Newsletter
August 15, 2019 – September 14, 2019
All Aboard the Gneiss Express
2018 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine ‘Gneiss de Bel Abord’ (Domaine de la Fruitière)
Sale Price $13.99 – $142.70 case of twelve
The Muscadet crop arrived late this summer, but in 2018 we have an excellent vintage. At a Loire-centric tasting earlier this year, the “Gneiss” from Domaine de la Fruitière stood out for us. The bracing minerality aligned with lively apple fruit make this a fine match for broiled mackerel with summer squash.
Chablis-Sud
2017 Mâcon-Pierreclos ‘Les Charmes’ (Closerie des Alisiers)
Sale Price $13.99 – $142.70 case of twelve
Stephane Brocard broke away from his family winery in Chablis to start a negociant operation in Southern Burgundy. But he admits that he brought his Chablisien taste with him. With its apple-like fruit and zesty minerals this Mâcon-Pierreclos could be a ringer for crisp, dry un-oaked Chardonnay from many places in Burgundy. As it is, it’s great value and perfect for crab cakes and lobster rolls.
Jasnières –Wine of the Century! Again!
2018 Jasnières ‘Cuvée du Silex’ (Pascal Janvier)
Sale Price $24.99 – $254.90 case of twelve
Curnonsky, prince of gastronomes, famously said, “Three times a century, Jasnières makes the best wine in the world,” given that the entirety of the Jasnières appellation is only four kilometers long and its location in the north of the Loire Valley is a challenging environment for even ripening year after year. But in the right vintage, the great Chenin Blanc grape can deliver. For us, Janvier’s Cuvée du Silex is always a pleasure; in 2018 it’s a thriller. Quince, beeswax, and bay leaf form an aromatic introduction. A parade of orchard fruit follows on the palate while the finish focuses on stones and honey. Cellar this for five to ten years of fascinating evolution.
Avesso, An Up and Coming Grape
2017 Vinho Verde ‘Avesso’ (Quinta da Raza)
Sale Price $14.99 – $152.90 case of twelve
In the northwest corner of Portugal lies the Minho, land of Vinho Verde. It’s an area diverse in geography and climate, made up of nine sub-regions. The most inland of these regions, Basto, gets enough sun to allow the rare Avesso grape to ripen properly. Like many of the other grapes found in Vinho Verde, it’s often blended. However Quinta da Raza believes in Avesso enough, calling it a ‘rising star’ of a grape, that it has made a varietal wine with it. Unlike the typical light and spritzy Vinho Verdes found in our market, this one has more texture and body with no fizz. Warmed up twenty minutes out of the fridge, the wine starts to show off aromas of fresh blossoms and pineapple. Its stone fruit is balanced with a pleasant bitter almond finish. This will pair beautifully with a grilled bluefish and a late summer corn salad.
A Vineyard beside a Church
2018 Rias Baixas Albariño ‘Igrexario de Saiar’ (Benito Santos)
Sale Price $14.99 – $152.90 case of twelve
Measuring the Touraine
2018 Touraine Sauvignon ‘L’arpent des Vaudons’ (Jean-Francois Mérieau)
Sale Price $14.99 – $152.90 case of twelve
An arpent is an antiquated measure that predates the French Revolution. L’arpent des Vaudons is Jean-Francois Mérieau’s signature Sauvignon Blanc. This is a classic Loire Valley Sauvignon with lively citrus fruit, round, rich body and a long dry finish. An exquisite match with a cold poached salmon with dill and cucumber.
Listed prices are honored through September 14th, 2019. We will not honor mistyped prices. Vol. 43, No. 9
For the four vintages that we’ve offered this Italian pétillant naturel (aka pét-nat), it has easily been one of our favorites. Its peachy-pink color is gorgeous, and because it’s unfiltered, after being inverted (which is suggested before popping open) it takes on a lovely, dusty rose-petaled hue. The color comes from a six-hour maceration of dark-skinned Aglianico grapes. The couple behind the wine, Elisabetta and Pasquale, grow the Aglianico on their multi-crop organic and biodynamic farm inside Campania’s Cilento National Park. They let the wine finish fermentation in the bottle, trapping the resulting effervescence, and refrain from using sulfites. Pasquale explains that the image on the label references the world of the circus and honors its unique characters ‘exploding with personality.’ More savory than fruity, the earthy dryness and natural fizz of Il Fric combine to create a wonderfully refreshing and thirst-quenching drink to have alone or with almost any kind of fare.
Over the years we’ve noticed more people buying sparkling wines for everyday occasions, not just special ones. This thrills us as we have always endorsed sparkling wines for their versatility with a wide array of foods. We understand that sometimes the price of the higher-end wines can be prohibitive, which is why we always leap at a bargain for a wine we would have bought at the regular price anyway. Luckily for everyone, the importer of this cremant needed to make room for the next vintage and so offered a closeout price for the 2013. This is a wine that normally retails for $29.99. We’re offering our limited inventory at the lowest possible price because it’s a rare chance to taste a beautifully made sparkling wine whose normal price might have restricted it to a special dinner. This cremant is made from 100% Pinot Auxerrois, almost half of which was sourced from the Grand Cru Kirchberg de Ribeauville vineyard. Like Champagne, it is aged (35 months) on the lees, increasing the depth of its flavors. Completely dry, the Kientzler has a subtle creamy texture punctuated by a vibrant crisp and saline finish. Golden Delicious apple and lemon curd fill out the palate over an undercurrent of vetiver. This makes for a charming aperitif, or better yet as a companion to a main course with the Il Fric preceding it as the starter. 
We get our Gamay wherever we can find it. We love Beaujolais and all its Crus, but we have developed a special fondness for the Côte Roannaise and the Sérol family. The Côte Roannaise is a Loire Valley appellation far closer to the center of France than to all the fabulous Châteaux in Northern France. Here the Gamay has an accord with the granite terroir of the region. The 2018 has the lovely berry fruit of Gamay fused to a minerally core of granite within a gentle framework of ripe tannins in the finish. On the winter day that we visited the Sérols, Madame made a delicious lunch of a bavette steak and a potato gratin.
We also just received our allocation of Marengo’s 2015 village Barolo, sourced from four sites in La Morra. As expected this is a classic young Barolo with burly tannins, deep mulberry fruit, and a fabulously long finish. Drinkable now (after a long aeration) – with a creamy Langhe cheese and some of our fine Prosciutto.
A kind customer took us aside recently and suggested that we were obsessed with rosé. We admit that we have larded our summer newsletters with the pink stuff, but we won’t apologize because rosé has widespread appeal and the sheer variety and creativity is well worth investigating. But now at the end of rosé season, we go back to the origins of quality rosé in France. In 1936 Tavel became the only appellation entirely devoted to rosé. So this is not at all a trendy rosé. Due to its full-bodied, rich style it has always been associated with meals rather than pool-side quaffing. The 2018 Trinquevedel is a palate-soaking rosé with serious peppery spice and a long, ripe finish. Bring on the bouillabaisse.
To us Graves and Saint-Emilion evoke red Bordeaux with depth, intensity, value, and early-drinking appeal. The excellent 2015 vintage reaffirms this feeling. These two wines are a fun flip-flop exercise from the two banks of Bordeaux. Château Brondelle is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot. 
Château Hautes Versannes is 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Franc. Brondelle has the classic blackberry fruit of Cabernet Sauvignon with the ripe, soft tannins of the vintage and a mellow, earthy spice. Hautes Versannes has the cherry fruit of Merlot with the herbal accent of Cabernet Franc.
Ripe tomatoes are still abundant, so to make the most of the remaining harvest we are offering a new size of fresh mozzarella from Maplebrook Farm in Bennington, VT. Ciliegine are cherry-sized balls of mozzarella, perfect for caprese or other salads. This is exactly what fresh mozzarella should be, moist and with a mild lactic creaminess. Comes in an 8 oz cup. 
This Catalan goat’s milk cheese was almost extinct before being revived in the 1980s by artisan cheesemakers. Made with the pasteurized milk of Murcian goats, the two and a half pound wheels are cave-aged, ripening to a semi-firm texture quickly thanks to the small size of the wheels and the humid environment. In that time they develop a distinctive rind with fuzzy gray mold and aromas reminiscent of the damp caves. Expect a delicate sweetness rounded out with earthy and nutty flavors. 
This nearly authentic camembert from Normandy (it is made with pasteurized milk rather than raw due to FDA regulations) features plenty of microbial diversity on the rind which enhances the complexity of the flavor. Patches of wrinkly Geotrichum candidum yeasts disrupt the Penicillium camemberti colonies that thrive on the rind of Brie- and Camembert-style cheeses. When ripe and served at room temperature, the texture is perfectly gooey and the flavors of mushroom and brassica are deliciously strong. Comes in a classic 8.8 oz. wheel. 
2017 Côtes du Rhône ‘Sud Absolu’ (La Ligière) 
