Friends and Acquaintances:
I suspect that many subscribers to The Thoreau Wine Society have tasted more than a few Riojas, Spain’s noblest and most elegant red wine. The problem with Rioja is that there are really 3 styles being produced all of which are on the market: The traditional—which is no longer the majority, the International (low yields, ultra concentrated, fermented in French barrels, sweet, oaky and dark) and the mixed regime wines. They all have their place but frankly it is the traditional wines which express the soils, climate and the personality of Rioja most accurately. The charm, finesse and gentle seductiveness which have characterized Riojas since they started to be produced in the late 1800s gets lost when the Tempranillo grape—the quintessential grape of Rioja—is subject to internationalist meddling. One of the best and most affordable of the traditional Riojas is that from the Marques de Tomares whose excellent wines are brought to America by Jim Turney, founder and chief bottle washer of Parador Imports. Jim and I worked together at Morrell &Co. for a number of years. He always wanted to bring traditional Spanish wines to the States and waited until he found a wine that pleased his delightfully old-fashioned palate during his regular visits to Spain from 1998 onwards
Marques de Tomares was established as a coop in 1910 and started releasing wines made entirely from its own vineyard holdings in the 1990s. Like other traditional Rioja producers, The Tomares family releases 3 wines: Their bread and butter Rioja is labeled as a Crianza—i.e. aged 1 year in new ands neutral American and French oak and then aged an additional 14 months in bottle before being put on the market. Their 2nd wine is a Reserva in great vintages like 1996 and 2001. From time to time tiny quantities of a Gran Reserva are made which sees 8 years in barrel. The vines from which all the wines are produced come from 2 distinct terroirs in Rioja Alta (the best part of Rioja) and range in age from 33-55 years. There is nothing virtuosic or egocentric about the operation: just excellent grapes handled gently and fermented and aged with minimum fuss and manipulation. Dried cherries, tobacco leaf, and cinnamon notes lead to a medium bodied palate which gently fills the mouth with earthy and red fruits nuances. The underlying dry texture is pure Rioja and lets you know just what you are tasting. Earthy yet elegant, expressive yet restrained, gentle yet persistent: A near perfect Crianza. The wine is ideal for Chicken, Pork, Cornish Hen, soft cheeses and roasted meats.
Bob Millman
2005 Marques de Tomares Crianza
19.85 per bottle, no minimum for purchase.Limited quantities- First come first served. Does not include local tax or delivery / shipping. Pick up option is available (please inquire).We ship to 48 states. Please reply with desired quantities and Mary will confirm your order. ThoreauWineSociety.com
Dear Wine Lovers,
Several months ago my eloquent and humorous (thus proving that these 2 attributes are not mutually exclusive) partner in the Thoreau Wine Society, Mary Taylor, wrote about Sylvain Pataille and one of his superb Marsannays.
During this past summers International Pinot Noir Celebration, Sylvain showed his top winea blend from old vines in several of his premier cru quality vineyards which he calls 'L'Ancestral' and it stole the show, as they say. Mr. Pataille is as passionate and knowledgeable about wine as he is likeable. He has risen to the top in the Cote de Nuits both as a wine maker and consultant for very good reasons: he has exceptional technical skills and a fabulous palate qualities which do not always exist in the same person. The moment you start tasting his wines and listening to him, you know you are in the presence of the real thing.
Recently I tasted several of Patailles wines at a tasting organized by his distributor, Michael Feuerstein of Pas Mal Importers/Distributors. One delightful wine that caught my fancy was Patailles least expensive wine:
The 2006 Passetoutgrain. This appellation refers to red wines made in Burgundy by the co-fermenting of 2/3 Gamay (The red wine grape of Beaujolais) and 1/3rd Pinot Noir. Passetoutgrains are the only red wines in Burgundy proper that can legally include the Gamay grape which, until the late 1300s was as ubiquitous in the vineyards of Burgundy, perhaps more so than Pinot Noir.
Gamay was banned from Burgundy by Philippe The Bold in 1395 but made its way back to Burgundy in the late 1880s. You just cannot keep a good grape down. By nature, Passetoutgrains are meant to be easy drinking entry level Burgundies. But of course when a grower/producer as scrupulous and enlightened at Sylvain Pataille makes a Passetoutgrain it will and does have an extra dimension of flavor and class easily surpassing the vast majority of such wines.
To the easy charm correctly found in Passetoutgrains there is a voluptuous and vibrant core of rich, mineral-drenched fruit which speaks very clearly the language of northern Burgundy. Patailles Passetoutgrain is indeed a synthesis of the best of the 2 grapes from which it is made: Delightful and arresting at the same time. Not many wine makers can pull this off. But Sylvain Pataille so often transcends his peers that perhaps this is not a surprise after all. This is a delicious, sensual, food-friendly and affordable red Burgundy. Can one ask for more?
2006 Sylvain Pataille Passetoutgrain
$21.50/bottle, 2 Bottle Minimum
Limited quantities- First come first served.
Does not include local tax or delivery / shipping. Pick up option is available (please inquire).
We ship to 48 states.
Please reply with desired quantities and Mary will confirm your order.
Bob Millman
ThoreauWineSociety.com
Dear Friends,
A small importing company recently put on a tasting of over 75 wines made in and around Vienna. For the most part, they represent terrific quality/value rapport. Of all the wines presented those of Rainer Christ from Weingut Christ struck me as among the most delightful, interesting and well priced Austrian wines I have tasted in the last few years.
Vienna is the only capital city in Europe which has important vineyards within its city limits: around 1500 acres in fact. Soils vary enormously from one site to the next and even within the same vineyard, resulting in a wide range of styles and quality. The Christ family has been growing grapes in Vienna for more than 400 years and has recently achieved 1st class status under the leadership of Rainer Christ, the handsome head of the family who speaks flawless English and bears a striking resemblance to Michael Wetherly from NCIS (for those who care). Total plantings are a mere 23 acres. Most wine lovers have known for some time that Austria produces superb dry white wines from Gruner Veltliner, Riesling and in some regions Sauvignon Blanc. Austrian red wines are much less known and tend to be relegated to 2nd class citizenship.
Aficionados know that shockingly good red wines can be made from Blaufrankish and Zweigelt, Austria’s indigenous red grapes. Top restaurants with adventuresome cuisine have been adding fine Austrian reds to their lists and discovering that clients find them to be both interesting in themselves and wonderful with food. Still, a taster has to work much harder to find Austrian reds of truly international status than to find first rate whites.
Among Rainer Christ’s excellent wines, the sole red, with the intriguingly named of Mephisto stood out. I always taste and re-taste before I seek information. If I really like a wine I want to know all about it. If I don’t I simply do not care--unless it cures diseases and extends life.
What struck me about Mephisto was its altogether successful combination of immediacy and depth. I walked away from the table and returned 30 minutes later to check on my original impressions.
Confirmed! The wine has the bright, expressive intense fruit of a Sonoma Zinfandel with the firmness, spine and texture of a good Bordeaux. It turns out that it is 50% Zweigelt (Austria’s Zinfandel) and the rest a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The vines are solidly middle-aged: 45 years on average. So what do you experience when drinking Mephisto? A theoretical blend of a Rosenbloom Zin and a classified St. Julien. It worked for me and will work for you. It is just about the most satisfying $25 bottle of red wine I have tasted in some time.
For those of you who care, the 2006 Mephisto was the winner of the Vienna Wine Competition in 2008. The first vintage was 1992. How do you get $50 worth of red wine for $25? Buy bottles of the 2006 Mephisto.
2006 Weingut Christ “Mephisto”
25.95 per bottle, no minimum for purchase.
Limited quantities- First come first served.
Does not include local tax or delivery / shipping. Pick up option is available (please inquire).
We ship to 48 states.
Please reply with desired quantities and Mary will confirm your order.
Bob Millman
ThoreauWineSociety.com
Here we enter the seasonal juncture which presents itself as an unpredictable, mutable, ever-changing force – leaves under foot, crisp air – a heightened sense of the elements, minerality, aromas so elegantly fermenting, weekends of wood-fires and contemplation. We folk of the Thoreau Wine Society have been busy making correlations between hiking and wine – particularly in conjunction with what we would drink with various vantage points. Recently my dear friend and honrary TWS member Anne and I took a spontaneous journey to Asheville, NC – to explore the southern hills
of the Great Smokey’s and Blue Ridge mountains. Along the Appalachian Trail, as we traversed the ridged border of Tennesee and the Carolinas, stopping by a spectacular blue-green panorama pregnant with fir trees and jagged ridges, I muttered sotto voce “Champagne’ – ‘Come again?’ – If you were to ask what I would drink with this view, I would say Champagne – a nervous, lush, racy, precise champagne, equal parts restraint and sex – a balance of sensations – both invigorating and soothing, prettily perfumed and mysterious, yet earthy, alive and rugged.
The story of Stephane Coquillette is very common in Champagne. The family’s grapes were once sold in some percentage to the bigger houses, many of whom haven’t always been obsessively engaged with what they put in their wines, rather relying on a sugary dosage to retain consistency. The big houses offer familiarity, a well-marketed label that makes people feel safe, and labels are certainly important. But if we think of wine like we do hiking, we wouldn’t want to repeat the same trail in the same season on the same day every time, and we certainly wouldn’t want a virtual trail – so perhaps, when you experience this champagne and others that are made individually and in small production (the same idea of estate bottled – a popular term in California), and not part of the hundreds of millions of bottles made for Moet, Veuve, Heidseick, Besserat, Ayala, Piper, Mumm, Pommery, Roeder, Ruinart, Taittinger, Pol Roger, and Perrier-Jouet, you just might run into what strikes you as rare beauty – perhaps a door opened
in your range of sensations that you might have never known was there.
Young Stephane is a fourth generation Champenoise – a tough bunch – for it was in Champagne that Genghis Kahn was finally defeated, the region later to be dug for trenches in the First World War. He took over this winery and
is now bottling Champagne under the family name. We are now in Chouilly, a Grand Cru village in the Cotes des Blancs, just south-east of the major shipping town of Epernay. Their ten different parcels equaling roughly six
hectares of vines, (in such a small but world-class environ) shares that famously deep chalky limestone ‘roche-mere’ which makes Champagne the greatest sparkling wine region in the world, giving to fabulous minerality and vigour. Coquillette works his vineyards by hand and inlays the rows with bark to prevent weeds and erosion (hence, no synthetic chemicals). Most importantly this multi-vintage cuvee is released after several years of ageing, and is unequivocally sumptuous and every bit about which I
fantasized overlookng our great national park.
Stephane Coquillette ‘Cuvee Diane’ Blanc de Blancs Brut NV
$58.50 per bottle – the best price I am finding on the web and a big
discount from us to you.
We will grant 10% off on 12 bottles. Grab a case for the season!
Tax and shipping not included. Please see our clear and wonderful new
shipping/delivery policy:
http://www.thoreauwinesociety.com/deliveryshipping.html
Please reply with desired amounts – and please tell friends!
Slainte,
Mary Taylor
ThoreauWineSociety.com
Hit it Bob:
A CALIFORNIA MERLOT (!) YOU CAN DRINK WITH PRIDE AND PLEASURE
It wasn’t that long ago that Merlot was the most popular red wine in America. Besides, anyone who knows anything about wine knows that Merlot is the key grape in Pomerol where it is the basis for a half dozen of the sexiest, most expressive and expensive red wines made on this planet. But then came Pinot Noir which supplanted Merlot this decade to such an extent than many wine lovers will not even admit to ever having purchased a bottle of Merlot. Fashion is fashion. But quality transcends current sensibilities which change every 10 years. In the meanwhile many fine Merlots and Merlot based blends are being produced both on the west coast and of course all throughout Bordeaux. The trouble with many new world Merlots is that they are too soft and easy, lacking the structural spine of Cabernets and the elegant acidity of Pinot Noirs.
It is always a pleasure to taste a Merlot which is a real wine, not just fermented grape juice. Mary and I recently encountered an example of an excellent Napa Merlot at a trade tasting. This Merlot is from an artisinal, under-the-radar winery called Baxter. Established in 2002 by the father and son team of Philip Baxter Sr. and Jr., their goal is to make wines exclusively from single vineyard sites with vines of sufficient age, to allow fermentation on their own yeasts and to age them in neutral small barrels until ready for bottling. No fining or filtering is ever done. Currently the Baxters produce 2 excellent Pinots from northern sites, 2 Cabernets, a Zinfandel and 1 Merlot from a vineyard called Rodgers in Oakville. The style of the wines is decidedly European with an emphasis on texture, length and classical balance. The Baxters eschew the sweet, lush, juicy style popular with the wine press. This is the 2nd time I have tasted these singular wines and my admiration for them has not diminished.
The 2004 Merlot, just released was aged in 2 and 3 year old barriques for 36 months. Why so long? Because they liked the way the wine was evolving and felt no need to bottle it before their palates told them that it was ready. How old fashioned. I was deeply impressed by the firmness and smoky power of the wine. No fat, plumy sweetness here. This Merlot seems to be more about the vineyard than it is about the grape. The grape as transmission of site and conditions—the very goal of classical winemaking. This is a serious, interesting, engaging Merlot which will convert doubters in but a few sips. Congratulations to the Baxter’s for demonstrating what Merlot can be at its best! Neither inexpensive nor expensive, the 2004 Baxter Rodgers Vineyard Merlot is $32.95. Ask yourself what kind of wine you would get at a restaurant for under $35. Nothing even close to the Baxter Merlot, that is for certain. In my opinion the 2002 Baxter is the equal or better than the vast majority of Merlots retailing for $50-60. Enjoy this Merlot marvel with a roast Rack of Lamb. Or a roast chicken from Bouley (12.95)’s bakery.
29.95 Limited - First come first served.
Does not include local tax or delivery / shipping.
We ship to 48 states.
Please reply with desired quantities and Mary will confirm your order.
Bob Millman
ThoreauWineSociety.com
Hi Friends,
Welcome to the third season of the Thoreau Wine Society. Thanks to our readers, we have grown into a small collection of impoverished writers who have spent the majority of our lives reveling in the mysteries of great wines, stuck with years of blind tasting notes, we've come up with a way to communicate our educated fascination to our gentle followers.
This, the year of great tumult and excitement.. In the sultry Australian month of January, with a glass of 85 Jean Gros Richebourg in hand, I kicked off 2009 overlooking a glorious display of fireworks in the Sydney Harbor. I’ve learned that while the best Sydney-siders are no strangers to the miracle of French wines, they are also enthused by the wonders of their own wines. Unfortunately, most people are familiar with Yellow Tail, the most successful wine brand in the history of the world. As DuBeouf did for the reputation of Beaujolais, the image of Aussie wine has been essentially destroyed in the international market by this massive conglomerate which has, as 2-Buck Chuck in California, has reduced their billion gallons of wine to a monolithic product.. destroying the mystery of wine for impressionable drinkers.
But like Beaujolais, Australia is home to a wide range of terroir – stretching from the Hunter Valley (renowned for their wonderful rieslings) through the Yarra, Barossa, Mclaren Vale over to the Margaret River – there is a whole continent of diverse styles and soils and if I may jump off the anti-Australian bandwagon, there is to be found incredibly complex nuanced, subtly haunting juice, as proven to me, not only by my generous hosts in Sydney who opened a number of older bottlings which resembled great Hermitage, but also by leg-work, rolled-up sleeves, pencil in ear, asking the questions, tasting the wines.
On this discovery route, as it was my first journey into South Australia – I began with an appointment to taste at the fabulous Torbreck estate in the Seppeltsfield area of the Barossa Valley. I could write a novel about what makes the Barossa so historical and geologically diverse. But I’m often told my wine emails are long-winded enough. Torbreck wines are magnificent – and towards the end of our few hours spent together, I asked the million dollar question – who is doing some of the best work in the region – who do I need to know about? I was given a short list of names and numbers and none came with a higher endorsement than Pete and Magli Schellof a little winery called Spinifex. Spini-what?
Hot dusty mid-summer day, encouraged further by the Chris Ringland circle, I rolled up to this tiny barn-like winery near Angaston. A contrarian to the tragic modern wine-making movement, Pete greeted me with those wiley eyes shared by obsessively consumed artisans. Through old French oak foudres, he explained his careful philosophy that combines minimal interventionism with viticultural dexterity. He buys fruit from the best farmers and carefully works with them to produce the finest balance (why domaine bottle, when others have better vineyard holdings?). These farmers are not a gilded nimbus, but the ancestry of poor Silesians who planted vines in the hope of retaining a certain element of European culture those hundred and fifty years ago.
Getting around to the point, if you are a fan of the great wines of the northern Rhone, these will not disappoint you. As a general Francophile, I fully stand behind these wines.
Spinifex ‘Esprit’ 35% Mataro, 31% Grenache, 30% Shiraz, 5% Cinsault. Red clay over quartz. Sourced from the cooler, northern Barossa vines, aged in large oak foudres – light on it’s feet, but rich and ripe, sexy plump aromas of garrigue, stewed cherries, fresh thyme, red twizzlers, pill bottle and that je ne sais quoi of the Barossa terroir. This is the real thing – not clunky chunky boring juice, don’t be a slave to anti-Aussie fashion, there’s a reason this region has 150 years of wine growing history and many a fine palate that has fallen under it’s spell.
$40 per bottle. Extremely limited.
First come, first served.
Wine will be available within 2 weeks time.
Please reply with desired amounts. And if you have yet to set up an account, I will reply with painless account set-up info.
I hope you enjoy these missives. We are ramping up our fall season… please spread the word!
Slainte,
Mary Taylor
Founder
ThoreauWineSociety.com
Dear Friends,
Recently having attended the annual tasting of the Maison Leroy wines: Madame Lalou Bize Leroy is one of the most powerful and important negociants and vineyard owners in Burgundy. Her estate wines regularly sell for 2-3 times those of her peers and always sell out. Her family has been buying fruit and wine from small growers since the 1940s. The best of these are legendary wines which command Picasso-like prices. Madame Leroy has a fantastic palate and is an impeccable judge of a wine's aging potential. She never releases her negociant wines until she believes that they are ready to be drunk—or should I say, savored? Do I think that every Maison Leroy wine is a masterpiece? No. But when they are good they offer transcendent vinous experiences. As it turned out, the least expensive wine she offered was an Aligote from her own vineyard holdings. Aligote is a much maligned varietal which once held price of place along with Chardonnay in the Cote de Beaune. In fact, four of Burgundy's greatest wine makers offer superb Aligotes: Francois Coche-Dury, Jean-Marc Roulot, Laurent Ponsot and best of all, Madame Bize Leroy. One could not ask for a better endorsement for the potentiality of Aligote.
So what justifies a $59.95 price tag for the 2006 Domaine Leroy Aligote? The only thing that should ever matter to a prospective buyer: the quality of the wine. Served blind I would have said that this is easily a $75-80 white Burgundy and far better than most that I taste at that price point. Indeed Leroy’s Aligote simply outclassed the four Maison Leroy premier crus also at the tasting (1 Meursault, 2 Chassagnes and 1 Puligny)—at half their prices, I might add. This fantastic Aligote exhibited laser-beam citrus scented acidity, the lively palate feel of dry Riesling and a density usually found in Grand Cru Cote de Beaune whites. The intensity and focus of the wine –which if tasted blind would have been judged by anyone to be a Chardonnay—were dazzling. Imagine a cross between Chablis Les Clos and a first rate 1er Cru Puligny. This chewy, mouth coating wine will please the most demanding lover of truly dry white Burgundy. Drink
this Aligote with shellfish, stripped bass (wild of course, not the mushy farmed stuff), sole, halibut, arctic char and you will be a happy camper. Or steam up a couple of lobsters, melt some good French butter and enjoy this feast with Madame Leroy’s Aligote. For the cost of a decent dinner at a restaurant with a ho-hum bottle of wine you will be in gustatory heaven. Do not even think about buying just 1 bottle. Madame Leroy does not make much of this gem and you will definitely want to drink this more than once!
Domaine Leroy Aligote 2006 $59.95
Order will close by Friday, first come, first served. Wine will arrive in roughly 2 weeks.
Please reply with desired amounts and Mary will administrate your order. We ship throughout the country.
Bob Millman
ThoreauWineSociety.com
reply to: Mary@ThoreauWineSociety.com
FROM RACE CAR DRIVING TO MAKING WINE—CAN THIS BE REAL?
LePlan Viognier 2007 $24.95 $270/case of 12
Dirk Vermeersch who hails from the lovely city Antwerp, raced cars professionally and successfully for 16 years, sold organic produce before the word was in most dictionaries, gave it all up for a move to the southern Rhone in the late 1990s. There, he bought old vineyards which were seriously in need of sustainable farming, and released his first wines in 2001. He and wife Helene tend the vines, while their daughter Ann makes the wines. A great story—full of the unpredictable and the highly unlikely. But we do not drink stories, we drink wine. If the wines were not excellent, the story would be a mere curiosity. Mary introduced me to the Le Plan--the name refers to the sub-region in which the vineyards are located. I was immediately impressed by their fine fruit and refreshing acidity—essential for wines from warm climates. I just tasted the recently released Viognier from the Rhone's superb 2007 vintage. Viognier is a very tricky grape which is best known as the source of the Northern Rhone’s most expensive white wines—those from Condrieu. A good Condrieu will set you back between $60 and $90 a bottle---about the price of a premier cru White Burgundy. So what makes Viognier such an exciting but difficult varietal? First the good part: The Aroma of Viognier is
unlike that of any other grape: Explosively floral with overtones of vanilla, white peach, almond extract and white pepper.
And the problem?
Viognier’s are all too often very high in alcohol and flabby, causing palate fatigue after 1 glass. But not always. I am delighted to report that Dirk and Ann Vermeersch have succeeded admirably in capturing the seductive, exotic aromatics of Viognier, the lovely, fresh, juicy white peach flavors inherent to the grape with a zesty citrus-accented acidity which keeps the wine alive and refreshing. The 14 percent alcohol is hardly noticeable.
The Le Plan Viognier is delicious enough to drink as a full bodied aperitif. You will enjoy it with grilled fish, raw bar and Salmon. The flavors and texture of the wine make it fine match for sauces based on herbs and olive oil— 100% organic, of course.
Bob Millman
1 bottle minimum - Offer closes by Tuesday - First come, First Served
Please reply with desired amounts and Mary will help you to quickly
set up an account if that has yet to be done.
ThoreauWineSociety.com
Dear Friends,
Every time I encounter a Burgundy I haven’t tasted before I experience both anxiety and excitement.Why? Because there is nothing more disappointing than a thin, undernourished red Burgundy. The ratio of hits to misses with Burgundies favors Napa Valley reds, Aussie Shiraz, southern Rhones. Burgundy is so mercurial and unpredictable. Why do we all bother? Because when you encounter a good red Burgundy it as if the gods are smiling. Ask any serious wine person about this. Red Burgundy is the Holy Grail of wine: when you experience a good one you are tasting a little bit of heaven. You know where this is going by now: I had a mini-religious experience recently courtesy of a $30 red Burgundy. Not $300, $30! And the name of this vinous miracle? 2005 Ladoix from Domaine Chevalier.
Ladoix is not exactly a household name. It is a modest village on “the wrong side” of the tracks just the other side of the Hill of Corton. This is the transitional region between the northern vineyards of the Cote de Beaune and the southern vineyards of the Cote de Nuits.
What Ladoix lacks in fame it makes up for in the striving for excellence: 3 fines estates are firmly situated in Ladoix, none better than that of Claude Chevalier who has transformed his father’s excellent domaine into a superlative one. The entire classification system in Burgundy prices wines by the status of their geographical source—a kind of caste system alien to the new world where wines are priced and evaluated by the reputation of the grower, not the pedigree of the vineyard.
The good news for savvy consumers is that there are a number of wonderful Burgundies which are under-priced relative to their quality because of the hierarchy of the appellation system.
Tasted on its own merits, Chevalier’s 2005 Ladoix would kick the butts of dozens of red Burgundies and new world Pinots retailing for twice the price. The first thing you notice is the breathtaking bouquet: Asian spices, leather, sweet young tobacco leaves and lush dark cherries. It broadcasts Burgundy. It is this kind of aroma that sends Burgundy nuts into another state of consciousness. Fortunately the taste lives up to the superb bouquet with a wonderful silky texture, waves of dark fruit flavors ands lip smacking acidity to keep everything fresh and alive. Sniffed and tasted 24 hours after being opened, the Ladoix had lost nothing of its beauty. Don’t bother to order a mere 3 bottles. Buy a case if you can afford to and drink a bottle every 2-3 months.
Chevalier Pere et Fils Ladoix 2005
$30 per bottle - 1 bottle minimum
Offer closes by Friday
First come, First Served
Please reply with desired amounts and Mary will help you to quickly
set up an account if that has yet to be done.
Bob Millman
ThoreauWineSociety.com
Dear Readers,
If you love wine (which you should) I would highly recommend grabbing a copy of Kermit Lynch’s fabulous book, ‘Adventures on the Wine Route’ – the decades-old story of the importer’s comb through France in search of revelatory winemakers. Monsieur Lynch was recently in town for tasting. In my copy, he signed: “To Mary, The best thing I’ve witnessed tonight. Here’s to you.” Clearly, Kermit’s articulate taste in women corresponds to that of his in wine, as he is responsible for bringing some of France’s most beloved estates to the American market, wines that speak of where they are from in their haunting subtle beauty.
Among the visionary Lynch portfolio, is the Domaine Poujol in the Languedoc – an estate that had been dysfunctional (though endowed with lovely vineyard sites), until 1995 when Robert and Kim Cripps revived it. “We've watched with more than passing interest as the disheveled vineyards they purchased have slowly been converted to organic farming, and through a sheer labor of love have begun to resemble something one more commonly finds at a great baronial estate. There are no barons at Poujol, just an inspirational couple with great plans for the future.”
Some years ago winemaker Robert Kripps and his lovely New York agent passed by Kris’ shack on 14th street to greet and taste with us, (the voyage up to apartment included a 45-minute elevator malfunction and 2 firemen). I immediately appreciated Robert’s humility and the honesty of his wines – this 2005 Podio Alto – a Syrah, Grenache,
Mourvedre blend of authenticity – a purity of aroma and a structure that was regal, but not extracted. It deserved my highest marks, which generally is not 90 whatever points but a check plus system from school days. I’ve regretted not having before sent an offer on this beautifully southern-French, Languedocian gem which can take at least
ten years of ageing, but is drinking very well now. The grapes are handpicked from hillside vineyards that yield vivid fruit in sparse quantity, fermented by local indigenous yeast, and matured in large oak foudres.
The Maison de la Region Languedoc-Roussillon just held a trade tasting of the most highly rated wines of the Languedoc. (How they afford a gleaming glass front in midtown, beats me). I went through the room feeling like too many wines were clunky chunky modern things that I couldn’t quite relate to. Towards the end of the tasting, I ran into a wine that finally had a sense of place – it had a charm of its own – it tasted like the south of France, like the sun, the farm, the earth, the fruit – a purity that felt quite rare for that particular tasting – eh voila, I rediscovered the Poujol, Podio Alto 2005 –
This is a beautiful effort and a steal for the price. Quite difficult to find in the US retail market (as far as I can see).
$24.99 – no minimum for purchase. (This is not the cuvee Proteus which they sell for $15).
or $280 / case
Please reply with desired amounts and I will send you account set-up info if I have not already done so.
Slainte,
Mary Taylor
ThoreauWineSociety.com
“But then of course Cassis tastes better in Cassis! Debussy sounds better after a walk through the foggy, puddle streets of late-night Paris.” – Kermit
