Responsible Indulgence--August 2022 Wine Notes
Baby, it is hot outside! New Englanders have a unique penchant to talk about the weather. We can’t help ourselves. We impatiently beg for summer to come, and when it does, it is too hot, too humid, and we aren’t getting enough rain. It is the great paradox of our cultural experience, and I am guilty of it, too. My wine club notes inevitably begin with a weather report, but that is also the nature of my process of selecting the wines for your bundles. I think first about what I feel like eating, which is most often determined by weather. The availability of locally sourced product is of paramount concern, but also the temperature often determines my culinary inclinations. Right now, I am grilling everything (seriously, hold on to your handbag, or I will put a char on it!).
I was inspired by a friend’s charcoal grill a couple of years ago, and invested in one. We have been experimenting and learning ever since. It is not easy. For starters, there is no temperature gauge on a charcoal grill, as you all probably know, which adds a challenge that is both fun and frustrating. That said, the flavors from the grill add something to think about when pairing summer wines. When we get it right, the subtle smoke is so delicious and pairs really well with the soft fruitiness of the wines that I like when it is hot outside. (It is, quite frankly, a little too hot, but I won’t digress on that point just now.)
Don’t confuse fruity with sweet. Fruit intensity is a measure of flavor not of residual sugar content. Some grapes just have a more intense expression of fruit flavor. Think about any fruit that you love, apples for example, each one has a distinct flavor. Some are more fruity and great for snacking, while others are more tart and ideal for baking. This rings true for wines. The best wines have a balance of flavor, acidity, and texture, so that all components are in harmony with one another. In the summer, I lean into fruit flavors, as opposed to earthy or savory flavors that I am drawn to in the fall and winter months. I hope that you find the wines refreshing and satisfying with what you are cooking this August! Stay cool 😎 & drink more wine!
Value Wines
2021 Monte Vehlo Red—A blend of Tempranillo, Tirncadeira, Touriga Nacional, and Syrah from Alentejo, Portugal. This is a great value red with loads of personality and flavor, lots of brambly fruit, plum, and raisin, balanced with black pepper and a touch of spice. It will pair well with grilled meats, offer a counter balancing flavor to the salt, fat, and char, so grab a couple of steaks from Aquidneck Meat Market at the grower’s Market & get grilling.
2021 Mary Taylor Gascogne White—Gascogne is a beautiful part of the French Southwest, lush and green with small medieval villages throughout. The weather can be challenging as it is hot and humid, but it is cooled by the winds from the Atlantic and the dried by the warm foehn winds from the Saharan Desert. The result is a wine of character that is very inexpensive. This one is a blend of Colombard, Ugni Blanc, Gros Manseng, and Sauvignon Blanc. The vines are 25 years old and farmed organically. The fresh, fruit flavors range more nectarine to citrus with a lovely soft floral aromatic that will draw you in like a bumble bee attracted to a butterfly bush! It has just a touch of creamy, but then a burst of bright acidity. I enjoyed this with a big salad, some pan seared cod and baguette from Le Bec Sucre!
2021 Cherche Midi Rosé--Coming to us from another hot area in the south of France, in the Languedoc-Roussillon region, this light, fresh rosé will cool you down and refresh your palate. 50% Carignan, 40% Caladoc, and 10% Merlot. It has soft berry aromatics, lots of fresh red fruit and cherry on the front palate, and the citrus and curd on the finish. It is easy to enjoy all on its own, but pairs well with grilled seafood, sushi, and fresh goat cheeses.
2021 Filliatreau Saumur Blanc Lena—This white from the Loire is from a producer who changed the style of wines produced in the region of Saumur. Paul Filliatreau’s techniques created a fruiter and fresher style of wines that became so popular in the Parisian Bistros of the 1970’s that all of Saumur shifted their vinification practices. The most impactful change was a switch to all stainless steel and bottled unfiltered. The wines are fresh and fruity and complex. This white is 100% Chenin Blanc grown in clay and limestone soil, organically farmed, directly pressed and fermented on the lees. The flavor invokes fresh summer apricots and nectarines, the acidity is racy and will dance on your tongue. Enjoy this with a Thai dish or Indian food, it likes spice.
2020 Filliatreau Saumur-Champigny Chat Fouquet is 100% Cabernet Franc, certified biodynamic and 40+ year old vines. The grapes are destemmed and after a short masceration the wine is fermented and aged in stainless steal, which gives the wine freshness and a lively fruity character that is not weighted down by tannins and the extraction that can easily take over with this particular grape. The fruit is brambly and blue berry with a touch of fresh fig, there are subtle earthy notes and a touch of bell pepper. This wine is ideal for a bistro steak, so just do it!
2020 Broadbent Gruner Veltliner—for an easy going porch pounder, look no further than the Broadbent Gruner. This is a grape that always gives me abundant fruity character while still remaining and expressing itself as a dry wine. In fact, bone dry and wonderfully mouthwatering. It has a high level of acidity that makes the mouth water, but you only notice a feeling of refreshment because the acidity is balanced by fresh stone fruit flavors and soft floral notes. I like this one with fresh oysters on the half shell, but you can just crack this one and have a sip when the sun gets too hot😉
Select Wines
2019 Mas Des Chimeres Languedoc Nuit Grave—a blend of 50% Syrah, 20% Grenache, 22% Mourvèdre, and 8% Counoise comes to us from a small region in the Southwest of France, where the soils are austerely dry and the climate is very hot. The yields are naturally low, which gives a concentrated intensity of flavor. It is bold, dark ruby color, and aromas of brambly fruit, tar, and tobacco. Yes, this is a big one that is smooth and fruit forward with lots of texture and a dusty finish. I suggest red meat or duck with this one. Recently, a friend made me some grilled duck breast that was absolutely out of this world, and he served it with a roasted red pepper and eggplant salad (he also served a southern Rhone red). This wine inspires me to recreate that magic meal.
2020 Rogue Vine Pipeno Blanc has wonderful rip fruit on the nose, suggestive of some dried fruit, hot sun, and long hot summer days. This is an ideal picnicking wine, conveniently a liter, so easy for sharing! It is crisp, loaded with orchard fruits, and has a touch of honey and spice. This wine expresses itself at a nectar and would be great with cold fish, pickles, cheeses.--all the fixings of a great picnic.
2021 Chateau Valcombe is an elegant rosé with cotton candy on the nose, strawberry and thyme with lemon curd on the finish. A recent customer testimonial “Wine Club had definitely endeared me to rosés!” Thanks Dave, I am glad to hear it, and I hope that you all concur. This light reds, which is what they are, provide the answer to those who prefer red but want something cold. Valcombe is a treat, it is a taut balance between fruit and fresh acidity, made by direct press method. It has just a touch of savory herbal notes on the finish that give the wine a lot of character and finesse. I would enjoy this with tomato salad and some grilled swordfish with lots of herbs, lemon and olive oil.
2019 Valerie Forgues Tourain Savignon—I am inspired by Valérie Forgues’ story of perseverance and fierce commitment to quality and ethical wine making. I have always loved the flavor and quality of the wines, but recently reading her story compels me to share her wines with you. These are a bit hard to get, so my entire allotment is going to the club! The white is 100% Sauvignon Blanc, 35+ year old vines, hand harvested, organically farmed and vinified. Think citrus, lemon grass, quince, and just a hint of honeysuckle. It is fresh, bright, and delicious with salads, fish, grilled chicken, and grilled summer squashes.
2019 Valerie Forgues Tourain Cot—her red is 100% Cot (aka Malbec), a varietal that originates in the southwest of France. It is juicy without being overly extracted or inky, the fruit is ripe and invokes flavors of blue berry and plum with a touch of bell pepper and dusty thyme and sage on the finish. The thing I love about Valerie’s wines is the sense of place, and it transports me. Enjoy it with a locally inspired dish like Daube Provencal Beef...I know it’s summer, but Jon said to do it! Look up Jean Morel’s recipe, or ask Jon for it! Jon@newportwineellar.com
2020 Pullus Sauvignon Blanc—This is a very interesting Sauvignon Blanc with the usual aromas of citrus blossom and lemon zest, green apple and a little salinity, but the citrus is turned down and the other softer elements are given the space to shine. The result is a very subtle nuanced Sauvignon Bnlanc that is elegant and delicious. Enjoy it with soft cheeses, shellfish, oysters, and can handle the tough veggies like asparagus and artichokes.
Collector Wine
2021 Domaine Tempier Rosé & 2019 Tempier Rouge
Every year, I await the release of the Tempier Rosé with the excitement of a child awaiting Santa’s arrival. It is a remarkable rosé that I often liken to key lime pie, which I also love. The allocations get more and more slight each year, so the first bottles go to you, my collector club members. I hope that you enjoy this exceptional wine. I recommend just a simple charcuterie board, the wine sings with jamon and the like, perhaps some Manchego or chunks of Parmigiana Reggiano.
From Kermit Lynch...
Of all of the domaines we represent, no other serves more as our cornerstone, stands more in the defense of terroir, and is more intricately interwoven with our own history, than that of the iconic Peyraud family of Domaine Tempier. The pages that Kermit has written about them alone rival those of his dear friend, Richard Olney, who wrote the definitive history of the domaine and was the first to introduce Kermit to the family in 1976. Their story might be considered mythic if it were not true.
When Lucie “Lulu” Tempier married Lucien Peyraud in 1936, her father gave them Domaine Tempier, an active farm that had been in the family since 1834, near Le Plan du Castellet, just outside the Mediterranean seaport village of Bandol. Tasting a pre-phylloxera bottle of Domaine Tempier Bandol (a wedding gift from his father-in-law) inspired Lucien to research the terroir of Bandol extensively. Up until that point, old vineyards planted with Mourvèdre had been systematically replanted to higher-yielding varietals. However, more research not only showed its historical roots to the area, but the grape proved to be more resistant to oxidation, producing wines with great aging potential. By 1941, with the assistance of neighboring vignerons, Lucien worked with the I.N.A.O. (Institut National des Appellations d’Origines) to establish Bandol as its own A.O.C. Needless to say, large-scale replanting of Mourvèdre ensued, and Bandol now requires a fifty percent minimum in all reds. Lucien will forever be celebrated as the Godfather of Bandol, but also as the man who revived Mourvèdre to its former glory. Raising deep and structured wines of such refinement and longevity has made Domaine Tempier truly a grand cru de Provence.
Lulu and Lucien raised seven children, and nourishing family, friends, and wine lovers at table is a regularly celebrated tradition at the domaine. Much of that is attributed to Lulu, the beautiful, Marseillaise materfamilias who has carried on the great Tempier family ritual of serving guests fresh, cool rosé, hearty, soulful reds, and copious amounts of delicious homemade Provençal cuisine. Her traditional hearth cooking has attracted attention throughout France, even bringing Alice Waters over from California to learn in Lulu’s kitchen. When Lucien retired, sons François and Jean-Marie shared management of the domaine with François in the vineyards and Jean-Marie in the cellars. The two made a formidable team. Though Lucien passed away in 1996, and his sons have now since retired, the torch has been passed to the young, energetic, and talented Daniel Ravier, who has just the right savoir faire to carry on the great tradition and style of the domaine.
Beyond our affection and the enduring bonds of our friendship, objectively the celebrity of Domaine Tempier also lies deep in the soils of Bandol. Variations of clay and limestone soils between the vineyards produce wines that are undeniably world class. Whether it is the cult following they have established through their refreshing, age-worthy rosé (once praised by Robert Parker as the greatest rosé in the world), their Bandol Blanc, or the distinctive cuvées of Bandol rouge, the wines of Domaine Tempier stand as the proud benchmark when talking about Provençal wines. Through their passion, pioneering, and advocacy for Bandol, the Peyrauds have become legendary. We are fortunate to have their wines serve as the flagship of our portfolio, and even more grateful to have the Peyrauds and their extended family as cherished friends. If any wine can be said to have soul, it’s Tempier.