The start of our trade event season for 2011 began this week with our hosting a stand at The Specialist Importers Trade Tasting event (SITT) 2011 in Manchester (Monday) and London (Wednesday). We have worked at this event for the past couple of years and watched it grow into an already much talked about interesting show for the smaller, specialist merchants in the UK wine trade.
The SITT acronym is an ironic one as a long day is spent on one’s feet tasting, chatting and advising a steady flow of guests including Sommeliers, Journalists, fellow wine merchants and consultants. There was certainly precious little time to sit!
Michael and Tom attended the Manchester event, which as a rule is a little quieter than the London one. Tom the hot footed it back to help Jason and I look after things in London at Vinopolis in the historic Borough market near London Bridge.
We always try to keep our wine selection fairly small and snappy, but equally try to reflect as much of our varied and wide-ranging portfolio as possible. This tasting provided a good opportunity to look at some of our 2009 vintages that are going to be firmly at the forefront of our 2011 list. The white wines were all particularly well received on the day (which may partly reflect the ambient temperature of a packed hall)!
I thought that our Condrieu Terroirs 2009 (100% Viognier) from Francis Merlin was an excellent wine; good body, with lots of that AC typical minerality that makes Viognier wines from this area so interesting and different. One of the comments from a journalist who tasted it on the day was that it was refreshing to try a Condrieu that actually tasted like Condrieu is meant to, which is something very different from Viognier found elsewhere in the wine world. A third of the assemblage is put into oak and this helps carry the complex flavours through to a long and satisfying finish. This is a great early showing for the 2009 Rhône wines that we have been telling you about for the past couple of months.
Domaine Saparale Vin de Corse Sartène Rosé 2009 (Nielluccio, Sciacarello and Vermentino) is a stand out rosé wine. From sun-blessed Corsica, it has a lovely pale Salmon colour with lots of mouth-filling summer fruit flavours as well as crisp, slightly savoury tinge. This is Spring/Summer drinking out on the terrace with a salad or some seafood.
All of the reds that we had on show are firm favourites of mine and I am really pleased that our Pascal Frères Gigondas 1999 was well received by people on the day. Gigondas is generally a younger, more rustic cousin to the refined, maturity of good Châteauneuf du Pape and it is not often that you can find it available with any decent age. We are fortunate to have a long standing working relationship with Yves Cheron and he continually delights with his late release of these great value wines. Don’t get me wrong, this Gigondas does not have the rich complexity of good Châteauneuf, but to be fair it also does not have the price tag! Beautiful autumnal flavours expand on the palate, the rusticity of youth has been mellowed with age into a smooth, warming wine. Plenty of classic cigar box aromas and long finish, make this a wine for slow, relaxed contemplation. A great value wine in my opinion.
Overall, it was another successful event, lots of interesting wines on show and a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and new. When the doors finally closed after a busy day dispensing wine, we continued the long standing wine trade tradition and swapped the grape for the grain with a quick refreshing beer from the nearest market tavern, albeit though, still no seat to be had.
It is a testament to how busy we have been over the past twelve months that the night for our staff Christmas Party appeared to come round again so quickly after last year’s great evening at the Museum Inn, Farnham.
This time our Yapp car convoy was heading into Frome and the newly-opened Archangel. It was a full team in attendance, and as a company we have people from Mere, Gillingham, Shaftesbury, Fontmel Magna, Brixton Deveril and further afield in Bristol and London. Funnily enough the person who lives closest to the Archangel is Yapp boss Jason, but I am sure that he chose the venue for its cracking food over its proximity to his back door.
There were some truly battle weary faces who assembled upstairs in the Naval Room, one of the Archangels' private dining rooms. A manic Christmas, as well as some very successful promotions (Rhone 2009 en primeur etc) had meant that there had been very little down time for anyone over the past couple of months. The stirring photos of assorted submarines that decorated the room were perhaps a fair reflection of the sterling job we have all done as a team, working in close company to successfully navigate the sometimes choppy seas of 2010.
We had all pre-selected our meal from an excellent set menu in advance. This worked well as the only decision making process for the evening would be confined to how full or empty one’s glass was.
We started off with a pre-dinner sharpener in the form of Gilles Dumangin’s Vintage 2000 Champagne. It was the perfect way to toast ourselves and start the evening. We have had a few new faces this year and as we are not all in the office at the same time it was good to catch up and have a chat that did not involve something work related.
Soon seated and our starters arrived. I had decided to forego any calorie restricted decision making and opted for the Red wine poached pear, pickled beetroot & deep fried Somerset Brie and it was delicious. The presentation was excellent and the balance in flavours was perfect. Both the Chateau La Canorgue Cotes du Luberon Blanc and the Vernay Condrieu Terrasses de l’Empire were interesting wines to try with quite a difficult food match. For me the Vernay worked best although I think a mid-weight rose, or even a Loire red could have been a good fit.
I have a slight affliction, bordering on pathological problem, when it comes to ‘food envy’. I always fret when choosing from menus in case I make what I deem to be an error in choice once everyone’s food arrives. It is probably something that I can blame my mother for back in my distant past, when my siblings received larger portions or extra servings or something, and I could probably spend some years in therapy to deal with it. It means that my eyes immediately scan everyone else’s dishes as much as my own in case I have made a grave error, be it in terms of quantity if I am starving or quality if I am looking for something special.
I am pleased to report that the green-eyed monster was safely caged and pacified when my main course of Dexter fillet steak with its own pie, celeriac puree and red wine jus arrived at the table. Again the presentation was Michelin star-worthy and the deftness of touch in cooking was superb. This, essentially beef on beef banquet, ticked all the boxes and it would be requiring some serious reds to do it justice. Fortunately, with a double header of Domaine Richeaume Côtes de Provence Cuvée Columelle and Yapp stalwart, Patrick Jasmin Côte Rôtie, the perfect partners were provided. Indeed the Columelle appeared to be a star of the evening with team Yapp as the bottle shuttled up and down our expansive table.
A fortunate aspect of my ‘food envy’ reputation is that I have become known as the ‘go to’ guy when it comes to food dumping. Whether it is to avoid offending wine producers who ply us with food when we visit (bearing in mind that you may visit up to 5 producers in a day), or to saving a senior member of the Yapp sales team who was rapidly turning several shades of green at a luncheon in the Loire that included steak tartare that in size, was not far off the mashed potato mountain fashioned by Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I can always look forward to a rogue plate sidling its way over to me for surreptitious scraping of other people's unfinished morsels. This little fact that I am sharing with you (and is I am sure in no way responsible for my carrying of a little ‘holiday weight’ throughout the year) means that I can inform you that the Shallot tart tatin, cured brie, sautéed field mushrooms was very nice indeed, although a sure second place to my own, meat lover’s extravaganza.
Happily a cheese course followed. This is the French way of doing things and is to my mind, the correct way of doing things. It means that any red wine left over from your main course can be enjoyed with cheese before your palate is taken into the realms of all things sweet.
We had a bottle of our sublime Banyuls Réserva open for dessert and this was the perfect companion to my Chocolate brownie with chocolate sauce and pistachio ice cream. I had ‘um’-ed and ‘ahh’-ed with choosing this as I am not a great fan of pistachio flavoured ice cream, indeed in terms of pud, I am a simple man with simple pleasures. Fortunately one of the great things about our diverse team is that we all bring something different to the table, and it was quite literally in this case when a successful exchange was made with a pistachio loving colleague for their plain and simple vanilla scoop.
Banyuls, Vanilla Ice Cream and one of the best chocolate brownies that I have ever tasted (sorry mum), evenings really do not get much better than this. Alas, time always flies when you are having fun and our carriage had arrived. We staggered from the Naval room to set a course for our respective berths for the night, excluding our two captains who set off for the short walk to their Frome lodging, looking it has to be said, ready for bed, though this may in all fairness have had something to do with receiving and despatching the post-dinner bar bill.
Of course, when all good submariners return from a long tour at sea, their shore leave is not taken lightly and so it was that some hardened crew members mutinied in transit and did not disembark from the carriage until it had run ashore at Legends; the Horn of Africa (or perhaps more accurately the Bermuda triangle) of the nightclub world.
Fortified by a superb dinner at Guy Julien’s truffle-orientated restaurant ‘Le Beaugravière’ in Montdragon (which has a legendary Rhône wine list) we arrived in Châteauneuf-du-Pape on Wednesday morning greeted by a blue sky and southern sunshine.
At Le Vieux Donjon Marie-José Michel and her daughter Claire gave us a warm welcome and the happy news that the Rhône 2009 vintage had surpassed their expectations. We then sampled a bottle of their excellent white Châteauneuf’ 2009. Made from equal volumes of Clairette and Roussanne this mid-weight, un-oaked offering has subtle citrus and ‘fleurs blanches’ scents and a bright, palate of white orchard fruit underscored by a clean acidity. It is drinking wonderfully well right now and should continue to do so for a further 3 years. Claire then produced a cask sample of the red Le Vieux Donjon 2009 which exhibited a powerful bouquet of red fruit and a complex palate infused with garrigue berry and Provençal herb notes. We then compared with a bottle of the blockbuster 2007 vintage (which still has plenty of youthful vigour) and although the 2009 is a shade lighter and less concentrated (dare we say more feminine?) it is clearly a superb and age-worthy wine.
Down the road at Domaine du Père Caboche another young vigneronne, Emile Boisson, was equally upbeat about the 2009 vintage. The Boisson family is renowned for producing forward-drinking, fruit accentuated wines for immediate gratification. Their white Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2009 is a classic with a fresh, sapid palate and attractive white peach aromas. It is cleaner and zestier than most of its peers and you could happily drink it as an aperitif. The principal cuvée of red Châteauneuf’, called simply ‘Domaine du Père Caboche’, has a bright bouquet of crushed red berries and a supple, silky palate of warming red fruit flavours and ripe, sweet tannins. This is a wine for shameless hedonistic consumption while waiting for grander, more contemplative wines to mature. The Boissons’ flagship wine called ‘Elisabeth Chambellan’, from 100 year-old vines on ‘La Crau’ plateau, is deeper, darker, richer and more complex than the regular bottling but it retains the domaine’s signature of seductive, come-hither fruit. It will age well for a decade – if you’ve got the patience to wait that long.
Having completed our tastings in Châteauneuf’ we then headed south to Les Baux to sample the wines of Domaine de Trévallon. Strictly speaking this is in Provence and not the Rhône valley but it’s certainly a wine that appeals to Rhône enthusiasts so we were keen to pay a visit. After successfully negotiating the backwaters of Les Alpilles we were greeted by Antoine Dürrbach and his younger sister Ostiane who are both now firmly involved in the family business. We kicked-off with a tasting of the rare and idiosyncratic white Domaine de Trévallon 2009. Made from a unique blend of Marsanne (45%), Roussanne (45%), Chardonnay (7%) and Grenache Blanc (3%) raised in oak barrels (half of which are new) this is rich, powerful, gastronomic wine that probably requires a bit of bottle-age and a food accompaniment to be seen at its best. We then sampled the 2009 red Syrah from barrel which had an impressive purple colour and a core of concentrated sweet, black fruit over fine-grained tannins. We then tasted the Cabernet Sauvignon which had a lovely cassis bouquet, very bright fruit and a fresh acidity. The obvious thing to next was to sample a blend of the two together which produced a really harmonious result – a great balance of berry aromas, ripe fruit, sweet tannin and clean acidity. Considering its southern location Domaine de Trévallon is a very vintage sensitive wine and it appears that the 2009 is going to be a classic. As in Châteauneuf-du-Pape some of the raw power of the 2007’s might be missing but there is great balance and purity which will yield a wine of elegance and enormous future gratification.
After another day spent tasting young Rhône wines there is really only one choice of liquid refreshment – a cold demi pression or two in ‘Le Mistral’ bar in Orange.
Jason & Tom.
(Continuing the voyage down the Rhône valley this week, to catch up with vigneron friends and get an insight into the Rhône 2009 vintage).
Domaine Jean-Louis Chave is a key reference point for the entire Rhône valley, and securing an audience with Jean-Louis himself is never easy. Space precludes going into too much detail here, but the red Chave Hermitage 2009 has the potential to be a legendary wine and on the strength of our cask tasting I would be surprised if Jean-Louis did not produce a bottling of his prized Cuvée Cathelin. All of the components that are required for a classic, age-worthy red Hermitage are here – a wealth of dark fruit flavours and well-structured tannins underscored by a fine acidity. The finished wine won’t hit these shores until Spring 2012, but it will be worth the wait. Not to be overlooked is the Chave’s peerless white Hermitage which should also be ‘bien classique’ in this impressive vintage.
Just South of Tain l’Hermitage, at Les Chenes Verts, young Maxime Graillot exudes confidence at the purpose-built winery he shares with his semi-retired father Alain. Their red Crozes Hermitage is juicy and fruity and will provide rewarding drinking from the off. A new negoçiant cuvée of Cornas called ‘Equis’ was hugely impressive with a core of dark Cassis fruit over a foundation of ripe, subtle tannins. We wound up a great day’s tasting with the Graillots’ fresh, youthful white Crozes (20% Marsanne / 80% Roussanne) already bottled under screw cap and selling rapidly.
Tomorrow we head south for Châteauneuf-du-Pape to see if the wines of the Cotes-du-Rhone Meridional can compete with their cousins in the North.
À demain (hotel wi-fi permitting),
Jason & Tom
Tom and I are making a whistle-stop voyage down the Rhône valley this week to catch up with vigneron friends and get an insight into the Rhône 2009 vintage, of which we have heard great promise. After driving south from Lyon in heavy rain on Sunday evening we started tasting bright and early on Monday in Côte Rôtie with our old chum Patrick Jasmin. Tasting through the constituent parts of Patrick’s wine is always a pleasure, the 2009 shows huge potential with a wealth of violet and red berry aromas, a deep core of sweet black fruit, fine tannic structure and a bright acidity. All the ingredients are here for a Grand Vin. Patrick only makes one cuvée of Côte Rôtie and the 2009 should be a tub-thumper.
A tad further north on La Viallière climat of the Côte Brune, Joël and Romain Champet’s single vineyard 2009 Côte Rôtie is already finished and ready for bottling. This is an Old School northern Rhône Syrah with no new oak and an attractive bouquet of blackberries and blackcurrants, a mid-weight palate of briary hedgerow fruit and supple tannins. This is a classic, traditional Côte Rôtie and, on past form, should represent cracking value for money.
After a welcome lunchtime pit stop at the winemakers’ favourite haunt, Le Chaudron restaurant in Tournon (great food, fabulous wine list) we drove down to Livron-sur-Drôme to sample Jean-Marie Lombard’s Brézème. Both of Jean Marie’s Syrahs were showing very well from cask.T he Grand Chêne is dense and dark with autumnal fruit aromas and tastes over pitchy tannins. The Eugène de Monicault usually exhibits a little more finesse, but is still a trifle closed at present – there is clearly lots of fruit and structure here but it needs time to integrate.
Beetling northwards back towards Cornas we rounded off a fine day’s tasting with a mammoth degustation with three generations of the Clape family (Auguste aged 85, Pierre 60 and Olivier 31). This is a dynasty given to modesty and the Clape’s seemed almost embarrassed at the exuberance of fruit in their 2009 wines. There are notes of the blockbuster 2003 vintage here but against a more restrained background, with a fresh acidity and greater phenolic ripeness. In short, the Clape’s 2009 wines are sensational.
Tomorrow we look forward to visits at Messrs Chave and Graillot. Day One impressions are that Rhône 2009 is living up to the hype, bring it on!
Earlier this year there were attempts within the UK wine trade to ‘talk up’ the 2008 Rhône vintage – as noted on our blog entry on March 10th. Although some perfectly decent wines were made in the Rhône valley in 2008 it was not an outstanding vintage.
Fortunately as our vineyard visits and tastings to date have confirmed Rhône 2009 is the ‘real deal’ – a markedly superior vintage that merits attention and will offer the opportunity to buy and lay down some exceptional wines. Early bottlings of junior wines that we have now started to ship such as our Côtes du Vivarais and Jean-Pierre Boisson’s excellent ‘La Côte’ Côtes du Rhône Villages show much promise that augurs well for their more senior siblings.
As in Bordeaux, Burgundy and all France’s other main wine producing regions the Rhône valley for 2009 enjoyed optimum ripening conditions in both the North and the South. A cold and wet winter and spring provided essential water reserves which were critical during August’s high temperatures. Sustained September sunshine meant that wine-makers could harvest individual parcels at peak maturity. Warm and dry conditions yielded a crop of phenolically ripe grapes with good colour, tannins and acidity - the resultant wines are already impressive in barrel but should have great aging potential when bottled. The heat meant that volumes were somewhat reduced, particularly in the south, but wine makers throughout the region are delighted with the quality of the harvest.
2009 is unquestionably a ‘Grand Millésime’ in the Rhône and comparisons are already being drawn with stellar vintages such as 1999, 1978 and the legendary 1929. We will be publishing detailed tasting notes and reports on individual wines in due course so do make sure that you have subscribed to our e-mail newsletter if you want to receive the latest information on this superb vintage.
Further expert opinion on Rhone 2009:
"To reiterate, the good news is that 2009 is looking like a potentially superb vintage. Even if you miss out on the 2007 vintage, 2009 may come close to rivaling that stupendous year, but the quality cannot be ascertained until the wines have finished their malolactic fermentation in late spring, 2010."
Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate
"2009 is shaping up to be an exceptional vintage, most likely the best one of the last decade. It's indeed quite seldom to obtain such complete vintages: with white wines expressing themselves with finesse and maturity and where red wines deliver strength and elegance without being heavy."
Michel Chapoutier, Hermitage
"I knew that it could be great, but I had two worries: Will we have enough acidity and how will the tannins ripen with the lack of water? I got my answer at the end of the alcoholic fermentation: The tannins are beautiful; the acidity great."
Maxime Graillot, Crozes Hermitage
"The key was that the heat wave came after veraison so the maturity was not blocked, the grapes were concentrated and the acidity and structure was balanced."
Philippe Cambie, Châteauneuf du Pape
