![\"The](\"http:\/\/vinosseur.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/2009-11-02_12009727.jpg\" "\\"2009-11-02_12009727\\"")
<\/a>The "Wine List" at Racines natural wine bar & restaurant, Paris<\/p><\/div>\n
Monday, November 2nd 2009<\/strong><\/p>\n Domaine des Griottes label detail with logo<\/p><\/div>\n 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 & S\u00e9bastien Dervieux are growing and making delicious wines from an almost unheard of local variety called Pineau d’Aunis.\u00a0 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 S\u00e9bastien. 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.\u00a0 Grapes are subsequently fermented in fiberglass. The P’tite G\u00e2terie is then bottled, while the rest of the red cuv\u00e9e’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.<\/p>\n Patrick Desplats<\/p><\/div>\n We arrived around 2100 (9pm) and were quickly greeted by a very outgoing Patrick Desplats, a table full of things to eat<\/p>\n naturally fermenting apple sauce<\/p><\/div>\n and of course wine by the magnum pouring.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Tuesday, November 3rd 2009<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 Very inspirational!\u00a0 We then headed over to the vineyards to see where his Pinea d’Aunis and Chenin Blanc was growing. In some of\u00a0 their vineyards, the two grapes were growing together, side by side.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 He and S\u00e9bastien 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.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>After having lunch with Jean-Marc Brignot (Jura)<\/a> at Racines in Paris<\/a>, where we consumed a 2002 skin-macerated Riesling from Alsace produced by G\u00e9rard Schueller<\/a> with a gorgeous plate of pork, we headed for the Loire Valley. Our destination was Domaine Griottes<\/a>, an approximate 5 hour drive south and West of Paris.\u00a0 Since their wine “P’tite G\u00e2terie” (here’s a tasting note for this wine)<\/a> had been on my wine list for the past 6 months, this was a visit I was looking forward to.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n