Playing Catch Up’s

It’s been many month’s since i’ve updated my little blog. It’s also been many a crazy month. This is a little, short and very quick post to play catch up with what has happened of late… Then I promise we will get back to the good stuff.

The wine stuff.

 

Just a week after getting back from the wine trip of a life time, there was a little picture of me on the cover of Good Living. You can read the article,If you would like.

Then just a few weeks ago, I won the big one. The Best Small Wine List in the FWP Gourmet Traveller Australian Wine List of the Year Awards…… Absolutely mind blowing.

 

And here is a picture of me with the award on my head. As you do….

 

So that’s enough showing off for now…. We have played catch up’s with the awesome stuff…. I’ll write about wine next time, which will be soon. I promise.

MOV xx

Truffled Food Porn

So you would think that after visiting Cote Rotie, Condrieu, Croze Hermitage and Cornas in the one day it couldn’t get any better? Think again, to finish our day we were booked into Beaugraviere for dinner.

Best Truffle restaurant in the world?  I could pretty much die right now and feel fulfilled.

First Course –  just a simple dish of potato and Truffle.

Second Course – Truffle Veloute, chopped Truffle (some kind of nut).

Third Course –  Truffled Spinach, scallop stuffed with Truffle and topped with Truffle.

Fourth Course –  Foie Gras Parfait, Truffle butter and yep you guessed it, topped with Truffle.

Fifth Course –  Seared Foie Gras and a whole Truffle in pastry. A WHOLE GOD DAMN TRUFFLE. Kill me now.

Cheese Course – Which was of course, topped with Truffle.

Dessert –  Truffle Ice Cream.

Whilst gorging ourselves in an all out Truffle fest. We drank…..

1988 Fonsalet Blanc

89 Fonsalet and 97 Rayas

And the most incredible late harvest Chardonnay. If anyone out there sees this in Australia, please let me know. This is the stuff dreams are made of.

And it seemed only fitting to finish with this.

Bucket of Truffle.

Best Dinner Ever!

XX

All Content © 2012 Mistress of the Vine

Clape Cornas

There were moments on this trip that were better than others; on the whole the entire trip was pretty amazing but some bits were just….. to put it simply – fucking amazing.

Tasting in the Clape cave was one of these moments. I took so many notes, most are indecipherable. Rodney had a slight smile on his face the entire tasting and by the end of it James was literally jumping up and down.

There was a magical feeling in the air in this dirty, mould-covered cellar. The barrels showed years and years of nursing beautiful wine to maturity. There was  black mould on everything and for some reason none of us felt the cold at all down there. Pure magic!

As I just mentioned, I did write pages and pages of notes whilst at Clape. I will try to decant some for you but let me just start by saying that the 2010 vintage in Cornas is wonderful. The quantities are not high so expect to pay a lot for them, but let me tell you now each bottle will be worth every cent.

2011 Clape Les Vins Des Amis although the vineyard is made up of brown stone, sits just outside appellation and is viewed as table wine it is still vinified exactly the same as Cornas. Really aromatic nose with hints of chocolate and tobacco. The palate is very approachable with soft tannins and chocolate characters.

The 2011 Clape 
Cotes Du Rhone (made from 100% Syrah, granite and round stone soil, vineyard right on the border of Cornas) nose of spice earth and rose petals. Palate was soft, generous and quite full-bodied with quite broad tannin structure. Incredible wine. What a good start!

2011 Clape Cornas The nose showed delicious, sexy red cherry and dark fruits. This was such an intense wine I could picture how amazing this is going to be with some age. There was loads of chocolate coating the palate with hints of spice and black olive on the length.

The legendary Auguste Clape was not at the tasting with us, which was a shame. Instead his grandson Olivier led us, who was a strapping young man with the largest hands you have ever seen. You know what they say, big hands great wine? Or something to that effect.

Olivier then went on to explain the vinification process. The Clape family make wine from wonderful old vines with each parcel of fruit  vinified separately, then blended after spending eight months in barrel using the best parcels for Cornas’, then the rest for Renaissance.

The parcel from ‘ La Cote’ made from 55 year old vines,  sits just behind the village, on top of the hill and is always used in the final Cornas blend, this had a really intriguing nose. Floral and wonderful fruit with quite powerful tannin. Apparently according to Olivier 09 and 10 were really great vintages from this small vineyard. The next parcel we tasted came from 60-year-old vines and I’m sorry to say I didn’t catch the name of the vineyard (we now venture into the undecipherable part of the essay that I wrote) The nose was quite funky with a blood and earth character but the palate had this incredible texture. It felt alive and energized. It reminded me of the feeling I get whilst I’m  talking myself into going for a run, very  passionate and excitable.

We then moved onto a parcel from the youngest vines in the estate, which were only 16 year’s old – Teenage Vines.  Jammy figs, blackberry jam and strawberries on the nose with loads of fruit sweetness on the palate but still nice tannins and acidity. Then we tried a little 2010 Renaissance from 25-year-old vines and the difference was incredible. Super spicy and with a full-bodied velvet character. Who cares if this is the second label? I would drink this everyday if I were able!

We then moved onto trying 2009. The 2009 Renaissance has a nose of tobacco, dried herbs, spice, red jube fruit and a hint of confection. The palate was so complex I would have liked to spend an hour or so with my nose in the glass. My tasting note reads “goose bump giver, the nose has texture!” Perhaps I should have spat more. The 2009 Cornas was so complex, I don’t know if I can do it justice with words. Brilliant fruit on the nose, amazing balance and lovely tannin. Beautiful.

We finished our magical tasting at Clape with a peek at the 2002 vintage. A cool vintage with quite a lot of rain although not as wet as 93. The north wind helped to stop rot and extra sorting helped but even with this, their yields were still down by 30 %. The nose was quite ethereal, very pretty with lovely red fruit. Quite expressive on the palate, very vibrant and defiantly still a baby. But still truly magical.

MOV xx

 

All Content © 2012 Mistress of the Vine

The Rhone Adventure Continues

So Croze Hermitage is a beautiful place that makes beautiful Shiraz. Shiraz that is right up my alley; spicy, elegant  and with just the right amount of  power.

Our appointment in Croze Hermitage was with Laurent Combier. Laurent’s father was the first in northern Rhone in the 70’s to embrace Organic cultivation. Practices which are still followed by Laurent to this day.

The wines were good, some were great and a few were ok. The 2011 Domaine Combier Blanc made from 100% Marsanne   was really lovely. Super light lemony richness, balanced acidity and alcohol, much nicer than the Marsanne we had just tasted in Condrieu.

The 2011 Domaine Combier Cuvee L was a cracker of a wine, although from young vines and only the entry-level wine of the range. The juice spent eight months in concrete eggs. The result was bright lively red fruit and lovely aromatics with a nice dense fruit character on the palate. Completely second glass worthy.

The 2010 Domaine Combier Classique was also quite nice. Red lipstick, maraschino and blood plum fruit on the nose with generous fruit, up front tannins and nice structure and balance on the palate. The 2010 Domaine Combier Clos De Grieves which comes from the estates oldest vines was very pretty. Floral and hints of red fruit, there was a lot happening on the nose of this wine. The palate was full with soft tannins and that lovely spice character that I always enjoy from the Croze Hermitage.

I enjoyed our brief visit with Laurent Combier. Laurent was lovely, promising us a ride in his Airplane the next time we visited. Apparently this man loves only two things in life, wine and planes. How they fit together I’m not entirely sure but what ever floats your boat I suppose! Or should I say Plane.

Next up on our adventure in the Rhone is Cornas.

We are going to Clape. CLAPE !!!!!!

xxx

 

All Content © 2012 Mistress of the Vine

The beginning of the Rhone

It is always hard to envisage a wine region without ever seeing it with your own two eyes. I have looked at so many maps of Cote Rotie in the past and to be honest I never understood the grandeur of the place, never understood how bloody steep the hills are or how hard it must be to work the vineyards.

After seeing Cote Rotie with my own two eyes, I will never whine about the cost of the wines from this region ever again.

Our first stop in the Rhone Valley was Domaine Jamet. Jean Paul Jamet, who is quite a quirky chap, makes his wines from around 25 separate vineyards in the Cote Blonde and Cote Brune – all Shiraz and  all of which I adored.

First up was 2011 from the Lancement and Chavarost vineyards (granite soil) and made with 95% whole bunches. Umami was the first word I wrote and this wine was textbook. Savory, soy, dark plums and green peppercorns on the nose. Great line and minerality on the palate, with soft balanced acidity and incredible precision. This was the first wine of the day, it was 9am and I didn’t spit it out – it was that good.

Next up was 2011 (also tasted from barrel) La Plomb and Mornachon from slate soil. This was a seductive little number, violet and floral with an underlying umami character, though not as dominate as the last. Very intense, yet lovely and soft with beautiful tannin structure, an absolutely beautiful wine. At this point I forgot how cold it was!

I will put up all the tasting notes that I wrote from  2011 Jamet at another time as what I really want to write about is the other vintages we tasted – the 2010, 2009, 2008 and 1992. These were all mind-blowing wines, almost faultless and  completely drinkable, even at 9am.

The 2010 Jamet From the Lancemond vineyard, which was 100% de-stemmed,  was complex and interesting whilst being powerful and restrained at the same time. I know that sounds impossible but believe me this was and is incredible Shiraz.

The nose showed red fruit, red licorice, perfumed floral aromatics, rock salt and at the end a hint of earth. The palate was soft yet textural with hints of chocolate and roasted coffee. Tannins in line and great balanced acidity with wafts of roasted chestnuts on the length.

The 2009 ( I forgot to write the vineyard down) was a warmer vintage, dark and powerful with dominating red fruit on the nose yet the palate was fresh and fine with incredible balance, purity and forceful yet supple tannin.

The 2008 was very ethereal with a slight hint of banana on the nose. Very fresh with integrated dried herbs and red fruit. The palate was beautifully supple with chewy, almost chalky tannin though not as predominate as in 09, yet lovely lasting length and defiantly age worthy.

Then we finished the tasting off with a 1992, which we were told was a very difficult vintage. Spicy on the nose with hints of English breakfast tea, whole bunch black peppercorns, tobacco, dried herbs and an interesting strepsil character that I actually really liked. The palate was very fresh, with lovely herbaceousness, depth and length with wonderful up front tannin.

Amazing! Domain Jamet was and I’ll say it again – Amazing! So good that I bought a few bottles for myself to bring back to Australia.

Next up was Andre Perret in Condrieu. Everybody loves Perret. I do not often hear a bad thing about this domain and I must say that I have also been a huge fan in the past but you know we can not let one vintage spoil a winemaker’s reputation. It would have been hard for anyone to shine after the brilliance we had just seen at Jamet.

However I really wasn’t fussed with any of the 2010 vintage from Perret. I found the alcohol too high, the tannin too green and the fruit boring.

So instead of writing an essay here’s a pretty picture instead.

Only two appointments down, in what was to be one of the best days’ tasting of the trip. We had a visit booked with Yves Cuilleron next but the poor man was so busy we only got to do a super quick run through of the 2011 vintage. Yves had to rush to get some samples ready for us to taste, while we killed some time in a nearby bottle store.

As the samples we tasted were not ready, nor finished  I cant be too harsh. I will say, that his reds were outstanding and defiantly worth another look. One to keep an eye out for would have to be 2010 St Joseph ‘ Les Pierres Seches’ (100% Syrah). Very elegant red petal and red fruit nose, nice tannins and nice acidity. It was really looking lovely, even though it was not finished and had not been fined as yet.

After a pretty wonderful morning we jumped back into the car and headed off to our next installment – Croze Hermitage.

Stay tuned!

XX

All Content © 2012 Mistress of the Vine

Be to the Em to the Be

Even though we had tasted sheer brilliance in Burgundy, the day was certainly not over. After saying our goodbyes to Alex Moreau, I swiped a little piece of Burgundy terroir and we headed off south to the Macon.

We were visiting the lovely Mallory and Bejamin Talmard and it was beyond cold….. so far beyond cold it was freezing. We did a quick tour of the cellar, tasted some 2011’s out of tank and then the lovely Talmards invited us into their home to finish off the tasting. I pretty much ran inside.

Their whole range of chardonnays were delicious. Super clean with lovely freshness and great fruit expression. It was hard to pick a favourite at Talmard as I really enjoyed both the Macon – Montbellet and the Macon- Uchizy. The Uchizy had a lovely nose with soft delicate fruit characters, nice minerality and length.

We were quite reluctant to leave the Talmards but as I said before the day was certainly not over and we had a dinner date in Beaujolais with Mr Jean Paul Dubost from Tracot.

There is something quite romantic about getting lost in France. This happened to us quite a lot whilst we were there. The best though had to be whilst we were in Beaujolais. I won’t go into too much detail, lets just say it included many little villages, turning up at restaurants that were defiantly not open and Rodney spending an extended amount of time in a hairdresser.

Once we finally reached where we were supposed to be we had a great tasting of some excellent Brouilly and a super funky completely natural Moulin A Vent; that if all goes to plan will be making an appearance on the list at Bloodwood restaurant.

We enjoyed a superbly fattening meal with Jean Paul and headed off to Lyon. Full of memories of Burgundy, Macon and Beaujolais or as I like to now call it – Be to the em to the Be.

MOV xx

All Content © 2012 Mistress of the Vine

Little bits of Burgundy

 

 

Thats me. Freezing in Burgundy!

Mistress in the Motherland

So far on this trip I have hit a Parisian with my push bike, fallen down a set of stairs at Spring Restaurant, bled all over the Huet stand at the Salon Des Vins De Loire and ended up on my derrier in Champagne. From now on I will fall no more, I am in Burgundy and I will be graceful.

Or I will try, at least.

We started our visit to Burgundy with a tasting at Pavelot in Savigny Les Beaune.We tasted mostly 2010’s and from what I had read, 2010 was a cracker of a vintage so I was excited to say the least.

Now let me  just say that I didn’t love all the wines at Pavelot. I don’t want to appear harsh but some were just, well?  Lets just say a bit cloppy and I shall just leave it at that.

I will say  however that the 2010 Alox Corton Villages was  great even though it had just been bottled the day before. It had lovely freshness and up front red fruit with great generosity on the palate.

That evening we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Ma Cusine, where I stuffed my face with beef bourguignon whilst drinking a 67 Morey Saint Denis that was so youthful and the colour so vibrant, there was talk at the table that it may not be 100% Pinot. Apparently 67 was not a great vintage in Burgundy but was a great vintage in the Rhone.I guess we will never know.

I think that walking home through the cobblestone streets of Beaune that night with a full belly of Beef, Burgundy and Chartreaus goes down as one of the best moments in my entire life.

The next morning we were up and out of the hotel bright and early and on our way to see the lovely Sylvie Esmonin in Gevrey Chambertin, every wine that we looked at was astounding. The wines from  Esmonin are the epitome of the great vintage of 2010, all the wines had incredible depth, wonderful fruit and silky yet dense tannins. Although I loved them all, my favorites of the tasting would have to be the straight up 2010 Gevrey Chambertin and I absolutely loved the 2010 Gevrey Chambertin Clos Saint Jaques. It showed incredible spice, fruit and perfume, beautiful structure and elegance with subtle rounded tannins and amazing power, line and balance – everything that a great Pinot is and should be.

Next stop was Domaine Michel Lafarge in Volnay and the first wine was one I was very interested in as it had recently been on the pour at Bloodwood restaurant. Although Aligote is  not the famous white of burgundy and considered more ‘table’ wine than something to marvel over, when it is good, it is really bloody good and this time it was defiantly the latter.

The 2010 Lafarge Aligote showed great lemony minerality and hints of tropical aromas. Nicely balanced acidity with minerality also on the palate. I can pretty much say that for the rest of the tasting I really liked everything that was put in front of me. Standouts at Lafarge had to be the 2010 Volnay, 2010 Beaune Les Aigros 1er Cru and the 2010 Volnay Clos Des Chenes.

After two incredible appointments the tone was defiantly set for the day, 2010 was a ripper of a vintage in Burgundy. Everyone we had spoken to so far was singing the praise of this vintage and seemed to think it was going to blow 2009 out of the water.

If Esmonin and Lafarge were anything to go by, I was starting to agree myself.

Next stop was Vincant Giradin in Meursault, time to taste some whites! After being shown around the pretty spectacular cellar by marketing manager Marco, we sat down and got straight into it. I didn’t like any of the reds but the whites were outstanding. The 2010 Meursault Les Narvaux was a zingy little number. Clean and fresh with great minerality and a lovely line of acidity. I also thought the 2010 Batard Montrachet coming from a vineyard right beside the grand cru Bienvenues was rich and complex and super tight on both nose and palate. This is certainly a wine to keep an eye out for. But my favourite of the tasting had to be the 2010 Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru “Les Folatières”. Made from two parcels, one from the centre of Les Folatières and one from the top left near Batard this had perfumed elegance of rose, white petals whilst being super balanced with a rich texture and balanced acidity, absolutely delicious.

What I took away from the tasting at Vincent Girandin is that this man knows how to make great examples of the different levels of Chardonnay in Burgundy. His villages are kick ass, as is the grand cru.

They say it’s better to leave the best for last. I don’t ever have the patience for this so it was a good thing I wasn’t making the appointments! Our next stop was to see Alex Moreau at Bernard Moreau in Chassagne Montrachet.

Just like our first visit of the day to Sylivie Esmonin, I truly loved every wine that was put in front of me.

Alex was also singing the praises for the 2010 vintage, his only worry was that he would not have enough wine! So take my advice kids and if you see it, buy it!

We started with the 2010 Bourgogne. Hints of mandarin whilst being very pretty on the nose, with lovely balance, freshness and acidity on the palate. I could drink loads of this wine! We then moved onto the 2010 Chassagne Montrachet Villages which 20% spends it’s time in new oak. Spicy with hints of vanilla and almond. The minerality was quite salty but there was precision and great line. The 2010 Chassagne Montrachet Maltroie 1er cru showed stone-fruit such as white peaches and nectarines with the palate rich and voluptuous with loads of fleshy fruit characters. This was one of my favourite wines of the whole day.

Another favourite has to be the 2010 Chassagne Montrachet Le Chevenotts 1er Cru. Soft and approachable with brioche and biscuity characters on the length whilst still having a little citrus and keeping in line with the luxuriousness of the past wines we had tasted.

And finally to finish the whites we had the glorious 2010 Chassagne Montrachet Les Grand Ruchottes 1er Cru. Now this had to also be a favourite of the day ( I lost count of how many ‘favourites’ I collected in Burgundy).

The Ruchottes was heavily perfumed but not overpowering. The texture was soft and luscious with flinty apple and a complexity that just made you want more. At this stage I seriously considered running away from the group, glass in hand to sit somewhere quiet and a savor this incredible wine. It’s wines like these that make me want to run away with the wine-making circus – so to speak.

We tasted a lot of wines with Alex! All of them were serious benchmark wines and pure examples of their terroir and of this great vintage. I also really loved the 2010 Batard Montrachet 1er Cru and all of the reds from the Bourgogne rouge all the way through to the 2010 Volnay Clos Des Chenes ( which was outstanding by the way).

I don’t think I have the correct words or descriptors to say how magical and utterly wonderful it is in Burgundy. So much makes more sense now; where the vineyards sit in relation to each other and to see all the famous chateaus. Wines that you see on wine lists or taste at tastings but can never put the place to a picture. Well now I can.

But you know the absolute best part of the day?

I didn’t fall over once!

MOV xx

All Content © 2012 Mistress of the Vine

Falling in Champagne

I have been told by many a person that this winter is the coldest in Europe for 15 years, coming from sunny Sydney this has been quite a shock to the system especially when visiting Chablis and Champagne, where the temperature was minus nine. Brrrrrrr!

We stopped in at Dosnon and Lapage Champagne in the Cotes De Bar briefly on our way to Burgundy, to have a quick taste.

I was seriously impressed with the quality of the base wines that are currently sitting in barrel waiting to be made into the drink we all know and love.

The Pinot base had some really lovely aromatics going on and the Chardonnay had such a serious and balanced line of minerality to it, I am really looking forward to drinking the finished product. The Pinot Meunier was also good enough to drink on its own.

The texture of the wines coming from this small grower house was  seriously good.Fruit quality and precision really stood out within the whole range.

I will never forget my first visit to Dosnon and Lapage. The Champagne, the cold and the amazing chalk soil in the vineyard.

I also will not forget, anytime soon, the tumble I took on the icy driveway  at the front of the cave ,when trying to leave like the graceful person I hoped to be.

To put it nicely, I have fallen for Champagne. I have the bruises to prove it!

MOV x

All Content © 2012 Mistress of the Vine

Chablis

I can honestly say that I now have an understanding of Chablis. I always liked the wines, especially the Grand Cru…….. but the difference in climatic conditions and the specific terroir to the region? Well I couldn’t really explain it first hand but folks I am very proud to say, now I can.

After leaving Paris the first stop was Dampt in Chablis and what a wonderful way to start our wine adventure.

The entire 2010 vintage looked amazing. There was an incredible line of purity and freshness with kick ass minerality in pretty much the whole range, most of which were 1er cru. Dampt is made by the two sons, Vincent and Sebastian and they also have Maison Dampt making two Grand Cru wines. The grapes are bought in and are the only two wines not made from their own property. We tasted the Les Clos and it was beyond  incredible.

The 2010 Dampt Les Clos was  the only wine  we tasted that had been  aged in barrell and had 10-12 months on lees. The nose showed wonderful freshness and complex nuttiness and hints of flinty mandarin skin. Beautiful and drink worthy now, but serious aging potential.

Next up is Burgundy, the Mistress in the motherland.

MOV XXX

 

All Content © 2012 Mistress of the Vine