Dear Feastlings,
This Sunday’s end-of-the-month tasting features wines from our friend Luke Anable features wines from four intriguing winemakers, all of whom are doing their best to either revive all-but-lost varietals, styles and appellations. So you’ll learn about long-neglected grapes being replanted in long-neglected places, using long-neglected techniques. The wines are all organic if not biodynamic, they’re all fascinating in their way, and they’re all delicious and special. You didn’t drink these wines yesterday, and you most likely won’t tomorrow, unless you stock up. If you’d like to join us, please reserve a seat by calling us at 326-9363, as web and email reservations won’t hold you a spot. The tasting is $35 and includes small dishes each paired to each specific wine. It begins at 3:30 pm. We hope you can join us.
History Lesson
2014 Eric Texier Brézème (Roussanne,) Côtes-du-Rhône $29.00
Éric’s Brézème Roussanne is a soft golden color with a nose of honey, rose and fresh mint herbal tea all lying on an earthy bed. In the best years, the Roussanne has the ability to age well over a decade. Serve this very cool, and be prepared to drink in the next 2 to 3 years for those who like their whites on the fruit. Or let it age in your cellar for those who prefer minerality and salinity. Native yeasts, aged on its lees in concrete tanks.
2010 Sebastien Riffault “Akenime,” Sancerre $38.00
In keeping with all of Sébastien’s Sancerre blanc cuvées, the Akmeniné has a distinct personality. The color is a rich gold and notes of golden apple, mango, and honeysuckle show on the nose. A spicy herbaceous quality emerges on the palate. Cardamom and a nutty note complement sweet citrus and apple cider, finishing with crisp acidity.
2014 Elisabetta Foradori, Teroldego, Vigneti delle Dolomiti $28.00
Aromas and flavors of blueberries, blackberries, and cherries follow through to a full body, round and velvety tannins and a flavorful finish. A big and rich wine with great density and complexity. Made with biodynamic grapes.
2011 Elisabetta Foradori “Granato,” Vigneti delle Dolomiti, $59.00
Made with Teroldego from three different vineyards, this offers aromas of truffle, leather, scorched soil, black plum and a whiff of game. Aged and fermented in wood, the savory palate offers ripe blackberry, spiced blueberry, earthy notes of Mediterranean herbs and dark cooking spice. Firm but fine-grained tannins provide support. Excellent aging potential.
2011 Roagna Langhe Rosso, 2011 $42.00
Those who want to get a good dose of the Roagna house style without splurging on one of the flagship wines should make a point of checking out the 2011 Langhe Rosso, Roagna’s young vine Nebbiolo cuvée. The warm vintage has softened some of the contours, resulting in a striking, old-school Nebbiolo that can be enjoyed upon release. Dried rose petal, spice, leather, licorice and dried cherry are some of the signatures. This is a gorgeous wine to drink now, as the flavors are a bit mature, in the best sense of the term. Dried rose petal, cinnamon, pomegranate and cedar add to the wine’s exotic bouquet. Even with the warm vintage, there is plenty of supporting Nebbiolo tannin and acidity. The Langhe Rosso is all young-vine Nebbiolo.
2012 Eric Texier, “Vieille Serine Pergaud,” St Julien en Alban $34.00
St-Julien en St-Alban is on the western side of the Rhône River, across from Brézème in the Ardèche. Its granite-based soils are quite different from Brézème’s limestone-rich soils; but it is similarly rich in the old-clone Syrah called Serine, for which he uses the “Domaine de Pergaud” moniker on the label. Eric found this ancient vineyard area neglected but blessed with these old vines that were never touched by chemicals or fertilizers in their decades of being tended by a Protestant religious order. As with all of his reds, there is no destemming; whole clusters are crushed and the juice fermented with indigenous yeasts; the wine is aged for 30 months in 10-year-old demi-muids.