Real Wines Tasting Really Good
Highlights of a tasting with Fiona Sims at Bentley’s Restaurant…
2006 Jasnieres Kharakter, Domaine Le Briseau – Loire
It is said that, maybe three or four times a century, the appellation of Jasnières makes the greatest Chenin on earth. I like this notion of a terroir, notoriously temperamental, that unabashedly fixes you with its glittering eye and declares: “I am what I am – take me, or preferably, leave me!” Most certainly the vagaries of vintage determine the style of the wine: the difference, for example, between 2005 & 2006 is profound. Even the more sumptuous examples have an astringency that keeps your palate guessing. There’s warmth, waxiness and those almond notes typical of Chenin, some sly sherry aromatics and pulped-pear-mingled with-flint-fruit. The Kharakter is a delicate golden wine with inviting nose of warm pearskin, sweet hay and fine honey. It has a smooth, taffeta-textured mouth, no bitterness, just ripe autumnal fruits laced with swathes of beautifully soothing acidity. This would be divine with slivers of creamy young blue cheese served with ripe pears and walnuts.
2004 Vino Bianco Trebez, Dario Princic – Friuli
When I came into the tenebrous basement at Bentley’s I saw what I thought was an eerily beautiful lava lamp sitting casting hazy amber light around it. Closer inspection revealed it to be a decanter of our own amber nectar, Princic Trebez, sitting on a plinth. No jokes about the plinth of darkness. The wine, as it eased into our glasses, reminded me of natural cider. It bites like a white and grips like red – imagine grainy apricot skins with grated ginger and surprising notes of pink grapefruit (from the ripe Sauvignon in the blend). Bring on the white truffle risotto.
2006 Macon-Chaintré, Domaine Philippe Valette – Burgundy
This Macon has the jaunty swagger of old vines fruit. Valette picks his ripe and allows a degree of oxygenation –Vinification is natural: without sulphur, without yeasts, chaptalization or acidification. Elevage is for twenty-six months on the fine lees in tank (20%) and futs de chene (80%). Ripe apple, honey, lemon and grey mineral all come together in a distinctly mature, winey nose. Clarity of fruit and good acidity show through, with a more lush profile than Chablis but a long, almost crystalline finish.
2006 Peter Pliger Kuenhof Veltliner – Alto-Adige
Wax those tongue skis before tackling this wine of amazing minerality and complexity. Pliger’s wines need long aging before expressing themselves with depth and fascinating luminosity. Peter Pliger, proprietor and winemaker at this tiny property (only about 2,500 cases are produced annually), is considered to be a pace-setter for the Valle Isarco region, which is located in the normally cooler northern portion of Südtirol. His organically cultivated vines exhibit an aromatic profile and stony minerality that differ from those grown just north or south of his property and are expressive of a unique terroir. Biologically responsible farming is essential, Pliger asserts, if the microflora in the soil are to properly convert the various mineral elements into the soluble form needed by the vines. He grows only Sylvaner, Gewürztraminer, Riesling and Veltliner; the last two in particular are striking wines, perhaps reflecting Pliger’s admiration for Rieslings of the Mosel and Veltliners of the Wachau in Austria (where they are called Grüner Veltliner). Appealing floral scents on the nose. On the palate, the wine offers the very essence of freshly cut apple, sappy yet very smooth, and complemented by layers of citrus and tropical fruits. An undercurrent of chalk and woodsmoke lingers on the palate, giving this elegant wine an added sense of structure. If ever a wine embodied the glorious tension between stone, sun, soil and water this was it.
2005 Bourgogne Rouge Bedeau, Domaine de Chassorney – Burgundy
Chassorney’s classy chassis was again in evidence. This Pinot is so smooth it rolls on ball bearings, elegant, eloquent and precise.
2007 Le Cousin, Grolleau vieilles vignes, Domaine Cousin-Leduc – Loire
Daddy long legs meets the Corbie the crow. Some wines are so natural that you can feel the earth between their toes. This verges on the, ahem, feral, but it is also packed with good-natured ripe fruit. The wild yeasts clamouring for attention underneath give the wine a raunchy lift.
2007 Cotes du Rhone Pierres Chaudes, Domaine de l’Anglore – Rhone
This blend of old vines Grenache and Clairette is a gem (hot stones indeed), a wine of yin and yang, a Rhone that sings of vines growing in hot fractured soils yet reveals the coolest, purest red fruits, The colour is amazing, it would blush next to a rose, and is reassuringly cloudy (vegan’s delight) being both unfiltered and unfined.
2007 Saint-Joseph Saint-Epine, Domaine Romaneaux-Destezet – Northern Rhone
Domaine Romaneaux-Destezet was created in 1993 by Hervé Souhaut. His holdings on the acidic granite soils of the northern Rhone and the southern Ardèche are a mixture of new and ancient vines—from 50 to100 years old. Hervé Souhaut’s holdings are minuscule, only five hectares and he employs only organic and biodynamic winemaking techniques.
The Saint-Joseph is from a tiny 100 year old plot of Syrah vines. At the end of September, the grapes are harvested and then undergo a very long maceration at a low temperature without destemming. The wine is then matured on the lees in second-hand oak casks for six months and then bottled without being filtered. Cool climate Syrah tends to have very dynamic aromatics and this example is seductively forward in its advances whilst maintaining a lingering veil of mystery. Violets, freshly roasted coffee beans, black cherry, wet stone and vanilla bean all interplay nicely as they gradually unfurl off the rim of the glass. The palate employs many of the same flavours the wine contains on the nose, however, deep black cherry and juicy plum flavours mesh with candied violets and cool strawberry tones dominate. The moderate tannins that gradually crop up on the finish highlight the readily accessible fruity components this stellar Syrah possesses. This wine has the spirit of youth with the gentle certainty of old vine wisdom. Ideal with pigeon, guinea fowl, roast chicken or pork.
2002 Brunello di Montalcino, Il Paradiso di Manfredi – Tuscany
Vin de joie, vin de plaisir, vin d’amour
Il Paradiso di Manfredi today is one of the best expressions of traditional Brunello di Montalcino. Viticulture and vineyard rhythm is effectively biodynamic. Pesticides and weedkillers are eschewed, the waxing and waning of the moon determines activity in the vineyard and the winery. They hand-pick the grapes, the wild ferment takes place in concrete vats ( no temperature control… ) after which the wine spends 36/40 months in big casks of Slavonian oak. Many producers flunked out of the 2002 vintage after heavy rains drowned the vineyards. This estate picked the day before the deluge. Real Sangiovese displaying wicked wild cherry fruit along with notes of herbs, leather, liquorice, pepper and spice and nascent prune, tar and tobacco aromas. It’s so savoury that the food you are thinking of cooks and present itself at the table.