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

Remembering Pegasus Bay

There are a few things that make a sommelier great, of course you need a great palate that goes without saying. You must read a lot and be up with the ‘trends’ in the wine world. You must also have an opinion and voice your opinion whenever someone will listen and you must have a great memory.

Now I possess most of those traits. I think my palate is pretty good, I certainly read a lot and will bail anyone up in a corner and make them listen to why I think a wine is wonderful or not.

The thing I do not possess is a good memory and it drives me nuts! I do try to remember the difference between this vintage and that vintage.  I certainly try to remember why I don’t like this wine or that wine or why I think this region is better than that region but when it comes to the end of the day if  I don’t write it all down, most of the time I don’t remember. Damn it!

This case was proven on a recent junket to Pegasus Bay in the Waipara Valley in New Zealand.

Before I start rambling about my lack of memory, I would like to say that Pegasus Bay IS an incredible winery. Their wine on the whole is pretty special and the people who make Pegasus Bay what it is are pretty special also. Pegasus Bay is a family owned and operated business, which gets serious respect in my book. It was started in the 70’s by Ivan and Christine Donaldson and these days all the wine is made by their eldest son, Matt and his wife Lynette. The marketing is done by another son, Ed whose wife run’s the highly awarded restaurant and Paul (another son)  is General Manager of the whole operation.

We spent an incredible three days at the winery tasting all the new releases, having lunch and tasting the entire vintage set of their Pinot Noirs, then dinner, then getting up in the morning and tasting the entire vintage set of their Riesling and so on and so on….. I came back to Sydney a mere shell of the human being I was, before I left. Which gets me onto my gripe with my memory.

I am so damn annoyed that I can’t remember the remarkable differences between the wine vintages. I know that the 06 Pinot was bloody outstanding (I have a magnum under my bed to prove it) and I know that I loved pretty much all of the Prima Donna Pinot Range, which was not hard to love.Their Rieslings were slick and sexy with all the components in check and at the risk of sounding like a complete lush, everything was good enough to drink with a hangover.

But to write down, here right now, the differences in climatic conditions between the 07 and the 08 pinotWell I just can’t. So all I can say is, If you ever find yourself with the opportunity to buy and drink an 06 Pegasus Bay Pinot you must do it, it’s mind-blowing. Now here are some pretty pictures of Pegasus Bay; got to love the iPhone – it’s my all time memory saviour.

MOV xx

The Glorious Restaurant

Christine Donaldson’s Garden is worth a visit, even if you are not into wine. Absolutely beautiful and her Conifer collection will blow your mind.

This is the stuff dreams are made of.

One day little MOV,

And before I forget I give the 2006 Pegasus Bay Pinot Noir 5 xx Kisses from the Mistress.

Till  Next time MOV xx

All Content © 2011 Mistress of the Vine

Recent Wines Tasted by Mistress of the Vine

I have a notebook that I carry with me pretty much everywhere, it contains all sorts of scribbles and ideas and to do lists that unfortunately just don’t ever seem to get completed but it is mainly full of tasting notes from various meetings with reps and trade tastings that I happen to get along to.

These tasting notes always start out very pretty with lovely headings and a format of “Appearance, Nose, Palate” and sometimes even have a  score attached. Then as the tasting goes on they become more and more illegible until it’s a mere scrawl, that even I can’t make out, whether I liked the wine or not!!

Quite a waste of time really.

So I thought it would be a good idea to get the tasting notes that I can read, out of the book and into the world!!

Here is a collection of what has passed my lips the last few weeks!

2009 Domaine des Espiers Sablet Cotes du Rhone

This is a recent addition to Bloodwood’s Biodynamic/Organic Wine List. This wine  made by Philippe Cartoux, in the Southern Rhone village of Sablet  is right next to Gigondas and produces wine of a slightly  more elegant quality than its neighbor.

A blend of Grenache (80%) and Syrah (20%) I have found that this wine really needs decanting as there is a certain musty almost brett like quality on the first nose that does blow off with some air contact. After that the nose shows dried herbs and potpourri like dried rose petals with some red fruit hiding there also.

The palate is beautifully balanced with a nice line of acidity and up front tannin structure, I also found black pepper spice and fleshy red fruit!!

A beautiful Cotes du Rhone and I gave it 4 x Kiss from the Mistress xxxx

2009  Marchand and Burch Chardonnay

Tyrone from Howard Park brought this interesting little number around the other day, a joint venture between  Jeff Burch and Burgundian wine maker Pascal Marchand. Marchand is a Biodynamic ambassador with over 26 years experience making and growing Pinot Noir in Burgundy and Burch, as we all know is responsible for the Howard Park and Madfish range of wines.

The 09 Marchand and Burch Chardonnay I found to be a very elegant wine with a nose full of cashew nuttiness and hints of lemon rind. The oak was nicely integrated  with a generous and creamy mouthfeel  and I give it 3 1/2 kisses from the Mistress. Very good indeed.

With the weather starting to get really damn cold all I yearn for at the moment is a big busty Shiraz, so it was quite fitting that on the first day  of winter the lovely Nina from Moortangi Estate popped by with her beautiful Heathcote Shiraz. Heathcote in my opinion is a wonderful region for Shiraz. I love the spicy characters that are so prevalent on the nose…. black and white pepper. Yum!!

2005 Moortangi Estate Cambrian Shiraz, Heathcote 

It really is great to see a recent release that has some bottle age. I feel that all I ever see these days are 2010 vintage wines, which is fine don’t get me wrong, I just have to comment on a company taking the time to age their wines, just a touch, (to get them to where they want them to be) before selling. I find it pleasing.

The nose of the Moortangi  Shiraz came complete with that Heathcote spice that I like so much. Black peppercorns and Cassia bark with some well-rounded dark fruit characters also. The palate showed  spice, medium acidity and nice length. It could have been a little more balanced, I found the tannins a little lacking for the amount of acidity but it didn’t worry me too much I still really enjoyed it and have listed it on my wine list and I give it 3 1/2 kisses.

Being a Sommelier, one of the best things about my job is food and wine matching… I love the way it makes you look at wine, the way it makes you de-construct it and look at the individual flavours. It’s also nice to spend time just thinking about food and wine matching. I don’t get to do it enough these days!!

I am planning a Biodynamic Wine dinner at Bloodwood Restaurant in Sydney, in September with the Wine Maker from Higher Plane in Margaret River, Western Australia; so on Friday I sat with Chef Jo Ward and Chris from Vinous and we had a look at the entire range of their wines. Some were OK and some were great. There wasn’t a lot of middle ground with these wines. I either loved it or didn’t.

We started with –

2009 Higher Plane South  by South West Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

The nose showed raw almond, citrus and white petals. It kept making me think of ruby grapefruit segments both on the nose and on the palate.

I found lemongrass on the palate with really balanced acidity and nice weight. For the price this is an excellent wine and one of my favourite examples (of this  varietal blend) that I have seen for a while. 4 x  kisses from the Mistress

2010 Higher Plane Estate Sauvignon Blanc

It is probably not really fair to review this wine yet as it is not released or on the Vinous price list as yet.  To be honest I think that is probably a good thing as I didn’t feel this wine was ready at all. I really think it needs a little more time in bottle before we start sticking our noses into it!!

But what I did find was a potential for a fume style Sauvignon Blanc hiding in there. More of a smokey nutty quality than a fruit driven style. At the moment the wine was looking quite bitter, hopefully that will settle down with time.

I’m not going to kiss the Estate Sauvignon as I wouldn’t recommend it just yet.

2010 Higher Plane South by Southwest Chardonnay

The first thing I noticed on the nose was Golden Syrup, rose petals and sea salt. This would go great with food, as the palate really needed some extra flavours to pull what was already there. I found the nose really up front and the palate quite reserved. I would like to match this with Salt Cod Brandade.

The Higher Plane reds were also quite outstanding. I shall write about them soon.

OK kids… that’s enough for today!! I’m going to go find some wine to stick my nose in!!

Kisses MOV xx

All Content © 2011 Mistress of the Vine

Yay Chardonnay!!

Happy World Chardonnay Day!!

I love love love Chardonnay!!! To celebrate today being World Chardonnay day, I’m sharing a few videos I filmed recently with WineXpress about that fabulous grape!!

2009 Mt Campbell Pinot Noir

2008 Good Drop Flood Relief Shiraz

Mistress of the Vine loves a good cause, a good time and a good Shiraz, not particularly in that order but you get the drift. The other day I was sent a bottle of wine from a ‘notmetyet’ friend and instead of just adding it to the growing shelf of sample wine, tonight I gave it a whirl at Bloodwood.

The Bloodwood crew can be a finicky bunch, they defiantly know what they like and are really not bothered by telling the world about something they don’t, so when the entire crew praised this wine, I figured it was worth letting everyone else know about it too!

Let me put this into perspective — long busy night in the restaurant.  We all sat down to an amazing roast lamb meal (thanks Mitch)  and I cracked the 08 Good Drop Shiraz.  I then spent the next 5 minutes quizzing everyone as to whether they also smelt white pepper.

White pepper followed me around the bar, and after being assured it was not from our meal and after actually sitting down and tasting the wine I realised that the white pepper onslaught was coming from my glass. Awesome!

My tasting note read:

Nice deep ruby-red appearance, white pepper dominating the beginning of the nose which then led into dark red blackcurrant fruit, a subtle hint of mint. Medium to high alcohol, black peppercorns and a touch of smokey charred oak.

The palate was really fleshy with a noticeable smokey oak character, soft tannin structure but very balanced  in acidity and a ripper of a wine.

$3 from the sale of each bottle goes to help the flood relief in Queensland.

So in closing, this wine ticked all my boxes — a good cause and a good time was had from drinking this wine ( for the record it’s really great with roast lamb) and its a good Shiraz.

Nice one Martin.

Three kisses from the Mistress of the Vine xxx

Find this wine here

All Content © 2011 Mistress of the Vine

Rockstars of Wine

I am a big fan of The Spanish Acquisition for a number of reasons one being Katrina Miller, the Sydney representative who is a joy to deal with and always makes sure my wine arrives on time. The second reason is Mr Scott Wasley for introducing me to the Spanish grape Mencia.

The first time I tried this amazing grape was at a masterclass last year held by Scott and the first thing I wrote as my tasting note was Shit!!Fuck !!Wow!!

Mencia is a pretty weird grape when tasting for the first time. I kept trying to resemble it to something that I had tried before but  couldn’t. I kept finding roasted meat with oozing blood characters,  a light  red fruit character that made me think of Grenache then I would find lifted floral aromas that made me think of an elegant burgundy. The palate was so bold and up-front,  the tannin structure though light, grabbed me by the front teeth and told me to stand up and pay attention. I’ll say it again – Shit!! Fuck!! Wow!!

Since that day I have been pouring a Mencia by the glass at Bloodwood Restaurant in Newtown, I was a little worried at first,would people try it? Would they like it? The answer has been a resounding yes to both questions, it seems the people are just as enthralled by his variety as I am.

Now to be fair the producer of the wine that made me lose my mind last year is the man with me in the picture above. He is Ricardo Perez Palacios or D.J.P which means Decendientes de J. Palacios.

This man is an incredible winemaker, making some of the finest and rarest wines in the world. I was lucky enough to meet him and have lunch the other day at the awesome Universal Restaurant ( for the record Christine Manfield is a god when it comes to food)

Spiced Pork Belly and white figs…. It didn’t last long.

Then we had king fish and mushrooms…

Which also didn’t last long..

But I have, as often happens been distracted by food… yes back to the important stuff…….. WINE!!

Ricardo  and his uncle Alvaro make Mencia in the Bierzo region in Spain.The ‘Petalos’ ( which is the wine I pour at Bloodwood) is a blend from all his vineyards and can be considered  his entry level wine, though the quality is amazing  – having spent 6 months in oak, it is a great way to fall in love with this variety however the big guns are the Single Vineyard Wines, which come from only 3 separate vineyards and only a tiny amount is made every year.

They are -Moncerbal, Las Lamas and La Farona.

Tasting notes for these wines are as follows –

I was incredibly surprised at how amazing the differences are of these three wines, considering the vineyards are right next to  each other. Talk about Terroir, you really don’t get a better example than these

2008 D.J.P Petalos Mencia

Lovely fruit on the nose with a touch of earthiness and a hint of blood, second time round I got loads of red cherry skins. The palate showed minerality with fine silky tannins, low acidity and a delightful meaty steak quality.

Four x Kiss from the Mistress

2006 D.J.P Corullon Mencia

Savoriness on the nose, clay and earth characters, then blood and bone. Fleshy on the palate,with rounded soft tannins low acidity and a hint of minerality.

Four x Kiss from the Mistress

2007 D.J.P Corullon Mencia

Floral and red rose petals, a slight oxidation quality with older fruit such as muscatel; more distinct and upfront tannin structure.

3 x Kiss from the Mistress

2007 D.J.P Moncerbal Single Vineyard Mencia

Really red fruit driven, fleshy cherry almost maraschino esq, hints of chocolate biscuit and a soft delightful balanced tannin structure. Nice acidity that works and fleshy red fruit all over the place.

Four x kisses and a slap on the bum from the Mistress

2007 D.J.P Las Lamas Single Vineyard Mencia

Really meaty and very complex. I couldn’t get past the roasted steak quality on this one. Elegant on the palate with soft glorious yet gripping lengthy tannins and minerality.

Four x kiss from the Mistress

2007 D.J.P La Farona  Single Vineyard Mencia

A fresher nose than the last 2, earth and a tiny hint of smokey tobacco. Red flesh noticeable on the palate, minerality and up-front tannins. Really bloody complex and balanced. I could have my nose in this for hours.

5 x Kiss from the Mistress.

The La Farona was one of my favourite wines of the day and it had nothing to do with the price tag ( which was really up there) I could see this wine just getting better and better with age.

The title of this blog post is “Rockstars of Wine” not Rock star of wine, there was another “rock star” there at lunch that day, his name is Telmo Rodriquez and he is the true definition of wine royalty…

Telmo is the King of Tempranillo. He makes it all over Spain along with a few other varieties and probably the best dessert wine I have tried in a very long time.

I have a lot to say and quite a bit of praise for this “rock star” but I feel he deserves his own blog post….. So till next time

Kisses

MOV xx

All Content © 2011 Mistress of the Vine