Re-thinking wine

Jean-Yves Péron

What is wine? How is it supposed to taste and what is right and wrong?

I sometimes need to ask myself these questions – especially when I encounter wines, which automatically challenge me on these points.

The answer I seek, is not a solution – a final statement in order to paint a black & white image of wine. But I seek to push myself to the limit and not always take the secure consensus road. As I see it, you can always go back to your comfort zone – no one will force you, but at least you tried it, you had an opinion about it and you had an open mind towards it – or did you?

You can probably guess I am about to present you with a wine (in fact two), who bended the wheel to a point, where I had to surrender myself and just sit back and smile.

To believe wines of such character actually exist makes me thrilled – to find they are sold out makes me annoyed…or at least impatient before the next vintage arrives.

First - let us first find out were these two ladies lives. We are in Savoie – the region all good students have plotted into their vocabulary of wine knowledge. You are lost again – and I don’t blame you, but we are here:

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2009 Jean-Yves Péron “.Vers La Maison Rouge”

Blend: 100% la Mondeuse

Terroir: Slate

Age of wines: 80 years old

Method: Macération carbonique

Exposure: South (and extremely steep slopes – se link to video below)

Other: We are 400-600m above sea level

Sulphur: Zero

Glass: Zalto Universal

There is a lot of sediment in this wine and as I took it directly out of the wine fridge it’s was pretty blurred in the glass. You also can’t help to notice a very light coloured liquid in the glass. You have a good feeling it’s not your everyday bonanza wine you are about to taste.

The nose is like being kissed for the first time. Blessed with the purest scents of strawberry, rhubarb and sweet liquorice. It’s so light with it’s 11% of alcohol, yet so intriguing to sniff, as the fruit is so unbelievable fresh. The taste is zippy pure fruit – no tannins at all, but yet so intense, energetic and frisky. In addition you have a solid baseline of underneath mineral brushings.

The drinking pleasure was more than splendid – and the bottle almost empty before I got the chance to take some real notes. Simply stunning wine.

2009 Jean-Yves Péron "Côtillon des Dames"

Blend: 100% Jacquères

Terroir: Mica/schists

Age of wines: +100 years old

Exposure: South

Production: 600-800 bottles

Sulphur: Zero

Glass: Zalto Universal

The white wine also has lots of sediment, so I had it upright for two days before I tasted it. Still it’s rather blurred and looks like unfiltered apple juice. The nose is insane…WOW!!!! Outrageously fresh with some degrees of oxidation (but very subtle) and the most incredible notes of late harvest ripe apples, olive oil, orange blossoms and creamy wheat beer. The taste…. can it keep up with the nose??…Oh yes. FANTASTIC!!!....Mind-blowing intense and ladies and gentlemen it’s holding 11,5% of alcohol and the finish just keeps on going. The wine has an extremely elastic structure, exploding on the palate with so much life and particles of minerals flying all across the mouth. The elastic structure get’s companionship of poised acidity taken its curl to a beautiful silky mouth feel.

I tasted it over two hours – well almost…there was a small portion in the bottle and I noticed that after four hours the wine was completely oxidized and dead. But who cares and what is wine???....For me it’s one of my most memorable white wines of the year. BRAVO!!!!

Interview with Jean-Yves Péron

2009 Maxime Magnon "Rozeta"

(I hope I am the only person in my neighbourhood who takes images of empty wine bottles in threes)

Blend: 60% Carignan – rest Grenache Gris, Macabou, and Terret

Terroir: Limestone and schists

Vineyard: 55-60 year old wines and about 275m above sea level.

Glass: Zalto Bordeaux

Languedoc & wine. A memory, which isn’t exactly filled with laughter and joy. I explored these wines some 10 years ago on the back increasing good ratings (oh yes, I was one of those back then) and reports about know-how and talents being exported to the region. Sadly I discovered black, potent, one-dimensional and very alcoholic driven wines. A short affair and I never returned.

But here I am again – spinning the glass with Languedoc wine. To be a little more specific we are in Hautes Corbières, which is actually closer to the border of Fitou to the south. But as I understand it – Maxime Magnon has no interest in making wine under that appellation.He blends in both organic and biodynamic viticulture and dozes his wines with very little sulphur, but isn’t part of any organization. He is inspired by his mentor Didier Barral and also Jean Foillard (under whom he has studied). The wine in hand is grafted in the name of what my local importer calls: “The shitty grape” aka Carignan. The grape has indeed a bad reputation of being difficult to handle, rustic, tannic, no finesse and usually the source for high yielding industrial wines.

However - this is not your everyday Languedoc wine – in fact it’s a great wine a most importantly a wine with a really interesting character, which pleases palate, thirst, intellect and food pairing.

The first sniff; thoughts: A determination of having something very different wine in the glass – a character of something you have never had before. It’s not one of those wines, which shocks you and takes you to the edge. No – it’s more a wine with mystique. Another thought was a relief of not having been served this wine blind and trying to guess…I would have been lost.

The nose is filled with a fascinating and wicked games of spices, which blends in with wild red berries, red tea, rosehip, cranberries, white pepper, black cherries and lacquer. The latter note is more a reference to how tight these spices are knitted, given a fascinating high-pitched cool breeze. The taste is remarkable slim, cool and crushes the spices into a perfume, which exudes of mint warmth. That game – is a gift to food pairing. I have had it 3 times now and with a dish of chicken, celery, tomato, onion, horseradish, thyme, chicken stock and chickpeas It was unbelievable delicious.

In many ways - if I could pre-define the perfect wine, this wine would not – from its fragmentary notes - fit my desired preferences. However, its stringent cool and sophisticated spices open a great landscape of food matches. Highly recommended and selling around 20€.

2008 Vouette et Sorbée "Blanc d'Argile"

Blend: 100% Chardonnay

Terroir: Kimmeridgian soil

Ages of vines: 11 years (planted in 2000)

Other vineyard data: Located in the town of Biaune with a Western exposure

Winemaker: Bertrand Gautherot

Production: Think around 1.500 bottles (30 hl/ha)

Disgorgement: 5th of November 2010

Dosage: 0 g/l

Glass: Spiegelau Adina Red Wine / Water Goblet

I have followed Blanc d’Argile since the debut release of the 2004 vintage. I have always liked it and seen a cuvée constantly evolving in higher and higher quality. Today it seems like Bertrand Gautherot has achieved a more intense raw material, which works far better with the fingerprint of the oak. I now consider Blanc d’Argile a Champagne with great cellar potential.

The 2008 vintage is already hyped with best vintage ever all across the Champagne landscape. However – from the signals I have picked up – the ideal conditions are more linked to the Marne area, whereas Aube is more mixed. That said – judging from another Aube resident: Cédric Bouchard - his ’08 - Inflorescence and Les Ursules are both staggering good.

With these expectations I popped the 2008 Blanc d’Argile, but immediately set it aside and rested it for 20 minutes. The reason was simple, as I remembered the 2005, 2006 and 2007 constantly improving with air. My wife and I shared 2/3 of the bottle together and 2 hours later I had the last 1/3 alone.

The 2008 Blanc d’Argile is seriously impressive Champagne. It burst out of the glass, with an enormous amount of energy. It was almost at the verge of being a bit crazy – too intense, as the oak also marked its presence with a raw toasted tone and notes of hazelnuts. However it calms down after 2 glasses showing remarkable fruit ripeness, which shapes like juicy apples, honey and lots of citrus fruits. The citrus aromas are being accelerated by an insane acidity nerve, which penetrates the entire wine from nose to palate, providing so much brightness to the Champagne. The finish it poised with this mind-blowing acidity snap and a really long mineral attached finish. The last 1/3 – as the bubbles dies down – was an exceptional study in this acidity game, turning the last perfumes into green apples, lime and some brushings of smoke from the oak. I believe these ingredients will provide the ’08 Blanc d’Argile with solid life and cellar potential.

Impressive Champagne, which has an open window. It will probably close down within a year or so – but do try a bottle now and give it 30 minutes of air in the bottle before you pour.

La Vigne du Perron

Bugey!!!

quoi?

Villebois!!

Je ne comprends pas?

Lost? Pretty much.

We are in the area of Bugey and the village is Villebois. To be a little more specific we are here 150km south of Arbois, Jura and 60km northeast of Lyon. I know – you still haven’t got a clue were we are. We are in France – okay, and I have tasted 3 wines so far from La Vigne du Perron.

2010 Les Etapes

Blend: 100% Pinot Noir

Terroir: Silt and limestone scree

Yields: 28HL/Ha

Method: semi-carbonic maceration 12 days, tapered wooden vats

Aging: 12 months in 5-6 year old Burgundy barrels

Production: 1.500 bottles per year.

Other: Natural wine

Glass: Zalto Burgundy

First impression was a recognizable scent of what I would describe as typical for Pinot Noir, when crafted in the name of natural wine. But quickly the wine turns and you realize we are not in our local “backyard” anymore and the terroir is quite different. To give you an idea what we are dealing with - is a much more cooler tempered wine, which has very fragile breezes of raspberry skin, wet animal fur and a refined spice window. These spices are transported to the palate and overall brakes as white pepper scents, which initially made me fear the fruit would suffer in purity. This is however not the case as the wine is simply so breathtaking fresh, frisky and blessed with poised bite. In such a wrapping, the spices merely act as a complexity supplement. Beautiful wine.

2010 Les Ermitures

Blend: 100% Gamay

Terroir: Granite

Yields: 15 HL/HA

Method: semi-carbonic maceration 10 days, tapered wooden vats.

Aging: 12 months in 5-6 year old Burgundy barrels

Production: 1.500 bottles per year.

Other: Natural wine

Glass: Zalto Burgundy

Actually the same thing happened here. First scents.....ahaaaa!!!. Gamay, got it!!!...some of the usual suspects on the aromatic wheel, but just 5-10 minutes later, it turns. The transformation is quite amazing and I was about to witness one of the most refined Gamay wines I have ever tasted. It’s one of those annoying wines, which smells of something you think you know and you might even have that note right on the tip of your tongue. But then you begin to doubt, because it’s so unusual to see such an aromatic profile for Gamay. Anyway – this is my best attempt to describe the wine.

A really fresh wine filled with delicate, pure sweet new fruit and aromas which shapes like; pumpkin, green olives, figs, rubber, cumin (very subdued) and lacquer. The fruit is like a really closely tied knot and it provides so much tallness to the wine. The taste is so fine, with a cool, frisky and vibrant curl, which gives you a life confirmative journey. There are also darker phrasings underneath the palate, which feels like brushing of minerality and refined spices. Spectacular Gamay wine.

2010 Ars Antiqua (Pétillant Natural – let’s call them pet.nat. in future)

Blend: 60% Roussette (altesse), 40% Chardonnay

Terroir: Silt and limestone scree

Yields: 15 HL/HA (Rousette) and 30 HL/HA (Chardonnay)

Method: Direct pressing

Aging: Rousette, in vats fibreglass and for Chardonnay; Burgundy barrels.

Production: 2.000 bottles per year.

Other: Natural wine

Glass: Spiegelau Adina (Water Goblet)

This is different – very different in the sense of I imagined a pet.nat. with immediate appeal from fresh new fruit. To some extend it delivers just that – but it bends the wheel different to what I am used to and over the 3 days I tasted this wine, I found myself more in doubt than really convinced. It has very high pitches of flower water and lemon peel, which goes of towards zest from grape fruit. It’s however more complex than just a simple pet.nat., with a baseline of grassy tones, spices and soil bite. The acidity is high and I like high, but it becomes shrill, like the note of grape fruit from the nose. On day two I found some signs of subtleness, but it’s only when served really chilled. Upon reflection, which I found interesting was it’s ability to stay focused and clear on day 3 and with such a profile I couldn’t help to think whether it’s actually a pet.nat, which can age 1-2 years more?

Don’t forget “L’Artiste”

2006, David Léclapart “L’Artiste”

Blend: 100% Chardonnay

Dosage: 0 g/l

Other: L’Artiste is made from 30-50 year old vines and aged half in enameled steel and half in barrel

Glass: Spiegelau Adina Red wine (Water Goblet)

It’s common there is a sort of ranking order in a producer’s portfolio - from an entry-level wine to a cuvée prestige. With David Léclapart the spotlight is usually on “L’Apôtre”, which is definitely appropriate – yet I have discovered – especially with the 2004 vintage, that “L’Artiste” is a Champagne which shouldn’t be forgotten.

I have already had a sneak preview on this 2006 version of “L’Artiste”, in April this year @ Terres et vins de Champagne. I was seriously impressed and my expectations were high as poured my first glass.

Deadly young – yet majestic intense already from the opening bell. There is an uncompromising raw style to this Champagne, as it floats like an eruption of soil liquid. It’s extremely energetic to witness and the soil components have a warm intense slate feeling, bringing its purity to a mind-blowing level.

It’s not a coincidence, I haven’t yet touched upon the aromatic notes of this Champagne, as I am in fact more intrigued with it’s overall character. It happens, that it’s one of those specimens, which doesn’t just let you pick a note here and there on the aromatic wheel and voilá - we have an almost finished tasting note. This is one of those wines, which has it’s own dimension and such equations, are always love for me.

But for sure, we have tight, slim and utterly pure pear juice, flowers and lots of grassy notes. The taste offers a sensational electrical treat with a slim, crystal clear taste. On the finish line it’s bites back with this raw soil attack.

The last two glasses showed signs of a more reserved Champagne, which very well could prove to be the entrance of a nearby shy phase.

Overall – spectacular Champagne, with lots of cellar potential.

Rosé – simplicity and deliciousness

2010 Vignes du Maynes (Julien Guillot) Macon-Cruzille Rosé

Blend: Not sure, think mostly Pinot, plus some Gamay

Location: Burgundy - Mâcon-Cruzille

Other: Julien Guillot has been bio since 1997 and his red wines hardly see any sulphur

Glass: Zalto Universal

This is the fourth time I taste this rosé. Three of the times, the scene was set in glories sunny weather in June and July. Here in October – windy and cold, I felt there was need to do a planned choreography. I thought the trick could be food and served a dish with cold smoked salmon with beetroot pickled in blackberry vinegar, sweet onions and horseradish cream. I worked utterly great.

This rosé deals with two things, which I kind of like in wine. One is simplicity (you have heard that one before), which might not catch your interest, if you browse for BIG, SERIOUS and COMPLEX wines. However, thing is (and this is the other thing I like in wine) when you mix delicious drinking pleasure, I don’t really care about complexity on a Tuesday evening. Yet!! - Though it is a bit contradictory, there are elements of complexity in this wine, as it warms up in the glass.

The notes of the nose are turning towards; rosehip, cranberry, iron and some smoke. They are served in an exquisite weightless design and with a touch of pure salty fragrance to the red fruits, it fits my rosé preference just perfectly. Taste is really subtle, which is enhanced with an elastic structure and a divine finish where the smoky tones breezes in. This breeze turns the wine slightly drier but the elastic structure keeps it really interesting and I have never taste a rosé with such a character. As the wine warms up in the glass, the cranberry takes a step forward and on the palate you feel the red wine tones humming a bit more tannic undertones, even though they never take control.

Great rosé…which makes me realize how much I miss summer, despite the fall is such a colour treat to the eye…ahhh well….life goes on….did I mention it’s really fair priced…. (20€ I think)

2007 Jérôme Prévost “Fac-Simile rosé”

100% Pinot Meunier

Terroir: Sand and calcareous elements (source Champagneguide.net)

Dosage: 0 g/l

Method: Assemblage Production: 2.800 bottles

Other: The 2007 are the debut release of this Rosé

Glass: Spiegelau Adina “Red wine”

I just clicked back to my first TN on this wine in Dec-2009 where I wrote ”It’s also starting to show some darker fruits patterns, rising from a slightly oxidation. This makes me speculate, that within a relative short time frame, lets say 1½ years or so, this will be a completely different Champagne.” (You can see the complete TN from Dec-2009 here)

Let’s have a look and see if I was right or not?

If this bottle is representative, (Prévost has the tendency to show quite a bit of bottle variation) my predictions were correct. It’s quite evolved and the oxidation patters are fully alive. The oak also shines trough, with a lot of seductive appeal and sweet cookies tones, which adds to baseline of this oxidized style. Yet!!...I have to say the fruity notes started rather salty, with ravishing oozing perfumes of apricot, rhubarb and strawberry. If you take out the salty element – I couldn’t help to compare it a little bit with Anselme Selosse rosé (Jérôme is a former student of Selosse). With air the Champagne looses the salty elements and reveals highly appealing notes of caramel and orange blossoms. The latter notes might have damaged the intellectual and tallness of the Champagne, but I have to say its just such an outrageous good laidback drinking Champagne. The taste was all the way really awarding and with zero dosage, it never gets too much.

Good stuff and I would start drinking this Champagne from now +4 years.