Archive for the ‘Grenache’ Category
Domaine Gauby Cotes de Roussillon Villages Vieilles Vignes 2004
It seems that this Christmas week is a Languedoc week. Technically the Cotes du Roussillon is distinct from the Languedoc, although traditionally grouped in together with it. This grouping reflects that despite the distinct AOCs there is actually quite similar ‘terroir’, or soil and climate conditions, in the two regions, with schist predominating, with bits of gneiss, granite and limestone. However, Roussillon is further south than the Languedoc (or more specifically, the Corbieres sub-region), and borders with Spain right on the Mediterranean.
Domaine Gauby is a 32 hectare biodynamic domaine, and is brought into BC by Farmstead Wines. Yields are low, and harvesting is done by hand at this estate. And, as with all biodynamic estates, this has natural (wild) yeasts and minimum sulpher dioxide. Apparently, Domaine Gauby has eased back on the level of extract in the last few years and aimed at producing more balanced wines. I think they’ve achieved that goal.
This wine, a field blend of many red grape varieties, is very expressive and clear, with a nose of baked earth, tons of bright and pretty red berry fruit, violets, and a hard stony edge. Really, this is an impressive nose, especially at this price point. The palate is also very soft, with tons of bright red fruit and acid – raspberry and strawberry come to mind. Additionally, this is incredibly mineral and stone driven while being exceptionally expressive, soft and pure. With impeccable structure, this is a very impressive wine and an amazing value for the quality. A terroir driven red if I’ve ever tasted one, but with a modern edge. The Languedoc is showing well this Christmas season!
Excellent
$35 at Kitsilano Wine Cellars
Delas St. Esprit Cotes du Rhone 2007
Posted by Shea in $20 and under, Fair, French Wine, Grenache, Syrah on December 20th, 2009
As anyone who has spent any time reading about wine in the last year likely knows, Robert Parker has declared the 2007 vintage in the Southern Rhone to be the best he has ever tasted. Wines are getting crazy scores from him in this vintage, all the way down to the basic Cotes du Rhone bottlings, like this one. I’ve always been a Rhone fan, particularly for their ability to pair with game, and given the price on this wine I thought it would be worth a try. Robert Parker scored this 90 points.
I don’t get the 2007 vintage scores yet. I am still waiting on the Chateauneufs, which are all too young to drink now, but for me 2007 has not been consistent at all at the low end. The 2007 Cotes du Rhone from St. Cosme is modern, fruity, balanced and clean and a great value for a big winter wine. This, on the other hand is a bit of a mess – even gunky – with too much brett. I recently tasted the Montfaucon 2007 and it had similar characteristics.
The nose had lots of red and black cherry with a touch of herbs and earth. The palate exhibited considerable spice, suggesting maybe over-use of oak here, and also black pepper, cherry, and a minerally gamey finish. In theory this sounds good, but this is an example of where flavour is not everything, and in fact, without the appropriate structural components, cannot keep a wine together. The flavours start to fall apart and dis-integrate after a while, fatiguing the palate not through alcohol (this is 13.5%), but through an unpleasant integration on the finish. The wine is somewhat gunky too, it just doesn’t sit cleanly on the palate. Maybe Parker fell for the fruit in this one, but so much else doesn’t work. Is this an example of the vintage gone wrong? Could the wines be somewhat messy and overly-viscous? Will they lack integration in a few years? I’m curious to see how the Chateauneufs and Gigondas fair. I’m always wary of vintage of the century declarations, and so far, based on the CDR wines, I’m wary of the 2007 vintage in the Southern Rhone.
Fair
$18 at BCLDB
Tardieu Laurent Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Special 2003
Posted by Shea in $60+, Excellent, French Wine, Grenache on September 23rd, 2009
First I must apologize for the haitus. With a friend getting married and, accordingly, other good friends in town, life has been somewhat busy – albeit in the happiest way possible. It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to sit down for a nice quiet evening with a tasty bottle of wine. This bottle was not only tasty, but far beyond the ordinary.
Tardieu Laurent is a negocient, meaning they only buy grapes and do not grow them. However, they have contracts with some of the best growers with some of the best terroir in the Rhone valley. In fact, the sites are so special that Tardieu Laurent won’t reveal the secrets of their sources – so we’ll never really know where all the grapes come from.
This starts with a massive kirsch nose and the dust-bowl scorched earth that explodes from the glass speaks of Chateauneuf to its core. Dust, bitter chocolate and anise rounded out this very dense and very impressive nose.
The palate was still very very tannic, speaking of this wine’s ageability. With the surprising youth, the palate was a bit tight and needed serious decanting, after which I found cola, tons of earth, raspberry, blackberry, cherry, some barn, funk, and chocolate. The layering and structure is, frankly, denser than most wines I’ve had save for extremely youthful high-end Bordeaux. This was a bit unbalanced right now, but I have no dout this will evolve into one of the best Chateauneufs of the vintage. There are no signs of heat stress from the very hot 2003 vintage, nor are any of the flavours baked or over-extracted. This is a great wine waiting to happen. Seek it out, then lay it down.
Excellent
~$70 at Marquis
Alvaro Palacios Finca Dofi 2001
Posted by Shea in $60+, Excellent, Grenache, Spanish Wine on January 3rd, 2009
With this bottle Alvaro Palacios is prooving his consistency. I have previously enjoyed the entry level Les Terrasses bottling from Priorat, and had occasion this holiday to open the higher end Finca Dofi. I heard that Dofi actually ages unlike many bottles from Priorat, so I thought this 7 year old bottle would be an interesting experiment.
The nose had a brunch-like element: pancakes and maple syrup, spices like nutmeg and cinnamon, and blackberry. The palate was a nice combination of finesse and power with spicey chocolate blackberry crepes dusted with sugar, and a rounded woodyness. Structure and finish were both there in a very high class way, but what made this special was its character as a very unique and refined terroir driven expression of Grenache.
Excellent+
$100 ($68 on sale) at BCLDB
Alvaro Palacios ‘Les Terrasses’ 2005
Posted by Shea in $40-$60, Excellent, Grenache, Highly Recommended Values, Spanish Wine on December 9th, 2008
Having just finished my second last exam yesterday, it is time for some more catch up posting! This particular wine is made by one of the all-stars of Spain’s now famous Priorat region. Alvaro Palacios was one of the pioneers for Priorat and has seen the wines from this region go from backwater jug-wine to world-class cult wine, with Palacio’s top wine L’ermita going for $888 here at BC Liquor.
This wine is Palacio’s entry-level wine, and while still not cheap, offers tremendous value. This is not an over the top mega wine that Priorat has become known for. This is, rather, one of the most complex expressions of Grenache that you can get at this price point. With a nose of cherry, licorice, and leather this was still a bit tight at the time of drinking – although also still expressive. Clearly there will be more to this nose in the future. The palate was leathery, earth and replete with blackberry. Dense and concentrated without being opulent, this wine is not at all flabby and has tight acidity and a strong tannic back-bone. Really here we have a wine with superb aging potential, incredible concentration, and real personality. A brilliant wine and vintage. Very highly recommended.
Excellent to Excellent+
$55 at BCLDB
Domaine La Monardiere Vacqueyras ‘Les Calades’ 2006
Posted by Shea in $20-$30, French Wine, Grenache, Rhone Blends, Very Good on December 6th, 2008
The nose was simple and forward with red berries, pepper and licorice. The palate was peppery, gamey and a little vegetal. Overall I enjoyed the decent flavour profile and this wine’s capacity to pair well with food, but I found it otherwise a bit thin and lacking in fruit concentration. It’s nonetheless good for the price and I think may be a bit of a style-wine, meaning that likes and dislikes could be divided quite strongly based on a style preference.
Good+, but Very Good (with food)
$30 at Marquis
Alto Moncayo 2003
Posted by Shea in $60+, Grenache, Spanish Wine, Very Good on November 1st, 2008
This Spanish wine comes from the little known Campo de Borja region and is 100% Grenache. 2003 being a hot year, I expected alcohol, and this beast brought home over 15% alcohol by volume, although it carried this quite well. The nose had classic sweet cherry notes and an interesting aroma of rich nuttyness, reminiscent of hazlenut. The palate expanded the sweet cherry into meatyness and a pronounced scorched earth flavour and texture (probably from the heat, although I find this characteristic of old-world Grenache).
The structure of the wine was well-rounded and had good balance for such high alcohol. A nice touch of oak led into a slight scent of bitterness on the back end, which I was unsure if I liked or not. Tasty, but overpriced.
Very Good+
$65 ($42 on sale) at BCLDB
Two Hands Brave Faces 2006 Shiraz/Grenache
A Barossa wine from the well-known Australian ‘negocient’ Two Hands. This is another big american-style bruiser at 15.5% alcohol, although I thought it did a decent job with that percentage. The nose was very much classic Barossa shiraz with chocolate cherry and a touch of gameyness. This was very potent, but had excellent flavour concentration. Ultimately this is a big fruit blast without an exaggerated sense of extraction. The big complaint at this price point is that the wine is somewhat thin in the complexity (not the intensity) of its flavours.
Les Pallieres Vertical
Torres Salmos Priorat 2005
Posted by Shea in $40-$60, Excellent, Grenache, Spanish Wine on March 22nd, 2008
Spanish wine is a bit of an untapped resource for me, which is a shame given bottles like these. I’ve been trying to explore a bit more of Spain, from tasting a Monastrell a few days ago to exploring the Priorat Region of Northeaster Spain, which is quite an interesting place. Priorat specializes in old vine Grenache. For many years they were known for rustic and rough wines, but lately there has been a bit of a renaissance in the region and winemakers have started tapping into the amazing potential of the often 100+ year old Grenache vines. Prices have also gone up, but this is a pretty exciting region, especially for someone like me who loves Grenache (most southern Rhone wines are heavy in that variety of grape).
