Beurer, Migot
Hope all y'all had a great weekend. Sending this one on a Tuesday so
no one has to read my bullshit on a holiday. Just a few new arrivals,
mainly rose. Or maybe all rose. I'll send a quick note about the
sherries we're going to pouring next Monday separately.
Jochen Beurer Rose Trocken 2022
Of all the winemakers I worked with importing Jochen Beurer had
perhaps the strangest path to his current vocation. Before becoming a
quiet, serious, thoughtful biodynamic farmer tending small plots in
Wurtemburg in southwest Germany Jochen was the world youth BMX
champion, a career he would've continued if his knees didn't give out
(he once explained to me he's had surgery on both knees typically
reserved for 70+ year olds). So instead of continuing to wreck his
body he decided to take over his family's small plot of grapes which
they had been selling to the local cooperative for years and try his
hand at winemaking. He slowly built up his small holdings, converting
to biodynamics, and thinking about everything about winemaking and
farming. He's as passionate as about his long cold ferments (he
doesn't believe in temperature control, which means his rieslings can
often take over a year to finish fermenting in his cold cellar) as he
is about encouraging more bio-diversity of insect life in his
vineyards, a subject he can wax on about for hours. Stylistically his
wines all tend towards focus and precision, they are not plush wines
and almost never have any residual sugar in them. This wine is a blend
of Trollinger, Portugieser, Zweigelt and Spätburgunder, and it clocks
in at an easy drinking 11% alcohol and is best described by the
importer as "biodynamic Gatorade". Perfect for any day between now and
November.
Domaine Migot Cotes-de-Toul Vin Gris Rose 2022
It would be hard to name a more out of the way place in French
winemaking than Lorraine, Alsace's poor mis-understood little brother.
Shoved in between Champagne and Alsace the Lorraine never had much of
a wine identity to begin with. Before Champagne wised up and outlawed
the practice a great deal of it's grapes were snuck into Champagne,
where they were welcome for being slightly riper than anything being
produced in the appellation. It also lacked the specific Germanic
grapes of Alsace to set it apart. Instead it has typically burgundian
varieties, Gamay and Pinot, but without Burgundies fame. Couple that
with the fact that in both World Wars it was on the frontlines, which
resulted in many vineyards being destroyed that never came back and
you have a region that has almost totally been forgotten as a wine
producing region. I'd like to say this is changing, but honestly there
is only one serious winemaker in the whole region, and that is Camille
Migot at Domaine Migot. Camille works in the tiny appellation of
Cotes-de-Toul, which is known mainly for it's vin-gris, made from
50/50 pinot and gamay. Vin-gris a style of making extremely light
colored roses. Instead of macerating the wine on the skins for an
amount of time, instead the winemaker crushes them slowly, allowing
the wine to take on a little color as it runs off. The resulting wine
is a bracing, high acid rose. If anyone wants a sweeter or plusher
rose this isn't the wine for them. But for more adventurous folks this
is the perfect wine.