The Inside Story from Italian Wine Merchants

A Marathon Rhone Valley Wine Tasting and Beyond

Surprise and controversy in the outliers

This blog post was co-authored by Chris Deas and Rob Allen

On the evening of March 25th, a group of ten wine enthusiasts gathered at IWM for a blind tasting of wines from France’s Rhone Valley, the 125-mile stretch between the ancient Roman city of Vienne (just south of Lyon) and Avignon.  We enjoyed a collection of 21 wines from both our guests and the IWM cellar that not only covered the Rhone, but ventured out to the neighboring regions of Languedoc and Roussillon, and we also sampled some outliers from the Loire Valley, Rioja, McLaren Vale and Toscana.  Ironically, it was these outliers—specifically the 2006 Grange des Peres, a 1990 Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Rioja Blanco Riserva, and a 1998 d’Arenberg The Dead Arm Shiraz—that were the surprise wines of the night, but they weren’t without controversy.  However, when a lineup includes four selections from Jean-Louis Chave, Chapoutier’s Hermitage “Le Meal,” and multiple vintages of Chateauneuf from Chateau Beaucastel, the surprises are not necessarily the highlights.  This was an event where every bottle in the line-up performed, and the food prepared by Chef Kevin Sippel showed each flight to its best, course after course.

The following is the wine and food list by flight, followed by a consensus of how each wine performed.  For the event preparations, we opened the red wines at 1pm and briefly tasted through the line-up. They remained aerating (using the slow-o method, where the cork is removed, as well as a small portion of the wine, to provide slow oxygenation into the bottle).  Each bottle was double decanted at 4:00pm with a two-ounce pour prepared thirty minutes before each flight.   The dinner began at 7:00pm and finished at 10:45pm.

It should also be mentioned that in a decade of tastings at IWM, this was one of the most knowledgeable groups we had the privilege of sharing wine and conversation with; it was an education for both sides of the event.  We would like to thank Rick and Ellen, Tom and Binny, Jonathan and Stacey, and Rick and Lee Ann for their insight, wines and conversation.

Wine List of the Evening

Reception
1. JL Chave St Joseph Blanc Celeste 2007

(St. Joseph – Marsanne)

Antipasti – Flight One

2. 1996 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc

(Chateauneuf-du-Pape – Roussanne, Grenache Blanc)
3. 2001 Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf du Pape “La Crau” Blanc

(Chateauneuf-du-Pape – Clairette, Grenache, Roussanne)
4. 2005 Betts & Scholl Hermitage Blanc

(Hermitage – Roussanne, Marsanne)
5. 1990 Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Blanco Reserva

(Rioja – Viura, Malvasia, Garnacho Blanco)

Fish – Flight Two
Roasted Black Cod with Mussels in a Tomato and Bean Guazzetto

6. 2001 Chateau Grillet Vin Blanc

(Condrieu (Grillet) – Viognier)
7. 2007 Matassa Matassa Blanc

(Roussillon – Grenache Gris, Maccabeu)
8. 2005 Chateau Grillet Vin Blanc

(Condrieu (Grillet) – Viognier)

9. 2001 Chave Hermitage Blanc

(Hermitage – Marsanne, Roussanne)

Pasta – Flight Three
Pacherri Verdi with Frog Legs and Creamy Garlic
10. 1998 Domaine De La Janasse, Cuvée Vieilles Vignes

(Chateauneuf-du-Pape – Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre)
11. 1998 Château de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge

(Chateauneuf-du-Pape – Mourvèdre, Grenache, Syrah, Counoise)
12. 1999 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge

(Chateauneuf-du-Pape – Mourvèdre, Grenache, Syrah, Counoise)
13. 2006 Domaine Grange des Peres Rouge

(Roussillon – Mourvedre, Syrah, Cabernet, Counoise)
14. 2004 Francois Villard St. Joseph Gran Reflet
(St. Joseph – Syrah)

Meat – Flight Four
Roasted Duck with Marsala, Foie Gras and Roasted Porcini Mushrooms
15. 2005 Betts & Scholl Hermitage
(Hermitage – Roussanne, Marsanne)
16. 1991 Chave Hermitage

(Hermitage – Syrah)

17. 1996 Chapoutier “Le Meal” Hermitage

(Hermitage – Syrah)
18. 1998 d’Arenberg “The Dead Arm” Shiraz

(McLaren Vale – Syrah)
19.  2006 Le Macchiole Scrio

(Toscana – Syrah)

Cheese – Flight Five
Selection of Italian Cheeses
20. 1990 Chave Vin de Paille

(Hermitage – Marsanne)
21. 1990 Huet L’Echansonne Vouvray Moelleux Haut Lieu 1er Trie

(Loire Valley – Chenin Blanc)


Flight One – Roussane Meets Viognier, and Viura?
There was definitely a split decision in this flight; the women favored the ripe and robust 2005 Betts & Scholl Hermitage Blanc, while the men preferred the 2001 Vieux Telegraphe “La Crau” Blanc with great citrus and chalky minerality.  It should be noted that the Betts & Scholl includes grapes from the iconic Jean-Louis Chave, making this 400 case production an extra special find here.  However, the surprise in this flight would certainly go to the 1990 Lopez de Heredia Blanco—just one guest pegged this for Rioja, while everyone else was thinking Southern France.  The wine showcased dried fruit with a citrus streak of acidity, complemented by a long, nutty finish.  To find a twenty-year-old white from the legendary Rioja traditionalist and a wine of this age and caliber for under $50 ($45 at IWM) is truly amazing.

Flight Two – Northern Whites with a Southern Twist
The clear winner, and perhaps the white wine of the evening, was the 2001 Chave Hermitage Blanc.  All the components of the wine here are amplified—high alcohol, lush fruit, waxy texture, but somehow the wine comes together and works in perfect harmony, offering quite a spectrum of flavors: honey, tropical fruit, minerality, brioche and nuts all supported by a subtle streak of acidity you don’t expect to find here. While the Chave was the highlight, perhaps the most surprising and talked about wine of the flight was the Vin de Pays des Cotes Catalanes from Matassa, made from a unique combination of Grenache Gris and Maccabeu. This little white from the Roussillon presented a lively offering, with surprising acidity and minerality, from this region of France.  Aromatically few whites matched this wine.  This is an ideal accompaniment for antipasti and cured meats.

Flight Three – A Roussillon Red Challenges Chateauneuf du Pape:
The table was split across this flight.  Two surprises here were the special release 2004 Villard St. Joseph Gran Reflet and the cult-like Grange des Peres from the 2006 vintage; both favorite selections provided by Rob.  While the Villard offered the most immediate enjoyability, the Grange des Peres was the wine of structure for the evening, presenting a dense profile of dark fruit and roasted meats, enveloped with a firm tannic grip.  While some enthusiasts will favor the 2007 release of this wine for its concentration, we believe this may be the best Grange des Peres to date; it’s a wine of longevity and will benefit from more cellaring and aeration.  On the other end of the tasting spectrum were the bigger, more earthy-driven Chateauneufs of Beaucastel.  And while the weighty, critically acclaimed Beaucastel 1998 drew immediate applauses from the group, Chris, Rick and Binny embraced the acidity from the leaner 1999 vintage; we all felt this was another great example of how an overshadowed vintage delivers.

Flight Four – Hermitage Syrah Meets Aussie Shiraz Meets Super Tuscan Syrah:
This round divided the group, with the 1996 Chapoutier Hermitage “le Meal” slightly edging out the iconic Chave Hermitage from 1991.  Ironically, many confused the two for one another when tasting the wines blind.  The Chave, however, showed more restraint and structure, while the Chapoutier provided softer elegance and approachability. While these were the highlights, it was the #4 wine in this flight that caused the most debate of the evening.  When the d’Arenberg Shiraz was served blind, guests had this wine pegged as French and praised the wine for its complexity and tertiary flavors; when the wine was unveiled, the hardened Europhiles (Chris and Rob included) retreated back as they were astonished to learn that the wine they were enjoying was Australian Shiraz. This was atypical take from Down Under, a true delight to experience.  On a side note, when we opened this wine at 1:00pm, it displayed super concentration, a great example of what proper aeration can do for this varietal.

Flight Five – A Rare and Different Take from Jean-Louis Chave:
The 1990 Chave Vin de Paille was a momentous wine, by far the rarest and one of the most interesting dessert wine we’ve experienced, ranking up there with Quintarelli’s 1990 Bianco Amabile.  And similar to the method in which Quintarelli would make his Recioto della Valpolicella, Chave resurrected an old Hermitage technique to produce his Marsanne based Vin de Paille (“straw wine”) in miniscule quantities.  This technique includes the drying of whole grape clusters on straw mats for more than two months.  During this time the grapes lose much of their initial water weight, dramatically concentrating their sugar content. The raisinated grapes are then crushed and fully fermented into a heady and robust wine.  For Chave, this uninterrupted fermentation period can take five years – unheard of in the industry.  The result was nothing short of exotic: a collision of ripe apricot and peach, accented with honey and butterscotch for a finish that seemed to last for minutes. This was truly special experience and for select vintages, just two barrels of this wine is produced.

Around the World in Eleven Courses

From the esoteric to the iconic

One of the great pleasures in working in wine is meeting the enthusiasts and collectors whose passions are equal, or perhaps even greater, than my own. Their excitement for both the history and the experience of wine is both contagious and enlightening, and it’s sharing in these people’s enjoyment that keeps people like me creative and motivated.

For the second year in a row, Chef Kevin Sippel and I had the pleasure of creating a Valentine’s Day Wine list and menu for an IWM favorite, Omar and Leslie Khan.  Together we came up with “Around the World in Eleven Courses,” a light-hearted culinary journey across to the globe that traversed some of the world’s favorite wine regions, as well as some off-the-beaten-path destinations.  Each course invited our guests to experience a different grape, winemaker, dish and story that all worked together to highlight what makes each region so unique.  As Omar pointed out to me, each of the chosen eleven wines on a different evening could be a centerpiece in its own right.  Looking back on the night, I’d highlight the 1966 Chateau Musar from the Bekaa Valley, which offered layers of complexity and very much held its own against the 1966 Leoville Las Cases. Then there was the Weinert Malbec Estrella 1977, which challenges everything you thought you know about Argentinean Malbec (aged 19 years in oak cask).

This was truly an evening of the esoteric to the iconic, and to do it justice, I thought I would share the words and review from one of our special guests:

Valentine’s…Eve?
This entry was written by Omar Khan, posted on February 20, 2010 on his blog.

Well, we enjoy Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, so this year, as Valentine’s Day was falling on Sunday, we opted to have our amorous outing on the “eve.”

Many pooh-pooh this holiday calling it commercially contrived, historically dubious (as if our other holidays aren’t?) and more.

It’s irrelevant. It’s a day to focus on love, and you don’t have to succumb to an orgy of candy purchases to express one of our deepest sentiments. And you can be as extravagant, as imaginative, or as corny as you like. You have license. We are “excused.” After all, there’s an “official” day to blame!

We went back to our favorite spot for Valentine’s and much else: the Italian Wine Merchants, pioneers in Italian wine appreciation in the United States, and one of the primary conduits and channels for extraordinary wine of irreproachable provenance overall.

We had the lovely space to ourselves. We were surrounded by masterful chefs putting their show kitchen to the best possible use, and were “serenaded” (oenophilically) by Italian Wine Merchants’ Vice-President and a masterful commentator on the joys of the grape, Chris Deas.

Together he and Chef Kevin Sippel (a true culinary innovator), formerly of Alto, took us “Around the World in Eleven Courses.” Not quite around the world perhaps, but the circumnavigation was quite extensive. This could as easily have been called “Around the World in Eleven Wines.” But why quibble? Both are implied, and both were experienced.

Menu highlights included the palate puckering Paccheri Verdi, Braised Snails and Gorgonzola; one of the last orchestrations of Didier Dagueneau via his masterful Pouilly-Fume Silex 2006 enhanced and enchanted this remarkable dish.

Another menu highlight was the crispy sweetbread, manchego and toasted allioli, married exquisitely and tantalizingly with Descendientes de Jose Palacios Corullon La Faraona 2006. From one of the best vineyard sites in Bierzo Spain, La Faraona is the gem of Alvaro Palacios’ (of Priorat fame) art in this region. Only 65 cases are produced annually, and other than the Italian Wine Merchants, this exceptional wine isn’t available anywhere else in the United States.

Hot on the heels of this came another winner! A hen egg cooked slowly for two hours, and then lightly fried, with Serrano ham and baked sardine! Extraordinary!

A number of amazing wines, from Gaja Sperss 1998 to La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 1995, all could have been the centerpieces in a lesser dinner.

But for us the 1977 Bodega Malbec from Mendoza Argentina showed us a style of Malbec we almost can’t experience any more because of the unsettling “globalization” of wine tastes. The two “birth year” wines for my wife and I, the Leoville Las Cases (one of fifteen second growths in Bordeaux and one of our favorites) 1966 (a vintage that seems among the better Bordeaux to be drinking quite beautifully now) and the beyond rare 1966 Chateau Musar from Lebanon (slightly sweet herb-like aromas, elegant, a bit more Burgundian), were luscious, fitting and truly memorable.

We went home with a lovely Pinot to accompany artisanal chocolates, a dozen red roses (a “classic” rather than a “cliché,” though many people can’t tell the two apart), and memories we will savor and which will reverberate happily for years to come.

James Thurber once opined, “Love is what you’ve been through with someone.” Most people take that to mean what you’ve survived together. Well, partially that’s so. But it’s as much what you’ve experienced together, exulted in together, and celebrated together! Salute!

AROUND THE WORLD IN ELEVEN COURSES

CHAMPAGNE — FRANCE
Selection of Raw Fish, Oysters and Caviar
Jacques Selosse Champagne Brut Initial NV

LOIRE VALLEY — FRANCE
Paccheri Verdi, Braised Snails and Gorgonzola
Didier Dagnueneau Pouilly Fume Silex 2006

BRDA — SLOVENIA
Grilled Sepia with Sea Urchin
Movia Lunar 2007

BIERZO — SPAIN
Crispy Sweetbread, Tomato, Manchego and Toasted Allioli
Descendientes de Jose Palacios Corrullon La Faraona 2006

PIEMONTE — ITALY
Frog Leg Risotto with Veal Reduction and Leeks
Gaja Sperss 1998

RIOJA — SPAIN
Fried Egg, Serrano Ham and Poached Sardine
La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Riserva ‘890′ 1995

TOSCANA — ITALY
Crudo of Veal with Hot Bone Marrow, Pancetta and Pecorino Fondue
Fontodi Flaccianello 1995

MENDOZA — ARGENTINA
Smoked Venison with White Polenta, Chorizo and Porcini Mushrooms
Bodega y Cavas de Weinert Malbec Estrella 1977

BORDEAUX — FRANCE
Foie Gras Tortellini in Black Truffle Consomme with Offal
Chateau Leoville-Las Cases Bordeaux 2nd Growth 1966

BEKAA VALLEY — LEBANON
Rack of Lamb with Controne Bean, Pickled Eggplant and Lamb’s Tongue
Chateau Musar Rouge 1966

ITALY
Chocolate Cake and Bombolini
Antonio Ferrari Solaria Jonica 1959

Presenting a Place in a Bottle

Nicolas Joly Visits IWM

This week at IWM we welcomed the esteemed Loire producer Nicolas Joly.  Joly is famous within the wine community for his staunch promotion of the winegrowing and winemaking principles of biodynamics.  Joly not only practices biodynamics in his vineyards and winery, but he also personally lives the principles.  This effectively means that he believes in harnessing the “life forces” of the universe by first trying to understand, and then trying to provide for the natural needs of all things, his vines coming first and foremost.  His goal is to express his appellation to its fullest extent in each bottle of his wine.

Nicolas Joly: Two Very Different Ways of Achieving a Wine from Inside IWM on Vimeo.

Joly claims, “It is not that the wine is in biodynamics that is it good,” and I appreciated his admission, especially phrased as it is in his charming English. I’ve heard many wine professionals and fanatics wax rhapsodic over how biodynamic wines are always better in quality, and I respectfully disagree.  It may be true that if you look at the whole of the wine world and then at the whole of the biodynamic wine world, the greater percentage of higher quality wines certainly sits in the biodynamic camp.  However, I’ve tasted more than a few biodynamic wines that are wanting in one way or another.  (I’d further say that you can’t make an absolutely true blanket statement about wine.)  Joly went on to explain that the holistic approach is what brings it all together. He observed that “When you are seeing the forces, pulling the right forces into place,” you naturally create quality.  Perhaps Joly is right and perhaps he is not, but I do know that his life forces were seamlessly aligned when he created his 2007s.  They are showing brilliantly!

In order to fully harness his appellation, Joly strictly avoids adding anything to the winegrowing and winemaking process that is not totally organic and naturally part of the appellation.  He explains that when winegrowers don’t abide to this strict biodynamic code, the wine is no longer an honest reflection of its appellation.  These additions could be oak chips, enzymes, or they could be the biggest enemy—yeasts, especially aromatic yeasts (mon Dieu!).  Having heard some pretty extreme philosophies on this topic of additives from other producers, such as the protest that Rainer Lingenfelder launched at growers who trucked in water from a nearby lake to hydrate their vines during the persistent heat of 2003, I found Joly’s ideas pretty easy to accept.

Nicolas Joly: What Happens in the Cellar from Inside IWM on Vimeo.

Then his train of thought moved to sulfur additions, and I was pleasantly surprised that Joly was not completely against adding sulfur.  He does, however, point out the sulfur must be natural and not a product from the oil industry, and I agree.  First, small amounts of sulfur are naturally produced by yeast during the fermentation process.  Second, as Joly points out, “If you ship far away, your wine should have it” because most wines without added sulfur don’t travel well.  Joly recollected more than a few bottles he has opened that were not in good condition because the winemakers refused to add sulfur, and by doing so, denied their consumers a better bottle of wine.

But, enough of my “Cliffs Notes.”  Click into our videos to hear from the man himself!