SEPTEMBER NOTES
Each month, we put together selections of wines for our Bottle Society members. Here are our tasting notes.
-- Marc Papineau
Hi there, and a fitting welcome to the end of summer with two reds for you this month. Is it really the end of summer? I haven’t quite embraced this yet. I still want the sunshine and the warmth, although I look forward to swapping sweaters for Flip-flops. And although both of these are red wines, they are not so huge and speaking of darker winter tidings, that you can’t enjoy these out in the sun with a slight chill, in the changing light at the end of the day.
Verdier Logel, Cuvée des Gourmets, Cotes du Forez 2013- This is Gamay Noir from deep in the Loire Valley, in fact, so deep as to really be in the Massif Centrale. The vines here are on extinct volcanoes that have been worn away to almost nothing. These are mineral driven wines in extremis! Black pepper, red fruits, crunchy granite…There are two cuvées, each of which is given to a specific soil type. The cuvée you have before you is from the granite soil. The husband and wife team here, Odile Verdier and Jacky Logel, are the most respected of the very few producers in this zone.
Pelissero, Barlet, Vino Rosso, Italia- 80% Barbera, 10% Nebbiolo, 10% Dolcetto- yes! The Nebbiolo in this cuvée is Barbaresco fruit. This is where he has made is name and is based in Treiso- where he has 40 hectares of vines. Giorgio took over from his father in 1981. The “Nature” is a series of wines he produces, that are utilizes Massale selection… meaning terroir driven rather than clonal.
AUGUST NOTES
First, let’s talk about Sant’Elena, Traminer Aromatico, Delle Venezie 2010. Traminer! Also known as Gewurztraminer, also known as Savagnin (in the Jura). It has several and overlapping genetic manifestations, and is one of the most ancient varietals that we see today, with origins, although not entirely known, posited as coming from Egypt, Greece, and a bit more recently, the Sudtirol of Northern Italy. That’s where this bottling comes from. Well, the Delle venizie, not too far away from the Sudtirol. Talk about a wine with focus and an almost ominous potential to blow your palate apart! To me, it seems as though it can barely contain itself before shattering into a billion particles and scattering through the Universe. Seriously! Production: One plant equals one bottle; vinified in stainless steel, sur lies for six month, with bottling taking place in late summer, the year following the vintage.
Domaine de Majas Rouge, Vin de Pays des Cotes Catalanes 2010- Situated at around 400 meters, vineyards here are planted in soils of clay and limestone, cepage 50% Carignan, 50% Grenache Noir, fermented in concrete. This is a domaine of 30 hectares in the foothills of the Pyrenees, a family that has been through the shit in terms of how to making a living doing what they do…having been seduced by supermarket chains, that promised them much and ended up raping them, almost forcing them out of business… sound familiar? Classic…BUT! They found their way, and were able to pull it together, live closer to their means, and produce Authentic, simple and beautiful wines, reflecting place, rather than a fashion…that’s all I have to say about that. You may have had the Blanc, which we’ve included in the club in the past.
JULY NOTES
Hello there! If you’ve picked up your wines in time for the July 4th holiday weekend, you’ll see I’ve packed you two wines that are perfect for your festivities and I recommend you drink them down….all of them, before Monday!
Not really, although you could…I would and I might.
This month, a rosé from The Loraine region of France and a sparkling Brachetto style red wine from Oltrepo Pavese, in the Lombardia region of Italy. This last, I feel, needs a bit of explaining, in that it is sparkling and red; light and with an off dry (downright sweet) profile, yet is feathery and bright, super refreshing, and something you should enjoy with a bit of cured meat and pickles….cheese, the hard kind…or just on its own!
First off, Domaine Regina, Cotes de Toul 2013.This is a rosé from the Lorraine department of France, a region that in the 19th century had much planted to vine. With the advent of Phyloxxera and the Industrial Revolution, much of Lorraine lost its vineyard.
Today, the Cote de Toul comprises 19 kilometers, spread across 8 villages. Not much of it makes it to the States. It is a blend of Pinot Noir and Auxerrois- melon colored, bright and lovely! A Charles Neal selection, this is a gentleman whose wines I have put in the box before…he is the purveyor of La Folle Noire d’Ambat, Negrette. Charles works with small production, family owned estates that tend toward a more style of wine making.
Next, you have this unusual and lovely wine, Conte Vistarino, Costiolo, Sangue di Giuda, Oltrepo Pavese 2012. Oltrepo Pavese is found in the western part of the Lombardy region, which itself lies in the Northwest corner of Italy, just west of the Piemonte. A blend of Barbera, Uva Rara, and Croatina, this style of wine has been made since the late 19th century, and is often served as an accompaniment to dessert, or as an apertivo on its own. The family, Contes di Vistarino, have been involved in wine for generations, and were the first to introduce Pinot Noir to the region. If you go to the family website, the recommendation is to drink this wine often, and without moderation.
JUNE NOTES
I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU TO TRY THESE WINES THIS MONTH! Most of you will have all three in the box and one of you will have the Ischian and the Canary Island wine and no Saumur-Champigny….but don’t be sad….the 7-Fuentes is BOMB and you will not be disappointed.
Couple things to note: The Suertes del Marqués, 7 Fuentes 2012 (DO Valle de la Orotava) is an island wine (Canary Islands), the Pietratorcia, Ischia Bianco Superiore 2012 is also an island wine (Ischia). So what? Well, I don’t come across to many, if any, and if and when I do, they are not remarkable except for the fact that they come from where they do. There is definitely a geek factor in that alone. But, not only are these wines from places not on most people’s wine maps, they are lovely and unlike anything else you will have had…I mean, they speak to uniqueness and nuance that is encapsulated in the wine…does this make sense? Not really.
The 7-Fuentes is Listan-Negro 90%, Titilla 10%- coming from vineyards as young as ten years and as old as one hundred, from volcanic soils.
Pietratorcia Bianco is a blend of mostly Biancolella and Forastera, with a bit of Uva Rilla as well. All the grapes, indigenous to the island and Campania mainland. Rich on the on hand, yet with beautiful aromatics and a crazy roasted stone quality.
Lastly but not by any means leastly….we have this little gem of a Saumur-Champigny for you. And if it is a return to more familiar territory in terms of the Loire Valley and France, this is anything but typical of Saumur-Champigny. La Grand Vignolle from Fredrik Filliatreau is 100% Cabernet Franc coming from vineyards that are quite old…although exactly how old, I don’t know. The soil is a Tufa limestone that lends the wine great acidity and fresh juicy red fruit flavors. The whole estate is about 50 hectares, but this cuvée comes from a specific site (lieu-dit) of that name, which sits atop an outcropping of this limestone. Fredrik vinifies in stainless steel, un-filtered and fucked-with, native yeast fermentations.