” he laughed, proffering his empty glass for a refill.

The Pouillys: 2005 Pouilly-Fume Chateau de Tracy: a fresh, tangy and relatively rich white with juicy, grapey flavors and that hint of Concord-esque foxiness I often get in Pouillys, my vigneron guests had no trouble placing this in Pouilly.

2005 Pouilly Fume HD Haute Densite du Chateau de Tracy: this exciting and relatively new cuvee from Tracy comes from a vineyard with 17,000 vine plants per hectare with only two bunches left per plant. (30 hl/ha.) Extremely mineral, with notes of lime and grapefruit, the wine was dense and tight, nearly unctuous and very racy. Marionnet was trying to put the name on a floral note he detected which I took to be foxiness similar to – though much less marked than – the 2005 Domaine. Everyone found the wines elegant though I was surprised to hear some of them describe them as “light.” Everything’s relative and these, particularly the HD, are fairly powerful Pouillys.

Chinon Blanc: 2006 Chinon Blanc Domaine de la Noblaie: The very fine, mineral nose scented with apple and quince , is echoed on the palate. The wine is extremely fresh, pellucid and mouthwatering. It fairly bursts with character. (I had thought a dry-ish chenin would be an ideal match for the langoustines but we all preferred Guy's Muscadet Expression de Granite.)


Red Wines:

The first red, served blind, was a 2005 Chinon “Pierre de Tuff” from Domaine de la Noblaie. A selection of the best grapes from the best parcels, the wine is made in a tuffeau cave dug in the 15th century. It’s a warm and inviting wine, suave and velvety, with rich cherry and strawberry flavors and cinnamon accents. Everyone adored this though Henry managed the ‘bogey’ the bottle.

Next in line, the 2005 Racines VdT from Courtois. This is a flavorsome red, very spicy, a bit raw, with balsamic notes. With aeration, a delicious core of small red and black fruit as well as cherry pits emerges. We’re guessing a Gamay/Cot blend.

2005 Gascon, another VdT from Courtois.According to Galet, the grape is either Mondeuse or the Franc noir de l’Yonne. In any event, it used to be popular locally – in la region centre, that is – and has all but disappeared. As handled by Courtois, it produces a supple, spicy, uncomplicated red that would be fun to discover in a wine bar.

My last “blind” bottle was the 2005 Pinot Noir from Clos Pepe Estate in the Santa Rita Hills (Santa Barbara). I’d spent a good bit of time talking to Wes Hagen, the owner and winemaker, while we were both judging for the LA Country Wine & Spirits Competition. (He doth protest too much when he dismisses the concept of terroir – which he obviously enjoys doing, if our conversations are typical of his discourse. Evidence to prove my point: when he visits France he tends to visit winemakers like Olivier Humbrecht; the name of his domaine “Clos” is terroir-related; and if you look at his website, www.clospepe.com, you’ll see that he spends a lot of time talking about soils. And he also claims that the Santa Rita Hills have the world’s mildest microclimate.) In any event, the wine was delicious. Good balance and texture, a little bit of heat (hard to escape with 14% alcohol), and luscious flavors of cherries and blueberries. Jean-Francois and I pretty much polished off this bottle, which was received enthusiastically and which was not flagrantly “New World.”

Henry was the only one who had reservations and then he pulled out a bottle called “Le Batard de Marionnet.”

Yet another Marionnet innovation, the wine, a 2007, was made from pinot noir grapes grown in the commune of Meursault (though in AOC Bourgogne) and hand-harvested in small baskets. Henry bought the grapes from Marc Rougeot and brought them back to Sologne where he vinified them “in a manner completely original and never before used with this grape variety.” The last bit is my translation of the wine’s back label. I take it to mean that Henry treated the grapes to his very own person style of carbonic maceration. In any event, it was juicy and tasty, very primeur. Marie-Jose thought the wine was too young but I’m wondering whether pinot noir is really suited to this type of vinification. Time, and future vintages, will tell.

Now Jean-Francois had a bottle to serve blind. We’re still not sure exactly what it was. Jean-Francois had intended to bring a bottle of Henry’s 1981 Gamay, a wine they’d drunk together on Henry’s 40th birthday. But the cork said Acacias which lead us all to believe that the wine, indeed a Gamay from Touraine AOC, came from Charles Guerbois, a very talented and creative vigneron who has, alas, given up winemaking. In any event, it pinot-ed – as gamays often do when they age.

A 1988 Chinon Clos de la Dioterie (from the Charles Joguet era) was the last red. Tasting of dried fruit, prunes, spices and leather, it still had plenty of sap and power left – more than we had at this point.

Sweet Whites:

2006 Quarts de Chaume Domaine de la Bergerie:
2006, a great year for dry Loire whites, did not produce epic sweet whites. This Quarts beautifully reflects its vintage: it comes off demi-sec (in Quarts terms), and seems more a product of passerillage than
of botrytis. It’s gracious and focused, with lovely a velvety texture and flavors of pineapple, honey, herbal teas and quinine. It’s all too easy to polish off a bottle.

2005 Bonnezeaux “Malabe” Domaine des Grandes Vignes:
the color of a deep, brushed gold, the wine comes on like a 6 puttonyos from Tokaj. A lipsmacking wine, fresh, with fine balance and rich, interweaving flavors of honey, caramel, tilleul, verveine, stone, apple and quince compote, and sweet spices. A meal in itself.

Then with dessert, Guy’s sparkling wine (one of the best in the Loire Valley) and my eau de vie.

The “solid” part of the meal will be the next installment and, when I post it, it will appear in FrenchFeast.

May 19, 2008:

2005 Chinon Clos du Chene Vert, Charles Joguet:

After having recounted Charles Joguet’s tale of how he came to buy the Chene Vert vineyard in FrenchFeast, I thought it appropriate to post my tasting notes of the 2005 vintage, along with some ruminations and recipe ideas.

I opened the wine on a Friday night, planning to serve it at a dinner party on Saturday night.

My very first impression was that this was a wine of considerable stature, its imposing presence a product of its soils. It was also massive – massively massive, massive beyond its 13.5% alcohol, a muscular, spicy, savory wine, with a hint of gameyness and strong, ripe tannins.

It recalled the tannat-based reds from France’s Southwest -- Irouleguy more than Madiran – which tempted me to pair it with a recipe that would not be out of place in Basque country.

One of my dinner guests was a vegetarian. So I had decided on pasta with a vegetable-based sauce. The recipe I settled on came from Marcella Cucina and she got the recipe from the very good restaurant Ivo in Venice. It called for eggplant, yellow bell pepper, capers, chopped green olives, onions and garlic (and I added more of the latter two ingredients than called for in the recipe).

The Chene Vert, decanted several hours before dinner, was among many wines served that night. It was fine with the pasta and some even thought it overwhelmed the cheese. (It’s usually the other way around and I rarely serve red wine with cheese.)

As I was the only big drinker at the table there was a substantial amount left over. I poured this back into the bottle, shoved a cork in, and put the wine in the fridge. Then I got to follow it over the next several days, finally finishing the bottle on Tuesday.

In the interim the wine had lost its gamey notes, it had begun to shed its baby fat and to reveal its distinction. Flavors of dark black cherry, violets, cassis, prune, cinnamon and licorice, underscored by chalkiness, developed. As rich as the wine was, it also had a welcome breath of freshness. It was still powerfully extracty but seemed all of a piece.

A very good Chinon, but one I wouldn’t approach before its 10th birthday.

And it didn’t have the delicacy of the Chene Verts of yesteryear. Why? I wondered.

Yes, 2005 was an incredibly ripe, rich year. But I’ve tasted 2005 Chinons, Bourgueils, Champignys etc that were epic but also elegant. Winemaking? Maybe. The team making wines at Charles Joguet has recently changed – for the better but, it seems, still not for the best. When I checked out the website (a very good one, by the way), I learned that the wine fermented at 35 to 37 degrees, a hot, probably fast fermentation, resulting (IMHO) in lots of extract at the expense of finesse. When Joguet, himself, made the wines, he fermented at low temperatures – in the 27/28 range—because he believed that by taking his cues from white wine fermentation techniques, he’d obtain more beautiful, more subtly perfumed and more refined reds. Maybe I’m wrong but I’d love to convince the current team to test the old methods that worked so well for Charles.

April 24, 2008: Wine of the Week: 2005 Cahors Clos de Gamot: Jean Jouffreau’s domaine not only could be but has been the poster child for French Family Farms: in 1968 the domaine won first prize in the Ministry of Agriculture’s French Farm competition. The dog-and-pony show that followed brought the Jouffreaus to the lawn of the White House. The prize was well deserved. The eco-serious Jouffreaus have 12 hectares of vines in the Cahors appellation. The grapes for this wine, from 45 to 123 years old, grow on a terrace whose soils are composed of clay and silex. The grapes are hand harvested, at 38 hl/ha, vat for roughly 25 days (depending on the vintage) and the wine ages for 18 months in large old barrels before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. They say that the wine is austere in its youth and gains complexity and suppleness after 8 to ten years of age. I tasted this wine in the beginning of the month at Hostellerie Le Vert (see Out & About) and the word ‘austere’ did not figure in my tasting notes. Charm, however, was oft repeated. The wine was deeply colored, with heady aromas of black cherries and violets. Juicy black cherry flavors enveloped a core of solid stone. I imagine that, with age, the wine will develop spicy notes that would have married beautifully with the chef’s cumin-scented lamb but why wait? I couldn’t stop drinking it and believe that I harvested every bottle on every table in the room.

Cahors from Le Cedre was my Wine of the Week for October 4, 2007 (see below). And the Cahors from this property continue to to WoW me: the 2001 Le Cedre, from magnum, was fragrant, structured and complex, with seductive flavors of black cherry, blackberry and licorice; the 2001 GC, from bottle, was rich and spicy with notes of pleurotte mushrooms.

April 13, 2008

TASTING NOTES FROM PRESS TRIP TO MINERVOIS AND ST. CHINIAN IN JANUARY 2008 – among which you’ll find great vinous partners for the cassoulet at Comte Roger in Carcassonne as well as for good cassoulets anywhere. (See Out & About).

I’d like to point out several things about these notes: first, in press trips you don’t get to taste every wine from every winery. There are simply too many. The organizers divvy up the producers among the various press trips so that everyone gets a chance to shine. In the notes below I’ve selected my favorites. At the end of the post I’ve also added some personal favorites whose wines weren’t included in the press trip tastings.

MINERVOIS & MINERVOIS LA LIVINIERE:

Domaine de Barroubio: 2006 Minervois rouge: the simplest cuvee from this domaine is forthright and chewy, with lusty red fruit flavors. A food friendly red. 2004 Minervois rouge “Jean Miquel”: more serious, more ‘wine’, that the previous cuvee, this bottling has more dimension and serious flavor. Chiefly carignan with some grenache and syrah,it’s perfect with the cassoulet. 2005 Minervois rouge “Marie-Therese”: juicy flavors of

February 24, 2008

Here are my reflections on the wines served at the truffle meals. I chose them for several reasons. For one, I’m tasting wines from the Centre right now; and 2) where young Loire reds are concerned, I thought pinot noir (or pinot mixed with gamay) would be the best bets. All of the reds benefit from aeration and from light chilling.

2003 Sancerre blanc “Etienne Henri” from Henri Bourgeois: This cuvee is made from old vines on silex soils. It ferments and ages in barriques. Big, creamy and oaky, it approached late harvest in richness and ripeness. A stylish wine,it was less marked by terroir than I would have liked – which I take to be a function both of the extreme 2003 vintage and the use of oak. (The whites I die for from Bourgeois are, almost invariably, Jadis and d’Antan.) As it was so lush and nearly sweet, I decided it might make a good aperitif. And that’s when I served it. (The meal would start with the Tuscan white bean salad and I wanted something bracing and sprightly with that, ie the Quincys that follow.)

2006 Quincy Domaine Mardon: a fine, limpid sauvignon blanc with flavors of lime, stone and minerals., the wine had good grip, a lipsmackingly marrowy texture, and an appetizing bitter almond, lime and stone finish. It was so fresh that, when comparing it to the Sancerre , I called it fringant. (In French, fringant means frisky, high-spirited. Neither Bernard nor Nicole had heard the word applied to wine before and loved this particular application. It did, however, lead to a discussion of wine words – which ones are mere pretentiousness and hot-air and which, though hifalutin’ sounding, actually do mean something.

2006 Quincy Jean Tatin (Domaine de Tremblay): As fringant as the previous wine, this lively sauvignon blanc won a Gold Medal at the big Paris wine competition held at the time of the Salon d’Agriculture.won a gold medal at paris wine fair. Well-made and self-assured, it was full and fresh, with flavors of grapefruit zest and cassis buds and would be a perfect bistro sauvignon blanc. (The Domaine de Tremblay makes three additional cuvees of Quincy, my favorite being the racy Vieilles Vignes bottling with its etched, crystalline fruit.)

2006 Chateaumeillant rose from Domaine Lanoix: Annette doesn’t drink white wine (unless it’s Montrachet or something else worth the inevitable headache) so I opened this rose to go with the fish soup appetizer. Firm, dry, of some substance, with flavors of ash and light strawberry, it was a fine match.

2006 Coteaux du Giennois rose “Frenesie” Domaine de Villegeai (Quintin Freres): I chose this not only because it was yummy but because I knew Ilona would love the name. We drank it with cepe chips (small, round melba toasts) that Ilona had brought back from Latvia. Smooth, taut and focused, the wine had a lovely fluidity and went down all too easily. It had grace notes of strawberry but was dominated by flavors of stone and minerals. It wasn’t surprising that the wine won a Gold medal in the Salon des Vins de Loire wine competiton – as did the domaine’s red, Terre des Violettes, another charmer.

2006 Chateaumeillant rouge Cuvee du Chene Combeau, Domaine Lanoix: a firm, easy-drinking pinot noir with flavors of minerals and strawberries. Lots of charm here, too, and much too easy to drink. Perfect for a cozy late night supper bythe chimney but not bad at any time.

2006 Coteaux du Giennois rouge “Premices” from Emmanuel Charrier: the label says “hand harvest “ which is often a good sign. And the wine captivated with cool, lean fruit, light tannins and a lively acidity. Like all these reds, this one should be served lightly chilled. And it should be drunk with pals, some charcuterie and a nice, week-old goat cheese just beginning to develop blue splotches on its rind.

2006 Menetou-Salon rouge from Domaine de Chatenoy (White Label): This is the domaine’s light red. Abundant upfront fruit, suave and smooth, with nice, light tannins and an appetizing note of bitterness, it was delicious. Not a single false step. ( I tasted the 2005 Black label, the more serious red, on another day and watched it evolve over the course of three days. Thanks to the vintage, it was bigger and riper and had more gravitas. As it opened, its fruit, somewhat skeletal (in the nicest sense) to start, fleshed out and revealed juicy flavors of dark cherry and blueberry. The wine had aged in barrel but the oak here was a support, not a crutch, an accent, not a mask. And the wine went very well with spinach-and-ricotta-stuffed tortellini.)

2006 Menetou-Salon rouge “Celestin” from La Tour St. Martin: Uh huh, a heavy bottle. A sure sign of oak age and higher price. Also higher ambitions. And it was an ambitious wine, suave, with attractive fruit, but it was too oaky for me. I prefer the domaine’s simpler, unoaked bottling, a firm, stony, light pinot noir. It might be too light a style for some, but I love it.

2005 Sancerre rouge “le Connetable” Joseph Mellot: An old vines cuvee in another heavy bottle, this wine was dominated by flavors of oak and vanilla. Food helped, however, and we had no problem finishing the bottle.

2005 Sancerre rouge “La Grange Dimiere” Jean-Max Roger: Both Roger and Joseph Mellot are large grower-negociant houses and make wines in Sancerre and Menetou-Salon. The latter, from both, are on my “taste next” table. The Sancerres will wait. I opened these two specifically for the truffles. This wine greeted me with a whiff reminiscent of the rind of a St. Nectaire, something I often find and which I don’t find disagreeable. ( I imagine some tasters would call it cellar smells.) It came across rather hard, withcool, lean fruit. Food helped immensely. No trouble polishing off this bottle either.

2006 Sancerre rouge “Antique” Claude Riffault: I watched this beauty evolve over two days. Delicious and admirable, it was a fresh, structured pinot noir with succulent flavors of griotte and black cherries. A perfect example of why I go ballistic when people claim Sancerre can’t make good pinot noir.

2006 Sancerre rouge Vincent Pinard: Another good argument for pinot noir in Sancerre, this wine was pure, focused and accurate, with light caramel notes and juicy cherry fruit.

December 22, 2007 My Wine of the Year for 2007 is the 1997 Chateauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Banneret.

Owned by Marie-Francoise and Jean-Claude Vidal, the estate – which comprises roughly four hectares spread out over five different parcels – is an ancient one: existing documents date as far back as 1405.

Jean-Claude, an architect, decided to become a vigneron when he retired from his day job in 1989.
Tradition – in the best sense of the word – is the operating principle here. The vineyards, with a high percentage of old vines, are planted to all thirteen varieties. The low-yielding vines are, of course, harvested by hand, mostly by the extended Vidal (and Espinasse) family.

A blend of 60% grenache, 10% syrah, 10% mouvedre, with the balance a mix of the other nine varieties, the grapes are not destemmed.They ferment together in concrete tanks and then age in old Burgundy barrels for 18 months. The wines are not filtered, they are bottled (with the help of a pipette)and labeled by hand. 80% is exported to the USA. (Vidal’s nephew, Jean-Marc Espinasse, is married to an American. Each has a website: his is www.rouge-bleu.com; Kristin’s (his wife’s) is www. French-word-a-day).

The texture of velvet, the wine – tasted in March 2007 – was a tapestry of flavors – black cherry, cherry pits, eau de vie, sweet spices and minerals. Its coherence and purity took my breath away. You could spend an entire evening observing (and delecting in) its evolution in the glass, now the dulcet syrup of grenache gently dominates, now provencal herbs. The words ‘truth’ and ‘soul’ came readily to mind. Here was a wine of discovery, a wine to bring tears to a winelover’s eyes, a wine that makes you shake your head in awe -- to think that a cluster of grapes could do this.

And it raises various issues: can a wine have soul? By me, no question. I had been moved by this wine before I learned that the grapes had been harvested a mere month before Vidal’s son died of cancer. Before I learned that this was a barrel sample that Vidal, because of the wine’s place in family history, was unlikely ever to bottle.

Another issue is the thorny one of tradition -- in its good, bad and indifferent manifestations. Well, tradition and wine fads. Take the issue of fermenting a red wine with the stems. This is not currently the mode -- though it once was common practice. I hope to explore this issue more thoroughly – though I’ll beg off for the moment; I've had several shots of gin, I hear the village clock chime 7 and have dinner to cook.

One more note before I log off: when and where I tasted this unforgettable wine was also remarkable. That will be Part II of this story.

November 27, 2007: Harvest report from Philippe Blanck of Paul Blanck in Alsace:

Chère Jacqueline,

De retour des Usa , je vous envoie quelques premiéres impressions sur le millésime 2007:

Millésime de référence: aprés un printemps prometteur, floraison précoce et généreuse, un orage de grèle s'est abbatu sur la vallée le 20 juin en faisant beaucoup de dégats (60% du vignoble touché de 20à 100 %)

Un été froid a paradoxalement aidé à la cicatrisation des plaies liées à la grèle. L'été indien a donné l'un des meilleurs millésime des quinze dernières années . une belle maturité avec des acidités mûres.Des journées lumineuses et des nuits froides aident à la construction du millésime.

Le botrytis s'est bien installé début octobre. Il a été très propre comme en témoignent les raisins mais aussi les moûts en sortie de pressoir. Certaines baies se sont concentrées parallèlement par passerillage, ce qui est très intéressant dans la mesure où ce phénomène concentre aussi les acidités, ce qui aide à équilibrer les sucres résiduels de ces vins. Il a été récoltés sans trop tarder car attendre plus aurait risqué de faire chuter les acidités mais aussi la pureté aromatique (en raison du développement possible de la pourriture grise).

Il faudra attendre les mises de l'automne prochain pour valider cette affirmation. Les grands Crus et VT SGN seront commercialisés dans quatre ans au plus tôt,

Donc, pas de précipitations pour une annonce en fanfare.

cordialement,

Philippe Blanck

November 5, 2007: Wine of the Week: Champagne Drappier "Quattor": They call this cuvee ‘blanc de quatre blancs” as it’s made from equal parts of the first gentle press of Chardonnay, Arbanne, Petit Meslier and Pinot Blanc. Aged two to three years sur latte, the Champagne is, above all, elegant and fine, with a delicate stream of bubbles. Simultaneously fruity – with flavors of preserved lemon and Granny Smith apples -- and very dry and starchy, its dosage is rather high for my taste – at 8 g/l – but very successfully done here, adding to the wine rather than masking it. (The liqueur used aged for 25 years in oak.) On this side of the pond, it’s priced at an extremely reasonable 36,40 euros.

A note, in passing, on the 2000 Moet. This was served to me by Olivier Roellinger, whose Maison Bricourt in Cancale has 3 stars in Michelin. Usually Roellinger is a man who sticks with artisanal ingredients – wine included – and he claimed this was the first Moet he’d ever had on his list. I wasn’t impressed, finding the Champagne structureless and unfocused.




October 2007

Oct.10, 2007: Meet Bob de Bourg:
Once upon a time there was an adorable beagle named Bob. Except that this beagle didn’t really exist. He was dreamed up by the wine producers of the Cotes du Bourg in the Bordeaux region of France who wanted a new advertising campaign, one with an irresistible animal as mascot (as we are now all aware that animals on labels sell wines). Et Voila! Bob, as in Best of Bourg, and, henceforth a growing anthology of beagle-related labels and ad logos.

Now I am as susceptible to cute pictures of cute animals as any dog-deprived, always-on-the-road-professional. And I also happen to be quite fond of the wines of the Cotes du Bourg, the unfortunate producers of which were recently forced to hijack a beagle named Angela when I visited the region, just to give a semblance of truth to their ad campaign and to give me something to chase after, feed fancy hors d’oeuvres to and pet while tasting a range of rather serious, lipsmacking reds in a summer garden.
All of this by way of telling you about the Bob’s latest venture: a 5 litre- bag in box with Bob de Bourg, natch, prominently on the carton, sitting as if ready to bound after any bone or ball you might like to throw.

The wine inside the bag inside the box is a 2006 Cotes du Bourg, 85% merlot, 15% malbec, selected by a jury, from an individual property. The five-litre box costs 24 euros.

So how is it? Well, it’s the quintessential quaffer – supple, light and fresh, with good acidity, light tannins and dark cherry fruit. It’s a well-made beverage wine and it goes down very, very easily. The kind of wine you’d want on hand for a loud house warming party, Halloween party, office party. And the kind of wine that every café in France would do well to pour whenever anyone called for a glass of red.

Wine(s) of the Week: Oct. 4, 2007: Chateau de Cedre Cahors:

In The Wines of France (p 331) I said that I had never tasted the Verhaeghe’s deluxe cuvee – GC – of Cahors. The 2000 was presented at a tasting last spring but, alas, it was corked. So a bottle was sent to me and, last night, with autumn well and truly in the air and a nice pork chop in the fridge, I decided to taste it.
Chiefly malbec – average age of vines, 48 years – grown on chalky terraces, the wine ferments in open 500 litre barrels and ages gently in those barrels for another 24 months.

Now, as grape varieties go, malbec’s star was destined to rise and its ascent finally seems to be happening. But most of the attention goes to New World malbecs. This has not gone unnoticed in Cahors – which is now promoting its “black wine” by the name of its grape rather than its appellation – though the 2000 GC is a fine ambassador for both.

It’s a sleek panther of a red, mouthwatering, silky, suave and polished yet with a warm country soul. Initially it invites you in with aromas and flavors of sweet spices – primarily cinnamon and mace – and light balsamic notes as well as the accents of oak in the vanilla range. It’s surprisingly fresh for a red this rich, with appetizing bitter undertones and bass notes of eau de vie de quetsch. As the wine aerates, flavors of prune, black olive and black cherry emerge.
Now here’s the rub (actually two rubs): 7500 bottles were produced and none are left for sale. And the vintage now on sale – 2005 – is not cheap at around 61 euros.

The regular cuvee, at half the price, is better value and always delicious. I recall the wonderfully structured, richly berried 2000 that I drank with immense pleasure at Pimpernel’s, a restaurant in Bath. (You’ll find a review of that excellent restaurant in Article Archives/Bath.)

But is value the only consideration? (That’s rhetorical, of course not.) The regular cuvee is a yummy meal partner and a super delicious wine. Cuvee GC takes center stage. And if it shares that stage with perfectly roasted duck (crisp skin, succulent meat) and potatoes mashed with the best butter you can find, then, my friends, you’ve got a little taste of heaven.

September 29, 2007: Harvest report from the Larmandiers (Larmandier-Bernier, p.152 in The Wines of France) in Champagne. Also, a postscript to Alain Hasard's Burgundy report, following his September 28th entry.

Bonjour,
We have finished harvesting (we were very lonely in the vineyards, most people ended several days before).
2007 was again a "different" year :
April was in summer, so bud burst was unusually early and at the beginning of june, it was expected that picking would begin earlier than ever before in mid August.
But the weather in june, july and august was wet, and cold for the season. We were pessimist for the vintage. The official date of opening harvest was decided early in august, not taking the bad weather in august into account. Since most people run when as soon as it is open...We decided to postpone our beginning, calling every pickers back several times. It was not very risky (we were in august !), but it is always difficult when you are alone...
Then the weather changed : since august the 24th, we only had nice weather : no rain (except 1 hour of small rain on september 3rd), a
north wind, it was good conditions because the grapes needed to concentrate. It was not too hot, so nearly botrytis was not a problem.
Finally we harvested nearly 100 days after flowering, (the last years, it was around 95 days).
We started picking in our own vineyards on september 3rd (except for 2 small pinot noir vineyards to make the Rosé and the Vertus Rouge that were ripe a few days before). Most winegrowers of the village began on august the 27.
Chardonnay are nice, but we had to sort the pinots noirs after picking (we've just bought a sorting table).
Ripeness is difficult this year for all Champagne areas especially when the volume of grapes is not controlled. And one more time people (in the Cote des Blancs above all) harvested too soon.
For us, thanks to our reasonnable yields and because we waited (and were lucky with the weather), we are happy with the results : our chardonnay are around 11, ph around 3, figures are not enough but the juices smell and taste very nice.
So we'll wait, taste and see, but this year may be worth making some vintages cuvees.
Best
Pierre and sophie

September 28, 2007: Harvest reports from Burgundy and Chateauneuf-du-Pape: The Burgundy report comes from Alain Hasard/Domaine des Champs de l'Abbaye (p. 93 in The Wines of France); the Chateauneuf report, from Michel Blanc at the Growers' Federation. If you'd like me to translate, send me an email.

Salut Jacqueline,

qq nouvelles des vendanges:

- De grosses disparités de maturité: un décalage de 3 semaines entre les plus précoces et les tardives.
- Des degrés alcooliques faibles: en moyenne 10-11% vol pour les rouges, avec une amplitude de 8 pour le pire et 12.5 pour les meilleurs. Au dessus, ce sont de gros menteurs-tricheurs...
- Pour les blancs, j'ai entendu parlé de 6 (pour des aligotés) et 14 (pour des Montagnys). En fait, les blancs ont mieux profité des beaux jours de Sept, pour ceux qui auront su attendre.
- Etat sanitaire: excellent pour les blancs, détérioré ( pourriture et flétrissure) pour les rouges précoces (Volnay, Pommard, Savigny), à excellent pour les tardifs pas trop chargés (Couchois, Hte Côtes) et une certaine hétérogénéité entre les deux. Tout dépend de la charge.
Inutile de dire que dans des millésimes-limite comme 2006 et 2007, la charge est une condition sine qua non de maturité/réussite.

En ce qui nous concerne:
- Une parcelle de Mercurey et dans une (bien) moindre mesure le secteur d'Aluze, nous ont donné bcp de travail: on a passé 2 jours à 10 coupeurs pour vendanger le 1/2 ha de notre vigne de Mercurey Les Marcoeurs!!! Et je ne suis pas sûr que nous ayons échappé au goût de raisin figué.
- Une réussite exceptionnelle dans les Côtes du Couchois: degré entre 11.5 et 12 mais surtout une maturité phénolique de grand millésime. Arômes riches, couleur noire intense, texture veloutée, et une bonne acidité... Juste un bémol: rendement de 10 hl/ha en moyenne.
- Des Blancs abondants et mûrs: 50 hl/ha pour les Mercurey etBge Blanc (13 % vol) et 40hl/ha (et13.5%) pour le Rully: du jamais vu pour nous!

Tu l'auras compris: on a vendangé à la carte (en 3 fois). Beaucoup d'ailleurs ont fait la même chose.
Et au final, je pense que nous avons bien joué le coup. Ce qui n'était pas gagné au départ.

Amitiés,
Alain

The 2007 vintage has occasioned a lot of vehement denunciations of organic viticulture amongst the chattering wine classes. I asked Alain, who adheres to biodynamics, what he thought. Here's his response.

Salut Jacqueline,

Tu fais bien de parler comparaison entre Bio et "autres"!

Pendant la campagne, toute le monde a souffert et surtout les vignes. Et je n'insisterai pas sur les ravages infligés aux terroirs par les énormes enjambeurs contraints d'intervenir en catastrophe dans des sols détrempés, provoquant souvent des ornières monstrueuses, ou obligés encore à ne prendre les rangs de vigne que dans le sens de la descente car incapables de les monter sous peine de glissade..!

Les BIO ont subi plus d'attaques et plus intenses que les chimiques. Mais en fait, tout s'est joué en fin de campagne!
J'ai vu partout en Côte d'Or et Saône & Loire, des vignes complètement ou partiellement défeuillées à la fin du mois d'août, alors que tout paraissait sain et bien vert le 15.
Les chimiques ont apparemment subi de plein fouet les attaques de mildiou mosaïque qui se sont produites durant la fin de campagne (suite notamment à l'orage du 15 août). Ce qui n'est apparemment pas le cas des vignes en BIO.
Les Bio ont surtout souffert en milieu de campagne lors de l'apparition de la maladie, avec des pertes sur grappes pouvant être significatives ( par ex chez Yannick). Mais ensuite, les vignes ont réagi et les viti BIO ont mieux géré la fin de campagne pour finir avec des vignes souvent en meilleurs états que celles de leurs collègues.

Pour mon cas:
Certaines de mes vignes sensibles au mildiou (terres légères) et très peu protégées (comme tous les ans) ont subi une grosse attaque fin Juin- début Juillet (jusqu'à 10 impacts de mildiou par feuille!). Mais j'ai réussi à contenir la maladie en resserrant la protection, en augmentant légérement les doses de cuivre et en rognant soigneusement à la main. Toutes les repousses (jeunes feuilles sur le sommet du palissage) ont été systématiquement détruites, qq "vieilles" feuilles ont été aussi affectées, et enfin qq grappes touchées par le Rot Brun. Par contre, pas de mildiou mosaïque!
Ainsi au final, toutes mes vignes ont gardé un feuillage efficient jusqu'au vendange, ce qui nous a permis d'atteindre systématiquement la maturité phénolique et une maturité alcoolique dans le haut de la fourchette du millésime. Il était même facile de constater que nos vignes étaient parmi les plus belles du coteau: feuillage vert clair, légérement jaunissant à la récolte (signe de maturité physiologique), grains noirs et fermes sans aucune pourriture.

Durant la campagne 2007, j'ai utilisé 2,3 kg de cuivre-métal par ha (alors que le maximum est de 3 kg en Biodynamie), ce qui est une performance dans le millésime. Néanmoins, je préciserai qu'Isa et moi n'avons pas cessé de travailler dans les vignes durant tout l'été!

Sur ces 5 dernières années, j'ai utilisé en moyenne 1.8 kg de Cu métal/ha/an. Pour te donner une idée de ce que ça représente, il faut savoir que:
Un viti en chimique qui fait un dernier traitement à la pleine dose de Bouillie Bordelaise, soit 15 kg/ha, utilise 3 kg de Cu métal/ha... Ceci est très fréquemment recommandé et pratiqué dans le cadre de la lutte raisonnée. En clair, en un seul traitement, il utilise en un passage, plus de Cuivre que moi en 1 an.




LE MILLESIME 2007 A CHATEAUNEUF DU

Des vendanges très saines suite à un été exceptionnellement sec et venté…



Avec seulement 35 mm de précipitations cumulées entre le 16 juin et le 15 septembre, on peut affirmer qu’à Châteauneuf-du-Pape l’été 2007 a été exceptionnellement sec. Selon les agro météorologues du Cirame de Carpentras, il s’agit même du plus sec de ces vingt dernières années, la normale s’établissant à 161 mm (station météo d’Orange).

Les pluies de ces derniers jours (environ 20 mm entre le 16 et le 18 septembre) ont donc été les bienvenues, leur faiblesse n’ayant eu aucune conséquence sur le bon déroulement des vendanges qui dans certains domaines commencent à tirer sur leur fin, précocité du millésime oblige (le ban a été proclamé le 4 septembre).

L’été 2007 a aussi été sensiblement plus venté que la normale (20 jours de fort Mistral entre le 1er juillet et le 15 septembre) et légèrement excédentaire au niveau de l’ensoleillement saisonnier (1.157 h contre 1.145 h en moyenne).

Malgré la forte variabilité des températures, avec 30 jours où les minimales ont été comprises entre 10 et 15°C, et seulement 7 jours où les maximales ont été supérieures à 35°C, les moyennes saisonnières demeurent conformes à la normale (léger excédent en juin et septembre et léger déficit en juillet et août).

Le bilan climatique de ces derniers mois permet donc de confirmer ce qui est visible dans les vignes : l’été 2007 a été particulièrement favorable à l’obtention d’une vendange de qualité, saine, dotée de bons équilibres aromatiques et de belles couleurs.

Dans les vignes, le tri étant ramené au strict minimum, les chantiers de vendanges avancent rapidement et en toute sérénité. Une sérénité qui autorise les vignerons à s’arrêter un jour ou deux dans la semaine pour attendre, si besoin est, la parfaite maturité de leurs parcelles et optimiser ainsi le potentiel du millésime.

Quantitativement, la récolte 2007 s’annonce légèrement supérieure à la moyenne décennale avec des rendements qui devraient se situer entre 32 et 34 hl/ha, pour un maximum autorisé de 35 hl/ha.

Un millésime qui se situe donc dans la lignée des 2003, 2004, 2005 et 2006.



Fédération des syndicats de producteurs de Châteauneuf-du-Pape

WINE OF THE WEEK: August 31, 2007: Herve Bizeul, the producer of Clos des Fees (see p.184 in The Wines of France), has formed a sort of cooperative. Working with several other vignerons – some of whom formerly sold their harvest to the local coop – he produces a wine called Walden. (That he takes his inspiration from Thoreau is evident from Bizeul’s pamphlet which includes lengthy quotes from Walden as well as atmospheric black and white photos of woodlands.)
Standards are (predictably) high: the blend is standard for the Cotes de Roussillon Villages appellation: 40% Syrah (youngish vines) and 30% each of Grenache and Carignan (50 to 90 year old vines). Yields are low; harvest is by hand and does not begin until the grapes fully ripened and they are transported to the cellars in small ‘cagettes’ and then a refrigerated truck. After a short maceration a froid, the grapes ferment in specially designed, thermoregulated stainless steel tanks and vat for three weeks. The wine is bottled the following spring after a light filtration. With a suggested price: 6e40, this wine is an excellent value for near to mid-term drinking.
2006 Cotes de Roussillon Villages: (13.5 alcohol): A fresh, exuberant nose of black fruit is followed on the palate by flavors of blueberry, blackberry, black cherry and licorice. The wine is fresh and it’s not heavy, even though there are some Port-y notes. It’s smooth, supple and soigne, with attractive stoniness and depth. It will probably improve with a bit of bottle age (no more than five years) and/or aeration.

June 2007

Domaine de la Madone Recent tasting.
Here’s a perfect example of why wine lovers should come back to Beaujolais. Actually, three perfect examples. The first, the 2005 Beaujolais “Le Perreon” is both a serious and a scrumptious red. It’s rich and delectable, with bright, ripe cherry flavors, an appetizing bitter-mineral streak and lovely freshness. Downright gourmand.
Its big brother, an oak-aged cuvee, adds notes of toast, plum and vanilla. For current drinking, I prefer the non-oaked – for its gaiety and freshness. But this wine is beautifully built and will evolve well.
Then there’s the 2004 Beaujolais Villages Cuvee Jean-Baptiste. Named for the vintner’s grandfather, it’s made from low-yielding (18 hl/ha) vines 50 years old and older, aged in oak (half of the barrels are new) and is bottled unfiltered. About as far as you can get from the caricature of Beaujolais – watery and smelling of bananas – this packs deep black and red cherry, and cherry vanilla and plum flavors, accented by herbs and dark notes of tar. The oak is perfectly integrated. It’s structured and serious and if you serve it blind to a wine snob, he (or she) just might take it for a pinot noir.
Domaine de la Madone also produces a fruity, full and mineral Bourgogne blanc.

May 2007

(I hope to get back to Rhone Decouvertes soon but, in the meantime:)

May 22, 2007 : Bandol Update

The following are notes from a Bandol tasting held in April 2007. The featured wines were the 2004 reds and the 2006 roses. The tasting – and the following lunch – were held in Drouant, an historic Paris restaurant. (I plan to write something very positive about it in FrenchFeast.) I’ve included a handful of additional notes where appropriate. (I think it’s worth noting that rose production continues to rise – at the expense of reds – and now accounts for 70% of Bandol production.)

DOMAINE DES BAGUIERS:
2004 Rouge: healthy, rich garnet, vibrant fruit mixed with plenty of what seems like new or newish oak. Stylish, though the finish is somewhat drying (food would help). Fine for an upscale bistro.

LA BASTIDE BLANCHE ‘CUVEE ESTAGNOLE’:
2004 Rouge: deep, black cherry color; a whiff of gameyness on the nose; some freshness but rather raw, rustic and tannic, with a slightly bitter, licorice-tinged finish. 2006 rose: a bit flat but, if served colder, might be pretty nice.

CHATEAU DES BAUMELLES:
2004 rouge: dark color and saturation, very closed and slightly reduced; on the palate, smooth, rich, with black olive notes. Some depth and gravitas, Worth following. Seems to be same property as La Bastide Blanche though this wine is much superior.

DOMAINE DE LA BEGUDE:
2004 rouge: deep, dark color and saturation. On the palate, rather Rolland-esque with lots of flashy, juicy fruit and new oak flavors. Quite stylish. 2006 Rose: Full and structured, less terroirte than, say Sorin, but good and savory.

DOMAINE DE CAGUELOUP:
2004 rouge: deep, dark color and saturation. Curiously contradictory wine – with hints of strawberry and cotton candy in nose and on palate as well as abundance of dry tannins and sour finish. Not without issues but not without interest. Try by the glass.

DOMAINE LE GALANTIN:
2004 rouge: relatively lean, smaller scale and slimmer than most of its counterparts but fresh, restrained, savory and food friendly. It even has a hint of elegance. Also, notes of black olive and Provencal herbs. 2006 rose: hard candy aromas and flavors – which will probably pass – light, fresh, with pleasant citrus notes.

DOMAINE DU GROS NORE:
2004 rouge: Deep, dark garnet. A serious red with a core of fleshy, ripe fruit and spices. Well-structured and fresh. Very promising, real substance, style and sense of place. Mourvedre likes the sea. 2001 Rouge: (Note: this wine was presented at the Bandol lunch. I also served it wine at home, with pesto. Not what you might imagine would be the perfect marriage but this wine is very adaptable. I tasted it with ‘crostini’ spread I’d made from rabbit livers, red wine and capers and it was delicious.) Pungent, potent and masculine; more youthful than the 2002 Domaine du Tempier (qv) which I served at the same time. Strong flavors of licorice and Provencal herbs, It’s just great with highly flavored foods. Real sense of place. What one seeks in Bandol.

DOMAINE DU PEY NEUF:
2004 rouge: Reduced and somewhat prickly but interesting, with flavors of both green and black olives, a nice sense of place, suppleness and fluidity. Seems very much a work in progress.

CHATEAU DE PIBARNON:
2004 rouge: rich garnet; slightly reduced but supple, velvety attack. Oak enters the picture, as do tannins and flavors of dark, ripe fruit and Provencal herbs. Well-structured, fresh, with some depth. VG. 2001 rouge: concentrated, extracted and slightly hot. Not bad but not my favorite.

CHATEAU SAINTE ANNE:
(Biodynamic winemaking; low so2, indigenous yeasts. They are currently selling 2000.)
2004 rouge (bottled three weeks ago.) Matte black cherry color; flavors of black cherry and cherry pits; very dry, a bit raw, seems atypical – though I hate to see myself using that word. To follow. 1995 rouge (father’s last vintage): fluid and savory with intruiging licorice notes. VG. (Additional notes from tasting in Angers in February 2007: 2005 blanc: vinous but that’s about it; 2006 rose: ditto; 2003 rouge: gamey and tannic; 2001 rouge “Collection” Mourvedre VV – quite bitter but also very interesting. Bacony finish.

CHATEAU SALETTES:
2004 rouge: supple, savory, smooth and fluid. Both spicy and fresh, almost thirstquenching. Extremely food friendly, with no jagged edges and a touch of elegance.

DOMAINE SORIN:
2004 rouge: dark black cherry-black olive color; good focus, all of a piece, seems somewhat Old World in the best sense. Also, fine sense of place. Quite appealing, good freshness, bacony finish. Delicious. 2006 rose: excellent – savory, terroirte, and fresh. 2001 rouge: spicy, coherent, a real sense of place and a total pleasure.

DOMAINE DE SOUVIOU:
2004 rouge: healthy, evolving color; spicy, a bit raw and rustic even though there’s good freshness and balance. Some heat in finish. A hearty bistro Bandol.

DOMAINE TEMPIER:
2004 rouge: matte black cherry color; fair focus, somewhat tart finish. Seems somewhat closed at this stage. Tasty and three dimensional but a bit disappointing, given the house. 2006 rose: VG, nuanced, focused and structured, a thread of co2. (2002 rouge – served at my house, with pesto): sweet spices, leather, licorice, hot red pepper and sandalwood. Nicely balanced and fresh, a good, savory Provencal red.

DOMAINE DE TERREBRUNE:
2004 rouge: spicy, lightly animal and somewhat raw. Surprisingly disappointing. Which is why judgements must be based on more than a single tasting.

DOMAINE DE LA TOUR DU BON:
2004 rouge Cuvee St. Ferreol: black olive-garnet color; spicy, tannic, some depth and nuance and good freshness. A Real presence, a definite sense of place – and of Mourvedre. VG.

CHATEAU VANNIERES:
2004 Rouge: oaky (too), supple. Despite the oakiness and the touch of heat in finish, I like its fluidity and depth. It’s an admirable and tasty wine. More Derenoncourt than Rolland.

DOMAINE DE LA VIVONNE:
2004 rouge: Frank, spicy nose, tannic, seems a bit thin for the amount of oak but I like the savory quality. Food would help a whole lot. 2006 rose: somewhat hard candy – bonbons anglaises – but, if served very cold, would be nice with food on a patio.

Tasted and Considered: La Cadierenne; Ch Jean-Pierre Gaussen (the wine seemed unfinished and may not have been bottled yet); Dom de l’Hermitage (wine too reduced to taste accurately); Dom de la Laidiere; Dom de l’Olivette; La Roque “Grande Reserve”; Dom du Val d’Arenc.

May 11, 2007 : See FrenchFeast for Entre-Deux-Mer tasting notes.

April 2007

April 24, 2007

DECOUVERTES IN RHONE: PART FOUR: CORNAS AND ST.PERAY

DOMAINE BALTHAZAR: 07130 CORNAS; 04.75.80.01.72; balthazar.franck@akeonet.com
2005 Cornas ‘Chaillot’: (BS: No destemming, neither fined nor filtered, aged in demi-muids.) Tannic, hard, black olive and blackberry, tons of character. Start approaching in 2010.

DOMAINE CLAPE:
2005 Cornas: (BS) Fragrant, mingled nose of deep red fruit and oak. On the palate, silky, rich, ripe tannins, dark, profound fruit. Very racy and very promisng.

MATHIEU BARRET/ DOMAINE DU COULET:43 rue du ruisseau, 07130 Cornas, 04.75.80.08.25: domaineducoulet@tele2.fr (NB: See also write-up in February 2007):
2006 Cotes du Rhone “No Wines Land” (From a parcel between two ACs): Pure, charming syrah fruit, minerals, tart but, curiously, lacks freshness. Still, it’s good and tasty.
2006 Cornas “Brise Cailloux”: Rich, plummy, syrah fruit; succulent, mineral, chalky. Very promising.
2005 Cornas “Les Terrasses du Serre”: Rich, velvety, oaky and extracty. Needs time but very promising.
2005 Cornas “Billes Noires”: deep nose, intense, tannic, oaky and concentrated. Massive.

DOMAINE COURBIS:
2005 Cornas “Champelrose”: (Just bottled.) Fresh, juicy, quaffing Cornas (if that’s not a contradiction in terms).
2005 Cornas “Les Eygats” (BS, grapes from high hillside parcels.) Fresh, powerful, tannic with deep black cherry flavors and the sense of airiness, of having come from a well ventilated slope. Very good.
2005 Cornas “La Sabarotte”: (BS. lieu-dit): Rich, concentrated, extracty and oaky. Promising but needs time.
2004 Cornas “Champelrose”: slightly gamey, lacks the charm of 2005 but worth following.
2004 Cornas “Sabarotte”: Very rich, very tannic, lots of licorice flavors. Very much worth following but a bit opaque right now.

YVES CUILLERON: FIRST YEAR IN CORNAS AND ST. PERAY.
2006 St. Peray “Les Potiers” (BS. Pure marsanne.): Still fermenting – still fermenting, but a real core of minerals underneath. To follow.
2006 St. Peray “Les Cerfs”: (BS: old marsanne vines on a hillside.) Focused, mineral, terroir-driven. Should be very exciting.
2006 Cornas : (BS): Pitch-purple, focused, plummy, succulent fruit, rich core of minerals and stone. Terroir-driven. Another exciting wine.

DOMAINE DE FAUTERIE, 07130 SAINT PERAY, 04.75.80.04.25; www.domainedefauterie.fr
2005 St. Peray: (Label with white background): Rich, vinous, a bit heavy.
2005 St. Peray : (label with peach colored background.) More serious, more structured and layered. Quite mineral. Finish is hot but wine is worth following.
2004 Cornas : Smooth and fluid though seems rather closed. To follow.
2005 Cornas : Richer, a touch hot, also smooth. Not perfect but, again, to follow.

GUILLAUME GILLES:
2004 Cornas : Slightly gamey, fluid, seems less ripe and more dilute than my favorites, also somewhat sour. But it’s not uninteresting. Try by the glass.

DOMAINE BERNARD GRIPA:
2005 St. Peray : hot, vinous, and heavy but has lots of characters and minerals.
2005 St. Peray “Les Figuiers”: (Barrel fermented, raised on lees, oldest vines.) Vinous, fresher, oaky but layered and savory with ample mineral flavors. Very good.

PAUL JABOULET AINE
2005 CORNAS “les Grandes Terrasses”: Big, tannic, oaky, lots of flavor but drying finish. Less convincing than Hermitage La Chapelle but worth following.
2005 Cornas ‘Domaine de St. Pierre’: Rich, tight and racy, smooth though lightly hot, chalky. Impressive and promising.

DOMAINE MICHELAS SAINT JEMMS
2004 Cornas ‘les Murettes”: Dark, dark fruit, black olive, truffle and provencal herb flavors. Very tasty. Would be perfect for a wine-serious bistro like Paul Bert. Or a good daube anywhere.
Cornas “les Murettes”: Meaty, oaky, rich fruit with plum and black olive flavors. Good freshness. Needs time but promising.
2005 Cornas “Terres d’Arce”: (Old vines, newer oak.) Pitch-purple, tight and concentrated, with good acid balance. Needs serious time. They say two to three years. I think longer.

DOMAINE DU TUNNEL/ STEPHANE ROBERT:
2005 Cornas : Sumptuous syrah fruit, smooth, tight, chalky and seductive. Very promising.
2005 St. Peray: Fragrant and mineral. Very real and very good.

VINS DE VIENNE
2005 Cornas “les Barcillants” Juicy, accent on minerals rather than on extraction, very good.
2006 St. Peray : Tight, fragrant and vinous.
2006 St. Peray “Les Bialeres”: (BS). Fermentation flavors, lightly hot but textured and mineral. Worth following.
St. Peray “Les Bialeres”: Oaky, vinous, rather hot. Not my favorite wine from this group.

DOMAINE VOGE:
2005 St. Joseph rouge: (Voge’s first vintage in the St. Jo AC.) Structured, meaty, truffley, somewhat hot, tannic and tight. Very promising though finish is raw and dry.
2005 St. Peray “Harmonie”: Vinous, floral, tight, rich, should be very good.
2004 St. Peray Cuvee Boisee: Textured, oak nicely integrated, a bit hot but impressive.
2004 St. Peray “Fleur de Crussol” (70 year old marsanne from south-facing slope, barrel fermented.) Textured, layered, potent, blankets the tongue. Racy, with licorice accents. Impressive.
2005 Cotes du Rhone rouge “Les Peyrouses”: (syrah from lieu-dit.) Fresh, lean and juicy. Very agreeable.
2004 Cornas “les Chailles”: chewy, nice acidity, promising save for a whiff of gameyness.
2004 Cornas “les Vieilles Vignes”: Meaty and lightly gamey, provencal herb notes, tannic and tight. Definitely not bland. To follow.
2004 Cornas “Les Vieilles Fontaines”: Rich, extracty, plenty of ripe fruit with attractive sweet spice notes but comes across somewhat chunky and blunt.


April 12, 2007

DECOUVERTES EN RHONE: PART THREE: CROZES-HERMITAGE

DOMAINE BELLE: 26600 LARNAGE, 04.75.08.24.58; domaine.belle@wanadoo.fr. (I did not include the domaine’s Hermitage though I did admire the whites, particularly the 2003.)
2005 Crozes-Hermitage rouge Cuvee Louis Belle: (Partially destemmed, barrel aged.) Oaky, tannic and extracty. Needs a good three to five years. To follow.
2004 Crozes-Hermitage rouge “Les Pierrelles”: Rich, fat fruit, oaky, simultaneously smooth and beefy. An oomphy red for a noisy bistro.
2005 Crozes-Hermitage rouge “Les Pierrelles”: Quite thick and tannic, some freshness but needs time.
2004 Crozes-Hermitage rouge Cuvee Louis Belle : Tannic, hot, extracty. Needs time.

DOMAINE LES CHENETS: CROZES-HERMITAGE: 26600 MERCUROL; 04.75.07.48.28; etienne.berthoin@wanadoo.fr.
2005 crozes red Cuvee Mont Rousset: (35 year old vines aged in newish barrels.) Pitch purple, oaky, tannic, fresh and extracty. To follow.
2005 Crozes-Hermitage blanc: (unoaked, pure marsanne.) Supple, fragrant, vinous and easy, with a bitter almond finish. It is a bit hot and a tad cloying. Food would round off the rough edges and fill in the blanks.
2005 Crozes-Hermitage blanc Mont Rousset : (Vines planted in 1964, barrel fermented, three year barrel rotation). Lots of oak but it’s largely integrated, textured, stony, rich, with a good, bitter almond finish. Good +.
2005 Crozes-Hermitage rouge: (Younger vines, newish barrels.) Vibrant, juicy and plummy. A delicous and serious vin de plaisir.

DOMAINE DES ENTREFAUX: CROZES:
2005 Crozes-Hermitage rouge “Les Pends”: (Young vines, aged on its lees in barrels, neither fined nor filtered.) Pure but not perfect, somewhat raw and horsey but it’s got a lot of assets and tons of stuffing. Give it time.
2005 Crozes-Hermitage blanc “Les Pends”: On the cusp of over-ripeness, textured and fragrant. The finish is hot but chilling and food – preferably something slightly exotic – would finesse that nicely.
2005 Crozes-Hermitage rouge : Vibrant, mineral, very pure, very appealing, very syrah and very seductive.
2005 Crozes-Hermitage rouge “Les Machonnieres”: (Vines 20 to 50 years old.) Velvety, focused with refreshing acidity, mineral and rich with well-upholstered tannins. Very good.

FERRATON PERE ET FILS: Crozes:
2005 Crozes-Hermitage rouge la Matiniere : (partially oak aged.) Fresh, plummy, rich, tight and nicely tannic. A yummy Rhone red.
2004 Crozes-Hermitage rouge le Grand Courtil: (Selected parcels). Terroir-driven, chalky, elegant and racy. A fresh, racy red with lovely fruit and spice flavors. Very good.
2006 Crozes-Hermitage blanc La Matiniere : (TS). Perfumed, mineral, promises to be very good indeed.

DOMAINE MICHELAS SAINT JEMMS:
2005 Crozes-Hermitage rouge “Terres d’Arce”: tight, fresh, plummy and chewy. A tasty, characterful red to drink on the fruit.

DOMAINE POCHON: CHATEAU DE CURSON, 26600 CHANOS-CURSON, 04.75.07.34.60.domainespochon@wanadoo.fr
2005 Crozes-Hermitage rouge : smooth, relatively lean, somewhat dilute but not bad.
2004 Crozes-Hermitage rouge “Chateau Courson “: ( A selection of the best lots.) Tannic, concentrated, spicy, a solid bistro red.
2005 Crozes-Hermitage blanc: Vinous, pleasant.
2004 Crozes_Hermitage blanc “Chateau Curson”: relatively rich, vinous, mouthfilling, good meal white.

DOMAINE DES REMIZIERES: CROZES:
2005 Crozes-Hermitage rouge “Cuvee Christophe”: rich fruit and oak flavors, thick, extracty, with medicinal, balsamic notes. Needs time.
2005 Crozes-Hermitage rouge Cuvee Particuliere: rich fruit and oak. It needs a bit of time but it’s got plenty of character and smacks of authenticity.
2005 Crozes-Hermitage rouge ‘Autrement’: (Old vines, vinified in barrel): rich and oaky but sapid, with lots of stuffing. Very promising.
2005 Crozes-hermitage blanc Cuvee Particuliere: Vinous, textured and quite appealing.
2005 Crozes-Hermitage blanc Cuvee Christophe : Richer than previous and more textured, with ample oak and mineral flavors. Some heat in finish but otherwise very tasty. Promising.

GILLES ROBIN: 2005 Crozes-Hermitage rouge “Cuvee Alberic Bouvet”: a vibrant syrah, juicy, lightly tannic and fresh. Bistro ready.

April 3, 2007

DECOUVERTES IN RHONE: PART TWO: HERMITAGE:
Sixteen producers showed their wines at the Hermitage. I tasted at every stand (except as specified below) but I’m only including the ones I recommend.

CAVE DE TAIN L’HERMITAGE: (As I know the wines from the Cave fairly well, I saved their stand for the last. As luck would have it, the line was three-deep when I approached. And I had to leave for Cornas. So, because the Cave controls 25% of the Hermitage AC, I’m including my notes from a December 2006 dinner here.
2004 HERMITAGE BLANC “Au coeur des Siecles : (Pure, old vines (106 years) marsanne fermented in 400 litre oak (Vosges) barrels: Big-boned, deep, sense of the roots from those old vines digging deeper and deeper, slightly floral, also slightly salty, with notes of caramel and pineapple. Young but extremely promising and pure pleasure right now.
2003 Hermitage Blanc : (Fermented in oak (Allier) barrels.) Limpid, crystalline, pineapple on a base of stone, racy but doesn’t have quite the profundity of those very old vines. Still, very, very good and very well made.
2004 Hermitage rouge “Ultra Premium”: (Actually, this cuvee, which is considered a higher level than Gambert de Loche, doesn’t yet have a name. 2004 was the first vintage in which it was made and it will be made in every good vintage, harvested by tri on parcels owned by the cave on Le Meal and L’Hermite. It is lightly filtered and amounts to about 1500 bottles.) Statuesque, pedigreed and sapid. Full of ripe, elegantly expressed fruit and lots of oak – which needs to be digested. Extremely promising and hard to stop drinking, even now.
Hermitage rouge : richly fruity, somewhat jammy but very fresh and quite oaky. Truly nice Hermitage for a bistro gourmand.
2001 Hermitage rouge “Gambert de Loche”: (Old vines, from the best parcels, aged in new oak.) Surprisingly acid but elegant and streamlined with prune, mineral and spice flavors.
’99 Hermitage rouge “Gambert de Loche” : Nuanced bouquet, inextricably mingled aromas and flavors with hints of bacon and leather. I’d start drinking.
’99 Vin de Paille: (Made from Hermitage blanc, late harvested old vines, air dried for 2 months and aged in barrel for 30 months. Fermentation stops at about 16 degrees alcohol, leaving about 100 grams residual sugar per liter.) Nectar-like but still fresh, layered and sinuous. A real treat.


MICHEL CHAPOUTIER::
2004 Hermitage rouge “La Sizeranne”: Smooth and supple with focused berry fruit. Seems as if will be ready to drink in near-term.
2006 Hermitage rouge “La Sizeranne”: It’s hard to get more than oak and cranberry juice at this stage, though the wine is admirably fresh.
Hermitage rouge “Le Meal”: : Relatively deep, fruity and meaty aroma, fresh, tannic and racy. Very promising.
2004 Hermitage rouge “Le Pavillon”: Sense of freshness, layers, pedigree but flavors are blocked by reduction.
2004 Hermitage Blanc “Chante Alouette”: Oaky, layered, mineral, a bit heavy. To follow.
2006 Hermitage Blanc “Chante Alouette”:: Rich, appley, hot, dominated by fermentation odors.
2004 Hermitage Blanc “De l’Oree”: Rich, oaky, mineral but a bit hot, heavy and overstated.
2004 Hermitage “Le Meal”: Fresh as a cleansing breeze, very mineral, layered and racy, very promising though lightly hot and the abundant oak needs to be digested.
On Sunday the 18th, Chapoutier through a party in his officers. They were pouring Hermitage from Methuselah. First came a ’97 Hermitage blanc Chante Alouette – rather fat, obvious, with a kind of New World “in your face” bluntness; then the very fine, though fat and still youthful 2004 white from De L’Oree; and best of all, the ’94 white from De l”Oree, a crystalline wine, both racy and elegant. I left before the big bottles of red came out as Monday was a school day – Cote Rotie and Condrieu, no less – for me.

DOMAINE JEAN-LOUIS CHAVE:
2004 Hermitage Blanc: Creamy, oaky, unctuous yet fresh, tight, with a long bitter almond and mineral finish. A future great.
2004 Hermitage rouge : Rubies and spices, smooth, racy and fresh, with focused, jewel-like fruit, plenty of oak to digest but expect another future great.

YANN CHAVE:
2004 Hermitage rouge: Relatively light and fluid, with strong truffle aromas and flavors. Site specific although less regal that I’d have expected. Still, nice drinking.
2005 Hermitage rouge : Fragrant, velvety and relatively racy. A bit extracty and tannic but still very good.

DOMAINE COLOMBIER: HERMITAGE AND CROZES HERMITAGE: 26600 MERCUROL; 04.75.07.44.07; FAX: 04.75.07.41.43; (A new domaine to me. Most of their vineyards are in Crozes-Hermitage – whose tasting I missed – but the small amount of Hermitage made by this domaine was sufficiently interesting to make me want to know more about it (and them).
2005 Hermitage blanc: (ts) Though quite reduced, the wine is very mineral, steely, tight and riveting. Worth following.
2004 Hermitage rouge: Also reduced, but the wine is fresh, lean and focused. Also worth following.

DELAS FRERES:
2004 Hermitage blanc “Marquise de la Tourette”: smaller scale than producers like Chave and Sorrel but fresh, mineral and vinous with an attractive bitter almond and cream finish.
2004 Hermitage rouge “Marquise de la Tourette”: relatively lean but pleasingly fresh, supple, and smooth with good fruit and subdued oak flavors. Again, smaller scale but fluid and pedigreed.

FERRATON PERE & FILS: HERMITAGE: 26600 TAIN L’HERMITAGE; 04.75.08.28.65; eagranier@chapoutier.com:
2006 Hermitage blanc “les Meaux”: (BS) dominated by fermentation aromas and flavors.
2006 Hermitage blanc “Le Reverdy”: (BS, essentially from Le Meal, fermented and aged in demi-muids and barriques, 30% new) Racy, mineral, layered and rich enough to eat its oak. Impressive.
2004 Hermitage blanc “Le Reverdy”: Crystalline, racy and fresh. Layered and tight but approachable – though it will certainly flesh out with age. Impressive (again).
2004 Hermitage rouge “Les Meaux” : warm, supple and giving. Three dimensional. A fine choice for a bistro gourmand.
2004 Hermitage rouge “Les Dionnieres”: Deeply fragrant, intense aromas of crushed berries, velvety texture, absolutely delicious.
2004 Hermitage rouge “Le Meal”: Deep and deeply fragrant, velvety texture, ripe tannins, plenty of oak and lots of baby fat. Another impressive wine that should age beautifully.

PAUL JABOULET AINE: Hermitage: (A spokesman for Jaboulet said that the real changes here were made with the 2006 vintage. The 2005s had already been made by the time Jaboulet was sold. Only the maturing of the wines was affected.
2004 Hermitage blanc “Chevalier de Sterimberg”: rather reduced and a bit heavy but layered, mineral and racy. Promising.
2005 Hermitage blanc “Chevalier de Sterimberg”: Unctuous, fresh as a waterfall, real race here, all about pedigree, with flavors of minerals and accents of pineapple. Great promise.
2005 Hermitage rouge “La Petite Chapelle”: (CS) Fresh, focused and site specific. Very good.
2005 Hermitage rouge “La Chapelle”: (CS) Pitch purple and luminous; racy, complex, pellucid and grand. The most exciting La Chapelle I’ve tasted in a long time and a future monument.

DOMAINE DES REMIZIERES/CAVE DESMEURE: HERMITAGE:
2005 Hermitage blanc : Vinous, oaky, rich and mineral. Rather heavy but good.
2005 Hermitage rouge “Emilie”: Pitch purple, very concentrated/extracty and oaky but admirably fresh. I’m not getting the pedigree but it’s a very tasty wine.
2005 Hermitage rouge “Autrement”: (A tri vinified in open demi-muids and barriques.) Even darker shade of purple, profoundly saturated, tons of extract, same (essential) evaluation though even more of a toothstainer.

DOMAINE MARC SORREL: HERMITAGE: 26600 TAIN L’HERMITAGE; 04.75.07.10.07; www.marcsorrel.com.
2005 Hermitage blanc: (CS) Nose inexpressive, on palate, the wine is perfumed and mineral. Despite heat in the finish, the wine is very promising.
2005 Hermitage blanc “Les Roucoules”: (CS)Deep nose with evident freshness, rich, edging towards over-ripe, flavors of pineapple, minerals, slate and bitter almond continue through long, albeit somewhat hot, finish.
2005 Hermitage rouge : (CS): fresh, tart, bright fruit, lightly hot.
2005 Hermitage rouge “Le Greal”: (CS) Rich, focused, jewel-cut fruit with vibrant flavors of crushed raspberry and eau de vie. Chalky, racy. Oak is completely hidden. Greatly promising.

LES VINS DE VIENNE: HERMITAGE
2004 Hermitage rouge “Les Chirats de St. Christophe”: supple, chalky, lean, mineral and very interesting.
2005 Hermitage rouge: (CS) Focused, fresh, ripe tannins and flavors of licorice and crushed berries. I’m troubled by the heat in the finish and light gamey notes but the wine so many assets, it’s worth following.


April 2, 2007: A Peek at 2006 Bordeaux: Notes from Stephane Derenoncourt’s Tasting : Kiefer Sutherland look-alike Stephane Derenoncourt, currently perhaps the most sought after wine consultant in Bordeaux, accompanied by a large percentage of his clients, held a tasting of 2006s at the George V Hotel in Paris on March 30th. It was the first opportunity I had had to get enough of a glimpse of the latest vintage to form some sort of opinion. Caveat: as few of the wines came from the Medoc, my view – though intense – was far from complete. But it’s not my purpose here to determine whether 2006 is a Right Bank or a Left Bank vintage, nor whether Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon fared best in this very bizarre growing season. (Besides, you’ll be battered by torrents of words on these subjects over the next month, once the en primeur tastings now taking place in Bordeaux terminate at the end of this week.)
One generalization that I think can be made about the 2006 vintage throughout France is that it was a “winemaker’s” year. Don’t buy without knowing your producer: with record heat in July and record chilliness in August – to name just two factors --2006 was simply too dicey a year for schleppers. That said, there are some lovely wines in every region, as evidenced by some truly delicious examples presented at George V.
My overall impression was that of a much lighter year than 2005, producing fresh wines with a strong, lively streak of acidity. I suspect there will be a good amount of delicious wines to drink in the near term, wines that should be perfect for restaurants. Caveat #2: The good news only holds true for producers who didn’t “exaggerate”or push the wines too far, eg who didn’t over –oak or over-extract. When the vigneron worked with the vintage, the wines I tasted were charming, refreshing, not for the ages but for pleasure. I plan to describe many of the wines in this space. To give one example, why not use Derenoncourt’s own wine, from the Domaine de l’A in the Cotes de Castillon? The wine was a rich, healthy garnet, very juicy, with lots of wild berry and groseille flavors. It was oaky but had the structure and depth to support the oak.Far from a blockbuster, it was discreet and admirably restrained, specific and delightful. To be continued.

March 2007

DECOUVERTES EN VALLEE DU RHONE:
The Decouvertes en Vallee du Rhone takes place every two years in mid-March. The event lasts about 8 days, starting either in the northern Rhone appellations, eg Cote Rotie and working their way down to Chateauneuf-du-Pape, or vice versa. Heavy-hitters like these always start and end the Decouvertes -- undoubtedly to keep all of us around throughout the week to taste wines from less prestigious appellations like the Coteaux du Tricastin, Costieres de Nimes and generic Cotes du Rhone.
On any given day there will be three, four or five tastings, held in different -- and sometimes quite distant -- spaces. For example, the scheduled tastings for Saturday March 17th were Vacqueyras, Cotes du Luberon, Cotes du Ventoux, Beaumes de Venise VDN and Cotes du Rhone Villages, and Rasteau VDN and Cotes du Rhone Villages, held in four locations.
There is a lot to taste. In Vacqueyras, for example, there were 42 "exposants" -- each one offering samples from several different vintages and cuvees. It's not surprising, then, that few people make it to every single one of the tastings. (A pity, because it's a great opportunity.)
Generally there's a buffet lunch at each tasting location. This means that you are on your feet and battling crowds for tastes of both liquid and solid from 9AM to 7PM. Then there are usually several "soirees" from which to choose. These, too, are often buffets where, once again, you are on your feet and battling crowds for tastes of both liquid and solid. So much for glamor!)
(In the entries below, I’ve added contact information only when that is not available in my book. I have not included 2006s that still tasted (and smelled) more of fermentation than anything else. I’ve also left out producers whose wines I didn’t like.)

DECOUVERTES IN RHONE: PART ONE

CONDRIEU AND COTE ROTIE (Seems I’m following the LIFO principle: Last In/First Out: The Condrieu and Cote Rotie show was the very last tasting in a long week + of tastings. We were all pretty weary. And I had a train to catch in Lyon.)

Domaine Barge: 69420 Ampuis, 04.74.56.13.90; www.domainebarge.com.
2005 Condrieu “la Solarie”: Leaner than some of the other Condrieus tasted but fresh, perfumed, mineral and all of a piece. Very good.
2006 Condrieu (BS): (Barge thinks 2006 will be fresher and more elegant than richer vintages like 2005.) The wine, even at this stage, is a pleasure, quite perfumed, smooth, rich and, yes, fresh, and very promising.
2004 Cote Rotie “Cuvee du Plessy” : 5% viognier. Reduced but quite pure, with lovely fruit lurking in background, some bacon notes on finish.
2004 Cote Rotie “Cote Brune” : seductively fragrant, rich, textured, focused, lovely weave of fruit and minerals. Very good indeed.
2005 Cote Rotie “Cuvee du Plessy” (BS):`, jewel-like (ruby) fruit, gentle oak, great freshness, should be ravishing.

Domaine Bernard Burgaud, 69420 Ampuis; 04.74.56.11.86; bernard.burgaud@wanadoo.fr; http://coterotieburgaud.monsite.wanadoo.fr.
2006 Cote Rotie : smooth attack, lovely freshness and focus, nice acid presence. Very promising.
2005 Cote Rotie : I’m put off by the gameyness though there’s plenty to admire in this wine.

Domaine Clusel-Roch:
2006 Condrieu (BS): rich, textured, focused and mineral. Extremely good.
2004 Cote Rotie : silky attack, mineral, stony, limpid and pure. Downright regal.
2004 Cote Rotie “Les Grands Places” : If possible, more vibrant, more focused, more mineral than previous wine, also needs more time.
2005 Cote Rotie (BS): Rich and fatter than the 2004 but remains cool and svelte, with attractive blend of oak and minerals. Very good.
2005 Cote Rotie “Les Grands Places” (BS): Ample oak but this is a majestic wine with power and elegance. A future monument.

Yves Cuilleron:
2005 Cote Rotie “Bassenon: (granitic soils, some viognier in mix): rich and velvety but also tight and mineral and a nice “point” of acid. To follow.
2005 Cote Rotie “Madiniere”: schisty soils: pure, mineral and terroir-driven. Very promising.
2005 Cote Rotie “Terre Sombre”: (vines planted in 1963, no viognier, partial destemming, punching down, three week vatting, wild yeasts). I give some of those specifics because I think this might well become a wine of reference. Terroir-driven, extremely mineral, deeply impressive. Finish, for now, somewhat hot.
2005 Condrieu “La Petite Cote” : forward fruit but lots of minerals too, creamy, lightly hot finish.
2005 Condrieu “Les Chaillets (VV)” : heavy cream, mineral, perfumed, layered. A bit hot but excellent and riveting.
2005 Condrieu “Vertige”: (small cuvee from Coteaux du Vernon, 3000 bottles, fermented and aged in new and newish oak.) Fresh, oaky, mineral, some of viognier’s characteristic perfumes but very understated. Statuesque. Superb.

Domaine Pierre Gaillard:
2005 Condrieu : Thrilling freshness, great mineral depths, perfumed, with fruit blossom top notes and citrus zest finish. Stunning. Excellent.
2005 Cote Rotie : racy and classic in the best sense, a blanket of fine syrah fruit and minerals.
2005 Cote Rotie “Rose Pourpre”: airborn, fresh and deep; rich, mineral, well expressed oak. Very Good to Excellent.

Domaine Gangloff:
2005 Cote Rotie “la Barbarine “(BS): very pure, very mineral, very, very promising though needs time to flesh out and integrate oak.
2005 Cote Rotie “La Sereine Noire”: (BS): Focused, tannic and qutie oaky. Needs more time to evolve but extremely promising.
2006 Condrieu : although it is still fermenting, already manifesting purity, richness, texture and a ton of minerals. Also quite a bit of alcohol.

Jean-Michel Gerin:
2005 Cote Rotie “Champin le Seigneur” (BS): Oaky but gentle with seductive, plushy fruit and firm tannins. Very good.
2005 Cote Rotie “La Landonnne” (BS): ample oak, very rich, very mineral, needs time but very, very promising.
2005 Cote Rotie “Les Grandes Places (VV)”: rich, dense, focused with jewel-like fruit. Drying oaky finish for now but the wine is extremely promising.
2005 Condrieu “La Loye”: Rich, nicely textured, perfumed and mineral. A bit heavy, however. I’d like more freshness but it’s very good.

Guigal:
2005 Condrieu: rich, textured, Black letter law, though the finish is rather hot.
2005 Condrieu ‘la Doriane’: quite ample, headily perfumed, somewhat heavy.
2005 Cote Rotie “Brune et Blonde”: rich, supple, oaky and quite classic though there’s a surprising, if not unwelcome, streak of acidity in the finish.
2003 Cote Rotie Chateau d’Ampuis : oaky, smooth, flawless, with a long, licorice-scented finish.
(The above wines were all that were on the tasting table. I asked if any of the single vineyard Cote Roties were available for tasting and was told I could choose one. I was also told that “La Turque” was the most expressive at the moment.)
2003 Cote Rotie “La Turque”: deep, mingled nose, quite oaky, very rich, very tannic, very concentrated and very, very promising. Should be excellent and is head and shoulders above the domaine’s generic cuvees. (At this point I was tempted to beg to taste “La Mouline” and “La Landonne” – in the name of research, you understand. But, at least in my case, research has a way of crossing the line into gluttony. So I retreated with my dignity intact.)

Domaine Jamet:
2004 Cote Rotie : Rich, simultaneously meaty and fluid, and despite a curious hint of green bell peppers, rather classic. Good +.

DOMAINE JASMIN:
2004 Cote Rotie : gentle, silky attack with a touch of oak; fine, tight tannins, a bit hot but should evolve beautifully.
2005 Cote Rotie “Grande Annee”(BS): limpid, deep and rich, with hints of licorice. Excellent.

Yves et Jocelyne Lafoy, 69420 Ampuis, 04.74.56.19.26; j.lafoy@chello.fr;
2004 Cote Rotie “Cuvee JYL” (JV): smooth, lightly reduced, firm tannins. Good.
2004 Cote Rotie “Cuvee RG “(VV ): (not destemmed ): pungent and potent, deep black fruit and black olive flavors mixed with licorice and newish oak. Needs plenty of time.
2005 Cote Rotie “JYL”: generous wine with some chalkiness and fine tannins. Nice.
2005 Cote Rotie “RG”: pitch black, pungent, tannic, epic, with light animal note. I’d love to retaste in ten years.

DOMAINE NIERO:
2005 CONDRIEU “LES RAVINES” : textured, perfumed, very nice indeed.
2005 Condrieu “Cuvee de Chery : Ampler, broader than previous cuvee, more fragrant, too, and mineral; very good thought the finish is slightly hot.
2005 Cote Rotie : oaky, tannic, a bit more earthbound than others.

Maison Alain Paret, 42520 Saint Pierre de Boeuf; 04.74.87.12.09; maison.paret@wanadoo.fr. All samples below from tank.
2006 Condrieu “les Ceps du Nebadon”: (from granitic soils, malo just finished): fresh, focused and mineral. Very promising.
2006 Condrieu “Lys de Volcan” (a lieu-dit with schisty soils): rich, textured, mineral, schist-born opulence. Very good.
2006 Condrieu “Sortileges” : (late harvest, grapes left to dry on the vine and then harvested grape by grape, 16 degrees alcohol, 84 grams residual sugar): nectar and marzipan. A delight. A “must try.”


Andre Perret:
2005 Condrieu “Clos Chanson (VV)”: very rich, very textured, plush. Very good.
2005 Condrieu “Chery”: similarly textured and rich, extremely mineral, with viognier’s perfumes floating above it all. Very good.


CHRISTOPHE PICHON: 42410 CHAVANAY, 04.74.87.06.78; CHRPICHON@WANADOO.FR.
2005 Cote Rotie: fresh, tannic and concentrated. Not the most majestic but tasty and quite good.
2005 Cote Rotie “La Comtesse en Cote Blonde” (BS) : Fresh, oaky, though quite fine of grain. A real step up in raciness.
2005 Condrieu : surprisingly, a bit thin, but I wouldn’t kick it out of bed.

Domaine Jean-Michel Stephan:
2004 Cote Rotie : non-interventionist style; pure, fluid but there’s a worrisome scent of bouillon.
2004 Cote Rotie “Coteaux du Tupin”: a gamey whiff here as well as strong balsamic/menthol and licorice notes. Hot finish. For a specific clientele.
Cote Rotie VV : unfiltered. Rather gamey though there’s a lot to admire as well.

Georges Vernay:
2006 Condrieu “Chailles d’Enfer”” very fresh and textured. Very promising.
2005 Condrieu “Coteau de Vernon” (BS): Terroir-driven with great freshness and minerality. Riveting.
2005 Cote Rotie “La Blonde du Seigneur”: complex nose, smooth, cool, elegant with long mineral-fruit finish.
2005 Cote Rotie “Maison Rouge”: nose as nuanced as the best of Guerlain, wild plum, black cherry. A lipsmacking wine, fresh, fine and totally gourmand.

Francois Villard:
2005 Condrieu “les Terrasses du Palat”: fresh, mineral and fragrant. Very good.
2005 Condrieu “Le Grand Vallon”: even fresher, richer, more mineral, with appetizing citrus zest finish.
2005 Condrieu ‘De Poncins’: airborn, fresh, stony, complex, gracious. Exciting. A beauty.
2004 Cote Rotie “Le Gallet Blanc”: light earthiness, nice structure, simultaneously friendly and pedigreed.
2005 Cote Rotie “Le Gallet Blanc (BS) : pitch purple, focused, very fresh, very concentrated, with flavors of black fruit, licorice and minerals. Could be epic.
2005 Cote Rotie “la Brocarde”:very fresh, lovely, well-defined fruit blended with oak. Another potential epic.

Les Vins de Vienne:
2006 Condrieu : perfumed, with flavors of citrus and minerals; promising though I’d like more freshness.
2006 Condrieu “La Chambee”: (Barrel fermented with 10% new oak.) Rich and textured, fresher than previous. Very promising.
2005 Condrieu : Citric, mineral, stony, fragrant and appealingly fresh.
2005 Condrieu “La Chambee”: Ample, quite mineral and creamy though the oak dominates at this point.
2006 Cote Rotie (BS) : reduced, tight, a fresh, mineral, svelte CR with seductive fruit.
2005 Cote Rotie (BS): Oaky, with vibrant fruit, rather statuesque. Very promising.


CHATEAU LA VERNEDE: 34440 NISSAN LEZ ENSERUNE, 04.67.37.00.30;www.chateaulavernede.com . This large (50 hectare) winery lies on the Terrasses de Beziers, halfway between Beziers and Narbonne. Eco-friendly, it’s managed with great professionalism by winemaker Jean-Luc Maurer (formerly of Chateau Fourcas-Dupre in Listrac-Medoc) and makes an encyclopedic range of wines – from Bag-in-Box, to fighting varietals, to Coteaux du Languedoc, to over-the-top eccentricities like a pure Syrah that weighs in at 17.82 alcohol and could take on all comers. (It would go quite nicely with blue cheese. ) For more on La Vernede, see Wine of the Week in FrenchFeast.

February 2007
Domaine du Coulet: Cornas: Mathieu Barret joined his grandfather on this family property in 2001. He converted the domaine – 10 hectares in Cornas as well as some land at the limits of that AC, in Cotes du Rhone AC – to biodynamics and started bottling his own wine rather than sell to the cooperative. I recently tasted four wines, all from barrel, and was mighty impressed. My favorite was the 2005 Cornas Les Terrasses du Serre which he, accurately I thought, considers the most powerful, elegant and age-worthy of his wines. It was all of those things and more. Velvety, desperately seductive and much too delicious. Like many biodynamic practitioners, Barret maintains low yields (an average of 20 hl/ha), uses indigenous yeasts, and very little sulphur. Wisely (I think) he ages his wines in used but newish barrels so syrah on this special terroir speaks, not oak. His other wines were delectable too though I found his most expensive wine, Cornas Billes Noires, a bit too concentrated and “sweet” for my liking. The Cornas Brise Cailloux, from 2006, was extremely juicy, vigourous and vibrant and the 2006 Cotes du Rhone, the simplest wine Barret presented, was almost as delightful, a delightful gourmandise.

January 2007
LAWS: THE NEW NOUVEAU BEAUJOLAIS:
The very first bottles of a new appellation – Vin de Pays des Gaules – are about to hit the market. Technically, they are not Beaujolais, which is an appellation controlee, not a mere vin de pays. But the legislation creating the category covers the entire Beaujolais zone, from Leynes, in the northern reaches of the AC (above Julienas and St. Amour) to the southern limits of the zone around Arbresle. Gamay (including two previously disregarded subvarieties, Gamay de Bouze and Gamay de Chaudenay) is the principal grape but eighteen others are allowed, including chardonnay, pinot noir, aligote, syrah, and viognier . You might think that the possibility of using typical Rhone varietals would complicate the picture and it does. Producers using syrah, for example, can opt to be Vin de Pays des Comtes Rhodaniens. So what does this change? Well, the name of one or two grape varieties can be specified on the labels and permitted yields are roughly double those allowed for AC Beaujolais, to wit: 85 hl/ha for reds and roses and 90 hl/ha for whites, compared to 53 hl/ha for Beaujolais. (Optimists hope that the creation of this category will encourage producers of AC Beaujolais to concentrate on quality.) So expect light, reasonably priced quaffers, that are not, for all their immediate drinkability legally “nouveau.” Bottom line rules here. Vin de Pays des Gaules cannot be sold until the 15th of December – several weeks after the customary release of Beaujolais nouveau on the third Thursday of November.

Correction:Provence: there's some inconsistency in the text concerning the appellation Coteaux Varois en Provence. (There's no "du" between Coteaux and Varois.)

Correction: Bordeaux: Ch Leoville-Poyferre: it is owned by Didier Cuvelier, not AXA. (Thanks, Eric.) The rest of the entry, notably the improvement in quality -- with the help of Michel Rolland -- stands as is.

Me: The book has won the Gourmand World Cookbook Award 2006 for best English language wine guide.

Rhone: Domaine Saladin, 07700 Saint Marchel d'Ardeche, tel: 04.75.04.63.20; domaine.saladin@wanadoo.fr : An organically farmed domaine run by two talented, beautiful young sisters, Elisabeth and Marie-Laurence. I was first impressed by Elisabeth in 2005 when she worked for InterRhone. I was part of a group of journalists who were being squired around the various tasting stops of the week of “Decouvertes” when Elisabeth replaced our official guide, a laconic, laid-back young man who perfectly embodied the French “no can do” spirit. Elisabeth, on the other hand, was bright, active and eager to please. She made everything – even the least promising dinner arrangements – turn out perfectly. Ok, she couldn’t prevent our valises from having been stolen from the trunk of the van but she dealt with the aftermath with compassion and efficacy. (My last tasting of that day – and the entire Decouvertes trip—was to have been Gigondas. With my concentration shot, I wanted to return to Paris and asked Elisabeth if samples could be gathered and sent to me. They were.) Long story less long: when I heard that Elisabeth and her sister were taking over the family’s 12 hectares of vines in the Ardeche , I was very interested to follow their progress. (Each sister has a long CV. Both did stints at Bonny Doon Vineyards; other highligts: Marie-Laurence worked with Guigal, with a biodynamic producer (Domaine Apollinaire) also in the Rhone, and at Michel Rolland’s lab in Argentina; Elisabeth, who studied at a prestigious business school in Lyon (and then in Edinburgh) worked in Chile for enologist Philippe Debru (Vina Batalcura), Ogier Cave des Papes in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and with Inter-Rhone.) My chance to taste the wines came right before Christmas when an email informed me that the Domaine Saladin’s 2005s would be poured at Lafayette Gourmet. It was Marie-Laurence who was representing the domaine that day. (She’s almost the spitting image of her sister, though she has dark brown hair while Elisabeth is blonde.) All of the wines are hand-harvested, fermented using indigenous yeasts and bottling without being fined or filtered. All are Cotes du Rhone or CdR-Villages. But this being the Ardeche, they are cool, mountain wines, and extremely attractive. The first tasted was an unoaked blend of grenache, carignan and cinsault which sells (in France) for under 8 Euros. Partial carbonic maceration certainly accounts for the vibrant, upfront fruit in the nose. On the palate, this little country red comes across as mighty characterful, a terroir-driven wine with a backbone of stone and minerals. This is my style to a “T”. Haut Brisson, pure oak-aged grenache, was a cool charmer but a bit raw. To follow. At roughly 10 Euros, Fan de Lune, was a very good, bistro-ready red, a fresh yet meaty blend of grenache, mourvedre and syrah. Chaveyron 1422 is almost pure syrah from a rocky parcel which has been owned by the Saladin family since 1422 (according to printed documents). At around 15 euros, it’s the most expensive wine in their line up but it’s well worth the price: long and elegant, it is all about finesse and discretion, not about extraction. It is rather in the image of the girls themselves. I can’t help thinking of one of the photos Marie-Laurence showed me. This was of her “stomping” the grapes. Used to seeing snaps of big, hairy calves, I was amused to see Marie-Laurence’s ballerina-like feet covered with red wine juice. Suzanne Farrell couldn’t have trod those grapes more gracefully. In the works: chambre d’hotes and a small restaurant on the domaine’s property. Worth a detour in my book.

December 2006

Loire Updates: One new producer; two favorites extend their lines :

Philippe Alliet: Chinon: This consistently excellent producer has added a new arrow to his quiver, an exciting cuvee called l’Huisserie which takes its name from the vineyard situated across from Chene Vert (made famous by Charles Joguet). Alliet’s two hectares consist of young vines, merely five years old. But the first vintage, 2005,was so elegant you’d think the vines were much older, deeper, wiser. Velvety and cool, the wine is every bit the equal of Alliet’s stellar Coteau de Noire.

Didier Dagueneau: Sancerre: Poully Fume’s favorite vinous troublemaker has gotten 60 ares on the steep slopes of Chavignol’s Monts Damnes. His first vintage there was 2005. The wine is superb. The oak disappears completely in this grandiose expression of terroir. This is Chablis in Sancerre. (I’m waiting for someone to put on a tasting of great wines from kimmeridgean marl soils. Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc, they’re both upstaged by the terroir.)

Antoine Sanzay: 49400 Varrains; 02.4§.52.90.08; antoine-sanzay@wanadoo.fr.
Wines: Saumur-Champigny and Saumur Blanc.
Nady Foucault (whose 2003 Le Bourg is serious and excellent) told me to visit this promising, eco-friendly young producer who took over the family’s eleven hectares (in Le Poyeux) in 2002 after his father’s sudden death. A wine geek, Sanzay takes his inspiration from the likes of Coche-Dury and Clape. Not bad. For the moment he sells 70% of his wine to the coop but that will decrease as his name becomes known. He makes three wines: a Saumur blanc, an oak-aged Saumur-Champigny – neither of which I’ve tasted – and a ‘drink me up’ Champigny which I tasted this week at an Association de la Presse du Vin event held in a grand hall in the French Senate. It was an unoaked, lightly filtered 2005. Cool and rich, with nice balance and focus, it just demanded to be drunk on its succulent fruit.





November 2006:

Two Discoveries in Bordeaux

CHATEAU MARTET
33220 EYNESSE; 05.57.41.00.49 pdc@deconinckwine.com; www.chateaumartet com
Maybe it’s unfair to write about wines that aren’t yet available in the United States but there’s a method to my madness. First, you may find the wine on a trip to France; second, I’m firmly of the belief that if you want it, they will import it. Which is why I feel justified in enthusing about Chateau Marteau – a rising Bordelais star in the very minor appellation of St. Foy de Bordeaux. The 25 hectare domaine (on a mostly chalky plateau above the Dordogne) is owned by Patrick de Coninck who lives in Brussels and leaves winemaking and viticulture (eco-friendly) in the able hands of Louis Mitjaville (the son of St. Emilion’s Le Tertre Roteboeuf Mitjaviles). De Coninck bought the property in 1991, at which time it was heavily planted to cabernet. He’s been replanting and has lots of young vines. Volume today is 35,000 – insufficient to supply to the USA, De Coninck says – and will ultimately grow to 90,000 bottles. The chateau produces four wines of which two (the clairet and the 2nd wine “Hauts de Martet” were not ‘on show’ at the tasting I attended. The white, however, was being poured. A blend of semillon, sauvignons blanc and gris and muscadelle, it is fresh, pefumed, nicely structured and pleasant, though not what I’d call “site specific.”It could have been made by a concientious producer in any one of a handful of regions in France. (The Loire and Gascony come to mind.) What excites me is the red. Hand-harvested, lightly filtered, pure merlot, it spends 18 months in new oak. The 2000 was ever so slightly vegetal but impressive and ambitious. It made me want to know – and taste – more. The 2003 confirmed my enthusiasm. It was plush, beautifully ripe, nicely balanced and very succulent. On this side of the pond, it sells for about 22 Euros.

CHATEAU PETIT-BOCQ
33180 ST. ESTEPHE; 05.56.59.35.69; FAX: 05.56.59.32.11;
petitbocq@hotmail.com
Another Belgian implant, this one in St. Estephe, at this Cru Bourgeois Superieur near Chateau Marbuzet. Gaetan Lagnaux is a recovering Belgian doctor. He bought this property in ’93 as a family vacation home. At the time it was only five hectares and was planted in merlot. Lagnaux now has 15.5 hectares and he no longer practices medicine as he spends all his time in St. Estephe. Viticulture on the domaine’s 80 parcels is eco-friendly. Merlot still dominates the grape mix (at about 55%), followed by cabernet sauvignon (43%) and a whisper of cabernet franc. Grapes are hand harvested by successive passes through the vineyards – with yields at about 52 hl/ha – and given a short period of cold prefermentation. After aging in barrel (40% new), the wine (there is no second wine) is bottled unfiltered. The 2000, 70% merlot, was beautifully mingled and fragrant, with notes of dried fruit, camphor and cedar. It was supple, had lovely balance and a mouthwatering savoriness. It was what the French would call “gourmand” and it sold at a very reasonable 15 euros. The 2003, though only 60% merlot, seemed a younger version of 2000. In other words, very promising indeed.



This just in from Chateauneuf-du-Pape (I'll translate it later, maybe not before Xmas. I get many 'harvest reports' from various chateaux and committees but treat most of them with a grain of salt. This one comes from Michel Blanc who directs the largest Chateauneuf-du-Pape committee. I've got infinite faith in Blanc which is why I feel his report is worth passing on.)

LE MILLESIME 2006 A CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE


Des conditions de maturation idéales malgré une nouvelle année déficitaire en terme de précipitations. Avec la récolte 2006, les vignerons de Châteauneuf-du-Pape signent une 8ème très belle année sur les 9 derniers millésimes !


DONNEES METEO

Du point de vue météorologique, les neuf premiers mois de l’année 2006 auront été marqués par une pluviométrie inférieure aux normales saisonnières et par un excellent ensoleillement.

De manière plus précise, le millésime 2006 se caractérise par de forts écarts thermiques entre les mois de juillet et août, par une pluviométrie plutôt faible mais bien ciblée (368 mm contre 450 en année normale, avec notamment des pluies mi-juillet et mi-août) et enfin par un excellent ensoleillement (2.378 heures contre 2.293 en moyenne). On sait que les écarts de température et les nuits fraîches à la fin de l’été sont un facteur favorable à la synthèse des précurseurs aromatiques et des composés polyphénoliques essentiels à l’élaboration de vins riches et équilibrés. Les très faibles précipitations de la période estivale (58 mm contre 99 en année normale) ont quant à elles permis aux raisins de mûrir dans d’excellentes conditions sanitaires.

Hormis quelques passages orageux suivis d’un fort Mistral courant septembre, on peut dire que les conditions météorologiques étaient cette année encore au rendez-vous pour permettre aux vignerons de l’appellation Châteauneuf-du-Pape de vinifier un excellent millésime.

CARACTERISTIQUES DU MILLESIME 2006

Si quelques parcelles de cépages blancs et de syrah ont été vendangées dès le début du mois de septembre, il aura quelquefois fallu attendre début octobre pour que les parcelles de mourvèdre et de grenache les plus tardives atteignent leur pleine maturité phénolique.

Il s’agit là d’un facteur particulièrement important pour la qualité finale des vins que les vignerons de Châteauneuf-du-Pape entendent maîtriser au mieux afin d’optimiser le potentiel de chaque millésime. Les derniers décuvages ont eu lieu fin octobre, les vins sont désormais quasiment terminés, y compris au niveau des fermentations malolactiques qui ont bénéficié d’une arrière saison particulièrement propice à leur démarrage. Les vins finis laissent apparaître une belle générosité, des couleurs profondes, des notes de fruits rouges et noirs, de bons équilibres et des tanins fondus et élégants. Les bonnes acidités naturelles des raisins leur confèrent une certaine fraîcheur. Il s’agit à n’en pas douter d’un millésime doté d’un très beau potentiel qualitatif que d’aucuns comparent à 1999 et qui, dans tous les cas, s’inscrit pleinement dans la lignée de ses prédécesseurs : 2003, 2004 et 2005.

Côté production, on s’oriente vers un rendement moyen de 30 / 32 hl par hectare, soit moins que le maximum autorisé par le décret de l’appellation (35 hl / ha).

See FrenchFeast for: Condrieu tasting notes;

September 2006

• Deception at Duval-Leroy??? Herve Gestin, the cellar master who brought the principles of Feng Shui and organic winemaking to this large Champagne house, has left--of his own volition or not. His assistant has succeeded him. Given Duval-Leroy’s lackluster past and the redoubtable character of Carol Duval-Leroy, the owner, Champagne lovers have reason for concern. All’s well for the moment, however, as both the thrilling 1996 and the mellower 1995 Cuvee Femme de Champagne are excellent. And Didier Bureau, an extremely exigent wine professional, is on board as the commercial director.

• Discovery in Alsace. No matter how many wines you taste, it’s difficult to taste them all. So it was with real pleasure that I sampled Emile Beyer’s 2004 Riesling from the Grand Cru of Eichberg in Eguisheim. Simply excellent, it was simultaneously steely and floral, with layers of complexity and majesty to spare. The domaine is eco-friendly, all its vineyards are in Eguisheim and the emphasis is on riesling.

• The much awaited reclassification of St. Emilion’s crus--which takes place every ten years--came to pass in early September 2006. There were a number of changes but few surprises. Overall, there are 61 crus classes in St. Emilion. Two are Premiers Grands Crus Classes A. They are Chateaux Cheval Blanc and Ausone. There are 13 Premiers Grands Crus Classes B. Promoted into this elite group in the new reclassification are the Chateaux Pavie-Macquin (a personal favorite) and Troplong Mondot. Eleven chateaux were axed from the Grand Cru Classe category (among them Yon Figeac, Villemaurine, Bellevue, Cadet Bon, Faurie de Souchard, Tertre Daugay and La Tour du Pin Figeac) and six were awarded entry. The lucky half-dozen are: Chateaux Bellefont-Belcier, Destieux, Fleure-Cardinale, Grand Corbin, Grand Corbin-Despagne and Monbousquet.

• Three Loire wine regions--or subregions--were promoted to Appellation Controlee status-- one deserving, two very questionable. The first is Chaume. Formerly a Coteaux du Layon Village, its upgrade, though long overdue, involved Dickensian local politicking. (Not rare in France.) In any event, Chaume is capable of making astonishingly long-lived, succulent, regal sweet wines from chenin blanc. The last two are Orleans and Orleans-Clery. Both were VDQS (Vin de Qualite Superieur), a step below AOC, and both are minuscule wine regions making minor--though often charming--country wines. French wine is currently in crisis mode. The doldrums are in part due to the superfluity of appellations, creating a structure so topheavy it leaves consumers totally bewildered. In such an atmosphere it seems ridiculous to create additional AOCs, particularly for wines are as marginal as these last two are.

• In the Languedoc, Pezenas has been given official subregion status which means that it can attach its name to that of the appellation, to wit: Coteaux du Languedoc-Pezenas. (Previously recognized subregions of the Coteaux du Languedoc include Pic-St.-Loup.) (The upgrading of Pezenas is part of a controversial revamping of the Languedoc's appellation structure.)