|
|
|
France in October: Part II
Back in our January newsletter I wrote about my October trip through France. As you may recall, I visited wineries in Alsace, Burgundy and Champagne. Along with tasting wines at different wineries, we held several tasting sessions where we reviewed wines from other regions of France.
Now that the holidays are behind us, I've been able to go through my tasting notes to identify when my favorite wines will be arriving. These wines should begin to arrive in the US in late January, early February. The following lists several of the most exciting wines I came across during the trip.
Our first visit in Burgundy was with Jean-Pierre Latour. Focused primarily on Meursault, the estate owns an impressive range of premier cru vineyards between 20 and 50+ years old including the largest parcel of 1er cru Genevrieres, two thirds of which are over 50 years old. Jean-Pierre's whites are classic white Burgundies: intense and concentrated, stylish and powerful, layered and balanced. Jean-Pierre loves his '00's.
2000 Latour Giraud Meursault Genevrieres “Cuvee Pierre” $73.15
We tasted about 10 different wines from Jean-Pierre spanning 4 vintages. This limited production cuvee from the esteemed Genevrieres vineyard was my favorite every vintage. This is a selection from 55 year old vines; aged in 100% new oak. Perfumed aromas of lemon, vanilla and hazelnut. Impressively dense and pure, with strong, pineappley fruit framed by vibrant acids. Very rich, racy wine with more than enough material to support the new barrel treatment. Finishes very long and thoroughly ripe, with no dryness or hardness from the wood. Latour achieves excellent acidity in his Genevrieres cuvees, in contrast to some of his collegues.
The Domaine Michel Caillot wines are some of the most delicious young white Burgundies I've ever comes across. This was one of the single best wine visits I've ever had. I was introduced to these wines a few months back when the importer poured them at our wine bar. People flipped out when they tasted them. Not only that, we sold out the importers’ entire stock in one evening. The estate was founded in 1962 by Michel’s father Roger. Michel began working in the vineyards in the 80's and took over elevage in the mid 90's. Michel is a fanatic for quality and is committed to the principles of non-interventionist winemaking. The winery moves all wines by gravity. Pumps are never used. The whites are aged in 30% new oak barrels, except for the 1er Cru and Grand Cru which get 50-70% new barrels. While he produces good red wines, his whites are clearly the stars.
2000 Caillot Puligny-Montrachet "les Pucelles" $77.14
To taste this wine is to understand why white Burgundy is great. This premier cru vineyard lies next to the grand cru vineyard Batard-Montrachet. This has outstanding breadth and amplitude in its medium-bodied character. Velvety-textured and juicy, this is a broad, poached pear, spiced apple, and mineral-flavored wine. It is intense, fresh, and reveals a long, pure finish. It literally explodes in the mouth.
2000 Caillot Batard-Montrachet $166.25
This grand cru wine may seem slight next to its expressive little brother 'Pucelles' but with patience you get a sense of the greatness contained in this wine. The spiced apple and poached pear-scented Batard is medium to full-bodied and displays outstanding depth in its chewy-textured character. It is fat yet fresh, and reveals numerous layers of sweet white fruits, vanilla, and cinnamon throughout its flavor profile and extensive finish. This is a most highly endorsed cellar selection.
After an extensive, and impressive tasting session at Domaine Bart, our host, Martin Bart offered to open a '98 and '99 Bonnes-Mares. We asked if we could instead take the bottles with us and we would try them over dinner. That turned out to be a good decision. While the '98 was an impressive overachiever, the '99 was one of the best wines of our trip.
1999 Domaine Saint Martin Bonnes-Mares $77.14
We brought both bottles to our dinner at La Garaudiere in Levernois. The wine accompanied my order of Charolias beef smothered in an Epoisses sauce. Truth is, the wine didn't reveal all of its complexity until it had been opened for 3 hours. I savored the last glass instead of dessert. The wine reveals ripe, oaky aromas of brown spices, smoke, mint and earth. Dense and spicy, with intriguing, soil inflected notes of raspberry, spices, sassafras, caraway seed and earth. Finishes with good spicy grip. This wine reveals why red Burgundy is so esteemed. Also, this is a great price for grand cru and it is from a great vintage. This wine is a Patrick Lesec selection.
Located just north and west of Beaune lies the village of Savigny-les-Beaune, home to some of the best values in quality Burgundy. One of the top producers from this village is Lucien Camus-Bruchon who offered to taste us through all of his wines. My favorite vineyard from this village is the 1er Cru vineyard Narbantons.
2000 Camus-Bruchon Savigny-Narbantons 1er Cru $22.75
Blackberries, grapes, and violets can be discerned in the aromatics of the 2000 1er cru Narbantons. This is a masculine wine, revealing blackberry and dark cherry fruits. It is somewhat rustic, with a firm, solid profile, yet this wine has the density and depth of fruit to sustain its tannin. Of all of the wines we tried, I really thought this was the sweet spot from Lucien's portfolio.
We took a ride south to the Macon where we met with Michel Paquet of Domaine de Velanges located in the village of Davaye. Michel was very generous, offering to taste us on all of his tank samples, barrel samples and plenty of finished wines.
2001 Valanges Saint Veran "Les Cras" $14.30
It was hard to narrow down a favorite at this winery since most of his wines were just delicious Chardonnay's. All of the possessed great typicity but in the end I decided on the Saint Veran 'Les Cras' as the best QPR (quality to price ratio). The pear-scented St.-Veran 'les Cras' is focused, lively, and medium-bodied. This clean and fresh wine shows plenty of spiced pear, apple, butterscotch and mineral flavors. Only 750 cases were produced.
One of the real eye openers of my trip was visiting small family owned Champagne houses. Not only was I blown away by the quality, but the price on these wines are almost laughable.
An important lesson from visiting the Champagne region is learning to appreciate the wines of the village of Mesnil-sur-Oger located in the Cote des Blancs. Krug and Salon both source their best fruit from here and the quality is without peer. Right down the street from Salon is the domaine of Guy Charlemagne. The following were three of the best champagnes we tasted.
Guy Charlemagne Grand Cru Res Brut Blanc de Blanc $28.60
After taking the full tour of the Champagne production process and the cellar, we tasted through their entire line-up including a few older bottles, such as the '94 and the '79 Mesnillesime Grand Cru. This particular bottling comes from 100% Grand Cru rated chardonnay. Extremely elegant and intense with just a distant hint of spicy oak.
Roger Pouillon created his own brand of Champagne at Mareuil-sur-Ay in 1947. The vineyards are all managed organically in order to respect the land. These days, his grand-son Fabrice runs the family firm. After touring his vineyards we sat down to taste of his sparklers.
Roger Pouillon Brut Rose 1er Cru $26.60
This Champagne is produced exclusively with 1er cru Pinot Noir. The wine is light pink to salmon colored and the nose evokes the delicate smell of home made preserves.
Roger Pouillon "La Fleur de Mareuil" Brut 50th Anniv.$36.58
This is a barn burner champagne. This quality at this price is much too good to be true. But hold on to your bonnet because we are telling the truth. This Champagne is left to age for 10 months in oak barrels. It combines delicacy and complexity with a fruity taste, vanilla aromas and a feeling of coolness. This is a prestige cuvee that beats the pants off most of it's peers at three times the price! No joking.
Even though we didn't visit the Rhone on this trip, I need no introduction to the wines of Philippe Desmeures of Domaine Remizieres. I've carried these wines since the '98 vintage and they consistently impress. This is a serious estate given Desmeures's unmanipulative winemaking philosophy that puts as much of the essence of his vineyards into the bottle as anyone.
2001 Remizieres Crozes-Hermitage Blanc "Cuvee Christophe" $19.95
White Rhone wines may possibly be the most underappreciated white wines produced. The glycerin-imbued 2001 Crozes-Hermitage Cuvee Christophe (90% Marsanne and 10% Roussanne) reveals a muted bouquet of flowers, pears, and peaches. Tasty, long, and successful for the vintage, drink it over the next 2-3 years.
2001 Remizieres Crozes-Hermitage Rouge "Cuvee Christophe" $26.60
This wine emerges primarily from one of the appellations finest terroirs, the hillsides of Larnage. The 2001 reveals more volume and depth than the 2000, along with notes of tapenade, Provencal herbs, licorice, black currants, and new oak. This nicely-textured, medium to full-bodied, ripe, generous red will drink well for 5-8 years.
2001 Remizieres Hermitage Rouge "Cuvee Emilie" $39.00
The 2001 Hermitage Cuvee Emilie is similarly-styled to the 2000, although slightly more delineated, leaner, structured, and age worthy. Its dense, saturated blue/purple color is accompanied by aromas of melted licorice, blackberry liqueur, asphalt, and roasted espresso. This rich, full-bodied, dense, chewy Hermitage will drink well for 10-15 years, possibly longer.
Last but not least, one of the greatest wine discoveries I've come across in the last several years is the Domaine de Givaudan. We tasted these wines as part of a larger tasting and these wines outperformed 50 other wines that were all more expensive. Located in the remote village of Cavillargues, 33 year old David Givaudan's 45-acres of beautifully tended vines and his state-of-the-art winery produce an incomparable Rhone experience.
Now the bad news, only 50 cases of each will make it to California. Red Carpet will do its best to bring in as much as we can get our hands on. I will bring in as much as possible on these wines. They are anticipated to arrive the week of February 9th.
2001 Domaine de Givaudan VDP $8.51
Holy Cow! My tasting notes on this wine read "big, dark, brooding, juicy" and I rated it 88 points. At the time I tasted these wines, I had no idea what the pricing would be. I was stunned when I learned I could sell this wine for under $10. A blend of equal parts Grenache, Syrah and Merlot from 35 year old vines. This wine is loaded with ripe, crushed berries enhanced with spices. A total of 830 cases were produced.
2001 Domaine de Givaudan Cotes du Rhone "Lea" $13.50
Another stunning example of what happened in the southern Rhone region of France. I still think this is the best vintage in the southern Rhone since 1990. Once again, as I tasted the wine, I had no idea what the price would be. My tasting notes indicated that it was reminiscent of the '01 Usseglio Chateauneuf, one of my favorite producers. This dark, full bodied 70% Grenache and 30% Syrah has loads of explosive crushed berry flavors sprinkled with spices. I rated the wine 93 points.
|
|
|
