Value from Southern Rhône’s Vacqueyras

2011 Domaine des Amouriers Price: $26/bottle – SOLD OUT
2010 Domaine de l’Espigouette Price: $24/bottle – SOLD OUT

We’re always talking about “value” wines. The reality is, when it comes to wine, there is no definition of value that we can apply as a broad stroke across all regions and types. A value in Burgundy is not quite the same as a value in Languedoc, which is not the same as a value in Champagne. So what makes the two wines we are tasting this Saturday a value?

For one, we acquired them for a reasonable price and are able to pass that on to you. Distributors are sometimes inclined to cut prices to make room for newer vintages. In this case, it works in our favor as these are two wines that are hitting their prime drinking window, full of vigor and any hard edges of youth rounded off.

More importantly, these wines are from Vacqueyras, a stone’s throw across Vaucluse from the famed vineyards of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the jagged, lacy peaks of the Dentelles de Montmirail rising up in the east. Vacqueyras are dark, rich, full-flavored wines with the classic herbs and warm spice of the Southern Rhône at a fraction of the cost compared to their more prominent cousin.

Domaine des Amouriers

Rising star Igor Chudzikiewicz is the fifth generation of winemakers at this small, organic family estate of a little over 60 acres in Southern Rhône (16 acres in Vacqueyras). The cellars are housed in a former silkworm farm. “Amouriers” is Provençal for the mulberry bushes that were used for silkworm breeding. The blend of the 2011 vintage is 54% Grenache, 38% Syrah, 6% Cinsault, 2% Mourvèdre.

Domaine de l’Espigouette

Worked by Bernard Latour and his two sons Julien and Emilien, the domaine is certified organic but little has changed in the vineyards since the time Bernard’s father and grandfather worked the vines. A blend of 80% Grenache, 15% Syrah and 5% Mourvèdre, the 2010 Vacqueyras comes from a seven acre single vineyard of vines with an average age of 40 years.

Two small producers, two blends, two vintages — same small hunk of earth in Southern Rhône. Take home a few bottles of each for a revealing glimpse into Vacqueyras.

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Posted on 2015.04.01 in Saturday Sips Wines, France, Southern Rhone  |  Read more...

Wine for the Holy Holidays

We want to wish you happy holidays and let you know this Saturday we’ll be sampling 2011 Château Moulin Riche Saint-Julien. This is a wine that is dense and velvety, rich on the nose with black fruits. It’s a wine with good concentration and balance, full of life. A wine with chutzpah. A wine to pair with your holiday plate, or a wine that can be enjoyed over many holidays to come.

Château Moulin Riche was effectively the second wine of Château Léoville Poyferré. It has been officially independent since 2009, coming from a specific 50 acre parcel of vines in Saint-Julien, yet the wine is still made with the same great care as its older brother. Sandwiched between Margaux and Pauillac, Saint-Julien offers the best of both worlds, combining the elegance of Margaux with the power of Pauillac. 2011 Moulin Riche is a blend of 71% Cabernet Sauvignon and 29% Merlot.

Price: $59/bottle – SOLD OUT

This is a deal you don’t want to pass-over.

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Posted on 2015.03.26 in France, Bordeaux, Saturday Sips Wines  |  Read more...

Sophisticated and Affordable Southern Rhône

Domaine de l’Oratoire St. Martin (Cairanne Côtes-du-Rhône Villages)
– 2011 Les Douyes Rouge Special Price: $26/bottle SOLD OUT
– 2010 Haut Costias Blanc Special Price: $15/bottle SOLD OUT

L’Oratoire Saint-Martin estate is a benchmark in the villages of Côtes-du-Rhône. The Alarys are perfectionists. Painstaking effort is employed in the organic and biodynamically farmed vineyards, some with slopes so steep they require special tools to cultivate. At harvest, the grapes are sorted three times to ensure only the very best fruit is fermented into wine. A gravity fed cellar allows the fruit to be handled gently. Given all the work that goes into making wines of this caliber it’s surprising to see them still modestly priced.

Ten generations of grape growers from the Alary family have worked the same vineyards northeast of the village of Cairanne on the hillsides of Saint Martin. Presently it’s Frédéric and François Alary farming the family’s 60 acres on these slopes that look out to Gigondas and down at Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This is the southern Rhône, the air filled with scents of wild juniper, thyme, rosemary and lavender, the wines heady and sun-drenched.

Cairanne is one of the most well-known and regarded of the Côtes-du-Rhône villages and likely will be awarded their own appellation status. The Alary’s cobbly terroir abounds with yellow and blue clay with a high percentage of “active” limestone, helping create wines with great balance and depth.

Named after one of their very old vine parcels, with an average age of 100 years, cuvée Les Douyes is a blend of 60% grenache and 40% mourvèdre. Following fermentation with indigenous yeasts the wine is aged for 18 months in large, older foudres and then bottled without fining or filtration. Absurdly low yields and a high proportion of mourvèdre help fashion a wine with the fruit concentration and finesse of wines from the more esteemed real estate of nearby Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Haut Coustias Blanc is a blend of marsanne, roussanne and viognier. It’s aged for 10 months with frequent lees stirring for a wine that’s rich and filled with aromas of beeswax, almond, flowers and poached white fruits. This is a white wine for the transitional spring months that might find you having a glass outside on a warm day filled with birdsong or sheltering inside from wind and rain.

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Posted on 2015.03.19 in France, Saturday Sips Wines, Southern Rhone  |  Read more...

Spring Fever

Coto de Gomariz (Ribeiro)
– The Flower and the Bee (red) Sousón
– The Flower and the Bee (white) Treixadura
Price $22/bottle

This February in Michigan sure didn’t seem like the shortest month of the year. But, unless you’re a penguin, the weather has finally turned in our favor. It’s amazing how a little sun and temperatures above 40 degrees can have us fantasizing about outdoor grilling and gathering with friends in the long shadows of warm evenings.

To celebrate the change of season we’re offering a couple of lively wines from the Atlantic coast of Spain. The Bodega of Coto de Gomariz is located in Galicia, in the Avia valley of the Ribeiro wine district. Although this northwest corner of Spain is mostly known for creating some of the country’s best white wines, there are some stunningly swiggable reds being produced there as well.

The small winery of Coto de Gomariz was created in 1978 by the Carreiro family. They started by recovering a vineyard that Cistercian monks had established in the 10th century. Today, they own close to 70 acres of vineyards. Winemaker Xosé Lois Sebio is one of the most admired and exciting names in Ribeiro. He employs both organic and biodynamic viticulture practices in the vineyards and all wines are fermented with indigenous yeasts.

The Flower and the Bee (La Flor y La Abeja) wines are Coto de Gomariz’s most approachable selections. But approachable doesn’t mean simple. The white is a refreshing wine from the indigenous treixadura grapes that balances floral and juicy fruit aromas with a finish that’s crisp and a touch mineral. The miniscule production red, from another indigenous variety, sousón, is full of ripe dark berry aromas with a pinch of herbs and spice and a bright finish. This is a red wine that can take a bit of a chill. Both these wines are ideal for the sensibilities of northerners at springtime.

Like Ernest Hemingway said in his memoir, A Moveable Feast, “When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest.” Now the only problem is where to be happiest in spring with a bottle or two of The Flower and the Bee.

Take a 360 degree tour of the Bodega and vineyards of Coto de Gomariz.

Enjoying a bottle of The Flower and the Bee Sousón with Detroit artist Ed Fraga in his studio.

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Posted on 2015.03.11 in Saturday Sips Wines, Spain DO, Ribeiro  |  Read more...

Revisiting 2010 Bordeaux

Join us this Saturday to revisit the 2010 Bordeaux vintage. We’ll be sampling several wines, from inexpensive, over-performing regional wines to renowned estates with top terroir. A few years have elapsed since the release of this vintage and we believe the wines are currently proving that 2010 was a truly stellar vintage for the region.

2010 in Bordeaux was the driest year in six full decades. The vines were parched for most of the summer, with almost no rainfall the entire month of August. Days were long and warm, nights were cool. The result was a crop of small, thick-skinned, ripe berries with tremendous concentration and freshness. By all accounts the 2010 Bordeaux vintage was a banner year for creating intense wines with refined tannins and ideal balance. The top Châteaux wines will develop for decades (and longer) in the cellar.

The merlot crop was hit by millerandage and coulure, two conditions leading to further reduced yields and even higher concentration. We’ll be featuring a few of the merlot-based wines of the Right-Bank. Like Château Montlandrie (SOLD OUT), an unsurprisingly ample Castillon wine from perfectionist proprietor, Denis Durantou, known for his celebrated Pomerol estate Château l’Eglise Clinet. Also, the easy drinking Château du Courlat special cuvée Jean-Baptiste from Lussac-Saint-Émilion (SOLD OUT). And for just a little over $20, the Fronsac from Château Villars (SOLD OUT) that drinks much bigger than it’s price tag.

Cabernet sauvignon vines on the Left-Bank bore higher yields. Nonetheless, the wines still have the hallmark 2010 concentration. From the Pessac-Léognan in Graves and a stunningly good sip right now is Le Petit Haut Lafitte (SOLD OUT). Designed during the blending of Smith Haut Lafitte, the wines of Le Petit Haut Lafitte are vinified and aged with the same care as the batches that will become the first wine of the Château. And for a perennial value we offer Château Tour St Bonnet (SOLD OUT), a rich Médoc Cru Bourgeois.

These are wines to warm the soul. Coincidentally, in Edgar Allan Poe’s 1846 story “A Cask of Amontillado,” as Montresor leads Fortunato deep into his damp vaults he pours wine from both Médoc and Graves. These regions have been known for producing quality wine for a long time. And there are far worse things to drink before being buried alive behind a brick wall, right?

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Posted on 2015.03.05 in France, Bordeaux, Saturday Sips Wines  |  Read more...

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