Another explanation of terroir - bugs this time

Decanter had just published an article on another attempt to solve the mystery of terroir. Whilst traditional wisdom explains it in terms of the soil, the amount of sun, rain and other weather variables, this article quotes a study which looks at the different Merlot vines in New York and in Bordeaux and California, which gives very similar results. This opens up an area of research into how the pattern of different bacteria, which is found in similar patterns in the soil in which these vines are grown, can influence the plants and ultimately the wines made from it by altering the chemical composition of the fruit. Talking about chemical composition, I recall that micro-analysis of trace elements from the finished product (ie the wine) can determine the location where the fruit was grown, and had some use in identifying fake wines. But that is another story altogether.

The wines at Nana's party

In Food with the Famous, Jane Grigson gave the full menu of Nana's dinner party (to celebrate her acting debut) in which Emile Zola uses "every dishes chosen, its success, its serving [to make] some comment on the plot and characters, or gives a hint - not always a subtle one - of what is to come." Zola had already done this in L'Assommoir, in which Nana was first introduced in his Les Rougon-Macquart series. As can be seen in the picture above there are all kinds of rich and complicated dishes (many involving truffles), maybe as a hint to the fact that Nana has only a beautiful body, but basically no talent in acting.

Right at the bottom, the last line indicated that the wines to be served are Meursault, Chambertin and Leoville. Looking at the dishes, one sees that dishes with which white wines and reds are served are all jumbled up, giving sommeliers a headache if one were present. The other question was which Leoville did Nana (or indeed Zola) had in mind. The original grand estate was split off in 1836 to give Leoville-Barton and later in 1840 to give Leoville-Poyferre. All three were classified in 1855 as Duexieme Cru.

La Renaissance des Appellations

I was introduced to this group dedicated to natural viticulture by the people from the neighbourhood organic wine shop. Some of the producers (whose products are sold in that shop)which I have tasted and /or blogged about are members of this organization. Informally created in 2001 by 10 or so vignerons with Nicolas Joly at the helm, the group set out to review the ways in which the grower and winemaker work to bring out the best of the terroir in their wines, and adopt those practices in a three tier system of guarantees which the vigneron makes to ensure that the wine which reaches the consumer an fully reflect the quality which the terroir is capable of expressing. That certainly is no bad thing.

And something else, not all of my experiences of the Renaissance des Appellations (they use the name "Return to terroir" in English) come from that shop. I tasted and blogged about Coulee de Serrant (whose owner is Nicolas Joly) when I tasted it in 2013( well before that shop opened) as well as breathing that wine here.

Sapros

Sapros is an organization which was founded to promote wine produced from nobly rotten grapes, without any help from added sugars. It may surprise many, but even the law governing such famous and respected botrytised dessert wine as Sauternes does not ban the addition of sugar before fermentation (ie chaptalization).

It may also surprise many to find not that all of the most famous (or top) estates say in Sauternes and Barsac are members of the organization, in fact very few of them are. Unfortunately the website is not working properly, so it is not easy to elucidate who are current members. Some notable members include Domaine Bongran (where Jean Thevenet occasionally makes a botrytised Chardonnay) and Chateau Guiraud.

Wine matching at restaurants - wine pairing packages

After blogging on winery dinners and some interesting mismatches, we can look at times when the wine-matching package that comes as an optional extra on a menu just doesn't hit the nail on the head. The first occasion that came to mind was when we heard a wine being offered at the next table - an Assyrtiko from Santorini, and that proved much better than Southern France promotion white wine for that year's French May.

Other times, the wine might have made a better match if it was swapped with another course later in the order of the menu, or with another in the choice of options. Common culprits include duck breast which have more robust flavours and delicate beef dishes (I know that doesn't sound likely, but believe me it happens). Recently I had Chateaubriande steak with my wife and the two red wines on the offer (including the one for the alternative main course) matched the charred exterior and the juicy rare interior perfectly, but then one did need the two wines to maximize enjoyment of that nice piece of meat.

Chateau Montrose

This second growth estate from St Estephe is one that I have tried a number of times. One time which stood out in my mind (my wife also recalls this too) was when we tasted a bottle of the 1997 vintage. On the nose was a measure of meaty fishiness which recalls tinned tuna (but I don't think there was any hint of a metallic note), such that whenever a wine exhibits such a smell on the nose, I am immediately reminded of Chateau Montrose 1997.

The story of Montrose goes back to the days when the Segur family owned three of the current first growths (Latour, Lafite and Mouton) as well as what was to become Chateau Calon-Segur. In 1778, the latter was sold to the Dumoulin family, who found an area covered in pink heather. This was cleared and planted with vines, to become the Montrose estate.

A French pottery-fermented Chardonnay

I had previously blogged about wines fermented in qveri (traditional pottery vessels) from Georgia, encountering them initially in the 2011 Wine Fair and then subsequently in two years later. I had not however tasted similar wines from other countries till now. This is a Chardonnay from the Muscadet area which has been fermented in clay amphorae, and is sometimes referred to as an orange wine. The colour itself recalls another Georgian qveri fermented wine, this time using a grape called Kisi.

This is one of those "limited production" wines, the bottle says 450 bottles (I suppose it will be just one amphorae, seeing that a Bordeaux barrique of 225L already holds 300 bottles). This Faust Cuvee MMXIII was a slightly cloudy pink orange with a minerally honeyed sweetmeat nose. The palate started off with a hint of sweetness going onto an acid slightly astringent palate, supported by an acid backbone.

Bodegas Castano Solanera VV 2012

I tried this wine from Yecla, Spain a few days ago. Bodegas Castano is a modern winery in Yecla, Murcia which specialises in old vine Mourvedre. Although there is little on its website about Solanera, it did state that this was a colaborative project with Eric Solomom of the USA. The back label says it is 70% Mourvedre with 15% each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Alicante Bouschet (the synonym Garnacha Tintorera was used on the label) which has undergone 10 months oak aging.

This wine was a nice purple ruby with a sweet berry orangey nose. The palate was sweet acid and fruity with orange notes, with orangey acid providing structure.

Cru Bourgeois Confusion and Frustration

Clive Coates published an article in Decanter recently, detailing the problems which had beset the Cru Bourgeois classification (like the problems over St Emilion but less newsworthy) and which has led many of the top chateaux previously in the category to abandon the classification altogether. In a table accompanying the article, one can see that except for Chateau Labegorce Zede, all of the estate calssified as cru bourgeois exceptionelle have abstained from the current classification. Labegorce Zede was absorbed into the lesser classified Ch Labegorce (as I mentioned in the CBE 2003 post 3 years ago), so the whole of that top category has decided to boycott the current system.

This sad state of affairs apart, the article also detailed the history of the classification and its current woes. However, there was also an accompanying list of cru bourgeois (current and former) which he has found most consistent over the years - definitely useful for those who are interested in pursuing value for money in Bordeaux.

The Claret from the company that makes fighter jets

It might betray my age, but I remembered an advertising campaign for Saab cars that emphasized that it was from the only car maker that also built fighter planes. In the same way, the Dassault group which owns the St Emilion estate Chateau Dassault, makes fighter jets (amongst other planes) such as the Super Etendard and Mirage family.

Marcel Dassault bought Chateau Couperie in 1955 and changed its name to the present one. in 1969, it became a St Emilion Grand Cru. The group also owns the neighbouring Chateau Lafleur (bought 2002) and through an agreement with the Domaines Baron de Rothschild (Lafite) shares in Chx Rieussec and l'Evangile.

We've tried a few bottles of Dassault before, with the latest over the Chinese New Year, the 2009 vintage. Merlot base, with a bit of Cab Franc, and a smidgeon of Cab Sauvignon, the fruit underwent fermentation in small temperature controlled concrete vats, undergoing malolactic fermentation in new barrels, followed by 14-18 months aging in 80% new and 20% one-year barrels before bottling. The wine was a deep purple ruby with a slightly sweet fruity acid nose. The sweet fruit and acidity extended to the palate accompanied by acid, plum notes and a touch of wood. The whole was well supportwed by an acid slightly tannic backbone.

Champagne Moutard Brut Rose Cuvaison

I had a bottle of this over the Chinese New Year. This is from the champagne house which produced the varietal Arbanne champagne as well as the champagne with six grapes. This is a varietal Pinot Noir champagne produced by the saignee method, which has received good scores from the punters - RP92, WS91, ST91*. And the price is very competitive too, cheaper than the NV roses from the likes of Moet and Veuve Clicquot.

As for the wine, it was a deep rose pink with good streams of fine bubbles and a slightly sweet fruity nose. The palate started off with an acid prickle giving way to strawberry notes and acid palate, supported by an acid fruity backbone.

*Stephen Tanzer