Chateau Le Puy | amarchinthevines

Three posts to celebrate the great wines I have enjoyed in 2019 which I would recommend without hesitation. Obviously I could include lots of Jeff Coutelou’s wines but I will restrict myself to just one, I shall keep that choice for the last of the posts.

I shall start with red wines and a classic region. Bordeaux and Burgundy are still the benchmarks for world wines, steeped in tradition. However, Chateau Le Puy is in the Cotes De Francs, east of Pomerol and Saint Emilion, not one of the higher regarded regions. Being right bank Merlot is the dominant grape and my choice of wine is an example of that. Barthélémy 2016 showed great fruit as well as classic Bordeaux weight and depth boosted by the 15% of Cabernet Sauvignon. Where this wine differs from classic Bordeaux is that this long established biodynamic domaine used no sulphites.

To Italy, more specifically Gambellara between Verona and Vicenza. Angiolino Maule was one of the pioneers of natural winemakers in Italy and his La Biancara domaine is now run by his three sons. I met Alessandro and his partner Emma Bentley in London and loved their wines but one stood out to me. This was what I wrote at the time, “Star of the show for me was So San 2016, made from Tocai Rosso grapes, the local name for Grenache. Aged in barrel for 15 months this was a big wine with lovely fruit up front backed by ripe tannins which will surely allow the wine to age for many years. It was perfectly balanced, a terrific wine from one of my favourite grapes.”. Congratulations to them too on their first child in 2019.

Around the world again, this time to South Africa whose wines are starting to make a big impact. Testalonga is the domaine of Craig Hawkins and I have had their wines before but the 2018s really were a breakthrough. Chin Up is a Cinsault wine and this example was full of lovely fruit with a nice fresh acidity and light tannins. Very pleasurable and very drinkable. On similar lines was Dynamite 2018 from Peira Levada the domaine of Alexandre Durand in Faugeres. Pure Cinsault too but this time grown in soils with an unusually high percentage of marble. I loved this, a wine to simply enjoy but also with a serious side. Definitely the year of Cinsault for me.

Staying in the Languedoc, Gregory White is based in Aspiran, one of a number of very good producers there. His White Is Rouge 2017 was my favourite red wine this year for sheer pleasure. A blend of Grenache and Syrah the wine is fruity with a lovely aroma of blueberries and strawberries too. There is a depth with hints of liquorice and more red fruits. Just lovely.

One more light red which carries more weight than might be expected. Gamay from Beaujolais is famous for its light, fruity juice. The region is a hotbed of natural winemaking and one such is Charly Thévenet, son of one of the original Gang Of Four producers Jean-Paul Thévenet. His Régnié Grain et Granit 2017 was classic Beaujolais, fun but with a serious side, good tannins and well structured.

I shall finish with a wine from the Adelaide Hills. I first encountered Gentle Folk’s 2018 Village Pinot Noir when I visited Gareth Bolton’s domaine in the Hills and this very wine was newly harvested and fermenting away. This Spring I tasted the wine in London and was hugely impressed. Pinot Noir is my favourite red grape and this showed that Aussie producers can rival any in making the most of it. You will have noticed that I like red wines with a serious, contemplative side but also with pleasing fruit to make the wine enjoyable. The best Pinots have red and black fruit flavours, lots of rich aroma but also have tannins and a minerality. Gareth’s wine is all that is good about Pinot Noir.

Next time, on to the white wines.

My last post described my overall impressions from RAW, interestingly the hybrid issue has been in the news elsewhere a little, a topic I shall pick up again. To follow up I shall describe a few of my favourite wines without too much detail. If you want more technical details then the RAW site has information on each producer and wine.

Gravner is one of the most celebrated of natural domaines, a true pioneer of skin contact wine from the Friuli region. I thought these shone out against the other big names such as Radikon and Cornelissen, though I liked their wines too. Star of the show for me was my first wine tasted in the whole RAW event, Bianco Breg 2010. A blend of grapes such as Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc the skin contact gave nice tannins and a firm finish but there was a lot of enjoyable white fruit flavour to add roundness.

Brand is a well established Alsace domaine which has taken a turn to natural wine as Philippe has taken the reins. I liked a lot of these wines, my favourite was the Gewurztraminer maceration Tout Terriblement 16. As I said last time I am becoming convinced that skin contact works best with aromatic grapes and this showed lovely Gewurz notes without any of its tendency to go over the top. Lovely fruit and a long finish. (Very low sulphites)

AMI is a newish domaine in Maranges using bought in organic grapes to make natural wines. I liked all the wines here, red and white from the basic Bourgognes to a Hautes Cotes and a lovely Maranges Premier Cru. Top of my list though was the St. Romain Blanc 17, classic Burgundy with citrus, hazelnut, cream and a delicious freshness. Definitely on my shopping list.

Chateau Le Puy I had tasted before and enjoyed even more this time. The main cuvee from various years was lovely but my favourite was the Barthelemy 2016, from the Francs Côtes De Bordeaux appellation. There was such a depth of fruit in the Cabernet / Merlot blend, classic Bordeaux with lift! (No added sulphites). Similarly Chateau Meylet showed a lovely 2014 of real quality, not something I usually say about a Cabernet Franc led wine. (very low sulphites)

Agricola Marino has just 1.5ha of bush vines in Sicily making just 6,000 bottles. The two wines were lovely, my favourite the Turi Bianco 18 a pure Catarratto of white fruit and texture. Lovely labels too. Please someone, support Salvatore and import these great wines.

Karim Vionnet is a well known maker of very drinkable Beaujolais. Last year in a joint venture with Domaine Viret they produced Nous, a blend of Gamay and Syrah which was generously fruity but had a lovely tannic backbone to add complexity and length of flavour. Very good.

German wines were what first got me interested in the whole topic so it was a slight disappointment that only one producer was present. However, Andi Weigand compensated in quality for lack of numbers. Some lovely wines from the Franken region using grapes such as Muller Thurgau and Silvaner. It was the latter which made my favourite. The maceration wine Skin 15 was fermented in whole bunches for 8 weeks, kept in old barrels for 3 years then refermented using 20l of juice from 2018’s harvest. The result was a perfumed, peachy and clean, fresh wine, a real joy. Unusual winemaking with no added sulphites producing great results, bravo.

The Morins of Touraize

Domaine De La Touraize is a Jura producer and the Morins showed a series of excellent wines reds, sparkling and white. I’d happily buy them all but top of my list would be the Savagnin 15, left for 2 years ‘sous voile’, i.e. under the flor of the yeasts, the method used in sherry as well as in the Jura. The result was nutty, stony, fruity – my notes simply read ‘gorgeous!’ Possibly my favourite wine of the whole RAW event. (very low sulphites)

I mentioned Thomas Niedermayr last time as I was impressed and intrigued by his hybrid grape wines such as the Souvignier Gris. However, my favourite was the 14 Solaris 2017, (the 14 refers to the year the vines were planted). Solaris was produced in 1975 by crossing various grapes in Czechoslovakia. The fruit was clean and fresh, white stone fruit, almost green and yellow fruit gum. These were fascinating wines from the Alto Adige.

Also from that region was Grawü, and another exciting range of wines though from more classic grapes this time. Lovely Pinot Grigio, the Bianco with Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurz in the blend was excellent too. There was another Bianco (16?) with more Sauvignon Blanc which gave more open flavours and I especially liked, as I did the skin contact Gewurz.

Finally I must mention the delicious Banyuls wines of Domaine Du Traginer. I enjoyed their Collioure table wines but the Banyuls were something else. A lovely Rimage 17, rich and delicious Grand Cru 08 as well as a lovely Blanc 15. However, the star was a Solera 2000 which was almost clear, light in appearance but with deep, full and fresh light fruits and a rich port like finish. A special wine.

I could mention many other wines and I feel guilty for omitting some other very good wines. RAW showed that the world of natural wine is expanding and improving in reliability and quality. To counter the most common criticism of natural wines I should also mention that amongst the 350+ wines I tasted I only detected three with a problem of mousiness and one with a very slight cork taint. Any of the wines mentioned here would enrich your wine collection.