Bordoverview Blog

The downside of organoleptic development

2009-11-08T23:13:00.004+01:00

Dwayne Perreault - Funny thing, the nose. We all have one and tend to take it for granted, but the nose is the most important organ used to judge wine and particularly to recognize wines. Furthermore, what we taste is directly related to what we smell, so the senses of smelling and tasting are connected.

So it is that Robert Parker insured his nose for $1 million, an outstanding feat at the time. Years later, Holland’s own Ilja Gort, maker of such fine supermarket wines as La Tulipe and French Rebel, insured his own facial protuberance for $8 million, a master publicity stunt in its own right. I wonder how much his premiums cost? In any case, Gort seems to be enjoying success.

The nose is like a hyper-sensitive muscle: it can be trained, made stronger. It just takes practice. When you start seriously nosing wines is around the same time you start smelling everything else: vegetables, flowers, cheeses, books, old socks. Not that you never did these things before, right? And this is how you eventually learn to haul the old sock odour out of certain Chenin blancs, though you would never be stupid enough to admit that unless you happened to write for a blog.

Incidentally, I am a smoker. Now some people may say smokers lose something between 20-80% of their sense of smell, but it is my understanding that numerous studies have tried to prove this true in regards to vinology, without success. But I freely admit, I could be wrong. I just enjoy smoking.

But I wanted to talk about the downside to all this organoleptic development. It was quite awhile ago that I recognized that the flip side to being able to recognize the hereditary smells of certain wines was that I could also smell unpleasant odours more prominently. I don’t just mean odours in the wine, I mean odours.

There are smells we all find offensive, like rotting garbage and sewage, then there are those other smells, which one person finds obnoxious and the other is not bothered. An example is patchouli. I think anyone who wants to smell like mothballs needs to be legally restrained, but to each his own.

A few days ago my girlfriend was cooking what the Dutch call snijbonen (translated as “French beans,” you must know them) and I wanted to leave the house. It was like a steady stream of rancid farts was rising with the steam from the pan.

Last evening I met a friend at my favourite wine bar in Amsterdam and upon entering, I was hit by the overwhelming odour of detergents they had used to clean in the morning. This is an unspeakable offense in an establishment where one comes to taste quality wines. No-one else seemed to notice!

I am not squeamish. I’ve backpacked over South America and Asia; I woke up next to a dead rat once in India. It’s when I smell the jenever-saturated sweat of an old alcoholic on his way into the Gall en Gall at ten in the morning that I fully recognize that there is a downside to organoleptic development.

Exploring fine wines at Christie's

2009-11-01T21:00:00.022+01:00

Today Jane Anson twittered about Emma Thompson's wine cellar. So I read that in her dream cellar the Meursaults from Arnaud Ente would not be missing. Quite an unequivocal statement.

Yes, I import Ente's wines, since last summer, in The Netherlands. In England Ente is imported by Berry Bros. & Rudd and the wine is better known there; here I still have to do some missionary work, and a publication like this is... supportive.

Another interesting article I came across was retweeted by Amy Atwood: about the relativeness of wild yeasts. There's much to do about using wild yeasts or industrial yeasts, and this Los Angeles Times article at least puts things a bit in perspective.

Any personal adventures this week? Yes, I attended a lovely dinner organised by Christie's Amsterdam. This weekend a big private collection was brought under the hammer, and Friday some lucky dogs were invited to sample about 50 wines from this interesting collection.

In my previous posting I wrote about Anne Gros, and Friday the - simple - red Burgundy 2002 was one of the wines to taste. A good vintage, but still I was surprised by the sheer energy of this wine. Pure, lenient, healthy and balanced, and strikingly youthful. Towards the end of the evening I went back to this wine (definitely not the eye catcher of the evening), and shared it with my neighbour. Her plan was to bid on this wine, with the idea to split the lot between the two of us. At the time of writing this I don't know yet if I will be the new owner of some 2002's and 2005's (part of the same lot).

The most lovely wines that I tasted were the Buisson Renard 2005 from Dagueneau (intense, perfumed, soft, open), the Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru "Les Champs Canet" 2004 from Carillon (velvety, well-balanced, elegant, a modest beauty) and the Corton-Charlemagne 1992 from Bonneau de Martray (vital, convincing, sesame seed, just very beautiful).

Interesting were some older red Bordeaux's, especially two 1978's: the autumnal La Lagune (a little awkward also, and tannic) and the Haut-Bailly. I just consulted Michael Broadbent's Vintage Wine and his only one 1978 Haut-Bailly (in 2001) wasn't very good. He wonders: "Just the bottle?" and perhaps that might have been the case. What I tasted was an open, rather quiet, harmonious and friendly old Bordeaux. Not impressive, but not bad either.

Anyway, I was very happy to be there. And gosh, I hope my neighbour has won those lovely Anne Gros bottles...

Lovely Burgundy!

2009-10-25T17:27:00.017+01:00

I still didn't tell you that my wine-web-shop bolomey.nl was chosen 4th best from more than 250 Dutch wine-web-shops. Of course I had preferred to be the number 1, but when I take into account that my company is small and young, and that the numbers 1-3 are big, I am satisfied after all. The only problem is that hardly anyone notices a number 4... but enough about this. In the end it is not the shop that counts, but the wines in the shop.

Meursault "Clos des Ambres" 2006 from Arnaud Ente [ buy ] and Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru Les Folatières "En La Richarde" 2006 from Benoit Ente.

One of these wines is the Meursault "Clos des Ambres" 2006 from Arnaud Ente which was my contribution to an interesting Burgundy tasting with Jan van Roekel (burgoholic.com), Karel de Graaf (Burgundy agent & Meursault winemaker), Frank Jacobs (wine journalist) and Job Verhaar (wine seller & Burgundy lover). We compared this Meursault with a 2006 from his brother Benoit Ente: the Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru Les Folatières "En La Richarde" 2006. They both persuade, but in a different way.

The Meursault comes across younger, with more intensity and energy. It has an imposing corpus with singing acidity, at first on the background, lingering, and then kicking in, structuring a convincing finish. A rich wine with a full and soft-smooth texture. The Puligny is soft par excellence. It is round in the nose, and has a velvety mouth-feel. It seems a little more mature, the oak has blended in perfectly and the wine is balanced and ripe.

Echezeaux "Les Loachausses" 2007 from Anne Gros

Then the reds. My favourite: the Echezeaux "Les Loachausses" 2007 from Anne Gros. This wine is just de-li-cious. Very pure, very forward, very healthy pinot fruit. Very elegant, outspoken and intense. What should I say more? Perhaps that I am glad that there are a few sleeping in my cellar. The wine that follows belongs to different school, but is also from a different time: stil clearly pinot, but this time ripe, rich and mature. And the style is full, round, I'd almost say this wine is 'spherical'. What I am trying to describe: the Corton-Bressandes 1998 from Vincent Girardin.

The next wine was an interesting one as well: the Chambertin 1981 from Louis Trapet. It was not a grand year, 1981, but this Chambertin was still alive. Light and old, matured and modest pinot noir. An elegant old man in a red-brown suit.

The pirate of the evening: the rightfully famous Saumur-Champigny Clos Rougeard 2005 "Les Poyeux". This cabernet franc is difficult to describe, because it is difficult to describe a wine that nears perfection. Also, it was late. My suggestion: taste this very complete wine and you will not be disappointed.

Tonight we will conclude the week (or start the new one?) with... a Burgundy tasting. But this tasting will be work.

Not that it makes any difference....

Bordeaux 2009, and Bordeaux 2006 revisited

2009-10-18T19:45:00.017+02:00

Hardly have I gotten over the fuss of the Bordeaux 2008 primeurs - high quality for interesting prices - and the next carnival procession arrives with infernal noise: we can look forward to another grand vintage. The reason: weather has been perfect this year. Dry and sunny, warm but not too hot, and at the right times some rain, just when it was needed for the vines. Sounds familiar? Yes, it does. Bordeaux 2005 was announced in the same way. One difference: Bordeaux 2009 is supposedly even bigger than Bordeaux 2005...

This might sound a little sceptical, and perhaps it is. Okay, weather data are factual, but so short after the harvest it just comes across a little frenzied to state that Bordeaux 2009 will outperform the legendary 2005 vintage. But don't get me wrong: I am not against a good vintage. And I will soon dive into the subject, perhaps when the vinification has been completed.

Also, already quite a few articles about Bordeaux 2009 were published last week. From what I have seen the most interesting, in-depth read is on the Liv-ex Fine Wine Market Blog Bordeaux 2009 - an insider's view by local grower and winemaker Gavin Quinney.

As said, this topic will be continued.

Decanter Award for Château Pichon-Longueville Baron 2006 (Decanter Magazine November 2009): "Very serious, long-lasting, multi-faceted. Fine, tight, long, intense with lovely freshness too. Still a baby, but the real McCoy. Fine-grained, powerful, yet delicious. From 2018." [ buy ]

Next, let's go back three vintages: this year the Bordeaux 2006 vintage has been retasted by various journalists. Early 2009 Robert Parker presented his final 2006 scores, La Revue du Vin de France revisited the vintage in their September issue and Decanter just did the same in the brand new copy of November. For now, let's see if there are any interesting shifts in the RVF ratings. I will look at the new Decanter scores in a later posting.

Up:
Kirwan 2006 from 14-15/20 to 17
Pontet-Canet 2006 from 16,5-17,5 to 19
(isn't everyone enthusiastic about this château these days)
Lynch-Moussas 2006 from 11 to 14,5
La Clémence 2006 from 14,5-15,5 to 17,5
Le Gay 2006 from 14,5-15,5 to 17
Latour à Pomerol 2006 from 14-15 to 16,5
Trottevieille 2006 from 14-15 to 16,5
Domaine de Chevalier rouge 2006 from 15,5-16,5 to 18
Domaine de Chevalier blanc 2006 from 14-15 to 18
De Fieuzal 2006 from 13-14 to 15,5
Bouscaut 2006 from 12-13 to 15
Malartic-Lagravière blanc 2006 from 14-15 to 18
Latour Martillac blanc 2006 from 14-15 to 17

Down:
Du Tertre 2006 from 15-16 to 13,5
(I do not agree but I am not unprejudiced as I worked at Du Tertre in 2006, I like the wine and I see Decanter likes it too...)
Cadet-Bon 2006 from 15-16 to 13
Guadet 2006 from 14,5-15 to 13

Anyway, most châteaux got some extra credits, and some of these could be interesting buys. We see the biggest shifts in Pomerol, and especially in Pessac-Léognan for the white wines. I am not sure if these variations have to do with the wines, or with the tasters involved.

The new Bordeaux 2006 RVF list is led by Léoville-las-Cases, Lafite-Rothschild, Pontet-Canet, Pétrus, Haut-Brion and Laville Haut-Brion (white) (19), Margaux, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Léoville-Barton, Latour, Mouton-Rothschild, Figeac, Pavie, l'Eglise-Clinet, Trotanoy, Haut-Bailly, Haut-Brion blanc and Climens (18,5) and Léoville-Poyferré, Cos d'Estournel, La Conseillante, La Violette, Angélus, Pavie Macquin, Domaine de Chevalier rouge & blanc, La Mission Haut-Brion, Pape-Clément rouge & blanc and Malartic-Lagravière blanc (18).

Nerdy stuff, these lists, but fun every once in a while.

Visit to M. Chapoutier

2009-10-10T21:44:00.008+02:00

Dwayne Perreault - The Rhône is strangely disparaged by some and venerated by others. While everyone seems to blindly agree that Bordeaux and Burgundy make excellent company, putting Rhône wines on the table is like inviting the in-laws to your house: you either like them or you don't. I do, and in fact southern Rhône wines like Gigondas and a good Chateauneuf du Pape (I happen to sell Château Fortia) are some of my favourite wines.

The bridge over the Rhône at Tain l'Hermitage

But it is the northern Rhône which gets the serious wine lover's attention, and this is largely due to its noble grape, Syrah, seen by most to be superior to its thin-skinned southern neighbour, Grenache Noir. In fact, I was told at WSET wine college by a Master of Wine that Grenache is almost to be despised: low in tannins, oxidative and one-dimensional, it is incapable of producing vins de garde. But for the French, opinions are like wines; everyone has some.

As for white grapes, Viognier has emerged from its palace in Condrieu and has now travelled around the world, finding second homes in the new world and in the Languedoc where it is used to make mostly fruity, off-dry vins de pays. Marsanne and Roussanne are lesser known and Marsanne is described by most as being rather flabby and low in acidity, hardly positive references for any white grape. But Marsanne is the grape most commonly used to produce white Hermitage, France's most long-living white wine. Despite its low acidity, this is a grape capable of producing world-class whites which can easily be aged 15 years.

Ripe Syrah grapes at Les Gréffieux

Camping underneath a rock escarpment near a town called Saou (which sounds like the French word for 'drunk'), I noticed that Marsanne is also a village, and being only a 15 minute drive away I decided to visit. It's a pretty little place on the hot plains of the valley, and I immediately parked myself in a shady spot of the local cafe and asked if their house wine was made from Marsanne. The waitress seemed confused. "We do not grow grapes in Marsanne," she said." It's too hot here. We grow grains, cereals."

"Yes," I replied, "I can see that, but surely you've heard of the Marsanne grape?" She hadn't. Like Jesus, poor little Marsanne is unrecognized in its own village.

No visit to the Rhône would be complete without seeking out one of its top producers, and few (if any) are more highly regarded than M. Chapoutier. Founded in 1808, Chapoutier uses traditional (now biodynamical) methods to produce its wines; in fact, they own the largest area of biodynamical vineyards in the world. I was received very warmly here by Odile Misery, regional export manager, who took the time to show me the vines at Les Gréffieux, with l'Hermite and its chapel at the top of the hill above. Odile pointed out that though the chapel belongs to Jaboulet, all the vines around it are Chapoutier's.

L'Hermite with its famous chapel. The chapel is owned by Jaboulet but the vines are Chapoutier's

Seeing how Chapoutier's and Jaboulet's vines are adjacent to each other in places, I asked Odile if Chapoutier, being a biodynamical producer, was concerned about Jaboulet's viticultural practices, for example spraying with pesticides. Her response was diplomatic, downplaying the effect this might have on the biodiversity of Chapoutier's vineyard. "As you can see, it's too steep to use machinery, so any spraying is small and done by hand."

When I asked the same question to Nicolas Joly at the Renaissance des Appellations in Amsterdam, he was a little more direct with his answer: "Chapoutier is doing his neighbour a favour, and his neighbour is doing him a disservice."

I tasted 16 different wines at Chapoutier; that's too many to review here, but here are some of them, starting with whites: St. Péray Les Tanneurs 2007 is made from 95% Marsanne and 5% Roussanne and has a bouquet of straw and acacia honey with a medium thick texture and low acidity. Prominent apple and spice flavours combine with vanilla, almond and wood tones in this full-bodied dry white with 13,5% alcohol.

The Condrieu Invitare 2008 (100% Viognier of course) has great viscosity and a strong attack with smokey, mineral white fruit in the mouth. There is persistent fruit in the long-lasting aftertaste, with wonderfully blended alcohol and minerals: you really can taste the granite.

Chapoutier's Hermitage Chante Alouette (100% Marsanne) is one of the most famous white wines of the Rhône, notable for its longevity. The 2006 had a sweet bouquet of raisins and figs and had a noble taste sensation of fruit poking through incredible alcohol (14,5%). Someone once asked me what I meant when I said at a tasting that a wine had "really good alcohol." This wine personifies what I mean.

The St. Joseph Les Granits 2000 gave me an indication of how Marsanne can age. Made from the oldest vines in the estate, it has a golden bouquet of nectarines and dried flowers. This was drier and more mineral in character than the Chante Alouette 2006, with a delicate balance of fruit and alcohol. I wonder how that Chante Alouette will taste in 2015. I have one bottle and hope to find out.

After a lunch break, we continued with the reds. None of Chapoutier's wines should be underestimated, and that includes the affordable Rasteau 2007 (80% Grenache, 20% Syrah), very refreshing with tangy berry flavours. The Gigondas 2007 (90% Grenache, 10% Syrah) is more complex, with a soft bouquet of sour dark fruit and cocoa and a taste of extremely concentrated dark berries with zesty acidity and a solid tannic structure. Curiously, the Chateauneuf du Pape 'La Bernardine' 2006, made from the same grapes had more red fruits in the mouth, but with solid tannins backing it up. The 2005 had more noticeable mineral concentration, with a hint of iodine and licorice.

The last three wines were sublime. The Côte Rôtie 'Les Bécasses' 2006 (100% Syrah) had stuffy red fruit and something like old socks in the nose. Silky in the mouth, it had amazing tangy red fruit expression with softer tannins backing it up in a long aftertaste. L'Hermitage 'Monier de la Sizeranne' 2006 has a dark, smokey and sweltering bouquet with strong notes of pepper and even goat's cheese. Possessing a strong attack of dark fruit with notes of something indescribable--I thought of truffles--it is mouth-dryingly tannic but with a very long aftertaste. These are wines which clearly deserve ageing.

As a testament to Chapoutier's expansion into other countries (100 ha are planted in South Australia), we finished off with a Portuguese wine, the Extremadura Ex Aequo 2006, made from 75% Syrah and 25% Touriga Nacional. A very well-balanced oak-influenced wine with notes of leather and tobacco in extremely strong and expressive dark fruit.

It was a hot and sunny day, but late into the tasting it suddenly began to pour rain. This was good news; it had been so hot and dry that the rain was needed. I haven't heard how the harvest went, but 2009 was shaping up to be an excellent vintage, far better than 2008 and possibly as good as the exceptional 2007.

May I have your votes please?

2009-10-04T22:42:00.005+02:00

If you like my blog you now have the chance to "express" that. It doesn't cost a penny, just 2 minutes of your time: vote for my web shop www.bolomey.nl as this year's best Dutch Wine Web Shop. Of course you should only do this if you think the shop deserves this praise...

Well, if you do want to vote simply follow this link. The pink-and-yellow banner "Stem nu!" then brings you to the voting form. In the drop down list you find my shop "bolomey.nl", and there are some additional questions which are mainly about your own online wine shopping experience.

Anyhow, I hope you will take the time to cast your vote. Thanks!

Visit to Le Macchiole

2009-09-27T22:07:00.014+02:00

It was Francesco Tonninelli (from Enoteca Castagnetana in Castagneta Carducci) who, over the last years, introduced me to the most interesting wines from Bolgheri (Tuscan west coast). As a result I visited Grattamacco in 2008, and this year Le Macchiole.

Le Macchiole: the vineyard behind the cellar, with the typical pine trees on the background (on a rare cloudy day).

Bolgheri is a modern Italian wine area: the development towards today’s typical Bolgheri wines has only begun in the second half of the last century. Grapes have been grown here since long, producing more or less anonymous, local wines. But today’s famous wineries are mostly the result of investments from newcomers, people from the classic Chianti and Piedmont regions (for more details also see the Grattamacco-story from last year).

In contrast, Le Macchiole emerges from the local winery from the Campolmi family, originally about 4 hectares producing Sangiovese and Trebbiano/Vermentino. The old winery was located in the lowlands towards the sea, surrounding the Campolmi restaurant, at the time the family’s major source of income.

From about 40 – 50 years ago interesting developments took place on the hillsides just behind the Campolmi premises, intriguing the young Eugenio. In the 70’s he went to France, to learn about the French way of winemaking, and in 1983 he joined the Bolgheri pioneers (a/o Sassicaia, Ornellaia and Grattamacco) by selling his old vineyards in the plains and acquiring his first 6 hectares in the Bolgheri foothills. With the last acquisition of land in 2004 the estate now counts 22 hectares. Today the domain is led by Cinzia Campolmi, after her husband Eugenio passed away in 2002.

Le Macchiole: first sorting table at the right side. After destemming there is a second manual sorting of the individual berries (belt on the left). Then the whole, uncrushed berries are fermented.

The primary reason to call the region ‘modern’ is the use of international grape varieties. Campolmi knew the potential of various wine grapes (the Merlot in Bordeaux, the Syrah, or actually Shiraz, in Australia) but decided experimentation was needed to see how the different varieties would behave on the Tuscan soils. More specific: in the early days of the winery it was necessary to search for an identity, the identity of the new estate.

So in 1983 the first 6 hectares were planted with cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, syrah, sangiovese and barbera, and for white with Vermentino, Chardonnay and sauvignon. For red survived: cabernet franc (40%), merlot (35%), Syrah (15%) and Sangiovese (10%), for white Chardonnay (50%) and Sauvignon (50%). Interesting detail: around 2000 all rootstocks hosting Cabernet sauvignon were re-grafted with Cabernet franc. In the Bolgheri climate the Cabernet franc ripens well, and at the same time the grape keeps a good level of acidity. The Cabernet sauvignon sometimes lacked this acidity, giving less elegant wines.

In the early 80´s the vine density was low (5,000 plants per hectare) and natural yields were high. The vineyards that were acquired later were planted with 10,000 vines per hectare, and in the first vineyards an additional row was planted between two existing rows. With this the natural yields are lower, and close to what is aimed for. In the vineyards with the best natural balance no green harvest is needed.

In most years de-leafing takes place. Amount and manner differ per year, but other than in France mostly the leaves at the sun side are kept (to protect the berries against the hot sun) while the leaves at the shaded side are taken away (to allow for sufficient aeration of the grapes).

Various fermentation vats at Le Macchiole: oak, steel and concrete. The bucket in front shows that Le Macchiole applies remontages during fermentation. délestages are also practiced. If you want to learn more about remontages, délestages etc. see my summary about the vinification at Du Tertre (pdf).

Le Macchiole produces four wines, three of these are cépage wines, yet all four are actually blends of different parcels that are separately fermented. Making up the perfect blend is one of the key factors in producing Le Macchiole. And this is one of the moments where consultant Luca D’Attoma steps in, who has worked closely with Le Macchiole since 1991.

Le Macchiole Bolgheri Rosso is the estate’s ‘entry wine’. It is the only red that is a blend of several grape varities (50% Merlot, 30% Cabernet franc, 10% Syrah, 10% Sangiovese) and the only Macchiole which is a DOC (Bolgheri Rosso). The 2006 exhibits round, hearty sweetish fruit, is abundant and clearly matured on wooden barrels. Very accessible and with a good freshness, this “clear” wine is a sort of second wine for Le Macchiole, and presented as a summary of what the estate is capable of.

There is a white Macchiole, the white Paleo, I didn’t taste it, and I will write about white Bolgheri’s in a future posting. This time I only sampled reds, and the three grand wines of Le Macchiole are Messorio (Merlot), Paleo (Cabernet franc) and Scrio (Syrah).

All three wines are abundant, round and ripe. The Scrio 2005 shows ink, dairy and oak. The wine is somewhat spicy too. The slightly vegetal tones in the background account for a pleasant freshness with a good (chalky, fresh) finish.

The Paleo 2005 (my favourite) is a little leaner with some smoke in the nose, and with sweetness and yellow peppers. It is a clear, precise, powerful wine, spicy and fresh. The Messorio 2005 is clearly the biggest, most seductive wine. I scribbled down sweet-ripe-deep-round. It does not have the freshness of the Paleo and Scrio, it does have a big and powerful finish.

What all Macchioles have in common is that they are precise and well-composed, and that on a high quality level. Ripe and round, yet clean and - especially for this warm type of wine - with a pleasant freshness.

Francesco Tognoni in front of his Enoteca Tognoni in Bolgheri.

Last year I recommended Francesco Tonninelli’s enoteca in Castagneta Carducci, and I visited him again this year. Here's a second recommendation: Enoteca Tognoni from Francesco Tognoni in Bolgheri (Via Lauretta, 5). With a beautiful spacious tasting room, great selection and good prices it is, just as Le Macchiole, worth a visit!

Italian intermezzo

2009-09-19T16:32:00.003+02:00

This is what I should do: scale up Bolomey Wijnimport and add Italian wines to my portfolio. I love exploring wines from different countries, but only with Italian wine I repeatedly feel the inclination to do something with it, to start importing it. I love France and its wines, and in the same, but totally different manner I love Italy and its wines. The diversity, the classic originals such as Barolo and Brunello, side by side with original modernists such as those from the Bolgheri region. And all that in a country with unparalleled beauty – the Arcadian landscape, the ancient culture, the untouched villages, the climate, the elegantly dressed and good-looking people, the delicious food…

These days I am relaxing at the Tuscan west coast. Just around the corner from Bolgheri, the young wine region where, at its best, totally seducing deep velvet reds are being produced. These are the result of the Italian sun, soil and spirit at the one hand, and French grape varieties and winemaking principles on the other hand. When I entered the spacious vat room of Azienda Agricola Le Macchiole last week I couldn’t suppress a strong association with a random top Bordeaux estate. The looks, the smells (it was during fermentation, with remontages etc.), the high-end touch of it all. A detailed account of my visit to this highly interesting estate will be published in about a week.

And yes, I did find out why the phone was never answered at star San Vincenzo restaurant Gambero Rosso Pierangelini… it is closed. Perhaps temporarily. Does anyone know why?

A success story: Giovanni Negro

2009-09-11T08:35:00.005+02:00

Dwayne Perreault - It can get very hot in Piedmont, and this is primarily red wine country, but fortunately white wines are also made to quench the thirst of locals and visitors on sweltering sunny summer days. The favourite house wine of most osterias is made from the Favorita, an uncomplicated grape which renders fruity, quaffable wines. More complex whites come from the Arneis variety, with its distinctive tones of apples and chalky minerals.

Amphitheater-like landscape of Roero

But in introducing the wines of Giovanni Negro, I want to begin with something more rare than a white Piemontese truffle, and just as delicious: his Roero Arneis Spumante Extra Brut 2005, a beautiful sparkling wine made in the traditional method, with two years bottle ageing with lees contact. Thank goodness someone had the common sense to do this, for as we all know, nothing refreshes better on a hot day than a bottle of bubbly. Negro is the only producer in the world to make a sparkling wine from 100% Arneis grapes, and the result is something quite like champagne, a wine with great acidity and minerality, full-bodied and extremely refreshing.

Roero Arneis Spumante Extra Brut 2005

Located in the hills of Roero, the Negro family has been making wines since 1670 but the modern business started 30 years ago with a modest 2 ha. This has now grown into an estate of 70 ha with an annual production of about 350,000 bottles per year. Great care is taken to make authentic wines which express the terroir of calcareous and alluvial soils found in this corner of Piedmont, and they are exported all over the world, even to my native Canada with its communistic Liquor Control Boards.

Clearly, Negro is doing something right. The winery beams a sense of accomplishment, and a visit there is an eye-opener. A large new cellar has just been constructed in a classical style, made of brick, not cement, with massive stainless steel fermentation vats and room enough to age thousands of hectoliters of wine in barriques, tonneaus, botti and bottles. These are friendly, industrious and busy people.

Part of Negro's brand new cellar

I'm proud to sell a number of Negro's wines, including the Spumante, Sudisfà and Nebbiolo d'Alba, but the list of produced wines is long, so there was room for new discoveries in the tasting. One such wine was the Perdaudin Roero Arneis 2007, more golden than green in the nose, very soft and creamy with a mineral dry aftertaste.

Red wines are still the order of the day here, and they did not disappoint. The 2005 Roero Sudisfà (which means 'satisfaction' in Piemontese dialect) Riserva was indeed very satisfying. This is Nebbiolo aged two years in used barriques and six months in the bottle, very fruit driven, dark and inky (by the way, when I say 'inky' I mean that in a good way).

Barrels are cleaned using water with a temperature of 80˚ Celsius

The Barbaresco Basarin 2005 has a complicated ageing process: 20 months in big Slovenian oak barrels, 4 months in tonneau and 6 months in bottle. Barbarescos are known to age slightly quicker than Barolos, and this is a good thing in today's impatient wine market. The wine is more oak influenced than the Sudisfà, and it is a matter of personal taste to determine which is better, but both are extremely good and similar in price.

We finished off with a Piemontese curiosity: the Langhe Rosso Millon 2006, made from 50% Nebbiolo, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 10% Bonarda Croatina, a regional grape which adds freshness and acidity to the wine. Only 4,000 bottles are produced annually, and apparently the Piemontese do not care for it, which does not surprise me since the nose took me straight back to Bordeaux. I found it delicious, something like marrying a Haut-Médoc with a Barbaresco.

If you live in Amsterdam and can't make it to Piedmont, don't worry: you can order some of Negro's wines through my website wineontime.nl, as they are imported into the Netherlands by Claudia Mario, who deals almost exclusively with better restaurants.

What to write about this evening?

2009-09-06T21:31:00.012+02:00

It is time to give a sign of life. But what to write about this evening?

Should I mention the smell of lime blossom and honey in the just-not-dry (sugar 15 gr/ltr) Vouvray "Le Peu Morier" 2006 from Vincent Carême that I am drinking right now? Last weekend I presented Carême's dry Vouvray at a public tasting. Some people do not know what to say, and some people get very excited. A good sign, I like these extreme reactions. Especially from those people who DIG! the wine, and almost get emotional.

Or should I mention that La Revue du Vin de France writes: "Bordeaux 2006 très prometteur, 2007 trop cher"? I am still glad I didn't stock any 2007s. Not that the 2006s are easy sells, but... they are promising! And some are delicious already.

Or should I mention that more and more of my customers get hooked on the - original - wines from Orléans that I import? Dutch wine writer Harold Hamersma just wrote an article about both the red (pinot meunier 80%, pinot noir 20%) and the white Clos St-Fiacre 2008 (100% chardonnay, unoaked), and earlier this summer wine writer Nicolaas Klei had bought a stack of cases for himself. To be honest, it is great to see people pick up something that I found.

Or should I mention that in the new Decanter (September) Beverley Blanning MW writes an interesting article about Morey-St-Denis, and that one of the four producers that she mentions is David Clark!? Only too bad that she says "he sells all of his production, in the UK, US and Japan" and simply forgets that there is one importer on the European mainland to whom a modest portion is sold... By the way, the featured Côte de Nuits-Villages is the 2007, not the 2005 as is printed. 2007 is also the first vintage in which Clark produces his Côte de Nuits-Villages. Available at the end of this year.

Or should I mention that we did Amsterdam-Paris-Amsterdam with a truly kick-ass car, a Peugeot 505 V6 3.0 from the year 1987? What an unbelievable car! In Paris we did what we like most: walk and walk, and go from the one restaurant to the other. People who follow this blog know what I have been looking for. Correct: all kinds of exciting offal. The St-Sulpice quartier again offered plenty to enjoy.

Or should I wonder why the phone is never answered at Gambero Rosso Pierangelini, the famous restaurant in San Vincenzo (Tuscany) when I try to book a table? I will soon be in San Vincenzo, and I think it is worth checking out this restaurant.

Well, actually the last hour of the Sunday I will enjoy my - just opened - Château Arnaud 2001 (Haut-Médoc). Summer has disappeared at once here in Amsterdam, and the last days have been dark and wet. So this autumnal wine is... very pleasant now. The wine smells dark and deep, oaked and leathery... a sort of welcome to the dark days ahead of us.

Yes, this wine, it makes it easier to say goodbye to the summer.

King Barolo and his friends

2009-08-27T19:49:00.011+02:00

Dwayne Perreault - Ah, Barolo. As they like to say here, "the King of wines, and the wine of Kings." If you want to appreciate it, you need to have patience, and let's face it, few people possess this trait nowadays. Really, a good Barolo should not be drunk until it's 10 years old, but if you want to purchase one of these finer old specimens in a shop here, count on spending between 50 to 100 Euros for a bottle. You can buy them for about a third or a quarter of the price when they're young, but you need to have a cellar and you need to have patience.

The rolling hillside vineyards of Barolo

Barolo the place is eye-candy: rolling land stretches out from the foothills (Piedmont literally translated) of the Alps where medieval castle towns sit perched on the tops of escarpments, looking over geometrically aligned terraces where virtually every square meter is planted with a Nebbiolo vine. I came here in a used VW Polo and on a budget, but what I found was winemakers consumed with a passion for their craft, good honest people ready to share their enthusiasm with a devotee, and willing indeed to share the wine itself. This place represents southern European hospitality at its best.

But I want to talk not only about Barolo but all of Piedmont and Nebbiolo's neighbours, the Barberas and Dolcettos, the Freisas and Bonarda Croatinas and the white cousins, the Arneis, the Favoritas and Corteses. Piedmont is a cornucopia of grape varieties, and they are all delicious. Unfortunately, it takes less time to drink wine than write about it.

Camping in a hazelnut grove in Vergne, a steep two kilometers west of Barolo, I awoke the first morning and realized I was a mere hundred meters away from G.D. Vajra, a quality vintner of the Nebbiolo juice. That's the way it is here: you can't throw a cork without hitting a winery.

Another view, showing densely planted Nebbiolo vines

Owning 38 ha of vineyards (and renting another 12), Aldo Vajra started winemaking in 1972 and now produces about 250,000 bottles of different Piedmont wines per year. The winery is truly modern in nature, both functional and beautiful. I tasted 11 different wines, too many to explore in detail here, but these were some of my favourites: the Langhe Bianco Pétracine 2008 is a Riesling, which performs surprisingly well in this rather hot climate. Expressing white fruit with a citrus tint and mineral tone and 14% alcohol, this is a powerful wine which should be aged 3-7 years.

Few Piedmont wines are made to be enjoyed young, but the Dolcetta d'Alba is an exception. Coste & Fossati 2007, from clay soils, has concentrated dark fruit with something dusty and dry in the aftertaste. 2007 was a very hot year and this is a powerful Dolcetto with 14,5% alcohol, very expressive.

The Barbera d'Alba Superiore 2006, made from 50 year old vines and aged in new oak barriques, is quite tannic. It needs to be aged up to 10 years, but shows promise, with plummy ink and wood tones in the nose.

Barolo, yet another view

The 2005 Langhe Freisa 'Kyè' (which is the Piemontese dialect for 'who?') has a very fragrant bouquet of red fruit but is extremely tannic and needs another 7+ years of bottle ageing, after having experienced one and a half years in oak. DNA research has proven that the Freisa is the ancestor of the Nebbiolo. This is a wine for game dishes.

And now, the Barolos. The Bricco delle Viole 2005, a cask sample having undergone 40 months used oak ageing, has so much going on: ink, leather, tobacco, dark fruit and violets (as its name suggests). It shows incredible potential.

The Vajras have purchased for their sons 5 ha of vineyards from the respected producer Luigi Baudana, who had no children himself. The Baudana name will be kept on the label out of respect for family tradition, and the Barolo Cerreta 2005 (barrel sample) is all dark fruit with good structure, already showing great tannic balance.

By the way, Vajra also makes a Moscato d'Asti, and its just grapey and great.

Small but good: Stra's cellar.

A much smaller producer is Roberto Stra in nearby Novello, just 3 kms away, working just 7 ha, but 3 of them in Barolo. This is an old-fashioned producer making traditional wines in an almost Burgundian way: the cellar is small but functional. In fact, only half of the harvest is vinified at home and the rest is sold to larger producers, as there is simply no room to keep the wine. Plans are being made to expand the cantina and hopefully in the future some wines will be available for export. Currently, all 15,000 bottles produced yearly are enjoyed locally. The Barbera d'Alba 2007 is pure delight: honest dark fruit expression, extremely straightforward, it simply drinks itself away.

The Barolo 2005 is already stunning: forest smells and truffles intermingle with a still rather raw but developing alcohol in a taste sensation that is both noble and enticing. The 05 vintage is generally known to be very fruit-driven; it will be interesting to see how this wine develops.

I don't pretend to speak Italian, but I can still understand a fair bit. Talking with the 80+ year old grandfather Giovanni in the courtyard under a blistering early evening sun (the azienda is in the valley, and so much hotter) I understood that the famous 04 vintage won first prize in a local tasting event, and that says a lot, considering nobody understands the wine better than the local Piemontese. I couldn't resist picking up a magnum; I only hope I can keep my hands off it for another 5 years!

Bordeaux 2009: Jane Anson's video update

2009-08-19T15:00:00.011+02:00

Wine journalist Jane Anson, based in Bordeaux, is one of my favourite information sources for the wines from Bordeaux. These days she is talking to producers to hear about the development of the new vintage, Bordeaux 2009.

Only after the harvest something more or less definite can be said about the potential of the new vintage, in this stage it is just... an update on the development so far.

Recently Jane interviewed Lafite's director Charles Chevallier, in a sunny Lafite vineyard. Let me summarise the main points on the development of the Bordeaux 2009 vintage (most points taken from the video):

- The start of the growing season in April was in good conditions; there was no frost. To compare: in 2008, there was the Graves region was hit by spring frost, which - more or less - diminished the crop.
- Pauillac was not affected by the hailstorms that hit large parts of Bordeaux in early May. Damage, sometimes severe, was recorded in Saint-Emilion, Pomerol, Entre-Deux-Mers, Graves and the Southern Médoc including Margaux - the affected properties are likely to produce less Bordeaux 2009. Lafite's crop however is of normal size, slightly bigger than last year's crop.
- In May and early June the weather was less ideal: there were substantial fluctuations in temperature between the one week and the other, and at times it was quite wet. As a result it was necessary to spray against diseases.
- From mid-June onwards the weather is good again. I was in Bordeaux in the beginning of July, and it was sunny and warm then. Due to drought and warmth the vines do not suffer from diseases such as mildew and oidium.

According to Charles Chevallier Bordeaux 2009 is "OK" at this stage. Now we have to wait for the harvest next month. For the complete interview see the YouTube video below - which can also be found on Decanter.com and Lafite.com (new website!).

Back to Ticino: Werner Stucky

2009-08-13T10:12:00.007+02:00

Dwayne Perreault - As I noted in the first posting I made for this blog, few Swiss wines will ever find a public outside of Switzerland, because they are practically all consumed in their home country. There are two major reasons for this, and they are both economical in nature. Swiss wines are expensive to export, given that land is costly in this tiny mountainous country and production costs are high. Secondly, foreign wines are heavily taxed in Switzerland, which gives local wines an advantage for the Swiss consumer.

But the Swiss know a good wine when they drink it, and there is little doubt that Ticino is the country’s rising star. When Hugh Johnson compiled his Wine Companion in 1983, he listed no more than five producers. But there has been a renaissance happening here in the last 20 years, and the region is now producing some outstanding Merlots, some of which can rival St. Emilion and Pomerol, both in quality and price.

Werner Stucky in his "garage" in Rivera, Ticino

One of the winemakers Johnson mentioned in his guide is Werner Stucky in Rivera, a small producer working 4 ha of land, who studied both in Switzerland and in Bordeaux under the famous oenologue Emile Peynaud. Stucky is an unpretentious man who makes only three wines, all of them seriously good vinos da tavola. When I asked him why he doesn’t produce wines which fall under the DOC classification, he simply replied that that doesn’t interest him. His customers, all restaurants and private individuals, know that a Stucky wine stands for quality.

Stucky might indeed be called a garagiste: his wines are made in the garage, where every square centimeter is put to good use. After a short tour of the premises, we retired to his house to get to the business at hand, the tasting.

First up was a truly unique white wine, Temenos, made from Sauvignon Blanc and Completer, a rare Vinifera sort originally brought by the Romans from Lazio some 2,000 years ago. It is eschewed by most producers, largely because it is extremely oxidative, but here it is used to give the wine acidity, as Sauvignon Blanc tends to be more fruity than dry in this sub-tropical climate. Golden in the glass, it has a bouquet which is rather difficult to describe, but is rather like sticking your nose into a deep well, earthy and fresh at the same time. Aged 10 months in oak barriques on lees, its taste was dry with some minerality, but also quite complex with wood tones and a nutty flavour due to the lees contact and the oxidative Completer. Stucky produces only 2,000 bottles of this wine per year, admittedly to suit his own palate, though I must agree, this is a wonderfully complex white which would accompany a wide variety of fish dishes. I feel privileged to have tasted the last bottle of the 2007 together with him.

Next up was the Merlot, Tracce di Sassi 2007, made from old vines on gneiss soils which provide excellent drainage. This lustrous ruby red wine had both cherry and blackberry in the bouquet, with abundant leather and tobacco. The taste was concentrated dark fruit, full bodied with a hint of licorice. This is not Merlot in a simple style: it aims to please, and wants to be enjoyed with a good piece of red meat or a hard, aged cheese. Aged 12 months in barrique, it is sensual and enticing.

We finished with Conte di Luna 2007, Stucky’s most popular wine, although only 3,000 bottles are produced yearly. This is a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend which sees 16 months ageing in new oak, with a dark garnet colour and very dark fruit in the nose. A powerful wine with strong tannins, my feeling is that it could use some bottle ageing, although Stucky professes not to be a lover of old wines, preferring pure fruit expression.

If you are visiting Lugano or Locarno, and like to drink quality wine that is artisanal in nature and eschews everything that is commercial, I strongly recommend you visit Werner Stucky, where you may purchase his wines by the bottle or case. This warm-hearted and friendly man will change your conception of Swiss wines forever.

Bolomey Wijnimport new Dutch importer for Domaine Arnaud Ente

2009-08-05T20:56:00.013+02:00

In my blog posting of 29 June I briefly mentioned our visit to Domaine Arnaud Ente in Meursault. We tasted all Ente's whites, and our undivided conclusion was that these wines are of extraordinary quality. Jan van Roekel wrote a summary of this tasting on his website Burgoholic.

The current state of affairs: Bolomey Wijnimport has just become Ente's exclusive importer for The Netherlands. Certainly worth mentioning I would say. But what makes Ente's wines so special?

Arnaud Ente Meursault Clos des Ambres 2006

First: a ruthlessly ambitious winemaker is working at one of the finest terroirs for white wines on the face of earth - the appellation Meursault. Ente is uncompromisingly dedicated (all year round there are four people for just over four hectares!) to make the very best wine, according to his own ideas. Ente produces a harmonious, natural style of wine, which can in fact be found between the thick-oaky-style on the one side, and the lean-mineral-approach on the other side of the Meursault spectrum.

Second: Ente is successful. If I try to summarize his wines, the common denominator - from Aligoté to Premier Cru - is balance, and, partly as a result of this, richness and versatility: it is due to this harmony that every facet present in this wine can shine. This makes drinking Ente an exciting, almost sensual experience. Moreover: these natural, not too heavy wines never tire. They are complex wines, yet made for drinking.

Combine this with the fact that Ente's production is small (just 4,25 ha), and we get a sought-after wine.

If you don't live in The Netherlands but would like to taste Ente's wines, you might try booking a table at one of the following restaurants: La Bastide Saint-Antoine (Grasse), Bernard Loiseau (Seaulieu), Petit Nice (Marseille), Michel Bras (Japan), Alain Chapel (Mionnay), Daniel Boulud (New York), Manoir d'Hasting (Tokyo), La Rotonde (Charbonnières Les Bains), Hameau Albert 1er (Chamonix), L'oasis (La Napoule), Enoteca Pinchiorri (Florence) and Gambero Rosso Pierangelini (San Vincenzo). Next month I will be in San Vincenzo myself, and am definitely intending to check out Fulvio Pierangelini's Gambero Rosso. More about that later.

If you are able to read Dutch and are interested in further information, I would suggest that you check out the Bolomey Wijnimport website.

WSET Trip to Austria

2009-07-26T22:02:00.012+02:00

Dwayne Perreault - Up until a couple weeks ago, I didn't know much about Austrian wines, but my impressions from what I had tasted were generally positive. So I jumped at the chance to take part in a trip organized for Dutch WSET diploma course students by Holland's only Master of Wine, Frank Smulders. This was a four-day trip where we visited some of Austria's top wineries. It would take too long to cover them all or to delve into every wine, but here are my favourites:

Weingut Bernhard Ott, Wagrum

"Mr. Veltliner," as he is called, as 95% of his 30 ha are planted with this variety. Ott is a giant of a man in stature physically, but also in terms of his international reputation, exporting to 15 different countries. Biodiversity and biodynamism are what he preaches, but as a means to an end, which is to produce the best wines possible. It doesn't hurt to have a great terroir, and Wagram is particularly blessed with mineral-rich loess soils which can be 20 meters deep. These loess drifts were deposited in prehistoric times by violent wind storms and they are particularly kind to Grüner Veltliner.

Pre-tasting at Ott's vineyard. (L to R, foreground): Frank Smulders MW, Bernhard Ott, Ott's marketing director.

These were my favourite Veltliners, mineral wines with many fruit and spice nuances, and alive with complex acidity. It was here where I learned that the "sour milk" smell I get from Veltliners is not due to malolactic fermentation but is a natural component of GV's bouquet, as it was clearly evident in "Der Ott" 2008, which did not have a malo. The 2007 did, and was also more complex. "Rosenberg" comes from a deep loess site and is meant to age several years in the bottle. This was evident as we tried the last three vintages: the 08 was a bit alcohol-rich, the 07 was already better, lighter and more elegant, and the 06 was rich with lemon and tropical fruit with floral tones, beautifully thick in the mouth with a long aftertaste.

Ott's marketing director confirmed that there was a cowhorn buried somewhere in the vineyard, but wisely wouldn't tell us where it is.

Weingut Franz Hirtzberger, Wachau

Wachau is famous for its Rieslings, even if this grape only represents one-eighth of all plantings. The region has embraced Grüner Veltliner, since unlike Riesling it has no competition from Germany. Hirtzberger has 20 ha of mostly terraced vineyards on granite and slate soils rising steeply from the north shore of the Danube. As in the Rheingau in Germany, this creates perfect conditions for Riesling, which thrives on slate's high mineral content.

Hirtzberger's terraced vineyards in Spitz, on the north shore of the Danube in Wachau.

There are three styles of white wine in Wachau. Steinfeder is made from early harvested grapes to provide a lighter style dry wine with crisp acidity. Federspiel is medium-bodied, and Smaragd is a powerful wine made from late-harvested grapes. The top Riesling tasted here was the "Smaragd Singerriedel" 2008, a powerful wine with great minerality. A special mention goes to the "Smaragd Honivogel" 2008, a benchmark for Grüner Veltliner in its own right, very full and fat, showing great promise despite having been bottled only at the end of April.

The Hirtzbergers are passionate about Austrian wines and are eager to know how it goes with their fellow vintners. This was confirmed by a look in their glass dumpster, which was filled with empty bottles of vintages from all over Austria.

Weingut Bründlmayer, Kamptal

Bründlmayer exports 35% of its wines to 27 different countries, making it a truly international winery. We were guided by the very knowledgeable and enthusiastic Thomas Klinger, Marketing Director for the business.

Bründlmayer's vines at the Heiligenstein, in Kamptal.

Bründlmayer's success can be attributed to its 12 ha (more than one quarter of all plantings) on the Heiligenstein, the crown jewel of the Kamptal, as close as one gets to a Grand Cru in Austria. This is a hot micro-climate (it was originally called "Hellenstein", because of its hellish daytime highs). The varied sandstone, mica, slate and volcanic soils, as well as the cool night-time temperatures, produce tremendous white wines of character.

We tasted extensively here from a broad range of styles. The 2007 "Zöbinger Heiligenstein Lyra" was a magnificent Riesling, with a flowery pollen and acacia honey bouquet. mineral and beautifully dry. The 2002 and especially the 2001 were touched by botrytis, resulting in slightly sweeter wines with less acidity. The 2008 "Alte Reben", made from Grüner Veltliner, had great white fruit concentration and white pepper, along with what I call the GV sour milk in the bouquet. I was impressed that the 2002 still had very crisp acidity, a sign that Veltliner is a white wine with true ageing potential.

Bründlmayer also makes Eiswein, and according to Klinger, harvesting in November is attractive to forego the problems of rot and bird predation. Since the harvest temperature is set at -9° C by Austrian law, I (as a Canadian) have trouble seeing how this is possible, since even in Canada icewine harvests usually take place in January.

Weingut Wellanschitz, Mittelburgenland

Austrian red wines are even harder to come by on the export market, but the best ones come from the Blaufränkisch grape in Burgenland. This little-known and underrated grape prefers heavier loam soils and the hot continental climate of the Pannonian plain bordering Hungary, where Blaufränkisch is known as "Kekfrancós". In a simpler style, these are tasty fruit driven wines, not unlike Sangiovese, with dark cherry fruit, medium-high acidity and medium tannins.

Everything we tasted at Wellanschitz was an honest expression of Blaufränkisch, and refreshingly good. Their "Blaufränkisch Reserve Well" 2006 showed this grape’s potential: a deep wine with spicey caramel, dark cherry and chocolate. Blending with Bordeaux varieties is common here, as could be tasted in the "Fraternitas" 2006, which contains 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and a darker, cassis-like flavour.

Wellanschitz is a true (6th generation) family business, and they enjoy drinking champagne, so they make their own Blanc de Blancs from Chardonnay vines "because it's cheaper to make it than buy it."

Weingut Krutzler, Südburgenland

Krutzler is a fifth-generation winery and considered by some to be Austria's best red wine producer. Their 12 ha of vineyards are concentrated in an amphitheater of iron-rich loams sheltered by forests on the Pannonian steppe. Hungary is clearly visible in the distance, but as in St. Emilion, this iron-rich soil produces red wines with great mineral character. Krutzler must see the similarity, as their Merlot 2007 had a right-bank concentration.

The Blaufränkisch wines go further though. The 2007 Reserve had even more fruit than the Merlot, with a darker character. And the flagship wine is the "Perwolff". The 2007 was a dark-fruit bomb, with full but soft tannins to back it up. It was amazing to taste Blaufränkisch at this level, for Krutzler would be a first class Grand Cru if Austria had such a classification system.

A curiosity of Südburgenland is the Uhudler grape, a vitis labrusca variety used to make rustic rosés and brought over during the phylloxera era in the late 19th century. Say it out loud: OO-HOO-DLER. It's not very good.

Young Gelber Muskateller (Muscat) grapes, used to make a locally popular light and fruity summer wine.

Visit to Bordeaux: Clos du Jaugueyron and Belle-Vue

2009-07-18T22:53:00.011+02:00

Earlier this month we spent a week in the Dordogne. Not surprisingly I took the time to visit Bordeaux, in this case the South part of the Haut-Médoc: in the morning Clos du Jaugueyron (Haut-Médoc and Margaux), and Belle-Vue (Haut-Médoc) in the afternoon. Two adjoining properties producing great (and great value) wines, but with very different approaches.

Visting Bordeaux with this great 1977 Peugeot 504 that I borrowed from my friend Igor

Clos du Jaugueyron is a small property owned by winemaker Michel Théron. With its 5 hectares Clos du Jaugueyron could be regarded as a "left bank garage wine". Not far from the truth actually, because Michel made his first vintages in the garage next to his house in the village of Arsac. Michel's approach is rather un-Bordeaux so to say: he is both owner ànd winemaker of Clos du Jaugueyron.

For most grand Bordeaux châteaux there is an owner who employs a complete team for the production of the wine, the usual roles being: (general) manager, technical director, cellar master, vineyard manager and… external consultant (œnologue conseil). At Clos du Jaugueyron Théron does it all himself. And besides that, he makes honey, great pâté from rabbits that he caught in his vineyard, and other delicious things that − in one or another way − come from the land he owns.

I am excited to be the importer of Clos du Jaugueyron. It is a great wine with a strong personality. In the 1,5 years that I have sold the wine it has gained a good number of faithful followers. For your information, this is what Robert Parker says about Clos du Jaugueyron: "Rich, concentrated, perfumed, and impeccably well made. If you can find it, it is well worth buying."

Michel Théron in the vineyard of Clos du Jaugueyron: look how perfect his grapes are lined up!

Théron's starting point, as for most winemakers who aim to make quality wine, is to spend most of his time in the vineyard, and spend less time in the cellar. Eye-catching in the vineyard is the way the grape bunches are perfectly lined out along the vines, a direct result of the applied pruning method. The grapes are well exposed after the recent leaf thinning – and as a compensation for 'lost' foliage Théron's vines are allowed to grow high up. See the picture as an illustration to this story.

At Clos du Jaugueyron the grapes enter the fermentation vat uncrushed, to produce wines that are fresh and fruit-driven. But the wines need structure too. Racking the wines as little as possible, and thus having it mature on its lees, helps it to gain the desired structure.

Michel Théron in the new cellar of Clos du Jaugueyron

In the first years in his new and more spacious cellar Théron had the habit of rolling his barrels around, in order to have the lees and the wine mixed. Today, lacking the space to roll, he uses a self-made sort of battonage stick to ensure that there is enough contact between wine and lees.

We tasted the Haut-Médocs from 2006, 2007 (just bottled) and 2008 (from vat), and for lunch the splendid Clos du Jaugueyron 2001 Margaux. This rare Margaux is a real beauty. In perfect shape now, very complete and harmonious, classic, fresh, pure and convincing.

From the Haut-Médocs I was especially surprised by the appearance of the 2006: already very approachable, and simply delicious – a complete tasting note will follow later. The 2007, in the same style, is somewhat closed now, and seemingly somewhat leaner. Noticable detail: the smokey tone. The 2008 is very promising, with vital fruit and good matière. The 2008 vintage will be the first vintage that is officially organic.

In the afternoon I visited Vincent Mulliez, owner of De Gironville, Belle-Vue (Haut-Médocs) and Bolaire (Bordeaux Supérieur, just across the road, the D2). Belle-Vue is established in 1996 when the previous owner Rémy Fouin set apart his best (Gironville) vineyards with the aim of producing a wine of… say Margaux quality: Belle-Vue directly borders the 3rd classed growth Château Giscours. Mulliez joked that it would be a good sign when one day people would describe Giscours "as the neighbour of the famous Château Belle-Vue." But until today this is the other way round, I'm afraid.

Vincent Mulliez in his cellar: impeccable

On my website I describe Mulliez as someone who leaves nothing to chance, and the funny thing was that he used the exact same words when describing their approach: "We leave nothing to chance in the aim to come up with the best possible wine from our terroir." And that can be seen in the investments that are made. For example the cellar looks impeccable. Not over the top, but impeccable.

And behind these wines is a full team of experienced people. There is a technical director, Vincent Bache-Michielsen (originally from Norway), and a (female) cellar master Marie Perez. Œnologue conseil is Christophe Coupez, director of the Centre d'études et d'informations œnologiques de Pauillac. In comparison to the Clos du Jaugeuyron one could say there is more 'technique' behind this wine, the approach is more academic so to say.

Vincent Mulliez showing the Belle-Vue vineyard

Together with Mulliez, who worked in London as a banker, we tasted Bolaire, De Gironville and Belle-Vue from the vintages 2006 up to 2008. Tasting the Bolaire was a confirming experience: a couple of months ago I had picked out this wine as a grand Bordeaux Supérieur. I had tasted and compared many many petits châteaux, many of them uninteresting, but the Bolaire clearly stood out. And it did again. This is a very well made affordable Bordeaux. It has power, grip, ripeness, and good fruit with some sweetness.

The Belle-Vue was my favourite. This wine (with over 20% of petit verdot, and for a small part, just like Clos du Jaugueyron from very old vines) is stylish and more polished. A seductive wine, round and ripe, with good grip also, and with a velvet texture. The 2006 and 2008 stood out for me.

After these very interesting and enjoyable visits I headed back to the Dordogne, driving the 1977 Peugeot 504 from my friend Igor. But not before I made stops in Bordeaux, visiting Jane and Francis Anson, in Saint-Emilion, picking up some wines in the shop owned by Jean-Luc Thunevin, and in Castillon-la-Bataille, eating a delicious Andouillette à l'ancienne. What better way to conclude a great day?

Should you be interested in these wines, here they are: www.bolomey.nl.

Bodega Horacio Calvente

2009-07-12T16:33:00.007+02:00

Dwayne Perreault − One of my pet peeves with Spain is the lack of interesting white wines with recognizably individual characteristics. Yes, you have some affordable and tasty Ruedas if they are made from 100% Verdejo, nice drinkable wines with fresh fruit and citrus flavours, but I tend to tire of Rueda pretty quickly. I'm rather bored with oakey, vanilla-rich Viura-based blends from Rioja.

Somontano has built its reputation on varietals made from Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Gewurtztraminer, but do these compete with similar wines from Burgundy, the Loire or Alsace? The same could be asked about the oaked Chardonnays of Penedès. Why bother when you can get the real thing from Pouilly-Fuissé and even Meursault for about the same price? Finally, there are some amazing Albariños from Rias Baixas, but they also cost a pretty penny and are not always worth it.

So now for something completely different: a dry Moscatel de Alejandria (Muscat d'Alexandrie), a Vino de la Tierra de Granada Sur-Oeste by Bodega Horacio Calvente. As far as I know this wine is not available in The Netherlands but I happened to bump into it while visiting Granada two years ago. It was a lucky find, and I brought a box home with me. That was the magnificent 2006 vintage, which was later singled out by Neil Beckett in his annual 1001 Wines You Must Try Before You Die. I had no idea at the time that this was considered one of Spain's best wines and is served in the nation's top restaurants. I paid around €9 a bottle.

Muscat d'Alexandrie is a grape with a high sugar content and is usually used to produce fortified sweet wines such as Muscat de Rivesaltes. When the wine is vinified so that the sugars are mostly converted into alcohol, the result is an incredibly dry and alcohol-rich wine, but here with delicate nuances of stoney minerals and notes of grapefruit and tropical fruit and an almost grappa-like aftertaste, without the burn. Don't be fooled by the 12,5% on the label; a few glasses of this in the afternoon will give you a good glow. Dangerously drinkable, both thirst quenching and appetite whetting at the same time.

My girlfriend was recently back in Granada and brought back two bottles of the 2007. The price rose, as is common in Spain, from €9 to €12. I feel confident in saying this is a slightly lesser vintage than the 2006, with the alcohol winning out at the expense of the delicate fruit—maintaining that balance seems to be the main challenge for Calvente, growing 40 year old vines at an altitude of 900 metres.

Don't get me wrong, this is still excellent wine. It's hard to beat the 06, which had a tiny bit of residual sweetness. The 07 is more gripping and austere, but should be considered on its own merits. It's a fascinating, powerful wine made in a style that is not seen much these days at this level.

Visit to Burgundy

2009-06-29T17:16:00.007+02:00

Hunger for exciting new discoveries (as well as for good food) led us to Burgundy again. Us? That is my friend Jan van Roekel and myself, we mostly do these travels together.

Thursday 18 June we arrived, and upon descending on our hotel we did nothing but strolled around a bit in Beaune and ended up in restaurant Le Goret, where everything is about the Pig. I had the best Andouillette I ever had. It was an Andouillette AAAAA, so that will explain the quality. AAAAA stands for Association Amicale des Amateurs d'Andouillette Authentique, which is a group of various Andouillette professionals who strive to make the very best Andouillette possible.

So, a true recommendation. Friday we were all ready and rested for our first visit (out of four that day). Our goal was to find a great Meursault, and we had selected several interesting producers to visit.

Our first two visits were to two upcoming domains, both run by young guys in the middle of a change process: the change from selling grapes to selling wines. Their fathers mainly sold grapes, and they wish to sell wines under their own label.

CHRISTOPHE BELLANG FROM DOMAINE CHRISTIAN BELLANG, MEURSAULT

The first visit was to Christophe Bellang from Domaine Christian Bellang. Christophe's father (Christian) was more interested - and involved - in distillation than in winemaking. Son Christophe is putting a lot of effort now in establishing a name, in the first place of course by making good wine. He owns vineyards in two regions: around Meursault (from his father) and around Savigny-lès-Beaune, from his mother's family. I preferred his whites, which are nicely balanced, well-made wines. His Bourgogne Chardonnay 2007 comes across light and refreshing, mineral, with a modest hint of oak, quite soft in the mouth and good acidity in the finish. The Meursault "Les Tillets" 2007 is more seductive, rounder; altogether there is a good harmony between acidity and roundness in this quite elegant Meursault.

Next we visited Arnaud Tessier. Youngest of the producers we visited, but without computer and thus, without e-mail! Anyway, it wasn't the easiest visit to plan...

Not only no computer, also no red wines. Because: ça tâche, he said. Where Christophe Bellang has already established quite a production under his own label, Arnaud has just started. He still sells 95% of the grapes to the négociant, and this year he will make about 1.500 bottles of his Domaine Tessier. We tasted the 2007, his second own vintage. Often it is the acidity that stands out in the young 2007s, but not with these Tessiers. These wines are rather suave, clearly matured in oak (about 10 months), with some sweetish spices.

ARNAUD TESSIER DEMONSTRATING EFFEUILLAGE IN HIS MEURSAULT CHARMES DESSUS VINEYARD (THESE VINES ARE ABOUT 25 YEARS OF AGE)

Arnaud showed us his vineyards, and demonstrated an effeuillage: a sort of striptease of the vine where most of the leaves on the lower side of the plant, at the sunny side, are removed to expose the grapes to the sun. More or less as a compensation - for proper photosynthesis to take place - the plant is allowed to grow a little bit higher. This is not something that only Tessier does, many quality producers work this way.

After a hearty lunch in a Meursault (Auberge La Goutte d'Or, by the locals referred to as a cantine) we went to Domaine David Butterfield in Monthélie. The reason that the Canadian Butterfield arrived in Burgundy is that his father started a bike rental company here. David chose to make wine. He didn't own any vineyards (and still doesn't) so he decided to buy grapes to make his wines. There are many newcomers working this way. For example Mischief and Mayhem (from the UK and Australia) and Oronce de Beler (from Paris) who we visited earlier, and Blair Pethel (from the US) who we were going to visit the day after.

DAVID BUTTERFIELD SAMPLES HIS MEURSAULT 2008

David Butterfield makes a rich, generous, intense style of Meursault, sold behind a contemporary label. Like it or not, the label is as convincing as the wine − "here I am!" David's focus is finding the best grapes. His belief is that much ought to be done in the vineyard, especially working the soil, and less should be done during the winemaking. For example David does not practice battonage. He makes lovely wines, both whites and reds. As said, his Meursault is hard to spit out, it is just lovely stuff. More about his wines later (tasting notes etc.).

FABIEN DUPERRAY AND ARNAUD ENTE

The last visit that first day was to Domaine Arnaud Ente, where we tasted an extensive flight of spectacular Meursaults with Ente and his French agent Fabien Duperray. Because I will be working with Ente's wines I won't dive into these beauties here. I will do that later.

We never go to Burgundy without visiting our favourite restaurant Caves Madeleine, and David Clark (from Morey-St-Denis, who I work with) joined us. I couldn't help ordering Pied de Cochon (pig's trotter) again.

Our first visit the next day was to Blair Pethel of Domaine Dublère. Blair comes from the US and more or less works in the same manner as David Butterfield. But he must have had more possibilities to invest. His chai is impeccable, and quite big. Blair lives in Beaune and his chai is nearby in between Savigny and Chorey. He makes a wide variety of wines and I especially liked the whites. "Like" is not the good word. I was impressed. Blair is a fiend of David Clark, and just like for David, 2004 was his first vintage. The words that kept popping in my head when tasting the whites: refinement, precision, elegance... in a way it made sense to taste these quite perfect wines in this perfect environment.

BLAIR PETHEL FROM DOMAINE DUBLERE IN ONE OF THE FEW VINEYARDS THAT HE OWNS HIMSELF. HOWEVER PRIMARILY ACTING AS A NEGOCIANT, BLAIR SPENDS MOST OF HIS TIME IN THE VINEYARDS

Pethel is a fascinating person who had three 'careers' before he started making wine! First he was a concert pianist, then a Hollywood actor and finally a financial journalist. It seems that it is winemaking that gives him complete satisfaction.

David Clark was the next stop. We picked him up in his Au Pelson vineyard where he was carefully ploughing the soil.

DAVID CLARK CAREFULLY PLOUGHING THE SOIL

David left his tractor and we headed to his small domain in the heart of Morey-Saint-Denis to taste his 2008s from the vat. Besides the Bourgogne rouge and Passetoutgrains we tasted his one-barrel Morey-St-Denis, his new Côtes-de-Nuits Villages (from a well-exposed 1er cru-like vineyard in Brochon) and the even newer Vosne-Romanée (2008 will be the first production).

To summarize his 2008s: besides the fact that these wines are very young, and more or less reductive at this stage, they are very complete. The structure is impressive for every wine: there is good matière while at the same time the tannins are ripe and tamed. There's no hardness in these wines. These are very pure and powerful Burgundies, or will at least become that. The Côtes-de-Nuits Villages 2007 (from bottle, will be released towards the end of 2009) is tough yet seductive, complete and harmonious - a great achievement again.

DAVID CLARK IN HIS CELLAR TASTING THE 2008S

Our last visit was to Thiébault Huber from the biodynamic Domaine Huber-Verdereau in Volnay. He presented us an extensive range of wines, both white and reds but mostly reds (Volnay and Pommard), and showed us the moon calendar that is used as a guideline in all that is done at the domain. Before Huber turned to winemaking he was a sommelier in Alsace, so his repertoire knowledge will be bigger than that of most winemakers. His whites are pleasant, pure and straightforward. From his reds I especially liked the dark and quite sexy Volnay Robardelle, as well as his Pommard. But these are wines for the longer term. Dark, quite concentrated and tannic at this stage. They are tough, honest reds with dark fruit and an earthy touch.

THIEBAULT HUBER FROM HUBER-VERDEREAU IN HIS VOLNAY VINEYARD

At dinner we had a Mortet (from 2001) and it was interesting to see how you experience a blockbuster Burgundy like this: it starts with a wow, and the last sips are... difficult... heavy... But perhaps we were also a little tired from everything.

On the way back we stopped in Bouzy for a Champagne refill. Despite the time of year, and despite the crisis, the beautiful ánd affordable Champagne Barnaut keeps on selling.

THE GRAND CRU VILLAGE OF BOUZY, HOME TOWN OF CHAMPAGNE BARNAUT

Domaine de la Laidière, Bandol rosé

2009-06-23T20:11:00.006+02:00

Dwayne Perreault − In this time of rosé confusion, let's make it a point to drink quality rosé.

By confusion, I'm referring to the recent decision in Brussels to allow EU wine producers to make rosé simply by mixing red and white wines. Bah. I'm sure there are people somewhere who've been doing this at home for years. Thankfully, this ridiculous legislation has been rescinded.

But by quality I could be talking about rosés from a wide range of regions, as quality rosés are made everywhere from Rioja to Hungary (and strangely, not so very many in Italy).

But if I think of top rosé, I think of wines from the Loire, Bordeaux and Provence. I've previously posted on an elegant rosé from the Loire with some (limited) ageing potential, Reuilly, François Charpentier and I recently tasted a beautiful, more fleshy rosé from Bordeaux which David wrote about, le Rosé de Soutard. So now a wine from Provence, where a great many rosés are made, including some of the best like this Bandol, Domaine de la Laidière 2007.

Bandol is primarily Mourvèdre country, which makes for dark, earthy and tannic reds such as the excellent Domaine Tempier 'Cabassaou' 2000 and 1998, which I both recently tasted. But this rosé also contains some Grenache and Cinsault, which results in a highly refined, very pale rosé with a mineral structure and extremely well-balanced acidity. This wine is not nervous, but very firm. A solid, dry rosé with practically no sweetness, other than a fleeting hint of strawberry. A perfect wine for a Mediterranean fish like a Dorado, which due to global warming is now showing up in North European waters. I baked one in the oven with Italian herbs and sun-dried tomatoes, and added a splash of the Bandol. Yum. While drinking the wine I could smell the fish on my fingers, and it felt for a moment I was in Bandol itself, sitting on a terrace near the sea. Instead I'm just sitting in Amsterdam, smelling my fingers. But I'm drinking excellent wine.

But speaking of rosés with ageing potential, this article claims this wine can age for 20 years.

Domaine de la Laidière is normally available only in the better restaurants in Holland, but if you live in Amsterdam you can also order it here: www.wineontime.nl.

Tastings, tastings and more tastings (poor teeth)

2009-06-17T09:39:00.025+02:00

There have been many tastings over the last days and weeks, tastings that I actually ought to write about, because of the wines that I tasted. But writing takes time, and time is limited, so in this posting I briefly bundle some impressions.

Last Monday I attended an impressive tasting at Paleis Het Loo - the former royal residence in the town of Apeldoorn - hosted by P. de Bruijn Wijnkopers. Most of the wines were presented by the winemakers (or châteaux managers) themselves, so the wonderful Leflaives (a/o Clavoillon, Les Pucelles, Chevalier Montrachet) were poured by Anne-Claude Leflaive, the gracious Comte Lafons by Dominique Lafon, Giscours and Du Tertre by Alexander van Beek, and Haut-Bailly by Véronique Sanders, to mention just a few. For me one of the highlights was to taste the - lovely - Du Tertre 2006 again: I worked on the vinification of this wine [pdf].

From Véronique Sanders I finally got the explanation for the word "Parde" in La Parde de Haut-Bailly. It is nothing more than the name of a parcel, a vineyard, and this, for its part, is called after an old indigenous grape variety. Sanders and her team are thinking of altering the name of Haut-Bailly's second wine, but I hope they stick to this original name - it just sounds good to me.

Earlier, on 5 June, there were two tastings on one day. The first one I hosted myself, I presented the wines that I import to a group of Dutch wine writers: Nicolaas Klei, Hans Melissen, Frank Jacobs and Mariëlla Beukers (she already blogged about the event, in Dutch). I should be honest with you, dear reader, as always, so it must be said that these professionals were very enthusiastic about the wines. The proof: they bought. It had not been my intention to sell that day, but well, I wasn't really against it either.

After this tasting I felt content, and also a little tired. So I attended the next tasting without notebook (which I never do), to sit back, relax, and taste. Ignorant of what was to follow...

...instead of tasting notes I simply present the wines in some pictures (showing 6 of the 10 wines), and I refer you to the notes made by my friend Jan van Roekel, with whom I travel to Burgundy again tomorrow. More about that later of course.

VINCENT DAUVISSAT CHABLIS 1ER CRU "LA FOREST" 2004 AND DOMAINE D'AUVENAY AUXEY-DURESSES "LES BOUTONNIERS" 2004 (A-MA-ZING WINE)

2x VOSNE-ROMANEE 1ER CRU LES (or AUX) BRULEES 2001: DOMAINE RENE ENGEL AND DOMAINE MEO CAMUZET. DIFFERENT BUT BOTH GREAT.

2x MAISON LEROY: BOURGOGNE BLANC 2002 AND MEURSAULT 1ER CRU "LES PERRIERES" 1995 (WHAT A GREAT MEURSAULT!)

Further reading: Jan van Roekel's tasting notes on Burgoholic...

William Fèvre; real Chablis

2009-06-11T15:20:00.006+02:00

Dwayne Perreault − "Real Chablis," I was told while still an apprentice, "comes from Kimmeridgian clay, and if it doesn't, it isn't Chablis." So what is this magical clay, so important that it determines the very essence of France's most famous white wine?

THE SECRET TO CHABLIS' TERROIR: AMMONITE WITH OYSTERS ATTACHED

About 150 million years ago, in the Kimmeridgian era (the upper Jurassic geological period, when dinosaurs still roamed the earth), Chablis and all of Burgundy was an inland sea. Today, Chablis' marl and clay limestone soils contain copious amounts of oyster fossils and ammonites from that period, and it is these fossils which give Chablis its mineral character, and in the better crus its gunsmokey, flint-like bouquet.

Kimmeridgian clay, by the way, also supplies 95% of the petroleum in the North Sea. Handy stuff.

I'm always up for a good bottle of "oesterwater," as the Dutch call it, so I was delighted to attend a tasting of six different wines from William Fèvre, one of Chablis' bigger and better known producers. In fact, 15% of all Chablis Grand Crus come from this house.

We began with a Petit Chablis 2007. These wines come from less favourable sites as their name suggests. No great complexity here, but a nice neutral wine with a steely green mineral tone. This was followed by the Chablis 2007, also mineral in character but thicker in the mouth with more citrus and white fruit, and what I would describe as a bit of sheep's cheese in the nose.

It was then time to try the Premier and Grand Crus, which come from the best sites, often on hillsides which offer some protection against frost, and all Grand Crus facing south for maximum exposure to the sun. First, Premier Cru Fourchaume 2006, slightly smokey with small citrus fruit and an impressively long aftertaste. I'm always amazed by how long Chablis' strange sour aftertaste can hang around in the mouth. This was followed by Premier Cru Montmains 2006, less fruity than Fourchaume, more mineral in character, full, fat and silky in texture. My personal favourite thus far.

Grand Cru Valmur 2006, however, made all the others pale a bit in comparison. A mineral wine with smokey flint and firestone in the nose. Beautifully integrated acidity with complicated tones of stoney minerals: in a word, fossilific.

We finished off with a trick wine. It didn't taste like Chardonnay, because it wasn't. Saint-Bris is the only area within Chablis where wines are made from Sauvignon Blanc. The 2006 seemed a bit silent, but then what should one expect after tasting these top Chardonnays?

What did we eat with our Chablis? A five year old Dutch farmer's cheese, sushi and... oysters, of course! Both fin de claire and Zeeuwse. Delicious. Thanks to Esmee Jongedijk for hosting this evening.

Médoc 1990s tasting: Pauillac & St-Julien

2009-06-03T22:29:00.012+02:00

Last weekend I coincidentally spent both evenings with – different – expats. Amsterdam hosts many expatriates, but none of them are actually in my own circle of friends.

Holland may be an open society, with many foreigners living here, yet the various social circles around seem rather closed. A friend from New York noticed this fact long ago, and last Saturday the same conclusion was drawn by a guest from Bulgaria. In her eyes the Dutch more or less exist in quite static cliques, groups of people that know each other since long. I’m afraid her observation is correct.

Interesting though: we, the Dutch, say the same about the French. Perhaps it’s more of a (West) European habit, as opposed to the hospitality of the Americans.

Anyway, it was pure American hospitality that I experienced last weekend. In an expat setting. The American hostess has an interest in wine, loves wine, but is so to say not a wine geek. Her thing (let’s call her Angela) is to invite wine lovers, and wine geeks, at her house and taste great wines together, while enjoying great food that she cooks. Furthermore ‘her thing’ is the thrill of winning special wines at Christie’s wine auctions.

I did not have to think long to accept the kind invitation. A friend of Angela acted as the chairman of this evening, and he professionally guided us through the following wines, asking one after another to share his or her impressions. Below I will share with you my tasting notes.

Lagrange 1999, 3rd cru classé de St-Julien
A rather slender appearance this wine, unmistakable impression of classic Bordeaux, with old wood. Earthy, and quite ripened, with some iodine, or blood if you want. In the mouth the Lagrange is supple and à point. There’s good intensity, but I would say this lean Bordeaux ought to be drunk these days (8-/10).

Léoville-Barton 1998, 2nd cru classé de St-Julien
Powerful fruit, like a clenched wrist, and a certain freshness. Sweet cherries. Lively-powerful fruit, dark and fresh, energetic, good and explicit acidity (8,5/10 – fail to deliver a complete TN here).

Lynch Bages 1998, 5th cru classé de Pauillac
The wine starts off very modest, or closed, with just some sweetness. But then it gradually unveils itself, first some leather, and then also dark fruit and cookies. The wine is medium bodied, suave and accessible, but there is still a slight astringency in the finish. The wine is showing the first signs of seniority, maturity. Very pleasant Pauillac altogether (8+/10).

Lynch Bages 1996, 5th cru classé de Pauillac
Also closed at the start! But after about ten minutes the wine has woken up, the nose even showing roundness and fullness. And in a modest way, there’s some true seduction. Notes of leather again, and pencil shavings. In the mouth there’s roundness too. There’s softness and dark fruit. Very pleasant wine, 1996 can be so tough, but this wine is lovely. Perhaps only lacking some true distinction (8,5+/10).

Branaire-Ducru 1996, 4th cru classé de St-Julien
Classic and modest nose. Slightly edgy, slightly green. But with the word 'slightly' stressed. Plenty of intensity in the mouth, a fairly good drink but altogether not really impressive. Classic, modest Bordeaux (8-/10).

Pichon-Longueville 1995, 2nd cru classé de Pauillac
Striking difference with the previous wine, the Baron is very open, forward, and it exhibits an unmistakable oakiness. Black currants, and even some chocolate. Convincing wine. In the mouth a good intensity, some sweetness. A soft and sexy wine (8,5/10).

Grand-Puy Lacoste 1995, 5th cru classé de Pauillac
The winner of the evening. Why? Because this wine struck me (and not just me) with its contagious energy: there’s an impressive freshness in the (sweetish) fruit, this wine is very alive. Youthful, juicy, just some dryness in the finish (9-/10).

Furthermore we drank some whites, we began the evening with a pleasant Carbonnieux blanc 2006, and finished with the Sauternes Raymond-Lafon 2001 and 1990. The first is what you may expect from a good Sauternes, the 1990 is simply very special, orange skin intermingled with a hint of Sherry, but it was way past midnight, so no tasting notes any more.

The only other wine that I shouldn’t forget to mention is the Lynch-Bages 1975, served blind. All of us were very enthusiastic, all of us guessed it was an Eighties-Bordeaux. Unbelievable how youthful this 1975 still is! A velvet beauty, beautifully mature but not old, and balanced. A true surprise.

So, this was my introduction to expat life in Amsterdam. Not bad at all. I definitely should act un-Dutch and widen my offline social circle here...

Comet Vintages

2009-05-29T09:59:00.006+02:00

Dwayne Perreault − I'm fascinated by comet vintages. That doesn't make me any more cuckoo than a vintner who buries a cow horn filled with compost in his vineyard, right? Both ideas seem to me to be biodynamical in nature. Steiner in fact did write about comets, but what he had to say does not concern us here. But in a biodynamical world where the phases of the moon and alignment of the stars and planets play a role in viticulture, the idea of a celestial body like a comet having an influence on the grape harvest seems not so strange at all.

What is a comet vintage? Basically, it is a vintage in which a comet which is visible to the naked eye appears during the grape growing season, especially directly before or during the harvest. This is supposed to have a propitious, perhaps even a mystical effect on the quality of the harvest. This may be folklore passed on by generations of winemakers, but in fact it is backed up by examples of outstanding and yes even mystical vintages like 1811 and 1858.

The complete list of recorded comet vintages is: 1811, 1826, 1839, 1845, 1852, 1858, 1861, 1985 & 1989. These were all considered great years in regions as diverse as Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rheingau and Tokaji in Hungary. This should of course be kept in perspective. There were many more great vintages, even in recent memory like Bordeaux 2000 and 2005, in which no comet was recorded.

In fact, comets pass by the earth routinely every year, but we are talking about comets which must be visible to the naked eye, which happens on average once a year on earth, and they must appear during the growing season in western Europe. There is a strange lack of comet vintages between 1861 and 1985, the reappearance of Halley's comet.

Whether the comet vintage is myth or reality, it seems to begin in 1811 which is generally regarded as the greatest vintage year of the 19th century, notably for cognac but also for western European wines in general, especially Bordeaux and Sauternes. Robert Parker, tasting the 1811 Chateau d'Yquem in 1996, awarded it 100 points, his absolute bench mark. 1811 was also the year Veuve Clicquot discovered the technique of remuage, which revolutionized the champagne industry and further romanticized the year. For the comet is not just an astronomical observation in 1811, it is a Romantic concept of the mystical cause and effect of physical nature. The Flaugergues comet was visible for most of the growing season of 1811 and coincided with (or caused?) optimal growing conditions that year. Outside of vineyards it had a less favourable aspect. The same comet was seen to be the harbinger of Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia and the War of 1812, America's lone failed attempt to invade Canada which led to the sacking of York (now Toronto) and the burning of the original White House. As you can see, comets have wide-ranging effects, not all of them good.

The last comet vintage was 1989. Okazaki-Levy-Rudenko 1989 r ('r' means it was the 18th comet discovered that year) was first detected on Augus 24th and was visible to the naked eye in western Europe from September to November. So, what about 1989? I was recently able to get my hands on 10 bottles of St. Emilion Grand Cru Classé Clos des Jacobins 1989 for a reasonable price through Winefield's Auctioneers in Amsterdam. Back in 1989 Clos des Jacobins was still owned by Cordier, whose name comes first at the top of the label. Parker would later write "the 1989 looked to be one of the finest offerings this property had ever made." In 1989 George H.W. Bush became President of the United States of America (I repeat, comets can have wide-ranging effects, not all of them good).

I admit, I couldn't wait to try the wine and within hours after arriving home, a cork had been pulled. The Dutch have a word which I find can best describe this vintage: boterzacht. Literally translated, it means soft as butter, but I’m telling you this is a wine with plump extremities: adjectives like full, round and even bacchanalian come to mind, and there remains something smoky in that glass of dark fruit. This is generous wine you can really get intimate with, and a few bottles are now available on my website.

When will the next comet vintage be? Alas, nobody knows because comets come and go and they often don’t pre-announce themselves. Short term comets (with an orbit of less than 200 years) are easier to predict than long term comets (with orbits up to millions of years). So you never know which comet will come cruising up next, an old friend like Halley (1985) or an unknown like OLR 1989-r. In the meantime, before more bad stuff happens, we can enjoy this last comet vintage. It is, after all, at its peak.

Bordeaux 2008: greed returns in tilting market

2009-05-20T21:13:00.010+02:00

This year’s futures campaign started off so hopeful, with prices drastically lower than in the previous years. Latour released at 45% below 2007, Mouton at -50% (for more details see my previous postings).

But things started to change when Robert Parker decides that 2008 is a Grand Year. From that moment on the price drops are less spectacular, and the best wines even release at 2007 price level, e.g. Buy-of-the-Year Pontet-Canet. The wine sells out immediately and a second tranche follows, of course at a higher price.

This more or less marked the end of the truly spectacular releases. Especially the Right Bank wines start releasing now at relatively high price levels.

But since this - short - week it seems that we are returning to Business As Usual, I’m afraid. The first sign is the release of Ducru-Beaucaillou at the end of last week, with good ratings, priced 20% above the 2007. A striking release, well-timed close to the end of the campaign, when everybody is waiting for those few Unreleaseds. For the Left Bank Léoville-las-Cases was the other Big Unreleased, and this wine stepped forward yesterday. Other than expected it slightly decreases its price, with a lousy 11%, but in the light of the recent developments a rather friendly price.

The second château presenting its price yesterday was Cheval Blanc. And despite a price drop of about 20%, to me this wine still is much too expensive: with 300 euros ex. (from négociant) and about 400 euros inc. (consumer price) it releases at more (much more) than twice the price of its Left Bank premier cru neighbours. A crazy price, and I can only explain the difference with the Left Bankers by reasoning that Cheval Blanc wants its price to be close, and as close as possible, to Ausone. And why actually, with the enormous difference in available quantities for these two wines?

But today my shock is complete: Lafite is proposing a second tranche, exploring demand at the price of... 300 euros as well! Following a first tranche at - just - 130 euro (to compare: the second tranche of Château Margaux last week was at a 'friendly' 155 euros). Unbelievable this new price, and perhaps even a little sick. But then again, if the market absorbs these wines... and yes... my naive Why? at the end of the last paragraph might also be answered today: Cheval Blanc seems to be selling!

Apparently greed is back. At the side of the seller, but as it seems also at the side of the buyer. Too bad that it - greed I mean - had only been gone for such a short period of time... Or am I being too pessimistic now? I really hope so.

Bordeaux 2009 suffering from hail storms

2009-05-14T15:37:00.014+02:00

Early in 2008 Paul Pontallier spoke the following words: "We are so fortunate with global warming. Look at the number of great vintages we have had in the last 12 or 13 years. It is absolutely amazing."

Since he said this Bordeaux has suffered from a series of devastating hail storms. The first one hit the 2008 crop in the south of the Médoc, around Cantenac, causing losses at Du Tertre, Cantenac-Brown and Prieuré-Lichine, among others. The second series took place this week, unusually early in the growing season: two storms, severely damaging extensive areas in the Bordeaux region. Normally these kind of storms occur in September, just before or around harvest time.

Of course it is hard to say whether these fierce storms are the result of global warming, but nevertheless I wonder if the Bordelais are still so enthusiastic about Modern Weather as a whole.

The first storm covered the largest area, from the Charentes in the north down to the Graves in the south. It took place Monday afternoon. The Charentes was hit the worst, with many, many hectares of vineyards lost. From there it raged south along the right bank border, it passed Blaye, and blew over the southern Médoc & Graves, and the Libournais more to the east. With this first storm the southern Médoc (Margaux) was hit for the second year in row.

The second storm was more local yet more damaging: it took place around 4:00 in the morning from Tuesday to Wednesday and more or less ran from the Entre-Deux-Mers region towards Saint-Emilion. Normally the Carteaux côte is enough of a barrier to split a storm in two, but this one couldn't be stopped and cut deep into the Saint-Emilion vineyards.

The losses are big. For example Château Canon lost about 80% of its crop, some others even more. The damage is so serious that it probably will affect the 2010 crop as well. The plants have been bombarded with huge hail stones, the young twigs and leaves have been ripped off, and - worse - the wood of many vines has been severely injured.

Of vital importance now is that these damaged vines are treated and pruned, enabling them to continue (or restart) their vegetative cycle. But that is difficult: the soil is extremely wet - there has also been lots of rain these days. One can enter the wet clay by foot (whereby the boot will grow with every step) but the tractors can't get in (yet another reason to bring back the horses!). To treat against mildew the richer properties might hire a helicopter.

The drama behind the plant-kill is financial. Most producers aren't insured (any more) because of the big expenses, and a year (or two?) without wine can mean that a producer loses his market.

One of the wines that I work with is the white Vieille France 2007 (Graves), and they have already said there will be no white 2009. That's sad. Besides the financial loss for the owners, it means that we will have to miss a lovely wine this year.

More details (with numbers etc.) can be found in a Wine Spectator article by Diana Macle.