SELECTION MASSALE X TELL ME

Hi all,

This week since we're having Jonathon Grey of Selection Massale in
town I thought I'd talk about them.  I was one of the founders of
Selection Massale and we have a pretty stacked list so I'll hit the
highlights.

Mas Goma L'Alba al Turo Pét-Nat Rosado:

Mas Goma is Selection Massale's first Spanish producer, from Penedes
in Catalonia. It is run by Joan Manel Vendrell and his son Joan
Vendrell who made the decision in 2009 to start producing organic
wines at their family estate, which had before just grown grapes for
sale to other winemakers. This pet-nat is a blend of Xarello (the main
cava grape) and Grenache, which is lightly macerated and gives the
wines its color. It has no added sulfur and it isn't clarified. The
end result is a beautiful, bright pet-nat rosado perfect for the
weather. We'll be pouring it BTG for Wednesday only.

https://www.selectionmassale.com/mas-goma.html

I'll re-use my write up for Quentin Bourse at  Sot de L'Ange from week
two since we're pouring a number of his wines, if you remember that
one you can skip it:

The last is all the bottles from Sot de L'Ange we were lucky enough to
get. Quentin Bourse has been making wine in the relatively new
appellation of Azay le Rideau, in the Touraine region of the Loire
Valley. Quentin is a fast talking, hockey obsessed wine fanatic, both
in his vineyards, which are all biodynamic certified, and in the
cellar, where he believes every wine is unique and should be treated
differently. His main production are the main grapes of the region,
Gamay, Cot (what Malbec is known in the Loire), Grolleau, Cabernet
Franc, and Chenin Blanc, and a plot of old vine "Grolleau de Cinq
Mars" a rare variety of Grolleau grown in the region. The wines we got
this time around are the Malolactix, a blend of Pinot, Gamay, and Cab
Franc. It's a wine meant to be drunk fast and easy, hence why we serve
it chilled. The second is the OG Grolleau, which is serious old vine
Grolleau de Cinq Mars, aged four years before release, and the other
red is his Azaium (the ancient roman name for the town) 'Jardin a la
Boulaudière' a 100% Cot that is perhaps his most serious wine, meant
to be drunk slow and savored. The three Chenins are "Sec Symbole" (the
French are crazy for puns) his entry level white. Racy, sharp and easy
to drink. His Chenin (no pun) is old vine plots of both 18 and 19
fruit blended together. The third is the Azaium Blanc "La
Gougounierre", his top white that spends 4 years being aged before
release. This is serious thoughtful chenin, made with the same mindset
as the Jardin a la Boulaudière. These are some of the most exciting
wines from a young winemaker in France, and we're very proud to serve
them. Producer profile below:

https://www.selectionmassale.com/quentin-bourse.html

Martin Texier, who's La Boutanche bottling we're pouring now, has been
a friend for years and years. I met Martin first at his father's house
in Southern Beaujoalis, famed winemaker Eric Texier. At the time he
was studying economics and honestly had no idea what he was going to
do with his life. After a stint working for wine shops in New York he
decided that the pull of his father's wine of work and he moved back,
opened shop in the Rhone Valley and hasn't looked back. His wines,
like Martin himself, are never flashy and he's very dedicated to the
idea of terroir, that the wine should very much reflect the place it's
grown first and foremost, meaning that winemaking and technique that
obscure this (think of over-oaked wines, or yeasted beaujolais that
smells vaguely of bananas for whatever reason). The first wine is his
Boutanche Cinsault, meant to evoke a simple country wine. Cinsault is
one of the lesser Rhone grapes, known more for being a component of
Chateauneuf-de-Pape or making provencal roses rather than making red
wine. In the correct hands it makes a perfect rustic everyday red
wine, and this is a prime example. His white we're pouring is 'La
Rouviere Blanc', a blend of Roussanne and Clairette from a very
specific vineyard in St. Julian en St. Alban, a tiny almost unknown
sub-appellation in the Rhone Valley. In the early 200s while exploring
vineyards in the Rhone valley to buy fruit from Martin's father Eric
stumbled into a plot of land that had been farmed by Darbyists, an
obscure protestant sect best compared somewhere between Quakers and
the Amish (they were famed resistors in WW2). The plot had been farmed
for close to 100 years according to their strict religious guidelines
which mean no chemical inputs of any kind ever (including any plastic
ties) and no mixing between animal and vegetal products, which means
everything that takes care of the vines is a plant infusion. Eric was
stunned to find this amazing pristine, biodiverse vineyard that would
have been the same as any pre-industrial vineyard. When Martin began
making wine he also began to produce a small amount of fruit from this
vineyard and this is the wine. It's very light and fresh for a Rhone
white, which can verge into being too big and floral. Lastly we have
the wine his family is famous for, his Brezeme. Brezeme is a tiny
sub-appellation (it's just a single hillside)  in the Rhone valley
that a single winemaker was making wine from when Eric tasted the
wine. When the winemaker finally retired Eric took over. It's a very
classic beautiful terroir for Syrah, avoiding the heat that turns some
Syrah into olive tapenade. Of all the Texier's wines this has always
been my favorite.

Thomas Santamaria 'La Boutanche' Grenache Corsica 2021

We have another Boutanche project, this time a Grenache from
Patrimonio in the northernmost part of Corsica. Thomas Sanatmaria is a
young winemaker, part of a group that pushed for one of the most
substantial changes in winemaking in France in the past 20 years, that
Patrimonio be converted totally to organic viticulture and anyone not
certified no longer receives the Patrimonio designation. Amazingly
every single producer has converted and it's the first organic
appellation in Europe, a model many other places are looking to. This
wine is Thomas's basic grenache, a juicy, larger wine that speaks to
the heat and sunshine of Corsica.

Gilvesy St George Furmint Blend 2020
Robert Gilvesy grew up in Canada, the child of immigrants who had fled
post WW2. After the fall of the Soviet Union he moved back to his
parents homeland and started making wine, and eventually found a
unique terroir on a volcanic hill, which he purchased and converted to
organics. This wine is made from Furmint, which in my estimation is
the single most underrated grape in the world. It's capable of making
brilliant still wines like this one, sparkling wines like the
Kiralyudvar we've carried and of course the legendary sweet wines of
Tokay.

We're carrying a lot more wines by the bottle from Selection Massale,
incliuding an amazing variety fo Loire Chenin Blanc (my favorite grape
and the reason Selection Massale has so many) from Marie Thibault and
Quentin Bourse in Azay-le-Rideau, angular striking chenins, fom
Marie's husband Frantz Saumon and his protege Ludovic Chanson in
Montlouis, classic fleshy honey scented Chenins, and from Ariane Lesne
in the Northern Loire who makes some of the most singular chenins
anywhere.

We have a brilliant Nosiola from Marco Zani at Castel Noarna in
Trentino, a perfect example of how a grape thought to be simple and
meant from bulk production can be elevated in the right hands. We have
a laser sharp riesling from Andi Knauss in Wurttemeburg, some
extremely glou-glou reds from Southern France from Yohann Moreno, an
extremely serious Margaux from Clos du Jaugueyron, a producer who is
at the forefront of organic viticulture in an area that long ago
abandoned it. We have two brilliant wines, a super light poulsard and
a serious savagnin, from Jean-Baptiste Menigoz at Domaine Bottes
Rouges in the Jura, two of the hardest find wines in the entire
Selection Massale portfolio.

I'm probably forgetting a few things, but we have a killer lineup for
wednesday, let me know if you have any questions.

Until next time,

Cory