Archive for the ‘$60+’ Category
Champagne Day: Larmandier-Brunier “Terre de Vertus” Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru NV
Posted by Shea in $60+, Champagne, Excellent, French Wine on February 15th, 2010
I’ve decided that Champagne is both overlooked and too darn tasty not to drink more often. So, I’ve decided that once a month, on a random day, I will open a bottle of Champagne and write about it. This is the first of such ventures, and a good hold-over until my next BC winery profile.
Vertus, where this wine is grown and made, is located in the southern reaches of the Cote Des Blancs in Champagne – a region known for Blanc de Blancs (or Champagne made with 100% Chardonnay grapes). Champagne’s tradition is one of ‘houses’, with the great names buying grapes from unknown growers (at least to most consumers) and blending them together to make a range of wines, usually culminating in a prestige Cuvee (such as Roederer’s Cristal). However, most of the big houses also sell plenty of boring and overpriced blends for the average drinker, banking on their names. On the other side are what have become known as grower Champagnes, which are Champagnes made by the same farmers that grow the grapes. These have been gaining critical and wine geek traction as such producers attempt to make a vin de terroir.
However, all this said, a recent article by Jancis Robinson has put an important reflective caveat on valorizing all grower champagne by pointing out that there are also very good Champagnes from traditional houses. Personally, I’m still far more excted about the growers!
Pierre Larmandier, owner of Larmandier-Brunier, is clearly in favour of the grower Champagnes, being one himself. He spent a while studying in Alsace and Burgundy and noted that the best growers there got the same respect as the best producers. This, of course, is not traditionally the case in Champagne. Larmandier figures that as big houses “suffocating the vineyard”. “We have superb terroir” he says, “but we only make good wines from it”. Andrew Jefford in “The New France” calls Champagne traditionally “a wine of general appeal rather than particular excellence.” This pattern, however, is being challenged by the new breed of Grower-Producers who want the soil to express itself in Champagne in as profound a manner as Burgundy. As Jefford puts well, “We are prepared to pay that much for champagne not because it is worth it, but because there is no functional alternative and that is what the experience of drinking it costs.” This truism is unfortunate, and in my once monthly Champagne indulgance I will seek out the growers and producers putting this maxim to the chopping block.
Larmandier-Brunier’s “Terre de Vertus” is an attempt to express the terroir of their Vertus based vineyards as cleanly and articulately as possible. Extremely rare in Champagne, this wine has zero dosage, which means that no sugar is added to the wine after fermentation. This technique is traditionally used in order to up the residual sugar and balance the often highly acidic result of many sparkling wines.
Larmandier-Brunier is also a biodynamic domaine, and, accordingly, do not use additives or artificial fertalizers. Emphasis is put on viticulture and the resulting product is nothing short of outstanding. On their website Larmandier-Brunier explain the basics of their viticultural appraoch:
“The recipe for good-quality grapes is simple but demanding: old vines, working the soil, moderate yields; vines which thrive without having fertilisers forced into them, and mature grapes picked by hand.
But the terroir is not enough; it is to wine what the score is to music. What’s the point if the grape variety, the vineplant (the instrument) and the winegrower (the performer) are not up to standard?
Consequently, our vines are cultivated with respect for the terroir (ploughing, which favours deep-reaching roots and preserves the life of the soil) and respect for the balances of the plant throughout the growing period. In this way, the yields are naturally moderate and the wine shows its appreciation, through both its structure and its maturity.”
This was the most elegant Champagne I’ve tasted in my limited experience – very focused, delicate and intricate. The flavour – crisp apple and lithe stony mineral – is far less important to this Champagne than its texture and its structure. Oh so very clean while in the mouth, this evolves like a Wordsworthian poem, in ebbs and flows of pleasure and contemplation. But despite the subtlety of its flavour profile, this Champagne is also deeply mineral driven and presents a stony complexity that very few Champagnes I have had do. A fundamental match for salmon mousse or paté, this calls for foods with light delicate textures and focused primal flavours – I’m sure the classic oyster pairing would work fantastically here.
So, it’s time to forget about waiting for an excuse and start opening up a bottle of Champagne for no reason at all other than the moment itself. It’s well worth it: Champagne is quickly becoming the source of some of my all time favourite wine experiences.
Excellent
$110 at Kitsilano Wine Cellars
Spotlight on New World Pinot Noir: Grosset Pinot Noir 2005
Posted by Shea in $60+, Australian Wine, Excellent, New World Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir, Spotlights on February 4th, 2010
Australia is not a land known for Pinot Noir. Notwithstanding its current market woes, with people turning away from its innocuous ‘critter’ wines in ever increasing droves, Australia just never built a reputation for this storied grape. Not that it didn’t try to. It’s just that Australian Pinot Noir never really produces wines so easy to consume as its jammy shirazes. There have been growers bucking this trend though, especially in the regions surrounding Melbourne, such as the Yarra Valley, which tends to be a lot cooler than the rest of Southern Australia. Also, Australia has quite strict quarantine provisions that, unlike New Zealand and Oregon, have prevented the newest Dijon clones from being planted. If Australia opens its borders, the potential for Pinot Noir will likely dramatically increase.
The Grosset Pinot Noir is actually from a region lesser known for its Pinot Noirs and more for its Sauvignon Blancs, the Adelaide Hills. Located in South Australia, just north of the McLaren Vale, the Adelaide Hills is a very sparsely planted region compared to Australia’s major regions. It is also right on the edge of the city of Adelaide, and so the region is being encroached upon by expanding suburbs. The region’s very high elevation and relative proximity to the ocean ensure a consistently cool and misty environment, which is fairly ideal for Pinot Noir, and also provides a stark contrast to nearby McLaren Vale, which is very dry and hot. The high altitude (400m above sea level) and very cool nights tends to produce wines with sharp acidity; but, I would add that in the right hands red wines from this region retain a freshness that eludes so many Australian wines, particularly those that we tend to find on our continent.
While Grosset is famous for its Clare Valley Rieslings, which are surely some of the best in Australia, this Pinot Noir is not made from estate fruit, but from fruit purchased from vineyards in the Adelaide Hills. That doesn’t seem to impact the quality of this wine negatively in any way however, and the master hand of Jeff Grosset is very evident here. Distinct in Australia, Jeff Grosset has always believed in making wines with a sense of place. While the rest of the industry was busy blending grapes from across the country to produce their innocuous shiraz and cabernet blends, Grosset remained true to his passion for producing ‘terroir’ driven wines that still spoke of Australia, but did so with more character than normal. I think it is thanks to people like Jeff Grosset that Australia has the stuffing to weather its current export crisis and reemerge as a region with distinct terroirs, passions, and diversity. When I attended a tasting of Victoria wines last year to help support victims of the bush fires, I experienced a plethora of cooler climate wines that were all doing different things and beating a completely different drum than what most people have come to associate with Australia. And, as I have discovered over the years, there are wines like this from all over Australia, if we are only lucky enough to find them, and have an importer choose to bring them on to this continent for us. We are on the cusp of a huge transformation in the Australian wine industry, and I think it will be for the better.
I wish I could have found some information on the site and soil conditions for this Pinot Noir, but alas could not. I would very much appreciate if anyone can leave some of this information in the comments as I (and I’m sure many readers) would love to know. The nose on this was spicy, earthy and leafy but with good richness and concentration to the cherry and strawberry fruit notes. In other words, the nose was classic richly styled Pinot Noir – but with grace. The palate had good fruit, but far less up front and concentrated than I was expecting. This allowed the other flavours to come through – earth, spice, and a tart crispness that kept this very fresh. I would actually never have guessed this was from Australia and personally found the wine to be absolutely outstanding – by far the best I’ve had from Aussie-land. I think the little bit of age on this bottle helped it to integrate and present itself perfectly when I opened it.
This wine starkly contrasts with my other favourite wine of this series – the Sojourn Pinot from Sonoma – instead focusing on fruit freshness, a clean palate, and bright robust spicyness. This is a true cool-climate New World Pinot Noir and is worth seeking out if you have the chance. I would not hesitate spending this much on the wine again.
Excellent
$70 at Marquis
Winery Profile: Le Clos Jordanne
Posted by Shea in $30-$40, $40-$60, $60+, Canadian Wine, Chardonnay, Excellent, Pinot Noir, Tastings, Very Good on January 28th, 2010
My relationship to Canadian wine is both similar and dissimilar to most Canadians. It is similar because I have great pride for my country, as many Canadians do. It is dissimilar because for me pride translates into expectations. I would like my country to be famous for more than just ice hockey and doughnuts, and I demand excellence from Canada because I know we can live up to that standard. When we don’t, I feel disappointed but I never give up my search for the exceptional. While sitting at a table surrounded by other Vancouver bloggers and social media types and five glasses of wine I discovered excellence in Canadian wine, for the first time. Le Clos Jordanne has, for me, broken the threshold of quality that I have been searching for in Canadian wine for years. And, I am proud that we finally managed to do it. That Le Clos Jordanne is from Ontario does not bug me as a recently minted BC resident. I think our regionalism detracts from our nation, and I think that we should all be proud of what Canadians are doing no matter where they are from.
Le Clos Jordanne is a joint venture between Vincor and Domaine Boisset from Burgundy. The idea was to start a winery completely from scratch to capture the ‘terroir’ of a particular area of the Niagara Pininsula in Ontario around the village of Jordan. The Niagara Escarpment, on which the Niagara wine region of Ontario is located, has a limestone base deposited by the Glacier that carved out the Escarpment so many years ago. The Escarpment, combined with the cooling influence of Lake Ontario, provides the region with enough warm air to allow wine grapes to ripen properly, even given the extreme climate and, accordingly, frost and short growing season concerns.
Viticulture Manager Thomas Bachelder explained that the aim to produce wines with a sense of place was a decision to take the lessons of Burgundy seriously and to treat the terroir with respect rather than simply copying certain methods. Whereas California became giddy with malo-lactic fermentation and heavy French oak treatment despite the fact that their terroir was nothing like Mersault, Le Clos Jordanne aims to produce wines whose oak and fermentation process compliment the climate, soil, and growing conditions of the grapes. I think they have learned these lessons well (likely because Thomas spent time learning to make wine in Burgundy), and I am hugely impressed with the various wines’ ability to remain distinct from each other, despite very similar treatment in the cellar.
Recently in Montreal a group of wine experts set up a remake of the famous judgment of Paris tasting of 1976 that saw California wines beat French wines in a blind tasting. The idea was to pit France vs. America again, although this time with different wines. However, unbenknownst to the experts, a Le Clos Jordanne Claystone Chardonnay was snuck into the lineup and, amazingly, won top honours in the Chardonnay category. And, just so you have a sense which producers the wine was competing against, consider the likes of Jean-Claude Boisset, Joseph Drouhin, Mer Soleil, Sonoma-Cutrer, and Chateau Montelena, amongst others. These are serious competitors who are well respected and garner high scores from all sorts of media. As much as such tastings must be taken with a grain of salt, I think that this achievement is significant.
So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the wines. In a non-traditional move we were encouraged to begin with the Pinot Noirs before moving on to the Chardonnays. The first wine was the basic ‘village wine’ Village Reserve Pinot Noir 2006, which retails here in BC for $30. This was very forward and fruity, with a nose of spice, and medium bodied cherry. While simple, the palate is also really enjoyable with its dense but grippy medium body, hint of caramel and spice, and fantastic density and delineation. Very Good+.
I next moved on to one of the single vineyard offerings, the Claystone Pinot Noir 2006, retailing at $45. This was a big step up in terms of structure from the basic village wine. It had a softer, stonier nose, with a decidedly twiggy element. The palate was again soft, but also fruit driven and very elegant. Its grippy dry texture is austere but also draws into a lengthy and wonderful mineral finish. Very Good+ to Excellent.
The last red, the Grand Clos Pinot Noir 2006, was a selection of the best parts of the vineyards, and is a big very complex wine that is still very young. The nose had fantastic layering even as it was difficult to derive all the aromas just yet. Its red berry fruit was, as Thomas said, distinct from many New World Pinot Noirs, which often tend towards darker, richer fruits. The palate had a touch of grapefruit, some eucalyptus, and a spicy mid-palate. The great mid-palate structure will allow this to sit a while and develop more significant separation of all the complex layers. This is very likeable, but also reserved. Excelent. $70.
And, now on to the whites, beginning with the Claystone Chardonnay 2006 (the winner of the Montreal tasting). These chardonnays are unlike anything else being done with the grape in Canada that I’ve tasted so far, and are certainly vastly superior to most every BC chardonnay I’ve tasted. In fact, these are almost dead ringers for very tasty Burgundy wines, even while still having a sense of place. Is it distinctly Ontarian? Well, that will probably take some time to tell, but this is a great start. The nose is rich and has pineapple, banana and licorice. But this is not a flabby or buttery chardonnay. No, this has great acidity, is very clean and highlights its citrus flavours while offering hints of opulence with its banana and caramel. The long, minerally finish brings the palate back down to earth and keeps the opulence in check. A very good chard. Very Good+.
The last wine, a Grand Clos Chardonnay 2006, was my wine of the tasting. It is still reserved and I can understand why some would prefer the Claystone right now, but for me this kind of chardonnay is what you would see in a young Premier or Grand Cru chablis – tightness, almost reticence, but with the promise of greatness. The palate doesn’t give a lot up yet, but is dense and very complex. The texture is rich and wonderful – very rounded and even more opulent than the Claystone – but the structure is outstanding. This is real chardonnay, built for food, and could one day rival an excellent wine from Burgundy. Excellent.
In conclusion, these are the first wines from Canada that I’ve given an excellent rating to, and they well deserved it. For me, they broke the quality threshold that I’ve been longing for all these years. My only hope is that as many of you as possible can get the chance to taste these. Right now they are in very limited supply (I believe some are at 39th and Cambie), but if you want to taste great Canadian wine, these are absolutely worth seeking out. Colour me extremely impressed.
Spotlight On New World Pinot Noir: Rippon Pinot Noir 2006
Posted by Shea in $60+, New World Pinot Noir, New Zealand Wines, Pinot Noir, Spotlights, Very Good on January 18th, 2010
Today’s Pinot Noir spotlight jumps several thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean to the world’s most southerly wine growing region: New Zealand. New Zealand is a relative newcomer in international wine markets, despite having grown grapes since the middle of the 19th century. In the late 20th century, vine plantings grew over 5400% from a mere 100 acres in the 1960’s to over 50 000 acres today. This phenomenal increase in plantings has been accompanied by a concurrent growth in wineries, which now number over 500.
Of course, New Zealand first became famous internationally for its distinctive style of Sauvignon Blanc, with its big pungent and forward fruit flavours. These days, however, New Zealand is also growing a reputation for other grapes, notably Chardonnay and the subject of today’s post, Pinot Noir. New Zealand is also a predominantly maritime climate that sees abundant rainfall and quite warm temperatures, with the daily average across the year being 10 degrees Celsius (50 F). In fact, New Zealand has quite rich soil conditions, which has in the past made growing wine challenging because of the vines’ prevalence towards overabundance. This made it difficult for New Zealand wine makers to keep the yields low enough and have the vines struggle enough to produce complex wines. Recent developments in canopy management, which corresponded in time to the increased interest in quality New Zealand wines in the 80’s and 90’s, have allowed grape growers to mitigate these effects significantly.
The country itself is so incredibly long that one can find significant climactic variations from north to south. Marlborough in the north, for example, has cool and clear nights in the summer and a relatively long growing season. The longer growing season allows denser and richer wines than in the south, and the 2005 Dog Point Pinot Noir I had recently was a testament to that with deep, rich, dark, and brooding flavours.
Central Otago, where this wine is from, is distinct in New Zealand. Not only is it extremely southerly, but it also has New Zealand’s only continental climate. This climate sees greater spikes in temperature than the rest of the country (since continental climates are diurnal), and wine makers have to deal with such problems as frost damage to the vines. Even with these challenges, Central Otago has emerged as New Zealand’s premier Pinot Noir region, with over 75% of the plantings being of that variety. The prominence of Pinot Noir might have to do with the great benefit that Central Otago has over the rest of New Zealnad: very dry summers and autumns, which prevent the very sensitive Pinot Noir grape from rotting. Additionally, unlike the rest of New Zealand, most of the vineyards here are planted on hillsides rather than on flat land, allowing for greater sun exposure – thereby reducing the risk of frost damage.
Rippon Vineyard is located next to Lake Wanaka, which was the first sub-region within Central Otago to be developed. A big trend in New Zealand these days is a movement to continue to develop sustainable viticulture. Rippon is a completely biodynamic vineyard, using almost no additives in its winemaking and grape growing practices. The Rippon vineyards are planted on schist soils (an important soil type that sees greater water drainage than usual). There are also deposits of “glacial meal” left in the soil from the time when a glacier carved out the valley in which the vineyard is located.
Rippon has a pretty interesting mission for a New World winery: to create a “vin de terroir” – much like Randal Graham I suppose. However, unlike Bonny Doon, I think that Rippon has a very distinct site within which to pursue this goal. The soil types are unique, as is the 
climate, and the winery’s adherence to biodynamic principles is promising. That said, I do not think they have quite met their goal yet, but I do believe there is great potential here.
The wine itself was actually quite like a Beaujolais Cru in many ways, with a stark stony personality and lots of pebbles. The fruit was bright, and classic, cherry, which drove the wine forward over the bed of earth and herbs. My biggest complaint with this wine was that it was lacking body. Now, I’m not requesting a higher ABV (this was 13%), but rather a little more depth to the texture. I would have liked to also see more mid-palate structure and a longer finish. Right now, the quality of the wine does not justify its price point. However, this is unique from all the other Pinot Noirs I’ve tasted so far in a manner that I have not yet seen. That is, I feel this wine could very well become a vin de terroir if the winery keeps improving its practices, and, one day, the right vintage hits. There is the potential for profundity here, even if the wine is not quite the cup of ambrosia it is trying to become. I look forward to the future of the Central Otago with great anticipation if wines from the likes of Rippon are any indication. Right now, though, this is not quite what it should be.
Very Good+
$80 at Kitsilano Wine Cellar
Domaine Andre & Mireille Tissot Vin Jaune 2000
Posted by Shea in $60+, Excellent, French Wine, Vin Jaune on December 31st, 2009
I’ve written about the wines of Jura before, that old tucked away region in the eastern reaches of France near the Swiss border. Tissot, a fully biodynamic domaine, is now run by Stephane, the son of the winery’s namesake. The Tissot Graviers Chardonnay made my #2 wine of 2009 with its stellar combination of unique wine-geek flavours and approachability.
Vin Jaune, a special oxidized style of wine unique to the Jura, traditionally pairs with the famous cheese Vacherin mont d’or, also from the Jura region. This pairing was so good that I think I’m going to make it a Christmas Eve tradition. To understand how this wine tastes it is useful to look a little into the unique process that goes into creating it. The wine is made from late harvest Savignan grapes, a variety that is related to “Traminer” (aka Gewurztraminer). As the wine ferments in small old oak casks it is not “topped up” as traditional wine is, which allows an air gap to form in the barrel. Just like Sherry, a film of yeast forms on the wine and covers it (known as the voile), which partially protects it from oxygen. This is similar to Sherry’s “Flor”, although it is less thick and thrives better in a low alcohol environment. Thus, Vin Jaune can ferment with a yeast film at its lower 15-16% ABV. The wine ages for quite some time, and is not released until just over 6 years after harvest. Amazingly, this wine can age up to 50 years, and some claim it can last for 100.
This is an incredibly rare wine in the North American market, and few people will ever have the chance to drink it. We here in BC are lucky to have the opportunity to do so, even if it costs a sizable chunk of cash. In my opinion, the money is well worth it not just for the experience, but also for the sheer quality of the wine. The Sherry-like oxidation on the nose provides an enticing backdrop to the aromas of honey, flowers, apple, brown sugar, white chocolate and coffee. Really, you could sniff this for years and keep getting new aromas. Taste is optional!
But, of course it is an option I could not help but indulge in. The palate has that saline sherry quality from the oxidation, but the Vin Jaune has much more freshness than a fino sherry, and it reminds me somewhat of an old white Rioja with lemon and lime citrus zip. As the palate develops you will also detect caramel and nuts (like a fuller bodied oloroso Sherry). There is incredible mid-palate acidity that promises great ageability, but also great potential to pair with food. Balanced and long, the wine also tasted great with the Vacherin and cut through the funky flavours of the washed rind. This wine demands attention and slow appreciation and is an extremely engaging experience. Even though you get less then a full 750ml per bottle, this will take many hours to consume if you spend the requisite time necessary to appreciate each sip. The Tissot Vin Jaune is a wine geek adventure worth having, and one that I won’t forget for some time.
Excellent+
$95 / 500ml at Kitsilano Wine Cellar
The Vacherin was $40 at Benton Brothers Cheese
E. Guigal Chateau d’Ampuis Cote-Rotie 2000
Time, in liquid form, sealed and secreted away in an unassuming glass container. It is wines like this Cote-Rotie, from the region’s most renowned (and probably best) producer E. Guigal, that remind me of the profoundly important temporal dimension of wine. Consensus on the best moment to unleash the wound up potential of a particular bottle of wine is impossible to come by. One year over another, one month over another and even one day over another can theoretically make a difference. So how do we decide when to open those gems that we tuck away with the hope that time will be kind to us and bring a wine into its fully realized capacity?
I’m not sure that any one answer to that question could be right. For me, a class on Rhone wines many years ago – and, in particular, a glass of Cote-Rotie – was hugely precipitous in leading me down the obsessive wine geek path. Every time I now open a Cote-Rotie, Hermitage, or Cornas I think back to that moment. Somehow these wines extend the duration of that original moment, which becomes part of their story. The occasion this time was the holiday season, and an eager desire to taste an estate wine from one of the greatest producers in the Northern Rhone. I checked three different vintage charts, which all came to the consensus that the 2000 Northern Rhone wines were drinking well. So, out from the cellar came the bottle, and out popped the cork (in perfect condition). But, then what? Disappointment. This was closed, so closed it was remarkably undrinkable in its tannic and acidic presence. Solution? Decanting.
17 hours later I tasted this wine again. It had gone from tannins and acid to violets, meat, licorice and intense pepper. But, there was still something missing for such an expensive wine from a storied producer. I gave up on the wine and put the remainders of the bottle in the fridge. The next day (a good 48 hours after opening), a metamorphosis had taken place. The wine of legend reared its head, showing saline olive beauty, much sweeter blackberry fruit than before, loam, flowers, tar, smoke and bacon, and a Burgundy-like elegance.
Still youthful, and still in want of age, this wine, and my progressive experience with it, reminded me more profoundly than a perfectly aged bottle would have, that any product which tries to capture time in physical form and then use it to its advantage is setting itself up for an epic struggle – an eternal one some might say – between the physical world and the unflinching power of the temporal. This is one of the great metaphors of wine, and perhaps more than debates about terroir and ‘naturalness’, it is the true mystery that we seek to capture with each popped cork and each small sip.
Very Good to Very Good+ to Excellent to who knows what in a few years time?
$180 at BCLDB
Quinta do Crasto Tinta Roriz 2003
Posted by Shea in $60+, Excellent, Portuguese Wine, Tempranillo on December 17th, 2009
Quinta do Crasto is one of the largest dry wine producers in Portugal. Fortunately, they are also one of the best. Situated in the Douro valley, where grapes for the famous port wines are grown, Quinta do Crasto has a massive range of wines extending from $20 bottlings produced at 450 000 bottles to single vineyard and single varietal bottlings coming in at a mere few thousand bottles. These wines are also hard to find in a lot of the United States, but fortunately here in BC the agency Seacove has a good relationship with Crasto and brings in their entire line of wines. These are the sort of wines to cut your teeth with in the land of dry Portuguese reds as they straddle the line between a modern international style and a more terroir driven approach. I’ve also tasted through almost their entire line of wines and am impressed with the distinctive characteristics of each of the high end bottlings.
At this summer’s Wine Blogger’s Conference the Portuguese wine growers association (or something like that) put on a tasting of Portuguese wines. This was exciting to a lot of bloggers because many had not tasted wines from Portugal at all before. However, we are lucky in the BC market in that we have a few excellent options, Crasto being one of them. And, I think the offerings from Crasto (and Niepoort for that matter) far outclass anything that was being poured at the event down in Sonoma this summer. For all you U.S. readers, there is a big world of portuguese wine that has yet to flow into the states.
However, all that said, I think there may be a bit of over-hype and over-excitement about Portuguese dry wines right now. Yes they are well made and usually good value, but not that many of them are truly distinctive. Other than a small handful of 5-10 top producers, there isn’t that much exciting going on, at least for me. I remain to be persuaded otherwise though, and bottles like this one promise that the region has incredible potential.
Tinta Roriz is another name for Tempranillo. On the nose of this wine I got bacon fat, plum, chocolate, smoke, and crushed dark berries. The palate was reminiscent of Ribera del Duero wines from Spain with smoke, bacon, chocolate, plume, black cherry and a soft licorice lacing. This isn’t surprising given that the Douro Valley is an extension of the same river that flows through Ribera in Spain. I am consistently impressed with how smooth and integrated Quinta do Crasto’s wines are, and this is no exception. And, while I wouldn’t necessarily say that this wine is elegant, I would call it velvety and soft with a very extended mouthfeel. Very distinctly tempranillo, this also brings in the richness and savory qualities of a really good syrah. Definitely worth picking up if you enjoy bigger old world wines a la Ribera del Duero.
Excellent
$70 at BCLDB
Tissot Chardonnay “Les Graviers” 2006
Posted by Shea in $60+, Chardonnay, Excellent, French Wine on November 24th, 2009
The Tissot wines are, I believe, the only Jura wines of any consequence in the province of British Columbia right now. This is a shame, indeed a massive shame given the quality of this bottle. It is a pleasure, too, since I can anticipate how much more discovery there is to be had in this region without the thrill of instant gratification (which should not be underestimated). It’s my hope that more Jura wines will be brought into the province.
The Jura, for those who don’t know, is a small pastoral region in eastern France that has some surprisingly unique qualities. First, the Jura has some of the oldest vines in France. Why is that? Mainly because no one had enough money to pull out the old vines to plant new ones. As a result, the vines are storied and unproductive – but what fruit they do give is full of character and complexity. Second, the name Jura is taken from the Jurrasic period of history, for which it is named as that period had the most significant influence on its geology, particularly its limestone. The soil itself is typically made up of heavy clay, and the climate, along with the soil, tend to produce fairly acidic wines. Some suspect this is the reason that the Jura has so many oxydative wines – to compensate for the acidity.
Tissot, still named after winemaker Stephane’s parents Andre and Mireille, is one of the Jura’s leading wineries. Stephane himself worked in both South Africa and Australia prior to beginning work at the family domain in the 90’s. He converted the entire domain to organic viticulture, “as a means and not an end” according to him. Stephane believes these methods are the future of viticulture. Tissot makes several reds and whites, including four single vineyard chardonnays, of which this is one.
This wine is barrel-fermented and made in a fairly burgundian style. The wine itself is stunning. It has a nose of nuts, cherries, green apple, grass and some other stone fruits. The palate is extremely Burgundian in some ways, and yet utterly singular in others. It tastes like carrots, celery, nuts, dried cherries, licorice, and grass. I honestly can’t get over how flavourful and intriguing this is at the same time. It has all the qualities of uniqueness that wine geeks love, but also all the depth and flavour that all wine drinkers crave – with a particularly massive mid-palate. To be honest, this is one of the best chardonnays I’ve ever tasted and it destroys anything I’ve tasted from California. It’s rich, unctuous, bright, clean, soft, balanced, and unique. In a word: stunning.
Excellent+
$65 at Kitsilano Wine Cellars
Mastroberardino Radici Taurasi Riserva 1999
Posted by Shea in $60+, Aglianico, Excellent, Italian Wine on November 22nd, 2009
As Kirk was pointing out all sorts of intriguing bottles to me while I was browsing around Kits Wine Cellars looking for a tasty wine to pair with the Tortiere (French Canadian spiced meat pie for those whose mother isn’t French Canadian) I was having for dinner tonight, as soon as I saw this 10 year old Aglianico I knew that this is what I’d be picking up. The fact that they even had this is awesome in itself. That it was sitting next to a 1997? Well how many wine stores have a 10 year and 12 year old wine made from a fairly obscure Italian grape sitting side by side on the shelf? Not too many.
Aglianico (pronounced “ah-LYAH-nee-koe”) is an indigenous grape grown in the Campania region of Italy, which is essentially the gateway to the south. I visited Naples, the capital, many years ago but unfortunately was not of the mind to explore wine then the same way I am now. That said, this does seem like the kind of wine that would marry perfectly with the regional cuisine of Campania, which emphasizes simple rustic pizza (along with seafood). Aglianico is a black grape that produces wine both high in tannin and in acidity. However, the wines are also bold and spicy and the hot climate in the south seems to help these grapes ripen easily. While sometimes Aglianico is blended with cab and merlot, this particular wine is 100% aglianico and has DOCG status, being from the Taurasi DOCG. Riserva wines from Taurasi must be aged 4 years prior to release. Mastroberardino is one of the top producers of Aglianico, and the first winery in the region to produce wine for the export market.
The nose on this wine was very expressive and approachable with black cherry, spice, game, damp cedar wood, and a smoky edge. And while this is impressive on the nose, it is in the palate where this wine truly struts its stuff: pepper, spice, cedar, smoke, cigar box again. But, the flavours are deep and complex and evolving with air. This is a very dry wine while also being big and massively flavourful. This would be a good place to start exploring both Italian indigenous grapes and robust yet balanced old world wines if you really like massively styled wines but tend to always go for big cabs, Chateauneuf du Papes, etc. This has all the complexity of a great CDP, but with a decidedly Italianite edge with its smoke, cigar, and pretty red fruit style. This still tastes fresh, despite the 10 years of age, which is a testament to the superb acid of the aglianico grape. And, obviously, the wine itself is just really well made. I cannot recommend this enough both for wine geeks (and aspiring geeks) and for neophytes who want to explore and challenge their palate without having to worry about going so far afield into geekdom that singularity tops flavour. A wine to get a wine lover for Christmas: this has flavour, complexity, power, while also being unique. A superb package.
Excellent
$82 at Kitsilano Wine Cellars
A Tale of Two Malbecs: Vina Cobos Bramare 2006 and Catena Alta 2004
Vina Cobos and Catena Zapata are two of the best producers of wine in Argentina. They also share a connection in that Vina Cobos partner and winemaker Paul Hobbs, a famous Napa winemaker, many years ago consulted for Catena and helped Nicolas Catena develop what has become the best chardonnay in the country. I recently poured one of Hobbs’ lower end wines from Cobos at the YVR Wine public tasting, using it to illustrate the inadequacies of the 100-point scale. That wine, which scored 91 points and costs $20, found many admirers, albeit some detractors. I thought it was well made, but in the end its made from sourced fruit.
The Cobos Bramare wines are their mid-range offerings, but they show a massive step up in quality since all the fruit used in the line is sourced from Cobos’ own Marchiori Vineyard, which is a mecca for lovers of old-vine malbec. This particular wine sees some pretty heavy use of oak, lees treatment, and malo, so it’s pretty rich and creamy. This does hide the fruit a bit, but that doesn’t mean this wine isn’t pretty darn delicious, especially when paired with the braised lamb shank I went for.
The nose on the Bramare was a bit hot, with red and black berry fruit, loads of chocolate, and a bit of briar. The palate had coffee, chocolate, blue fruits, and a rich and creamy texture. This still came off a bit hot for me, although the food helped sop that up. In the end this is crazy rich wine, molydooker style, and I have to admit it’s a tasty wine, even if not overly singular.
Very Good+
$40 at BCLDB
The Catena Alta malbec has consistently been one of my favourite malbecs, only topped by the absolutely mind blowing Argentino malbec, also from Catena. It is also sourced from older vines, in this case from Lot 18 of the Angélica vineyard, Lot 2 from the La Consulta vineyard (one of the most famous in Argentina), and Lots 3 & 9 from the Adrianna vineyard (also an impeccable vineyard). This wine was far more open to expressing its fruit. The oak is hugely dialed back, particularly when compared with the Cobos. This is all big blue fruit, kirsch, nuts and violets on the nose. It smells big and brawny, but also floral and deep – there is depth here that low end malbecs just can’t touch. You can also tell within 5 seconds that this is made in such a different style from the Cobos. A point that emphasized to me that Argentinian malbec, despite its many wine geek detractors, can be nuanced, varied, and ‘honest’ (still working on the second post in that series), without being geek-trendy.
That said, the Catena malbec is a more ‘geek-friendly’ malbec, simply because it is more distinctive and offers real and firm acidity on the palate, which by the way is comprised of cherry, blackberry, blueberry, violets and nuts. The best part of the wine is the interplay between the fresh fruit and the floral violet component. That, and, oh ya, this wine is 100x more drinkable than any French malbec. I like it muchly, even if it’s $20 more than the cobos.
Very Good+ to Excellent
$61 at BCLDB and Kits Wine Cellars might carry this too.
So ya, Argentinian malbec can rock and be food friendly and nuanced and keep its reputation for being eminently drinkable. Sure there aren’t a ton out there that are that good. But these are two that rise to the challenge.
