Helen’s blog

Thoughts and tastings from Helen Savage, wine writer.

Michel Chapoutier

July 15th, 2011

The House of Chapoutier not only produces some of the finest wines from the Rhône, but also from an increasing number estates further afield. The quality across the range is impressively high.

Here are some notes from white wines tasted at the winery in tain l’Hermitage on 25 June. I’ll post notes on the whites tomorrow – after a day trying to catch up after a hectic few weeks travelling, I need to get ready for the Vine Visit summer dinner!

Alsace Riesling Grand Cru Wiebelsberg 2009

Fine, ripe lemony fruit, with a hint of honey. Good intensity, fine acids and classic lingering minerality – a wine with potential to age beautifully and an extraordinarily impressive début.

Le Vignes de Bila-Haut, Côtes du Roussillon 2009 (Blanc)

From a property bought ten years ago a blend of Grenache Gris, Grenache Blanc and Maccabeu. It shows honeyed,very spicy, slightly peppery, peachy fruit and a lot of minerality. The acids are again fine and fresh. The finish is both salty-mineral and quite phenolic.

Saint-Péray, ‘ Les Tanneurs’ 2010.

A classic blend of Marsanne and a little Roussanne (apparently Marcel is no great fan of Roussanne). It shows a lovely intensity of ripe honeysuckle-scented fruit, with clean acidity and a fine mineral persistence. An outstanding effort this year.

Chateauneuf du Pape, 2009 ‘La Bernadine’

Pure Grenache Blanc. This has a remarkably deep colour, an aroma or orange and apricot and a rich minerality and a hint of spicy oak. Despite its big, spicy texture, it’s also focused and fresh.

Condrieu, 2009 ‘Invitare’

Unoaked, fine and complex, with an intense pear skin aroma and a very spicy flavour. Rich, round and really quite soft.

Hermitage, 2007 ‘Chante Alouette’

Already quite an old gold (the Marsanne is pressed very slowly) showing notes of confit lime and lemon and fine minerality. Big, rich but with balanced acids and typically lingering minerality.

Saint-Jospeh 2007 ‘Les Granits’

More pour Marsanne from this special single vineyard – a creamier more intense wine than Chante Alouette with orange and greengage fruit and wonderful softness and impressive minerality.

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Louis Jadot

July 1st, 2011

I have always been impressed by the consistency, right across the range, of Burgundy wines and Beaujolais from Louis Jadot. They are good, often very good, and though seldom the very best wines of their appellation are always fair and typical expressions of it and of their vintage. They are also easy to find in the UK – distributed in the major supermarkets and Majestic, as well as high-end independents.Their entry levels are benchmarks for Burgundy – excellently made and true to type.

My account of a visit to the cellars in Beaune in June is in today’s Journal

I tasted the following wines with Dominique Mounier, Jadot’s general manager.

Macon Villages 2010

Clean, melony Chardonnay, vinified in stainless steel. Crisply, citrus and fresh with some concentration of fruit.

Bourgogne Chardonnay 2009

Richer and nuttier than the Macon, with lemony fruit and fresh acidity – a blend of Cote d’Or and Maconnais fruit, very well put together.

Saint Aubin 2007 (Blanc)

Surprisingly floral, the ripe fruit is well supported by just enough oak. It has tangy acidity and a little minerality – a very attractive wine.

Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru Morgeot 2001 (Blanc)

Now quite a deep gold, this is a big, soft and quite powerful wine, and just a little oxidative, with a smell of walnuts. Again it’s oxidative on the palate, rich and a little bitter/phenolic. I don’t think it will improve. I asked Dominique Mounier if sulphur levels have been diminished in recent years – a moot question in Burgundy. He told me that they have been increased at Jadot and attempted to put me in my place by adding that most wine writers have recognised the folly of too low sulphur levels … I am obviously not in the mainstream.

Beaujolais Villages 2010

‘We believe in Beaujolais’ affirms Mounier and this is a fine result: full of bright, crunchy red cherry fruit with a hint of something darker and more concentrated.

Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2008

Not too deep, but beautifully perfumed and with nicely balanced redcurrant and raspberry fruit – a very good effort.

Nuits Saint Georges Premier Cru, Aux Boudots, 2005

From a superb site, on the border with Vosne-Romanée, this has something of the exciting perfume of its neighbour – violets with ripe black fruit. It is splendidly complex and rich, with lingering silky tannins.

Corton-Les Pougets Grand Cru 1999

Fabulous aroma of bitter cherries in alcohol with darker fruit underneath; rich, still quite chewy and powerful, it seems young. A great mouthful of fruit, long and fine, Jadot at its very best.

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Johner – Germany and New Zealand

June 23rd, 2011

The Johners are probably the only family that makes wine in both Germany and New Zealand. What they make is undoubtedly very good, but is not entirely typical of either country.

From Germany (Bischoffingen in the heart of the Kaiserstuhl in Baden): their Rivaner 2009 is a minor revelation. Has Muller-Thurgau ever tasted so good? Just a little sees oak (thank goodness), enough to add a creamy, spicy overlay to the fresh, apple and pear fruit.

Sauvignon Blanc 2010, fresh gooseberry and rather mineral, with creamy peachy fruit too is fine, if a little expensive. From New Zealand: their Gladstone Sauvignon Blanc 2010 is huge and exotic, with guava and Patrick Johner insists, truffle oil, which seems a bit reductive, but is unusually complex.

Back in Baden: I was impressed by their Grauer Burgunder 2009, which shows just a little oak and has nicely concentrated gingery fruit. They are not afraid to acidify. It allows them to increase hang time in order to get more flavour in the grapes (this was allowed for the first time in 2003). Weisser Burgunder and Chardonnay 2010 (70/30) combines creamy apple fruit with a hint of pineapple and a subtle peachiness. Chardonnay ‘SJ‘ 2007 is oakier, spicier then all lime and pineapple. The oak is well integrated. Weisser Burgunder SJ, 2008 is more obviously oaky, with gentle apricot fruit, very clean acidity and excellent, lingering minerality. It is made from 35 year old vines, yielding around 50 hl/ha. Grauer Burguner ‘SJ’ 2008 is like smelling ginger nuts stored in a wooden box, but is intriguing and interesting, with melon, quince and spice in the mouth and a dry, rather phenolic finish, Blanc de Noirs 2010, a blend of two thirds Pinot Noir to one third Merlot is extremely fruity (raspberry and cherry), spicy and juicily acidic – it is very well done. Roséwein 2009 , a similar blend is altogether more spicy, with rich, soft, strawberry fruit.

From New Zealand, Pinot Noir 2009 from Wairarapa shows crunchy cherry fruit, a silky texture and soft tannins. It is a little savoury. The grapes are given maximum hang time. Pinot Noir 2008 from Gladstone is hugely ripe, with a cherry menthol aroma and has quite chewy tannins. They have planted a wide variety of Pinot clones in New Zealand. Over time, they have found that over time the berry size decreases, though the bunches, for Pinot Noir are quite open. Pinot Noir Reserve 2007 from Gladstone is hugely concentrated, big and even a little baked, with cherry, chocolate and cloves. I was not wholly convinced by it, but a tank sample of the 2010 was much fresher with more focused fruit.

Pinot Noir 2008 from Germany ‘Spätburgunder von Kaiseerstuhl’ has a lovely delicate perfume, with spicy red fruits and an elegant minerality, though firm tannins. Blauer Spätburgunder 2008 has a fine purity of fruit and good focus – again with cherry fruit and an almost floral perfume – crunchy, fresh and relatively light. Pinot Noir Bischoffinger Steinbuck 2007 is very spicy and rich, perfumed and complex and very mineral, with terrific acidity and minerality. It is a very good example of distinctively German Pinot Noir, and I have to admit, I like it better than any of the New Zealand wines. Blauer Spätburgunder ‘SJ’ 2008 from old German clones is a bigger wine, but not altogether better: huge, rich and perfumed, but at this stage of its development, also a bit oaky. It’s silky and promising.

Two New Zealand red to finish: Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc/Merlot/Malbec 2009 from Wairarapa, twelve months in oak, bursts with bright berry fruit, and is rather sweetly ripe, herby and minty. Cabernet Sauvignon/Cabernet Franc/Merlot 2008 from the Lyndor vineyard is also very sweet and perfumed, with blueberry, raspberry and chocolate, with a salty finish.

In the group of fourteen souls who came with me to taste, some were more impressed by the New Zealand wines than I was; but the flair and quality of wine making in either country is considerable.

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Ugly ducklings and old wine

June 15th, 2011

I took some clients to taste at Domaine Vacheron in Sancerre a few days ago. The estate is one of the finest in the appellation and one of the pioneers of biodynamic viticulture in Sancerre. After tasting the latest releases we headed into the cellars to the family vinotheque with Jean-Laurent Vacheron. He selected a sufficiently ancient bottle of red Sancerre and asked us to guess the vintage.

It was clearly an old wine: quite tawny, though not yet brown. The aroma was remarkable: cherries in alcohol, complex yet delicate and full of promise. It did not disappoint. Still quite fruity, with soft tannins it was certainly nearing the end of its life, but was a lovely, lingering drink. After about fifteen minutes a faint, but rather lovely scent of truffles began to appear and added even more complexity to the wine.

So what was it? I know little about old vintages of Sancerre so I suggested 1983 – a stab in the dark (though this was far less fine in Sancerre than in Bordeaux). It was older. I tried again. Might it be 1976 – though it had such good acidity that I realised I was probably wrong. I was. It was 1977, an ugly ducking vintage, that produced rather ungenerous, acidic wine. But the acid had protected it and ensured its unusually long life.

Beware vintage charts!

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The Perils of an Early Spring

May 10th, 2011

I have never seen the like: lush growth and flower trusses on vines as far north as the Loire Valley and Champagne – in April. But the old tradition of not trusting the season until the days of the ‘ ice saints’ are passed holds good, even in such an unusually warm and early spring.

The ice saints, in case you don’t know, are Mamertus, Pancras and Servatius. Their festivals fall on May 11, 12 and 13.

At dawn on May 4 the temperature at the southern end of Champagne’s prime Côte des Blancs fell to -2C°. Pierre and Sophie Larmandier who have vineyards in Vertus, Cramanat and Avize (and from them craft wonderful champagne) sent photographs of the frost damage – once proud shoots and flower trusses, now black and shrivelled. They reckon to have lost the crop from just over a hectare of vineyards in Vertus. Fortunately their plots in Cramant and Avize were unaffected, and continue to race ahead, with vegetative growth around three weeks ahead of normal.

Hail, associated with a violent storm that deposited 40mm of rain in the space of a couple of hours on April 25 did considerable damage to some vineyards in Bergerac. Elsewhere in southern France the exceptionally dry spring has some growers worrying already about vines stressed by lack of water.

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An ugly duckling from 2003

April 20th, 2011

Some dismal wines were made in France in the heat of 2003. I did not buy many, so I’m not sure why I paid up for a few bottles of Château Roque-Peyre, a (dry white) Montravel made by the Vallette family. It was also heavily oaked, another reason for giving it the cold shoulder. When I’ve tasted it previously, I’ve always regretted my rash decision to buy – until yesterday. We wanted a rich, dry white, so I found one of the two remaining bottles, and expected I’d have to find something else. But it was really rather good, indeed very good.

It’s not quite perfect – the oak is still too prominent, but the fruit has found a second wind. Almost like an aged Hunter Valley Sémillon, it has gained an extraordinary richness in the bottle and an intense, complex, candied lime character. It even seems fresher than before. I don’t know for sure what the blend is – I assume it’s a Sémillon/Sauvignon job, but it has stood the test of time with flying colours.

Other 2003s will not emerge as swans, incluing many of the horribly unbalanced, ugly reds, but this wine is a timely reminder that in the ever-changing world of wine it pays to keep an open mind.

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Drappier Champagne

March 30th, 2011

Drappier is one of my favourite champagne houses. Everything they do is so precisely judged and of such high quality. I visited the cellars at Urville today on a bright, typical spring day in southern Champagne. It was great to see André (Papa Pinot) in great good spirits and Michel too – both hard at work, André in the office, Michel counting bottles in the cellar. Michel’s efficient and attentive assistant Samuel looked after me and my clients with charm and kindness.

I was grateful for an opportunity to catch up on the range. Here are my notes.

Brut Nature Sans Soufre, 100% Pinot Noir – a blend of 2005/6 and 7 aged in stainless steel.Quite a deep copper; a full, but slightly cidery nose with great richness underneath. Clean and fresh on the palate, showing much less oxidative character and surprisingly rich fruit.

Quattuor IV, a blend of 25% each of Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Arbane and Petit Meslier, same blend of vintages as the previous wine. Dosed aroun 9 g/l. A remarkable Blance de Blancs – white peach and barely ripe pineapple fruit with spice and a citrus freshness in the mouth. Light and elegant.

Carte d’Or NV (currently also 2005/6/7). The benchmark wine of the house is as good as ever – fresh and toasty, with clean, bright, juicy, black fruit flavours (90% Pinot Noir).

Brut Rosé NV (100% Pinot Noir) – 100% saignée. A blend of 2006/7/8. A vibrant but quite delicate pink, with a lovely creamy aroma of red fruits – strawberry and raspberry. The slightly higher dosage is immediately apparent, but this fruity, easy-drinking wine is very appealing.

Millésime Exception 2004 (60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay), aged partly in oak (pièces and more especially, foudres), then 5 years sur lattes. A fine brioche nose with hints of red fruits and then a long, rich taste, slightly biscuity and markedly mineral. (£36.99 at Oddbins)

Grande Sendrée 2004 (55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay). A much richer, more complex wine – and also rather more oxidative in an attractively buttery way. Powerful, fine and long, it has great structure and a slightly phenolic finish. Already easy to enjoy, but well-equipped for the long haul. (£44.99 at Oddbins)

Carte d’Or, Vintage 1995 – from a magnum , disgorged in May 2007. A very remarkably wine from a vintage too often overshadowed by 1996. It is very complex, with aromas of confit lemon and pineapple and then rich, soft and lingering in the mouth with considerable salty minerality, and an inherent elegance and simply – in short, it has sheer style and is still remarkably youthful. It’s such a shame I was driving and had to spit it out!

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David Ginola’s rather fine wine

March 28th, 2011

I know that it is hard for almost any new wine to find its way onto the shelves of UK shops – the competition is fierce, but I’m surprised that no-one has yet snapped up Coste Brulade by David Ginola – a very superior Provençal rosé. The 2009 vintage was well made with a lovely depth of cherry, rhubarb and peach fruit, dusted quite subtly with white pepper. The 2010 is better still and though even more prettily pale, lacks nothing in concentration of fruit flavour: this time strawberry and peach. It has crisper acidity than the 09, but at this early stage in its development seems less mineral.

The wine is made at a well-run co-op in the Var. It has benefited from investment by David Ginola – his money has been used to buy new equipment. David is keen to help blend the wine that bears his name and the Coste Brulade team respect his palate and judgement. The packaging is understated and stylish. It would fly from the shelves here on Tyneside.

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Abadal – Picapoll and other delights

March 11th, 2011

The region of Pla des Bages in the hills west of Barcelona produces grapes for the Cava industry. Very good table wines are made by the largest bodega in the DO, Masies d’Avinyó, under a number of brand names, especially Abadal. Some of these are now being imported to the UK by the excellent Ilkley-based Martinez Wine, whose director Jonathan Cocker first tasted them while on holiday in the region last year and made contact with the winery.

Jonathan brought Abadal’s French, Montpellier-trained chief winemaker Laurent Collio to Newcastle to show six of his wines, partnered by a succession of tasty tapas at Spanish restaurant El Torero.

I never find it too easy to judge wines accurately when it’s late in the evening and I’m a bit tired – and in competition with a riot of (rather good) food smells, but I was impressed by the range and by Laurent himself and thought it would be a shame not to jot down a few notes. I apologise if my tasting notes may be a bit below par.

We tasted two dry whites. The first Abadal Blanc 2010 (rrp £8.76) is an easy-drinking blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Picapoll. It works well in a fairly light, fruity way – with suggestions of grapefruit and peach and then a slightly mineral finish. The second white is a pure Picapoll 2010 (£9.49) and is very good indeed: citrus fruit, pear and a hint of jasmine-like perfume combine with a strongly mineral, lingering finish. It is unoaked, from fifty year-old vines.

Abadal own around twenty hectares of Picapoll out of a total of around 150 hectares. Laurent insists that it is not the Picpoul of Languedoc, but a distinct variety, particular to Spanish Catalonia of which only forty hectares remain. There is, he says, also a black-skinned clone. He has crafted a super-cuvée, also unoaked from the best parcels and sometimes including a little old-vines Maccabeo, sold as ‘Nuat.’ Jonathan has tasted it and waxes suitably lyrical. I would love to taste it.

The red wines, though all very good indeed, are a little less remarkable if only because they rely on international varieties, planted in the mid-1980s when such things were all the rage in Catalonia thanks to the high-profile success of Miguel Torres and others with Cabernet and friends. The high altitude of the vineyards, up to 600 metres is the key to their freshness and focus.

A blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Tempranillo 20099 (price not available), given just four months ageing in oak, is soft and savoury with stalky, plummy fruit and a hint of tomato and burnt raspberry jam.

Abadal 5 Merlot 2006 (£13.99) is made from five different clones, gleaned from Bordeaux, Italy and California. Their vegetative cycle varies by up ten days. Laurent says that the Bordeaux clones are best. The wine is aged in oak, 25% new – roughly 80% French and 20% American, though they also use Slovenian and Hungarian oak. It’s big, deep and rich with the aroma of roasted coffee, then sweetly ripe tannins and more acidity than I had expected.

Abadal 3.9 Reserva 2007 (£16.99) is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon with 15% Syrah, aged fourteen months in 85% new oak. The malo is done in cask. Big, spicy and chocolaty with layers of black fruit, it’s rich, soft (surprisingly so) and savoury. The oak is well integrated.

Abadal Selecció 2006 (£23.99) is a blend of 40% each of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon with 20% Syrah, aged in 100% new French oak for sixteen months. Deep and still young, it has a silky texture with lots of spicy black fruit. It seems fresher and more focussed than the 3.9 Reserva, though is still quite savoury.

Laurent is also experimenting with the local black-skinned Sumoll and believes it to be very promising. And if I heard him right, he’s also excited by a variety called Mando – completely new to me. The significant point, however, is that local varieties may have a lot to offer as the Picapoll clearly shows.

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Tavel – shockingly good pink

February 28th, 2011

First an apology – after three weeks without internet access (rescued by Plusnet when Talk Talk failed me) and then four computers in seven days, this blog has slumbered too long. I’ll try and do better.

I have long enjoyed Chateau d’Acqueria’s Tavel (and, indeed, their Lirac). The 2009 Tavel, bought from Carruthers & Kent for £11.49 is very special. Mind you, it’s so deep that it’s almost a light red – the antithesis of a Provencal pink. It manages to be both savoury and fruity. The latter is ripe stawberry and cherry, the former is signalled on the nose by a herby scent and in the mouth, but a long salty, mineral aftertaste. It’s one of the most complex and flavourful pink wines I’ve ever tasted. The only (minor) fault is that it’s rather soft, though the minerality helps a lot to make up for that. Try it!

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