La Route du Vin

Pinot Gris from Domaine Paul Kubler

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 The entrance to the pristine Domaine Kubler in Soultzmatt.

Praise for a new winemaker from Robert Parker

"After earning his oenology degree from Bordeaux, and a stage at Cloudy Bay, young Philippe Kubler - whom I did not have occasion to visit - took over at his family's domaine beginning with the 2004 vintage. Based on the several samples that reached me while in Alsace from his second harvest, this is a vigneron to watch." - Robert Parker

The nose of Kubler's Pinot Gris is powerful and warm with the aroma of smoked apricots. The mouth is full and richly textured with layers of toasted bread and exotic fruit. There is a long and velvety finish. The wine is luxurious without being sweet.

Sugar Kills. That's what Tom Stevenson says in his Wine Report 2008. There is no room for sweet wine in Alsace other than vendage tardive and selection de grains nobles which are prized, specialty wines in a different category.

I agree, and that's the attitude I carried with me into Alsace a while ago, looking for a spectacular Pinot Gris. Too many growers are appealing to the tastes of their German neighbors who travel over the border and load their trunks with Alsatian wine.

Jean-Pierre Auvigue's special cuvee: Pouilly-Fuissé les Chailloux 2006

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 Vineyards below the Solutré rock

Pouilly-Fuissé is one of those perfect wines with those wonderful, pure Chardonnay flavors. Stylish, discreet, beautifully crafted white Burgundy nuanced with honey and citrus and some mineral notes. It just never fails to get a response out of me when I see it chilled and sweating. Pouilly Fuisse tastes like a million bucks, but it doesn't cost a million bucks.

Every time I pour this wine into big, open-mouthed Burgundy goblets I get the same response: THIS is REALLY great wine. Then, a few tilts and swirls and suddenly there's an empty bottle and I'm opening another.

But, wait a minute. I see some of you out there shaking your heads. Yes, I have to admit some Pouilly-Fuissé growers have gotten a little drunk on success, with prices creeping perilously close to those of their highbrow northern neighbors, Meursault and Chassagne Montrachet. But, the key word there is SOME.

Jean-Pierre Auvigue is one of the most famous Pouilly-Fuissé growers in the Maconnais and he's been in the business of making Pouilly-Fuissé way too long to be reckless and greedy with his pricing. Result? I've never had to ratchet back my Pouilly-Fuissé impulses. I'm still happily immersing myself on a regular basis and wetting others' whistles as well.

Les Hautes Cances Cotes du Rhone 2005

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 Jean-Marie Asart in his cellars at Domaine Les Hautes Cances in Cairanne

About the amazing Cotes du Rhone 2005 vintage:

"The Grenache is stunning, with a remarkable balance between alcohol, fruit, and acidity." -Tom Stevenson, Wine Report 2007

"2005 delivers amazing quality up and down the Rhone Valley." -Wine Spectator

"Rhone 2005 is a vintage of such bounty that I would unhesitatingly name it as my one allowed luxury were I to be stranded on a desert island. It works well on every level - pleasure in the tone of the fruit, the freshness of the flavours, and the ability to please now or later, such is its balance." -Jonathan Livingstone-Learmonth

I must say I agree with Jonathan about that desert island stuff. Not that I was stranded on a desert island recently, but I was in the French alps for the month of January and guess what wine I had shipped in to drink in my little ski chalet? Hautes Cances Cotes du Rhone 2005.

Les Hautes Cances Cotes du Rhone 2005

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  Cotes du Rhone vineyards

About the amazing Cotes du Rhone 2005 vintage:

"The Grenache is stunning, with a remarkable balance between alcohol, fruit, and acidity." -Tom Stevenson, Wine Report 2007

"2005 delivers amazing quality up and down the Rhone Valley." -Wine Spectator

"Rhone 2005 is a vintage of such bounty that I would unhesitatingly name it as my one allowed luxury were I to be stranded on a desert island. It works well on every level - pleasure in the tone of the fruit, the freshness of the flavours, and the ability to please now or later, such is its balance." -Jonathan Livingstone-Learmonth

I must say I agree with Jonathan about that desert island stuff. Not that I was stranded on a desert island recently, but I was in the French alps for the month of January and guess what wine I had shipped in to drink in my little ski chalet? Hautes Cances Cotes du Rhone 2005.

Yep, the wine selection in a ski village isn't stellar and I didn't want to compromise on my wine so I had Anne-Marie and Jean-Marie Astart send me some of their incredible Cotes du Rhone. There are a lot of wines I could have asked for, but Hautes Cances was the one I chose.

Madiran Laplace 2004: One of France's Most Seductive: (and Least Known) Wines

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 Chateau d'Aydie in Madiran

Chateau d'Aydie (pronounced die-DEE), southwestern France where the duck breasts sizzle, the foie gras melts in your mouth and the French paradox rules.

I couldn't wait to get to Madiran (which is in remote territory almost three hours south of Bordeaux - not too far from Spain) because I've wanted to import a Madiran for a long time. One off-site taste of the Laplace Madiran several weeks earlier told me this was definitely the one. I was instantly seduced by that fearless, rich blackberry and currant expression of the Tannat grape.

Incidentally, Madiran is the wine with the most resveratrol which is the stuff that keeps you alive and pumping, or so scientists tell me. But, even if you're skeptical, what's the down side? This is very good-tasting medicine and I plan to be pulling a lot of corks from now on just to be safe.

The Laplace family estate is called Chateau d'Aydie.

Here's what Andrew Jefford (The New France) says about d'Aydie:

"This is one of the most immaculately and professionally run domains in the whole of France."

Alain Voge's Wonderful (and Rare) Cornas Vielles Vignes 2004

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  The Beautiful, Secret Valley where you will find the Cornas Vineyards

CELLAR CLOSE-OUT

The Wine Spectator Rated 92.
It also ranked Alain Voge's Cornas vieille vignes 2004 one of the "Top wines in the Northern Rhone for 2004" (and by far the least expensive on this list).

"With the brilliant oenologist who worked for Michel Chapoutier for many years, Alberic Mazoyers, now firmly installed at Domaine Alain Voge, these wines are taking off in a spectacular manner (not that they weren't very impressive in previous vintages). The 2004 Cornas Les Vieilles Vignes displays a dark ruby/plum/purple color and soft cassis and blackberry notes with hints of roasted meats, sweet plums, licorice, smoke, and earth. It is soft, luscious, and ideal for drinking over the next 7-8 years." Robert Parker The Wine Advocate

And another observation from Robert Parker: <.

"His (Voge) wines more than any grower's of this appellation, do indeed resemble fine Hermitage with their intense display of rich, smoky, black fruit."

Bernard Bouvier - Master of Marsannay

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  Bernard Bouvier outside his cellars

If you haven't heard of Marsannay, you should get to know it. It's an appellation in the northern Cote de Nuits which produces expressive Pinot Noirs for a sane price. That means you can do what we all want to do - uncork one on a regular basis.

Bernard Bouvier is one of Burgundy's prodigies; he is a genius of a young winemaker.

Here is what La Revue du Vin de France said.

"In rejecting the machine harvesting of his parents, banning chemical treatment, and slashing yields, Bernard Bouvier has quickly established himself as one of the most brilliant winemakers of his generation."

When I tasted Bouvier's Marsannay Longeroies in a two starred Michelin restaurant in Pernand Vergelesses, I made an appointment immediately to go see him. The wine was rounded and an unctuous beauty. It emanated the kind of Pinot Noir expression that you find in much more expensive wines.

Allen Meadows in Burghound writes:

Marsannay red is almost always brilliantly colored with an earthy and often herbal nose of both red and black fruits often described as having a decided resemblance to fresh cherries, dried plums and sometime blackberries. The reds are supple and generally not particularly tannic though they will age surprisingly well. Good examples will keep for five to ten years and more importantly, are worth the trouble to do so."

Saumur Champigny 2007 from Domaine Lavigne: Love at First Glass!

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The Ancient Saumur Chateau above the Loire River

It's doing it again. I'll be out shoveling before long. It's late afternoon so I'm starting to think about dinner and what wine I'll be drinking and right now, I can tell you I'm going to grab a Saumur Champigny from the cellar. The 2007 has just come in and I can't wait to get my hands on that corkscrew.

It may seem strange to you, but Saumur Champigny is a wine that frequents my mind quite often, not just because it is inexpensive and I can afford to drink a lot of it, but because it is the perfect wine in so many ways: it bursts with 100% beautifully ripe Cabernet Franc fruit - sometimes in a wave of raspberries, has good acidity and rounded tannins. There is no wood in the elevage of this wine, it is raised in stainless steel tanks which give it its backbone of acidity and freshness.

What?! you haven't tried Saumur Champigny yet? Have you never been to Paris and bellied up to the zinc bar for a coup de rouge? You'll always find a Saumur Champigny on the wine list, often written in crayon on the mirror. But don't think just because you're nipping from your glass while you make dinner, you can't segue right into the main act with this bottle. Oh, yes! You will be charmed by how it talks to food.

Domaine Lavigne is located in the commune of Varrains. There are only eight other communes (because of their superior terroir) who can put Saumur Champigny on their labels. Varrains is about five minutes south of the town of Saumur, which is stretched alongside the Loire River.

Volnay 2005 - "achingly beautiful": Wines That Capture all that is Great in Burgundy

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 The Volnay Village and surrounding from the hillside premier cru vinyards in the fall

When Matt Kramer calls Volnay wines “achingly beautiful” in his book, Making Sense of Burgundy, I understand. Volnay was my first Burgundy experience and is surely the reason that I’ve got so many sloped shoulders in my cellar today.

Matt Kramer goes on to say: “...the odds of getting a bottle worth drinking are greater in Volnay than in any other commune of the Cote d’Or. This surely is due to an unusually high standard among the commune’s growers…for one wine writer – this one anyway – there is no greater pleasure than to extol the virtues of Volnay. No other red Burgundy, except Chambolle-Musigny, can convey the perfume and finesse of Pinot Noir as well as Volnay. Few are more seductive.”

So now take that natural beauty of Volnay with its perfect composite of fruit and structure, put it in a bottle with 2005 on the label. And we’ve just hit the bull’s eye.

“the ’05 Côte de Beaune wines are indeed wonderful, pure and extraordinary, particularly in Volnay and Pommard...The best 2005s from the Côte de Beaune are quite simply sublime burgundies that will be capable of exceptional longevity with 20 years being a given. As in the Côte de Nuits, it seems that each level of the Burgundian hierarchy transcends its usual quality category and ascends to the one directly above, which is to say that regional wines perform like villages wines, villages wines like good if not absolute top 1ers (crus) , good 1ers (crus) are like solid grands crus.

Chateau La Roncheraie 2005 Bordeaux: Winner: "Best qualité/prix value" RdVF

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 The hiilside vneyards around La Roncheraie in Cotes de Castillon

I'm always interested in great, little petit chateaux from Bordeaux. Aren't you? I must drink at least two bottles a week. So, I eagerly snatched up the latest issue of La Revue du Vin de France and turned to the article about Bordeaux, " Land of Great Values - offerings with excellent rapport qualité/prix" and there it was front and center:

A large picture of a bottle of Chateau La Roncheraie 2005!

"vigorously fruity nose, perfectly ripe, very seductive with large aromatics. One appreciates the soft tannins and the mineral profile in the finish. It is one of the very great successes of our tasting." - La Revue du Vin de France of Cuveé Sereine 2005

Our little favorite Bordeaux came out on top with La Revue's BLIND tasters, among no doubt hundreds of bottles of contenders. Formidable!

Not that I am in the least surprised, but how wonderful for Franck and Laetitia Toquereau to get some credit for their fabulous winemaking which you and I have been appreciating for a couple of years now.