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

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

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 Blewitt Springs Chardonnay, McLaren Vale

Mistress of the Vine at Lanzafame

Natural Anarchy

As a Sommelier I very rarely get a Saturday evening off, generally I am swanning around a restaurant – getting you all drunk on a Saturday night, however this week it was the Mistresses time to shine and I spent it in wine heaven!

There is something quite exciting happening on the Sydney wine scene at the moment something very left of centre, something truly different. The something goes by the name of Natural Selection Theory and it is all about natural wine.

Made up of four men – Sam Hughes, Anton Von Klopper, James Erskine and Tom Shobbrook, a mix of ex Sommeliers and wine makers who are really shaking up the wine industry. I truly love this.

They are changing the way we view wine, everything is natural. Natural beautiful grapes that turn into natural beautiful wine.  They are letting the grapes speak for themselves and in turn are changing the way we see wine,in a literal sense.

The labels are handmade  or sometimes there is no label, just a black marker writing the name of the wine on the bottle. The bottles are not perfect, in fact sometimes there is no bottle just a demi- john (or massive flagon) made for pouring into a carafe or there is a ceramic egg shaped object…

They are showing us that the packaging does not make the wine, the juice inside the packaging is what really matters and for that I applaud them.

But back to my Saturday night. I was invited to a tasting of the natural selection boys’ recent releases at a warehouse in Rozelle- We sat at a makeshift table with mismatched plastic chairs drinking some crazy wonderful wine.

There was a Prosecco made my Sam Hughes under the label Dandy in the clos – that really pushed the boundaries. Firstly it was not a sparkling wine but a still wine. It showed none of the pear characters so obvious in sparkling Prosecco but showed dominate mineral characteristics. Think of licking a wet rock whilst swimming in a flowing stream and you have this wine. Crazy but brilliant and I loved it so much it will be on my wine list next week. There were beautiful floral Grenache’s and really funky ciders.

We tasted these wines whilst trying some lovely morsels from the Feather and Bone suppliers, that all in all made for an incredible experience.

Little did I know that the best was yet to come.

After the tasting we were blindfolded and lead into a room full of egg-shaped barrels full of fermenting Semillon and to the sounds of beating drums we proceeded to shout words that included “love” at the wine. I found this part to be incredibly confronting but thoroughly enjoyable and I added it to my list of “never done before”.

I then headed into the ‘Summer of Riesling ‘ laneway party. If you have not heard of the summer of Riesling then I suggest you check out the site (there are loads of events and free tastings happening around town).  Started by a few industry professionals and all round Riesling lovers their aim is to re-invigorate the noble grape that is Riesling.

Riesling has had a hard time of late, with the general public seeming only to remember the sickly sweet variety that was on the market many moons ago. The love of Sauvignon Blanc particularly Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand has truly taken over what many  drink when it comes to white wine. People, there is so much more out there and Riesling is certainly a variety that deserves more recognition. I am a lover of Riesling and to me and many sommeliers out there Riesling is king. I even found a sign that backed up my statement.

So I challenge you all to buy a bottle of Riesling tonight. Try it and love it. Join the Riesling anarchy but even better yet – live, love and enjoy the Summer of Riesling.

MOV xx

All Content © 2011 Mistress of the Vine

Vinous Imports Tasting

It’s spring! Finally the weather is starting to get warmer, the bees are doing their pollination thing, rabbits are starting to …. well do what rabbits do and it’s the beginning of the spring tasting season.

Mistress of the Vine today headed to the first tasting for the week . Held by Tim Stock’s Vinous Solutions the line up was certainly impressive. I have often supported Tim Stock in various restaurants where I have written the wine list. He has a great palate and his portfolio certainly reflects this.  I was impressed with nearly all the wines that were on show today, especially the Champagne Andre Jacquart, Domaine Bruno Sorg – the Sylvaner was awesome,  Domaine Jean-Paul et Benoit Droin ( 2008 Chablis Les Clos Grand Cru has to be the best example of Chablis I have looked at in a long time)  and Clotilde Davenne.

Tim always strives to source  producers who are doing something a little different. He focuses on wine makers making real  wines that represent where they come from, with sound techniques and from vineyards that use organic, bio-dynamic  and sustainable vineyard practices.

Well done Mr Stock on your latest round of imports. All were impressive.  I shall post my tasting notes and I look forward to working – and drinking them in the very near future!!!

Kisses.

MOV xx

All Content © 2010 Mistress of the Vine

Cows Are The New Wine Snobs

Canadian cattle growers  in British Columbia’s Okanagan wine and cattle region have taken food and wine matching to a completely new level by feeding Angus cattle red wine with their grain.

Whilst Canadian food inspectors have their doubts about the safety of the product the growers have not been shut down and are receiving praise for the quality of the meat.I personally think this is awesome. Imagine the complexity of your meal when the 400gm Angus Sirloin you’re enjoying for dinner has red wine characteristics within the marbling.

According to the article I found  (Read it here)”The idea is the brainchild of Janice Ravndahl of Kelowna, British Columbia’s  Sezmu Meats. Ravndahl said the beef produced has an enhanced flavor, the marbling is finer and the fat tastes like candy”.

That brings a whole new meaning to ‘fat equals flavour’!!

It does also make you think of drunk cows, though this in itself is pretty funny but then at the same time it makes you think about how creative we are becoming when it comes to what we eat and how we grow our food. Being adventurous is a great thing and yes it doesn’t always work out but in this case it can’t hurt the cows can it? I would think not, as humans we ingest copious amounts of red wine during our lives and it does us little harm ( when taken in moderation of course) there are even studies out there that say it’s good for you.

I leave you with the picture of a group of cows standing around in their lovely field mooing over the quality of the vintage of wine in their feed! I would love to see the evolution of this. Is it possible for  a cow to have a discerning palate?

I guess we will have to  ask the beer swilling pig.

MOV x

All Content © 2010 Mistress of the Vine

Kisses from the Mistress

The Kiss System

I have decided to introduce a rating system slightly different to the norm. I am calling it the Kiss System.

The Kiss System is fairly easy to understand – 1 kiss is not good 5 kisses  are exceptional. Each wine reviewer and or judge has his or her own  method of rating their wines, it is very subjective. Robert Parker really brought this to the world’s attention by giving all the wines that he tasted  a score out of 100, but does this really mean anything to the average consumer? What is the difference between a wine that has been rated say 86/100 and 95/100?

Generally when evaluating wine we look for a few things. Are there any faults such as cork taint or oxidization? We also look for balance in a wine.  Is the wine overly fruity or sweet? Is there balance in the tannin structure and acidity? Then we look for length,  a balanced pleasant finish with flavours that linger for several seconds – as this  is an indicator of a high quality wine. I also look for intensity and complexity in wine.  Diluted or simple  flavours will not get a high score or Kiss and to finish I also look for wine that has some expressiveness, for example great wines express characteristics of the grape variety and or region of production.

But then after saying all that the rating system is my own and suited to my palate, it is a guide only.

So lovers of wine this is how it goes.

1 x Kiss from the Mistress is not a good wine. It will generally have some kind of fault.

2 x Kisses from the Mistress is not a good wine but it has no faults and is barely drinkable. I wouldn’t recommend it.

3x Kisses from the Mistress is an Ok wine. It may not be a great vintage , it may have an overpowering characteristic that is not pleasant to drink or it may have no length or structure to the palate, but is an ok quaffer of a wine that is to be drunk and not to be thought about.

4x Kisses from the Mistress is a good wine. A wine you could take home and show to your parents. It is a balanced wine that has varietal expression and structure to the palate. It is a wine that I would recommend.

Then we get to the big guns –

5x Kisses from the Mistress is an amazing wine from a great vintage, a great region and made  by a great producer. It ticks all the boxes and is a wine to savor. It has fruit definition, it’s acidity is in check and has a length and complexity that makes you moan and want to take the bottle home to bed. It’s a sexy wine that is not be guzzled but sipped delicately and must be paid attention to. It is a wine that I highly recommend.

So watch out people, the Mistress of the Vine is now rating everything that she drinks and I shall let you know the outcome.

Till then

Kisses !!

MOV x

All Content © 2010 Mistress of the Vine