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I just returned from the Bio Millésime wine fair in Montpellier France, in the Languedoc.  With 490 exhibitors, there is a lot to see and taste. Overall, I thought the fair was well organized and although there were more than 2900 visitors, it never felt crowded (except for when it came time to eat lunch in the lunch hall – it was a challenge to find a free table and the buffet lines were quite long).  A fair catalog listing all of the producers and the table numbers you will find them at is available for sale for 10€ and is a good shop.  Be aware that producers are not grouped by country or region, rather they seemed placed at tables at random – this can get a bit complicated.

It was nice meeting people I have had internet relationships with up to this point – like Alice Feiring and Hans Dusselier Wijnfolie!  Of course it was great to also meet the faces behind many of the wines I sell and enjoy on a regular basis back home in Norway.

While you are in Montpellier, make sure you take a quick trip over to La Remise.  This smaller scale tasting about a 15 minute drive away focused on natural wine makers from around Europe. Here I tasted the wines of Le Mazel, Laureano Serres, La Stoppa, Arianna Occhipinti, Camillo Donati, Domaine du Possible, etc etc etc! The highlight at La Remise for me was Laureano Serres’ White – stunning wine quite similar in style to the Cornelissen Munjebel Bianco! Yum

Also while in Montpellier, don’t miss having a meal (or two) at Mesdames Messieurs. Located in the center, Mesdames Messieurs serves simple but good food and has an intriguing wine list focusing on natural wines.

Also check out the tapas bar El Picador. Also centrally located, this restuarant also offers an interesting selection of natural wines with decent food (you cannot order just wine here, you must also order food).

I am looking forward to my trip back to the charming Montpellier next year!

January in Norway is typically a slow month which also means that not many new titles have been added to the wine list this month. Check back next month for some exciting wines arriving!

New to the wine list this month:

• Bressan Mastri Vinai Verduzzo Friulano 2006 – Friuli-Venezia Giulia, sick Italy (no added Sulfur!)
• La Stoppa Gutturnio 2007 – Emilia Romagna, recipe Italy
• Azienda Agricola Sassotondo Ciliegiolo 2008 – Toscana, buy Italy
• Bodegas Bruno Ruiz Villanueva 2008 – Castilla, Spain (no added Sulfur!)

Along with the addition of new titles, I also do my best to remove others to keep my list around 80 to 90 titles.  You can view the latest wine list here

For those of you who follow my writings, my last publication was a producer profile on the philosophy and wines of Bressan from Friuli, Italy.  I have been speaking rather loudly about natural wines for some time now and I will again try and get my point across about how when well made, these wines are alive.  The wines of Bressan are no exception to this rule – they are most certainly alive and have one hell of a “shelf life”.

I opened his wines and began to write about them on December 26th, 2009.  I wrote about my findings and continued to taste the wines over the course of the next few days.  On December 30th, I left for Poland where I remained until the 13th of January.  I left approx 1/3 of a bottle of the 2006 Verduzzo  Fruilano and 1/3 of a bottle of the 1999 Pignol in my fridge.  On the evening I returned home, I removed the two bottles from the fridge and poured myself a half glass of each, and was not very surprised to find that the wines were still showing well. There was no sign of turning to vinegar and the wines were still very fresh and drinkable.  This was 18 days after I opened the wines!

Tonight I finished what was left of the Pignol, a whopping 22 days after being opened, and it was showing remarkably well. If I have to be fussy, I could say that the fruit had faded a tad…(but only a tad!).  This being said, the wine was very drinkable (which I did) and showed no signs of negative volatility nor had it become vinegar and in fact improved again once it sat in the glass for 5 mintutes… This is a 10 year old wine opened 22 days ago and I enjoyed it as much today as the day I opened it.. And it was made without the use of sulfur. Sulfur is a preservative that many conventional wine makers say you cannot make a stable wine without it… really?

Before my current position at Jacob’s Bar & Kitchen, where I have the largest selection of natural wines in Norway (and I sell them almost exclusively to the tune of about 250-350 bottles a month (perhaps more)), I managed what is considered the best wine bar in Norway.  A wine bar that boasted a wine list of over 500 titles and the “Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence”.  Although I managed to sneak a few natural wines on the list here and there, the wine consisted of mostly a very well selected group of  “conventional” wine makers. Although we prided ourselves in hand selecting small wine makers and growers, they very often used selected yeasts and sulfur in wine making.  I speak from the 4-years of experience managing this bar when I say that almost every bottle of wine that was open more than 3 or 4 days, ok sometimes 5 days, was sent to the kitchen as “waste”. This included expensive, well-made wines.

In my last 12 months of running the wine program for Jacob’s Bar & Kitchen, I sell almost exclusively organic, biodynamic an natural wines. I have a wine list of over 15 unsulfured wines, and I hardly send a bottle of wine to the kitchen as waste.

I have experience with other natural wines being long lived like the wines of Frank Cornelissen, Domaine Le Mazel (vertical tasting coming soon!) and Clos Roche Blanche (whose wines I have tasted over a one week period) for example.  I have deliberately set aside opened bottles of wine from the likes of these producers and tasted them over the course of weeks only to find that they almost always improve over the course of 10 days. I often find they level out and remain the same through the 14th day after being open, and most will begin to fade after day 18.

Why does this happen? I am not sure that I have the explanation for this. I feel that these wines are alive. Sulfur may be a preservative, but what kind of perservative kills its host?! Well-made wines without sulfur in my opinion are alive, more stable, have more interesting aromas and I am able to drink more and feel better the next day.

I just have to finish by saying that I simply write what comes spontaneously to me.. It’s what I feel.  In this case it’s also based on my experience and I challenge and welcome anybody who wants to discuss their personal findings on this subject, after all, I just want to learn as much as possible about the life that these wines possess.

And along came natural wines. Pure, fermented “grape juice”. I find it difficult these days to drink wines that I can see through.  I’m not saying I want to have a glass of super-dark, jammy, inky wine.  In fact, I like wines that are lighter in color and fresher in taste.  What I am actually saying  is, I prefer my wines to be totally unfined and unfiltered.  I love cloudy wines, wines with bits and pieces of “deconstructed grapes” floating around freely. A glass of wine that I can’t see through because of the living particles afloat in the glass.  I believe that fining and filtering a wine is partly to blame for the “death” of a wine, along with over-sulfuring. Read the rest of this entry »

(I am sorry for the quality of the photo’s in this post. Since I am not a photographer, I should really apologize at the beginning of every post, but the photos in this post are especially low quality – blamed on the settings being incorrect on my “wonderful” camera phone. Oh, and although this post seems long, it’s mostly full of pictures to entertain you) Read the rest of this entry »

New for December – I have added the following symbol next to wines that have been made without the use of any sulfur whats so ever:

Our wine list now boasts 19 titles that are made without the use of any sulfur what so ever.  This is by far the largest selection of wines made without sulfur in Norway.  I am not including in this number, nor am I placing the NO SO2 symbol next to, any wine that has had minimal use of sulfur during the wine making process, but none added at bottling.  Had I included these titles, there would have been an additional 4 or 5 titles.  I feel it’s important to mention that these natural wines don’t merely make it on the wine list for looks. We sell these natural, un-sulfured wines on a daily basis. Read the rest of this entry »

Here you will find a transcript from my phone call to Jørgen in Italy (the leader of this project). I apologize in advance for this really looking like an exact transcript of our conversation (warning, this post gets a bit technical):

Igino Garberoglio next to the press

Friday & Saturday, November 13th & 14th 2009

“Analysis was done to check if fermentation was complete. Checked the skins. Not much flavor left nor color, so we decided to press and remove the good wine and free run juice. Only the free run juice will become the wine in our bottle. The last 150 liters from each tank will not be used nor will the wine from the press be used, approx 500 liters. The skin was quite dry after the free run juice was removed. The free run juice was placed in one cement tank of 4000 liters (this decision was made after speaking with natural and non natural wine producers). No pump-overs nor “racking” since the very beginning (except removing the free run juice). No “botti grandi” will be used because the tannins are very mature, not aggressive AND THEREFORE WE DON’T WANT TO EXPOSE THE WINE TO ANY UN-NECESSARY AIR. Because of good grape maturation, the tannins are sweet and good.”

“The alcoholic fermentation is not totally complete yet, about 4 grams of sugar left and the wine is still fermenting . The lactic acid is at zero (the Malo is at 1.46, THIS IS QUITE LOW), so the malolactic conversion has not yet begun. The VA (Volatile Acidity) is at 0.26 which is very low and good.”

“The natural sulfur from the fermentation was analyzed (the analysis was done by hand in the lab to be totally accurate). If sulfur had been added during the wine-making process, you would be able to check this by machine, but since we didn’t add any, it must be analyzed by hand. The result was 26mg per liter where 12mg is free SO2”

“The wine has a very high extraction equal to 30.97 grams per liter. A good Barolo, for example, would be between 29-33 grams per liter. Remember that this wine will be bottled as a Vino da Tavola, not a Barolo!  Jørgen also visited Mr. Aldo Vajra (of Azienda Agricola G.D Vajra).  Aldo Vajra used to be a teacher at La Scuola di Enologia in Alba (The School of Enology in Alba, Italy). The analysis was brought to him because the PH and the total acidity levels were a bit low (PH 337 and total acidity is 6.3). Aldo explained that these readings were because of the very high measures of potassium (a salt, which lowers the total acidity level). When the cellar gets cold, the potassium with the tartaric acid form crystals which will fall to the bottom of the tank. When this happens, the acidity level will rise again as the level of potassium decreases. Since this is our first wine, we are analyzing more often then we will when we make wine next year. We are nervous about our first baby! Aldo also said “Sei appostissimo! Non ti preoccupare!” – translated means “Things are perfect!  Don’t worry!”

Irma Garberoglio tasting our wine

Tasting (drinking) of the wine: “it’s balanced and leaves the mouth very clean and fresh. High and mature tannins. A liter of wine was consumed this evening by Jørgen and the “Carussin” family  and the wine was fantastic!! The “Carussin” family were surprised that the wine was so clean. Even the color was deeper than expected.”

“The plan now is to (the tank is closed and still fermenting)  leave the wine alone until the malo acid converts over to lactic acid which could happen this week or in early spring as the air warms a bit.”

We have decided to bottle the wine (hopefully next year) using the same system as used for Moscato d’asti so as not to expose the wine to any air when bottling.”

On my recent trip to France, I dove head first into the natural wine world, meeting with some of the greatest wine makers making wine today.  Between tasting the wines of these “hero’s” of natural wine at the various natural wine bars in Paris, to visiting them at their “domains”, I got to better understand their wines and the people behind them. I would like to apologize in advance for the quality of these photos!

The "Wine List" at Racines natural wine bar & restaurant, Paris

Monday, November 2nd 2009

After having lunch with Jean-Marc Brignot (Jura) at Racines in Paris, where we consumed a 2002 skin-macerated Riesling from Alsace produced by Gérard Schueller with a gorgeous plate of pork, we headed for the Loire Valley. Our destination was Domaine Griottes, an approximate 5 hour drive south and West of Paris.  Since their wine “P’tite Gâterie” (here’s a tasting note for this wine) had been on my wine list for the past 6 months, this was a visit I was looking forward to.

Domaine des Griottes label detail with logo

Domaine Griottes is located in the small village of Saint Lambert du Lattay. Located in the Loire Valley (within the Anjou appellation) about 26km south of Angers, 175km from the West Coast. Patrick Desplats & Sébastien Dervieux are growing and making delicious wines from an almost unheard of local variety called Pineau d’Aunis.  A grape that made wines consumed by the nobility between the 13th and 15th centuries, it has almost completely disappeared from the Loire Valley save for some brave & passionate wine makers like Patrick and Sébastien. The grape produces some of the most exciting spicy red wines with aromas of grapefruit and pencil shavings. In my opinion, Domaine Griottes make some of the best examples in the Loire Valley from this grape. (Griottes also produces whites from the Chenin Blanc grape). All work in the vineyards and harvesting is done by hand with the help of Patrick’s ageing horse, Caroline.  Grapes are subsequently fermented in fiberglass. The P’tite Gâterie is then bottled, while the rest of the red cuvée’s and the whites spend some time in oak after fermentation. Although the use of oak is moderate and these wines are great, the oak is detectable and not entirely to my palate.

Patrick Desplats

We arrived around 2100 (9pm) and were quickly greeted by a very outgoing Patrick Desplats, a table full of things to eat

naturally fermenting apple sauce

and of course wine by the magnum pouring.

We tasted all of the wines from previous vintages. Stunning wines all the way through the gamma, even the oak-influenced wines had stunning fruit qualities that could have only come from extremely healthy grapes that were subsequently spontaneously fermented, aged and bottled without even a milligram of sulfur! My kind of wines.

Tuesday, November 3rd 2009

After a good night’s rest at Patrick’s house, we came down for a nice breakfast where we got to sample some of his home-dried natural teas made from various flowers and herbs growing in his yard.  Very inspirational!  We then headed over to the vineyards to see where his Pinea d’Aunis and Chenin Blanc was growing. In some of  their vineyards, the two grapes were growing together, side by side.  We shared a glass of wine with Patrick as we looked over the Loire Valley and talked about the nature and how passionate he was about what he was doing and the nature around him.  He and Sébastien had actually purchased a piece of forest separating his vineyards from the vineyards on the other side of the river. He wanted to keep the conventionally farmed vineyards as far away from his as possible.

As the sun began to set, we headed over to his winery and sampled his 2009’s directly from the fiberglass tanks. The fermentation was just finished. At this time, his 2009’s seem to be stunning. Fantastically concentrated wines with incredible amounts of structure while they were still light and fresh.  His P’tite Gâterie (which is a blend of Pinea d’Aunis, Gamay and Grouillot, the amounts, and grapes, varying from vintage to vintage) will be bottled directly from the fiberglass tank it was fermented in. His other cuvées like La Griotte, will spend some time in oak before being bottled. After tasting the current vintage and as we headed towards the door to leave, we noticed a tank of SO2 hanging from the ceiling where Patrick had placed it to express his dislike of sulfur!

I have uploaded the November updated wine list which can now be viewed here.

New titles on the list:

• Domaine Moreau-Naudet Chablis “Les Pargues Vieilles Vignes”  2006 – Burgundy, cialis France
• Pierre Frick Gewurztraminer Steinert Grand Cru 2003 – Alsace, here France
• Domaine Le Mazel Cuvée Raoul 2007- new vintage! – Rhône, France
• Erbaluna Rosso VdT (no added sulfur) 2007 – Piemonte, Italy
• Podere le Boncie “Le Boncie 5” 2007 – Toscana, Italy

-cheers!!

Here’s an update from Jørgen regarding our wine:

Sig. Felice

The “Felice” Nebbiolo wine is fermenting perfectly now.   As of today, it’s been macerating on the skins for 3 weeks.  Only one day with (3) pump-over’s.  With 2 pump-overs the next day, and two more the following day… that’s it for the pump-overs.

Then Wednesday of last week (14th of October), the cap was pushed down.  Wooden  4×4 planks were carefully placed on top of the cap, pushing it down a few centimeters, then the must was topped off.  This technique helps the cap stay below the surface to avoid unwanted (volatile) aromas.  The wooden planks were of a special type of wood found in the local river.  This type of wood is not normally found in the area, and is important to mention that it’s neutral and adds no flavors to the wine. The planks were wet with the wine and dried before use.

Felice Vines

We’re still waiting for malolactic to start and since we didn’t add anything (no sulfur nor selected yeast), it should begin more easily on it’s own. If it doesn’t start now on it’s own, it will start in the springtime. Potential alcohol at this point is around 13.7%  (this is considered low in the area  compared to the other Nebbiolo’s  in the 2009 harvest).   Jørgen visited two other producers and tasted their fermenting Nebbiolo’s. Our Nebbiolo was the most fruity and expressive according to him 🙂

Everyday approximately 10 litters has to be added to the must and topped-up because of the CO2 compacting the cap. The small cement tank has been “svinato”, pressed and the wine from this tank (the same wine of-course) is now being used to refill the to big cement tanks.  Now it’s only the two big cement tanks. Igino Garberoglio is checking on the wine 3 times a day.

Jørgen Ljøstad

Jørgen is overseeing our project since he now lives in Italy. Born in Norway in 1974, Jørgen Ljøstad in my opinion is one of the greatest palates Norway has today.  His interest in wine blossomed while working at the Michelin-starred Bagatelle in Oslo, Norway from 1997-2000.  He studied for and passed his Sommelier exam in 2003 (which, believe me,  is quite difficult in Norway).   He then worked for 22 months in a well-known cellar in Barbaresco.   When Jørgen came back to Norway, he landed a job with a well-established importer, Moestue Grape Selectons where he remained for a year and half until the Wine Monopoly head-hunted him. He went to work for the Wine Monopoly where he was the Portfolio Developer responsible for all wines from Italy, Portugal and Spain.  In 2007 Jørgen left the Monopoly to co-found the Norwegian-based import company Non Dos AS.