Daily drinkers

“Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans”

(John Lennon)

Wine has always been a victim of proportions. Most of my wine loving friends (including yours truly) have always measured the experience of drinking wine. It’s the simple result of telling a story and emphasising the enthusiasm or disappointment. 

Telling a story about wine is not easy, which of course is a good thing, as we interpret so individually. Yet we often categorize. Cut to the chase. What wine are we dealing with? What level are we at? Legendary, Great, dull or bad wine. Maybe just daily drinkers

So what are daily drinkers?

First of all it’s a wine with a good” quality to price ratio” (QPR). It’s something we buy in cases and drink it big gulps. The no brainer wine - the wine we always reach out for, when we have no idea what else to drink. The wine, which is never seasonal, but works all year round. It’s also something, which define us. Italian wine aficionado maybe; a Chianti, Rosso di Montalcino, Dolcetto or a Barbera. These wines not only provide our everyday needs – they also keep us in our comfort zone. We have bought these wines, because we know beforehand that we will connect with them.

But when it comes to tastings or special occasions we tend to dress up and explore wines with a higher price tag and presumably also a higher quality and complexity. Rosso di Monalcino becomes a Brunello - Dolcetto or Barbera becomes Barolo. These special events tend to be the bridge to some of our most memorable wine experience. Or are they really? Did John Lennon have a point, when it comes to wine? I think so.

For sure wine obtains an extra dimension, when it breaks the barriers and light up our emotional barometer. But somehow I think daily drinkers deserve the same respect. They are the backbone of our passion. I also like the humbleness, which are essential for these wines. There is something aesthetical about the simplicity they posses and despite the might lack in complexity they can in some cases have a higher degree of presence as you immediately connect with them. And last – but not least, to earn and fit this category they always have the highest degree of drinking pleasure.

Here are some of my favourite daily drinkers – some I drink now – some I have run out of –some are on the radar, some I wonder why I forgot or never bought more of. Price wise less than €20 are ideal, but it could go all the way up to €30 in some cases.

Champagne:

Laherte “Brut Nature”

Tarlant “Brut Zero”

Marie-Courtin “Efflorescence”

Whites:

Nicolas Carmarans “Selves”

Cyril Fhal “Clos du Rouge Gorge (Blanc)”

Sarnin-Berrux “Bourgogne Aligote”

Yann Durieux “Love and Pif”

Frederic Cossard “Bigotes”

Noella Morantin “Chez Charles”

Reds:

Arianna Occhipinti “Il Frappato”

Arianna Occhipinti “SP68”

Lamoresca “Nerocapitano”

Vino di Anna “Palmento” 

Yvon Mètras “Fleurie Printemps”

François Saint-Lô “On l’aime nature”

Domaine de la Tournelle “Uva Arbosiana”  

Maxime Magnon "Rozeta" 

….Etc….and I am sure there a lots of wines, which I have either forgot or could fit in.

Let’s end this small session with a wine, which fits this category to perfection: 

2012 Hervé Villemade “La Bodice”

Blend: 80% Sauvignon Blanc, 20% Chardonnay

Location: AOC Cheverny (Loire Valley) town is called Cellettes

Terroir: Sands with flint and flint clays

Age of vines: 33years old

Vinification: Oak and steel

Glass: Zalto Universal

I love this wine – simple as that. It’s trademark and the fist impression is divine zippy freshness, which burst out of the glass with candied citrus and lime zest. But there is also a remarkable secondary understated window with remarkable ripe and lush fruit sensation – such as mango and pineapple, which could very well be driven forward by the Chardonnay grape. Underneath you have some darker baseline, soil and spice driven with fennel and liquorice as the main character (also mentioned on the Hervé Villemade homepage). This is the sort of wine you drink with our without food on any day of the year. If you choose the latter you will discover a phenomenal food-pairing breed, which I have successfully matched up with both a rich salmon dish, chicken in red curry, sushi, gazpacho and even guinea fowl. Great stuff and highly recommended. 

Fruit and soil

Initially I wanted to do a presentation of Ruppert-Leroy – an exiting new Champagne producer from the Aube region. However, when I was in Champagne (where I have just returned from) I tasted a very exiting white wine – which I actually have in glass right now. It’s the 2012 “Clos du Rouge Gorge” from a producer called Cyril Fhal.

I tasted these wines a day apart and thought it gave good meaning to present them in the same post, as they represent a contrast – yet individually something interesting.  

Let’s get aquatinted with the wines:

Fruit!

2011 Ruppert-Leroy “Martin-Fontaine” Brut Nature

Grape: 100% Chardonnay

Teroir: Clay and limestone

Age of vines: 70 years old

Vinification: Oak

Viticulture: Biodynamic

Dosage: 0 g/l

Glass used: Zalto White Wine

A very joyful Champagne, where you immediately feel in a good mood. There is a lot of sensorial sweetness, with ripe fruit, candied citrus, juicy sweet pear/apple and a crystal clear fruit. All together it’s floral attraction and the adorable factor is high. The taste has a precise linear style with a vibrant and precise acidity, which keeps the keynotes uplifted. However there is a fine line of the role of the sensorial sweetness, which keeps adding rather sweet notes, like elderflower and adding what seems to be residual sugar to the back of the palate. On one hand, it’s a part of this joyful style, which you can’t really resist, but you can't help to take notice. For me it’s slightly annoying. Having said that – I had no problems enjoying it.  If I turn to Mr. analytic I really miss some sort of soil bite, which could have shifted its focus away from only fruit. So what’s the verdict? Well – this is young Champagne and it’s indeed very healthy and well made. It’s even extremely easy to drink. It could very well be all about baby-fat and a completely different breed in 2-3 years time. To me this is a very good Champagne, but if to turn really great, it will have to attract more soil nerve with cellaring. However I suspect it will have many fans and for sure a producer I look forward to follow.

Soil!

2012 Cyril Fhal “Clos du Rouge Gorge (Blanc)”

Grape: 100% Macabbeu

Terroir: Sandy, silty soil (150-200m above sea level)

Vinification: Oak (2-3 years old) – No sulphur before Vinification.

Viticulture: Since Cyril Fhal took over in 2002 he converted to Bio (Demeter)

Location: We are in Latour de France (Roussillon)

Glass used: Zalto Universal

  

This is completely different kind of wine. Obviously we are comparing bubbles against a still wine, but as you will see it’s a wine, with an entire different setting. Here the fruit tonality is very shy and not something that would pull your pants down in a blind tasting. It’s however filled with energy – tons of it. It’s that energy, which keeps you turning back to the glass and despite the subdued bouquet, it was actually a wine I spent a lot of time “sniffing”. It’s simply the fascination of not exposing everything at once and a wine, which is constantly changing shape in the glass. The taste is not the kind of wine, which wraps a mouth coating cashmere orgy on you. No! Here its minerals all over – ranging from wet crushed stones, to warm slate. On day two the wine was even better. Thrilling intense, challenging and very reflective to the mind. Loved it and definitely not the last time I taste this producer.

To compare these two wines is not to pick a winner – or a loser. Personally I fell more attracted to wines with high soil energy. However if you have been reading this blog for some time you also know I like to illustrate diversity and how wines should pair with both food, occasions, your own mood and the lust for wine on the day you pull/pop the cork.

Brief tweets from my Facebook page…

Here what’s going on my FB page…in no specific order….join in.

Not many people know Yann Durieux – believe me that will change. I have posted about him before in “The new Elvis” but as I have just had the 2010 ”Les Grands Ponts” (again... two times in fact.... within the last two weeks) I thought it was okay to post again (I couldn’t really resist anyway)…blew my mind once again…ouch!!!...be warned – addictive wine!!!.

Had the 2006 Instant No.1 rosé from Bérèche yesterday. It's so unbelievable good. It’s the kind of rosé Champagne, which doesn’t make that much noise, but really plays a very understated role with fragile and delicate dried red berries. The best Champagne Raphaël Bérèche has ever made IMHO.

Pretty interesting wine. From La Vigne du Perron - 2011"La Serène Blanche" - 100% Roussette (altesse)...production is extremely low

I had the 2006 “L’Amateur” from David Léclapart this evening. Now this might be old news, but it’s just perfect right now. It’s kind of ridiculous to talk about an entry-level wine, because it’s so much more than an average Champagne.

I’ve noticed something….David’s Champagnes become quite classic with cellaring. “L’Amateur” ’06 have started to embrace some autolysis character, providing some complex underlying drum and bass to the rhythm. Yet it’s still young in terms of tallness and energy. Sure it can cellar – but why wait? I will finish my case within the next year or so and will imagine every bottle to be as good as this one.

Curiosity in wine is very important to me. Even better is when you discover wines where you can actually say; “I have never tasted anything like this before”. It’s rare that it happens – and when it does it’s not necessarily positive. Right now I am drinking a wine, where I can actually say those lines and in addition it’s fuc***** crazy wine. The nose is filled with ripe late harvest apple juice, pineapple, mango, wild yeast, touch of vanilla and orange blossom. It’s one hell of a lively thing and the taste is very elastic and exotic too with some spices on the finish line. Completely nuts man!!!!... As you can see the label looks like something Spock from Star Trek designed…and from what I know it’s a local grape called  Zibibbo. Producer is Grabrio Bini and we are on the Island of Pantelleria located 100 km south west of Sicily. Soil is of course volcanic. Vines are +50 years old, biodynamic grown, picked and destemmed by hand. It’s *orange wine (*skin contact or macerated if you wish) – long and slow (don’t know how long) but vinified in clay amphora’s dating back to the 17th century. Unfiltered – no additions – no So2. WOW!!!

I think I’ve found my summer white. The talented Arianna Occhipinti continues to win my heart. Her red “Il Frappato” is easily my favourite Italian daily drinking wine and this wine might not be the most complex breed, but it drinks so well. The 2012 SP68 Bianco is made from Albanello & Zibibbo ((moscato d'alessandria). Vinyard is located in 280m above Sea level and terroir is red sand with chalk from sub- Apennine limestone. The wine sees 15 days of skin contact and you would think it’s sensual tropical fruit aromas derives from barriques, but it only spends 6 months in steel tanks and one year in bottle. The wine is summer and sun - happy moments with elderflower, mango and pineapple. Taste is very elastic, free and utterly juicy. Irresistible stuff.

Tonights wine - I have tasted it two times already. 2011 "Les Damodes" from Frederic Cossard. It's absolutely gorgeous. I hope to write something on the blog on Cossard...if I have the time.

While I process all the images from Terres et vins de Champagne – I can share some brief impression of some of the other wines I remember having tasted. The wine in the glass are: 2006 Voeutte et Sorbée “Saignée de Sorbée”

Champagnes:

2006 Voeutte et Sorbée “Saignée de Sorbée”

Not good on opening with an almost aggressive iron, spicy, Campari attack and evn a tannic finish. After half an hour it calms down and the notes sort of dries out, becomes far more interesting – especially the spice section, revealing a more salty expression. One on side, I find it to be an impressive Champagne with quite a character and soil bite, but on my emotional frequency there is a bit of a conflict.

2006 David Léclapart “L’Amateur”

Absolutely beautiful. Maybe not as divine fruit driven as the ’08, but so well build and structured. Drinking perfectly now.

2006 David Léclapart “L’Apôtre”

Somewhat bombastic, but with enormous potential – wait.

2007 Jérôme Prévost “Fac-Simile rosé”

Really surpriced me as I was expecting a far more aged and oxidized Champagne by now. But it’s almost like it has firmed up. The ’07 are really elegant and light and has this dried out herbal line, like verbena – which I really like. Really nice.

NV Selosse “VO”.

Three times From three different disgorgements (2010, ’11 and one from ’08). I preferred the ’10 disgorgement, which felt more focused. There are several TN on this site on this

Champagne and I always like it.

NV Selosse “Rosé” (Disgorged in 2011)

Great that Selosse have taken the dosage down to only 4 grams now. Takes away some of the fatness, sweet pastry notes and makes this Rosé far more salty and firm. Don’t get me wrong it’s still Selosse style, but carries the boldness far better.

NV Selosse “Aÿ La Côte Faron” – (’03 base)

Super concentrated style and easy to guess “Selosse” (I guessed Contraste) with late harvested honeyl, overripe peach, quince and burned caramel. Maybe a fraction more spinal firmness was needed, but I would guess that’s the result of ’03 base.

Whites

2001 Domaine Belluard “Les Alpes” )from Savoie made from 100 % Gringet)

Third time I try this really interesting white wine, which could easily be a candidate for my preferred spring/summer drink. I could best describe it as a mixture of Rieslings fruitiness and high acidity, but it also takes onboard the Traminer grape notes with ginger and licorice. There is an underlying base of cool straw freshness and it’s a very linear wine.

2005 Didier Dagueneau “Silex”

Spectacular racy wine and served with a Asian inspired raw tuna dish made by my good friend Claus...miraculous match and seriously focused wine. Love it.

2011 Domaine des Miroirs (Jura) “Berceau 2011 / Chardonnay)

Really clean and racy and mineral wise reminding me slightly of Alexandre Jouveaux – just in a slimmer version. I will have to taste it again.

Reds

2009 Jean Foillard “Cote du Py”

I have some issues with the ’09 in Beaujolais – it’s too hot, out of balance and this bottle was really dissapointing.

2006 San Giusto a Rentennano “Percarlo”

Coming on a bit too clumsy at first, with way too much burned oak, but with a couple of hours of decanting it started to shine. It’s still what I would call a modern Sangiovese, but so smooth, well balanced and still Italian with lovely notes of leather. Tasted without food, but I’ll bet it would have been even better with food.

2011 Domaine des Miroirs (Jura) “Ja-Nai 2011 / Poulsard”

The color is just outrageous on this one – so light red, almost transparent. The visual treat are in synch with a beautiful and weightless wine (very low alc), combining red fruits, rhubarb and notes of wet autumn leaves. Loved it. 

2010 Ganevat “Cuvée Julien”

I love this wine – so brilliant.

1989 Pichon-Baron

Tasted with good friends. Really fun to have a journey back in “wine-time”…and I can only say read my “Varible no. 32B” on the blog….the wine in itself, analyzes solely from a hard core point of view was really not that great. Dry, square and lifeless.

2006 SQN “Raven”

You can smell and do a few “ooohhhss and ahhhsss” and find it simply fascinating that wine can also be like this. You can even conclude that SQN is not only high-octane wine…some around the table called it “cool tempered” and although that’s taking it a bit far for my palate, I know what they mean. But! – you can’t drink it…or I couldn’t. There is nothing here making me come back for more – the density is still too violent.

Have recently tasted both ’05 and ’06 Blanc d’Argile – two very different Champagnes.

The ’05 have begun to develop traditional autolysis notes with deeper walnut and nutty flavours. Yet this troublesome (typical ’05) rotten potato note is also present. The oak profile is also quit dominant.

The ’06 are a different story. Quite bombastic opening – really intense with raw structure. Evolved beautiful in the glass and the last third revealed a ravishing soil intensity and purity. From ’06 is seems like the oak is far better balanced and only a secondary chord and not the whole orchestra.

Weekend wines…

2009 Demarne-Frison “Lalore” Brut Nature

A Champagne filled with citrus and flowery components. Feels too young at this stage, but has a very fresh and pure profile. The last glass was by far the best.

2008 Bérèche “Rive Gauche” Extra Brut (3 g/l dosage)

Incredible refined Pinot Meunier with enormous acidity bite. Really sophisticated freshness, yet with a deeper and darker fruit baseline. Can easily be enjoyed now, but a couple of years in the bottle should bring these darker phrasings into an even more refined level.

2004 David Léclapart “L’Apotre”

Scary intensity and incredible raw Champagne without any fuzz whatsoever. Doesn’t feel closed, nor does it feel really open – but somewhere in-between. I would give it some more time, simply to balance its bombastic footprint. It has everything it takes to age another 15-20 years.

2010 Domaine Dublére “Volnay Les Pitures”

Incredible sexy and smooth Pinot Noir. Ripe and juicy with an almost sweet liquorices appeal. You can argue whether it’s a fraction too polished and oak dominant, but selling at this reasonable price and drinking really well in good friends company, I didn’t found much reason to complain.

2008 Philippe Pacalet “Chambolle Musigny”

Also incredible charming wine, with classic Pinot tonality. It leans toward a more polished style with a fair amount of oak influence. However I found additional deeper layers and it’s simply so juicy and easy to drink.

Varible No. 32B

What if women ruled the world?

The questions have of course been asked over and over again, and it clings like a naive cliché to ask it. Hypothetical, speculation and somewhat irrelevant one might say. Nevertheless mind joggling with theories can occasionally be interesting. 

If women ruled the world, how many World Wars would we have had; 1,2,3,4 or maybe not a single one? Would we even have nuclear weapons or at all know what they were? A Middle East conflict, dictatorship, world hunger, Global warming, financial crises or how much would Cristiano Ronaldo earn a month???

What about wine?

What if there was no male wine journalist or at least the leading wine critics were mainly female. We would be loaded with Jancis Robinsons clones. We could also assume there wasn’t a system with hats, stars or points, which ranked wine.

Wine still got reviewed in this female paradise, but the framework was far less rigid.

Systematic tasting of wine didn’t exist. Suppressing variables, which could influence our judgements was an illusion. In fact we did the opposite and highlighted everything that influenced us.  Wine tasting didn’t really exist; it was derived secondary result of drinking wine.

The tight and organized overview of the wine we have today was very different. The hierarchical subdivision of wine was far more complex, as a certain breed of wines suited our needs one day, but maybe not the next. Some would say the controlled and easy consumer overviews of wine we have today, was a big mess in the hands of the women.  A jungle no one ever thought about cleaning up or organize.   

The storytelling of wine was on a holistic level. How the taster related to the wine on all thinkable levels. We focused on symbioses between nature, culture, people, moods, occasions, food, diversity, temperature, humidity, glasses, lunar calendar…. etc. The best wines, could like today be those who were utterly complex and to a degree of supernatural. But the mojo was always drinking pleasure and how the wine was in synch with variables, our minds and emotions.

Norms didn’t exist, as there were no rules.  Sure Wine A could be miles better than wine B. But wine A, could also be horrible the following Tuesday, horrible the next week also, but utterly sensational, when you had it a week later, with some friends in Tuscany. We weren’t embarrassed to tell how a wine could appeal so differently over so short a time span, as it was a consequence of having full presence with wine and we always spoke highly focused on the variables, which changed the outcome.

We didn't think we were smarter than wine and we always needed to “nail it”. We loved being in doubt, because it reminded us that wine was a function of our complex life.

Science fiction?

Maybe, but are we/you satisfied with what we have today? When you found a love for wine, how long did it take for you to realize that wine was also about “code of conduct?” Have we in fact just jumped onboard and pressed, “I agree” without reading between the lines?

Many question – very little answers.

I don’t have them all – as I am not here to judge. I am however here to ask questions and be curious, because clinic tasting of wine it not something I believe in. I believe in variables and I embrace them.

1995 Château Montus “XL”

Grape: 100% Tannat

Terroir: Strong slopes interspersed pebbles, 3 meters of red clay

Vines: 25 years old

Vinification: Fermentation at 28 ° C in wooden vats

Maceration for 3 to 6 weeks (depending on the vintage)

Bredding: On lees, 40 months in new barrels of 400 liters

Production: 4000 bottles

Existing vintages of “XL”: 1989, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000
Glass: Riedel Sommerliers Bordeaux Grand Cru

The other week I decided it was time to serve a wine I have basically been waiting 15 years to taste. There was only one person I could drink this wine with - my good friend, Claus whom I have been drinking wine with for almost 20 years now.

Had I chosen to share this wine with my wife, it would have failure written all over it.  I speculate she would have categorized it as what she often calls a “typical maleness wine”. Taste it myself then? No! – I can already see how I have been far more analytic (maybe…I don’t know 100%).

Together with Claus, there was a connection, which started by itself, as Montus was one of the very first wines he and I shared together. Why not use this? Why not bring myself to a state of mind, where I was already smiling, when he was blind guessing on this wine. You see, we collected Montus and held tastings, where it often acted as joker in Bordeaux flights. 

However during the years and with plenty of water flowing in the river, Montus have sunk into oblivion. Yet tasting it again made me realize, the journey we take in wine is not always about defining your taste here and now. We still have memorable moments, when our taste was different. Today Claus and I doesn’t necessarily share taste in wine, but Montus made that link back in time and that was exactly what I hoped for.

The wine was thrilling because of this special occasion. It reminded us how elegant Montus can turn out when you give it +10 years in the cellar. It also reminded me how many different wines I have actually tasted during the years.

Claus started his first blind guess with Bordeaux, which wasn’t a surprise to me. I would have guessed the same, if I were in the hot seat. Notes like; vanilla, melted milk chocolate, sweet cedar wood, cigar box and healthy ripe blackcurrant were the perfect recipe for Bordeaux. It even delivered a very classy taste, with solid good bite and structure. However after this guess he paused for some 20 minutes – had a refill and then said out loud: “Montus!!!!” We laughed and at this moment a window was opened to memory lane and the stories just floated, as we were back in our twenties.

Had I had this wine alone or at a systematic controlled tasting event, the outcome would have been very different.

So my advice to you is to embrace everything in wine that can influence you, because in the long run you can’t suppress them anyway.

Variable no. 32B is: Occasion & Friendship

(Claus)