Eleven fifteen

“We ate flank”
“You ate flank?”
“We ate flank.”

It may just be my favourite time of day. The flurry begins at seven. It takes four hours to shake off the rust, clear the morning ill, brush away the demands piled up since the night before and effectively settle the morning score. By a quarter past the hour calm begins to set in. 11:15. And now, a bit of Torah, Bible and liturgy.

The imagery of sweet rock ‘n roll, Revelations style is synonymous with the farthing, quartern, mid-morning, all change of pace: The Seventh Trumpet. The day after the Shofar has sounded to end the holiest of holy Jewish days, a sonorous wind-blown through the ram’s horn, a call to lead a flock home and into a new year. Is there a connection between the purpose of the blowing of the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah (and Yom Kippur) and the end of satan’s authority at the Seventh Trumpet?

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:

“The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever.”

The Shofar. Old Testament instrument as central element of the Rosh Hashanah liturgy. The summoner to assemble before the Lord, a sound for battle and the announced coronation of a new king. New Testament return of Christ in the clouds to gather God’s people via rapture, sound the Lord’s wrath of battle cry and Christ’s returning as the King of the world. Seems obvious enough but where is the eschatological connection: How does the Jew’s attempt to summon God’s past and promised redemption share common ground with the Christian’s call to Satan?

A rabbinic tradition may indicate that the shofar is sounded on Rosh Hashanah to confuse Satan (or some he who shall not be named evil tempting spirit). The multiple blows and shrieks invoke the idea (and promise) that the Messiah had arrived and thus putting an end to the pernicious authority. Revelations agrees. “It is time for the dead to be judged. To reward your servants, the prophets, the saints, and all who fear your name, both unimportant and important.”

There’s an angel standing in the sun,
and he’s crying with a loud voice,
“This is the supper of the mighty one”,
Lord of Lords,
King of Kings,
Has returned to lead his children home,
To take them to the new Jerusalem.

Nah. It’s simply a matter of judgment and kingship. Like suggesting wines from a VINTAGES release. October 15th is but two days away. At 11:15 am you may just be arriving at your local LCBO in search of a few bottles. Here are 11 recommendations.

3c Premium Selection Cariñena 2013, Do Cariñena, Spain (461350, $14.95, WineAlign)

The grape the place come across with classic Cariñena firmness and regional culture out of the impressive Grandes Vinos e Vinedos cooperative. You may recognize Spain’s third largest cooperative as the producer of Beso de Vino garnacha. The 3c is juicy and gregarious like so many garnacha but here as cariñena, with moderate alcohol, acidity and amenable tannin. This represents very good value for the price, as well as the brusque and breviloquent Aragonese appellation. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted September 2016 @VinosCarinena @Noble_Estates

Fielding Estate Bottled Riesling 2015, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (251439, $19.95, WineAlign)

The Bench can’t help but determine the style but what winemaker Richie Roberts is able to gather and concede is what needs from the vintage. The brutal winter and subsequent mild, calm and elongated season means that acidity can be tempered, sugar should play a small role and fruit will lead the way. In this riesling it does, with help, let and place from the support staff. Really juicy, slightly tart, citrus-spiced and purely Bench styled. Proper. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted September 2016 @FieldingWinery @RichieWine

Ernie Els Big Easy 2014, Wo Western Cape, South Africa (220038, $19.95, WineAlign)

This latest Big Easy swings harder than the previous 2013, a wine that quietly emulated its founder’s approach. This 2014 displays more grit, firm grip and big dog length. This is no three-wood off the tee, lay up or fat part of the green safe play. This goes straight for the pin, over water, false fronts be damned and defiant to danger all around. It’s exciting and full-throttle, high acid and risky. But the reward is now, busily bursting with energy, not mired in tannin and ready to play. Makes for great TV. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted September 2016 @ErnieElsWinery @TheBig_Easy @VintageTrade @_AlexHamilton_ @WOSACanada @WOSA_ZA

Dr. Loosen Blue Slate Riesling Kabinett 2015, Prädikatswein, Mosel, Germany (160846, $22.95, WineAlign)

Tremendous verve, vitality and energy from buoyant and round acidity brings immediate balance to sweet citrus and tart tropical fruit. This Mosel ripper has a tender side and will sooth many a savage beast. Kind of like Elvis. If you want to turn someone onto riesling this is a wonderful place to start. So good and worth protecting. “Well, you can do anything but stay off of my blue” slate riesling. Drink 2016-2024. Tasted September 2016 @drloosenwines @Select_Wines @germanwineca

Anthonij Rupert Wines Optima L’ormarins 2012, Franschhoek, South Africa (455915, $24.95, WineAlign)

Franschhoek Bordeaux stylistic defined in affordability by structure and for dark, depth of fruit. Espresso dusty and soil imparted make for the specific Anthonij Rupert departure. The headline reads: Unheralded and righteous outfit makes red blend to go the distance. Drink 2018-2024. Tasted September 2016 @AnthonijRupert @Vinexxperts @WOSACanada @WOSA_ZA

Rocche Dei Manzoni Bricco Manzoni Langhe Rosso 2010, Doc Piedmont, Italy (459651, $38.95, WineAlign)

And then there were three; Barolo, Barbaresco and Langhe. Here a serious perfume and brooding emits from Manzoni’s Langhe Rosso, a back to the genesis of roots nebbiolo highly skilled and deep into the motherlode of many equally appointed Barolo. “Ah well if you knew then, just what you know today,” the divergent paths of Langhe and Barolo may have been very different. Even if some of the Bricco Manzoni’s parts may walk at large the tannin is in your face and ready to rumble. There is a sweetness about the fruit and an oaky layering but darkness never descends upon this wine. It remains bright and alive. It will live for a decade or more. Drink 2018-2030. Tasted September 2016 @RoccheManzoni

Domaine Theulot Juillot Mercurey Premier Cru La Cailloute 2014, Burgundy, France (473793, $39.95, WineAlign)

The beautiful dichotomous relationship between ripe and juicy opposite firm and sweetly tannic is met in this functional Mercurey, a premier cru of upbeat excellence. Very representative of place because of the grip but it goes light years beyond the lithe and the under-performed. You could pour this for Burgundy label chasers and they would cry sweet Nuits St. Georges. Raspberry and strawberry with plenty of umami minerality and that firm tannin up the back. Really tempurpedic acidity never reacts and always supports. This is a 10-15 year Mercurey. No fooling. Drink 2018-2029. Tasted September 2016 @vinsdebourgogne @BourgogneWines

Hamilton Russel Vineyard Chardonnay 2015, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, South Africa (931006, $42.95, WineAlign)

The pattern repeats in HR’s 2015 chardonnay, up there with the Cape’s most elegant and wholly indicative of the Hermanus oeuvre. Ripeness, just a hint of the barrel and windy sunshine locked up in chardonnay that could not come from anywhere but the Hemel-En-Aarde Valley. The finish allows for some noted sensations indicative of yeast, warm bread, drawn butter and a golden bathed afternoon. A time to linger and make a polite request of this chardonnay to indicate best show times in the near to not-to-distant future. Though tempting to drink now this will improve and up the elegance factor. Drink 2018-2023. Tasted September 2016 @OliveHR @WOSACanada @WOSA_ZA @hermanuswine

Col D’orcia Brunello Di Montalcino 2010, Tuscany, Italy (306852, $49.95, WineAlign)

Largesse and a firmess of being as per the house style are rampant in Col D’Orcia’s 2010, a wine that reminds me of 1998 and 2000. A wine that will seem lean, mean and terrifying in its youth but will prove everyone wrong when it hits the 12-15 year stride. This is a monster bringing leather and chocolate to the table. It is nearly unapproachable at the present time but you can imagine and embrace the possibility of potential. Drink 2020-2035. Tasted September 2016 @Coldorcia @ConsBrunello @DionysusWines

Gianni Gagliardo Barolo 2011, Piedmont, Italy (713602, $54.95, WineAlign)

Instinctive, intrinsically essential nebbiolo without any equivocation whatsover. The fruit at the core is the crux and the catalyst to aseemble the forces of Barolo entrance strategy. The floral freshness in potpourri does not concede any more quality than right here. Suave, gentle, restrained and yet so forthright, generous and inviting. The grip is right at the back, in the mouth and on the brain. Diligent, purposed and highly intelligent nebbiolo with decades of future ahead. Drink 2019-2039. Tasted September 2016 @giannigagliardo @WineLoversAgncy

Ridge Geyserville 2014, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, California (723072, $63.95, WineAlign)

A deep and thoughtful vintage for Geyserville, from plenty of sunshine, deep aridity and top notch acidity. The fruit is wondrous, full of berries in all shades and even some black currants. Shadowing with less chocolate than some this is all about fruit with tannin to structure it for a long haul. So very Geyserville and nothing but pure pleasure in bottle. Drink 2019-2027. Tasted September 2016 @RidgeVineyards @VinoTorino @rogcowines @sonomavintners

Good to go!

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WineAlign

Looking for Chablis in Ontario?

Oct5

You never forget your first hunk of #kimmeridgian love @BIVBChablis @vinsdebourgogne #chablis #cotedelechet

Chablis. The great equalizer. A wine of gold and light, worth opening at every occasion, full of spirit, possessive of protracted acidity. With its capture of ancient geology, oceanic shells and Jurassic rocks, it’s alacrity flourishes with utmost consistency. The words Chablis and non-performer are disavowed of being uttered together. The history of customer satisfaction is written in stone.

In Ontario there are Petit Chablis and Chablis always available on the LCBO’s General List. At any given time there are more Chablis, Premier and Grand Cru floating about in various VINTAGES locations. Only one can be found on the VINTAGES Essentials list and yet it is arguably the most essential white wine. What’s up with that? Has anyone ever spent a moment of regret on a single Chablis purchase from an Ontario store?

Chablis is chardonnay for varietal purposes but only that links it to other chardonnay. Chablis is more than chardonnay, not existential as chardonnay and if you ask wiser men than me, is not chardonnay. And Chablis is getting inside people’s heads. I am not the only one who lives and breathes borne witness to the new Burgundy winds of change. It is of late that I have noticed (other) Bourgogne whites eerily coming closer and closer to smelling, tasting and acting like Chablis. Why would that be?

Part of the reason is certainly a response to the current rising trend of a global veering away from oak. But there has to be more to it than that. Who would refute the notion that producers in Beaune and the more southerly climes of Burgundy are looking north and thinking, dreaming, hoping to mimic Chablis. The idea is not so far-fetched. Wouldn’t it be fair to say that global warming has had an effect on Bourgogne and punches the stylistic meter towards Chablis? How many times have you recently read a tasting note in which a critic discussing a chardonnay style, an example say from Ontario, New Zealand or even Sonoma, as being comparable to Chablis? How many winemakers wouldn’t kill to have their chardonnay considered and reviewed with Chablis as the benchmark? Yes, it’s all Chablis to me.

Map of Chablis

The first week of July excavated a head first, personal hermeneutic, all in to nothing but Chablis. Out the door from Charles de Gaulle into a taxi to Auxerre and then straight up the Premier Cru Côte de Léchet up on the Left Bank of the Serein. This with Au Coeur du Vin’s Chablis guru Eric Szablowski. A bottle of Brocard at Bar Le Quai in Auxerre. Early next morning to Domaine William Fèvre with Director Didier Séguier, then La Chablisienne with Oenologist Vincent Bartement, at Domaine Gérard Tremblay with Vincent Tremblay and finally the Domaine of Edouard Vocoret and Eleni Theodoropoulos. Days end with a Domaine François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot 2009 at Auxerre’s Restaurant Le Folie.

Look into the #chablis pensieve and see that #escargot @lafolieauxerre

#amusebouche #lasperule #auxerre

Breakfast on day two in Chablis was spent tasting with Patrick Piuze, followed by Domaine René et Vincent Dauvissat, Lucie Thieblemont and Charly Nicolle and at Château de Béru with Athénaïs de Béru. And then, Auxerre’s Restaurant L’aspérule.

Filet de canette snaké, galette de maïs, échalote confite #lebourgogne #auxerre #ericgallet

I met with Julien Brocard in front of the Abbaye de Sainte Claire at Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard, Benjamin Laroche at La Manufacture, Sébastien Dampt and Domaine Barat. In Auxerre I tasted with BIVB Chablis’ Jean-François Bordet of Domaine Séguinot-Bordet at Eric Gallet’s Le Bourgogne.

A final day began with winemaker Matthieu Mangenot at Domaine Long-Depaquit, then Romain Collet at Domaine Jean Collet et Fils, Cyril Testut of Domaine Testut, with Elodie Saudemont at Domaine Laroche and then Domaine Louis Moreau. Et finalement, a Domaine François Raveneau Chablis Premier Cru Montée de Tonnerre 2009 at Au Fil du Zinc in Chablis.

This may or may not have happened #raveneau #memory #monteedetonnerre

It was not until I ventured down the QEW two weeks later to attend my fourth consecutive International Cool Climate Chardonnay Conference that I put on my retrospective spectacles to see that what I had been tasting that entire week in France was in fact chardonnay. I mean I knew I was but never really stopped to think about it in such terms. It was simply at the time, in the moment, just Chablis. Even at i4c there were moments when my brain was churning in Chablis motives, machinations and emojis. Did you feel it too?

It helped that some friendships forged in Burgundy were furthered in Niagara because these folks came to spread the Pure Chablis gospel. Scripture that includes the sine qua non of gentle pressing, cold settling, Kimmeridgian, Portlandian and Calcaire soils, aging on fine lees and sometimes, but not always kissing a natural malolactic fermentation with a whisper of French oak. Sandrine Audegond of Domaine Laroche, Jean-François Bordet and Françoise Roure, Marketing and communication manager du Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne (Burgundy Wine Board) were on hand to help turn a chardonnay clambake into a quarry quorum. The word mineral was heard to be uttered on several occasions and no injuries were reported.

Wines that deliver a sense of place or, as we like to refer to it here in Ontario as “somewhereness,” always seem to stand out. The switchboard for the ideal is in Burgundy where the intrinsic reality is calculated in climats, that is, plots or blocks defined by the confluence of place, geology, slope, aspect and climate. Ancient somewhereness aside the current VINTAGES release includes some eerily Chablis-like “entry-level” white Burgundies, far from barrel-dominated and anything but entry-level. If to you climat, unadulterated chardonnay and respected producers mean anything at all, these wines are worth the price. We can’t all afford white Burgundy but here the quality far exceeds the cost.

The September and October releases are home to exemplary Premier Cru and looking back over the past several months I have found more Chablis, Premier Cru and Grand Cru wines that I had the opportunity to taste in Burgundy and remain available in VINTAGES. Looking for Chablis in Ontario? Look no further.

In VINTAGES September 3rd, 2016

La Chablisienne Bourgogne Chardonnay 2013, Ac Burgundy, France (455147, $15.95, WineAlign)

This entry-level chardonnay is La Chablisienne’s away from Chablis foray into Bourgogne, or perhaps a combing and combining of the two. The nose is steely, flinty and smoky, the palate full of lemon zest, limoncello and lemon meringue pie. Touching in its tartness and nearly very impressive from its depth and for its length. Goes to show you can take the Chablisienne out of Chablis but you can’t take the Chablis out of Chablisienne. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted August 2016 #LaChablisienne @Vinexxperts

J. Moreau & Fils Chablis 2015, Ac Burgundy, France (466144, $21.95, WineAlign)

Typically flinty and stony Chablis from Moreau of Portlandian influence and typically easy to get to know, as per the forward vintage. All good berries and the ease of ripening is here on display. Chablis never had it so good, easy and lazy. Drink up. Drink 2016-2017. Tasted August 2016

Bouchard Père & Fils Réserve Bourgogne Chardonnay 2014, Ac Burgundy, France (445221, $23.95, WineAlign)

I rarely comment of a white Burgundy’s hue but this pours as pale as a Beaune ghost with villages transparency. Almost Chablis-like in its quiet sincerity, the calcaire is everything here. The vintage is a good one and the acidity works the wine with natural ease. Very fine example of “reserve” style entry-level Bourgogne. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted August 2016 @BouchardPere @WoodmanWS

Olivier Leflaive Bourgogne Chardonnay 2014, Ac Burgundy, France (942482, $29.95, WineAlign)

The O. Leflaive basic Bourgogne has yet to cease its twitching and circulating with the mouth-watering cascades of its acidity. The freshness is alive and well, the vitality striking for and from the vintage. Ancient geology aside this chardonnay is also Chablis-like, far from wooden and so very struck rock tart. Acting as a scintillant of the lightning order, fruit is not an afterthought but it is relayed with metallurgy as its conduit. Easily worth the extra five bucks in comparison to most entry-level white Burgundies. Drink 2017-2022. Tasted August 2016 @OlivierLeflaive

Domaine Hamelin Beauroy Chablis 1er Cru 2014, Ac Burgundy, France (391805, $32.95, WineAlign)

While all the Chablis climats enjoyed an ideal growing season in 2014 I have to say that the Premier Cru Beauroy made full use of its gifts. The parcel lacks the striking mineral underfoot of close neighbours Côte de Léchet and Vaillons but what it does have is roundness and depth of fruit. In 2014 those aspects converge with the Chablis mineral ethos to paint a picture who’s whole is both the sum and the accumulation of its parts. Hamelin makes full advantage of fruit, rock and vintage. The triumvirate is saddled with ideal and ripe acidity and the extract is second to none. A prime example and just about as good as it gets in the beautiful king’s climat. Drink 2016-2023. Tasted August 2016 #domainehamelin @oenophilia1

In VINTAGES September 17th, 2016

Louis Jadot Chablis 2014, Ac Burgundy, France (468751, $28.95, WineAlign)

Straight ahead and 2014 focused Chablis from Jadot, tight and stony at first but then shimmies up to reveal richer fruit than some and equanimity in acidity-mineral undertones. A wide and all-encompassing no doubter of a wine that succeeds no matter the breadth of its fruit sourcing. Classy all the way. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted September 2016 @ljadot @HalpernWine

Simonnet Febvre & Fils Côte De Lechet Chablis 1er Cru 2013, Ac Burgundy, France (462549, $42.95, WineAlign)

This is a striking Chablis, drawn out of an atypical vintage and from the venerable Côte de Lechet Premier Cru, an angled Left Bank climat of necessitous Kimmerridgian soil. The rocks there may be my most favourite, craggy, ash blond chunks replete with ancient sea creatures embedded in the golden stratum. This teases with the gaseous and aerified aspects of the oxidative-evolved vintage but the picking and the treatment here are spot on and just in time, because just a day or two later and too stark would have been the result. Terrific weight, pitch perfect acidity and a grazing, elongated finish. Top, top quality ’13 not to be missed. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted September 2016 @SimonnetFebvre @ImportWineMAFWM

Always available on the LCBO General List

Domaine Albert Bichot Chablis 2015, Ac Burgundy, France (391805, $19.95, WineAlign)

Tasted with winemaker Matthieu Mangenot at the Long-Depaquit domaine, this is Chablis raised 100 per cent in stainless steel. Gifts the immediacy of mineral and acidity, from Chichée to the south of Chablis and also the eastern areas of Beru and Viviers. Higher altitudes where snow and then frost at the end of April 2016 will mean a tiny harvest but for 2015 the acidity is top notch, despite the fat and easy vintage, with more mineral driven into the palate (with some perceived though feigning sweetness) and a real gelid glide down the backside. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted July 2016 @Matth_Mangenot #LongDepaquit

Domaine Long-Depaquit

Domaine Louis Moreau Domaine De Biéville Chablis 2014, Ac Burgundy, France (106161, $21.95, WineAlign)

On the far opposite side of Chablis’ right bank, at the village of Viviers where it is a colder, morning sun terroir. An estate created by Louis’ father in 1965. A cooler and slightly herbal Chablis with a leaner profile. A good comparative to the Beines Chablis, where the shadows are not as long and the terroir does not make as many demands on your palate. Tasted July 2016.

A flint foot forward and step back balm of a Chablis with a settled raft of lees knick-knack and some willy-nilly resonance. Gains stature with citrus and spice as it fleshes in glass and mouth. Perhaps a stave or two of wood is making the play. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted January 2016

Domaine Laroche Chablis Saint Martin 2014, Ac Burgundy, France (289124, $23.20, WineAlign)

An all plots combed, 60 hectare extrapolative, best choices made cuvée in ode to the generous and convivial Roman officer and the monks who took his name and brought his relics to Chablis. Structure is at the heart and soul of the Saint Martin so it is a bit of hard to get at but highly recommended for slow, meditative assessment. Great compressed tart, all in terroir, soil and climate multi-interfaced chardonnay. Few ‘Chablis’ not specific of Premier or Grand Cru terroir can match its poise and precision. Drink 2017-2021. Tasted July 2016 @DomaineLaroche @SelectWinePros @Select_Wines

From #chablis to #i4c16 see you in #niagara @coolchardonnay @DomaineLaroche

Domaine Laroche Chablis Saint Martin 2015, Ac Burgundy, France (289124, $23.20, WineAlign)

The vintage is a ripe, accessible and easy to love one so this marks a 90 degree turn for the Saint Martin. This is Laroche’s most important cuvée, sold in 80 countries and collected from select plots across 60 hectares of vines. Structure will always direct this cuvée and so long as Sandrine Audegond is winemaker you can be sure that a taut entry will be joined by some subtle oak richness (in 2015, eight per cent in large, 25 year-old, 55 hL foudres). It’s just an aromatic hint but look forward with eyes closed and inculcate the texture addendum. Acids are soft and caressing. Drink 2017-2021. Tasted July 2016

In VINTAGES October 15th, 2016

Domaine Louis Moreau Chablis 2015, Ac Burgundy, France (124305, $25.95, WineAlign)

The vineyards for Moreau’s Chablis gathering are located in the village of Beines on the Left Bank and interestingly enough are older than the Premier Cru. So here the fruit is pulled from vines 35-40 years of age. As much mineral layering as you are likely to find in a Chablis-designate cuvée and so well-rounded for 2015, with grace and style. The broadest of Chablis definition, reliable to tell the whole truth, for the copacetic vintage, the hills all around and the classic flinty, borne straight out of stone chardonnay. Some citrus of course and fine acidity if not the most striking of better than good Chablis vintages. Good terroir breeds good Chablis and with a touch of flint this brings it all together. Perfect, textbook, dictionary Chablis in a ripe and forthright style. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted twice, July and September 2016

Jean Marc Brocard Butteaux Chablis 1er Cru 2014, Ac Burgundy, France (294165, $46.95, WineAlign)

Another side by side 2015 to 2014 comparison which is a brilliant play by Mr. Julien Brocard to offer up a sense of relativity which is essential for understanding not just his, but all Chablis. Great freshness and woven salinity, brine and umami, from the lieu-dit within the greater Montmains climat. Butteaux’s western Montmains locale is one of major importance and significance, stratified and magnified in the crazy good 2014 vintage. The fight concentration is quite remarkable and rendered into pure citrus honey in the hands of Brocard. Really fine and tactile Chablis, tapestry textured, dentil frieze entablature of feigning and palpability. Butteaux is a wine of sun, balance and elegance from which ancient geology is the catalyst to make it all happen. Essential Chablis right here. Drink 2017-2027. Tasted September 2016 @chablisbrocard @LiffordON

In VINTAGES October 29th, 2016

Domaine Séguinot Bordet Chablis 2015, Ac Burgundy, France (289371, $23.95, WineAlign)

As if handed off like a relay torch or baton from the Petit Chablis, the thread of elegance, purity and clarity continues in the Séguinot Bordet Chablis. Freshness floats in Chablis suspension, a liquid not so much viscous but one that acts as a cradling or a coddling. There is spice up on the aromatic front and it heads straight north to tease and tingle the olfactory senses. Deeper down it’s all inter-metallic compounds and alloys, a dimension that exists in a realm beyond chardonnay. Chablis. A circumambient capacity resistant to wood or nut but steals subtle aspects of both. Tasted with proprietor Jean-François Bordet in Auxerre he concludes, “my story is in memory.” Chablis by wrote. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted July and September 2016 @BordetJean @TheCaseForWine

Future VINTAGES releases

Domaine Laroche Vieilles Vignes Les Vaillons Chablis 1er Cru 2014, Ac Burgundy, France (991893, $36.95, WineAlign)

In many ways a carbon copy of the superb 2012, herbal, sharp and as predicted, saline and piquant. Vaillons is a special parcel, a climat with such linear reality and basic, factual raison d’être. The Kimmeridgian, calcareous clay and limestone is presented, discussed and celebrated for good reason because it makes for perfect conditions in Vaillons.
The 40-45 year-old Laroche parcel sucks it all in and don’t let anyone evince you away from or de-program you otherwise. Be the mineral. Vaillons of old vines (yes, they too work magic) that is precise, trenchant and miles beyond merely dependable. Treated to some battonage and very minimal oak. Examines the layered intensity of Laroche and the exceptionality of Vaillons. Tasted twice, at Domaine Laroche and at #i4c16. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted July 2016

Pascal Bouchard Montmains Vieilles Vignes Chablis 1er Cru 2013, Ac Burgundy, France (374181, $36.95, WineAlign)

This was tasted at #14c16. As with 2011 but in contrast to 2012, the limestone stands chalky and flinty up front because Pascal Bouchard has allowed it to do so. The site is windy, not so steep and a cooler sort of red clay mixed in terroir. Quite typically energetic 2013 with the mineral sharing the stage with thick air whiffing gassy and atmospheric. It’s a tang that comes from cool metals and it pours or rather oozes with a squeeze of preserved lemon. The Montmains is an open-minded Premier Cru and this Bouchard works with the climat’s malleability to be transformed in a vintage like ’13. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted July 2016

Domaine William Fèvre Beauroy Chablis 1er Cru 2014, Ac Burgundy, France (907733, $52.00, WineAlign)

Beauroy is a south facing Premier Cru harvested earliest than most and also done so to preserve freshness, acidity and the most that can be gained from its subtle terroir. Fevre treats it with 15 per cent oak and the remainder goes into tank. Beauroy’s deference here is acquiescence, its character preserved, like lemon compressed in a jar or a curd slowly concentrated to the point of pure, glossy, silken texture. I find this typical of Fevre for 2014, consistent with the rich house style and yet may be the most elastic and restorative Premier Cru of the eight tasted. Impressive all around. Drink 2017-2021. Tasted July 2016 @williamfevre_ @WoodmanWS

Domaine Billaud-Simon Montée De Tonnerre Chablis 1er Cru 2014, Ac Burgundy, France (325241, $52.00, WineAlign)

Tasted at the domaine, from three parcels, Montée de Tonnerre, Pied d’aloup and Côte de Chapelot, climats up on the hill on the right bank close to the town of Chablis. Rounder (with 10 per cent old oak) than Mont de Milieu but still of terrific 2014 acidity, though noticeable with more orchard fruit to mingle with the stones. The tension increases with some time spent with the M de T and like well-structured Premier Cru Chablis will want to do, it lingers with a combination of tension and amenability. Part gentille Alouette and part Kimmeridgian flinty, this is a terrific example of the co-habitable duality of great Chablis. It is also indicative of the transformative restoration and direction of Billaud-Simon under the auspices of winemaker Olivier Bailly. I will let this bird rest for a couple more years and then a promise. “Je te plumerai.” Drink 2018-2025. Tasted July 2016 @Billaud_Simon

VINTAGES Classics

La Chablisienne Château Grenouilles Chablis Grand Cru 2011, Ac Burgundy, France (82974, $99.00, WineAlign)

Tasted with Oenologist Vincent Bartement at the domaine. The Grand Cru Grenouilles sits just above the D965 and the Serein River, with Les Clos and Valmur to its left, Bougros and Preuses to its right and Vaudésir above. It may be the least understood, least discussed and oft forgotten Grand Cru, in part because La Chablisienne farms and bottles a near exclusive (seven of the 9.5 hectares) quantity on the smallest of the Chablis Grand Cru. In a small horizontal (that included ’12, ’10, ’09 and ’05) when you travel back a year ahead of that cracking 2012 there emerges a clear olfactive difference. The self-effaced “neologism with cloudy contours” whiffs into more herbology and perhaps some crustaceous notes. Certainly a raised funky beat. The gustative sensation salvos to more glycerin and although not as much texture, the age is offering a minor oxidative, liquid maize drip into perceived honey. As a consequence length is not as pronounced and if this ’11 is (at this stage) the most awkward of the three (consecutive vintages), it is also the most tactile and the most astute. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted July 2016 #lachablisienne @Vinexxperts

Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru 2014, Ac Burgundy, France (641381, $130.00, WineAlign)

The Fèvre holdings are not so much a cornering of the market but more so, let’s say, are representative as existing out of the creator and chair of the exchange. The four hectares owned, farmed and produced of the largest of the (25 hectare) Grand Crus confirms Fèvre as the largest producer of Les Clos. Fifty per cent of the noble and lofty locale was planted by William’s father in the 1940’s, at the top of the hill. This 2014 is prodigious, ponderous and cracking, because it is a Fèvre, due to the house approach for this stand alone vintage and simply by virtue of that vintage. Here you have the richest Les Clos of them all, perhaps, but the puissance is dramatic. There is more pith and density here than any other. It is simply a wow Grand Cru expression, searing, intense, layered, compact, compressed and very, very long. This is the most gregarious, strutting peacock of Chablis. Tasted at the domaine with Director Didier Séguier. Drink 2020-2035. Tasted July 2016

A #kimmeridgian breakfast @williamfevre_ #chablis @BIVBChablis #woodmanwines

Good to go!

Twitter: @mgodello

Instagram: mgodello

WineAlign

But first, October

Oct3

L’shanah tova, happy new year, peace, happiness and health to all the members of the tribe out there. New beginnings, sweet and good times to you and yours. I’ve just returned from Italy, specifically Verona and Valpolicella. While I was in transit a new VINTAGES release crept into stores.

Tuscany, Rioja, Thanksgiving. These are the main themes of the VINTAGES October 1st release. As from me for the first it is Chianti Classico’s Gran Selezione that occupies the best sangiovese position in the central thematic. Second comes entry-level excellence from Álvaro Palacios and for the last three, pinot noir from disparate outposts; Sonoma County, the Willamette and Hemel-En-Aarde Valleys. A further 12 recommendations explore 10 regions; South Africa’s Coastal Region, Veneto, Loire Valley, Beaujolais, Alsace, Piedmont, Calatayud, Montagny, Paarl, Arroyo Seco and 14 additional grape varieties; chenin blanc, garganega, sauvignon blanc, gamay, riesling, arneis, garnacha, sylvaner, chardonnay, grenache blanc, picpoul blanc, roussanne and nebbiolo. Something for everyone.

Boschendal Rachelsfontein Chenin Blanc 2015, Wo Coastal Region, South Africa (455881, $12.95, WineAlign)

Classic chenin blanc from Boschendal, tart, balmy, savoury, smoky and spirited. Conjures up simple pleasures, breathing and bliss. A morning walk in a glade, a bubbling brook, herbs everywhere, wildlife. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted September 2016 @BoschendalWines @LiffordON @WOSA_ZA @WOSACanada

San Raffaele Monte Tabor Soave 2015, Doc Veneto, Italy (277392, $14.95, WineAlign)

Always a good Soave buy and especially in the ripe and easily commercialized 2015 vintage. In fact this preface is a clear indication for such a wine because it can basically make itself so it smells, tastes and delivers just like itself. Citrus and herbs, Maresina, Pisacan, Sciopeti and then more citrus, followed by a mouth feel with an accent of stone. Delicious little commercial Soave. So correct. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted September 2016 @Oenophilia1 @RegioneVeneto

Foncalieu Le Versant Sauvignon Blanc 2015, Vins De Pays D’oc, Loire, France (470336, $14.95, WineAlign)

Terrific scintillant of a sauvignon blanc with extract to burn and the gesture of giving generously. Pungency be damned this goes at it with vitality, energy and the great sweetness feigning, peachy sauvignon blanc equalizer. There are few Midi SBs that can both thrill and appease with ease like this Pays d’Oc. Crowd pleaser to pour at weddings and other large gatherings. The finish guarantees success. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted September 2016 @foncalieuwines @LoireValleyWine @azureau

Stephane Aviron Beaujolais Villages 2014, Beaujolais, France (468744, $15.95, WineAlign)

The juicy appeal of gamay. In its purest form it struts and flaunts in full peacock display as in this $16 Aviron Beaujolais. He or she who could not drink a tank full of this BV is missing out on one of the go to pleasures of the wine world. Fresh and outright getable, when risked with a more than slight chill this could do no harm. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted September 2016 @DiscoverBojo @Nicholaspearce_

Palacios Remondo La Vendimia 2014, Doca Rioja, Spain (674564, $15.95, WineAlign)

Rioja to grab for, spread out the blanket, pull out the jamon and kick back. Fresh, juicy, slightly smoky and full of nothing but fruit with a quick shake of spice. The simple pleasures provided by Alvaro Palacios at the lowest of low affordability. You can find Rioja with a much greater and historically profound sense of place but it will cost an arm and a leg. And I’m not sure it will get you anywhere. So put aside the serious face and embrace this modish value-driven sketch by Palacios. I too will abide. “It’s not that I care any less for that philosophy, but I would spend one night with you in trade for all that I’ve achieved.” Drink 2016-2018. Tasted September 2016 @WoodmanWS @RiojaWine

Kuhlmann Platz Riesling 2014, Ac Alsace, France (196741, $16.95, WineAlign)

From the cooperative Cave de Hunawihr where the winemaking is overseen by Nicolas Garde here is a typically tart and citrus-driven riesling from alluvial flats. Salinity and a touch of brine with a minor note of spritz makes this nothing but fun. It’s certainly lean and direct but such an Alsace riesling line is fine when done with no agenda in mind. Well made with enough complexity to add five years onto its life. Drink 2016-2021. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted September 2016 @VinsAlsace @AlsaceWines @drinkAlsace @ChartonHobbs

Cordero Di Montezemolo Langhe Arneis 2015, Piedmont, Italy (455162, $21.95, WineAlign)

Prodigious and revered producer meets resurrected varietal in this hear me roar and highly expressive roero arneis. From Langhe vineyards in La Morra, Guarene and Govone. The level of extract and texture is elevated to where the grape can go but we so very rarely get a chance to enjoy. This has mineral, loads of mineral, like a chew of rocks in bubble gum form. With this on offer who wouldn’t choose to chew every day. More acclaim for arneis and that makes me smile. The freshness will offer perfect window drinking in years one through three but why not put one or two aside and watch them develop some honey and petrol in years five through ten. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted September 2016 #CorderodiMontezemolo @ProfileWineGrp

Breca Old Vines Garnacha 2013, Do Calatayud, Spain (329086, $22.95, WineAlign)

Very floral garnacha from gravelly slate with more than enough blueberry and blackberry to bake into a hundred pies. As per the modern norm this 100 per cent garnacha from typically regional (upwards of 100 year) old vines pushes the scales in extraction, weight and alcohol. If any Aragonese garnacha can handle such largesse it is Calatayud because the combination of gnarly vines and rocky soil gives essential nutrients to fruit for balance. It may only be a distraction but when the wine is polished (albeit sweetly so) the looming alcohol is kept in threaded check. Drink 2017-2021. Tasted September 2016 @CSWS_ON @WinesofGarnacha @GarnachaOrigen @docalatayud

Wildewood Pinot Noir 2013, Willamette Valley, Oregon (462994, $23.95, WineAlign)

If mountain herbs and tea could burrow or seep their savoury ways into a Willamette Valley pinot noir this Wildewood would be a viable candidate. It’s a global, pinot from everywhere and for everyone affair in here so call the aromas what you will; fynbos, rooibos, Peloponnese clandestina, wild thyme, rosemary, lavender. So pretty in its sauvage, so suave in its ruggedness. This pinot noir understands what it is saying and selling. Unlike the gritty poet, it is in complete control of its phenolics and its faculties. The palate pales but delivers straight to structure. The aridity and the salinity seal the deal. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted September 2016 #Wildewood @Nicholaspearce_

Maison Roche De Bellene Montagny 1er Cru 2014, Ac Burgundy, France (470476, $26.95, WineAlign)

Such thews and texture are wonderful to elevate Montagny and you can tell that important Nicolas Potel time was allocated into turning this into something rocking. Plenty of citrus and wood intertwine in layers of chardonnay flesh. This is quite something. Gregarious, talkative and alive. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted September 2016 @RochedeBellene @vinsdebourgogne @Nicholaspearce_ @BourgogneWines

Domaine Loew Vérité Sylvaner 2013, Ac Alsace, France (462598, $25.95, WineAlign)

The truth of sylvaner explodes into olfaction with the flats left for others and the slopes of Alsace greasing their way into this wine. A wow factor of 13 on the texture scale brings it here. Oily doesn’t due this sylvaner justice. You could run heavy machinery on this juice. Beyond the oléagineux there is great bite from old wood, tonic from the varietal necessity and bitters so very artisan crafted in nature. More British aperitif than Italian digestif in that sense but strictly Alsatian and in requiem for a match made in Foie Gras heaven. Needs two years to settle. Drink 2018-2028. Tasted September 2016 #DomaineLoew @VinsAlsace @AlsaceWines @drinkAlsace

Avondale Armilla Blanc De Blanc 2009, Méthode Cap Classique, Wo Paarl, South Africa (451930, $29.95, WineAlign)

From a farm dating to 1693 purchased by Johnathan Grieve’s family in 1996. Poster bubbles, for the Blanc de blancs habitation and for the Avondale oeuvre, the Armillary sphere, Roman “circle of life” and ancient astronomical instrument used to show the position of stars around the earth. Traditional production, with a kiss of oak and a final act of dosage. Five total years on the lees, including two on coarse and one in bottle. Picking was accomplished at the end of that January, in purpose of stylistic elegance and beautiful bitters born of natural and integrated acidity. Terrific dip of biscuits into honey. Like Baklava in a glass though equally savoury to dessert. Baller bubble, balanced and with the sense to envision evolution, to the look ahead of an adult age. Would retail for approximately $28 CAN. Drink 2015-2027. Tasted twice, May and September 2015 @Avondalewine @WOSA_ZA @WOSACanada @RareEarth_Wines

Bonny Doon Beeswax Vineyard Le Cigare Blanc 2013, Arroyo Seco, Central Coast, California (95331, $34.95, WineAlign)

The Beeswax Vineyard is not just a pretty face. That this blend reeks of the bee’s work can’t be a coincidence. The ‎Rhône is but a mere smirk or memory here with fruit so ripe and vital you can hear yourself think. Arroyo Seco does cool chardonnay but it works for these varieties in another worldly way; with viscosity and texture. The pitch from the lemon and the flesh of creamy tropical fruits come together with a party gathering crafted tonic. And yet there is this rhythmic, low-toned, folk-roots-blues riff tenderness to Le Cigare Blanc. Really. J.J. Cale (by way of Don Nix) if you will. I’m going Doon, Doon, Doon, Doon, Doon, Doon. Drink 2017-2024. Tasted September 2016 @BonnyDoonVineyd @RandallGrahm

Castello Di Ama San Lorenzo Gran Selezione Chianti Classico 2011, Docg Tuscany, Italy (418897, $48.95, WineAlign)

Castello di Ama has chosen their signature San Lorenzo Vineyard to qualify for Gran Selezione designation, one of three such highest level Chianti Classico produced at the estate. The high Gaiole elevation and argilo-calcaire soil make for a specific style, still deep and mineral but not so much like what happens from sangiovese raised on Galestro or Albarese solis. The liqueur here is a grander kind of sangiovese ooze (with 20 per cent malvasia and merlot), more hematic and of a purity only it can express. There is more liquorice and less leather, more iron and less cherry. Certainly less fruity but not as mineral. Here the umami is conspicuously undefined and so I am oriented to say it is simply San Lorenzo. Drink 2019-2026. Tasted September 2016 @CastellodiAma @HalpernWine @chianticlassico

Renato Ratti Marcenasco Barolo 2011, Docg Piedmont, Italy (713479, $53.95, WineAlign)

The Ratti Marcenasco is in a league of it own but it shares the club with like-minded nebbioli, wines that steep in tradition and breath an aromatic liqueur only its kind resemble. Deep waters here, always mysterious and hiding sunken treasures. Candied roses and liquid tar, savoury forbidden forests and intricate tannic chains. You have to exercise extreme patience with Marcenasco, avoiding years five to 10 and best to look in at 15. Everything will rise to the surface. Drink 2021-2031. Tasted September 2016 #renattoratti @LiffordON

Hamilton Russel Vineyard Pinot Noir 2015, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, South Africa (999516, $57.95, WineAlign)

In 2015 the hyperbole of the Hemel-en-Aarde shines bright in magnified reflection with fruit and land combining for full effect. I get cola and beet root in ways I cant necessarily recall from most recent Hamilton Russell pinot noir and I also get depth like I’ve not encountered before. This is a massive expression in 2015, not a gentle one. I imagine the vintage was raging with adrenaline and testosterone so you have to take what is given. A masculine wine is the result, muscular, chiseled and ripped. At present the Hamilton Russell homiletic Hemel-En-Aarde verbiage is a tad evangelical. With such Adonis-like features and marbled structure it will need a few years to recoil, recalibrate and recharge. By next decade it will soften and preach with a bold style yet remain humble enough to change. Drink 2019-2025. Tasted September 2016 @OliveHR @hermanuswine

Flowers Pinot Noir 2014, Sonoma Coast, California (215202, $68.95, WineAlign)

Pinot Noir that is all coastal, from vineyards far and wide but inclusive of some fruit from the Sea Ridge Estate Vineyard. An extreme brightness of being pinot noir with that distinctive Sonoma Coast feigned red candy nose, first raspberry and then strawberry. Exquisitely perfumed and gainfully rendered with mindful, purposed and calibrating acidity, propped up and misty fine. Such effete fruit and unassuming character does not materialize with enough regularity out of these parts. The finesse and fineness of this wine is what California does best when it comes from the heart and not from the hand. Though his chardonnay is otherworldly you just have to appreciate David Keatley’s touch with Sonoma Coast pinot noir. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted twice, February and September 2016 @FlowersWinery @rogcowines @sonomavintners

Good to go!

Twitter: @mgodello

Instagram: mgodello

WineAlign

If I could buy only thirteen

Sep19

Look at all that chicken

Over at WineAlign we recently introduced a new feature in our already comprehensive coverage of the bi-weekly VINTAGES releases. If I Could Buy Only One offers subscribers a first in line, get inside the minds of four Ontario critics. As part of the overall recap on each release David Lawrason, John Szabo M.S., Sara d’Amato and I are asked the question: “If you could buy only one wine from this release – which one would it be and why?”

When it comes to tasting, assessing and scoring VINTAGES wines there is simply no equal to what WineAlign covers in Ontario. As a group we four are sure to collectively provide at least one tasting note and score for 100 or more wines per release. In most cases there are two and sometimes three or even all four. Where else in print or online can you access such a synoptic scope of sweeping current information?

We are not alone but we are at the head of the game. Our colleague Michael Vaughan is the only critic who tastes every wine on every VINTAGES release. His nearly three decades of utter dedication and encyclopedic memory is nothing short of incredible. Tony Aspler covers the releases and contributes to Vaughan’s newsletter. Tony’s decades of experience are invaluable to both his and Michael’s readership. Beppi Crosariol offers a handful of concise and epigrammatic weekly recommendations in the Globe and Mail, Carolyn Hammond in a Toronto Star nutshell and Rod Phillips meaty and marrowy in the Ottawa Sun.

The LCBO media tasting lab is frequented by many Ontario writers. Most notable is Tim Appelt. Tim sounds off extensively on the releases. Eric Vellend publishes recos in his column “Bottle Shop” for Billy, the Toronto Island Airport’s magazine. André Proulx brings his own ignited take to his website, Andre Wine Review and Michael Pinkus publishes his broad brushstroke on his Wine Review. Erin Henderson does so on The Wine Sister’s website and Dean Tudor at Gothic Epicures World Wine Watch. If you follow what comes through VINTAGES and sequester help and ideas, who do you turn to? The answer is simply WineAlign.

When asked to single out just one I chose another Chablis from the current September 17th release. Look for the stellar Simonnet Febvre & Fils Côte De Lechet Chablis 1er Cru 2013 review in my upcoming report on Chablis in Ontario. Today I’ve got 13 other solid recommendations from a wide range of places.

Man Family Warrelwind Sauvignon Blanc 2015, Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico 2014, Dominio Dos Tares Estay Prieto Picudo 2012, Les Darons 2014, Pazo Das Bruxas Albariño 2014, Talley Vineyards Bishop’s Peak Chardonnay 2014

Man Family Warrelwind Sauvignon Blanc 2015, Wo Western Cape, South Africa (461004, $13.95, WineAlign)

Man’s upper reaches sauvignon blanc whirls and winds around open-affable, semi-pungent fruit and churns like citrus juice through a windmill. This multi-purpose white speaks with great acidity and deep tart flavours. Just a touch of sweet peach with lime zest and a spritz keeps it spinning. Lots of bang for just a few bucks. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted September 2016 @MANVintners @vonterrabev @WOSACanada @WOSA_ZA

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico 2014, Docg Tuscany, Italy (741785, $10.95, 375ml, WineAlign)

Tasted from a half bottle, The Zingarelli Chianti Classico 2014 is as expected, classic. Hits all the appropriate and life-affirming sangiovese notes; cherries, fresh leather, dried figs, old wood walls, bright acidity and fine-grained tannin. When commercial, protective and attention to detail get together in Chianti Classico, this is what comes out. Expectations met and dinner accompanied. Ready to drink now and should be so because of the freshness afforded. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted September 2016 @roccadellemacie @chianticlassico @ProfileWineGrp

Dominio Dos Tares Estay Prieto Picudo 2012, Vino De La Tierra De Castilla Y León, Spain (393140, $15.95, WineAlign)

Flat out juicy prieto picudo if you must know is 100 per cent employed out of Castilla Y Leon. Drinkable and gulpable don’t get much better than this, like spicy gamay but with more weight. You can put the truck in reverse and open the back doors wide for this and its sultry sway from French and American oak. The oak does not intrude mind you but it certainly adds texture and punch. Utterly delectable. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted September 2016 @DominiodeTares @oenophilia1

Les Darons 2014, Ap Languedoc, France, Languedoc-Roussillon, France (448464, $17.95, WineAlign)

Fresh and dramatic Languedoc with amazing floraility, namely violets but also rose bushes in a mid-summer swelter. Vitality is ensured by the top notch acidity and the tempering here has nothing to do with chocolate. Tart just right and back bite. While some from the warm region seem “toujours le cup entre demux chaises,” this Jeff Carrel red is right where it needs to be, comfortable in its own skin. No Ogres des Barback. Simply Les Darons. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted September 2016 @LanguedocWines

Pazo Das Bruxas Albariño 2014, Do Rias Baixas, Spain (417667, $19.95, WineAlign)

This is a fine example of Albarino bringing miles of rich, ripe fruit into a brew of ripping acidity. Very mineral motive as as well, so with so much stewing in the pot you can expect a whole lot of vigor, revelry and magic. The citrus on the back side is nothing short of scintillant-spurred from lemon and lime. Miles from balmy, this is quite electric Galicia. Witches’ Brew, Bitches Brew in a Spanish Key. May not be a revolutionary bottle but it’s as close to jazz-rock fusion Albarino as you are likely to find. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted September 2016 @TorresWines @RiasBaixasWines

Talley Vineyards Bishop’s Peak Chardonnay 2014, Edna Valley, Central Coast, California (318360, $27.95, WineAlign)

Another well-managed, keep it in the cool-climate family entry-level chardonnay from Brian Talley, keeping the faith and the successful streak alive for the idea behind Edna Valley as an important haven for chardonnay. It’s nearly unoaked, with just some neutral barrels to keep it leesy and creamy but acidity and umami are clear to lead the way. Excellent effort if on the lean and mean side. Good length. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted September 2016 @TalleyVineyards @TheVine_RobGroh

From left to right: Roger & Didier Raimbault Sancerre Rouge 2013, Schiopetto Sauvignon 2013, Thirty Bench Sparkling Riesling, Emile Beyer L’hostellerie Gewürztraminer 2012, La Crema Chardonnay 2014, Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf Du Pape Blanc 2014 and Pascal Marchand Gevrey Chambertin 2013

Roger & Didier Raimbault Sancerre Rouge 2013, Ac Loire, France (446401, $28.95, WineAlign)

Cured, natural, direct and experiential red Sancerre. A case of hands-off winemaking if there ever was, leaving exceptional fruit to walk the road and find its own way. Red berries, currants and just a hint of natural smoke. Savoury not even on its radar. Very fresh and alive. Freedom in red Sancerre. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted September 2016 @LoireValleyWine

Schiopetto Sauvignon 2013, Doc Collio, Friuli, Italy (165027, $32.95, WineAlign)

Ripe, pungent and forthright Collio sauvignon blanc from the regional leader Schiopetto, culled from top level terroir and exercised with great intent. No Aqualung here, no “start away uneasy.” Dives into stony, flinty and mineral tangy waters then emerges to tell a tale of richness and mille-feuille layering. Top level sauvignon blanc for anywhere but from a very specific, agriculturist place. Finishes with a creamy lemon curd and a shot of adrenaline. If any sauvignon blanc could help solve the answer to the distinction between religion and God, Schiopetto’s could very well be the one. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted September 2016 @schiopetto @LeSommelierWine

Thirty Bench Sparkling Riesling, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (469478, $34.95, WineAlign)

I will stand to be corrected but this first such sparkler from Thirty Bench (it’s my first) and its dry riesling stoicism is a first in its singular way for Ontario. Using a small dosage from Steel Post Vineyard riesling fruit, the quality level in this non-vintage bubble (but I would think that the primary vintage fruit is 2014) is elevated with that world-class juice and yet aridity is not compromised. The subtle, rich, elongated and amalgamated orchard fruit aromatics are pure Beamsville, Thirty Bench and Emma Garner with well-rounded Niagara Peninsula Sparkling couverture. One, Garner wouldn’t waste a thimble-full of her riesling to make less than stellar sparkling wine and two, it’s really good. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted September 2016 @ThirtyBench @PellerVQA

Emile Beyer L’hostellerie Gewürztraminer 2012, Ac Alsace, France (462556, $39.95, WineAlign)

The tense and focused aromatics lead the way in this very generous gewürztraminer, classically styled to be off-dry but the sweetness is the furthest thing from your mind. Seeping rose petals and pure lychee syrup are graced with lemon zest, fennel frond and a curious note of rooibos tea. An exemplary vintage for an elixir that never cloys but just touches on something spicy and thinks about the bitterness of nuts though never really goes there. Subtle, refined and Eguisheim cultured from Emile Beyer. So impressive and a steal to drink in its first 10 years. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted September 2016 @EmileBeyer @AlsaceWines @drinkAlsace @VinsAlsace

La Crema Chardonnay 2014, Los Carneros, Sonoma County, California (184929, $39.95, WineAlign)

Experience, vintage and location will conspire to deliver profundity when the winemaker is attuned to available excellence and in tune with the vines. La Crema’s Elizabeth Grant-Douglas has a large, who’s who and what’s what portfolio to plate. She does so with broad, brushstroke ability and triads. In 2014 she has simply dialled into Los Carneros. The cool, temperature mitigated rolling hills, wind and aspect/exposure of this largest appellation straddling Napa and Sonoma does wonders for Chardonnay. Here in ’14 the third of the drought vintages is cradled with zest, vitality and pure energy. If you like nougat then have a chew of this one. If rich and unctuous Champagne with a bit of age is your thing you may just sit back and sigh. This wine was fatter previously, vegetal and just too easy. Here it sings “cause it fits in well with the chords” its playing. Right in tune. “Getting in tune with the straight and narrow.” The line that runs through Carneros with chardonnay the voice and La Crema the orchestra. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted September 2016 @LaCremaWines @bwwines @sonomavintners @thesirengroup

Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf Du Pape Blanc 2014, Ac Rhone, France (704429, $56.95, WineAlign)

This is quite closed for white Châteauneuf-du-Pape, remarkable that way and dramatically caught between the rocks and stones of its upbringing. There is nothing yet fleshy or flashy about it but considering how tightly wound it is you just have to know that revelry is up around the bend. So many stone fruits will reveal during the unravel. At this rigid dry extract and carpeted stage something microbial stands out but this too shall pass. The grip is firm and the focus leering. A structurally imposing La Nerthe with the will to live 15-20 years. Drink 2018-2029. Tasted September 2016 #ChateauLaNerthe @WoodmanWS @VINSRHONE

Pascal Marchand Gevrey Chambertin 2013, Burgundy, France (286450, $59.95, WineAlign)

Sweet, expertly extracted and gently pressed fruit provides the bassinet for a subtle, charming and effluent pinot noir from Pascal Marchand. This falls on the lithe and graceful side of pinot noir with well-managed oak and an inherent structure that speaks as softly as the fruit but that does not mean its not capable of stretching this into a second decade. This is really pretty stuff. Would love to see its secondary stage and later fruition next decade. Drink 2019-2025. Tasted September 2016 @pasmarchand @Burgundy_Direct @BourgogneWines @vinsdebourgogne

Good to go!

Twitter: @mgodello

Instagram: mgodello

WineAlign

Days of wine and Rosés

Aug25

I’m here wandering
what the reasons were

Rosé. It’s meteoric rise to prominence has shaken the foundation of wine consuming thought. Everyone’s doing it. Imbibing is at an all time high and celebrating the merits is exercised with commitment and conviction. This summer’s sweltering season has seen it skyrocket in sales. My restaurant lists are seeing the explosion first hand, up close and personal. The stress of ridicule or having the stuffing kicked out of you for sipping on a glass isn’t even a figment of imagination in the conversation. The reluctance to admit drinking rosé is a thing of the Neanderthal past. What happened? How did the pink stuff gain such traction and find its way into the hearts and minds of everywino?

Quality and diversity. First and foremost we are witnessing an increase in winemakers committed to making rosé from grapes grown specifically for the purpose. Second is the equality in money allotted by the vintners to research, experiment and condition the styles they produce. If you spend the same amount on your rosés as you do your whites and reds, your quality will follow. Third and so very important is diversity, not just stylistically but also regionally. Rosé production is increasing beyond the familiar confines of southern France. So many countries are on board with vested interest; Italy, Spain, Germany, South Africa, Argentina, Chile, Greece, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Languedoc shares a rosé story:

In 2015, Americans consumed more than 78K gallons of #rosé #wine. Let's break that record in 2016! pic.twitter.com/uK21G1Lxoj

— LanguedocWines (@LanguedocWines) August 16, 2016

I have never seen so many rosés come through VINTAGES as I have in the last four months. The shelves are teeming with the pink stuff and it’s selling like sunscreen. In February I penned ‘Twas the week before Valentine’s but specifically avoided the cliché of recommending rosés for the kissing holiday. The year before I discussed in after the fact hushed tones regarding Post Valentine’s polar vortex wines. I also said this:

“February 14th is so hyper-candied that ingredients like salinity, minerality, positive bitterness, animale and tannin are essential in the name of balance. Just don’t pair your dry red wine with chocolate.”

It’s not that I don’t believe in drinking rosé on Valentine’s but rather that I recommend not limiting as such and also prefer to choose rosés at all times of the year. So I saved up my recos for late summer, just in case you thought the season was already behind us. Two of my favourite critic-colleagues anywhere on this wine writing planet are Treve Ring and Jamie Goode. Both have recently written about rosé because, well, they understand its importance and its pantheonic place.

Canada Thinks Pink, Drinks Pink, by Treve Ring, WineAlign

“While the world rosé wine consumption has increased 20% from 2002-2014, Canada was up 120% in consumption during that same period. When we keener Canucks like something, we really like it. The same study shows that Canadian pink drinkers were pretty evenly split between men and women.”

Provence Rosé: 24 leading examples tasted, by Dr. Jamie Goode

“Quality has improved, and although it’s rare to find an example that stops you in your tracks – it’s not a geek wine – there’s a real consistency to these wines. They are context wines, and in the right context you want the wine to do the job it is chosen for. And Provence rosé does this brilliantly.”

VINTAGES has rolled out more diversity than ever before. The increased number of different rosé wines available this year has climbed by around 30 per cent. The escalation has allowed the LCBO to release some of their most popular SKUs two to three times over the course of the spring and summer. According to Geneviève Tomney, LCBO Media Relations Coordinator, Corporate Communications, for the months of May through early August, VINTAGES sales of rosé wines have risen by 30 per cent year over year. Keep in mind that because the LCBO’s financial data is based on sales periods it fluctuates slightly where periods fall in the month. Sales for that time period in 2016 were $6.6M compared to the same period of time last year ($5.1M).

That’s nothing short of remarkable and sets the stage for some solid long-term category growth. Paul Farrell, VINTAGES Category Manager, European Wines, tells us that “rosé wine sales through VINTAGES have exceeded our expectations this summer. We have definitely brought in more rosé this year to support the growth trend in this style of wine. We also have plans to have more rosé wine available throughout the winter season and to bring in French rosés even earlier next spring to keep up with the incredible demand for these products.”

Here are 18 selections in VINTAGES stores and available direct through agents or Ontario wineries.

VINTAGES August 20, 2016 release

Famille Perrin Réserve Rosé 2015, Ac Côtes De Rhône, Rhône, France (719062, $15.95, WineAlign)

A bit more density and compression for 2015 Rosé, in forward demand by grapefruit citrus with plenty of absolute faith inflator flavour. Really fine example for the Rhône, in touch with further south impressions but faithful to more parochial roots. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted August 2016 @Beaucastel @VINSRHONE

Delas Frères Saint Esprit Côtes Du Rhône Rosé 2015, Ac Rhône, France (224964, $16.95, WineAlign)

Deeper and fuller of pressed flavour than noted in the previous few VINTAGES releases. Density, tart edges and typically savoury. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted August 2016 @UNIVINS

Gérard Bertrand Côte Des Roses Rosé 2015, Ap Languedoc, France (373985, $18.95, WineAlign)

A grenache, cinsault and syrah amalgamation from Languedoc, perfectly arid, tart and with a tiny bit of effervescence. Strawberry and cranberry waft in faint waves and thoughts. Lingers nicely. Chilled well it’s what you need right now. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted August 2016 @GBvins @FWMCan @LanguedocWines

Agent/Private Import/Winery Direct

Nomad Venus Rosé 2015, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (Winery, $15.95, WineAlign)

Good, well and very nice 100 per cent cabernet franc, rusty and cherry juicy with salinity and brine. Nothing out of this world but so perfectly acceptable and fine. Simple words for simple blush. Drink 2016-2017. Tasted blind at NWAC16, June 2016 @Hinterbrook

Domaine Lafond Roc épine Tavel Rosé 2015, Ac (Jean Pierre Et Pascal Lafond), Rhône, France (950709, $18.95, WineAlign)

From Jean Pierre Et Pascal Lafond the blend in ostensibly classic Tavel; grenache (60 per cent), cinsault (20) and syrah (20). If you have not had the pleasure of sipping on Tavel Rosé from calcareous soils marked by galets and white quartzite than you need to. This is a ripping example, densely layered, highly saline and rich as the sun shines long in the Rhône Valley. Don’t come looking for lithe, pretty and ethereal. This is Tavel with guts but its aridity and piercing salinity makes for a wealthy drop. Drink 2017-2020. Tasted August 2016 @VINSRHONE @ @hobbsandco

Ciao Bella Pinot Rosé 2014, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $20.75, WineAlign)

Love the early note of minor volatility to check and balance for soft and downy, simple and into pleasure. Smells like unripe pickled strawberry. Though some decent salinity and brine offer up a rosé reality there lacks a bit of ingratiating 100 per cent pinot noir charm. Improves and brings out some pinosity by good bitters, gin and tonic, orange zest and some spice. In the end it’s actually more than quite good. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @ciaobellawinery

Ravine Vineyard Cabernet Rosé 2015, VQA St. David’s Bench, Ontario (Winery, $22.00, WineAlign)

Ravine’s Rosé spent the most minimal time on skins, from a posterior fruit position left out in the elements long and aided by leaf removal to break down the pyrazine. These were the second last grapes to pick (because the acidity is high in slightly overcropped fruit), on Slingerland Farm between lines five and six halfway up from Ravine to Highway 55. Though seemingly dry, the 6.0 g/L of RS is used “to bring it into balance for the consumer,” notes Marty Werner. This has some strawberry funk, as if it were macerated in a clay-calcaire bath, like balm as if steeped, cooled and poured over ice. It may be imagined as a saline, faintly honeyed berry granita with just the right amount of gelid texture alongside cool and savoury charcuterie. Simply put, what cabernet franc must be in warm niagara country. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted July 2016 @RavineVineyard @marty_werner @BMinaker23

Haywire Secrest Mountain Vineyard Gamay Noir Rosé 2015, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $22.90, WineAlign)

Really earthy 100 per cent gamay Rosé. Good mineral in here. This was made with a purpose. “Now everybody’s gonna tell you it’s not worth it. Everybody’s gotta show you their own thing.” There is balance and ballad ease. This is just so drinkable. “Is this the past or the future that is calling.” Gamay, I love the times you’ve come. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted blind at #NWAC16, June 2016 @Haywirewine @OKCrushPad

From a concrete (and full malolactic) fermentation and 12 hours left on the skins. A singular expression from the Secrest Mountain Vineyard in the Okanagan Valley. Great amber tang and wonderful extract, not to mention spirit. Tasted at Okanagan Crush Pad, June 2016.

Serendipity Winery Rosé 2015, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $22.00, WineAlign)

Hello serendipitous salinity in this lithe yet dense Rosé that is somehow denied any real weight. Spicy strawberry on the nose and such strength moving forward in linear motion, all with feminine resolve. A perfect blush expression from the Naramata Bench. Great tart finish with terrific grip. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted June 2016 @Winespiration

Synchromesh Cabernet Franc Rosé Cachola Family Vineyards 2015, Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Winery, $23.00, WineAlign)

The cabernet franc came in at 19 brix and the residual sugar is a whopping 0.0 g/L. The impossibility of significance is fraught with amazement and the inspired, touch-less magic whispered in the most inaudible of tones. What drives this fruit to make such bone-dry, pitch balanced blush? It’s hard to say but there are more than just a few moments in whiffs and over sips during which the perception of sweetness is a reality. The subtle onion skin, saline and briny oyster shell confection is oceanic at the least and planetary to the highest level of imagination. Another unthinkable wine from Alan Dickinson. It might even age into its 10th year as if it were riesling. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted June 2016 @SynchromeshWine

Château Léoube Rosé De Léoube 2015, Côtes De Provence, Provence, France (Agent, $28.95, WineAlign)

Organic, artisan Rosé by the sea from grenache, syrah, cinsault and mourvèdre, all harvested simultaneously by a big, local team. Co-pressed, all natural, whole cluster ferment and 90 per cent free run juice. Super aridity meets creamy layers in blush of determinate, crazy focus in average purport of 12.5 per cent alcohol. In spite of the process this sees full malolactic and despite the co-ferment there is blending done before bottling. Round acidity finds denouement in a dry finish but of one that is not drying. Freshness persists. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted April 2016 @chateauleoube @TheLivingVine @winesofprovence

VINTAGES August 6, 2016 release

Kir Yianni Akakies Rosé 2015, Ac Amyndeon, Macedonia, Greece (71050, $12.95, Wine Align)

Savouy rusty and varietally distinguished xinomavro with equal parts aridity and salinity to welcome the sapidity. Slightly bled for posterity and predisposed to Greekdom but from Amyndeon and with xino this finds relish and relishes brightness then finishes from the same straight from which it came. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted July 2016 #kiryianniWines @ShopGreekWine @KolonakiGroup @FlorinaAmyndeon

La Cadierenne Cuvée Grande Tradition Bandol Rosé 2015, Ac Provence, France (119453, $20.95, WineAlign)

Boozy (listed at 14 per cent) and beautifully balanced Bandol for the alternatively authentic and alliterative mouthful win. A citric acid, guava and himalayan rock salt spice rub for your mouth that with the level of saliva inducement turns to a slow developed variegation of flavour. Terrific mouthfeel and elongation. Tonic for and to your health. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted July 2016 #lacadierenne @winesofprovence @oenophilia1

VINTAGES July 23, 2016 release

Domaines Ott Château De Selle Coeur De Grain Rosé 2015, Ac Côtes De Provence, Provence, France (74617, $46.95, WineAlign)

Few vignerons take their viticulture and viniculture for the production of Rosé so seriously. Château Léoube is the other that comes to mind and here Domaines Ott puts resources aside to drive quality as high as it can go. This is not just delicious Rosé but it is exemplary Rosé. The level of pure aridity, salinity and the requisite faintness of fruit is highly commendable. Everything here is understated and ethereal. It finishes long and persistent. But it’s too bloody expensive. It’s Rosé and it must get over itself. I would never turn it away and conversely I would not spend $46 to assuage its ego. Drink 2018-2025. Tasted July 2016 #DomainesOtt @winesofprovence @AuthenticWineON

VINTAGES June 25, 2016 release

Wildass Rosé 2015, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (71712, $17.95, WineAlign)

Aromatically off the charts for Niagara Peninsula Rosé, like strawberry mingling with marl. The sweetness on the palate is by extract and finishes dry. Acidity and tang merge at the intersection of soil and press. Wildass strikes ruby in 2015. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted June 2016 @StratusWines

Southbrook Triomphe Organic Cabernet Franc Rosé 2015, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (451773, $19.95, WineAlign)

There is an apical, salient substantiality inherent to Southbrook’s 100 per cent cabernet franc 2015. If it wasn’t for the cool skin soaking, gentle pressing and cool fermentation it might have fretfully ventured into a cloyingly cuspidated tripartite deluge of sweet, savoury and sour. It’s not aromatically gregarious but strawberry and cider do clear afield. This strikes as way more profound, intense and serious, akin to Tavel, in hue, breadth of character and sheer unctuous texture. I’m not sure winemaker Ann Sperling had this stylistic intent in mind and while 2014 hinted at such a Peninsula departure, 2015 cements the consummation. The junction may lead to further or it may sequester a scaling back. Very interested to see where 2016 will take the Triomphe Rosé. Either way, cabernet franc is deserving of the stage. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted June 2016 @SouthbrookWine @thesirengroup

VINTAGES June 11, 2016 release

Rustenberg Petit Verdot Rosé 2015, Wo Simonsberg Stellenbosch, South Africa (451773, $13.95, WineAlign)

The deferential Rosé from Rustenberg tries petit verdot, as uncommon a varietal play as there is. Such brevity of skin and extraction exchange does little to bring out the firm and direct character of petit verdot so the interest here has little to do with varietal. It does however, present a beautiful and typical exchange between Simonsberg Mountain and Stellenbosch Valley, up and down, when push comes to shove. Chill it down, raise it up. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted June 2016 @RustenbergWines @WOSACanada @WOSA_ZA

Winzergenossenschaft Königschaffhausen Pinot Noir Rosé 2015, Qba Königschaffhauser Vulkanfelsen, Baden, Germany (168237, $13.95, WineAlign)

Qualitätswein carried to another sub $14 level, with dry extract, tannin and life as looked at two sides Rhine. There is nothing but pleasure derived from the magic bled faintly, lithely and with quick, cool-pressed restraint. Just enough sweetness to attract a crowd and more than enough savour to get with the geek. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted May 2016 @HHDImports_Wine @germanwineca

Good to go!

Twitter: @mgodello

Instagram: mgodello

WineAlign

Reading of the last whites (and reds)

Aug17

It were so simple #caprese

It’s that time of summer when transitions begin to set in, in paradoxical slow surges and breezes, sonic wallows and fond, rueful, ironic gaps. It also brings the unofficial last one of the season (gasp), the upcoming VINTAGES August 20th release. The limits of probability, possibility and potentiality are great, delineated and distilled to 17 wines tasted, reviewed and laid out right here.

Calamus Steely Chardonnay 2013, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (210062, $14.95, WineAlign)

The barrel need not be employed to gain success for chardonnay from the excellent Niagara 2013 vintage. Calamus has done right by the no-wood approach, allowing the slow-ripened fruit to shine solo and brightly. Steely chardonnay for steamy days. Drink 2016-2017. Tasted August 2016 @calamuswinery

Val De Vid Verdejo 2015, Do Rueda, Spain (452086, $14.95, WineAlign)

Quite a racy Rueda with lemon and lime juiced and cooling the warm stone aspect. Were the acidity a touch more in tune this would really plug in the senses. But it is delicious and worthy of some seafood tapas. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted August 2016 @DORueda @rogcowines

Schloss Schönborn Riesling 2011, Qualitätswein, Rheingau, Germany (653535, $16.95, WineAlign)

Schloss Schönborn’s basic, entry-level, come and get it Qualitätswein is seemingly riesling from out of a designate void and no strings attached. It’s actually highly specified riesling but without label verbiage and from a most excellent vintage. The oscillation runs the gamut from propellant to scintillant, with pumped in air and rising cool temperature behaviour. There is a balanced, posit tug between acidity and sweetness, over the line and back again. The cumulative flavours recall long lasting pastilles, of gin, tonic and agave. Drink 2017-2025. Tasted August 2016 #schlossschonborn @HHDImports_Wine @germanwineca

Contini Pariglia Vermentino Di Sardegna 2014, Doc Sardinia, Italy (455238, $18.95, WineAlign)

Stoic and aerified vermentino emanating like semillon or riesling, with a vapour trail and simply terrific mineral feel. You might imagine riesling from calcareous soils or semillon off of dry, arid plains, but this vermentino is striking on its own accord and illuminates as a developing experiment. The next big thing perhaps for geeks and mineral freaks in search of a profound, axiomatic, aromatic experience? More than perhaps and Sardegna beckons. Terrific tonic and beneficial bitters mark the rather lengthy finish. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted August 2016 @WineOfSardinia @vinosardegna

Quinta Nova De Nossa Senhora Do Carmo Colheita Tinto 2011, Doc Douro, Portugal (452748, $19.95, WineAlign)

A blend of four endemic varieties, two from touriga and two by tinto. The label tells us it’s “unoaked.” Brilliant. Such knowledge is power and usually an exclusive bit reserved for whites, especially chardonnay. Why not tell us your red wine spent no time in barrel? This is nothing short of awesome for the consumer. And so we have pure fruit, excellent extraction, very little in the way of masking or shrouding (if any) and a simple, unadulterated experience. Terrific summer red when procured with a chill that will serve and protect your palate and your will. At five years of age it has held up beautifully, a testament to hands off and trustworthy winemaking. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted August 2016 @LeSommelierWine @winesportugalCA

Lighthall Progression Sparkling 2014, Ontario (468090, $20.00, WineAlign)

Charmat or otherwise, grapes grown on Lighthall’s beautifully stark, wind-swept and electrifying property destined for sparkling wine does so with profound meaning. This is lit with the finest Ontario spark of vidal, also known as “Ward 5 Brut.” Unparalleled in its treatment to effect continuum, Progression is possessive of real intent and fine-grained precision. It’s simply meant to be. Their are notes of green apple and grapefruit, sweetness from extract, wild and wooly texture. This and fresh summer basil pesto would work every time. Just imagine the possibilities when Glenn Symons adds further lees and traditional method applications to his sparkling fruit. Just you wait and see what it does to elevate the category in Ontario. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted July 2016 @lighthallvyard

Thörle Feinherb Riesling 2015, Qualitätswein, Rheinhessen, Germany (420091, $20.95, WineAlign)

Tart, waxy, off-dry, herbal and very sapid. Tremendous appeal on the scales of sweet, sour and racy. Great acidity and a fine pesto of herbs. Balance is spot on. Really well made. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted August 2016 @thoerle @UNIVINS @germanwineca

Campopazzo Chianti Classico 2012, Docg Tuscany, Italy (454512, $20.95, WineAlign)

From Radda in Chianti on the Monterinaldi Estate, here the prevalent liqueur of intuitive and naturally occurring sangiovese wafts like ripe, red fruit warming in compote with wildflower honey. While this may seem a touch raisined (and even slightly volatile) it is in fact both those things. But it’s beautifully bitter and richly old-school. A certain kind of CC and a style that is slowly dying out but there is something to be said in support of drying sangiovese fruit once steeped and macerated in its own narcissistic liqueur. I for one am happy to spend time with this and like my grandfather, would know to miss him when he’s gone. His old and drying tannins really grow on you. Great deal in old-school Chianti Classico. Drink 2017-2021. Tasted August 2016 @monterinaldi @chianticlassico

Jean Marc Brocard Domaine Sainte Claire Chablis 2014, Ac Burgundy, France (356634, $23.95, WineAlign)

In a year for acidity and total, utter freshness the Saint Claire rushes and wells with excitement. Beautifully green apple tart and crunchy. The saline temperature is measured in an ooze running through and with the lees. Cracker vintage keeps the deep salinity intense, vital, searing and so naked to the world. Pure Chablis with length that stretches away from richness and into a lean lingering. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted twice, July 2016 @chablisbrocard @BIVBChablis @purechablis

André Goichot Les Guignottes Montagny 2014, Ac Burgundy, France (455139, $26.95, WineAlign)

As in the case of Chablis, 2014 is a stellar vintage from the ever-increasingly excellent Côte Chalonnaise subregion from which chardonnay fervently shines. André Goichot’s fruit is rich, ripe and beautifully pressed, expressed and plays with the determination of the mineral obsessed. Oh the vitality and the range this displays, with balance and exceptional layering. Breath is actually taken slightly away on the acidity’s back side and the airy, elemental finish. Simply wow Montagny. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted August 2016 @vinsdebourgogne @BourgogneWines

Dutschke Jackson Cabernet/Shiraz 2012, Lyndoch, Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia (447037, $27.95, WineAlign)

This marriage of shiraz (60 per cent) and cabernet sauvignon is a deep well filled to overflowing with Barossa berry and Lyndoch savour. The smell of ripening pomegranate and red berry is in the air but the blend is grounded by a lactic-limestone like liquid chalkiness. This is seamless stuff, pretty and modern but also following down a very direct line. The dualistic varietal speak is a thing of seamless, duet, two-part harmony. Will pair and compliment anything you throw at it over the following five years. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted August 2016 @DutschkeWines @Wine_Australia @TFBrands

Closson Chase Vineyard Chardonnay 2014, VQA Prince Edward County, Ontario (148866, $29.00, WineAlign)

Keith Tyers’ follow-up to the tour de force that was the hypnotizing 2013 is a step forward in the vineyard’s progression out of a vintage that takes a step back from buttressed substance. Taking into account that 2014 was cooler than the year before, the barrel swaddle needed to also scale back, but just a bit. This CCV chardonnay takes a clean and lean precise line, drawing up PEC mineral with mining acumen and wrapping perfectly phenolic ripe fruit coiled like gelid citrus around a gemstone wire popsicle stick. The palate does provide an orchard meets stone fruit creamy respite from the rocks of entry and exit but it is the mineral County notes that make the biggest impression. Terrific balance is struck, on flint and over the course of so many levels. Leave this a year to stretch and flex while you enjoy every waking moment with the ’13. Drink 2017-2023. Tasted May 2016 @ClossonChase

Mazzei Fonterutoli Chianti Classico 2013, Docg Tuscany, Italy (977629, $29.95, WineAlign)

Fonterutoli’s “second wine” pays exceptional attention to fruit quality, drawing from five different limestone sites and bringing them all together with balance. The minor tonic is an asset to the major fruit and a tie of acidity. Classic Castellina in Chianti richness and sun-driven excellence. Few CC’s are as firm and structured within the arena of such exceptional fruit. This is so modern and bright you might have to wear shades but the stylistic is achieved with grace, class and culture. Never forget where you are from. Mazzei. Fonterutoli. Castellina. Chianti Classico. Drink 2018-2024. Tasted August 2016 @MarchesiMazzei @chianticlassico @ProfileWineGrp

Jean Collet & Fils Montée De Tonnerre Chablis 1er Cru 2014, Ac Burgundy, France (405720, $37.95, WineAlign)

Just amazing pitch and imploding vitality from a climat that demands traditional winemaking (in 100 per cent old wood) so as not to detract from a classic flinty, steely Chablis direction. No bells and whistles, just rocks and stones and straight ahead chardonnay. Takes what the vintage gives and tackles the rest. Drink 2018-2024. Tasted August 2016 @BIVBChablis @purechablis

Losi Millennium Gran Selezione Chianti Classico 2010, Docg Tuscany (459735, $38.95, WineAlign)

Every great wine dissolves a genre or creates a new one and in the context of Gran Selezione, Pietro Losi and Giorgio Baldi’s Millenium 2010 concludes the latter. In a category where so much changes and yet nothing at all, the choice to pick individual plants, specific vines and particular bunches of grapes as destined for a vision of greatness defines the ideal that wine is indeed made in the vineyard. This Chianti Classico Riserva sees 36 months in 10hL barrels and it is a wine that has essentially been made since since 1997. It went to market again in 1999 and then it was 2000 that prescribed the Millenium, followed by 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009. Subsequent top quality vintages are 2011, 2012 and 2015. The selected vines and particular bunches produce on average and approximately 4800 bottles. Take note of the most perfume and yet not the most savour, forest or truffle but there are hints, with some fennochio and the most grip to lead a sangiovese (with five per cent each canaiolo and malvasia nera) structure. The finest tannic grain runs through, lifted by tang meets sour over tart so round and specific to Gran Selezione. This wine is a highly accomplished specimen and a portal in ode to a great grandfather who started his day with wine and cheese, for energy. He imbibed for everyday consumption, just as water would nourish as it should be with this wine for food and contemplation. A wine with a finish minutes long. Drink 2018-2028. Tasted May 2016 @Valerialosi @chianticlassico

Humility only exceeded by impossibility @normhardie #pec #countyinthecity Pinot Noir 2014

Norman Hardie County Unfiltered Pinot Noir 2014, VQA Prince Edward County, Ontario (125310, $45.20, WineAlign)

A second taste four months later confirms the impossibility from Hardie in 2014, a vintage that just begs for Norm’s magic handling, from exemplary, slow-developed fruit off of a vintage’s hyperbole of low-yielding vines. The low alcohol continuum persists, the freshness and richness of County berries magnifies and the development of flavour is beyond and above. The tart is a membrane and the sweetness a virtue, feigned and delicate. Tremendous work made easy by Norm and a pinot noir that will live longer than any he has produced before. Drink 2017-2027. Tasted August 2016.

In Prince Edward County and for Pinot Noir there is no substitute and no comparison. Quixotically sweet Pinot Noir fruit, from the lowest of the low yields, scrupulously heeded and handled with care and yet also, somehow without a care to the world. As self-effacingly pretty and impossible as ever though in 2014 the tensity is lower, the anxiety bereft and not so crucially or dearly developed. There is almost no crisis from out of this first of the near-crisis vintages. This is an early to love Norm Pinot Noir, brought to life and with red citrus that only a Hardie low alcohol Pinot can bring. Humility only exceeded by impossibility. Ready to enjoy younger than most. Tasted April 2016 @normhardie

Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir 2013, Dundee Hills, Oregon (961284, $52.95, WineAlign)

Beautifully firm Dundee Hills pinot noir requesting some patience before it will submit and offer near instant gratification. The fruit is wonderfully, naturally sweet with an underlying saline current and so much ripe yet tart currant fruit. This gift wraps French Beaune soul and Oregon soil in one exemplary pinot noir package. Will develop righteously for up to ten years. A stroke of balanced genius from winemaker Arron Bell. Drink 2018-2023. Tasted August 2016 @DrouhinOregon @FWMCan

Good to go!

Twitter: @mgodello

Instagram: mgodello

WineAlign

Chablis from Dauvissat to Vocoret

Aug8

The new temple of #chablis Eleni & Edouard #vocoret #vignerons #vocoropoulos #offthecharts

He’s a seventh generation Chablis winemaker and she’s Greek-German. He has worked with Daniel Barraud (Pouilly Fuissé) and she with Vincent Dauvissat. They met during the 2010 harvest in New Zealand and currently farm five hectares in Chablis. Their tiny domain produces just a few wines, Chablis Bas de Chapelot (just beneath Montée de Tonnerre), Chablis Premier Cru Butteaux (next to La Forêt) and Chablis Les Pargues (bordered by La Forêt and Butteaux). Their karma, instinctive roots and beautiful impossibilities can only intrinsically and kinaesthetically be linked to family, tradition and to the work of Vincent Dauvissat. I have met and tasted the future of Chablis and its name is Edouard Vocoret and Eleni Theodoropoulos.

That undeniable truth might come to fruition were Edouard and Eleni looking to expand their empire. The current output (the catastrophe of 2016 notwithstanding) is somewhere in the vicinity of 15,000 with the vineyard capacity to produce up to 30,000 bottles. The future is bright but it’s also invisible. Good luck finding a single bottle of “Vocoropoulos” Chablis anywhere, not in Canada or even at the modest, cramped, rudimentary and perfectly tidy domain. The couple have no plans to get bigger.

The ferments are all spontaneous, the barrels old. They ignore sugar levels and always pick on acidity potential. “We are looking for minerality and tension,” explains Vocoret. Their Chablis achieves exactly that and with off the charts levels of dry extract and ulterior tannin. The wines are receptive to new sensations yet restrained by old sensibilities. The spiritual education being witnessed is writing the couple’s bildungsroman. Who would not be engrossed in reading through the chapters of their life?

So why would two reluctant rock stars want to limit themselves to such an insignificant quantity of output when the Chablis they craft is such a perfect amalgamation of traditional values and forward thinking, naturally approximated execution? “We wouldn’t be able to make the same wines,” evinces Theodoropoulos. I’m not sure I agree. These two could make wine from water. What’s 3,000 more bottles in the grand quality scheme of things?

Kickin’ back with the gentle #chablis renegade giants, Edouard Vocoret and Eleni Theodoropoulos #domaineelenietedouardvocoret #vocoropoulos

My visit with Eleni and Edouard happened at the end of a day filled with many Chablis pursuits and was followed by the most extreme of pivotal days. It began with a breakfast of champions visit and tasting in the cellar with Patrick Piuze. On Piuze’s wines I will examine later. Patrick then made the introduction with Vincent Dauvissat who had just come down from assessing climatic and mildew damage in his vineyards. His face said it all. The man, the ghost. No grapes. Vincent is not alone this summer in Chablis as a vigneron possessive of a complicated vintage that officially turned to one word. Catastrophe.

A great pleasure and exercize in humility to taste with #vincentdauvissat in his cellar @BIVBChablis #humanity #chablis

Vincent Dauvissat the professional and the gentleman shook aside the sudden realization of mother nature’s cataclysmic consequence and led the way down into his cellar. And then without a noise, magic simply happened. We tasted through barrels and older wines, opened a week earlier. The musicality of Vincent Dauvissat’s wines are self-conscious without being self-regarding. Their aromas, flavours and textures tend to themselves, to Chablis and to the world at large. In a good year Dauvissat produces approximately 75,000 bottles. Petit Chablis, Chablis, Premier Cru Séchets, Vaillons, Montmains, Forêts, Grand Crus Les Preuses and Les Clos. Oak is always used in the range of 10-15 per cent. Prices will be raised as a result of what has happened in 2016. One hundred per cent vineyard loss to hail, more hail, rain and mildew. Total, utter devastation. Disaster. Stock up on 2014 if you can and in the case of Dauvissat and Vocoret, ’15 as well.

Here are the wines tasted at the two domains, mostly from barrel.

Domaine Eleni et Edouard Vocoret

Domaine Eleni et Edouard Vocoret Chablis Les Pargues 2015, Burgundy, France (Barrel Sample)

The block (with duplicitous exposure) to the adjacent climats of Premier Cru La Forêt and Butteaux was destroyed by hail in 2016. All of it. Though 2015 was a solid, middle of the road, commercial hit vintage, Les Pargues by Vocoret is anything but. On a line somewhere between 12 and 12.5 per cent alcohol it exhibits such body and gorgeous texture made ethereally corporeal by its complex carbohydrate-mineral reality. In this sense we are graced with Chablis sometimes peculiarly histrionic and at others, stubbornly passive. The dichotomy is amazing. Will emerge as one of the great 2015s and live well into the end of the next decade. Drink 2018-2028. Tasted July 2016

Domaine Eleni et Edouard Vocoret Chablis Bas de Chapelot 2015, Burgundy, France (Barrel Sample)

Another block with Premier Cru exposure and situation, just beneath the Montée de Tonnerre and what others might refer to as cuvée première, though Edouard and Eleni simply let the wine speak for itself. It hailed and rained just before picking but the washing away of impurities trumped what damage and/or dilution may have resulted. The élevage was the same as Les Pargues which means “do nothing.” Extract and concentration are extraordinary in a Chablis that is courteous in its acceptance of paradox and dialectical ministrations in which things that are old are inexplicably made new again. Raveneau enters the discussion here (along with Dauvissat), at least in terms of potential aging but Vocoret is not either of these two domains. Edouard and Eleni are the new gentle, renegade, go it alone Chablis giants. We’ll see just how far this goes. Drink 2017-2027. Tasted July 2016

In the cellar at Domaine René et Vincent Dauvissat

Domaine René et Vincent Dauvissat

Domaine René et Vincent Dauvissat Petite Chablis 2015, Burgundy, France (Barrel Sample)

Crisp, clean, pure and classic Chablis. If I were to buy only one Petite Chablis, this would be it. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted July 2016

Domaine René et Vincent Dauvissat Chablis 2015, Burgundy, France (Barrel Sample)

Repeats the virtues of the Petite Chablis with a wider open window of clarity and acidity a rung up the terroir ladder. Fully realized phenolic ripeness, naturally optimized and fully consumed, basic Chablis potential. A wine void of addition or adjustment. Pure Chablis. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted July 2016

Domaine René et Vincent Dauvissat Chablis Premier Cru Séchets 2015, Burgundy, France (Barrel Sample)

Linear, focused, precise and of an acidity aquiver in ever so slight oscillation. Chablis that delves into the poor, calcareous soil and angles of its slope. Dauvissat uses Séchets as if to avoid being overly serious while allowing its vines to procure fruit able to walk an unwavering, straight line. An erudite experience in the absence of profundity. Drink 2018-2025. Tasted July 2016

Domaine René et Vincent Dauvissat Chablis Premier Cru Vaillons 2015, Burgundy, France (Barrel Sample)

A heart and soul textured Chablis, round and yet demonstrative, in wonderful balance. Acidity and alcohol work in and out of one harmoniously smooth groove, leaving freshness to stand clear of the tension. The clarity of Vaillons and its southwestern position in relation to the village of Chablis are broadcast with utter clarity from out of a Dauvissat barrel. More approachable than the rest. Drink 2017-2023. Tasted July 2016

Bits of Dauvissat terroir

Domaine René et Vincent Dauvissat Chablis Premier Cru Forêts 2015, Burgundy, France (Barrel Sample)

Only Forêts breathes like this, with the confidential creak of oak, in the Dauvissat way. The density here is deeper, the layering consummately plied and the citrus interwoven into atmosphere. The quite politesse of its consummation pumps air into intelligent texture, like mousse, of soft curd, creamy and also tart. The length is outstanding. Drink 2018-2030. Tasted July 2016

Domaine René et Vincent Dauvissat Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses 2015, Burgundy, France (Barrel Sample)

Vincent Dauvissat thieves a sample of Les Preuses before Les Clos, even though there are some who feel you can never follow Preuses. In Dauvissat’s world you can. His Preuses is a living, breathing incarnation of the Grand Cru, with kimmeridgian organza as a sheath to cover and protect the delicasse of fruit. The level of orchard phenolics is unprecedented, even for this Cru and the operative word is purity. Intoxicating clarity. Les Preuses by Vincent establishes my experience of his actual wines as opposed to others’ claims made on their behalf. Drink 2020-2035. Tasted July 2016

Domaine René et Vincent Dauvissat Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 2015, Burgundy, France (Barrel Sample)

I am quick to concede that a mere sample of Dauvissat’s Les Clos is the epitome of the class, calm and distinction that defines the most famous and largest Grand Cru. Purity here is drawn of a bigger picture, with lines that demarcate the perfect orchard within the gates of an untouched Eden. The magnitude of the Cru is impressed with just two sips and I’m left with a feeling of “my goodness.” I nod and there is understanding. But there is some wood there, felt in a way no previous sample has put forth. Following Les Preuses makes perfect sense in Dauvissat’s world. Though this is five years from readying itself, Les Clos winds down just enough so that it may be heard, surveyed and thus enjoyed. Drink 2021-2039. Tasted July 2016

Domaine René et Vincent Dauvissat Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 2001, Burgundy, France

Tasted from a bottle opened five days prior which is nothing really for a wine that can age easily for 30 years. It resides in a perfect state. Vincent concedes “over 20 there is nothing to be gained” and yet the still terrifically raging acidity would suggest this 15 year-old specimen is only halfway there. The texture is nothing if not persuasive. In 1931 Vincent’s father began this journey. Here 70 years later is a wine so perfectly intact, the lemon-waxy aspect almost on the edge of the hive. But not quite because of the taut bracing and tight embracing. There is a chew to this and Dauvissat shrugs. “What’s to say?” Nothing but a great piece of his history and his father’s legacy. If this wine is a sentimental tribute to a childhood village, it is never uncomplicated. Drink 2016-2031. Tasted July 2016

Good to go!

Twitter: @mgodello

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Greeks and other fish in VINTAGES August 6th

Aug6

#nofilter

What sort of wine are you looking for? What do you want to find in that bottle you pluck from the VINTAGES shelf in your local LCBO? Do you wish for aromas unknown or unknowable? A reliquary filled with immiscible liquid? Flavours to incite a curious rictus? Would you hope for incredulity cut with familiarity? Enigmatic morsels or koans? None of the above?

No, none of the above. What you want in the here and now is to be satiated by simple pleasures. Whilst we find ourselves suspended in the throes of a scorching Ontario summer there can never be such a thing as too many thirst quenching wines, especially whites, like the Moschofilero I recommend below. Greece is the word and in terms of go to Greek whites Moschofilero may play second violi to Assyrtiko but Mantinia is a special place for the aromatic Peloponnese variety. Assyrtiko by the sea? Sure. Moschofilero by the lake or the pool? Bring it on. And 11 more great buys from today’s VINTAGES August 6th release.

Kir Yianni Akakies Rosé 2015, Ac Amyndeon, Macedonia, Greece (71050, $12.95, WineAlign)

Cavino Deus Mavrodaphne Of Patras, Ao Greece (452060, $13.95, WineAlign)

This is a rare sighting in Ontario for the Patras curated sweet mavrodaphne, a wine of history and tradition that price does nothing to indicate. The style is Tawny Port like, of dried fruits (figs and apricots) with a spicy edge from old wood and a long finish. This is a true divergence from just about any sweet wine you will have ever tasted because the red variety brings a tannic firmness and singular personality to the diversion. It’s balanced and worth checking out. Drink 2016-2025. Tasted July 2016 #Cavino @DrinkGreekWine

Tsantali Reserve 2011, Pdo Naoussa, Greece (209627, $16.95, WineAlign)

Tart and taut, with bright to bursting red fruit and tones off the proverbial Naoussa charts. Quite wildly composed, with berries from the woods, smoky underbrush and a forest floor undertone. Resin, leather and respect. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted July 2016 @TSANTALI_wines @KolonakiGroup @winesofnaoussa @DrinkGreekWine

Troupis Mantinia Moschofilero 2015, Pdo Mantinia, Greece (463422, $16.95, WineAlign)

Mantinia is a special place for Moschofilero and this ripping example from Troupis should not be missed. The straightforward citrus in the Fiteri version is lifted to hyperbole in the Mantinia with more salinity, mineral and top notch acidity. At this price ($17) the value quotient is simply crazy good bordering on ridiculous. The stony texture and piquant nature is revitalizing. There is also more weight and alcohol but never at a deterrent or a compromise to freshness. Whole grilled Branzino or Porgies with lemon and olive oil would make for a perfect foil. This Moschofilero also has the stuffing to age and develop some honey. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted July 2016 @TroupisWinery @VictoryWine @DrinkGreekWine

Thorn Clarke Eden Trail Riesling 2015, Eden Valley, South Australia, Australia (457242, $16.95, WineAlign)

A beautiful label gives way to a ripe and gregarious riesling from the most excellent of locales in the Eden Valley. The green mango and lime sherbet is a dry treat, stand alone and facing the crowd. Represents arid riesling from Eden for all the right reasons and succeeds without compromise. Will find peace in a land of milk and honey after seven years or so. Tremendous entry-level value to feign and accompany the single-vineyard and special selection courtesan kind from the Eden. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted July 2016 @thorn_clarke @LiffordON

La Griffe Bernard Chéreau Muscadet Sèvre & Maine 2014, Sur Lie, Ap Loire, France (948182, $16.95, WineAlign)

A rich and multi-crustaceous/mollusc edgy melon de bourgogne, briny, fleshy and beginning to develop. A most excellent example for a big chill and a mess of creatures edging out of their shells. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted July 2016 @HHDImports_Wine @LoireValleyWine

Mullineux Wines Kloof Street Red 2014, Western Cape, South Africa (460964, $19.95, WineAlign)

A six varietal blend with essential, yeoman’s work put in by shiraz (86 per cent) with bits of grenache, mourvedre, tinto barocca and cinsault. The schist and the simple combine to tell the world in entry-level vernacular of the Swartland revolution that’s happening right now. The purity found here is in an unidentified, free, indirect South African style of modernistic, red blend narrative. Chris and Andrea Mullineux are here represented at ground level with pure, unadulterated red wine joy. Everyone must spend $20 over and over to enjoy what this will offer. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted July 2016 @MullineuxWines @MullineuxChris @Nicholaspearce_@WOSACanada @WOSA_ZA

La Cadierenne Cuvée Grande Tradition Bandol Rosé 2015, Ac Provence, France (119453, $20.95, WineAlign)

Alpha Estate Turtles Vineyard Syrah 2011, Greece (115295, $21.95, WineAlign)

Turtles is a southern block of infertile soil facing northwest (Greek for most excellent exposure) facing Petron Lake at Alpha Estate. The area was an ancient nesting place for the local species of Chelonii on the Amyndeon plateau in northwestern Greek Macedonia. A whiff of this rich and thoroughly modern red seems to shake the foundations of syrah and brings Amyndeon into the front page discussion. Some syrah in parts of Australia smell just like this; smoky, meaty, peppery and just plain strong. Built of big bones is the order of syrah call and here the gait and the structure is followed. This is quite emblematic of what can be accessed and accomplished from a special cool site that faces adroitly in the face of heat. The power and the corporeal design are nothing short of impressive. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted July 2016 @EstateAlpha @FlorinaAmyndeon @DrinkGreekWine

Buena Vista Chardonnay 2014, Sonoma County, California (396440, $24.95, WineAlign)

With thanks to the vintage and a smartly scaled ripeness versus barrel relationship, the Buena Vista Sonoma County chardonnay works out on the cool climate treadmill of style. The wood is proportioned with restraint in such a way as to allow fruit and acidity to spot one another. It’s still a commercial wine but it’s pretty, balanced and long. In 2014 the Buena Vista winemaker has smartly handed off this chardonnay to an implied community in village chorus, but the tune is new and improved. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted July 2016 @BuenaVistaWines @sonomavintners @UNIVINS

J. & J. Eger Kékfrankos 2011, Eged Hegy Vineyard, Hungary (446591, $24.95, WineAlign)

Though I have tasted this on no fewer than six occasions over the past 18 months, this is the first time I am penning a note on its behalf. It persists as ripe and succulent kefrankos with more than enough juice to stand up, be heard and defend itself. Here a wine of firm handshake and slight microbial aromas, tart and dripping humidity. There is still plenty of life as seen in how it cools itself, balancing the metabolic processes with savour and sapidity. Very charming red from Hungary. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted July 2016 @brixandmortar @johnszabo #Egedhegy

Colli Di Lapio Fiano Di Avellino 2014, Docg Campania, Italy (455253, $30.95, WineAlign)

Pitch near-perfect seafood companion from Campania, briny, stony, rock crag-crunchy and oyster shell myopic. Searing of sea breeze intensity with a calm demeanour so that it lingers without returning with storm-lashing discomfort. Fiano that gets to the crux of its own austerity is a beautiful thing as witnessed in the pure open vitality of this Colli di Lapio. Drink 2016-2021. Tasted July 2016 #collidilapio #fianodiavellino @Reg_Campania

Good to go!

Twitter: @mgodello

Instagram: mgodello

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Fifteen in VINTAGES July 23rd

Jul20

#toast

While life is a blur there is always wine. In the past month the WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada, Chablis and three VINTAGES releases have seen me taste through more than 800 glasses of wine. This is something I do often in a four-week stretch but this, this was something other. It was intense.

During the same stretch I completed my tasting notes on 50 Chianti Classico (including 18 Gran Selezione) and those ruminating thoughts will be published in the coming weeks. Tomorrow I head down to Niagara for the sixth annual International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration, or as it is affectionately hash-tagged, #i4c16. Just in case I didn’t have enough tasting notes to transcribe, edify, pop-culture aggrandize, indoctrinate and embellish, well, get ready for 100 more.

For now there is the upcoming July 23rd VINTAGES release and 15 wines I recommend with Godello certainty. Now if I could just get off this grid.

Sutherland Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Wo Elgin, South Africa (203877, $14.95, WineAlign)

A pungent, insistently perfumed cooler clime sauvignon blanc from a big, need to be picked quick crop. Spice, grapefruit, agave and yellow flowers and with more texture than its Thelema ’14 cousin. Fleshy, tropical, juicy, ripe and spirited. Classic Elgin cool savour running linear like a beam through the joist of structure. High quality fruit ready for all comers. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted September 2015 and July 2016 @ThelemaWines @WOSA_ZA @WOSACanada

Castillo De Almansa Old Vines Selection 2010, Almansa, Spain (586719, $16.95, WineAlign)

Rich and concentrated, nicely balanced between roping fruit and ripping acidity. Has real firepower but enough sense to remain calm at the right moments. Plenty of verve, concentration and development from old vines and the stuffing to stand up to blessed char off the grill. Terrific summer BBQ red. Will also work for winter stew. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted July 2016 @BodegasPiqueras @almansaturismo @DionysusWines

Vinedos Y Bodegas Pablo Menguante Garnacha Selección 2012, Cariñena, Spain (313833, $16.95, WineAlign)

Two years on and with more oak this is a very different animal than the subdued ’14, integrated but on the other side of the aromosphere. The oak is dominant, vanilla and cocoa are the great waft in what is ostensibly pitch perfect fruit, in bottle on the dark side of the moon. Coconut, vanilla extract and cinnamon. The wood brings layered and sheathed character. Very plush and notes Jorge, “if you come to Cariñena to experience Garnacha, this wine will allow you to discover the wonders of American oak.” The deep fruit and earth melded into and by the barrel makes for a very pleasurable drop. The ’08 released into the Ontario market in November 2014 lends credence to the ageability of this Garnacha. Drink 2015-2019. Tasted October 2015 and July 2016 @GranViu @VinosCarinena @DoCarinena @Vinexxperts

Quails’ Gate Gewürztraminer 2014, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (354480, $17.95, WineAlign)

The ripest Quail’s Gate gewürztraminer ever may be some kind of anomic desert hyperbole but wow is this fleshy, extracted and beautiful. Spicy too, with a minor citrus pith and almost into slight effervescence. Fun with gewürztraminer. Drink 2016-2018. Tasted July 2016 @Quails_Gate @hobbsandco @AMH_hobbsandco

Santa Rita Medalla Real Syrah 2012, Limarí Valley, Chile (443523, $17.95, WineAlign)

From the northerly clime of the Limari this is seductively floral syrah with an edge of peppery spice. It just feels balanced on the nose and silky sweet in mouthfeel. Pushes characterization towards incomplex tautology. Linger with it long enough and the fine tannins will rear and bring everything back to earth. Cue the value jingle. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted July 2016 @SantaRitaEst @WinesofChile @DrinkChile @ImportWineMAFWM @MarkAnthonyWine

Redstone Limestone Vineyard South Riesling 2012, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Ontario (381251, $19.20, WineAlign)

The lower bowl of this Tawse-Redstone plot is the shiny one, as in happy scintillant of riesling proportions. A year on the attitude persists, in lime and honey, acacia and beeswax. Terrific tartness and direct enjoyable deposit. Enough mineral to satisfy a calcaire lover’s soul. @RedstoneWines @Tawse_Winery @DanielatTawse

From my earlier note of May 2015:

So much lime and liquid chalk make for desired and dreamy texture. The lime slides like a slick of oil into the full flavours, spiked by peach and white plum liqueur. Terrific 20 Mile value. Drink 2015-2019.

From my earlier note of May 2014:

This inaugural Riesling foray from atop the Twenty Mile Bench out of the Limestone Vineyard is a sister to the Tawse exploration from same. The comparisons end right there. Paul Pender’s take is kinetic, frenetic and electric. Redstone winemaker Rene Van Ede tends to and lends from a reconnaissance that heralds Mosel. His first, fixed take is off-dry (in obvious ubiquity) with circular acidity. The co-agitation is early picked at low brix, with realized high residual sugar (36.4 g/L) and low alcohol (10 per cent). Toothsome, with a ying/yang, lemon/lime, push/pull. The case load is formidable for a first go ’round (1000 plus) yet paddled through limestone acreage with effortless strokes.

Last tasted July 2016

Corte Giara Ripasso Valpolicella 2013, Doc Veneto, Italy (83964, $19.95, WineAlign)

Lovely Ripasso liqueur with pretty red fruit and compressed earthy accents. Resides on the correct side of tart and the exemplary aspect of sweet, fine-grained tannin. Accomplishes Ripasso intimacy by doing so at a mimetic remove. Lingers like a perfect pastille. Drink 2016-2019. Tasted July 2016 @AllegriniWine @C_Valpolicella @RegioneVeneto

William Fèvre Champs Royaux Chablis 2014, Ac Burgundy, France (461640, $24.95, WineAlign)

The Champs Royaux is Chablis drawn from a selection of Fèvre’s better grower contracts and five to 10 per cent is aged in old oak, the rest in stainless steel. It is a generalized but oh too important expression from kimmeridgian soil, hedged and qualified from all over Chablis. Takes all the hills, valleys, les clos and slope/aspect dimensions into account. It is textbook Chablis, a guarantee of quality, especially out of the cracker 2014 vintage. The fruit is ripe and the acidity a study in Chablis exactitude. The balance may be the best this cuvée has ever shown. Drink 2016-2020. Tasted July 2016 @williamfevre_ @WoodmanWS @BIVBChablis @purechablis

Roger & Didier Raimbault Sancerre 2014, Ac Loire Valley, France (82255, $26.95, WineAlign)

This white scintillant by Raimbault from Sancerre is laid out with clear instruction, like Rimbaud through Van Morrison, in precisely what sauvignon blanc needs to impress from the Loire. The beseeching immanent, insulated implosion of fruit, searing mineral and tannin multiplying within a bubble. This is tres fort fricative stuff, tart without any excess tang, notes all important and leading to a grand result. Pungency does not enter the vocabulary but the mouthful of stones is palpable and sonant. Raimbault’s 2014 offered up a sense of wonder, “showed me ways and means and motions. showed me what it’s like to be. Gave me days of deep devotions, showed me things I cannot see.” Essential sauvignon blanc with poise, precision and mandatory feel. Sincere Sancerre tore down a la Rimbaud. Drink 2016-2022. Tasted July 2016

Château Des Charmes St. David’s Bench Vineyard Cabernet Franc 2012, VQA St. David’s Bench, Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (453415, $27.95, WineAlign)

I’d put my money down on a French woman to work magic from cabernet franc grown on the warm, generous and giving St. David’s Bench. Lo and behold here is Amélie Boury with such fruit of spot on varietal countenance, magnified by the exhort of 2012. The gifts of that vintage could have been clouded with oak smothers but that case is not presented nor was it predicted. Boury certainly makes use of the barrel but its presence is textural, with mellow spice and for la longeur. This will develop efficiently and with grace, from this current anglaise stage into something modern Loire Valley en croute. It will accrue its culture and its character over seven to 10 years. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted July 2016 @MBosc

Bachelder Hautes Côtes De Beaune 2013, Ac Burgundy, France (445247, $27.95, WineAlign)

My sweet Beaune from Thomas Bachelder, as in sweet on the spontaneous haute ideal, not the cloying of residual imbalance. From a winemaker who lets his wines narrate themselves. Exemplary by George (well, Thomas) of a Beaune perfume with an underlay of acidity and tannin. No bitters here, nor astringent behaviour, nor harassment, which is nice. My sweet Beaune. Hm, my Beaune. Hm, my Beaune. Though a touch firm at present, a year ahead will see it come closer to hallelujah harmony. Drink 2017-2020. Tasted July 2016 @Bachelder_wines @BourgogneWines @vinsdebourgogne @LiffordON

Querciabella Chianti Classico 2013, Docg Tuscany, Italy (728816, $37.95, WineAlign)

Remarkable sangiovese so fleshy and forthright, modern and of an extreme brightness of being. There is an underlying Greve truth be told in moderation, tradition and historical meets varietal significance but it’s a new oration. This means that the structure is both sound and hermetically sealed. The lightness of volatility is a reminder of the past but it treads so delicately you just know this is a shining star pointing the way to the future. A brilliant “normale” without the the new slang of Gran Selezione but in many respects it may as well be. Drink 2018-2025. Tasted July 2016 @Querciabella @chianticlassico @rogcowines

Fisticuffs Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Napa Valley, California (457507, $49.95, WineAlign)

From Pavi Wines comes this study in hedonistic Napa Valley balance from out of a top-notch vintage. Ripe fruit and oak spice dance a simple cabernet sauvignon language with rope-a-dope drupe, right-handed acidity and a solid tannic left. A peremptory wine but its message is an assertion rather than a persuasion. Not a heavyweight by any means but behold the high-strung, svelte and agile middleweight. Possessive of the stuffing and the stamina to go a full fifteen rounds. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted July 2016

Flowers Sonoma Coast Chardonnay 2014, Sonoma Coast, California (215210, $68.95, WineAlign)

A near perfect vintage after a mild winter was presented to shape this ripe gathering of increased extraction. Though the previous years pale in comparison, there can be no mistaking the load of impression. The causation supplied by extreme coastal vineyards with dramatic altitude stretches and elongates the fruit and so it is hard to get to know the oak. The bite is toothsome into great green apple, perfectly ripened grapefruit and a far eastern note of Indonesian sasak (snake) fruit. The materials and the handling are as one, from purchased coastal fruit to winemaker Dave Keatley’s acquiescent dispensation. Delicate fortitude from Sonoma. Where else before but here can chardonnay sire and develop such a family? Drink 2016-2022. Tasted July 2016 @FlowersWinery @rogcowines @sonomavintners

Two Hands Samantha’s Garden Shiraz 2013, Clare Valley, South Australia, Australia (67355, $71.95, WineAlign)

This is simply gorgeous shiraz from the Clare Valley. A wine of balance, precision and focus. It seems the wood regimen has been relaxed in welcoming retreat. On a rare occasion when a garden of flowers can bloom through despite so much fruit and an equal tempering by wood, well that is a joyous thing. The texture is woven from pure silk and the quality of the ganache painted with the finest brush. This never over soaks, runs roughshod or lays down the hammer. It is a fine-tuned shiraz of the highest esteem. Drink 2018-2030. Tasted July 2016 @twohandswine @bwwines @Wine_Australia

Good to go!

Twitter: @mgodello

Instagram: mgodello

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Raveneau’s Grand Cru Blanchot 2009

Jul11

Down by the river with #raveneau #grandcru #blanchot #chablis @lafolieauxerre #2009 #francoisraveneau #thankful

A week crawling through Chablis is blissful beyond imagination. Though 2016 has been and will always be the most challenging and complicated in recorded recent history, Chablis will survive and its ethos will persist. I will be penning a chilliad of Chablis thoughts, memories and tasting notes in the coming months, but for now there is Raveneau.

The peerless Kermit Lynch has referred to Domaine François Raveneau as “the most sublime and the most celebrated estate of Chablis.” Production is minuscule, quality at the apex of the Chablis psyche and availability rare as endangered species.

Dinner at Auxerre’s Restaurant Le Folie was accompanied by a Raveneau rarity, the Grand Cru Blanchot 2009. On this I wrote my note.

Domaine François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot 2009, Burgundy, France

It would be misleading to address Raveneau’s Blanchot as chardonnay even as we know it as such because Raveneau produces wines as unique as door keys. They are so inimitable and each will only open the gate to its own unique perception. Blanchot is the southernmost of the seven Chablis Grand Cru climats and blankets the southeastern side of Les Clos. The Raveneau narration does not convey the notion of manifest feeling but instead splits the axiomatic atom of the climat. A sip and you are inside the Blanchot, gliding and passing through rock as if you are the ethereal and the wine is the solid foundation of thought, pathos and avowal. There are aromas that combine citrus and umami with a sweetness that can’t be denied or defined. The wine is just a child, complex, shy and yet unable to express both its meaning and power. But you try to get inside its head, stumbling over kimmeridgian rock replete with the smithereen-crushed shells of ancient fossils. This is a calm young Blanchot and you melt away while under its spell. Three more years should render its hidden meaning. Drink 2019-2034. Tasted July 2016.

Singular setting. Diversified flavours. In a word, merveilleux. @LaFolieAuxerre #julienmartinat #auxerre

Good to go!

Twitter: @mgodello

Instagram: mgodello

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Category Archives: France

Eleven fifteen

Looking for Chablis in Ontario?

In VINTAGES September 3rd, 2016

In VINTAGES September 17th, 2016

Always available on the LCBO General List

In VINTAGES October 15th, 2016

In VINTAGES October 29th, 2016

Future VINTAGES releases

VINTAGES Classics

But first, October

If I could buy only thirteen

Days of wine and Rosés

VINTAGES August 20, 2016 release

Agent/Private Import/Winery Direct

VINTAGES August 6, 2016 release

VINTAGES July 23, 2016 release

VINTAGES June 25, 2016 release

VINTAGES June 11, 2016 release

Reading of the last whites (and reds)

Chablis from Dauvissat to Vocoret

Domaine Eleni et Edouard Vocoret

Domaine René et Vincent Dauvissat

Greeks and other fish in VINTAGES August 6th

Fifteen in VINTAGES July 23rd

Raveneau’s Grand Cru Blanchot 2009