Singular Mountain Wines of Northwestern Italy

Château Fueillet “Fumin” (Valle d’Aosta, 2014) red
~$35/bottle

Château Fueillet “Petite Arvine” (Valle d’Aosta, 2014) white
~$31/bottle

Maurizio Fiorano became a vineyard owner by chance. When he married and moved with his wife to her hometown of Saint-Pierre in the Valle d’Aosta, he took over the vineyards she had inherited and began producing the wines of Château Fueillet in 1997. He will humbly tell you that it’s not hard to make good wine from his 10 acres of vineyards, all on the left-hand side of the Dora Baltea river at an altitude of 2,000 to 2,500 feet, and with perfect exposure to the south. But Maurizio certainly understands how to exploit the region’s full potential.

If you’ve never heard of the northern mountainous wine zone of Valle d’Aosta it’s not surprising. Northwest of Piedmont, on the border of France and Switzerland, the total annual production of all DOC classified wine from the region is about 0.2% of what the leading grocery store brand sells in a year. Indeed, winemakers there don’t need to export any of their wine as there’s a built-in market among locals and tourists. Although Maurizio’s production is minute, he wants to the show the world the singularity of these mountain wines.

The terraced vineyards of Valle d’Aosta are as treasured a part of the scenery as are the castles that guard the valley’s historic access routes or the forests of beech, spruce, and fir that reach to the timberline of the Matterhorn, Monte Rosa, and Gran Paradiso mountains. The combination of a chilly climate, high altitude, and drastic diurnal temperature shifts provide extremely long hours of gentle sunlight. This allows the grapes an exceptionally long, slow ripening season that results in red wines with the heft of a sunny climate yet still refreshing.

The Fumin is the definition of exotica. A blend of 90% of the local native grape Fumin and 10% Syrah, it’s a deeply colored wine bordering on purple. Rich aromatics are layered with bright forest berries, earthy loam, grass, and pepper. Its enormous fruit is balanced by freshness and just a hint of soft tannins. Harvest is late October to early November. For contrast, the grape harvest in many parts of California started in August this year.

The flagship wine of Château Fueillet is the white, 100% Petite Arvine – a grape variety unique to this tiny mountainous slice of Italy and a handful of vineyards in Switzerland. Maurizio makes his Petite Arvine racy and vibrant, with a core of luminous fruit. The aromas transport you to alpine meadows and the finish is packed with crunchy stones and saline minerality.

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Posted on 2015.11.05 in Italy, Valle d'Aosta  |  Read more...

Pure, Concentrated, and Seductive Mediterranean Red

Domaine Les Mille Vignes “Cadette” (Fitou, 2012)
~$41/bottle

Fitou is the very first granted appellation in the southern French region of Languedoc. It consists of two small enclaves, Fitou Haut, a patch of mountainous schist 15 miles inland, and Fitou Maritime, a clay-limestone band around the saltwater lagoons on the coast. It was late 1970s, in the Fitou Maritime, that a retired oenology professor from Orange, Jacques Guérin, launched Domaine Les Mille Vignes. With meticulous attention to the quality of fruit and minimal intervention winemaking, it wasn’t long before the domaine was being recognized for their pure and concentrated wines from low-yielding vines.

The amount of fruit produced per unit surface of vineyard, or yield, is an important aspect in quality winemaking. It’s one of the reasons we’re always talking about old vines that produce less fruit. Low yields from healthy vines can result in wines with highly concentrated flavors and aromatics. The yields of Domaine Les Mille Vignes are miniscule, or less.

It’s not by luck that their wines can be found on starred restaurant wine lists in Paris. Their old vines and low yields allow the wines to reach their full, seductive potential. With all aging done in stainless steel vats, the wines are all about purity of fruit and the distinction of Fitou.

Today it’s Jacques’ daughter, Valérie Guérin, who is carrying on the ethic of low yields, organic principles, hand-harvesting, and native yeast fermentation. While we can go on about the vineyard management and winemaking, the proof really is in the wine.

Cuvée “Cadette” is a blend of equal parts Grenache, Carignan and Mourvèdre from vines over 50 years old. The aromatics explode from the glass with red currant jelly, wild thyme and lavender scrubland, roasted stones, smoky meats, and soul. The layered palate is full-bodied, ripe, and balanced by freshness and energy. You could rest some in the cellar for five years if you can keep your hands off of it now.

Domaine Les Mille Vignes – The Grand Cuvées

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Posted on 2015.10.28 in France, Saturday Sips Wines, Languedoc-Roussillon  |  Read more...

Rare and Thrilling Wines from Piedmont Italy

Vigne Marina Coppi “Marine” (Colli Tortonesi Favorita, 2011) white
~$35/bottle

Vigne Marina Coppi “Sant’ Andrea” (Colli Tortonesi Barbera, 2012) red
~$25/bottle SOLD OUT

With its many overlapping appellations spread across the largest region of the Italian mainland, it takes a bit of work to wrap one’s brain around the wines of Piedmont. But what makes Piedmont so complicated also makes it exciting. While most wine drinkers have heard of Barolo and Barberesco there are another three dozen Piedmont wine zones that rarely see foreign markets. Colli Tortonesi is one of them.

Colli Tortonesi lies in the easternmost part of Piedmont on the hills surrounding the town of Tortona in the province of Alessandria, extending from Monferrato to Oltrepò Pavese. Production has been dominated by fizzy white wine made from Cortese grapes but more recently passionate winemakers like Francesco Bellocchio of Vigne Marina Coppi are driving both consumers and media to recognize the potential of Colli Tortonesi to produce wines of distinction.

It was a little over a decade ago that Francesco purchased an 11 acre vineyard in the small village of Castellania. The tiny plot once belonged to his grandfather, Fausto Coppi, a legendary cyclist who died before Francesco was born. With such small vineyards, Francesco and his wife, Anna, are able to have total control of the land and the winemaking process. And they do it all themselves, producing a mere 1600 cases per year of top-class Colli Tortonesi wine using organic and biodynamic techniques.

The white Cuvée “Marine” comes from a two acre plot in the “Gabetto” vineyard. The grape variety is Favorita, a relative of the Mediterranean grape Vermentino. In order to increase the sugar and aromatic concentration, harvesting takes place around ten days after the grape has reached its maximum ripeness, when the grapes are slightly over-ripe (late-harvesting). But “Marine” is hardly a sweet wine. It’s a big, chewy, highly aromatic white wine with a bracing acidity perfect for pairing with a multitude of foods. If you’re already thinking Thanksgiving this wine would make an ideal addition to the feast. 40 bottles available.

The red Cuvée “Sant’ Andrea” is a blend of 90% Barbera, 10% Croatina from a 2.5 acre plot. Grapes are picked at peak maturity and the wine is fermented and aged entirely in stainless steel. This is about as pure and juicy as Barbera gets. Like a bucket of summer berries in a sun-drenched meadow. It’s a wine that makes you want to throw a party if only to drink it with friends. 20 bottles available.

A Vigne Marina Coppi Masterpiece

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Posted on 2015.10.21 in Saturday Sips Wines, Piedmont, Italy  |  Read more...

Cigales – The Other Great Spanish Tempranillo

César Príncipe (Cigales, 2009)
~$49/bottle

13 Cántaros Nicolás (Cigales, 2013)
~$14/bottle

Although the Old Castile region of northwestern Spain is a hot and arid landscape that favors big and beefy red wines, historically Cigales has been known for their excellent-quality rosado wines. If you’re a regular customer you may already have consumed several bottles of Bodegas César Príncipe Luna these past few summers.

But more recently, it is the red wines of star producer Ignacio Príncipe that are emerging as superb wines that rival or exceed Cigales’ well-known neighbors of Ribera del Duero and Toro. Indeed, Cigales is higher and cooler than Toro to the west so its wines tend to be rather more structured. Cigales is smaller and much less familiar than Ribera del Duero to the east, so its wines tend to be considerably less expensive. And the soil of Cigales is unique by virtue of its large pudding stones which litter the vineyards liberally. Winemakers in Cigales insist that this soil is most ideal for the Tempranillo variety.

The very best wines of Cigales have the potential to develop in a proper cellar for years, if not decades, without suffering the over-oaking and over-extraction that seems endemic in status-conscious Ribera del Duero. And Ignacio is producing one of these wines in cuvée César Príncipe.

100% Tempranillo from vines over 70 years old, cuvée César Príncipe is beautifully balanced. Aromatics of cocoa dust, herbs, spiced-berries, violets, and a hint of cherry licorice fill the glass. Buckets of concentrated fruit are balanced by ample acid and 14 months of aging in French and American oak barrels (40% new). Although it’s damn easy to drink presently, this wine clearly has many years of life ahead of it.

For a more everyday type wine, 13 Cántaros Nicolás will more than suffice. 100% Tempranillo from 20-year-old vines that are organically cultivated and hand-picked, 13 Cántaros is fleshy with intense aromas of red fruits, plum, jam and spices. Ripe but balanced it’s a great choice to pair with everything from roast vegetables to burgers.

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Posted on 2015.10.15 in Saturday Sips Wines, Spain DO, Cigales  |  Read more...

Faugères – France’s Well Kept Secret

Domaine Léon Barral (Faugères, 2012)
~$29/bottle

We have been trying to bring in Didier Barral‘s wines for years now and we were finally able to score the 2011 vintage last year, so some of you might already be familiar with his extraordinary wines of power and complexity that speak of the earth. The 2012 vintage is now in and it is drinking beautifully, although some cuvées are certainly cellar-worthy. And since Faugères is a small appellation and rarely exported, prices are still quite reasonable for this level of wine.

Didier farms about 75 acres of vines using biodynamic practices. Horses and ancient breeds of cattle and pigs graze the cover crops in and around the vineyards, which promotes healthy microbiotic activity in the soil. Between the vines grow all sorts of rare greens and unusual wild herbs, often harvested by Michelin starred chefs from all over France.

An arid landscape of scrub-covered ridges and windswept stone outcrops, Faugères is known for its dry and crunchy metamorphic schist that forces the roots of the vines to penetrate deeply in search of moisture. This cherished soil for grape growing absorbs the heat of the daytime before releasing it in the cooler evenings. The humid Marin winds off the Mediterranean and the dry, violent Tramontane winds from the northwest are a constant presence in the Faugères hills that help to ventilate the vineyards. Most of Didier’s vines are very old, some up to ninety years of age. All of these factors help for even ripening of the grapes and further increases their concentration.

Although Didier considers the wine all but finished once it leaves the vineyard, the harvest is cared for with the same attention once it reaches the cellar. All wines are hand-harvested, hand-sorted, fermented with indigenous yeasts and have no sulfur added. They are never racked, filtered, or fined. While these principles form an idyllic narrative of a natural product, the fact is that Didier has a profound influence on other viticulteurs who can see how his ideology translates to results.

Didier’s Faugères bottling is a blend of 50% Carignan, 30% Grenache, and 20% Cinsault from vines aged 40 to 70 years old. After fermentation, the wine is aged for 2 years in cement and stainless steel cuves. The aromatics are joyous with black cherries, cocoa, herbs and flowers. A sip is filled with fruit yet nimble on the palate, elegant even, with a finish of sun-baked stone.

More Wines from Domaine Léon Barral

Domaine Léon Barral (VdF, 2013) White
~$40/bottle
Orange wine! 80% Terret Blanc and Gris, 10% Viognier, 10% Roussane. Produced using an ancient method of extended pressing and skin contact for a deeply colored wine with some tannins. Unique and delicious.

Domaine Léon Barral “Jadis” (Faugères, 2012)
~$40/bottle
50% Carignan, 30% Syrah, 20% Grenache, aged for 24 to 26 months in barrel (10% new oak). Black fruits and herbs in abundance. Can develop in the cellar for another 5-10 years.

Domaine Léon Barral “Valinières” (Faugères, 2012)
~$62/bottle
80% Mourvèdre, 20% Syrah, aged for 24 to 26 months in barrel (10% new oak). Big, meaty, and concentrated. Can develop in the cellar for another 10-15 years.

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Posted on 2015.10.07 in France, Saturday Sips Wines, Languedoc-Roussillon  |  Read more...

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