uncorked No Comments March 5th, 2016 Champagne Makers, France, France Tour Visit Post, General

Krug: the only one

A visit to Krug. Maybe this is a wine travellers’ idea of Champagne heaven. Close. The wines will mesmerise and history rarely paralleled after Joseph Krug’s family efforts at Krug and Co since 1847.

The wine of the company – Krug Grande Cuvee contains a lattice of many wines. Sitting around a table festooned on persian rugs we spy a bottle, the minimum age range inside is 20 years but this one spans from numerous village wines from 1990 through 2006 (25 yo).

So the blend was tiraged (yeast added) in 2006 and lees aged until a 2013 disgorging-7 years dead yeast time.

And many vintages are stored in the chalk to make these Grande Cuvees – at present there are 400.

Storage -Krug’s Julie Murez explains

Back vintages were once held in magnums (as Bollinger still do); but from the 1960’s that stopped and stainless steel is preferred.

What varieties? The three main ones grown in the champagne appellation – pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier are here; this bottle’s proportions were 44/33/21 in that order.

Krug Grande Cuvee- 2013 disgorging

Krug Grande Cuvee NV AUD 250, 12%; always has bold colour (but so would any contributing white wine stored over 20 years); nose of power, scents of delicacy, broiche, not buttery but veins of sweets and roasted nuts, elegance from oak presence.

That’s just the aromas which will dictate a huge taste expectation. Creaming bubbles because the aged wines are so nut-like, power in the palate, dryness from oak-space and age accumulation. What a mix. A venerable powerhouse of flavour. Wine in a mouthful.

We tasted a second Krug Grande Cuvee NV, disgorged in 2012 but composed in 2003. This wine is chardonnay dominant from 120 wines, the oldest being 1988. From this tasting I am deducing that Krug do not make an annual cuvee blend but have another cycle of blending which is a house habit.

What is it in the anatomy of making Krug? Not one aspect but several; some very old base wines, strong use of pinot meunier, old barrel use and more.

Since 1964 at vintage ferments are in 4000 old barrels, and these are maintained in a fresh but old state year on year. So the base wines have that unmistakable Krug stamp of conditioned oak character, more subtle than obvious.

While Krug focuses on its spotless non vintage for the majority of its drinkers, equally memorable are its vintage bottlings.

The 2014 had just been bottled around our visit. Tasted were 2000 and 2003; with 2003 being released before 2002 as there was general discussion all over the region about how the hot year of 2003 should be regarded. Some makers did not release 2003, others did.

The Krug 2003 AUD 350, 12% is a heavenly wine; vintage Krug has little resemblance to is blended non-vintage; so the year is on show as are the various parcels (46/29/25) selected to be an ambassador for the year (after 8-9 years in bottle). Has probably 30-40 village components, quite a masterpiece, the fermentation in barrels decidedly give it “Krug” character from oak seasoning aromas and taste. Lovely wine; full-bodied vintage, though never as full as Grande Cuvee.

Krug Brut 2003

And if you like music to contemplate while the Grande Cuvee is penetrating your mind and palate, try this:

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Uncorked and Cultivated France Food and Wine Tours visit Krug’s cellars in Reims. Joseph Krug was originally born in Mainz, Germany.

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uncorked No Comments February 24th, 2016 France, France Tour Visit Post, General, Wine Region Review, Wine Review

Mont-Redon :Chateauneuf

There is an instant impulse to grab the big rocks as we drive into Chateau Mont-Redon or better still be photographed with these big gibbers. I did.

We are travelling into the southern Rhone to visit the land of mouth-embracing warm area reds in Chateauneuf du Pape (CNDP).

And our host is a jovial fellow, Pierre Fabre who travels the world to discuss the family business at Chateau Mont-Redon.

Now these gibbers; well this is the soil these guys are dealt. Walk up closer and I am relieved to say there is sand between the rocks where these old vines (no trellis) grow as bushes. There is no water supply save a deep root system to survive the blistering summer.

Big gibbers-old bush vines

Some vineyards have these big pebbles, others are chalky known as calcare here for limestone. The mother rock comes from ancient sea deposits going down up to 200 m in parts, it depended on the sea depth, adding more clay; the pebbles were the river bed; once wider and of European Alps origin; now only the big rocks are left.

Old sea bed vines- Rhone Alps backdrop

There are three large appellations in France: Saint Emilion with 5000 hectares, Chablis with 4000 ha, then Chateauneuf du Pape with 3200 ha. It tracks one side of the Rhone River for 200 km and at a maximum only 20 km wide. Thirteen grapes are grown.

Mont-Redon started life in 1923 with 2 ha, and now has grown to 150 ha, including a 1997 purchase in Lirac nearby. This is the home of grenache, a special yet thin skinned grape which needs hanging late to ripen, and any late summer rain is disastrous though rare.

Chateauneuf is known mainly for blended red production from grenache, syrah and mourvedre though white is 5% of the surface. Mont-Redon make 15% of their production white, from blends of grenache blanc (main variety), clairette, roussanne, picpoul and the latter bourboulenc for acidity.

Significant exporters like this company receives a greater demand for white wine styles as countries like Australia and USA are big white wine consumers. They are a fullsome drink.

I just loved the Chateau Mont-Redon Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2012 (AUD ); lots of lovely bits to enjoy, sniff the aroma, it smells of the earth of the region, little flowers, spicy-black pepper grenache notes, all yummy and not a sip taken! Has lots of depth, velvet tannins that slip around the mouth, a great spice warmth; 95% is the grenache-syrah-mourvedre mix with 5% of old school varieties left in the older vineyard which are inter-planted.

Mont-Redon 2012

Pierre could not resist being a good host so he opened some older bottles of the famous wine; 2007 and 2005 CNDP, both nice and rounded harvests to really enjoy.

Chateau Mont-Redon Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2007 looks classic; more reds than purples, wine in harmony with itself; this bottle has not left the property, nose sweetened from an improvement in the bottle; nice brioche, honey-raisin, then an expanding palate of puckering spice, jam notes and the pleasant experience. Served unlabelled but easily identified.

Mont-Redon 2007

Uncorked’s travel guests visit Chateau Mont-Redon winery and vineyard in the Southern Rhone on the France Wine and Food Tour, and get to have their pic taken amongst the gibbers.

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uncorked No Comments July 17th, 2015 France, France Tour Visit Post, General, Varietal tasting

Viognier: is it Rhone

What portion of white wine drinkers enjoy viognier is a question I often ask. That is because so few viognier inbibers appear to be around, and even fewer Anglophones who pronounce its name as the French do.

In short does viognier have a problems with survival. Uncorked’s recent 2015 Wine and Food Tour of the Rhone Valley certainly identified a style shift in the viogniers tasted.

The whites of the Rhone are quite polarised: marsanne and roussanne in the north (though many do not grow roussanne because it is a curly producer); viognier around Condrieu, in the north also, then a big drop down to the southern Rhone for the six traditional varieties, grenache blanc, clairette, bourboulenc, ugni blanc, viognier, roussanne. Also there is an existing romance with the mid-Rhone marsanne and roussanne-producing appellation of Saint-Peray, solely white; each negociant appears to have some.

In general there is no more powerful white wine in the mouth than these devils-products of hot climate, massive natural skin tannins, powerful bitter-sweet, high ripeness fruit flavours that persist for many, many seconds and are ever-lingering.

Under this platform M Chapoutier presents Condrieu Invitare 2014 (AUD 75); hardly recognisable as varietal viognier, slim, composed, no oak, no oil, no overt viognier fruit, just a fresh, tight, dare I say it, steely-tannin, no opulence, clearly a style change to engage more drinkers.

Mild young viognier

I would too. Big white Rhone is too much.

The Rostaing Condrieu La Bonnette 2013 (AUD 170) is made quite traditionally by Rene, and tasted in his modest cellar. It has pale colour, nice aromatics of no great intensity, no great opulence yet the tell-tale slippery feel of full ripeness viognier in the mouth. Drink this young, don’t keep it or it builds more in the bottle. Not a good idea.

Rene Rostaing-viognier artisan

Yves Cuilleron in Chavanay, just below Condrieu is a white Rhone specialist to me, and two tastings were conducted there this tour, both times underlining the excellent winemaking and viticulture pursued at this grower and negociant.

Cuilleron has ten hectares of terraced vines in Condrieu: La Petite Cote 2013 (AUD 46 375 ml) is a carefully tempered viognier, mild-coloured which tells you a lot (no over-development), is a one parcel blend aged in older barrels for 9 months, apricot nose, yes, a taut palate is even better with this wine, excellent.

Mild viognier

Viogniers easily over-develop. Cuilleron Condrieu Vertage 2011 (AUD 130) shows the opposite, rich in the mouth, yes, but still composed yet from a year of leanness, a blend of parcels, 50% new oak, 50% old oak; a delightful drink with slipperiness, just ready for some oily fish. The 2013 is current release though Cuilleron showed 2011 at the cellar for demonstration.

Aging good viognier

Any winemaking that reins in the massive bitter-sour fruit which viognier tends to show at times is a positive for wine drinkers.

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uncorked 1 Comment June 9th, 2015 France, France Tour Visit Post, General

Paris: the Marais or more? Delicious days

While Uncorked and Cultivated Tours of France are in full swing there is no way to not be effected by the food, vista and people of Paris. That’s where my tour begins!

This time around the Marais, a very cosmopolitan and easy part of the big city in the 3rd arr.

After all this country of 64 million endures more tourists than any other, about 83 million, and most come from Europe!

For a huge city I find the locals very accommodating, increasingly English-speaking and appreciative that they may not gain a table in their local brasserie too often while tourists descend, and have to wait until winter.

However I struggle with aspects of the food scene; and certainly with the cuisines. My informant this year was Christian Holthausen, writing his insider’s guide to the best wine spots in the city on a luxury website.

You can easily enjoy yourself but two words Christian uses describes a good bit of the eating experience; timeless and stagnant. Where is the new which an Australian inhabitant like me expects and receives weekly? It’s here and difficult to locate unless assisted.

And that is not very easy when the Paris Office of Tourisme et des Congres publishes a booklet clearly deficient in what exists in its Paris Gourmand Good Food Guide. It should be 50 mm thick, bulging like Sydney, to be credible. Not so.

A better read was South Australian Jane Paech’s clever little book: Delicious Days in Paris which gives more than a food experience, moreso an easy find travellers’ interest and must sees that go beyond the obvious. It’s terrific and hard to put down; in my case to read and use the more interesting parts of the Marais.

Like the understated Bob’s Kitchen in rue 74 Rue des Gravilliers, 75003; +33 9 52 55 11 66 ; quite bohemian but delicious, hearty (read nutritious) and warming; such as veggie soup which is a plate of vegetables bereft of liquid, but correctly cooked so the carrots and beans are not soft (the French habit is to overcook regularly).

The understated Bob’s Kitchen-sole sign

And then to be served an amazing short black which was correctly made (uses artisan roaster Lomi), not the usual short long black without any texture and flavour (read low quality imported coffee beans).

The barista was Brisbane-born lady – Natalie who has a French husband and a new baby; but importantly is plugged in to the international and Asia-Pacific skills that come with serving modern coffee drinkers.

Life is fun in this city, it just has to be lived and given the direction you choose; using guidance or exploration time.

And by the way, I discovered that a good Parisian short black might come my way if I used the Italian word “ristretto”, not petite, and I am going to give it a go.

It might mitigate the ugly compounds of lesser standard green beans too; probably from Vietnam instead of the delicious Brazilians now abundantly available.

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