A round up of newbies and slightly oldbies
THE WILD MAN OF AVEYRON – Part Deux
Nicolas Carmarans, restaurateur and vigneron, a man who looks like he wrestles bears and then eats them for breakfast, has vines in planted on the decomposed granites high in the northern Aveyron. As he says himself I want to make wines that I like to drink. The Mauvais Temps is the good bad time had by all, ridiculously sapid and savoury and made with the 30% Negret de Banhars (Nicolas has 1,500 of the 2,500 vines still planted), 50% Fer Servadou (Mansois to its friends) and 10% each of the two Cabs. The Chenin, planted on steep slopes, is wild, like the countryside. The wines are as natural as nature – wild yeast fermented, unfined, unfiltered and only a touch of sulphur.
2009 Selves Blanc (Chenin)
2009 Mauvais Temps Rouge
WISE MINERVOIS
Jean-Baptiste and Charlotte Sénat have been working their fifteen hectare domaine in the heart of Minervois since 1996. They are located in Trausse-Minervois in the foothills of the Montagne Noir. The soils here are limestone-clay and their mainly south-facing vineyards are set in the heart of the garrigue.
They are certified organic and carry out all work by hand. Vinification takes place with minimal intervention in a mixture of large and small casks (stored underground): natural yeasts, no fining, no filtration and only a tiny bit of sulphur are the recipe for living and drinkable wines. Everything is done by gravity to avoid pumping. La Nine has a cuvaison of 16 days with pigeage and spends ten months in cuve before being bottled (by gravity) without filtration.
The exact composition of the blends changes from year to year but La Nine generally features a mixture of around 40% Grenache (45 plus year old vines), 30% Carignan (including 100 year old + gnarled gobelet vines), 10% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre and 10% Cinsault (40 year old vines), a delicious wine with notes of spice over black fruits. Lovely equilibrium, elegant tannins and mellow mouthfeel.
Mais Ou Est Donc Ornicar is a blend of the energetic Mourvèdre (60%) and Grenache (40%). A more powerful effort reminiscent of macerated fruits and dark spices and one that requires a haunch of meat or several. This wine spends six months in barrique.
Mais Ou Est Donc Ornicar is a mnemonic phrase containing the French conjunctions (mais, ou, et, donc, or, ni, car). Geddit ?
On many of their wines you can taste familiar qualities: blueberries, blackberries, grilled mushrooms, earth and always the garrigue aromas of wild thyme.
2008 Minervois Rouge “La Nine”
2008 Minervois Rouge “Mais Ou Est Donc Ornicar”
ANOTHER NEW OLD GRAPE VARIETY
Thierry Navarre in Saint-Chinian makes rather delicious wines amidst the perfumed garrigue. Vin Oeillade is an ancient Languedoc grape variety (related to Cinsault). It makes for light, thoroughly fresh reds that enjoy being chilled and quaffed uncritically. Their other cuvée is old vines Carignan mixed with some Grenache and Syrah.
2009 Vin Oeillade Rouge
2008 Saint-Chinian “Cuvée Olivier”
NOWT TAKEN OUT
Clos Fantine is in the commune of Cabrerolles in Faugères. Two sisters and one brother run this vineyard, following the death of their parents. Whilst not holding a certificate for either organic or biodynamic farming, the vineyard is run with the utmost respect for nature. As Corinne Andrieu states: “We have always worked to respect what nature has to offer… Our pleasure is to listen to nature, to watch nature, and to allow her to have the energy and strength to express herself. For this reason their vines “grow like any other local plant, in a state that verges on the wild.”
The blend is 40% Mourvèdre with approximately 25% Carignan, 10% Syrah, and 25% Grenache. The Carignan is from 50-80 years old, whilst the Mourvèdre and Syrah are from 30 year old vines. Terroir is poor schist, harvests are manual. Fermentation (with wild yeasts) and maceration last for thirty days with no temperature control. There is no oak, no filtration, no fining and no sulphur.
Drinking this Faugères will make you feel close, or even closer, to nature. This is a crawl on the wild side; the fruit is meaty with game-and-gravy flavours and lots of garrigue notes of bay and roasted thyme and there is pronounced bonfire smokiness on the finish.
2006 Faugères tradition
RED OVER MED
Bruno Duchene, an energetic vigneron moved from the Loir-et-Cher to the Roussillon and is now based in Banyuls-sur-Mer. His vines are on the steep hills overlooking the sea and worked by horse and human. He works biodynamically and the red varieties are Grenache Noir and a little Carignan. La Luna is from several parcels of vines averaging 35-40 years old and undergoes a semi-carbonic maceration. Pigeage and remontage is according to the nature of The Corral Nou (AOC Collioure) is from older vines (80 years), is vinified in a similar fashion but spends a little time in barrique. It has greater intensity, but is still a thoroughly elegant and tonic wine.
2009 Vin de Pays de la Cote Vermeille “La Luna”
2009 Collioure “Corral” Nou
THE FUTURE IS NATURALLY CROZEY
René Jean Dard and François Ribo have acquired a cult following amongst those who frequent the natural wine bars of France and they are also revered in Japan, the second home of great low sulphur wines. Their 7.5 vineyard holding is split around seven villages on a variety of terroirs comprising different soil types. The winery is located near Mercurol (a short distance east of Tain l’Hermitage). They use two types of pruning, goblet and tie-up, depending of the slope and other terrain conditions and practise organic viticulture. We are taking three whites, two Crozes and one Saint-Joseph. The straight Crozes Blanc is a blend of Marsanne and Roussanne, whilst the Karrière is from a parcel of Marsanne vines on caolin (white clay soils). The Saint-Joseph Blanc meanwhile is pure Roussanne. All the whites manage to bridge the gap between being golden, honeyed, spicy yet defiantly mineral. The two reds share a common purity of fruit. The Crozes, from red clay soils with gravel and alluvial stones, is almost salty with notes of violets, olives, dill, blackberry and leather, whilst the Saint-Joseph Rouge, from vines on decomposed granitic soils, is round and smoky. “What we like is natural wine because it’s alive, wine that does not necessarily have to be kept – just drunk and drunk again.”
2008 Crozes-Hermitage Blanc
2007 Crozes-Hermitage Blanc “Karrière”
2008 Saint-Joseph Blanc
2008 Crozes-Hermitage Rouge
2008 Saint-Joseph Rouge
DARD LABOUR WITH SOUHAUT FINESSE
Les Champs Libres…No lard-di-da numbers these but ‘umble natural wines co-scripted by the René Jean Dard and Hervé Souhaut. The proof is in the cheerful drinking. The white Lard is plumptious Grenache Blanc, the red is a chillable and eminently gluggable blend of Gamay and Syrah weighing in at a slimming 11.8%. The former is golden-yellow and vinous; fleshy fruits dominate the nose and mouth, in particular, poached pears and roasted pineapple. The finish is dry, waxy and spicy. The red effortlessly combines frivolity (imagine just crushed red grape juice) and cheeky terroir notes of black olives and pepper. The Crozes-Hermitage Foufoune strips off and reveals those beautifully eloquent primary Syrah aromas: sweet violets, orange blossom, juicy black olives and silky blueberry fruit mingled in the glass. In terms of drinkability let’s just say that the gradient of the glass projecting the wine down one’s throat steepens appreciably.
2008 Lard des Choix Blanc
2008 Lard des Choix Rouge
2008 Crozes-Hermitage Rouge, Foufoune
A CHIP OFF THE BLOCK
Maxime-François Laurent works with his mother at Domaine Gramenon and also produces two wines under his own label. Il Fait Soif is violet purple in colour and possesses fantastic aromatics — lots of sour cherry, pepper, wet leather and herbs. Candied fruit dominated by notes of cherry and raspberry, loaded with pepper and a smear of grape jam, some graphite and pencil shavings. Its irresistible juiciness will get you plunging this into the nearest ice bucket but there’s enough grunt for a grilled steak. Gather ye round the barbecue. The Pourpre, from 50-80 year old vines aged in used barrels for six months, is a shade more purple (yes, it does what it says on the label) and is more textural; there is the flavour of red grape juice but also the skins beautifully combined with ripe tannins. These natural wines won’t frighten the horses and those cynical gainsayers who believe that wild yeast ferments and minimal sulphur inevitably leads to death-by-funk.
2008 Cotes du Rhone “Il Fait Soif”
2008 Cotes du Rhone “Pourpre”
2008 Cotes du Rhone “Pourpre” - magnum
SMALL BUT BEAUTIFUL
Benoit Courault, or Ben, as Alice Feiring dreamily calls him, makes a mean mackerel as well as some nifty wines. Two wines for the table, one to appeal to white vin man, the other to red vin girl. How easily one falls into these reductive tropes. Benoit took over the 6.5 ha vineyard in 2006, having cut his vinous teeth in Chambolle-Musigny and in Tavel with the one of the archbishops of natural wine, Eric Pfifferling. Farming is organic and the non-interventionist philosophy extends into the winery. The Gilbourg (name of the plot) is pure, but not so simple, Chenin. Sixty year old vines on clay-schist soils, very low yields, long vinification, wild yeast ferment without temperature control and maturation for twelve months in three to five year old barrels, makes for a rich, earthy style of wine with bruised orchard fruit. To say that not much of this is made is an understatement. We drank this over the course of three days and the changing flavours took our palates on an exotic journey. Imagine ripe apples rolled in honey-coated green leaves then add cinnamon and musk and some spiky acidity for definition. The wine moves, sometimes more mellow and textured, sometimes sharper and delineated. Drink it a la Ben with le big Mack or le quarter pounder of young goat’s cheese.
Tabeneaux is a Cabernet Franc/Grolleau blend (60/40) from old vines is unoaked, unfiltered, unfined and unsulphured. A piffling 11.5% means that you can drink a magnum before the neo-Prohibitionists and their witchfinder generals cotton on to what you are doing. In short, this is a profoundly delicious wine that doesn’t need to be profound.
2008 Vin de Table Gilbourg Blanc
2008 Vin de Table Tabeneaux Rouge (magnum)
ATMOSSEPHERE
...toutefois l’absorption de 184646 bouteilles de vin d’Anjou ne rendit pas sa langue moins habile...Rabelais
Agnès and René Mosse live and work in the village of Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay, in the Coteaux-du-Layon area of Anjou. The Layon is a small tributary to the Loire that lazily digs its way through well exposed and drained hills of schist and sandstone. Its micro-climate allows for a long hang-time, and when the mornings are foggy in the fall, with no rain, botrytis develops easily on the Chenin grapes.
Previously, the Mosses had owned a wine-bar/wine retail in Tours, and they credit the great vignerons they met there, among them Jo Pithon and François Chidaine, as the impetus to become winemakers. They studied viticulture and oenology at the agricultural lycée in Amboise where two of their teachers were Thierry Puzelat (Clos du Tue Boeuf) and Christian Chaussard (Domaine le Briseau).
They spent two years working in Côte-de-Beaune, then bought the estate in St-Lambert in 1999. They work 13ha of vines, most of them planted with Chenin blanc (nine ha), and Cabernets franc and sauvignon (three ha), the rest is planted with Gamay, Chardonnay, Grolleau Gris and Noir.
They adopted organic viticulture techniques from the start, ploughing between and under the rows, and use biodynamic preparations to treat the vines and soil. In their area of Anjou Noir (Black Anjou, so called because of the dark colour of the soils of slate and volcanic rocks), the soils are shallow, with subsoils of schist and sandstone, and varying amounts of clay on the surface.
With all the efforts put into vineyard work, it is equally important to them to vinify in a natural fashion, and they are particularly attentive to minimizing manipulations and the use of sulphur. All the wines are barrel-fermented and aged, and usually the whites go through their malolactic fermentation. The barrels are renewed as needed: they are containers, not oak flavour providers.
The Anjou Blanc sec is from young selection massale Chenin vines planted in 2001 & 2002 grown on clay and gravel soils alternating with schist. Yields in this vintage were less than 15hl/ha and harvest was done by hand with selection (tri) of grapes. Vinification is slow, malo takes place in barrels and the wine spends a further year in them before bottling.
The Bonnes Blanches (aka Brigitte Bardot) is a 2.5ha parcel of thirty-five year old vines on a special terroir of sandstone with a subsoil of decomposed schists. Ample, mineral, long in the mouth this wine has profound texture.
2008 Anjou Blanc
2008 Anjou Blanc Initals “BB”
CHENIN WHICH IS UTTERLY BUTTERFLY
Chateau La Fresnaye is negoce business run by Jo Pithon.
Clear the decks for more Chenin.
Situated on a magnificent hill with southern exposure, with slopes ranging from 30 to 70%. Les Treilles was a vineyard prior to the 1940’s, but after the war it was abandoned and returned to fallow ground. It took three years for Jo and Isabelle to purchase the 70 different plots from twenty-five different owners for a total surface of seven hectares of which five hectares would be planted with vines. In 2000 they started cultivating Les Treilles with Chenin and provisionally finished in 2006.
“The vines succeeded with the southern exposure but they were not alone. This area, very rich with fauna and flora is classed as a protected site with ‘Reserve naturelle régionale des Coteaux du Pont Barré’. Les Treilles is managed by LPO Anjou and we work in unity with organic practices for our collaboration on nature and for the butterflies…
.
Fauna and Flora Studies that were conducted, in particular, by botanist, Robert Carillon, show that Les Treilles has a micro climate similar to the Mediterranean climate. And on Les Treilles, they found fauna and flora very rare to the area. They discovered a very beautiful blue butterfly; Lysandra bellargus”.
The terroir is truly magnificent with beautiful quality of light and the microclimate is almost Mediterranean in character.
Coteau des Treilles is a top selection, a wine of magnificent concentration that floats like a butterfly across your palate before delivering its jaw-dropping, knockout blow. A mineral nose, but with vibrant, youthful pear fruit in the middle. There is a lovely vinous texture to the palate, showing just a little vanilla from the oak, but it also has great balance. Lots of spicy acidity underneath it. Overall, a fresh wine, with the floral purity of a spring meadow, firm minerally undertones overlaid with honey, clove and vanilla.
2008 Anjou Blanc “Coteau des Treilles”
THANKS BE TO COT
Domaine du Moulin is an estate of 25 hectares (17 of which are planted) located in Cour-Cheverny. It has passed from father to son from the installation of Hervé’s grandfather in 1939, Hervé took over the estate in 1995, after studying viticulture and winemaking. In the late 90’s Hervé met Thierry Puzelat (who was then in his second year of organic viticulture) and tasted his wines as well as Marcel Lapierre’s Morgons and was struck by their purity. He decided to turn a couple of hectares organic just to check: no synthetic products, but ploughing and hand harvest instead, and also no-or very-little sulphur. The results proved to him that he should travel the non-interventionist path.
Pivoine (the name means peony) is a blend of 90% Cot and 10% Gamay. The vineyard is farmed organically, the vines being on mixture of sand and clay with flints. After fifteen day wild yeast fermentation, the wine is aged in 30hl oak barrels before bottling with filtration, fining and only 2mg of sulphur at bottling.
Natural wine at its most ebullient, Pivoine has a blue-purple colour is pricklier than Gore Vidal after a few drinks, exhibits aromas of peonies (I guess), kirsch and caraway and has a gutsy palate flaunting pepper, punchy tannin and stiletto acidity. Climb into this Cot with alacrity…
2008 Vin de Pays du Loir et Cher “Pivoine”
JAZZY JASNIERES AND PERKY PINEAU (D’AUNIS)
Christian Chaussard studied and then taught viticulture and oenology whilst running a small estate in Vouvray. For financial reasons he had to give the latter up, but soon decided that he wanted to practise vine-growing and winemaking. Before accomplishing that goal, he met Nathalie Gaubicher, a Swiss actress with an oenologist and sommelier diploma, and they set out to find vines somewhere in France. In 2002, they settled in the Jasnières/Coteaux-du-Loir area in northern Touraine. The entirety of Jasnières covers eighty hectares of vines, and Coteaux-du-Loir about two hundred hectares. The soils are largely all clay and silica over a subsoil of limestone, and Domaine le Briseau was started with four hectares of vines planted mainly with Chenin Blanc and Pineau d’Aunis. In 2007, the estate had grown to eleven hectares. All vineyard work is done according to the principles of organic viticulture (with the certification of Qualité France): no pesticides, insecticides or chemical fertilizers are used; nettle and horsetail decoctions are sprayed on the foliage; copper is used in modest quantity (less than 5kg/ha); the vines are ploughed and grass allowed to grow between the rows. In 2006, the estate started its conversion to biodynamic principles.
There’s warmth, waxiness and those almond notes typical of Chenin in the Jasnières Kharakter (from 70 year old vines), some sly sherry aromatics and pulped-pear-mingled with-flint-fruit. And here’s the rub, the longer you leave it the more profound it becomes, so please carafe in order to allow the dry honey to become runny. Coteaux du Loir Le Briseau is tight, bright with quincy crunchability. The reds are equally superb. The Patapon is mainly Pineau d’Aunis with a little Cot. Bright red cherry, strawberry and pomegranate notes are highlighted with a distinctive dusting of black pepper typical of this grape variety. A bit of smokiness and a waft of violets lend seductiveness to the mix. Les Mortiers is darker and richer but still light on its feet.
2007 Jasnieres “Kharakter
2008 Coteaux du Loir Blanc “Le Briseau”
2008 Coteaux du Loir Rouge “Patapon”
2008 Coteaux du Loir Rouge “Les Mortiers”
MARCH OF THE CUVEES
History, though, is not the story here. It’s about two brothers, Jean-Marie and Thierry Puzelat, who tend their 10-hectare family estate in Les Montils (in the Cheverny AOC) and rent 6 hectares in a village nearby, in the Touraine AOC. The region, near the hunting grounds of Sologne, has always used a wide variety of grapes. Since the 60’s, the Puzelats’ father had been making his own selections of vines to replant, and left them with vines of Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Menu Pineau (or Arbois), Pinot Noir, Gamay, Cabernet Franc and Côt (or Malbec).
Thierry Puzelat, in the Loire, initiated a special cuvée in 2007, made from a collection of tiny such private plots from which he bought the grapes through a non-profit group dedicated to save them : “le Rouge est Mis” is the name of this cuvée , a red Pinot Meunier, a beautiful, peppery wine made with a now minor variety. He made two casks of this wine. I hope he’ll repeat that operation because first, the wine is good, and second, because it helps prevent these tiny isolated plots from being uprooted and from melting into the fields nearby. Pinot Meunier is rather obscure to most wine drinkers and will rarely be seen on a wine label. The grape has been favoured by vine growers in northern France due to its ability to bud and ripen more reliably than Pinot Noir. Puzelat’s version is bonny and fresh, a velvet crush of raspberries and summer strawberries with enough of a liquorice twist to give the winery a savoury dimension. The ripeness is just-so, suggestive rather than full throttle, and the lightness of alcohol (12%) makes this a breeze to drink.
Puzelat’s Romorantin is simply stunning. Consider 105 year old vines and younger vines (a mere 37 years old) planted on French rootstock on silex and then aged in old barrels. It may look fragile at 11.5%, but the wine is a veritable vin de garde and has an intensity that lingers remarkably on the palate.
Aromas jostle for attention: lemon and chalk followed by mixed white fruits (white peaches, william pears), honey, almonds and clean, minerally scents reminiscent of finely-spun wool. It’s complex on the palate, too, extremely vinous showing lemon-cream and honey. Ripe apple juiciness quickly gives way to tart, steely acidity that sings like a taut violin string, providing balance and structure for the full, luscious fruit. On the second day the acidity became steelier and more penetrating, the flinty minerality more pronounced taking on back notes of ginger, white pepper, pearskin and hell’s granny smiths. Drink this with aged Gruyere, smoked trout or langoustines with garlic mayonnaise.
So many cuvées, so little time. A Pet Nat – from Menu Pineau, (mais nat), Brin de Chevre is another example of this rare grape – citrus, honey, crystallized ginger. Petit Buisson is a tangy Sauvignon, whilst Buisson Pouilleux is its old vines brer is unlike any other Sauvignon Blanc that you can imagine. Bright light lemon with intense minerality and brilliant notes of honeysuckle, verbena and even persimmon. So exotic. Great palate coating depth. There’s a Cheverny Blanc called Frileuse which mixes Sauvignon Rose (yes, indeed), Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, and a pair of limpid red Chevernys, both Gamay/Pinot blends.
THIERRY PUZELAT
2006 Petillant Naturel
2008 Vin de Table Romorantin
2008 Vin de Table “Rouge et Mis” Pinot Meunier
CLOS DU TUE-BOEUF
2004 Brin de Chevre
2009 Brin de Chevre
2009 Cheverny Blanc “Frileuse”
2009 Petit Buisson
2009 Buisson Pouilleux Vieilles Vignes
2009 Buisson Pouilleux Vieilles Vignes – magnum
2009 Cheverny Rouge
2009 Cheverny Rouge “Rouillon”
THE SOUL OF BEAU-JOLLY
Marcel Lapierre is Monsieur Morgon and very much the godfather of Gamay. He makes the wine at Chateau Cambon. These wines are au naturel; the wild yeasts are practically gnawing at your ankles. The wines are intended to express terroir and possess a cool freshness, equilibrium and fruit; veritably these are vins des soifs. The Raisins Gaulois with its cartoon label is fun incarnate, drinking this wine offers indecent pleasure. The Beaujolais is wilder, in the murk lurks a jungle of brambly fruit with a whiff of the beast.
2009 Vin de Table Gamay Raisins Gaulois
2008 Beaujolais
MERCUREY RISING
Dominique and Catherine Derain definitely adopt a minimalist approach. They farm biodynamically, hand harvest, do not chaptalize or acidify and use the barest amount of sulphur in their winemaking approach. All the fruit is hand-picked and they destem 90% of their red grapes before fermentation, which occurs in wooden vats. After fermentation the wine is aged in old oak casks for 12-18 months. The couple never use SO2 during the winemaking process, adding only a small amount at bottling for stabilization. The Saint-Aubin Rouge is marked with bright acidity, vibrant cherry fruit, Asian spices and lovely balance. This is a silky number that should provide several years of great drinking. The thrilling Mercurey from old biodynamically-tended vines (100 years old) reaches an altogether different level. It is a blend of 85% Pinot Noir, 15% Pinot Beurrot (an ancient Burgundy varietal related to Pinot Gris). There is a silky nature to this Mercurey giving it a supple mouthfeel and a detailed range of raspberry and cherry fruit with a touch of pomegranate. It has lovely spice notes and touch of lavender on the nose. Striking elegance, complexity and length. The Bourgogne Blanc “La Combe” is from 0.3 ha of vines situated in the village of Puligny-Montrachet, on deep soils and brown clay, good Chardonnay terroir that gives a yield of 35 hl/ha and helps to produce fruity, rich and fleshy wine.
2008 Bourgogne Blanc “La Combe”
2007 Saint-Aubin Rouge “Le Ban”
2007 Mercurey Rouge “La Plante Chassey”
CUTE BURGUNDIES
Arnaud Combier’s winery is situated in the village of Pierreclos, the vines for the Saint Véran are planted in the commune of Prissé, and the vines for the Pouilly Fuissé are planted in the commune of Fuissé. Arnaud studied viticulture and winemaking for four yrs at Beaune, then worked in different vineyards such as Domaine Valette at Chaintré, and Domaine Colbois at Chablis, before taking over the reins from his grandparents in 1999. He is in the second year of conversion to biodynamic viticulture and works naturally in the winery. Great terroir lends the wines their limpidity and intensity in the mouth.
2008 Saint-Aubin Blanc “Les Mandeliers”
2008 Pouilly-Fuissé
PROBABLY THE BEST AMONTILLADO IN THE WORLD
Founded in the mid nineteenth century by Emilio Hidalgo Hidalgo, so good they named him twice, this bodega is owned and operated by the fifth generation of his descendants. The winery has been located, since its inception, in the old part of the city of Jerez de la Frontera; the buildings being of classical Andalucian construction with thick walls, enormous windows, and high, open beamed ceilings are ideal for the ageing and blending of wine. By the beginning of the 20th century, Don Emilio Hidalgo e Hidalgo had a thriving business with an office in London and a presence in many countries. The company was incorporated in 1970 and began to expand its export business in the English, Dutch, German and Austrian markets, as well as expand into the United States, Japan, Denmark, Italy, France and Belgium.
Currently the winery houses casks of the original wine used to found the company, which is carefully renewed and enriched by the fifth generation of the founding family dedicated to the wine industry. We are listing five wines which demonstrate the wonderful complexity that comes with the ageing process. Even if you don’t know your soleras from your criaderas you will appreciate the amazing richness yet subtle balance of these great sherries. Fino Panesa is a generous dry wine, pale yellow in colour with a distinctive and sharp bouquet, acquired during its development in oak casks under the ‘flor.’ Full-flavoured with a satisfying aftertaste it should be served chilled with an array of tapas such as shrimp, white fish, cured ham, smoked ham, cheese… Gobernador Oloroso is an aromatic full-bodied sherry. It is mahogany in colour with a tawny hue (like a deep burnished brown) and has a fresh and elegant bouquet, as a result of its long maturation in oak casks and the harmonious passage of time. The elegance of this wine is due partly to the fact that it developed under flor before its oxidative development. Excellent with red meats, game birds, cured cheeses, stews, roast pork… Marques de Rodil is a very special Palo Cortado, the fruit of a long and extraordinary process of selection and a skilled combination of mixing in the traditional system of criaderas and soleras. Bright mahogany, with an almond aroma, dry on the palate, balanced, elegant and very persistent it is also soft, delicate and sharp and at the same time with tremendous body. Incredibly reminiscent of an Islay whisky with its salty bite. This wine is perfect served should be served at room temperature with pork dishes, chicken, cheese, salted meats…
This house has “soleras” of Palo Cortado dating back to 1860, a legendary and mythic category of “vino de Jerez.”
All kneel before the El Tresillo Amontillado that comes from an 1874 solera blended and refreshed with amontillados with a younger character. A long oxidative development in the bodega in American oak barrels confers this old amontillado with supreme viscosity and extraordinary length on the palate. Imagine notes of cooked walnuts, toffee cream and warm wood and spice (cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and clove). Vibrant attack, dry with tones of orange peel and dried figs. Endless finish. This sherry is like polished antique furniture in a stately home glowing in warm late autumn sunshine.
The Pedro Ximenez is very sweet wine that takes its name from the variety of grape. After the grapes are picked, they are dried in the sun for several days to concentrate their level of sugar. This wine has a very dark, almost opaque colour; the aroma is of toasted nuts from old solera and hints of raisins and flavours reminiscent of dates, sweet figs and molasses. Long and complex and very pure.
Le Panesa Fino
Gobernador Oloroso
Rodil Palo Cortado
Tresillo 1874 Amontillado Viejo
Pedro Ximenez
ON THEIR RIOJAS
Hacienda Grimón is run by the Oliváns, a family with a long winemaking tradition in Rioja. Grimón was established by Paco Grimón who runs the bodega and his brother Eliseo who takes care of the viticulture.
Their 25 hectares of vineyards are based in the Valle de Jubera, a secluded and little known corner of Rioja Alta with a great viticultural history. Viticulture is organic – “always has been here, why do I need certification..?” - with no use of herbicides and pesticides, sheep manure is used as fertilizer. Hand harvesting is employed for all their vineyards. Great care is taken to provide the healthiest grapes of the highest quality, as nearly all the wines will experience extended ageing.
75% of the vineyards are planted to Tempranillo, 15% to Garnacha and 10% to Graciano. Plots range from 10 to 45 years old.
The straight Rioja Tempranillo is fermented and aged in stainless steel, with no carbonic maceration which is the usual method used for Rioja jovens. The wine is made from exactly the same fruit that goes into the Crianza (see below). Paco was reluctant to make this wine as he only wants to make oak aged wines but we asked very him nicely! We wanted to show Tempranillo without any oak influence in all its juicy glory. This is as serious as unoaked Rioja gets, quite full bodied, nice tannic bite but juicy nonetheless.
The Crianza is a rigorous selection of grapes from 3 different vineyard parcels. The wine is aged for 16 months in French & American oak. Aromas of black fruits with black pepper and sweet spices. Palate is quite full bodied for a Crianza due to the quality of fruit used and longer than average ageing in oak. The ripe tannins and fresh acidity balance the richness of the fruit which results in an elegant and classy Rioja, a serious Crianza and cut above most others you will try. For me it tastes genuine and harks back to how good Rioja used to be.
The Reserva is more structured with more prominent oak flavours. Dense plummy fruit and a good tannic structure.
These wines not oak lollipops.
2008 Rioja Tempranillo
2007 Rioja Crianza
2008 Rioja Reserva
DOLCETTO ET DECORUM EST
Owned by the Zampaglione clan Tenuta Grillo estate spreads over 32 hectares of which 17 are dedicated to the vineyard. The production is based on low yields, scrupulous selection of the grapes, respect for nature and traditions. The wines reflect the naturalness and the characteristics of the land, the vines and the year. Pratoasciutto is Dolcetto which undergoes a long maceration of 30/40 days, ferment on native yeasts, extremely limited use of sulphur and ageing in big barrels in order to provide stability and complexity to the wine before being bottled without filtration. I have always wanted to like Dolcetto - maybe it’s the name – but, unhappily, found most examples to be clumpy, fruitless and tannic. The nose here is instantly appealing, oozing violets, black fruits, liquorice, and parma ham. The fruit is great, the tannins velvety and there is a bitter black cherry rasp to the finish that taps your taste buds on the shoulder and reminds them that absence of food is not a serious option.
2006 Pratoasciutto
DRY AMBER NECTAR
The other Zampaglione estate is called Il Tufiello and is located in Campania. They make one wine: Fiano,Don Chisciotte, an amber-hued beaut. This Donchi brays for your attention. It is the result of organic viticulture and meticulous winemaking.
The vines are planted at an altitude 800 metres above sea level on poor soils. Natural fertilizers and other treatments with sulphur and copper. The vines are densely planted. After a manual harvest in October the wine receives long maceration on the skins, is fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged on the lees in tank. Only a tiny amount of sulphur is used and the wine is bottled unfiltered.
A white wine for lovers of skin contact. This is fairly dark in colour from being raised in an open vat, cloudy in the glass, and has seen very little sulphur. The nose comes alive with fresh green notes, aromatic yellow fruits, and dried herbs. The palate is round and full of citrusy, lemon intensity finishing with a hint of tannin.
2007 Fiano “Don Chisciotte”
THE UR-SUPER TUSCAN
Montevertine is a small Chianti estate of eleven hectares, first planted in 1967 by Sergio Manetti assisted by legendary oenologist Giulio Gambelli.
By 1981 Manetti was finding the DOC Chianti too restrictive (producers were not allowed to use 100% Sangiovese and were required to blend in white grape varieties), so he decided instead to produce a premium Tuscan wine that he hoped would convey the terroir of his site, particularly with Sangiovese. Thus he withdrew from the Chianti Consorzio, and Le Pergole Torte Vino da Tavola was born. Today, his son Martino remains committed to developing Montevertine following his father’s recipe: 100% Sangiovese grapes, harvested late, fermented in cement tanks without temperature control, macerated on skins for 25 days, then matured in Slavonian oak for 18 months with a further six in French Alliers barriques.
Eric Asimov, the wine critic for the New York Times, wrote the following about Montevertine and it’s a sentiment we share completely: “Sometimes I fall in love with a producer from the moment I first taste his wine. I know, I sound gullible. But really, if you can sense a purity, a commitment, and of course deliciousness and complexity, why hold back?”
Le Pergole Torte is a profound soliloquy for Sangiovese. Named after the tiny 2-hectare vineyard from which it comes, Le Pergole Torte has one of the coolest microclimates in the region, giving the wine a shivering energy, a precision to balance the wine’s obvious power. Le Pergole Torte is only made in top vintages; it is always 100% Sangiovese. If there is truly tremendous clarity to the wine, an articulation of nuance - dark berry fruit, dried cherry notes, smoke, gravel - make no mistake, Le Pergole Torte is meant to age.
.
We are very excited by the imminent arrival of these wines.
Details to follow soon