Domaine Matrot's l'Effronte Vin Moelleux

I mentioned the wine in the picture above in the blog entry about sweet wine from Burgundy. This wine is made from lightly botrytised Aligote grapes from Domaine Matrot's vineyards in Meursault. The average age of the vines is 10 years. The grapes are pressed whole in pneumatic presses and the juice is fermented using indigenous yeasts at 5-8 deg C for 15 to 20 weeks. There is no malo-lactic fermentation. The wine is racked once before maturation in bottles for 9 months. I will present this wine at the wine dinner I am organizing for the doctors' association at my hospital. I will match it will a Flamuss au Pommes, a clafoutis-like dessert from Burgundy made with fried apple pieces.

Ch Lynch Moussas 2010

I taste this wine the other day with some lamb chops. The Chateau's website was not forthcoming about this vintage, but it seemed that it did well in tasting of Cru Classe from 2010 carried out by Decanter this April. It was among 9 wines which got awarded an average of 17.5 points out of 20 at the tasting and Decanter "translates" it to 91 points on the conventional 100-point scale. These nine included wines from the First to the Fifth Growths: Beychevelle, Calon-Segur, Desmirail, Lascombe, Latour, Lynch-Bages, Lynch-Moussas, Margaux, St-Pierre in alphabetical order as listed in Decanter. Can't be bad to be mentioned in the same breath as Margaux and Latour!

As for the wine, it was dark at its core with a deep purple ruby rim. The nose was rich with berry and wood notes. The palate was sweet and fruity, but also containing savoury notes and a good smattering of acid which gace good support as the wine's backbone accompanied by a sprinkling of tannin.

Louis Picamolet Bourgogne Mousseux Rouge Sec

The reason I blogged about Bourgogne Mousseux last week was because I had come across Louis Picamolet's Bourgogne Mousseux Rouge Sec at the Food Expo a couple of weekends ago. Although the cepage can include Gamay, this example is purely made from Pinot Noir. Although I managed to dig out Picamolet's website, this wine was hardly mentioned there. There was only a mention of it winning some award or another but no technical details for this wine, from this notable maker of Cremant de Bourgogne. As for the wine, it was a nice dark ruby with good streams of fine bubbles. Berry notes were evident on the nose. An acid prickle hit the tongue, quickly turning into a soft mousse, revealing a dry fruity palate with an acid backbone for support.

Grignolino d'Asti

I first tasted the grape from which this wine was made in a Wine Fair a couple of years back or so. I did not end up blogging about it. I encountered this wine again in the organic neighbourhood wine shop over the last weekend when they presented some of their wares for tasting. Grignolino is an indigenous grape of the Piedmont region which makes light coloured wines with fruity aromas high acidity and abundant tannins, the latter coming from its many pips (grignole in the local dialect) from which the grape is named. Many Grignolino d'Asti are modeled on Beaujolais wines, and to avoid overwhelming tannins, a gentle slow pressing is used.

As for this 2013 wine, it was a deep rose pink, with a fragrant slight strawberry and other red berry nose. The palate was slightly sweet with berry notes but marred by a hint of metallic character. A tannic mildly acid backbone with a hint of salt provided support.

Another reasonably good Airen

I blogged about Airen some time ago and noted that it was a widely planted grape, mainly all over La Mancha, producing huge quantities of thin acidic wine, much of which ends up as Spanish Brandy. That time a friend and I found enjoyment in a carefully made organic wine made from Airen. I tasted this other wine made from Airen at the Food Expo and thought that Airen cannot be that bad, as this second ever Airen I tasted was also reasonable. I was suffering from a bad cold, so everything was muted as far as the nose was concerned. With a deep lemon yellow colour, an off dry slightly fruity palate with a hint of bitterness, the wine was well supported by an acid backbone with a touch of astringency. Not a wine for contemplation, but fine for everyday drinking and say with some simple seafood.

The third Chateau Lagrange I've met

Now everyone is familiar with the Third Growth Chateau Lagrange in St Julien. This estate can trace its history back to the 17th Century, but its fortunes dwindled in the early 20th century, until it was bought by the Japanese liquor conglomerate Suntory in 1983, which invested and reinvigorated the estate. The second estate with the Lagrange name is sometimes also known as Chateau Lagrange a Pomerol, as it is indeed a Pomerol estate. It is amongst the first purchases of Jean Pierre Moueix in the 1950s, after the acquisition of Chx Magdelaine and La Fleur Petrus and before he slowly bought up the shares of Ch Petrus itself beginning in 1961. That estate produces rich Merlot based wines typical of fine Pomerol.

I met this third Lagrange at the Food Expo over the last weekend. This Lagrange comes from Lussac-St-Emilion, still on the Right Bank but a lesser known appellation than Pomerol. This Lussac Saint-Emilion estateis an old property once belonging to the Guimon family. Unfortunately, I have not found further information about this estate. Then again let's get back to the important thing, which is how did the wine taste? A purple ruby colour, with a closed slightly fruity nose, the wine was slightly savoury slightly tannic and a bit fruity on the palate, supported by an acid tannic backbone.

Bourgogne Mousseux AC

You may know that Cremant de Bourgogne is the appellation given to sparkling wines made by the traditional method in Burgundy. But this was not the original appellation for sparkling Burgundy wines - that was Bourgogne Mousseux which was granted for white rose and red sparkling wines made throughout Burgundy produced by a second fermentation in the bottle. The Cremant de Bourgogneappellation for white and rose sparklers came in 1975 and  for a while white and pink Burgundy sparklers can use either designation. However since 1984, the AC of Bourgogne Mousseux is reserved for red sparkling Burgundy! The grapes which can be used for these sparklers are Pinot Noir and Gamay, although the inclusion of a minimal proportion of white grapes is also allowed.

Cheverny

I met my first wine from Cheverny at last weekend's Food Expo. Cheverny is an appellation in the eastern of Touraine, and it produces white, red and rose wines from a large variety of grapes. There is another AOC Cours-Cheverny exclusively reserved for the local grape Romorantin. The reds and roses are made from Pinot Noir, Gamay blended with a minimum 15% Cabernet France or Malbec, whilst the whites are made from Sauvignon Blanc (60-85% minimum) which can be blended with Chardonnay, Arbois or Chenin Blanc.

This wine is a blend of 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Chardonnay. A pale straw colour, I was not able to small much due both to my cold and the plastic thimbles used for trying the wines. The palate was fruity with a hint of sweetness and an acid slightly astringent backbone.

Tasting wines at the 2014 Food Expo

I went to the Food Expo last weekend, to see what wines they have on offer. I was not on best form as I am still bugged by an upper respiratory infection, which even having had symptomatic treatment left me rather impaired with my sense of smell. Nevertheless, there were some interesting wines, including a sparkling red Burgundy, the third estate of the same name in Bordeaux, a couple of Sardinian wines as well as a number of other wines that caught my interest. Most of the action was within the Gourmet Corner, although there are things of interest also in the other exhibition areas. I must say the crowds were a bit off-putting, especially where there are gourmet items to be tasted at a heavy discount. Nevertheless, although I am unsure whether I have added to my collection of grapes, I have had some interesting vinous encounters.

Sweet wine from Burgundy

Of the major wine regions in France, Burgundy is the one which does not really make sweet wines. Jean Thevenet of Domaine de la Bongran in Vire-Clesse makes a cuvee botrytisee from nobly rotten Chardonnay grapes, which is sweet and thus denied the privilege of the Vire-Clesse appellation. I had very much wanted to try that wine, but have not yet been able to get a bottle. apart from this, I had not known any other sweet wines from any maker in Burgundy.

Imagine my surprise when I saw on display at one of the Hong Kong branches of a Japanese wine retail chain a bottle called l'Effrontee from Domaine Matrot in Meursault. On enquiry I was informed that the wine was made from botrytised Aligote. Now that is what I call a really unusual bottle of wine and I have included it in my Chinese blog on alternative wines. I have obtained some bottles and shall look forward to trying it out.

Comparing soils

Although soils are part and parcel of terroir, few wineries and winemakers emphasize the difference between wines whose fruit comes from plants on different soils. There was however prominent in the neighbourhood wine shop specializing in organic wines, a range of Muscadet from the Domaine de l'Ecu which emphasized the different soils (or more specifically rocks) in which the different wines were grown.

There were three different wines in that series: Gneiss, Orthgneiss and Granite. All three are from the Muscadet de Sevre et de Maine appellation, all biodynamic and sur lie, and from vineyards featuring the aforementioned subsoils. Now it would certainly be interesting to try these in a side by side tasting, wouldn't it?

St Emilion dry whites

I was browsing at the Decanter Website when I came across their recent tasting of top 2012 Bordeaux dry whites. It was not too surprising for the Pavillon Blanc de Margaux to come out top, but a little more surprising that this top ten lineup only included one from Graves or Pessac-Leognan. The inclusion of the white of 2 St Julien Cru Classe, Talbot and Lagrange, was certainly interesting as was the dry white of Ch Doisy-Daene.

The real surprise was that there were 3 St Emilion whites, seeing that white wines from St Emilion are rarely found until a few years ago. Of course, like the dry white from a Sauternes chateau, they will just be generic Bordeaux. I have seen the Monbousquet white on sale but not the one from Magrez Fombruage or Valandraud.

Deakin's Sparkling Azahara Moscato

Sometimes my wife likes to use Asti as a party wine, and so I regularly keep some bottles around the house, that and Moscato d'Asti as well. Well, recently our usual purveyor seems to have run out and I decided to try an Australian example for a party that my wife was going to. The one I got was the Sparkling Azahara Moscato from Deakin Estate, but that seemed not to have hit the right buttons. It was a touch too sweet for her and the rest of the party too. Previous encounters with say the Brown Brother's Sparkling Zibbibo was altogether satisfactory, so maybe the parameters that Deakin was aiming for was just a touch too wide for that party. But then, sweetness and fruitiness are all very subjective, so if you want a sweeter Moscato, this may be the one for you. Maybe I should have got her some Moscato d'Asti.

Lucien Muzard Volnay 1er Cru Santenots 2010

We had this wine during the mainly 1er Cru Burgundy dinner recently and I had blogged about this organic/biodynamic estate which is one of the top wineries in Santenay. As had been noted in the previous blog, this wine is from rented vines which farmed and not from Muzard's own vineyard holdings. This however did not seem to have made any difference to the finished product as this is indeed a fine wine. It was a nice limpid ruby with a sweet berry nose. The sweet berry notes carried through to the palate where it was nicely accompanied by a good smattering of acid, that went on to become a solid backbone, seasoned by a hint of tannins.

A (mainly) Piedmont wine tasting

I chanced by that organic wine store and popped in to ask them to get some Burgundies from their warehouse for me to buy there.They had lined up 4 wines from a Piedmont producer - Giovanii Almondo and a Tannat from Uruguay. I had to go somewhere then and later returned when I encountered a crowd dispersing after tasting.

They had finished the Roero DOCG Bric Valdiana, so I only tasted the Roero Arneis, Barbera and Brachetto from the Almondo and the Uruguayan Tannat. The Piedmont reds were as expected, with the Roero Arneis a bit more astringent than expected. The Uruguayan Tannat was more tannic than expected and more tannic than both the previous examples from Uruguay and from France. I suspected it will take a steak au bleu well in its stride.

Domaine Henri Gouges NSG les Pruliers 2007

This was also one of the wines tasted in the mainly 1er Cru Burgundy dinner. Domaine Henri Gouges is one of the most famous estates in Nuits-St-Georges, Their family had owned vineyards for generations and this estate had been in their family since 1919. Henri had also been famous for fighting winr fraud in Burgundy in the 1920s and 1930s, and when the appellations were later drawn up, Henri as Mayor of Nuits-St-Georges recommended that there be no grand crus in this village (probably because he also held a large holding in one of the forerunners for grand cru). Now Henri's grandsons are still taking meticulous care in crafting wines which will last and last.

We had the 2007 1er Cru les Pruliers at dinner the other night. It was a limpid garnet with a sweet acid fruity nose. The palate was also sweet and fruity with the acid appearing later on to form a nice backbone for the wine.

Fruity Burgundies

I was pleasantly surprised by the up front berry fruit of the Burgundies we tasted in the mainly premier cru dinner we had last week. In the past, even the not so distant past, Burgundies are not really up front fruity, and certainly not fruity enough to be able to identify red berries or more specifically strawberries in either nose or palate. Most of the time, although fruitiness was present, some of the more specific quaities one looks for in Burgundies are those associated with age, especially in older wines, like game, truffle notes etc.

Maybe it's because the wines are from premier cru sites, all of the reds had good up front berry or strawberry notes in both and palate, even the de Villaine Cote Challonnais wine. This may be influence from the New World, but in this instance this influence is certainly for the better. A thought though, would this affect how the wines show say 15 years later, and will we have the same abundance of game, mushroom and truffle notes, now that they are some aromatically confident in their youth?

Another unhelpful label

I got this bottle of Vouvray from the original neighbourhood wine shop with the remark from the vendor that this is a slightly sweet bottle. I googled the estate (Domaine de la Gaverie) and did not get very far with the labels. I saw a couple of pictures but these had the Sec designation near where this label sports the vintage, so no luck really. Vouvray can be and is made from really bone dry (sometimes designated Sec-Sec) to really sweet (doux, sometimes also with the term liquoreux), the latter from botrytised grapes. So if the label says nothing as in this case, little can be inferred until the bottle is opened. Domaine de la Gaverie is a family run estate of some 50 acres of vines right in the heart of the Vouvray appellation, making the full range of dry to sweet still and sparkling wines.

A most annoying supermarket wine tasting

I had bought a couple of bottles of Burgundy when I decided to see what I might buy for dinner in a certain upmarket supermarket in Central one weekend,when I chance upon some promoter doing a wine tasting there. I proceeded to taste some of their wines, scribbling notes as I go and then photographing the labels. Then the promoter stopped me taking photos of the wines, even after I explained that I was using this for my own record. She then launched off on a tirade about how the purpose of the tasting was not to enable me to do my "research". By that time i had tasted three whites - an Italian Pinot Grigio and a couple of New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. At this I left. There were one or two reds in the lineup, which I could have been interesting in buying. That is utterly her loss. I did not feel it necessary to tell her that I had 2 Burgundies totalling over $1000 in my backpack.

What wine with escargots?

I started the latest Burgundy dinner with Escargots Bourguignon as starter. I must admit that this is the first time I had done this as it is a more expensive item on the menu. This is however a popular appetizer here in Hong Kong, especially with the addition of mashed potatoes, which is unusual France. I first met it some 40 years ago, though I wasn't the one having it at that dinner.

Various matches are touted for this dish. Matthew Jukes recommended Sauvignon Blanc, which if you want to keep it in Burgundy, one has to go to St Bris. Hugh Johnson cast his net wide and came up with Rhone reds (Gigondas, Vacqueyras) Alsace Pinot Blanc or Muscat outside Burgundy. He recommended St Veran or Aligote from within Burgundy. I could not locate a St Veran 1er Cru for the 1er Cru theme of the dinner, so stuck with de Villaine's Bouzeron which had garnered RP92 on the score card. Everyone agreed it went done a treat.

Chateau les Reuilles Cuvees des Heritiers 2011

I had this wine during a celebration dinner at the Hong Kong Club the other day. It was one of their house wine. It seems that this estate is at the edge of Bordeaux, bordering on the Cotes de Duras, close to Entre-Deux-Ners and St Emilion, with the actual vineyards on the slopes and hills of Bordeaux Ste Foy. (that is the same appellation as the Hong Kong wine I blogged about in the first month of this blog. This estate is mostly planted with red grapes, but has 15% of the vineyard devoted to Sauvignon Blanc. Hence it produces red, white and pink wines.

To be honest, I cannot find this Cuvees des Heritiers at all in the Website (en francais), except for a mention of having been awarded something at an exhibition. There is a Cuvee Al Heritiage listed and I wonder if this is the same wine, just with a different branding for different markets. The cepage listed is of Merlot, Cabernet (not otherwise specified) and Malbec, but the listed percentages are a little off as the total exceeded 100%!! As for the wine, it was a deep ruby with a sweet plummy fruity nose. The palate was sweet slightly tannic and fruity, with an acid slightly tannic backbone for support.