Tag Archives: natural wine

A nebbiolo for the Summer?

05 Sunday Jul 2020

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Humm…Nebbiolo is not a grape that I usually associate with the summer season. It feels more at home from the fall to the winter. When i think of a Neb based wine, images of chilly fall evenings with beef roasts and luscious pastas come to mind..In a million years, i never you could have Nebbiolo for summer, especially by the side of the pool. It doesn’t fit into the laid-back estivale category.

Well..thats the beauty of wine. It sometimes makes you think outside the box. When I saw a ( girl) in the Vin dans Le Voiles website posing with a bottle of Rosso di Valtellina, it set an alarm in my mind.

Meet the Dirupi Ole bottle cuddling along the model from The Vin Dans Le Voiles.A boutique producer in the Valtellina, the northern most wine producing region of Lombardy in Italy. This is a beautiful and extreme wine making region with freezing temperatures in the vineyards in the winter followed by very hot summers with a light exposure similar to that in Sicily due to the steep aspect of their south facing vineyards.

The Dirupi winery is named after the steepness of their 4.5 hectares of vineyards. The yields and total production is very low, comprising only four labels and a overall production of closely 15000 bottles a year. Note that this is 100% exclusively artisanal winemaking. Davide Fasolini and Pierpaolo di Franco work the most natural way in the vineyard and cellar although not classified as organic wine makers.

The region’s location in northern Lombardy on the Italian/Swiss border produces a different style wine from this normally tannic grape. Higher altitude (approximately 2,220 feet), cooler climate and distinctive soil types (Sandstone and silt in the case of the Olé) deposited by glaciers over the years produce a less tannic, high-toned version of Nebbiolo (Chiavennasca in the Valtellinese dialect).

This is a delicious and fun wine packed with very savoury notes of red fruits, herbs and lots of yummy flower undertones. On the palate, very fresh and floral with notes of spices, strawberry pie filling and just slightly tannic.And yes….I completely understand why you would want to have this wine by the pool. It is just so fresh and mouthwatering.

It is available by the case via Le Vin dans Le Voiles ( $43.15. Six pack case)

Panevino Shugusucci 2017

30 Tuesday Jun 2020

Posted by in Italy, natural wine, orange wine

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I am fairly new with the wines of Gianfranco Manca ( Panevino). My first Panevino was Alvas which actually was also my first orange wine tasted. Raisonnance, their importer in Quebec offered me a taste in the now defunct Montreal restaurant La Salle a Manger. During those years, I knew very little about natural wine and nothing about Orange wine.

This wine was so different and unique from others that made me think about the concept of transcendence in wine. This  is a seldom concept found in wine but more in art.

Deriving from the Latin transcendere, which means to climb beyond, transcendence implies the sensation  of having a sense of significance  beyond ourselves. There are as many ways of experiencing transcendence as there are people. It can be a religious experience or non-religious such as being  connected to other people, nature, or the universe, or it can apply to a wordly experience of passing through a difficult situation. In the end, transcendence relates to a feeling of purpose in the world or  the joy of being alive.

Great art is transcendent. It directs to something outside itself and the artist who made it.

A reason why the Greek civilization believed in gods and muses. They were in touch with something : Art describes the outer limits world; it points at the hidden story.

Can the same principle could be applied to wine?. Until that day, I wasn’t aware and was happy to discover it with Panevino.

There was something mystical about that alvas and to this day I cant forget. It went beyond the completely unique perfurm  and its marvelous texture on the palate. It was an experience greater than the sum of its parts. The wine elevated me and conncected me to the land but more important to the hidden soul of Gianfranco.

It was the same feeling with Shugussucci. A field blend of indigenous Sardegnan wine varieties, this wine display so much energy and vibrancy. It is hard to pinpoint that elusive feeling. It is truly an emoional wine, much the same feeling like looking at a canvas of Mark Rothko.

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Here is the formal tasting note for descriptive purposes with no intention of capturing the emotional wine aspect

Aromas of wild oregano, amaro herbs with dry dark fruit tones complemented by cured leather and hints of volatile acidity. On the palate, multilayered with snappy acidity. Deeep flavours of red flowers, Jamaican curry with currants. Raging finale reminiscent of animal notes such a cured meat and goat meat.

Panevino is represented by Raisonnance in Quebec, Canada by strict allocation only.

 

An anecdote of a brunch and wine pairing exercise

11 Thursday Jun 2020

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These days we really have to be creative in the kitchen. The possibility of going out to eat has faded away and it represents a risk to be gastronomically bored. Of course, there is always the take out option but can you really put  a fine dining experience in a few boxes?. Montreal’s restaurants are set to be reopen on June 22th and who knows how fine dining will be living with Corona.

I miss the pre corona days where I could normally take my car and head to Montreal to eat out. After my separation eating out became a more frequent activity. However, the activity was reserved for the weekends when I had my 6 years old daughter Alessia. It is my strong opinion that children should start early their gastronomical education so they develop a palate.

With my daughter and Paola as a dining companion, I had some of the most memorable dining experiences. As these lines are written, fantasies come into my head about memorable skin contact wines and Elena pizza.

My recent culinary experiences are last minute improvisations of my head. But today post is my sister Paola that takes the credit. A neophyte home cook she surprised me with her reinvented version of a Venezuelan arepa. She also has great taste for natural wine and food.

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A very interesting spin off she puts flax seed and whole wheat in the corn dough. This gives a nice crunchiness and earthy nuance contrast to the sweetness of the dough. My filling consisted with a boiled egg, some turkey and aurugula. It was a great pairing with the petnat ( Pretty ) from Alex and Maria Koppitsch. Really fun sparkler reminiscent of lots of red fielberries. On the palate, really fun and quite refreshing with slight herbal flavours. It is represented in Quebec, Canada by the good people of Ward & Associates.

Looking foward to go out again with those two lovely girls and experience great restaurants

The wine cellar-the emergency solution for crisis?

04 Saturday Apr 2020

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As I wrap up my upcoming private wine orders for April, my wine buying activity will be reduced in the months to come. I dont see a complete halt but me too I am a victim of the virus crisis. I have lost temporarily my job as a baker. My patron has taken my place and have reduced staff to a minimum. A very sensible solution. I rather the bakery be saved because I know things would get back on track eventually. So, I have to be very careful on what I shall be buying

Also, With a lot of free time on my hand, it is very easy to over indulge with wine. It is more tempting for me as well, since I am separated and have no one to give me dirty looks-you are drinking too much for instance

Treat your wine collection with respect and be smart about it. It is a finite resource much like the money in your bank account. Once is gone, it is forever. Each wine bottle is the memory of a vintage of what happened during that specific year. You just cant replace that.

Besides facing an empty cellar, if you drink too much you could be faced with a much bigger problem: alcohol dependency. No matter the quality level of the wine you are drinking, it is still alcohol. Trust me, I have been there and know what I am talking about. It is very important to self check your wine consumption levels at all times but be more strict during these uncertain times. It is very tempting to overindulge so if you are doing it very often that should ring lots of alarm in your head.

If you do have a wine cellar, this is the perfect time to do a cleanup just like you are doing in certain parts of your house. This is the time to drink wines that are reaching maturity or trade styles that you dont appreciate it anymore. In my case, I will be drinking some mature Bordeauxs in the months to come. In addition, I will be exploring how certain natural wines are evolving with age.

Leave your young wines to rest. They are like children and need their beauty sleep to become beautiful. In a million years, I would never imagine bothering my daughter in her sweet sleep. It is the same thing with wine: you open a bottle of wine too soon and you risk it not to be at its best performance. It could be muted or shy.

So I will leave with that so you can think about..And now for the wine reccomendation:

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Dard & Ribo St Joseph white 2017 ( Six pack case, $60-$70, Rezin)

René-Jean Dard and François Ribo, two famous winemakers from Mercurol, north of Valence, founded their estate in 1984. Working from just a single hectare, the estate is today composed of 9 hectares of vines, with parcels in the appellations of Saint-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage and Hermitage. The wines produced are always of incredible  quality, with tremendous work put into their single vineyard cuvées (one soil + one grape variety = one cuvée). Their methods stayed the same  for the last 30 years: non-intervention,  10% of the grapes are trodden by foot, no additives are used, a long decanting period is used in place of filtering, and no sulphur is added. The estate’s winepress dates back to 1955, which was bought from Prieuré-Roch in 1992.

This St Joseph is a monovarietal Rousanne from the vineyards of Les Champs” and “Opatyres,” on granite with clay and stones. The wine ferments and ages in a mix of vats and small, used barrels. It is quite powerful and quite heady. Powerful nuances of marzipan with ripe apricots with a touch of pineapple and coconut. Very rich and round with a very long persistent finale. Available by allocation only from Rezin.

Until next post, be well and drink great!!

 

Pico Taibane 2017 by Angiolino Maule

31 Tuesday Mar 2020

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Maybe spending $50 in a bottle wine is not the greatest thing to do in these strange times. This is the type of thing that my mom told me the other day: “you can’t spend money on wine during times of pandemic”. But I never listen to my mom or anyone else, just the little voice inside my head.

The wines of Angiolino Maule were some of the first natural wines that I ever tasted. Angiolino owns the mythical estate of La Biancara in the Veneto. He is a man of many hats: Saxophonist, Pizzaiolo, baker and a prominent winemaker. La Biancara makes some of the greatest natural wines in Italy and perhaps the world. I have been drinking their wines for some years now and they never had dissapointed me.  They are extremely clean and well balanced.

You dont know Garganega until you try one of Angiolino white wines. His wines are even praised by conventional wine media such as Wine Spectator. For an excellent profile of la Biancara, consult this article: Out of the funk, Can “natural wine” be free of faults? Ask Angiolino.

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One of the latest wines that I tried from him was Pico Taibane 2017. Pico is produced with Garganega grapes only, carefully selected in the highest hills of Gambellara, its fermentation starts spontaneously. The aging takes place for 12 months in big barrels (15 hectolitres). It is bottled without filtration and sulphites.

Pico is a light maceration wine. The nose is fascinating like all the wines of Maule. It has deep notes of honey laced with herbal undertones with soft aromas of apricot jam. The palate displays a pristine quality. The wine is rich but very well balanced. Lots of yellow fruit but also all those lovely mineral volcanic notes of volcanic Garganega.

I paired this wine with a simple dish of carbonara pasta. It went really well. The wine complemented nicely the richness of the pasta.

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Do not hesitate to order via Oenopole. Get together five friends and share a case of 6.

Cheers!!

Strange times with not so strange wines

31 Tuesday Mar 2020

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The current situation that we live in with the Coronavirus is nothing short than a Bunuel movie or the Netflix series: Stranger Things. Most of us are confined in our homes while a mysterious virus slowly infects the world population.

It is April and the situation is even more weird because it is spring. The days are sunny and the weather is starting to warm up. There is a serene calm on the streets, almost eery. It brings to mind the movie I am legend.

We try to carry on with our lives but have the feeling that nothing will ever be the same again…

We are home prisoners and continue to carry on. Some of us exercise, cook, do origami or even drink massive amounts of natural wine. I do all of the above mentioned except the Japanese art.

This is the perfect time to try different wines because we are living extraordinary times. So break a leg, escape the routine and try something new

And also by doing so, you are supporting your local wine trade that is being very strained during these times

Here are three wines from my selection in these strange times.

Alessandro Viola Note di Bianco 2018 ( $40, Six pack case, Agence Sans Nom)

Perhaps one of the most sensational wines tried in 2020. You drink this Grillo by the nose. Aromas of citronella, lemon nougat and blanched almonds. Fresh with a nice savoury acidity. Alessandro Viola owns 7 hectares with varietals that include Grillo, Nero d’Avola, Nerello Mascalese and Catarratto. Located on Monte Bonifitato, overlooking Alcamo, the company philosophy is simple: make wine using only grapes. Pure wine, Viola believes, is not only more ethical but better.

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Dobra Vinice Pinot Noir Pet Nat. ( $33.28, Six pack case, Ward et Associes)

The wines of the Czech continue to intrigue my imagination. This sparkler from Vinice can give a run for it’s money for any Champagne from one of the big houses. It has fantastic aromas of red berries with the appropriate dose spice note:vanilla bean and white chocolate

Tre Dame Emilia Rosato Bio Frizzante ( $35.74, Six pack case, Ward et Associes)

Tre Dame” by Ca de Noci is a sparkling wine based on Sgavetta and rare native varieties, obtained with the method of refermentation in the bottle. The “Tre Dame” proves to be an excellent rosé with light funky tines, minerals and small berries, with excellent acidity complemented  by subtle tannins.

Get into natural wine with three wine selections

13 Thursday Feb 2020

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Like it or not, natural wine is well established in Quebec wine culture and it looks that it will not go away for a while. You can find the style from the trendiest to some of the humblest Montreal restaurants. For some wine drinkers, it might be intimidating to venture into the  style given the buzz given by some somms in the city. No need to worry, after all it is just natural fermented grape juice.

I put out a basic three  wine selection all in reds  for you to discover. In Quebec, these wines are available in the private import market through the year. Most of them are under $40 and you can get them by the case. Get yourself some friends and you are ready for business.

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Marcobarbarossa 2018. ( Available via Raissonance)

A perfect introduction to the natural style of Venetian reds. Barbarossa is mainly Merlot with other varieties such as Cabernet and Raboso. Fermented wine with indigenous yeasts, in cement tanks. It is aged for 12 months in steel tanks and bottled unfiltered with a small addition of sulfur.

Fantastic aromas of red plums, black cherries and fieldberries. Medium to full body with a fresh and lingering aftertaste.

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Meigamma 

Meigamma are Barbara and Giuseppe Pusceddu, winemakers in Villasimius (CA) whose passion for the vineyard was born in 2006 when, carrying out  their natural passion for natural wine and the land from which they come, they decided to plant a traditional cannonau vineyard. From the beginning,  they opted for organic cultivation, without adding chemicals and herbicides in order to let the real territory shine in the glass. Same idea then kept in the cellar: respect for the grapes, harvested entirely by hand, transforming them without the aid of selected yeasts, corrective or conservative, nor any clarifying so as to have maximum expression of the terroir.

Meigamma in Sardinian means “rest after lunch”. This word contains a “slow” life philosophy in which they get  inspired to produce wine, oil, honey and vegetables. The extension of their vineyard is 1.1 hectares, cultivated with Cannonau, Cabernet, Carignano and Muristellu, the soil is sandy type 700 meters from the sea, in the heart of the Sardinian hills. Available for $42 via Glou by allocation ony.

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Le Bout du Monde by Edouard Lafitte

Edouard Lafitte is one of the most talented winemakers that I know from the Rousillon. He works in an organic way on a 6,7 hectares land over three villages: 3 hectares at Lansac on Granitic Sands 2 hectares at Rasiguères on Schists 1,7 hectares at Cassagnes on Gneiss Harvest is handmade and  the winemaking process is natural with carbonic maceration at low temperature. I just adore  L’Echappée Belle which is an assembly of Syrah and Carignan made using the carbonic maceration technique. It is a beautiful highly drinkable red that is highly dangerous to drink. Available via Glou for the amazing price of $28.90

 

 

 

 

 

I am an agent of change

29 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by in France, Rhone, Uncategorized

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In my teenage years, I had left wing political inclinations. Growing up in Venezuela, it became almost an ardent religious belief that I could change everything that was wrong in Venezuelan society. This was the 90’s in Latin America and it was in fashion to listen Fito Paez, Soda Stereo, Enanitos Verdes and Soda Stereo. Feeling nostalgic now, I remember with candor how me and my friends used to drink cheap rhum and read passages of Che Guevara:The Motorcycle Diaries.

As I grew older and entered young adulthood, this romantic idealism faded away. The reality of the world was based on money and social status. My grandfather used to tell me: You know how to change an Italian communist?. Give him a good job, nice clothes, a car and sexy woman. Honestly, I felt that alone could not fight the whole system and became part of the establishment….until not long ago when I left it with flying colours

Rebel once, rebel forever. I guess that this idealism is still with me today..it never went away. I do a job that I love, live a modest life and drink a fair amount of natural wine.

My wife once asked me: So if you like natural wine, are you against those that dont drink natural wine?. It’s not about a dogma or a principle war, its about a choice that I make.I favor natural, biological and biodynamic wines because they are good for me and strongly believe that I make a contribution to preserving the planet. I sttill review conventional or classical wines. Absotutely, I will favor those with the minimum footprint on the planet

My stand with natural wine makes me an agent of positive change. The bottles that I buy, my reviews and the impressions all help to protect the real culture of wine. Actually, I am voting with my buying dollar for a better and healthier wine world.

The greatest gift that natural wine has given me, it’s a voice to express my solidarity with those vignerons that craft beautiful bottles. A long time ago, someone told me that drinking wine is an act of humility and intimacy. The act of drinking a real wine is to peek into a secret window inside the mind the secret world of a winemaker.

I am a rebel at heart for the love of wine

Domaine La Grande Colline-Hirotake-Ooka

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Le Canon 2015

One of the most emblematic wines that I have ever tried in the past years came from this man: Hirotake Ooka. It sounds odd that a Japanese guy makes natural wine in the Rhone but it is one of the weird beautiful things of life. The wines of Hirotake are available in Quebec, Canada via Primavin.

Le Canon is a tasty blend of Grenache and Syrah. It has delicious taste of leafy blackfruit with a touch of animal funk and spice. Its spritzy in the palate and it keeps really well the next day if you dont finish the bottle. The wine is born out of a soil of mica and granite and the vines have an average age of 30 years young. No oak in this wine, just steel tank. Price is under $30 per bottle and it comes in a case of 12. This bottle comes from my private collection.

I am looking foward to try its Cornas, once it becomes available via Primavin.

 

Sebastien Riffault-Les Quarterons 2016

22 Monday Jul 2019

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This is the post of a modest wine lover who never was into Sancerre until the day he had a glass of Riffault

Generally speaking, Sancerre like Chablis are not wines that appeal to me. I can appreciate but they are very impersonal to me. They could be cold antipathic wines. I guess that I was drinking the wrong wines for many years. Not even a Sancerre from Mellot, a top producer in the appellation made my skin hair rise like the bottle of Riffault.

That’s the beauty of natural well made wine. It can break dogmas and make you see wine in a completely different optic.

They say that this way the way vignerons used to make Sancerre in the past. This wine is unique in all senses and reflect the strong opinions of the winemaker.

The nose is quite esoteric for the “real” Sancerres tasted and drank in the past. The bouquet had an enchanting taste reminiscent of passion fruit, mango with a touch of pineapple peel and even tamarind. In the palate, so fresh and delicious. It has a voloptous structure with an incredible mineral lingering finale. A beautiful wine that will go well with tuna or scallops or…

a simple meal of roasted chicken with pesto pasta and green beans.

I grabbed mine from a friend but you can get it through Vini-Vins if you live in Quebec. It retails for around $36. Highly Reccomend buy!!

Methode Sauvage Pinot Noir 2017

01 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by in California

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Just came back from a press trip and was delighted to drink this Californian Pinot Noir. I usually don’t drink Pinot from the Golden State. The selection at the SAQ is usually a showcase of wines heavily on steroids. Commercial Californian Pinot Noir is a tragic affair. In short: heavily oaked, rich in sugar and alcohol and with a dark colour. Am I drinking Syrah?. Not even, some of these so called “Pinots” are a monstrosity.

My wine buddy Philippe Morin, a great cognoscenti of wines bought a case and splitted with a small circle of friends. This is how I came to know the wines of Chad Hinds of Methode Sauvage.

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Chad is working with some serious pedigree vineyards in California and is crafting some of the most exciting wines from California. The grand vent vineyard is the coolest spot in Sonoma County and it shows when you taste the wine. The pinot has crunchy red fruit with lovely herbal and floral undertones. It has a beautiful acidity and lenght. Overall is poetic and almost sensual. Its creamy texture reveals its Californian origin and in a blind tasting, for sure it could pass for a Premier Cru Burgundy from a richer vintage.  Chad Pinot is just perfect.

I am very excited and looking foward to try his other wines. We are very lucky that in Quebec we can find his wines via La Regie, an upcoming Montreal wine importing agency. I am delirious to try his Rhone and Jura varietals. Cant remember, how much I paid but I think it was between $40-$50. In general, the pricing is good as well.