More delicious wines
2008 Coup de Canon, Chahut et Prodiges
Gregory Leclerc, formerly a wine journalist, studied viticulture, did a stage with Franz Saumon and then bought a 6.5ha vineyard in the commune of Chargé, near the town of Amboise. A disciple of natural wine he works the vines organically and harvests manually. His Coup de Canon is from 50 year old Grolleau Noir vines on clay-limestone soils studded with flints. The hands-off approach in the winery includes a wild yeast ferment for three week in tanks and bottling without fining or sulphur. The sneaky little deposit attests to the wine’s grunginess.
For those about to drink rock ‘n’ roll wines, we salute you. Fire!
‘Member when Heather O’Rourke says: “They’re here!” in Poltergeist? I said the same thing when trying the Coup de Canon – those old natural flavours coming back to haunt me and rearrange my mental furniture. About time too – the wine was damn reductive for several months so it’s about time we had a chance to gaze into its heart of darkness. Hazy red colour, fermented red fruits on the nose, sappy wild hedgerow fruits with a lovely herbal quality and yeasty-spicy finish, a red of russet yeas and honest kersey noes.
2008 Soave Classico, Stefano Inama
Soave falls into my “swill meet again” category of wines to be avoided. It is not just the studied neutrality that derives from the dilution caused by staggeringly high yields but it is that the winemaking recipes from the Veneto region seem to favour adding sulphur by the bucket load. Struck match aromas are one thing; on one occasion my eyes actually started stinging when drinking a particularly noxious example, and I’d name names if I hadn’t totally repressed the memory.
Stefano Inama is one of the elite band of grower/winemakers who doesn’t cut corners and manages to capture the flavour of the terroir in all his wines. Made from hand-harvested pergola-trained Garganega grapes, fermented and aged in stainless steel, this crisp white wine has a distinctive herbal edge camomile, elderflower to the nose. The mouth is beautifully defined with pearskin and blanched almonds notes and a keen mineral edge. Enjoy this with fried squid, pasta in light or white sauces. In previous vintages this wine can be quite rich with ripe pear, apricot and even a touch of lychee, but evidently this vintage is considerably lighter and the wine more delicate as a result.
2003 Riesling Bihl, Pierre Frick
A freaky Frick Riesling. The background: Bihl is a parcel of vines situated in the village of Pfaffenheim on a hillock that juts forth into the plain, with west-facing slopes The soil is brown limestone with substrata sedimentary rock of a marine nature from the secondary era. The specific term given to the soil here is ‘oolithic’, which means that there are small granules of soil that are the size of caviar or fish eggs. This type of soil is friable, releasing active limestone, the soil is shallow, very stony and porous.
Riesling Bihl combines the primary aromas of a wine still in its youthful pomp with some embryonic secondary notes of truffle, humus and dry honey. The initial nose reveals white flowers, fermented apples and yellow peaches with a back-note of menthol, the palate is dry with remarkable nerve and has a savoury-mineral quality beneath the aforementioned autumnal flavours.
2009 Raisins Gaulois, Lapierre
Marcel Lapierre, one of the greatest and most inspirational figures in Beaujolais and the natural wine movement died earlier this week.
In 1973 he took over the estate of Domaine des Chenes in Morgon. In the early 1980s he met Jules Chauvet, known as father of the French natural wine movement, and under his influence he began to introduce biodynamic techniques, vinifying without SO2 and additional yeasts, and eschewing weed killers and chemical fertilisers.
Tributes have pouring out in the blogosphere. This is from Saignee:
“...They put a smile on my face more times than I can remember. Not many things can do that in the space of your life.
There’s been a lot of petty arguments on the Internet lately and perhaps I’ve forgotten a little of why I love wine in the first place. Marcel reminds me, through his wines, that at the end of the day I should be a bit embarrassed to be so fucking serious about thinking about wine when his Morgon is right there, simply waiting to be drank. And that is what Marcel made, and that is why he is so beloved. Wines to drink like they should be, wines that keep glasses refilled, bottle after bottle.
These are the wines of the simple pleasures in life. Thanks for them Marcel, and rest in peace.”
Not having a bottle of Morgon to salute the man I instead cracked open a bottle of Raisins Gaulois, a young chip of the old block. This is declassified (young vines) tank-fermented Morgon for summer fun and dispelling autumn blues, the essence of grape – a snappy, sappy little wine that exemplifies the best of drink-me Gamay. The nose exudes red and black cherries, raspberries and strawberries allied to some wild yeastiness that gives just a bit extra to a deliciously fruity wine. Refreshing acidity makes the wine joyously easy to drink. The best testament to a great winemaker is the liquid in the bottle – and the bottle was happily empty.
Critique of pure raisins
2008 Macon-Cruzille Aragonite, Domaine des Vignes du Maynes
Incredible wine. I don’t want to belabour the point because I have reviewed it on several occasions recently, but tasting the 08 was a revelation again. This wine is so linear, so driven; it has such energy and mineral purity that it makes so many white Burgundies look hollow in comparison. 08 white Burgundies (see Derain, Cossard) have plenty of verve and sinew- I’m liking them a lot - and this is the best of a very good bunch. It’s biodynamic, it’s natural and it’s bloody brilliant.