The king of Provence

The very 1st time I had a Trevallon it was a revelation: depth, elegance and complexity. All of this is too rare in Provence.

Trevallon is located in the heart of Provence in Saint-Etienne-du-Grès, in the Bouches-du-Rhône, 25 km south of Avignon and 7 km west of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (beautiful village), on the northern slopes of the Alpilles. The vineyard covers 17 hectares: 15 hectares of red grapes, made up of equal parts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Plus 2 hectares of white grapes, 45 % Marsanne, 45 % Roussanne and 10 % Chardonnay.

Trevallon is a pretty recent domaine and when Eloi Dürrbach wanted to plant vines he had to use dynamite to break the rock. During the '73 , Eloi was able to plant his first 3 hectares of vines. The 1st ever Trevallon was produced in 1976, a great year since this is my birth year :-)

Cabernet sauvignon and syrah are not very common in Provence even though Jules Guyot in his famous "Etude des vignobles de France" says that Cabernet Sauvignon used to be grown in Provence before the phylloxera crisis and that, blended with Syrah, it could produce excellent wines.
The whites grapes are grown on the north-facing slopes allowing to keep acidity and therefore freshness in the wines.

Because in 1993 the INAO required a maximum of 20% of cabernet in the Baux de Provence AOC, Trevallon was forced to the Vin de Pays AOC (Bouches-du-Rhône). Tough to swallow when you're making one of the best wine in the region...

Eloi point of view in the growing and winemaking is what I admire:
-the soil is nourished organically and ploughed
-No pesticides, insecticides, only sheep manure

Only native yeasts are used and acidity is never corrected. Wine is either punched down by foot or pumped-over.
Red wines are raised in barrels for 2 years and 1 year for the whites which are never racked. Lees are not stirred as Eloi believes it brings too much richness to the wine.

In 1996, Eloi asked his father, an artist, to design labels, different each year and reflecting the profile of the wine in this particular vintage.



The 1999 Trevallon Blanc was an outstanding wine. Golden color. This is drinking so well right now. Enticing nose with rich spicy honey mixed with apricot. Throw in the mix a floral touch, light almond and a wax sensation as well and you have a very complex nose. Based on the nose, you would almost expect the wine to be sweet but this is totally dry of course. Full body and fat, low acidity but amazingly this is never heavy or cloying. Instead, you simply can not stop drinking this wine. It coats your palate with again this honey but also a nice and refreshing citrus note plays with the apricot and almond. Really a great wine with a very strong white Hermitage profile. I'm impressed.

The 2006 Trevallon Blanc was very similar except for a lighter color. The nose is a treat with great complexity: lemongrass, honeysuckle, honey, licorice...Full body but really balanced, could not pinpoint one particular fruit on the palate. Wine coats your mouth with additional light butter notes on the finish. Even the wine is fat, there's enough acidity to keep you drinking it...
I want to revisit this wine in 7-9 years.


Very interesting to compare both vintages. The 99 is really similar to any good white Hermitage and the 2006 is more Provencal, at least for the moment. 7 years apart and without any question some similar characteristics.
Trevallon is one of the few wines that I buy every vintages as I have total faith in those bottles.
Long life to the king !

A night in Chambolle-Musigny

Haaaa Chambolle....Just the name gives me goose bumps. I imagine a lovely perfumy wine, light with finesse...a wine to drink with good friends and while chatting about everything and nothing.

On this beautiful evening in Chicago, finally able to have diner outside, we were all excited to taste blind a few Chambolle.
Squeezed between Morey-St-Denis and Vougeot, it has 2 Grand Crus: Bonnes Mares (shared with MSD) and the famous Le Musigny. The better 1er Cru is arguably Les Amoureuses.

Ok, let's start the Chambolle fest.

We went through 7 bottles and a good sign was that pretty much all of them were empty...

Part 1

2006 Digioa-Royer Chambolle: There's a bloody, iron touch on the nose completed with nice floral lift. Elegant red fruits both on the nose and palate. Tannic grip and well structured. It flows lightly on the palate while being nicely balanced. I thought this was 1er Cru quality. Very well done. This is drinking really well right now. I don't see it ageing 20 years but this will probably improve over the next 4-6 years. (13%)

2004 Domaine Drouhin, Oregon, Willamette Valley: A pirate in our tasting. Darker nose than the previous wine, quite a lot of licorice, almost like a zan candy. Blue fruits with a touch of grenadine. Palate shows again some blueberry and strawberry with still this licorice wrap. This is rather easy to drink and simple. This was not screaming Oregon but at the same time, it "made" sense once the bottle was revealed. But at $40, easy pass for me. (14.1%)

2004 Domaine Bertagna, Chambolle 1er Cru Les Plantes: a controversial wine. Half of the people thought this was corked. I did not think this was corked at all, even though there was definitely something a little off. Started like fish sauce, very shy and muted. Three hours later, it was a totally different wine showing some enjoyable red fruits, a hint of minerality but with an eggplant like aroma floating in the middle...This needs to be re tasted. (13.5%)

2004 Robert Groffier, Chambolle 1er Cru Les Hauts Doix: Man, what a stunning nose: floral (roses) and mineral, a touch stemmy, mix of red/dark fruit...wow...On the palate, the ripeness was a little too much and the wine tasted literally sweet. But 30mn later, the wine was balanced (still ripe) and the acidity came through and let a stream of dark fruits (dark cherry) shine. Some subtle licorice. Definitely 1er Cru quality here. Some of the group thought the oak was too much and while I'm usually overly sensitive and pissed by the oak, I thought it was smartly used and integrated. It's there for sure but this is a young wine. I think this Chambolle needs more years to be even more balanced but Groffier style is also part of the game here. We're in the modern camp of Chambolle but this will be a really good wine in the future. (13.5%)

Part 2

2006 Domaine Collotte Chambolle-Musigny Cuvée Vieilles Vignes: Modest red fruits with a light touch of oak (coffee notes) on the nose. Not much going here. Tannic and heavy because of a lack of acidity. Hard to identify Chambolle. Ripe strawberry with hint of plums. Never heard of this producer based in Marsannay. (13%)

2001 Gislaine Barthod, Chambolle 1er Cru Les Fuées: Started with a little dusty, old basement nose. It then opened with interesting blood orange notes, red fruits and iodine. Hint of mushrooms brings earthy tones to the wine. You can sense power underneath this young wine. I found it to be a rather masculine Chambolle with somehow not so clean palate. Nevertheless this was really good. (13%)

2007 Domaine Ponsot Chambolle-Musigny Cuvée des Cigales: 43 years old vines. I have to admit this was not showing so well tonight as I found it very tight and close. Maybe a hint of bacon along elegant red fruits. Feminine, light on its feet, I'd like to re taste to better understand this wine. (12.5%)

This was overall a really nice interesting and good line up. I have not had many Chambolle before and I enjoyed the wines. You could see, with maybe one or two exceptions, that those wines definitely had a common profile: elegance, red fruits, floral. Of course, both the climats and the winemakers have an impact on the final wine but I'm happy to see a sense of place. Also interesting to see that the only non Burgundian wine is the only clocking over 14%.

Corsica: it's not fair

Yup, it's not fair.

Not only they have Laetitia Casta


a beautiful island

and awesome cheeses

but they also have some ass kicking wines with authentic winemakers who pay ultimate respect to their terroir and vines.

This was a beautiful Sunday in Chicago and along home made sausages, we drunk 4 Corsican wines I brought back from home.

The program was 2 Patrimonio, 1 from Calvi and one from Porto Vecchio.

While decanting the 2 Patrimonio, we started with the 2008 Clos Culombu. A blend of 50% Niellucio, 30% Sciacarello, Grenache and Syrah. The nose is great with nice pure fruit on the nose. Pepper and garrigue notes with red fruits and a touch of blackberry comes along. There is a great energy on the palate with a nice lift on the finish. Very good structure. Served slightly above cellar temperature, it is a superb wine for summer.

The second wine was on the opposite spectrum. The 2004 Domaine de Torraccia Oriu (Porto Vecchio) is a blend of 80% Niellucciu and 20% Sciaccarellu. Fermentation is done with indigenous yeast and follows with a soaking from 15 to 21 days between 26 and 30°C with a finishing on “marcs”. The blend is aged in concrete tanks for 18 months, then at least two years in bottles. Brickish rim, masculine wine. Darker profile. Gamy nose. Slightly stewed fruit but enough acidity. Needs food. Long meaty finish. Overall a very good rustic wine which needs some air. Taste a little older than its 6 years. This Oriu cuvee is the top one for Domaine de Torraccia. The grapes are grown on the granitic soil.

Manual weed control with hoes, no chemicals, and harvesting the grapes by hand. The only treatment they use for controlling mildew in their certified-organic vineyard is bouillie bordelaise. The wines do not see any kind of wood.

We then moved on to the 2 Patrimonio, maybe the best know appelation from Corsica using mainly Niellucciu (must be at least 90%), a cousin of Sangiovese.

The 2007 Antoine Arena Morta Maio was simply beautiful. Antoine Arena is the star of Corsica. Doing everything as natural as possible, using absolutely no chemicals or fertilizers, only indigenous yeast, his wines always show great purity and depth. Here also, no wood at all is used but instead concrete or stainless steel tanks. This is 100% Niellucciu, young vines (replanted in 2001).
For such young vines, this is fantastic. Very sangiovese like with a lot of pure red fruits, dusty cherry. The tannins needs to soften up a little bit but give the wine its strcuture. Earthy with very good acidity. Bravo !

The last wine was a 2007 Yves Leccia Patrimonio. Yves Leccia left the family winery in 2004 to create his Domaine d'E Croce. Vines are around 20 years old and here also everything is made with respect to the soil. Schiste, calcareous and clay are the main types of soil. Here 10% of grenache complements the niellucciu. At this point, it needs more time than the Morta Maio. Lot of fruits, you can feel the potential is here but it will blossom in 4-6 years. Dark cherry with a very velvety texture. Some herbs with a nice mix of red/dark fruits. Overall, less acidity and a little darker profile than the Morta Maio. Very good as well.

Overall this was a pretty awesome lineup with all wines showing well. It is so nice to see well know producers not falling for new wood. Those wines all showed an outstanding purity along with a sense of place. This is all that we are looking for....

Sauvignon blanc is fucked up.....

Wow...It is said that you often learn more from your mistakes than from your victories. Well in our case, we learn more from the bad than from the good. Very interesting and disappointing as the same time.

We went through a pretty large blind tasting of 15 Sauvignon Blanc from around the world. 5 flights of 3 wines, totally blind...and boy our taste buds suffered.

2006 Paul Achs Sauvignon Blanc - Austria, Neusiedlersee
Some golden hues. Light kiwi notes with some citrus and hint of flint. Smoky palate with citrus finish. Wine really lacks acidity. With time, strawberry notes appear.
My guess was Aussie...hum....

2009 Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc Te Muna Road Vineyard - New Zealand, Martinborough
Started witn a pungent nose of banana candy. Settled down the next day with more floral, apple and spicy notes.
If the nose changed, the palate stays heavy because of its fatness. The citrus and grapefruit notes can not even help.
Guessed NZ.

2008 Francis Blanchet Pouilly-Fumé Vieilles Vignes - Pouilly-Fumé
Started with some weird savory notes. It then evolved to show more flint. But overall it stayed quite shy.
On the 1st day, the wine was barely drinkable as the acid was out of control. I thought the wine was totally acidified. On the 2nd day, it lost the acidity and became almost too flabby and round with modest citrus notes as well. The acidity on the attack still seems fake.
My 1st guess on the 1st day was Chile.
I really don't know what to think of that wine: one day it was way too acid and the next it was flabby.....Huh?

2006 Alois Gross Sauvignon Blanc Sulz - Austria, Südsteiermark
Very aggressive nose. Cat pee, liter box. Grapefruit and over sweet. Totally disliked the wine.
Guessed NZ.
2009 Pascal & Nicolas Reverdy Sancerre Terre de Maimbray - Sancerre
Light red fruits with a hint of mint. There's some acidity on the attack but the finish has no zip.
Boring.

2008 Henri Bourgeois Quincy Haute Victoire - Quincy
Some grapefruit and citrus notes on the nose. A touch grassy with some orange skin on the palate. Med acidity.
It's a balanced and well made wine but rather simple. Price should be $12 and not $25...
The acid gives away the country of origin.

2008 Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc - New Zealand, Marlborough
Cat pea and green peas nose. Low acid, very soft and round, a little more lemon on the palate. Ripe with a sensation of residual sugar and licorice.
This is way too flabby and ripe for my taste.
Guessed NZ.

2009 Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc - South Africa, Western Cape
Quite smoky nose with asparagus.
Lemon and grapefruit with light mineral notes and med acidity. A pleasant wine.
The smokiness leads you to South Africa here. This is actually pretty decent and enjoyable.

2007 Jean-Claude Châtelain Pouilly-Fumé Domaine de Saint-Laurent-L'Abbaye

Hint of honey, marzipan and butter on the nose...not what I would expect.
Some nice lemon and light mineral notes on the palate but on the finish the wine is completely falling apart like it was 10 years older...Go figure. Not a good wine based on this bottle.
In spite of those flaws, this has a Pouilly profile.

2008 Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc - Napa Valley
Started very sulphury. Exotic fruit with a touch of mint with some alcohol.
It's harsh and painful to drink. Disgusting. Terrible.

2009 Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc Reserva - Chile, Casablanca Valley
A little dirty on the nose with some cooked onions notes along with wet grass and lemon.
Ripe with an annoying sweetness sensation. Good thing is that the palate is not exploding with over the top varietal notes, only showing discreet fruit and a touch of grass but, as many, this is a tiring wine.
Guessed Chile because of the funkiness.

2007 Thomas & Fils Sancerre La Crele

Shy nose showing some mineral and light smoky notes. Good acid, the palate is also restrained, matching the nose with refreshing light bitter notes on the finish. Interesting cassis leaf notes.
A good wine to match with proper seafood.
Initial guess was Pouilly Fume because of the low fruit.

2008 Hewitson Sauvignon Blanc Lulu - Australia, Adelaide Hills
Totally fake nose, herbal candy like with nail polish. Big with again some herbal notes and taste way too sweet.
Guessed Aussie.

2009 François Chidaine Touraine Val de Loire Sauvignon - Touraine
Very varietal, grassy and a little harsh. Too ripe, spicy apple with grapefruit.
Overall the wine is too aggressive and ripe.
Guessed Cali SB !

2009 Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc - Russian River Valley
Creamy nose, peach custard. Licorice on the nose.
Sweet exotic fruit on the palate. Big. Lots of melon with coconut on the sweet finish.
Exactly what I don't like...This is a cocktail wine.

Man, we did have a bunch of crappy wine.

Two major flaws (at least for our group) were:

-SB became a caricature. Many producers are trying to emphasize the varietal side of the grape without attempting to capture any subtlety or finesse.

-The wines are way too SWEET for God's sake. I know many consumers will love this sweetness in those wines but man this is freaking tiring. You drink half a glass and your palate is shot.

Also, Adelaide Hills is a pretty cool region but the Hewitson was really candied. Why?

The Merry Edwards is adored by many people on wine boards and I believe was proclaimed as the best SB in America by Wine Spectator...hum...yeah...and next year I'm playing with the Red Wings on their 1st line.

The Mulderbosch was a pretty good surprise and overall the French SB were often more balanced and showed more acidity.

I think this tasting made me realise how hard, how difficult it is to make a good sauvignon blanc. Of course, this is personal and many people love many of the wines we tasted. Good for them and for the winemakers. Everybody has a different palate and will love different wines. But in my opinion this grape has became a tool for mass market wines, vinified in a way to please the crowd.

Maybe more than for any other grapes, I buy and drink only from a handful of producers: Francois Cotat, Edmond Vatan, Gerard Boulay, Alphonse Mellot and Pascal Cotat. To a lesser extent Claude Riffault and Gitton are also doing a good job.

What are your go to producers for SB?

Domaine de la Bongran- Jean Thévenet: It does not get any better in Clessé

Domaine de la Bongran consists of 15 hectares spread throughout the foot of the Quintaine hills in the Mâconnais. The name of the area "Bongran" originally comes from "bongrain" (a wine with good origins comes from a good grain).
In Quintaine, the terroir is composed of Oxonian marl and middle and superior Bathonian limestone which at one time was the good fortune of stone cutters for centuries.
The grapes are harvested manually when they are very ripe and, if possible, at the point where they have been affected by noble rot.
The over ripe grapes arrive at the domaine where they are slowly pressed in a pneumatic press. After the must has settled, the juice is transferred to stainless steel tanks or oak barrels where fermentation is initiated slowly with indigenous yeast, finishing 6 to 24 months later.
The wines are bottled before being tasted after ageing for at least several months and sometimes up to 20 years.

Jean Thévenet and his son Gautier are simply making outstanding Viré-Clessé, respecting the tradition of sometimes having a touch of residual sugar. Amazing texture, perfect balance and a capability of ageing for 20 years, nobody, in my opinion, is doing better wine in the area.

This leads to the 1995 Domaine de la Bongran, Cuvée EJ Thevenet Tradition. At the time, the official AOC was just Clessé and became Viré-Clessé in 2002.
Cool golden color. The nose is so inviting and complex: spiced honey, ginger, mango and obvious mineral notes. There is a little bit of residual sugar but this is balanced thanks to the high acidity. More lemon on the palate with a very long nutty finish.
This Clessé after 15 years is so fresh, this is really impressive.

A wine you could drink all day long....

A few days of decadence

Finally escaping Chicago's heat for a few days, we headed to the Hamptons and NY to visit some friends.
Lot of fun and great company and on top of that great wines !

First gem was a magnificent 1999 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses Rosé. I believe 1999 was the 1st ever vintage for the rosé. Coming from a chalk soil, this is the lightest rosé I have ever seen colorwise. It barely have any pinkish hue. Brine, see breeze, almond with subtle red fruits. It is very elegant and intense on the palate at the same time. A great Champagne, still a little young in my opinion.
Then a battle of syrah and shiraz followed. The 1999 Côte Rôtie La Mouline and 1999 Côte Rôtie La Turque battled agains a 1994 Penfolds Grange. Ok, ok, for purist it is a battle of Shirah/Viognier against Shiraz/Cabernet.
Well, at least for me, it was not even close....While I thought the Grange showed a nice balance and interesting complexity but a little too ripe. On the other hand, La Mouline opened faster than the Turque (more viognier in the Mouline) but after 2 hours, La Turque won me over with nice bacon fat notes and a finish which lasted almost 3mn. Very impressive and it was nice to see the oak was already digested even if La Turque showed some hint of new oak for the first 30mn.



Next day, the honors were reserved for Bordeaux. A nice, austere and structured 1982 Lynch Bages opened the dinner. I really enjoy their style, never over the top. I was skeptic about the 2000 Cos d'Estournel which followed. But from the very 1st sip, I loved the Asian spices and smoky notes. Pure fruit with very good acidity, especially for 2000, it's slowly entering its drinking window.

We finished with a great 1990 Domaine des Baumard, Quarts de Chaume. It was an explosion of honey, orchard fruit backed up by terrific acidity. Very good wine.



Thanks God the cold I caught was only after all this drinking...!

Great friends, great wines in a beautiful place....Perfect weekend !