Responsible indulgence January 2021

Responsible Indulgence: Wine Notes

It is a new year, and while I don’t want to put to much pressure on 2021, I am feeling cautiously optimistic. With that attitude, we shall wine and not whine! We shall drink our wine, continue to enjoy our days our meals, our loved ones, and look with promise toward the return to greater freedom and a healthy and happy year!

I wanted all the wine in this month’s box to be new to me, to the store and to all of you. Typically the January box is a celebration of the past year’s favorites, but it is time for a new approach. Make it new, different, and a little mysterious. I hope you enjoy these tasty wines!

Super Value 3 Pack

Deux Moulins Sauvignon Blanc is a bright, fresh and cheerful Sauvignon Blanc with some weight and character. It is a traditional style Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire, with fruit that comes from gravel and schist soils in Anjou and Tours. The texture is a product of the environment and the climate. It is vinified in cold temperatures and in stainless steel which contributes to the fruit and refreshing style. I just want this while I cook with a pice of French goat cheese, perhaps Pico, runny and soft with a pungent nose!

Quinto do Encontro Sparking Rose from Portugal is a surprisingly interesting and tasty little wine for not a lot of bucks. It has just a hint of rose on the glass with energetic tiny bubbles climbing up out of the glass and calling you in. On the nose there is a soft delicate freshness, citrus mixing with sweet berries. In truth the wine reminded me of the scent of winter air just before the snow arrives. On the palate it is refreshing, crisp, and light, with a touch of tea leaves and grapefruit pith on the finish. Every sip delights and leaves the palate cleansed for the next bite. A blend of Bical, Arinto, and Maria Gomes grapes in the Bairrada region of Portugal. I enjoyed this with a slice of quiche and a salad, and it was an ideal wine for the dish!

Finca Sophenia Altosur Red Blend. This blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and Syrah from Mendoza will warm you with its rich, juicy fruit and its spice. It comes to us from 4000ft, harvested by hand in the sub region of Tupungato, gravity pressed and aged 4 months in oak—French and American barrels. This is a lot of wine for a very good price point—it over delivers! I like its forward fruit with a pan-seared New York Strip. The fruit is balanced with a touch of paprika and chili pepper, and the oak gives the wine character, a vanilla touch and floral aromatics. Enjoy this with richer dishes or a big piece of cheddar and some chorizo.

Value Wines

Corte Moschina Soave The delicate aromas of tropical fruit and hawthorn flowers makes me close my eyes, imagining the coming spring. It has a refreshing tanginess on the palate, crips and citrusy but also melon and ripe gala apple flavors that give the wine some texture and weight. This is a pleasant wine with a surprisingly food friendly balance of fruit and acidity, flavor and boy. I am going to enjoy this with a roasted chicken and potatoes anna.

Aveleda Follies has a deep dark color in the glass and aromas of cassis and cherry with a tough of cocoa. You will note on the nose a touch of wood that will give the wine structure and texture. This wines is bog and bold and will satisfy those seeking a complex, rich wine for dinner. It is a blend of Touriga National and Cabernet Sauvignon that spends a year in a combination of new and aged oak, which gives a charming playful wine depth and character. It rides a fine balance between freshness and power. I would enjoy this one with a mushroom risotto and a thick cut roasted pork chop.

Corte Rugolin Valpolicello is made from a blending of Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, and other local varieties, harvested by hand, fermented on the skins, lightly pressed and matured in oak for several months before release. The wine is an approachable, fresh, youthful red with a deep ruby color and a playful fruity aroma of cherries and plums, which translates onto the palate. Full bodied, and fleshy, this one invites you to dance! Enjoy it with pasta bolognese.

Select Wines

Turkheim Pinot Blanc is a perfect example of the friendliness of Alsatian wines. Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois grown in sandy soils and carefully hand harvested. On the nose, fruit and more fruit—apples, pears, and peaches, with just a hint of citrus. On the palate it is dry, approachable and balanced. Yes, all that rich fruit, but as much wonderful acidity that the wine is dry and cleansing. This is ideal for starters, salads, fresh cheeses, and would really shine with fondue!

Ermitage du Pic St-Loup. Hands down, one of my very favorite wines in the shop and one of the many examples of a natural (actually biodynamic!) wine that outshines it moderate price point. The blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mouvedre (in that order) is surprisingly lighter than you would guess with 50% Syrah, but that is not the only compelling feature. The wine has character, each sip offering other layered nuanced flavors that hide from one corner to the next. There are berries, plums, cassis, with a touch of spice, and a wonderful chalkiness on the finish that satisfies those seeking minerality in their wine. I have had this wine with everything from roasted fish to vegetable stew to roasted lamb, and it just works. It is food flexible, so let me know what you love it with!

Domaine du Chapitre Mon Bon Plaisir is the fruit of Frederic Dorthe’s labors on his family’s 20 hectares of vines on the right bank of the Rhone River where he produces a small amount of highly-drinkable wines. This one has full flavor impact with a medium body. It has fresh deep fruit flavors of plum and cassis, red berries give it a freshness which is balanced by the tannins and good acidity that gives this wine complexity and character. This is a food friendly red that would be delicious with a wide variety of things, but stay regional for the best result—think brasserie, quiche, roasted chicken, beef bourguignon.

Collector’s Wines

This month I happen to have a few treats that I cannot resist passing along to those of you who want to enjoy exceptional wines. Perhaps my favorite producer from the Champagne region is the Dumont house. I have met members of the family both here in New York at tastings and in their winery and home in France, and the wines are exceptional quality and the family is welcoming, warm, and friendly. They are the kind of people you want to support, and when you taste the wines you will see how easy that is to do. Each one of their labels is unique, beautifully crafted, elegant and delicious. Each year, I am thrilled to get my hands on a limited amount of the two I have included for your enjoyment.

The Solera is a blend of several years of chardonnay, from which they draw off just enough to produce a small bottling of this remarkable wine. It is an opportunity to experienced aged champagne, and it is hands down one of the best I have had. The red, (prepare for your mind to be blown) Dumont La Voie de Chanay, is 100% pinot noir, still red, elegant, soft, approachable, and delectable. Enjoy either now, or be rewarded by aging them as long as you can stand it!

The Importer’s notes, Wine Traditions:

Champagne R. Dumont & Fils

Aube
22 hectares

The Champagne house of the Dumont family is situated in Champignol-lez-Mondeville, a village in the southern Champagne region of the Aube, some 90 miles southeast of Reims and Epernay. Characterized by forested hills, streams and vineyards, it is a natural and reflective environment that has attracted people such as Saint Bernard (Clairvaux) and Renoir (Essoyes). The Dumonts have owned vineyards in this area for over two hundred years and today three Dumont brothers work together to produce champagne exclusively from their own 22 hectares. The soils are a geological extension of those in Chablis, namely kimmeridgian chalky clay. The vineyard is planted with 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay. Bernard Dumont’s comments are insightful. “We grow grapes on the same soils as the vine growers in the Chablis region. There, they produce white wine from white grapes and here we produce white wine from red grapes.”

Solera Reserve

Dumont is one of the very few Champagne producers who produces a champagne using the solera method. Bernard Dumont has dedicated one stainless steel tank to the project which was first filled in 1991. He works exclusively with chardonnay for this cuvée and has been adding to the tank every year, making it at present, a blend of approximately 20 vintages. This solera system produced its first release in 2010. One of the most striking features of this champagne is the different effect created by producing a champagne from aged wine (the aging occurs after the first fermentation) followed by the typical duration of two years “sur lattes” as contrasted with a champagne produced from relatively young wines which are aged for a long time after the secondary fermentation and thus remain in contact with the lees “sur lattes” for an extended period. The dosage is 6 grams. Production is about 400 cases annually.

Coteaux Champenois "La Voie de Chanay" Rouge

The Coteaux Champenois appellation is for non-sparking wine from Champagne and is traditional in the region of the Côte des Bar. Bernard Dumont’s “La Voie de Chanay”comes from a single parcel of very old Pinot Noir vines situated at the highest altitude in his village with an exposition that allows the grapes to become very ripe, resulting in beautiful ruby colored wines. The grapes are whole-cluster fermented, then rest on their lees in stainles steel vats for 10 months before they are bottled, unfiltered.

Maria ChiancolaJanuary 2, 2021

December wine notes—Responsible indulgence

With the holidays upon us, we have cause for celebration. Yes, indeed, our celebrations are perhaps smaller than typical years, but this allows us to take time to contemplate our choices a bit and to indulge a bit more on ourselves. We will return to gathering in larger numbers, and, I believe that we will reflect on these moments as gifts, a time for more intimate gatherings, and a time for thoughtful choices for our tables and menus. I tried to select wines this month that will bring comfort, excite your palate, but mostly bring you pleasure. We all need to relax, kick back, sip a glass of wine, and enjoy ourselves. These are strange times, but we need not limit our own pleasure. A glass of delicious wine can transport me to another place, remind me of a good friend, bring the comfort and warmth of celebration, and take my mind off it. I hope the December selections can help you enjoy your holidays.

Whatever you do to celebrate and whatever it is that gives you inspiration to do so, I wish you a very happy & healthy end to this crazy year.

Be well, indulge a little, and just raise a glass,

cheers, Maria

Value Wines

Pellehaut Rouge The Beraut family has owned and managed the Pellehaut winery in Gascogne, France for 300 years, and the make wines that are affordable with passion and dedication. The vineyard is situated on three gently rolling hills where the vines are roughly 30 years of age on average. This is a larger winery in my portfolio, but they are careful in the work, maintaining quality and keeping the process minimal, simple, and gentle.

The red is a blend of Merlot, Syrah, Malbec, Pinot, Cab, and Tannat. Yes, a lot of grapes. It is what they grow and then blend into their red. It has a bright cherry hue in the glass, with notes of blackcurrant and blackberry. It has a fruity start with a peppery bright finish.

Pellehaut Blanc The Beraut’s white is also a blend of Ungi Blanc, Colombard, Savignon, Gros & Petit Manseng, and Chardonnay. It is aromatically intense with tropical fruit notes with citrus and peach. On the palate it gives initially an appearance of lightness, but it is surprisingly complex—peach, pear, grapefruit, lime, and a long lingering minerality. It is ideally suited for local seafood. There is still a little swordfish, I hear, get some and enjoy it with this wine!

Caprioles Rose This is a rose that will take you into winter. It is 100% Gamay from a relatively young winery in the Rhone region of France. It is 100% Gamay, from a small village in Rengie-Durette. The estate is steeped in wine history for more than 250 years, but Capreoles was created in July 2014. Farming and vinifying organically, attentive to the heath of the soil, the wines and you. This wonderful rose is a real treat, with compelling aromatics of fresh berry, moss, and salt water; the berries translate onto the palate, a smooth and rich texture, and the wine has a beautiful lingering flavor of citrus. This would be great wine with a whole roasted chicken with herbs de Provence.

German Gilabert Cava Cava is Spain’s most popular sparking wine. What most people don’t know is that regulation requires that all Cava is made in exactly the same method as France’s highly esteemed Champagnes. What is important to me about that is the value that Cava gives us—sparkling elegant delicious wines for a fraction of the French counterparts. They are not the same, but they are made the same way. I like bubbles frequently, and this is a favorite of mine. The grapes come from the Alt Penedes region, which is the highest elevation in the region. This Cava is bottled without dosage, so for those seeking a natural wine, this is your bubble! The wine is fresh, critusy, and minerally. The bubbles are soft and elegant, and the body of the wine is weighty on the palate, with a lovely richness. The wine is dry and has concentrated flavor. It is wonderful with full flavored apps like serrano and manchego, Spanish tortilla, anchovies, & spicy roasted shrimp.

Cantina del Taburno, Sannio Aglianico, Fidelis This Italian producer is a consortium, established in 1901, which has had an extremely important role in the agriculture in the Sannio area. The winery was constructed in 1972 in the township of Foglianise, which has become a philosophical and economic model for other wineries and consortium because of its positive impact on the economy of the area. The group extends 600 some odd hectares within the sones on the slopes of Mount Taburno. The wines are grown and produced within rigorous technical care. They all share a commitment to the approach of working with little manipulation. Good grapes cared for simply and thoughtfully. The wine has intense ripe aromatics that draw you in to the glass. It is smooth with ripe red fruit and tobacco, earth,, an black pepper.. The wine warms you. The tannins add texture, and there is nice long lingering spice on the finish. Enjoy this with a bowl of macaroni kissed with butter and Parmigiano Reggiano.

Bodegas Olivares, Altos de la Hoya, Monastrell. The Olivares family began making wine in this harsh and beautiful landscape In the early 20th century. Their passion and love of the earth makes for their commitment to create natural and unique wines that are faithful to the place. The wine has a deep red color in the glass, it is ripe and powerful on the palate with red fruits and spice—black pepper, baking spices, red chili,, and dark rich red fruits. This one is a crowd pleaser, and is very food flexible. I like it with a burger, but it is also great with pastas, roasted vegetables, and risotto is time allows!

Select Wines

Villa Creek Cherry House White Blend, Paso Robes As with so many of the wines that I select, this wine begins in the vineyard, with great vines, carefully cultivated by a passionate grower. That is precisely what they have at Villa creek. The vineyard is on the West side of Paso Robles and at elevations of 1500-1800 feet, they have ideal growing conditions with calcareous soils and south facing slopes. This white blend is Clairette and Grenache blanc, just two of their Rhone varietals grown on the vineyards. The wine is rich, full bodied, and full flavored. It has almond and apricot notes, with a melon finish, and a touch of honey. I love this wine. I would like it with a pan seared roasted swordfish steak, which is just what I am having for dinner!

Agostina Pieri, Rosso di Montalcino This Sangiovese from Montalcino will knock your socks off. The wine maker seeks a balance between old and new world style. They ferment in stainless and age in neutral barrels, which gives the wine a balance of youth approachable fruit and freshness, but also texture and tannins, that allow for age-ability. The nose is compelling with aromas of plum, anise, black current, and a touch of smoke and bacon fat. On the palate, I get intensity of flavor with a gentle touch, or a more elegant feel. The wine wants food, so indulge her with something of intense flavor like roasted meats, tomato rich sauces, pizza…or truth be told, I just discovered that this wine pairs well with dark chocolate peanut butter cups. Who knew?

Villa Creek Cherry House Red As I mentioned above, this producer is doing wonderful things with Rhone varietals, and tis Grenache/Carignan/Mouvedre blend is no exception. The wine just sings. You get a sense that they treat very gently, so it does not struggle into being. Instead, the whole cluster fermentation in concrete, followed by a gentle pressing produces a soft, fresh, playful and tasty wine. There are cherry notes on the front palate that are very appealing, followed by a little tea leaf and mushroom, and then a nice touch of spice on the finish. I would like to make a quiche Lorraine for this wine with a big salad and some crusty bread.

Paul Janin Moulin-a-Vents This is a biodynamic Gamay that is so elegant and fresh. It grows in very worn granite soils, so perhaps it has an old soul. The vines are 40-70 years old, pruned traditionally in the Gobelet style, and the soil is worked by plough quarterly. All harvesting and field work is done by hand, the wine goes through a slow and gentle fermentation on fine lees with micro-oxygenation, which is why the wine can taste youthful and fresh, but feel as if it is mature and experienced. There is ripe plum on the nose, with a subtle hint of rose petals. It is medium bodied with a very compelling fleshy mouth feel that is followed by chalking tannins and ripe acidity. I like the ripeness of this wine, but it is a bit more full bodied than other gamays, so be prepared for that. It would not be bad as a sipper, but it would be delicious with a pile of sautéed mushrooms and leeks with buttered toast. Voila!

Collector Wines

Enjoying Brugunday’s most recent Charmed Vintage 2017!

Chateau Puligny-Montrachet, Saint Aubin 1er Cru, En Remilly. This is a remarkable bottle of Chardonnay. For starters, 2017 was a solid growing season, despite a fearful early frost that the wine makers rallied against with hay fires and all other means of warming their vineyards. The communal effort to fight against the elements are truly heart warming, and worked! They were able to keep the frost at bay, and the result was a wonderful and abundant 2017 for both reds and whites.

This Chardonnay is expressive immediately in the glass with a mineral driven bouquet. It is a focused win, by which I mean that there is nothing loose or flabby about it. It is lean, balanced, vibrant. It has a richness of fruit on the mid palate that is succulent and then gives way to a subtle minerality and a touch of citrus on the finish. The wine will continue to develop if you have time to give it. This wine is worth cooking for, so roast a duck breast, pan sear some halibut, roast some Brussels, sauté a few mushrooms, but do it all & swoon.

90-92 WA, 89-92 BH

Distributor’s Notes: Vineyard Road

In 2002 Etienne de Montille, of the Domaine de Montille in Volnay, was appointed as manager of the Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet and began a transformation at this estate. Organic farming began in 2002, and since 2005 they have been working using biodynamic farming practices as well. The Chateau was purchased by the Montille family in the spring of 2012, raising its standards and reputation significantly. The percentage of new wood is limited to 10%-20% for Village wines, slightly more for the Premier and Grands Crus. The Chateau's underground cellars were renovated as well and are in use again. They favor wines of purity, elegance and harmony over power and concentration.

Surface area: 1.70 hectare
Production : 760 cases (12x750ml)
% new barrels : 15%
alcohol : 13%vol
ph :3.12

The appellation: There are vines geographically situated that adjoin the greatest appellations. Our Saint-Aubin Premier Cru "En Remilly" is one of them. Located just behind Le Montrachet – mid-slope at the exit of the valley with a due east exposition and a thin and rocky soil – its positioning is truly privileged. We believe that "Remilly" comes from a former Romain proprietor named Romilius.

A significant part of this approximately 70-year-old, 1.7 hectares vineyard produces our massale selections.

The wine, one of our favorites from the Domaine, results from an equilibrium between the powerful and generous character thanks to its south-facing exposition and its mineral restraint attributable to its meager and rocky soils.

The wines, the style: Our wines are known for their great aromatic purity. We always favor balance and elegance over power and extraction. The wines are classic expressions of Burgundy, of their appellations in general and of their specific terroirs in particular. The farming methods we use contribute to this individual style, and our winemaking methods aim to avoid excessive outside influences in order to bring out the equilibrium that can be found naturally in Burgundian terroir.

All our fruit is hand-harvested. Thanks to pneumatic presses, we can calibrate our presses to fit the quality of the grapes and the profile of the vintage. After a light settling, the musts are placed mostly in 600-liter barrels as well as in 228-liter barrels, where the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations take place.

We use approximately five to twenty percent new casks primarily made from Allier wood that sees a long yet light toasting. The first racking occurs after about one year of wood aging, after which begins the second, four- to six-month phase in stainless steel, which preserves the wine's freshness and tension. We finish the aging with a light fining followed by a similarly light and respectful filtration before bottling.

Tending the Vines: We began organic farming in all of the parcels of the Domaine du Château de Puligny-Montrachet in 2002. Since 2005, biodynamic viticulture has accompanied this practice in our efforts to fully respect these living soils.

The vintage: The 2017 vintage at Domaine de Montille started off with a very tricky spring.

The vineyards on the slopes withstood the frost, unlike in 2016, where the frost damaged, the vineyard untypically, unevenly and mainly in the white vineyards. The 2017 spring concentrated the cold in low lying parcels meaning that the majority of vignerons lost buds in their Bourgogne or even Aligoté parcels. The loss is usually considered acceptable compared to losing fruit in village or primer cru appellations.

In white, it is a great vintage, crystallized, beautiful aromatic complexity, mixed with hawthorn, white flowers and citrus fruit. Early harvest, started on the 29th of September, so we were able to quite the freshness and tension of the vintage. The texture is fluid, the mouths are big, deep and saline. It is closer to 2014 and 2007, than the last vintages will be in my opinion, ready earlier (3 to 7 years) even if these wines will flourish over time.

Sylvain Pataille Marsanny Rouge. Another 2017, and the reds have gotten reviews even more glowing than the whites. This one is truly elegant, and is actually drinking nicely now but given time this will mature beautifully. There is a freshness that I admire now, but I am eager to see how this develops over time.

Distributor’s Notes

LOCATION: Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Marsannay. Size, varieties, etc: 14 hectares planted to pinot noir, chardonnay, chardonnay rose, pinot blanc, pinot beurot, pinot gris.
VITICULTURE: organic (not certified). WINEMAKING: though the proportion will vary according to the vintage, Sylvain is firmly in the whole cluster camp. He has also been striving to eliminate the use of sulphur during vinification and aging: for most cuvées in 2013, it was only added in at a low dose during bottling.
Noteworthy: Sylvain started in wine as a consulting enologist and his client roster includes some of the famous domaines in the Côte d’Or. He is considered by his peers to be one of the best and brightest young winemakers in Burgundy.

Maria ChiancolaDecember 3, 2020