Some Tell Me Highlights
Hi All!
Another random week here, some by the glass stuff and a few cool bottles.
First off we picked up a couple new sherries, both from Manuel Aragon,
who makes the oloroso and moscatel we are currently pouring. We
grabbed a fino and an amontillado, which are vastly different from the
Valdespino and and La Cigarerra we are pouring, and I definitely
recommend a side by side. Info from the importer below:
https://demaisonselections.com/portfolio-items/ma-fino/?portfolioCats=138
https://demaisonselections.com/portfolio-items/ma-amontillado/?portfolioCats=138
This week we're going to start pouring the "Les Tetes Blanche" from
Les Tetes, a small collaborative winery from four winemakers. The
winery itself is in Azay-le-Rideau, where Quentin Bourse and Marie
Thibault (who we both carry) are located. This wine is a blend of
Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Roussanne. The first
three are these days very common in the Loire, but Roussanne is
typically seen in the Rhone Valley and the South of France. It's
existence in the Loire is a throwback to a time when vineyards in
France were much more diverse, before appellation committees started
imposing much stricter laws on what could be planted and added to in
order to be awarded an appellation. So the inclusion of Roussanne,
despite it existing in the Touraine appellation means that this must
be a Vin de France. This particular wine comes from a biodynamically
farmed vineyard, and has a little bit of richness and texture, while
retaining loire valley freshness and texture.
We now have a total of three Chablis from two different growers.
Finding well made Chablis has become increasingly difficult over the
past ten years or so, due to increased demand, and extreme pressure
from climate change, which has left Chablis particularly vulnerable to
devastating frosts (warmer weather in early spring has meant early bud
break happening more frequently before the end of freezing
temperatures, and when that happens whole vineyards or even
appellations can be wiped out overnight). Chablis is itself
technically Burgundy, but far enough enough away (and hour and half
Northwest by car) from the rest of Burgundy that it can be considered
its own thing, and the Chardonnays produced there (it's all
Chardonnay) are distinct, steely and direct, owing to the colder
climate, very different from the broader, plusher wines in the rest of
Burgundy. The first one is a basic village level wine from Marie-Ange
Robin, who heads up her family's estate, Domaine Guy Robin. The Robin
family is lucky to have the fortitude to stick it out in the area
during the fifties through seventies, when California winemakers stole
the name Chablis to make cheap jug wine, collapsing the reputation of
the region and cratering prices. Since they stayed the family is lucky
to have some of the oldest vines in all of Chablis, and even this
wine, their basic is from 70 year old vines. Next up we have two 1er
cru wines from Nathalie and Isabelle Oudin at Domaine Oudin. Domaine
Oudin is a tiny estate in Chablis, and for me one of hidden gems of
the region. In Chablis the main difference between grand cru, 1er cru
and is twofold. First all the 1er and grand cru vineyards are grown on
kimmeridgian soil a white chalky soil layer that extends to Sancerre
in the Loire, and then famously to the white cliffs of dover. This
unique soil type is said to be the key to true Chablis, and from my
experience this is true. Secondly grand cru and 1er cru are grown on
hills with better sun exposure and slopes, contrasted with the fallter
vinterds of basic chablis and petit chablis. The grand cru vineyards
are all located on one single hill with the best southwest exposure,
and the 40 1er cru vineyards are located around the appellation on the
better hills. We have Vaugiraut and Voucoupins. These wiens have a lot
of the same steely minerality as the guy robin, but with a bit more
power and finesse and honestly they will be better in three plus
years.
Lastly one of my favorite wines that has come in lately, the L'ACINO
CALABRIA ROSATO "ASOR". It's one of these wiens some Italian producers
in hot regions are so good at making, riding the razors edge between a
rose and a red wine, structure and lightness. The wine comes from
Calabria (the toe of the boot) from a small organic estate founded in
2006 by historian Dino Briglio, who had tired of his former life and
decided to start making wine. He has collected 15 hectares of small
plots at higher elevations of indigenous varieties, incldunbg this
one, a Magliocco Canino. Magliocco Canino is a grape virtually unknown
outside of this region. This is absolutely the wine everyone who wants
a red wine during a New Orleans summer should be drinking. Importer
website on this estete is below, including a great filmed tour of the
estste if you want to know what real organic vineyards should look
like.
https://louisdressner.com/producers/l%27acino
Until next time.
Cory