$40-$60

Spotlight on Alsace: Domaine Albert Mann Riesling Schlossberg Grand Cru 2008

March 25, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

It is once one enters the realm of Riesling that Alsace becomes truly exceptional. There is so much variation in style when it comes to Riesling that it is hard to know what you are getting if you pick up a random bottle. Alsace is a region where it pays off particularly well to do your research.

Uniquely Dry, but Overly Simple

Albert Mann’s Schlossberg Riesling is distinctly unlike the Rieslings made from the same vineyard by Domaine Weinbach. This is a lean and linear Riesling with pretty much no residual sugar.

In some ways this wine may be too austere, with its linearity left unassisted by a lack of complexity and a short finish. That said, this wine is juicy and fresh, clean and flavourful. I remain offput by what I feel to be a lack of character for a Grand Cru site, especially one with underlying Granite that tends to add superb richness and depth and where Weinbach makes serious and otherworldly wines from the same grape.

I suppose the classic line would be to call this too young, which is perhaps true, but only to a limited extent. I do not expect this wine to gain tremendously with age, but rather to soften. This will be a good thing, but it doesn’t live up to the pedigree. The wine remains a fascinating example of the diversity of styles in Alsace and most would likely be hard pressed to guess the origins of this wine blind.

Very Good
$45 at Marquis

Filed Under: $40-$60, Alsace, French Wine, Riesling, Very Good

Spotlight on Alsace: Domaine Ostertag Heissenberg Riesling 2005

March 22, 2011 By Shea 2 Comments

Ostertag is nothing if not opinionated. As a man who is not afraid to say “I detest Nicholas Joly” one might be surprised to learn that Ostertag is a strong proponent of biodynamics. However, he uses it as a tool rather than as an end in itself. Ostertag’s criticism of Joly is that he is too intellectual and too much of a ‘guru’ for biodynamics, which is merely a tool to serve terroir, which is the only necessary precursor to great wine.

Oaked Alsace

Ostertag is also a radical. He is one of the few winemakers in Alsace to embrace the use of Oak, which is understandable since he studied winemaking with Lafon in Burgundy. Most of his burgundy variety wines (like Pinot Gris and Blanc) are oaked, as is this Riesling. However, oak is not meant as a palliative for bad grapes or for poor winemaking. Rather, Ostertag’s use of oak is one of the most fascinating in all of France as you would be hard pressed to detect its influence and yet it seems to add a depth and complexity to his wines that many of his fellows do not share. In any case it is certain that Ostertag’s wines are distinctive and amongst the absolute best in the region.

In a poetic gesture, Ostertag divides his wines into three “series” – a fruit series, a stone series and a time series. This Riesling falls under the stone series. For the curious, the time series comprises his late harvest wines that have the reputation of being truly age worthy.

Sophisticated Minerality

This wine was surprisingly far leaner than I expected, which is likely due to the fact that Ostertag ferments most of his wines completely dry. The nose had lemon, lots of stone and a hint of dill (which is perhaps the one element I detected from the oak influence). The palate is lighter bodied than the Rieslings from Weinbach or Zind-Humbrecht, but it also has an absolutely incredible minerality that explodes on the mid-palate in cascades of complex stone, iron and clay-like elements.

The finish is very dry and lean but the flavour is huge, sophisticated and extremely unique. This wine will shock many who are used to the bolder and richer Rieslings from Alsace. I find this interesting given comments I’ve read about the 2004 Heissenberg, which is supposedly richer and more honeyed than this 05. Is this effect purely vintage or is it also a factor of age?

This wine is a perfect example of why Riesling is Alsace’s greatest grape.

Excellent
$58 at Everything Wine

Filed Under: $40-$60, Alsace, Excellent, French Wine, Riesling

Spotlight on Alsace: Albert Mann Pinot Gris Grand Cru Furstentum 2008

February 23, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

Pinot Gris is usually a synonym for insipid due to the torrent of atrocious high-yield quality-unconscious production of this grape from wine regions far and wide, including our own backyard.

Pinot Gris from a Grand Cru vineyard in Alsace, on the other hand, calls for serious attention.

A Unique Shade of Grey

A mutation of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris bears pretty much no similarity when it comes to flavour despite looking quite similar on the vine. Plantings in Alsace are quite minimal, with only a few hundred hectares under vine. Despite this, Pinot Gris is one of the three grapes in the Alsatian “noble triumvirate” – the others being Gewurztraminer and Riesling.

I could talk about many technical aspects of winemaking in Alsace – which may happen in the future – but in today’s post I’d like to highlight the unique place that Pinot Gris has in the pantheon of Alsatian whites.

While matching Gewurztraminer for power, Pinot Gris yet finishes quite dry and adds layers of unexpected minerality and spice under all the tropical fruit. This makes it a more successful pairing with egg and onion based tarts, such as Quiche, which are traditional in the region and really taste extremely good with a high end Pinot Gris (particularly Quiche Lorraine).

In some ways it is the sheer density of the wine (despite its textural lushness) that make it unique among Alsace’s whites. There is a singular concentration in the wine’s flavours that I find utterly compelling in the best examples.

The aromas are pure without becoming overwhelming, which adds to the wine’s singularity of purpose. This is certainly a wine that fills a place no others can, and perhaps that’s why I like Alsatian Pinot Gris so much.

But What of Mann?

This is varietally correct wine, made well. There is an incredible spicyness to the nose, with baked apple and other subtle tropical aromas. The palate is classically explosively powerful but also balanced, with all the density of the fruit coupled with Pinot Gris’ unique spicyness. This is great stuff – an excellent wine that hits far above its price point. And I find this far better balanced and more interesting than Mann’s Gewurztraminer from the same vineyard.

Very Good+ to Excellent
$43 at Marquis

Filed Under: $40-$60, Alsace, French Wine, Pinot Gris/Grigio, Very Good

Spotlight on Alsace: Albert Mann Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Furstentum Vieilles Vignes 2008

February 6, 2011 By Shea 2 Comments

Soils and Style

The calcerous soils of Alsace’s Furstentum Grand Cru, part of the Haut-Rhin or upper river valley, seem to make wines of particularly velour lusciousness. Albert Mann is a small organic producer making excellent wines at pretty reasonable prices for such illustrious sites. While there are 50 Grand Crus in Alsace and criticisms that some are less deserving than others, the Furstentum Grand Cru is amongst the better crus in Alsace.

Alsace has an image problem. The increasing sweetness levels in the wine are impossible to discern on label alone. You have to know the producer. Some might never realize that wine makers like Trimbach are making lean and austere wines in Alsace. Richness and opulence are certainly becoming the norm in the region. Albert Mann is decidedly in the latter camp, though I think he manages to eke sufficient balance from his wines so that they do not become overly gloppy. And Mann is certainly not amongst the insipid inexpensive Alsatian wines that populate the shelves – more than many regions cheap-o Alsatian wines should be avoided.

The Wine

At first nose, this wine presents beautiful perfumed lychee nut and jasmine with considerable elegance and purity. Floral, light, deft – this is a very pretty wine.

This wine is more like drinking a bed of flowers than most any other I’ve had from Alsace far. This is both a good and a bad trait as the wine’s flavourfulness can give way to one-dimensionality at times. For such a high-level site, I feel this lacks the level of complexity, finesse and balance that Weinbach or Zind-Humbrecht offers, but it is a very good wine nonetheless. And, at nearly ½ the price.

Very Good+
$46 at Marquis

Filed Under: $40-$60, Alsace, Excellent, French Wine, Gewurztraminer

Occhipinti Il Frappato 2007

February 5, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

Brightness. This wine is all about extreme clarity, illuminated by fruit. I recently read a piece by Clark Smith (thanks Rasoul) that talked of biodynamic wine making as a kind of postmodern exercise. There is that which we can know with our current understanding, that which remains shrouded until we develop a language sufficient to express it and, despite all our efforts, that which we will never explain. Biodynamics lies somewhere between revealing a new perspective and reverence for the inexplicable.

In a past life I was an academic who specialized in the German philosopher Theodor Adorno who once said “Perspectives must be fashioned that displace and estrange the world, reveal it to be, with its rifts and crevices, as indigent and distorted as it will appear one day in the messianic light”. As esoteric as these words may seem, they are also fundamentally concrete: it is imperative that we see the world not just as we want to see it, not just as how it is, but also how it ought to be, even though we can never really know what ought to be. Is biodynamics and natural wine an attempt to break free from what is in the world of wine and to discover what ought to be? The Smith article made me realize that some of the most exciting wine making is taking place by those who retain the ethos of the dreamer. Science helps to snap the dreamers back from ideological obscurity, but it is the dreamers who push science to places it would otherwise never encounter.

Occhipinti seems like a dreamer to me. The wines aren’t quite like wine as we now understand it. They cast a light on current wine making practices in Sicily by being so radically different from the norm. Yet there is a common underlying desire that unites these wines with others in the so-called ‘natural wine’ movement. There is also a common uniting flavour that many of these ‘natural wines’ possess that is yet not present in all wines that are part of this disparate movement. I have not yet discovered how to describe this or why that might be so – but it is more than simply texture or lightness; it is something deeper but also something decidedly sensual and not in the mind.

Nonetheless, this dreamer’s wine is delicious and easy to drink while also being subtly intellectual. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it only has to shed a new light on what we know and accept and make us question the future. That it is possible for wine to do this still baffles me. But, regardless of my confusion, that’s precisely what great wines keep doing.

Very Good+ to Excellent
$40 at Pike & Western in Seattle

Filed Under: $40-$60, Frappato, Italian Wine, Very Good

Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso “Feudo di Mezzo” Il Quadro delle Rosso 2006

January 23, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

It seems like I’m on a southern Italy kick. I will finish off the Languedoc profile soon, but I had to share my impressions of this wonderful and unique wine while the impressions are fresh.

Atypical Sicily

Sicily evokes images of hot and dry weather and long seasons. Etna, however, is as unusual as it is beautiful, with its cool and moist climate and rich volcanic soil. Etna is a still active volcano (its last eruption was last week) situated in central eastern Sicily near the picturesque town of Taormina and its ancient greek theatre which overlooks the Volcano. It’s a romantic place where you can climb the hills to find some of the world’s greatest oranges and nuts. I distinctly remember climbing the hills for hours, stopping at the gates of an orchard, and spending a few cents on a couple intensely hued blood red oranges picked only a couple hours earlier. Up to that point in my life, I had never had any fruit with quite that intensity and explosive expression, and that was an orange. Since then Mount Etna has had held a special place in my heart and its wines never fail to both bring me back to those juicy bites and impress me with their purity and freshness.

This Ain’t No Nero D’Avola

Yes Nero D’Avola can make great wine, but the wines of Mount Etna are mostly made with Nerello Mascalese, a local variety that is very well suited to the soil and climate of the Volcano. Sometimes the unsung indigenous varieties of Italy remain in obscurity for good reason, but Nerello Mascalese is worthy of your attention. These particular vines are 60-80 years old.

Etna Crus

While Tenuta delle Terre Nere is a relatively new winery, making its first wine in 2002, it has embraced Etna’s diverse soils with passion. This wine is one of their ‘cru’ offerings made from a small north facing vineyard in “Feudo di Mezzo”. The soils are black volcanic ash, which is a contrast to the soil types of adjacent crus “Calderara Sottana” and “Guardiola”, which have rocky lava as a base.

Volcanic Deliciousness

This is an aromatically impressive wine, with earth, red cherry and lots and lots of spice. The flavours are delicious: really bright fresh red cherry, strawberry and spice with a wonderfully luscious texture. There is also a nice sweet authenticity to the perfectly ripened fruit. The acidity impresses considerably.

Simply, I love this wine and highly recommend it for anyone seeking something unique but also for those that like fruit driven wines that are also very regionally expressive and have pert natural acidity that keeps the wine very fresh. Ripe tannins give the wine structure and confidence to sit in the bottle for some time, even as it is drinking very well right now. It is this sort of wine that Italy does better than anywhere else. The best one word description? Mouthwatering.

Thanks to Kirk at Kits Wine for pointing this out to me.

Excellent
$57 at Kits Wine Cellar

Filed Under: $40-$60, Excellent, Italian Wine, Nerello Mascalese

Spotlight on Languedoc-Roussillon: La Peira Deusyls 2005

January 10, 2011 By Shea 2 Comments

In my last write up of La Peira I intimated that this winery was one of the stars of the Languedoc, but deferred my reasons for saying so. No longer. It is this wine, which is perhaps the best white I’ve had from the Languedoc and one of the most interesting I’ve had out of France, that convinced me of La Peira’s star status.

The Deusyls is made in a manner that sees some semi-oxidation that produces something unlike most anything else I’ve tasted. According to the winery, the oxidation occurs naturally in the fermentation process and is simply a by-product of grapes that easily oxidize (the wine is made from 65% Viognier and 35% Roussanne). However, it could also be due to the Sauternes-like fermentation methods used by La Peira wine maker Jeremie Depierre. The level of oxidation will vary from year to year and in some years may not be detectable. It will also likely vary with age. I simply do not have enough vintages to do a true comparison – but something fascinatingly compelling is going on here.

This is stunning wine. The nose has extremely intense aromas of honey and figs that suggest an intensity and richness almost as strong as Pedro Ximenez sherry. The palate, however, flips your expectations upside down being both extremely dry and semi-oxidized but also rich, structured and long. Honey and nuts predominate the palate, but there are also a bevy of indescribable flavours that make this extremely interesting. This is far more balanced than any other oxidized white I’ve tasted, including the wines of Jacques Puffeney from the Jura. Despite the level of intrigue, the wine is eminently quaffable and I highly recommend drinking it with Charcuterie.

A sine qua non wine for wine geeks and adventurous wine lovers. La Peira produced only about 80 cases of this wine. We are lucky to have a few in Vancouver.

Excellent to Excellent+
$50 at Marquis Wine Cellars

Filed Under: $40-$60, Excellent, French Wine, Languedoc-Roussillon, Rousanne, Viognier

Jacques Puffeney Vin Jaune 2000

January 7, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

That Christmas comes but once a year is far less exciting than the Vacherin cheese that accompanies the occasion. I have made it a yearly tradition to buy a round of Vacherin, ripen it in my fridge, then open it with a Vin Jaune from the Jura. Last year I drank Tissot’s Vin Jaune. This year I brought back a bottle of Jacques Puffeney’s Vin Jaune from my trip to New York in the fall.

Vin Jaune and Vacherin represents the heart of regional pairing to me. Both are funky and strange and yet they marry perfectly, particularly when the Vacherin is very ripe. If you didn’t read last year’s post on Vin Jaune, it is basically a style of wine that ages similarly to Fino sherry, in that winemakers allow a film of yeast to grow over top of it as it ages. Given the wine’s partial oxidation and ridiculously high acids it is not unbelievable that some Vin Jaunes have been reported to age for 100 years.

Puffeney Magic

Jacque Puffeney’s Vin Jaune is quite a bit different than Tissot’s. First, it is far less aggressive and it rolls around your palate like silk – a surprising thing for such an acidic and oxidative wine. The classic aromas and flavours of nuts, honey and hints of citrus come through, but it is the elegance and refinement of Puffeney’s version that makes it truly stand out.

This year’s Vacherin was not quite as good as last year’s, but the wine pairing worked better because I allowed the cheese to age for longer. As the cheese ages it gains intensity, which actually helps to balance out the Vin Jaune quite well. How good was it? Well let’s just say that I and 2 others finished the entire pound of cheese and the bottle of wine in about an hour.

Excellent
$65 at Astor in NYC

Filed Under: $40-$60, Excellent, French Wine, Vin Jaune

Spotlight on Languedoc-Roussillon: La Peira “Las Flors” 2005 Coteaux du Languedoc

January 3, 2011 By Shea Leave a Comment

Robert Parker is famous for turning back-water wineries into international superstars overnight, regardless of pedigree or old-school reputation. All that is needed are three simple digits. This has understandably made wine lovers wary of critical proselytizing and euphoria about the next great producer that you’ve never heard of.

But proper critical appraisal also requires an open mind to the contrary – massive scores for little known wineries should not in themselves negatively dictate a wine lover’s assessment of quality. While a pretence to objectivity has never sat well in my mind’s critical eye, an attempt at neutrality and open mindedness is surely essential.

La Peira seems to be one of the newest superstar winery discoveries for critics ranging from Robert Parker to Gary Veynerchuck to Andrew Jefford and Jancis Robinson. These critics have been raving about the outstanding quality from this new estate in the Coteaux du Languedoc’s “Terrasses du Larzac” climatic sub-region. Is all this hype substantiated? After a careful and open minded tasting of three of La Peira’s wines, I have to concur with the talking heads and recommend these wines as some of the best from the Languedoc.

The Winery

Begun in 2004, La Peira is the joint effort of winemaker Jérémie Depierre (a young vigneron who spent time at Château Margaux and Château Guiraud), Karine Ahton (a lawyer from the Languedoc), and Rob Dougan (a writer/composer of music). This is a quality first operation: low yields, hand picking, meticulous attention to detail in the vineyard and in the cellar. La Peira does not rack, does not fine or filter and thus they rely on meticulous work in the vineyard to ensure fruit of impeccable quality. La Peira does not use chemicals in the vineyard and in fact works the soil by hand rather than by machine.

The limestone and gravel soils date from the Late Jurassic period and are home to 10-40 year old vines planted of the varieties Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Viognier, Roussanne, Cinsault, and Carignan.

The Terrasses du Larzac

The Terrasses du Larzac, a relatively new sub-regional “climat” in the Coteaux du Languedoc, also sits at one of the highest elevations in the entire region. Wines from the Terrasses are known to be both intense and wild.

These are the most northerly vineyards in Languedoc-Roussillon and sit well back from the sea, thus limiting the temperature moderating effects of the Mediterranean. Thus, summers are longer and warmer than average and winters can be quite cold here. The average rainfall is a fair amount higher than the rest of the Languedoc.

Andrew Jefford has called the Terrasses du Larzac the potentially greatest region in the entire Languedoc-Roussillon. Big words.

The Wine

There was a fair amount of oak on the nose, but still it smells fresh with its plummy notes and baking spices. Once again, the wine is fairly oaky on the palate, but is also very well balanced for this style.

Right now, it seems that the oak is a little too pronounced, but this is smooth and long in the mouth and has tremendous potential. As for flavour, baking spices, plums, and toast intermingle quite deliciously. The 14.5% alcohol is well integrated, but does give the wine a fair amount of weight, which is quite impressive considering the freshness.

Thus far, the wine has yet to come into its own and needs more time in the bottle to develop structure and nuance. I do, however, think it has quite a bit of potential. This is not to say that I am not excited about La Peira, I am. But it was another of their wines – to come – that really opened my eyes. The Las Flors is a blend of Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah.

Very Good+
$50 at Marquis

Filed Under: $40-$60, French Wine, Grenache, Languedoc-Roussillon, Mourvedre, Syrah, Very Good

Spotlight on Languedoc-Roussillon: Chateau de la Negly “La Falaise” Coteaux du Languedoc La Clape 2006

December 19, 2010 By Shea Leave a Comment

As I finally move into the Languedoc I am happy to begin with Chateau Negly, perhaps the most well recognized and important producers in the Languedoc. But Negly’s importance comes less with its family traditions and more with its recognition by American media, which has helped to put both the winery and the region on the map. While Negly’s top cuvees are often criticized as behemoth over-extracted wines, this mid-range wine from the estate seems unrelated to such criticism.

The Terroirs of the Coteaux du Languedoc

While the Coteaux du Languedoc is the most diverse AOC in the region, the La Clape sub-region is a perfect place to start as it was the most important vineyard in the Languedoc in the Roman period. The Romans saved the wines made in La Clape to be shipped back to Rome (always a sign of the higher quality). Interestingly, La Clape used to be an island until the sea receded and connected it with the mainland. This separation still exists, however, with its unique micro-climate, which is one of the driest in the Coteaux du Languedoc. Today La Clape is at a higher elevation than the plains on which most vines are grown and it is the sea-mists that keep the moisture in the air in this region and the craggly outcrops of rock interspersed with garrigue and vines that give it its unique visual character. As is consistent in the region, the higher elevation helps to brings the wines made in La Clape greater complexity.

The Coteaux du Languedoc AOC has been divided to reflect the uniqueness of place, whether this be “terroir” in the soil and site sense or climate. La Clape is one of the 8 “Climats” of the region because of the unique lack of rainfall that I discussed above. There are also 9 “terroirs” in the AOC. It is understandable how all of this can become very confusing, which may prompt some to concentrate on finding good producers rather than buying by sub-region. However, there is also some interest in exploring the diversity that is available in the Coteaux du Languedoc, which as a microcosm reflects the diversity of wines available in the Languedoc-Roussillon.

Negly’s Winemaking

The “Cuvée de la Falaise” is Negly’s mid level cuvee and is produced from a 15 hectare portion of Negly’s 40 hectare vineyard. La Falaise means “Cliff” in French and the vineyard is a literal stones-throw from the Mediterranean. Everything is hand harvested and sees a week long cold soak and a 45 day macerated fermentation. Aged 12 months in half new and half 300 litre oak barrels.

Modern Wine with a Sense of Place

The nose suggests smoked meat and spices and is quite expressive and evocative. There is a briney quality to the wine, which contrasts nicely with its svelte texture. I find La Falaise to be very well balanced and very long. In fact, I think this quality level of wine would cost $70-80 if from the Northern Rhone.

Like many wines from Languedoc-Roussillon this marries elegance with great depth of flavour. I also appreciate that the fruit is very cool toned, which allows all the other amazing characteristics to come through – I would imagine this has a reasonable amount of Syrah and maybe some Mourvedre as well. With air, I noted Grenache characteristics coming through with sweeter cherry fruit. After checking online, I found out this wine is 55% Grenache and 45% Syrah, which is quite fascinating as I think the Grenache elements are subdued at this stage in the wine’s development.

Amazingly this wine is 15% ABV but it is so balanced it tastes more like 14%, which is a remarkable achievement in itself. This wonderful wine again proves the Languedoc marries elegance and power and can make world class wines for entirely reasonable prices.

Excellent
$43 at Marquis (Also, recently this was on an amazing special marked down from $25 to $10 at K&L in San Francisco)

Filed Under: $40-$60, Excellent, French Wine, Grenache, Languedoc-Roussillon, Syrah