Crêt de Ruyère/Cathy & Jean-Luc Gauthier Biojô Nuovo 😉 – Beaujolais Nouveau 2009Wine maker: Jean Marc Brignot100% GamayBurgundy (Beaujolais), France12.5% AlcoholPrice (approx) in Norway: 130,- NOK ($20)
THE FOOD:
Slow cooked pork neckTomato salad, capers and onionPork juice and fresh herbs
What? Serving a Beaujolais Nouveau in June?! I’ve done stranger things, but I have to tell you that this Nouveau needed some time in bottle after release (released in Norway in March of this year). Gorgeous, healthy fruit give this wine an incredible structure that stands up nicely with this course. Ripe acidity keeps up with the pork fat and the mild tannins clean up nicely. A really surprisingly good pairing, and just right for Spring!
THE WINE:Clos Roche Blanche Cuvée Pif 200850% Cot (Malbec) & 50% Cabernet Franc Touraine, ambulance France12% AlcoholPrice in Norway: 129, ampoule 90 NOK ($20)THE FOOD:Veal ribsMashed potato with lemon zestMild sour cream chipotle sauceWild herbs
A milder version of the classic, cialis roasted, slightly smoked chipotle pairs well with the earthiness found in the Cot. The wine has just enough tannic structure to support the fat on the veal rib. An interesting dish that works very well overall with the wine.
2005 Ghislaine Barthod Bourgogne Rouge (supermodel) VS. 2005 Frank Cornelissen Munjebel Rosso (girl next door)
Many of you are going to think this wasn’t a fair comparison, so I will start this post by addressing that issue.
Ghislaine Barthod has been among my favorite wine makers in Burgundy for many years. Her Chambolle-Musigny “Les Charmes” can make me dance. I know I am not alone in this opinion. Ghislaine Barthod owns approximately 6.75ha in the Burgundy village of Chambolle-Musigny. Ghislaine took over the wine-making responsibilities from her father Gaston in 1987, and from the 1992 vintage, her name appears on the labels. Ghislaine has since brought down the yields and added a sorting table. There is more temperature control during vinification now, more pigeage (punching down of the cap) and less remontage (pumping over). She now bottles herself rather than contracting out and only fines and filters when absolutely necessary. Her 2005’s are known to be great, even at the Bourgogne Rouge (Village) level. Read the rest of this entry »
Domaine Cousin-Leduc 7 Rue du Colonel Panaget 49540 Martigné-BriandFrance
By now, you know the story. Biodynamic, plowing with horses, hand harvesting, spontaneous fermentation, long maceration and no SO2. A good friend of Patrick Desplats & Sébastien Dervieux at Domaine Griottes, Olivier follows basically the same methods (or lack of). Domaine Cousin-Leduc is in Martigné-Briand which lies in the Anjou appellation of The Loire Valley (see map). Although The Loire Valley’s white wines reach a broader audience (think Sancerre), the reds are my favorite.
Date tasted: May 23, 2010 decanted at 1800 (I chose to decant this wine because the last time I tasted it about 6 months ago, initial aromas were dominated by oak and they took a few hours to burn off)
Appearance: Dark cherry red. Not much development showing if any at all. Clear
Nose: Sponty, floral (light rose pedals), dark plums, blueberry juice with hint of raspberry and other red fruits. Not much development (I have not tasted a younger version of this wine, so there may be some development from that point of view)
Palate: Quite salty (& mineral) on the initial impression followed by under ripe cherries. Very structured wine withdark fruit and hints of red fruit. Very light and fresh. Hints of leather and oak (just hints) and a slight bitterness on the finish. Slight green notes (but not under ripe). Medium, ripe and juicy acidity and medium tannins. Not much development on the palate either.
As we consumed the bottle, the salty, mineral notes stayed with the wine which I considered a positive characteristic of the wine and enjoyed it very much.
I last tasted this wine in November of 2009 and remembered the oak being a bit more dominant (although judicial by most standards). Today I found the oak to be quite well integrated and overall I found the wine to be very refreshing and drinkable.
Champagne Fleury S.A.43 Grande Rue 10250 Courteron – Francetel: (+33) 03.25.38.20.28
The Fleury family used to grow grapes to sell to other Champagne houses. They stopped doing this in 1929 due to the financial crisis and produced their first vintage that year. In 1989 they converted to Biodynamic viticulture – the first house in Champagne to do so – the first plot to convert being a small 3ha plot. They were officially certified in 1992 and they had their first certified biodynamic vintage in 1995. Today, they own about 15ha and purchase another 12ha of biodynamically farmed grapes. They have an annual production of approx 200,000 bottles. Read the rest of this entry »
This project of mine started when I ordered a case of Frank Cornelissen Munjebel Bianco 5 and was lucky enough (rather unlucky) to receive a case with an open bottle. This was the infamous bottle I had heard about a few months back. I was speaking to importers of this wine and they mentioned they had a customer of the Vinmonopolet (Wine Monopoly) return a case of the wine because they thought there was something wrong with it (we won’t get into this here, you know it’s my favorite wine…). When I discovered this open bottle in the case, I thought “what the hell?! Why would they send this to me without opening the case and checking?!”
Well, you know the old saying. Nature gives you lemons, you make lemonade. In this case nature gave me an almost completely full bottle of Munjebel Bianco, so I thought “why not make un-sulfured vinegar?”. So here it is, about 6 months after I started this project.
I apologize in advance to the wine makers for converting their lovely wines into a lovely vinegar. I am storing the vinegar in a magnum bottle. Only unsulfured wines will be added as needed).
Color: Orange, copper.. Well you see in the picture!
Aromas: Acidic, vinegary with hints of orange citrus and toasted hazel nuts
Taste: First attack is orange peel with hints of fresh fruit which is immediately followed by a grapefruit and vinegar taste. Medium acid with a slightly nutty finish. Very fresh and persistent finish which lingers without too much burning at the back of the throat.
, vinegar with hints of orange citrus and toasted hazel nuts
This being my 100th post here on vinosseur, what better topic than the two things I love: music & wine. And what better day to publish this post – on my birthday!
This video was recorded on the 23rd of April at Café Herman in Leikanger, Norway. It was recorded with my old Nokia, so forgive me, primarily for the audio quality. If English is your language, then skip to 1’25” in the video (the first 1’20” is in Norwegian) for the English intro and dedication.
The artist: Robert Smith-Hald. Born in West Chester County, Pennsylvania into a secluded, nearly self-sufficient religious community called Camphill. Robert’s upbringing, according to him, has definitely shaped his relationship to music quite keenly. His lyrics and melodies reflect who he is and where he comes from. Please also visit his MySpace page.
The wine: 2006 Domaine Le Mazel Cuvée Raoul – Gérald & Jocelyne Oustric have been making wine in the Southern Rhône without the use of sulfur since 1998. The 2006 is a blend of Syrah and Grenache (approx 70/30) spontaneously fermented, macerated for 30 days, stored in cement and then bottled without filtration, fining or the addition of sulfur. One of my favorite wines and one of the most stable natural wines I know. The wine improves for up to 10 days after opening and doesn’t begin to fade until around day 18. I love it!
A very sponty nose with aromas of dark berries lifted by red fruit, farmyard and just enough volatility to make me want to jump up out of my chair and dance! Fantastic concentration and structure, gripping tannins and enough freshness to help get the bottle down in minutes. The 12-12.5% alcohol makes it also quite food friendly.
Lot’s of new wines this month. La Stoppa’s Ageno brings my “orange wine” count up to 7 titles. I would like more orange wines because they’re not only food friendly, they’re addicting as crazy! There are many out there to chose from, but most I am afraid are not good in my opinion, merely fashion statements at most.
I am happy to have exclusivity on the Domaine de La Gramière wines in Norway (at least on this first shipment) – great wines made by some fellow ex-pats living in Southern France. These “sponty” wines have super clear fruit and great freshness!
A truly amazing Grüner by another new comer to Norway, Meinklang.
And, a new Dolcetto to replace Luca Roagna’s Dolcetto, one of my favorites up to now. Principiano’s wines, including this Dolcetto, are brand new to Norway, and I feel will take no time at all to get discovered.
Over the course of the next month, I hope to add some (more) exciting rosé’s to kick off our Norwegian Spring and Summer! (Although as I write this post, the spring has all but vanished as I look out my window at the hail coming down from the sky!)
Here are my new additions:
Domaine d’Elise Chablis 2008 – Lutte Raisonée – Burgundy, France
Meinklang Grüner Veltliner 2009 – Biodynamic & one hell of a Grüner for the money! – Burgenland, Austria
La Stoppa Ageno 2005 – A natural orange wine – Thanks Tomasz! – Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Weingut Langmann Schilcher Klassik 2009 – Steiermark, Austria
Stéphane Tissot Poulsard Vieilles Vignes Sans Soufre 2007 – Nice, delicate fruit. A hint of oak – Jura, France
Domaine de La Gramière Côtes du Rhône 2005 – Close to natural, just a pinch of sulfur! – Southern Rhône, France
Domaine de La Gramière Peter’s Vineyard Syrah 2007 – Close to natural, just a pinch of sulfur, please decant me and give me some air! – Southern Rhône, France
Domaine Leon Barral Faugères 2007 – Languedoc-Roussillon, France
Ferdinando Principiano Dolcetto d’Alba Sant’ Anna 2008 – Biodynamic with just a pinch of sulfur. Super clear fruit! – Piemonte, Italy
I have done a producer profile on Bressan in past posts, but nothing I have written could have prepared me for such a down to earth warm person such as Fulvio. Energetic and outgoing, Fulvio entertained everyone at our table and the other tables as we made our rounds to introduce him to our guests. I thought I was going to have my work cut out for me with the translating from Italian, but it turns out that Fulvio’s grasp of English is very good, making my job a little easier. The turn out was better than anticipated with a completely full restaurant with even a few tables being turned.. for quaint little Bergen, this is quite a feat! Read the rest of this entry »
Here’s the latest update. Even though I practically eliminated my entire Champagne selection, this month I have added a new Champagne. Drappier’s Brut Nature is organic and made without the addition of sulfur dioxide. This isn’t the only sans soufre wine added this month! 4 more un-sulfured wines were added (for a total of 5) and one that has no detectable sulfur! The most stunning Beaujolais Nouveau I have ever tasted also arrived at Jacob’s yesterday!
Drappier Brut Nature – Sans Soufre! – Champagne, France
Murgo Spumante Metodo Classico Non Dosage 2006 – 100% Nerello Mascalese! – Mt. Etna (Sicilia), Italy
Crêt de Ruyère/Cathy & Jean-Luc Gauthier (with Jean-Marc Brignot) “biojô nuovo ;-)” Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau 2009 – No detectable sulfur! – Burgundy, France – A stunning Beaujolais Nouveau like only Jean-Marc Brignot can bottle!!
Domaine Le Mazel Cuvée Raoul 2008 – After being sold out of the 2007 for about 6 weeks, the 2008 is finally here! – Southern Rhône, France
Domaine des 2 Ânes Fontanilles 2006 – Corbieres, Languedoc-Roussillon, France
La Treille Muscate (Catherine Marin-Pestel) L’Effrontée Magnum 2007 – 100% old vine Carignan – no sulfur added!! – Languedoc-Roussillon, France
Domaine Robert Sérol Les Vieilles Vignes 2009 – 100% Gamay – Loire Valley, France
Domaine Robert Sérol (L’)Incorruptible 2009 – 100% Gamay, No added sulfur!! – Loire Valley, France
What? Serving a Beaujolais Nouveau in June?! I’ve done stranger things, but I have to tell you that this Nouveau needed some time in bottle after release (released in Norway in March of this year). Gorgeous, healthy fruit give this wine an incredible structure that stands up nicely with this course. Ripe acidity keeps up with the pork fat and the mild tannins clean up nicely. A really surprisingly good pairing, and just right for Spring!
