Wines | amarchinthevines

December 9, 2015
by amarch34 3 Comments

The twelve wines of Christmas

I read an article recently by renowned wine writer Eric Asimov in the New York Times in which he outlined the twelve wines he would always want to have around, his everyday case of wine. As I read it I naturally began to consider which wines I would include in such a case.

Issues to consider included the balance of red and white, sweet and fortified as well as sparkling wines. I could make a case just from the Languedoc, even from Mas Coutelou alone. In the end I went for a balance of wines. As an everyday case I have chosen still wine over £15 (€20) and sparkling / fortified wine less than £25 (€33).

I decided on a balance of white and red together with one example each of sparkling wine, sherry, port and sweet wine.

I have to start with Riesling, my ultimate white grape. I like Alsace examples a great deal but nothing surpasses the Mosel for me and the Kabinett / Spätlese styles in particular. JJ Prum or Bürklin Wolff Kabinetts would fit the bill nicely, easily within the price bracket, I shall go with the former.

The last few years have given me a great love of Jurancon dry white wines, heightened by a recent visit. In particular Domaine Montesquiou strike me as amongst the great white wines of the world. The balance of fruit, acidity, hint of sweetness enriched by the lightest oak influence is just my thing. I loved the new Vin De France and L’Estela is a favourite (unoaked) but will stick with Cuvade Préciouse for that extra complexity of oak.

Vouvray was the first wine village I visited in France and remains a favourite for its mix of dryness and hints of sweetness in the demi-sec style. The Loire is a centre of natural winemaking and I shall opt for Vincent Carême’s Vouvray Le Clos, though not all his his cuvées are sulfite free . Champalou would be an alternative.

I would love to include a white Burgundy but price makes it difficult, I was close to choosing a Grenache Gris from Roussillon. Instead I shall opt for Mas Gabriel’s Clos Des Papillons. A firm favourite for many years I was fortunate enough to attend the 10th anniversary dinner of the Domaine this summer and to taste through a number of brilliant vintages of this superb Carignan Blanc and it is a wine which gives me so much pleasure and a reminder of how great the Languedoc can be.

Red wines and the choice becomes even harder. I have to include a Languedoc – Roussillon wine because I love it and there is no better value for quality wine. How to choose? There are so many wins I love but how could I not include a Mas Coutelou? A week without one is too long so there has to be one in my everyday case. Vin Des Amis was the wine which hooked me, Copains and Flambadou would be amongst my favourites. La Vigne Haute and its pure Syrah with drinkability and complexity combined is the choice though. If I had to choose one bottle to drink for a final meal this would be it and yet I can fit it into this everyday price bracket, great.

I love lighter structured red wines and I would definitely want one in the case. Beaujolais is a favourite but my preferences are, sadly, above the price bracket. Just fitting it however, my choice would be a Sicilian Frappato from the excellent producer COS. I really fell for this on a trip to the island in 2014 and its fruit, complexity yet light touch fits the bill perfectly.

My favourite red wine grape is Pinot Noir. I was lucky enough to visit Burgundy when prices were high but not stratospheric. I soon learned that one memorable bottle would be followed by a number of disappointments but that one bottle was so good that it made me keep searching for more, very addictive. No New World Pinot can match Burgundy though there are some very good ones. But at less than €20? Well there are good Bourgogne Rouges available and villages such as Fixin offer better prices but even they push that limit. One producer whose wines I really like is Guillot-Broux in the Maconnais. The wines are much more serious than you’d expect from that area, equal to many Côte D’Or producers. I notice the Macon Pierreclos is £15.95 with the excellent Leon Stolarski so maybe he will do a discount for a bulk order. Cheat? Probably, but I have to include a Burgundy.

Other than Sicily my choices have been all from France and I want to remind myself that good wine comes from around the world. Te Mata Coleraine was the first new world red to really make me realise how good it could be but the price has risen way too high. Australian reds were a staple for so many years though I find so many too heavy these days, especially in this price range, much as I love some Penfolds, Wakefield and Tim Adams. Spain is a source of good value wines though I find too many overoaked. Casa Pardet (Costers del Segre) was a great discovery this year but too expensive for this. Instead I have opted for another Italian wine, Le Carline Refosco which is sulphite free and has great freshness and fruit, a great food wine. And a reminder of how unusual cépages have been a great interest for me this year.

Daniele explaining his Carline wines

Sparkling wine means champagne to me. I love some Pet Nats such as that of Vincent Carême, I appreciate some crémants and sparkling wines such as the Nyetimber I tasted recently but nothing quite matches Champagne for quality. I have always liked Roederer and nothing has been better than Charles Heidsieck in recent years but they are too pricey for this case. Barbichon, Lassaigne and Franck Pascal are all producers which pleased me through the year and I could buy wines from all three in France for under €30 so I shall opt for the Quatre Cépages of Barbichon, with its Pinot character adding some extra weight.

Barbichon

Sherry is a must, nothing beats its variety from the clean dry fino or manzanilla to the intense sweetness of pedro xinenez. I am a fan of them all but a Cayetano del Pino Palo Cortado really caught my attention this month with a real balance of dryness with a touch of sweetness and great complexity. Like many sherries it is great value too.

Port is another wonderful wine style and I love its variety, from tawny to vintage. At this price I would choose Late Bottled Vintage and probably Niepoort just above Warres, it is more in a vintage style, not quite so rich.

Finally, a sweet wine. The Jurancons of Montesquiou and Nigri were a delight, great wines from Huet too. Natural sweet wines from De Brin and Clos Mathélisse would fit the bill too but in the end one range of sweet wines stood out this year and they were the Coteaux Du Layon from Juchepie and I would select Les Quarts for the case.

At a push I would merge the port and sweet wine choice and opt for another red wine but I would be very happy with my case. Feedback and your own selections would be very welcome.

December 4, 2015
by amarch34 3 Comments

Whole wide world

Picking up on the last post about the Edinburgh Wine Gang event. The disappointing show by Languedoc wines (and no show by Roussillon wines) was a real awakening to how little the region is known in the UK. Moreover, in supermarkets and in wine column recommendations are lots of cheaper wines, IGP pays d’oc wines or wines from the big négociants reinforcing the image of the region as a supplier of uncomplicated plonk, quantity over quality. Far from the truth as I know it but that seems to be the view from across the Channel.

Equally noticeable by their absence were natural wines. Indeed I encountered only one example and that almost by chance. I tasted a wine which I really liked and was then told by Master Sommelier Matthieu Longuere that it was Rkatsiteli 1011 from the Georgian Alaverdi Monastery made traditionally in qvevris*. (The date refers to the first date at which wine was made there). This is made without sulphur or any other additive as the monks see additives as impurities unworthy of God. It was a very natural style, hugely complex but beautifully fruity and direct. My wife did not like it at all but I loved it, up with the Cayetano del Pino Palo Cortado mentioned in the previous article. Again though, it was the exception to the rule that natural wines are making little inroads to the UK market outside London.

*for more information on qvevris and the monastery see this article or p306 of the winelist of Cave De Pyrène.

Oh, the Turkish wine mentioned in the previous article. Kalecik Karasi 2012 from Anatolia was Pinot like in its pale colour. However it had powerful structure, spicy aromas and almost chocolate flavours but quite tough tannins. Nice, (£9.50).

The highlight of the day however was the series of Masterclasses. There was an interesting one from the sommelier mentioned above about how a sommelier would select wines for various tastes, to create discussion and at different stages of a meal. Interesting insights.

Sommelier masterclass wines

Matthieu Longuere

The other three featured very Anglophone wine producers. Wynns is one of the most highly rated of Australian wineries established in 1891 in the Coonawarra region of South Australia, famous for its Terra Rossa soils. We tend to think of Australia as hot and its wines as full, rich and powerful. Wynns is however in a cool region and the climate and soil are reflected in the freshness and more European style of its wines.

Wynns winemaker Sue Hodder

Sue Hodder the long term winemaker at Wynns, was present in Edinburgh to show the wines and explain their production and style. And there is definitely a house style. These Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz wines are balanced, restrained and for the long term.

The full list of wines tasted is seen in the photo above. I found the wines quite austere especially the Cabernets but this was probably a sentiment created by expectation of a richer style. I did like the house style and its elegance but my favourite wines were undoubtedly those involving Shiraz.

The Michael Shiraz 2012 was rounder and fruitier yet still restrained and with fine tannins. Even better was V&A Lane Cabernet / Shiraz 2010 with deep red fruits and spicier aromas. The grapes are fermented together and the aim said Hodder was to give a sense of place as well as cépage and the wine succeeds on all levels. Riddoch is the top wine of the domaine (Cabernet 100%) and the 2012 was still in its infancy. More interesting in terms of flavours, aromas and because of its age was Riddoch 1984 with black cherry notes and, of course, freshness. Definitely secondary or tertiary rather than primary fruits it was a real pleasure to taste this wine. A lovely tasting.

Cloudy Bay from New Zealand is one of the most famous names in the UK market. Only 30 years old, in reality the winery soon established its name in the UK because of one wine, its Sauvignon Blanc with its revolutionary tropical fruits and upfront style compared to the Sauvignons of the Loire. Time was when this wine was rationed, I remember having to buy other wines just to be allowed one bottle of the SB! Expansion of the vineyards and competition from other NZ estates has ended that madness and the price remains around the same as it was 15 years ago. Its influence on Sauvignon Blanc around the world should not be underestimated however, even the Loire changed its style in response to the popularity of the newcomers.

Tom Cannavan did an excellent job in leading the tasting providing real insight and technical know how. The Sauvignon Blanc 2015 was a classic example with hallmark tropical characters and freshness. I did find most of these wines over expensive for the quality and rather too oak influenced. Sometimes the oak works such as Te Koko 2012, the oak aged Sauvignon, where the wood definitely adds some interest but the Pinot Noir 2013 and Chardonnay 2013 were both very oaky and lacked pleasure, £30 and £26 respectively!! The Central Otago Pinot Noir Te Wahi 2011 was much better and Burgundian but at £62.50 I could find better even in that expensive region. Best of the tasting was undoubtedly the Late Harvest Riesling 2009, with classic Riesling aromas and flavours wrapped around some the sweetness and leaving a freshness in the mouth. Very good, though £18 per half bottle.

And so to the UK. There is an increasing buzz around UK wine, or rather English wine. Nyetimber was one of the pioneers of that interest and it has recently scored very highly in tastings of sparkling wine around the world, including in comparison with Champagne. I have tasted it a couple of times before but this was an excellent opportunity to taste the range with some older vintages included.

The Classic Cuvée was represented by 2010 and 2009, they are slightly different in nature, 2010 being Pinot Noir dominant and 2009 being Chardonnay dominant. I liked both though preferred the rounder toastier 2009. Both retail at around £29-30 so not cheap. We tasted three Blanc De Blancs, 2007, 2003 and 1998. That was a treat, to be given the opportunity to taste vertically but especially such old wines. I liked the 07, still fresh but perhaps a little too harsh for me. The 03 and 98 both carried very savoury, almost mushroom, aromas and flavours. The 03 settled in glass and filled out with some bready, autolytic notes. I did not like the 1998, just too savoury for me though many in the room chose it as their favourite wine of the tasting.

The Rosé NV was too neutral for me, again others chose it as their favourite so this is a personal opinion. It was very dark, we were told by the Nyetimber representative that the winemakers (husband and wife team Cherie Spriggs and Brad Greatrex) blend by tasting in black glasses to ensure quality of flavour rather than colour. The Demi-Sec (100% Chardonnay) with 44g of dosage was fresh with a little sweetness. Best of the lot for me was the Tillington Single Vineyard 2009. 79% Pinot Noir, it had real character, more fruit yet still clean and toasty after 3 years on lees. Very good, but sadly at £75 I won’t be rushing to buy it. I liked Nyetimber but confess to being a little underwhelmed in comparison with the hype and those prices!

Overall, a very good day. It was good to taste different wines from around the world rather than my usual Languedocs. The masterclasses were all very good and wines such as the Palo Cortado and Georgian wine were well worth the soaking given by the foul weather outside.

December 2, 2015
by amarch34 2 Comments

The wider world of wine

Splendid setting

Being in the UK for the last two weeks and for the next few weeks I thought it was time to write regions other than the Languedoc Roussillon, though I shall be returning to my first wine love soon. Incidentally apologies to my friend David Crossley whose excellent blog‘s name I have pilfered for this post.

On Saturday I attended the Wine Gang Fair in the Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh and it was an opportunity to taste wines from around the world including a first for me with a wine from Turkey. I have long been a member of the winepages forum and its founder Tom Cannavan is one of the Wine Gang along with other respected wine writers.

The tasting combined a walk around tasting, with stands from various merchants, supermarkets and specialist importers, but also some specialist masterclasses. In previous years I had tasted some of the most memorable wines of my life including some wonderful Charles Heidsieck champagnes and a range of Gonzalez Byass Palmas sherries.

In the walk around tasting I particularly appreciated the sherries (again) and a few port wines too. There were some good table wines too and these were my highlights.

Torresilo, Cillar de Silos, 2011, Ribera Del Duero, Spain – a big red, lots of structure and power but balanced with lovely red fruit. Expensive though (£37).

Kydonista, Theodorakakos, 2014, Lakonia, Greece – lovely round, harmonious white, fruity and clean, named after quince apparently though I didn’t detect any in flavour (£12.50)

Santorini, Gavalas, 2014, Santorini, Greece – dry, clean, yellow fruits, long (£13)

Most Wanted Albarino, 2014, Rias Baxas, Spain – I like Albarino wines from Galicia and this added some distinct peachy flavour to the clean, nutty dry nature of the grape. A good buy at £8 from the Co-op supermarket.

Carinena 3c, 2014, Grandes Vinos y Vinedos, Spain – Lovely red fruits and freshness, easy drinking but plenty of long lasting flavour from The Wine Society at £5.25! I noticed this was chosen in the Telegraph as an essential Christmas wine, so I am not alone in liking it.

Berry Bros & Rudd Grand Cru Champagne, Mailly, France – Lovely, real depth with toasty aromas and yeasty flavours, very Pinot character. Real complexity (£27)

Wine Society’s Champagne Brut, Gratien, France – well balanced, clean and dry with plenty of toasty, bready flavour, nice but not as good as the BB&R wine. (£28)

Talking to the representative from The Wine Society

A word of praise for Aldi, a supermarket whose wines were interesting and well priced. I enjoyed the Clare Valley Riesling, Sancerre, both 2014, and Chateauneuf Du Pape from La Père Papite 2013. In particular the own label Maynards 40 year old Tawny Port was well balanced, rich but dry, a little oak but lovely. £30 but for a 40 year old wine of such complexity that is a good price.

Sadly, the Languedoc was only represented by two wines both of which were awful and the Roussillon had no wines on show. It remains a mystery to me how my region is so poorly represented so often in the UK.

Good port came from Berry Bros & Rudd’s 20 year old Tawny, Quinta da Noval which was fresh, dry but carried dark fruits and richness, very long flavours and a treat. (£27). Equally good was Krohn’s Colheita 2001, part of a masterclass, which was dry, nutty balanced with a little fruitiness. This was aged in barrels for 13 years and not topped up as some evaporated leading to its oxidative style. Very nice . (£20)

Sherry was well represented though nothing of the standard of the beautiful Palmas wines tasted three years ago. Puerto Fino from Lustau was lovely, fresh and bone dry, perfect aperitif wine (£16.49). Vina AB Amontillado from Gonzalez Byass was even better but then I love Amontillado sherries. This starts life as Tio Pepe but then given extra age as the flor dies and becomes, darker coloured, nuttier and a lovely saltiness to refresh. (£13.50). Pedro’s Almacenista Selection Oloroso was very good, nutty and dry (£13.49). Even better in a similar style was Olorosa Solera 1842 VOS, Valdespino. Intense, nutty, rich and so long and refreshing, lovely wine though £39 sadly.

Best of all and probably my wine of the day was the Palo Cortado Solera, Cayetano del Pino. Nutty, round, fresh and full, this was really intense and beautifully balanced. Loved it and at £14.50 from The Wine Society this is well worth seeking out, you’d struggle to find a wine of this quality at such a price elsewhere.

I shall report on the Masterclasses in my next post, with notes on Nyetimber, Wynns and Cloudy Bay.

November 27, 2015
by amarch34 6 Comments

Living wine history

Version française

As a History graduate and teacher I have always believed that to understand the present we must understand our history. Whether it be politics, culture, sport or, indeed, wine the route to the present gives us the fuller picture. In wine terms I relish the stories of the winemakers and how they came to their place in producing the wines we appreciate, that route often explains their philosophy and their hopes for the wines. I often hear from them, as in Clos Fantine or Domaine Montesquiou, how the family history and its relationship with the land influences how they nurture their soils, vines and wines.

Naturally, spending so much time at Mas Coutelou I have come to appreciate the story of the domaine and its roots and traditions through to its present. Nowhere is that history more alive than in one of its most unusual features, the solera system.

I was talking to Rosemary George at the Mas Gabriel 10th anniversary dinner and I told her how a blog post she wrote first led me to Jeff’s door and, consequently, changed my story and journey to the Languedoc. Rosemary’s greatest memory of Mas Coutelou she said was of the solera system. It is certainly virtually unique in the region. After my initial tour of the vineyards and tasting with Jeff I was amazed by the discovery of a solera. Clearly it left an impact upon Rosemary too.

So, what is it? What is its own history?

Soleras are usually associated with sherry. The word means ‘on the ground’ in Spanish. Barrels are filled with wine and the oldest wine is used to fill bottles though some of the wine is left. It is refilled from the next oldest barrel and that in turn by the third oldest. As each is only partly emptied the barrel’s contents become a mix of vintages. Traditionally, the oldest barrel is in on the ground and filled from above, hence the name solera. That ground barrel in Mas Coutelou’s solera is over 200 years old! The barrels also lose some of their contents through evaporation. The larger barrels (around 225 litres) lose around 6% of their wine per year, smaller barrels can lose up to 15%! Hence the need to replenish the barrels for natural reasons not just because they have been emptied.

Michel removing must from muscat ready for the solera

Carole and Cameron working on the solera

The Coutelou system was started by Jeff’s great grandfather and has become a family tradition. Muscat and Grenache grapes are used to feed the solera each year. They can follow a route of being used for sweet or dry wines, they might be blended together or kept separately. Altogether there are 16 possible paths for the wines to take and Jeff must choose the most appropriate one based on his tasting experience.

The label shows Jeff’s grandfather

The wines vary from the very dry to the very sweet and luscious. Some of the old Grenaches can be very like old amontillado sherries, lightly structured but packing power with long nutty, prune and raisin flavours which linger and fill your mouth. Others, especially the sweeter Muscats, are caramel, toffee and raisin in aroma and flavour and the wine clings to the glass with its viscosity. They are an utter delight and a special treat to savour slowly. Going from barrel to barrel in the two rooms where they lie there is an enormous range of wines, somehow Jeff keeps a record of them all in his head. As you taste them you are enjoying the results of decades of grapes from the lovingly tended vineyards, the work of generations of the family. This is tasting history.

I love these wines, their complexity, aromas and flavours are captivating, making you smile, savour, sniff, speculate and sigh with pleasure. It is impossible to taste and to drink them without reflecting on the story of the wine and the people who made them. A sense of the past reinforced by the surroundings. The solera cellar contains all sorts of artefacts, equipment used in the vines and the cellars over the years as you can see above. It is a museum to great wines and to great people representing the history of the village and region too. The wines are that history in the glass, rich and rewarding.

Basket press and old barrels

November 15, 2015
by amarch34 2 Comments

Latour De France

Portes ouvertes, well most

Latour not Le Tour. It is a village in the Pyrénées-Orientales with an unusual profile in terms of winemaking as nearly all the vignerons make natural wine. La Bande de Latour is their open day and it was such a fun event last year that we decided to return again, the date was in the diary for a long time.

Unbelievably the event took place on the only bad day’s weather in the last 3 weeks, low cloud, mist and dampness prevailed though the event was far from spoiled and more than compensated for the weather. The vignerons of Latour invite others from around the Languedoc Roussillon and further afield, but there is a common bond of natural wine. In recent weeks there has been much discussion in the world of wine about whether natural wines should be certificated and what direction the wines should take. I intend to address these issues in the next articles but it was a good opportunity to see what lessons could be learned at such a gathering of producers.

The first thing to say is that there were wines which did not appeal and which seemed a little lacking. I believe that natural wines are moving on and that with more experience of not using sulphites, for example, winemakers are learning how to tackle the process of making clean, fresh and healthy wines with a minimum of faults despite not having the safety net of additives, interventionist winemaking etc. However, there were some winemakers present who, in my view, are either new to the approach, haven’t learned or have not moved on. I won’t name names here but would share my thoughts if anyone wants to get in touch.

However, I felt that the majority of wines were of at least good quality, with fruit, freshness, balance and complexity – all that you would want from any wine but certainly the features which make natural wines appeal to me. There were wines which really were top class and I put my money where my mouth is by buying some.

Top of the podium was undoubtedly Cyril Fhal of Clos Rouge Gorge. His vineyards are high in the hills, gobelet and exposed to the elements. Cyril is a master of Carignan and his wines are relatively expensive though not by comparison with the likes of Burgundy or Bordeaux, and his wines do bear comparison with top class wines. The Carignan was very good indeed, long, fresh, deep and balanced. However, it was the Blanc, made from Maccabeu which really captured my imagination, one of the best wines I have tasted in 2015. It starts zesty and fresh and then the oak adds a little roundness, coating the mouth with spicy notes but always clean and refreshing. Beautiful wine, brilliant winemaking. I happily bought both wines.

Outstanding

Other top performers from the village included Domaines Rivaton, Mathouans and Trbouley.

Frédéric Rivaton presented a very good white wine, Blanc Bec 2014 which was full flavoured, fresh and balanced the Carignan Blanc, Grenache Gris and Maccabeu beautifully. The rosé was mainly Grenache and the best of his wines today, lovely aromatics of red fruits matched by full, almost textured, flavours. Very good. I liked the red Gribouille too, showing a lot of depth and complexity. I liked Rivaton wines when I have tasted them before but they seemed to be much more complex and interesting today, more purchases.

I don’t remember tasting Domaine Mathouans wines before, I certainly have no notes, and that is my loss. These wines were very well made with lots of fruit but also much more complexity behind the fruit. Light tasting but structured, easy to drink but with real depth and interest. The orange wine Mine De Rien 2014 made from Muscat Petits Grains had lovely muscat aromatics (plus a little reduction which disappeared in glass), but was dry, clean and not overly concentrated as some orange wines can be. Fresh and clean, very well made. Assureté is a blend of red grapes which are complanted in the vineyard and vinified together. Full, fruity and very good – my question is why on earth did I not buy some? My mistake. And again with Le Bon, Le Brut et Le Carignan which was aromatic, red fruits with deeper black fruits behinid, very complex but always fresh and balanced. Aline Hock is clearly a very talented winemaker, I intend to find out more about the domaine.

Renaud of Domaine Mathouans, a convincing advocate for the wines

Jean-Louis Tribouley‘s wines have always appealed to me. Today we only tasted the red wines, which was a shame as I love his Grenache Gris. They were all good wines, however, I have to single out Mani 2012 made from young vine Grenache, Syrah and Carignan which was sweet, ripe and very good. Another I wish I had bought.

My other favourite wines came from outside the area.

I was taken by the wines of Domaine Hausherr when I met them in Montpellier in January. Despite their long journey to Latour the wines were equally good today. Hausherr like to express their vineyards rather than single varieties as most Alsace producers do. Therefore, wines such as Altengarten are a blend, in this case Riesling and Gewurztraminer. They are wines with full, ripe aromatics hinting at sweetness but in fact they are very dry and expressive, really delicious. La Colline Celeste 2012 was my favourite of the dry wines and I also really liked Roc Et Porcelaine 2011 which was made from the same vineyard but with more residual sugar kept to add a touch of sweetness. Sungass 2003 was also very interesting, the hot summer of 12 years ago but the wine was fresh and dry, pure Riesling with petrolly notes.

Talking to Heidi Hausherr

L’Ostal is in Cahors, a small and youthful domaine run by Louis Pérot. The Malbec grape can be tough and often needs aging but Louis has made different styles of wine using, for example, carbonic maceration. There is still a classic Cahors, Plein Chant (2013 bigger than 2014) but I really enjoyed Anselme 2014 which was full, rich but velvety and very good. Similarly Le Tour (not Latour) was bigger than many of the wines but retained a freshness and fruit character. I was happy to buy both of these and enjoyed the other wines too. Particular thanks to Louis who replaced a bottle I broke on the way out, my fault and he didn’t need to, it was much appreciated.

I’d also like to add Axel Prufer of Temps Des Cerises to my recommendations. The Chardonnay Peur De Rouge 2013 was very good, this is a wine which is coming into its own and Axel confirmed it needs a year or two to do so. His red Fou du Roi 13 was also very good but the Chardonnay was a real treat.

So a great day, lots of music, choices of food (including vegetarian!) and a good atmosphere despite the gloomy weather. There were my favourite wines, there were others too from Domaine Sabbat and the very promising new domaine of La Bancale.

Enjoyed talking to Bastien Baillet of La Bancale, a domaine to watch

I do think natural wines are moving on and improving still further and La Bande de Latour provided me with plenty of evidence to support me. As I said I shall be coming back to the whole natural wine debate soon.

November 11, 2015
by amarch34 2 Comments

The Falling Leaves

Vine leaves which will become compost in the vineyard

Version française

Autumn is often a melancholy time as the days shorten, temperatures drop and the first signs of winter approach. And yet 2015 in the Languedoc has seen a most untypical autumn. Last week the warmest November day ever was recorded and we have enjoyed blue skies, warm sunshine and hot afternoons, 26°C has been regularly seen on our garden thermometer. The resulting sunshine has produced the most breathtaking scenery, with colours across a wide spectrum of autumn. As I wrote on the Out And About page, every time you turn a corner there is another heart stopping view.

The vines are now closing down, preparing for winter. Their fruit has gone except for a few overlooked grapes which the birds, wasps and insects have been enjoying. Their leaves are shedding and the skeleton of the vine stands out again for the first time since early May, their form revealed, cordon or guyot for example.

First taille of autumn 2015, guyot vines

Indeed, some vignerons have actually started to prune again ready for 2016. I suspect they are working to a pre-prepared timetable as the vines have been slow to lose their leaves and still show some life. At Mas Coutelou the taille will not take place until next year and most top vignerons will leave it until then, just before the growing season. The extra wood helps to protect against frosts for example. Some vignerons are starting to cavailloner, in other words to move earth from between the rows of vines towards the plants themselves, the extra soils will again act as a blanket against the frosts.

Puimisson basks in autumn sunshine

Dew on some Grenache Blanc grapes left behind in Rome

Other jobs remain to be done. After the months of busy vineyard work and harvest it is a time for sending wine to be sold. Pallets have left Puimisson to cavistes and restaurants around the world. Last Friday, November 6th, they set off to Germany, Finland and various regions of France. More have already gone to New York, London, Melbourne amongst many cities.

The season of salons has started in earnest too. This weekend I was in the Roussillon for La Bande De Latour, highlighting many of the best natural wines of the Roussillon and elsewhere.

The following day I was in Autignac for a tasting of some of the best Faugères wines and also their fines or brandies. I shall post about these soon. I was talking to the excellent Hausherrs, vignerons who had driven to the Pyrenees from Alsace for La Bande, a long, long way. Hard work.

In the next few weeks Jeff will be starting to assemble the wines for the main cuvées of 2015, the likes of Classe and Vin Des Amis. Decisions to be made about what proportions of which cuves to blend for the wines. Sadly, I shall miss this process as we head back to the UK for a wedding. Into every life a little rain must fall.

It has been a beautiful autumn, the weather and the vendanges have made it a magical time. Thanks as ever to Jeff for allowing me to share the experiences and insights of the season.

November 1, 2015
by amarch34 2 Comments

Work life balance – soutirage, surchargé

Soutirage? It’s where you take wine from one container and move it to another. Traditionally this was done from barrel to barrel by gravity but these days it applies to moving the wine by other methods too. Why? Well the wine has been fermenting on lees, the dead yeast cells and other parts of the grapes. The wine needs to be removed from these as they cause cloudiness and you don’t want to drink wine full of lees. The lees can also cause off flavours in the wine so once they have served their purpose in helping to ferment and flavour the wine in a positive way they need to be separated.

All pumps to the full

By moving the wine you also add oxygen to it and remove the risk of carbon dioxide building too much in the cuve which might cause issues such as reduction, a wine fault leading to odours of rotten eggs, rubber, struck matches or worse. That oxygen acts as a kind of inoculation too, a little bit helps to reduce the risk of wine oxidising later.

Julien checking the level of wine in the recipient cuve

Therefore, on Friday 30th October, Jeff decided to carry out soutirage. Also, as the weather has been very warm they will continue to ferment a little longer in their new home before the colder weather does arrive. This means that there will still be some CO2 in the wine. Too much is bad but a little is good and this is the core of winemaking – finding the balance between all these different pros and cons. CO2 in small quantities helps to stabilise a wine and makes not using SO2 easier (important at Mas Coutelou) and also adds a little freshness and sense of texture, possibly a sense of acidity too. Oxygen, carbon dioxide, lees – you want to get just the right amount but no more.

Cuve being emptied to another

What this did mean was more planning and more of the puzzles of what wine goes where. My last post showed how complex this is. And here we bring in the surchargé part of the title. Jeff has had a busy week with lots of paperwork, orders to sort, bottles to label, package and get ready for sending out to cavistes around the world. Add in administration work for customs, taxes and many other agencies. The side of being a winemaker that people don’t really see.

Same wine before (left) and after (right) soutirage, there was a noticeable difference in taste

I went to the vineyards on Thursday to take some photos of the beautiful colours in the vine leaves, unexpectedly I found Jeff in Peilhan digging out cannes de provence near a stream with a pick. He said this was his break from the paperwork, he needed some fresh air.

Looked like more hard work to me, and people ask me if I would not want to become a vigneron!

Please note that I have updated the Out And About and Tastings pages recently, click the links at the top of the page to see what’s been happening.

The last leaf on a Grenache vine in Rome

There’s always one

Peilhan, wild rocket growing between the vines

Cinsault in Rome

October 29, 2015
by amarch34 3 Comments

What happens after harvest?

The immediate period after harvest could easily be perceived as a time to relax a little. The hard work of picking, transporting, sorting, crushing and pressing grapes is done. The remontages, délestages, pigeages are memories. The wines quietly ferment in cuve, gently moving to their magical transformation into wine.

Cuves now containing wines such as Syrah and Flambadou

Sadly, that is not the case. The work continues apace, there is no time to relax just yet. The wines are in a delicate stage, fermentation is a violent chemical reaction and lots could go wrong. Therefore, they are checked frequently and analyses are sent away to ensure that everything is proceeding as it should. This is the top of the sheet which comes back from the analysis laboratory.

For each sample you receive information about the amount of residual sugar, alcohol, volatile acidity, the pH of the wine and the amount of Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) in total and free in the wine. SO2 is the controversial additive which most winemakers add to their wines to stabilise it and to provide elements of prevention against oxidation. Natural winemakers, such as Jeff Coutelou, are against using SO2 as they want wines as natural as they can be without additions.

SO2 is a natural product of grapes and winemaking so there will always be a small amount of SO2 in any wine. It combines with the chemicals of wine and so most is absorbed (bound). The rest which is free is what conventional producers use as an anti-oxidative and anti-bacterial agent in the wine. They might add sulphur at various points of the winemaking process but most likely at crushing, fermentation and bottling.

EU regulations limit the amount of sulphur as you can see in the table below. Red wines produce their own natural anti-oxidants so less SO2 is allowed. Sweet wines contain more sugar which binds SO2 so more is added so that free SO2 can work. Levels of permitted SO2 rise according to the type of sweet wine. The figures are all mg per litre.

Organic regulators allow less SO2 to be used as you can see, indeed some organic bodies such as Demeter have even more strict limits than those below.

Natural wine guidelines are exactly that, guidelines. There are no official rules for natural producers as there are no rules for any aspect of natural wines. The figures in the table are those suggested by AVN one of the groups which some producers have established.

Type of wine	EU	Organic rules (Demeter)	Natural guidelines
Red	160	100 (70)	30
White, rosé	210	150 (90)	40
Sweet	200+	170+ (80+)	40

Some natural wine makers have gone further and eschew any use of added SO2. Jeff is one of those producers.

I have chosen not to identify the figures for the analyses of particular wines he received on October 15th from which the heading is shown above, as they are not mine to share. I can say that the highest SO2 figure is 10mg/l and that is for one cuve only. Fifteen of the nineteen wines analysed contained 3 mg/l or less. In other words every cuve has negligible levels of free SO2, humans cannot taste it at less than 11mg/l in water let alone wine. No sulphites are added. Mas Coutelou wines are natural wines but also very healthy wines. The analyses showed they are all 13.5% to 15% in alcohol and volatile acidity is well under the guidelines, one or two cuves were a little elevated but that is normal during fermentation.

Cement tanks including one which contains Flower Power

So the wines are progressing well, it looks like a very good vintage. They have been put into the cuves appropriate for them to spend the winter. Jeff produces a plan to show where they all are.

On the left is a spreadsheet showing each cuve, how much wine is in it, when it was harvested, when it was moved, when assembled with other wines, date of sous-tirage, the wine and grapes, and quantities for red, rosé and white. I have made it a little hazy so as not to spoil the surprises which the patron will unleash in the next few months.

To the right is a map of the cellar showing where the wines are.

Jeff has also been receiving plenty of phone calls. It is now several months since wines left Puimisson to head to cavistes and merchants in France, Europe, the USA, Asia and Australia. Now stocks are low there is a demand for wines to be sent to them. Therefore, the 2014s which were bottles earlier this year are now being furnished with their labels and capsules and then packaged into boxes. Different regions, eg the EU, UK and USA, all have different requirements even for this packaging so even this job is not as simple as it may seem. For more on the process and a video I took last year see here.

Thursday October 22nd was a day for preparing magnums and for some markets these are sealed with wax. Appropriately Flambadou, named after a barbecue implement, was therefore held over the flames of the gas burner which heated the wax.

Jeff and Michel, waxing lyrical

On Friday Jeff was due to head north on the long drive to Nancy and a wine salon. We are entering the season for these events and that means more journeys, more selling and more work. The vendanges may be over, the work certainly is not.

Well for almost everyone.

October 25, 2015
by amarch34 9 Comments

Jurancon

Jurancon was long known for its sweet wines and indeed if you only see the name Jurancon on the bottle label it will be a sweet wine. However, in recent years the popularity of the region has grown because of its dry wines which will carry ‘Jurancon Sec’ in the label. All Jurancon wines are white, red wines are made in the area but they carry other names such as Coteaux Du Béarn.

I combined a recent visit to Biarritz and the Basque coast with a few days in the region, was able to taste some of the wines and visit two of its very best domaines which were mentioned to me by everybody I spoke to about the wines of the region.

Nets protect the late harvest grapes from the birds

Jurancon is grown to the west and south of the city of Pau in the Pyrénées – Atlantiques. The vines are to be found in small parcels around the tops of hills and ridges and these vineyards were so different to the monoculture of the Hérault or Bordeaux, Burgundy and the other more famous French regions. Other crops such as maize and fruit are more widespread than vines along with plenty of cows and sheep.

It makes for a truly lovely countryside, admittedly the autumn colours of the trees and vines highlighted that beauty to best effect. The soils are clay and gravel though some areas also have pudding stones, big pebbles which retain heat.

Petit Manseng

One of Jurancon’s attractions is its unusual grape cépages. Gros Manseng makes up around 60% of the region’s grapes, with its close relative Petit Manseng forming around 35% of the rest. Gros Manseng is often the main force of the dry wines and Petit Manseng is the most important grape behind the sweet wines. Petit Courbu is the third main variety with Camaralet and Lauzet being the minority cépages, described as accessory grapes by Jean – Louis Lacoste at Domaine Nigri. These grapes give Jurancon wines a sense of place and also a sense of being different to the rest of the world.

Carving at Domaine Montesquiou

It was the dry wines of Domaine Montesquiou which first attracted me to the region and made me want to visit the Jurancon. I bought them in the UK from Leon Stolarski, an excellent online merchant with a range of excellent small, independent growers. After buying one or two bottles as a change I became convinced that these were wines of the highest quality, amongst my favourite white wines in the world. Therefore my first visit to a domaine had to be to Montesquiou, which is found on a hill in the commune of Monein.

Sébastien Bordenave Montesquiou

I was greeted by Sébastien Bordenave Montesquiou and his brother Fabrice who run the domaine these days, as well as their father. I felt somewhat guilty as even though the vendanges were finished in the Languedoc, here they were still in full swing. The dry wines are in cuve but they had only started to pick grapes for the sweet wines 2 or 3 days before my visit and will be picking for another month. However, there was no vendange on the day of my visit (October 19th) and Sébastien generously gave his time and showed me into some vineyards as well as the winery itself.

The tall Manseng vines, oats and grass between them

The vines themselves were different to those I am more accustomed to in the Languedoc. They are tall, with the bunches of grapes at waist height, much easier for picking! Those left on the vines were being left to dry in the autumn sunshine, becoming passarillé, concentrating the sugars in the juices. The vines face mostly eastwards , not overly exposed. Between the vines oats had been sown in spring to provide competition for the vines so that they have to compete and struggle a little rather than becoming too vigorous. The oats are not allowed to develop fully but the leaves were still evident. As Jurancon vineyards receive more rainfall than any other French region these crops also help to avoid soil erosion on the steep slopes where the vines are found. Ploughing is therefore rare too. Most vines are pruned with Guyot double though Sébastien told me the trend is towards Guyot simple.

Sébastien shows how the Petit Manseng grows quite spaced out in the bunch. Botrytis is therefore unusual, the grapes become sweet by drying on the vine

The dry wines are fermented in stainless steel and cement tanks, some then being aged in barrel some left in the tanks for different cuvées (L’Estela is the non oak aged, Cuvade Préciouse the oak aged). We tasted some of the 2015 wines from tank and they are already losing their puppy fat and becoming lean, spicy, zesty wines with a range of long flavours filling the mouth. Both of these wines are dominated by Gros Manseng with L’Estela also containing 40% Courbu (and a small amount of Petit Manseng) whilst Cuvade Préciouse also has 30% Petit Manseng. These are thrilling wines, full of spice, citrus and a delightful clean finish.

Fresh from the tank

Sébastien took us into the barrel room where the wines were literally hissing as they fermented inside. I am very wary of oak barrels I must admit. Too many heavily oaked wines in the 1980s and 1990s left me preferring fresh, unoaked flavours. However, even I will admit that when used judiciously, oak barrels can add complexity and depth to a wine, the interaction with the wood and the small amount of oxidation bringing extra nuances.

This metal rack will be filled with barrels

And here the use of oak is masterful. Cuvade Préciouse is still zesty and has a delicious clean flavour but the oak adds a roundness and a slight nutiness. Brilliant stuff. I would drink L’Estela every day, it is my ‘go to’ white wine.

As I talked to him Sébastien’s enthusiasm and passion were evident and he reminded me of Jeff Coutelou in his love of the vines, land and his wines. He spoke about the use of oak and how he is like a choirmaster with the grapes, wood, oxygen and yeasts all voices which could compete and clash but with careful training and guidance these different voices become harmonious to produce a sound which is greater than any single element.

Onto the sweeter wines. Amistat is a 100% Gros Manseng wine which is more a demi-sec rather than a moelleux. It starts as a dryish wine with exotic fruits and a lean, clean streak and then a little sweetness establishes itself in your mouth on the finish. This would make a great apéritif wine, lovely. Vin De France has a lovely photograph on its label. It is unclassified Jurancon wine because there is slightly too much residual sugar for a Jurancon sec, again it would strike me as a demi sec style wine. I loved this, it had a real length and yet despite that residual sugar it remained refreshing and balanced. Finally, onto La Grappe D’Or and the archetypal Jurancon wine made from Petit Manseng. Luscious and sweet with spice and apricots yet with a refreshing line of acidity to cleanse the palate, it lingers and grows in the mouth. Brilliant winemaking. The grapes for this year’s wine are still on vine and will be harvested into November, though all the vines are a week or so ahead of the average year.

A great range of white wines

Sébastien’s parting shot was that he seeks to allow the grapes to express themselves, a reminder to me of Jeff’s words near the end of harvest that you should always have faith in the grapes that you have grown, they will do the job of making great wine if you help them rather than seek to control them. Kindred spirits. Indeed the brothers are starting to experiment a little with natural winemaking. This is one of my favourite domaines, every single wine is top quality and Montesquiou are, in my view, the producers of the very best Jurancon secs.

The Nigri symbol

Domaine Nigri building 1689

The following day we went along to Domaine Nigri. Jean-Louis Lacoste runs the domaine which has been in the family since 1685. Now organic, like Montesquiou, the domaine is unusual in the region in having mostly Petit Manseng. I think this is reflected in the quality of the sweeter wines which are the mainstay of Nigri and are wines of the very top quality.

Much attention is given to training the vines to ensure as much aeration as possible and the land between vines has a grass covering for aeration and to avoid erosion. The cépages are harvested separately and the parcels vinified separately to express the terroir. The wines rest on ther lees for 6 to 11 months to maximise the expression of the wine. Again the use of barrels for ageing is carefully done allowing slight oxygen exchange without overpowering the flavour of the grapes themselves.

After a tour of the winery we tasted the range.

Confluence is a Jurancon Sec and unusually contains 10% each of Camaralet and Lauzet, grapes not found in most domaines, the majority being Gros Manseng. Clear, fruity and with a very refreshing finish. The other dry wine is Pierre De Lune which is oak aged unlike Confluence. This time the 80% Gros Manseng is joined by 20% of Petit Manseng which perhaps adds the slight hint of sweetness, another demi-sec like wine. Yet there is a lovely, zesty finish which leaves you wanting more. Very good.

The sweeter wines are, perhaps, the strong point of Nigri. First in the range was Pas De Deux, 40% Petit Manseng which is oak aged and 60% Gros Manseng which is unoaked. This is sweet but slightly so, a great aperitif wine or accompaniment to cheeses. Honey notes are balanced by citrus freshness, perfectly balanced and a wine you would drink more and more of. Toute Une Histoire is the main sweet wine of Nigri, 100% Petit Manseng fermented and matured in oak for 11 months. The grapes come from 3 different soils for complexity. Richer, more honeyed and viscous in texture yet always a very refreshing finish, the wine does not cloy at all. It would balance cheese but even Asian foods perhaps. Truly delicious. Hors De Piste is the top wine, again pure Petit Manseng, the best of the grapes go into this cuvée. It actually looks a little less golden in colour but is more intense and full. It fills the mouth with sweetness but once again the freshness kicks in and the wine lingers leaving delicious flavours of quince, orange and apricot. Exceptional.

The more I visit wine domaines the more convinced I become that the wines reflect the vigneron. Jean-Louis is a quiet, reflective man but passionate about his vines and wines. The wines show that same subtlety but open out into full flavours, welcoming and expressive. As at Montesquiou I was happy to buy the range of wines.

Pallets of Nigri wines in the ageing room

This device moves the pallets onto their sides

I tasted a number of other wines in the area, some were frankly disappointing, some OK. I would mention Domaine Bellegarde’s Jurancon Sec which offered a citrus, fresh and fruity range of flavours.

These two domaines stand out to me and I enjoyed every single one of their wines. They are great to drink now but will also age well, and the sweeter wines especially will broaden their flavours. Seek out, buy and enjoy the wines of Domaines Nigri and Montesquiou.

Jurancon, a beautiful wine region with wines to reflect its nature.

October 12, 2015
by amarch34 4 Comments

Vendanges Diaries – #9 Dream

Our last picking of 2015, Rome vineyard, October 9th; Michel, Cameron and Jeff

Version française

The very last week of vendanges, definitely.

Lots of work continued in the cellar during the week, pigeage and remontage as described in the previous post, and more wines which are now completing fermentation and being put into tanks to mature or to allow malolactic fermentation if it hasn’t already happened. This fermentation produces softer lactic acid which will make the wine taste more supple and fruity. The cellar is now much quieter and there is a sense of job done.

Pigeage

Carignan in tank

Cameron cleaning tanks, cleanliness remains the priority

However, the final wine remained as grapes in the vineyards. Muscat grapes in Rome vineyard and Grenache in Sainte Suzanne have concentrated their sugars, developed a little noble rot even. So, on Friday October 9th Jeff, Michel, Cameron and myself ventured out to pick the Muscat and some of the Grenache. (The remaining Grenache was picked by the experienced Moroccan team on Saturday morning.) A beautiful autumnal morning cast shafts of sparkling sunlight on to the myriad colours of the leaves. It was incredibly peaceful and dreamlike.

The Muscat was dried out in the main, the berries now like raisins with a lot of sweetness but not too much juice. The Grenache would give more juice to produce around 4.5hl of sweet wine in the end, which Jeff was happy with.

My first bucket of Muscat

In the press the Muscat and Grenache were added one on top of the other in successive layers to give more complexity and allow the Grenache to fill out the Muscat. The juice was slow in emerging but eventually arrived in a lovely, light red colour with strong aromas of sweet raspberries.

The following day, Saturday 10th, the Grenache arrived and the last cagette of 2015 grapes entered the press.

Grenache in Saint Suzanne

The last cagette of 2015 grapes goes into the press

Pressing the button for the last time this year

It was a moment to breathe a sigh of relief, to feel a sense of pride in what has been achieved in the last 2 months and, a hint of sadness as the bonds of a team, which worked so hard and so well together, are gently loosened.

The relief also showed in recent days by getting together with other vignerons. An evening in Roquebrun at the excellent Cave St. Martin and then on Thursday a visit to Domaine Vassal, a conservatory of vines, with a who’s who of natural producers in the area. I shall write more about Vassal in a future post.

Vignerons including Julien Peyras, Alain Castex, Axel Prufer, Yannick Pelletier, Jean Marie Rimbert, Carole Andrieu celebrate with Raymond Le Coq (red shirt) at his Cave St Martin

l-r Rémy Poujol, Jeff, Yannick Pelletier, Julien Peyras, Joe Jefferies, Bernard Bellahsen (Fontedicto), Olivier Andrieu (Clos Fantine)

Then, on Sunday, team Coutelou gathered at Le Terminus in Cruzy, one of the best restaurants in the Languedoc. Jeff kindly paid for our celebration lunch together, the food and wine were excellent (including Clos Fantine and Julien Peyras wines) and the company could not be better. Cameron will be heading back to London this week though hopefully returning soon. So, it was an occasion to say ‘au revoir’ too.

l-r me, Cameron, Michel, Jeff – team Coutelou

Jeff wondering how Cameron got a bigger glass! (It’s actually a decanter)

And to show that we really are moving into the next stage after vendanges Monday October 12th saw the first bottling of 2015 wines. Bibonade rosé is a sparkling, sweetish wine with 20 grams of residual sugar to produce 4 bars of pressure and, consequently, the sparkle. Jeff stopped the fermentation on Sunday and bottling under capsule took place this morning.

Bibonade rosé, bottled and stored

So 2015 vendanges is done, 2015 wines are on the way. Job very well done. It has been a joyful experience for me to take a full part, thanks to Jeff, Michel, Cameron, Carole and everyone else who has been part of the team. A dream come true.