Naturally from the Czech Republic

If you never heard of Andrea Calek, well hopefully after this post, you'll want to go out and buy one of his wines. A native from the Czech Republic, he decides to travel through Europe, to reach France and then go to Brazil. Well, it did not exactly go as planned as he met the future mother of his children in Nice and decided to stay in France. After a few jobs such as picking olives, he knew what he wanted to do and that was making wine. After a viti BTS (French diploma), he gets a job at Domaine Hauvette in Provence. He learns about biodynamic practices before working with Sylvain Rohel in the Rhone valley. Because of his friendship with Gerald Oustric, Andrea decides to settle down in Valvignères, Ardèche. He made his 1st wine in 2007.


This 2008 Babiole from Andrea Calek his 2nd vintage, is declared as Vin de Pays de l'Ardèche and is a blend of syrah, carignan and grenache. No sulfur is used here. The wine is almost opaque. Very funky, barnyardy on the nose. Definitely a sensation of naturalness both on the nose and palate. Plenty of dark cherry (Burlat), old leather. Garrigue, violets and a touch of red fruit in the background. Good acidity, palate pretty much matching the nose, slightly grainy tannins. A lot of fruit. Well done !

A deep dive into the Mediterranean

Our blind tasting theme for this dinner was wines from Mediterranean Islands with Greece in the mix. Interesting as the varietals mix is all over the place. As usual, wines are tasted blind first then enjoyed over dinner.

2007 Domaine Vico Vin de Corse - Corsica (13.5%) A lot of fruit on the nose, a little stewed but never syrupy. Nice garrigue and olives notes as well, very Mediterranean nose. Balanced and tannic, again a lot of fruit on the palate, blue fruit and cherry, a touch plumy (2007). Even if this is a rather simple wine, it's really enjoyable. Quite Corsican as well.

2008 Boutari Kretikos Red - Greece, Crete (13%) Blend of Kotsifali and Mantilaria, indigenous from Crete. Iodine and seaweed notes. Jammy fruit on the palate with plenty of strawberry on the finish. Lacks structure and dry tannins.

2008 Azienda Agricola Cos Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico - Sicily (13%) A lot of purity on the nose. Slightly plummy. Med body, tannic, high acidity that gives the wine plenty of energy while retaining its southern profile. Lovely floral notes, violets and cherry. A touch of licorice. Long finish. This wine really improved over the last few months.

2007 Domaine d'E Croce (Yves Leccia) Vin de Pays de l'Île de Beauté Cuvée YL - Corsica (13%) Has a Provencal nose with garrigue notes and green olives. A lot of fruit. Maybe a touch of heat. Full body with lowish acidity, firm tannins, it manages to stay balanced. Some licorice as well. Needs time. 80 % grenache and 20 % Niellucciu, grown on schist soils.

2006 Olympus Hellas Agiorgitiko Haggipavlu - Greece, Peloponnisos, Nemea (12.5%) Super oaky right off the bat. Lactic nose. I just can't go past the oak. Undrinkable to me.

2008 Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Il Quadro delle Rose Feudo di Mezzo - Sicily (14%) Surprisingly light color. Beautiful nose with earthy and olive notes. A touch of plum as well. Hint of pencil lead. Dark fruits. Good structure and needs time for the tannins to resolve. Very nice wine and it's nice to see more finesse, vintage after vintage.

2004 Planeta Merlot Sicilia IGT - Italy, Sicily (14%) The oak shows more and more as the wine is open. There's a touch of green on the nose wrapped in plenty of ripe blue fruits. Hint of raspberry on the back palate. Full body and quite tannic. Finished on sweet oak notes. Somewhat tiring to drink.

2006 Sella & Mosca Cannonau di Sardegna Riserva - Sardinia (13.5%) Funny how this wine changed. Initially I found it pretty enjoyable with some interesting tobacco notes and cherry notes. A little funky but jammy on the palate with a short finish. But on the 2nd day, the oak was all over the place...

Overall a rather disapointing tasting. Not many wines stood out with a lot of them rather uninteresting and not balanced. Maybe a proof that this is not so easy to make good wines in such hot climates but even more kudos to the people who manage to make beautiful wines all over the Mediterranean such as Occhipinti, Arena, COS, Sigalas etc....

Comte Abbatucci, another Corsican gem.

Jean-Charles Abbatucci is the winemaker for the Comte Abbatucci domain. Located in the southern part of Corsica in the Taravo valley, the domain is spreading over 18 ha with a lot of granitic soils.



At an altitude of 100m, the varietals are typical for the region: Vermentino, Sciacarello and Nielluccio plus a few other obscure varietals (Barbarossa..).
Since 2000, the domain is in a biodynamic farming mode. No machine harvest here and only native yeasts are used. Just like Barral, animals are living in the vineyards. Here, ewes are at home during the winter.
Wines are made in 3 all colors: red, white and rosé. Kermit Lynch decided recently to import the wine (only the white so far I believe) and I'm thankful for that !

The white cuvée Faustine (AOC Ajaccio) comes from an old parcel, 40 years old, of vermentino. Yield is only 25 hl/ha and the grapes is picked only in the morning and pressed immediately after to keep its freshness. No barrel is used here, only stainless steel tanks.
The 2009 Faustine is an outstanding wine. It shows superb aromatics and is fresh and vibrant. Citrus and honeydew with some white flowers and a touch of flint. Rich but with very good acidity. Focused. A hint of anise on the palate. I'm just surprised by the energy of this wine.
This is simply the best vermentino I ever had, so far.

Languedoc is full of surprises

Theme for our blind tasting tonight was Languedoc. A vast area with plenty of different AOP, soils and varietals. It was pretty difficult to identify with certainty a Corbieres from a Minervois or a Languedoc from a St Chinian. Anyway, a very good lineup paired with oven cooked hanger steak and eggplant flan.
A lot is happening is Languedoc, maybe because the price of the land is not crazy yet allowing young or new winemakers to settle there. Also, a lot of natural winemakers found a home in those regions.
10 main areas for this vast production land:

-Languedoc (from 2008)
-Coteaux du Languedoc (includes Pic St Loup)
-Picpoul du Pinet (white only)
-St Chinian
-Faugeres
-Minervois
-Fitou
-Corbieres
-Muscat de St Jean de Minervois and Muscat de Lunel
-And of course many Vin de Pays/Vin de table

2008 Domaine Léon Barral Vin de Pays de l'Hérault - Vin de Pays de l'Hérault
Golden color, cloudy. Incredibly complex nose. You would think the wine is sweet based on the nose but not at all.
There's so much going on. Floral, apricot, perfume, basil, honey, rose, hint of salt.. I could write a book of aromas. Palate is round with a low acidity but completely balanced and not heavy. Very long finish.
Overall a very surprising and delicious wine meant for food. WOW. Total natural, no SO2 added during vinification or bottling.

2008 Le Petit Domaine de Gimios Vin de Table Rouge de Causse - Vin de Table
Natural wine, vinified without sulfur. Impressive complexity on the nose with aromas which are quite unusual. Grand-ma powder like at first, then it was an explosion of dried herbs, oregano and Worcestershire sauce. Salty tang with also some paprika. High acidity, fresh. Some barnyard notes as well.
I loved this wine but this is a wine that I think you either like or don't, no middle ground. Impressive freshness for the region. Anoter natural wine from the Minervois region.

2009 Château Saint-Baulery Saint-Chinian - Saint-Chinian
Dark cherry core, almost opaque. Lactic nose which did not change with time. A lot of fruit, borderline jammy.
Very simple, soft. Overall boring, too forward and a little too ripe. The grenache showed a lot.
40% Carignan, 30% Syrah and 30% Grenache.

2007 Château Grande Cassagne Costières-de-Nîmes "G.S." - Costières-de-Nîmes
A lot of blackberry and herbs on the nose. Then more plum and hint of ripe strawberry. Overall, it shows a dark profile, low acidity and smooth tannins. It was a little more balanced than the Baulery but still too ripe, flabby and boring.
A shocker when the wine was revealed. We loved the 06 which was all about red fruits, balance and an underlying acidity. The warmth of '07 completely, in my opinion, ruined this wine.




1992 Mas de Daumas Gassac Vin de Pays de l'Hérault -Vin de Pays de l'Hérault
Mature Bordeaux like nose. Smoky, cedar and cassis. Developing in the glass and showing more tobacco and a hint of redcurrant. Med body at best, the finish kicks back and is long.
A light and somewhat austere version of Gassac, very good with food and still very much alive.




2007 Domaine Faillenc Sainte-Marie Corbières - Corbières
Interesting nose of dirty socks with plenty of cassis as well.
The palate is also showing plenty of cassis with a slightly grainy texture. Tight at first, it needed time to open. Nice and surprising acidity when the vintage was revealed.
Tremendous value at that price.





2001 Prieuré Saint-Jean de Bébian Coteaux du Languedoc - Coteaux du Languedoc
Pretty consistent with the previous bottle. Big nose. Oak and dark fruit. Again too much oak for my taste on the palate. Full body. With air, some meaty and olives notes appear but the creamy texture along with the oak bother me. Definitely modern.




2007 Domaine Léon Barral Faugères - Faugères
Garrigue with olive notes on the nose with a lot of licorice, fennel and fruit, dark cherry and plummy. Tobacco and leather comes along with air.
I had the chance to follow the evolution of the wine over 3 days and the last day was without a doubt the best for this Faugeres. The touch of heat had disappeared and the wine showed much more balance, complexity and depth. Still, it always showcased Barral's usual purity. Good acidity.
A very good wine which needs a few years.
50 % carignan, 40 % grenache, 10 % cinsault grown on schistes. Only cement and stainless tanks.




2004 Mas Jullien Coteaux du Languedoc - Coteaux du Languedoc
This wine fooled me as I thought it was a cab blend when in fact it is carignan, syrah and mourvèdre. Smoky nose with cedar and light oak. Blackberry and cassis notes with a very light floral lift.
Tight and shy, hard to evaluate. On the 2nd day, the wine showed too much oak to finally calm down on the 4th day and become more interesting and civilised. Still, it was always balanced with a good acidity.
I have no doubt the oak will integrate and this is a wine which will be very good in 7-8 years. Olivier Jullien is a talented winemaker on the terrasses du Larzac and his wines, both whites and reds, demand patience.


Languedoc has gone a long way since the 50s-60s when many producers from other areas where using grapes form this region to add color and alcohol to their wines. Countless winemakers are now working consciously and express the different terroirs.

Serious Mondeuse

Enologist, Jean-Yves Péron started his little domain in 2004 in Chevaline in Savoie, just a few mile south of the Lac d'Annecy. After 7 years now, the domain consists of 2ha in total including 1.5 ha of mondeuse and the rest being the typical white varietals of Savoie (jacquère, altesse and roussanne).

Jean-Yves who worked and learned with Thierry Allemand has a very natural approach towards winemaking. Minimal sulfur is used (inferior to 2mg). The 2005 Côte Pelée is a special selection of very old mondeuse vines, some of them over 100 years old. Interesting to note the appelation, Vin de Pays d'Allobrogie. This was a 1st for me and had never heard of this AOP before. While this was a little early to open this wine (yes, not all the wines from Savoie are meant to be drunk within a year after skiing), I could not resist. This was superb. Lovely nose, barnyardy with violets. Plenty of pure dark red fruits with a hint of green olives. Balanced, with a medium body with a slightly grainy texture, lacking a little on the mid palate at first, it then develops nicely in the glass. Red cherry with some blackberry as well. High acidity, some tannins on the finish. Really a lovely wine.
It was crazy how this was reminding me of a syrah. I closed my eyes and found myself in Cornas, with maybe more acidity than in the Northen Rhone. Well, not really a surprise since apparently the Mondeuse is the grand mother of syrah !
Anyway, syrah or not, go out and try Jean-Yves wines.

A transparent Chablis

Alice and Olivier de Moor are both enologists from the enological school in Dijon. While still working for another estate, they began replanting plots in Chablis (Bel Air, Clardy and Rosette). It was not until 1994 that they produced their first wines (a ridiculous small amount). They tried
and experimented a lot at the beginning . They have now been working their vines organically since 2005.
Only indigenous yeasts are used and there is no SO2 used at harvest or during the vinification. The elevage is done in barrels of different ages for the Chablis.



Alice and Olivier went a little further in this 2008 Chablis, L'humeur du Temps. Indeed, there is absolutely no sulfur, not even during bottling. This Chablis is their entry level.
The wine, surprisingly had a lot of weight at first with a touch of butter both on the palate and nose. But then, after a few minutes, it is an explosion of minerality which cuts through the ripe fruit. This is a delicious Chablis, pure, full of lemony notes backed up by a tremendous minerality. Really good right now. A thirst wine.




You can only respect the work winemakers like Alice and Olivier de Moor when you drink a bottle like this.

2005 Dard & Ribo Crozes-Hermitage

René-Jean Dard and François Ribo started their winery back in 1984. They met at the Lycée Viticole de Beaune in Burgundy. From the start they worked in a natural way, using no or very little sulfur and no entrants. René-Jean Dard father, a winemaker as well, was already working this way so it seems natural for his son to follow the same philosophy even if they were told the opposite at school.
Located in Mercurol, they make Crozes-Hermitage, St Joseph and Hermitage in both colors.
Their Crozes-Hermitage red is made from plots located mainly in Larnage, on red clay with gravel and alluvial stones.

This 2005 Dard&Ribo Crozes-Hermitage was damn good ! This was textbook Crozes and have this sense of place. Olives and red fruits with some bacon notes. Very floral. Mouthwatering, high acidity, surprising for 2005, making it perfect with food. Fresh, a little darker on the palate, it is really delicious.
I read that René-Jean and François think their Crozes is to drink young, a wine to enjoy in its first years. I have to admit, after trying the 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 that they are indeed really good in their youth but needs around 3 years to develop (the 08 drunk in October 2010 was really tight).

The fact that they have minimal doses of SO2 may also make them a little more fragile than other wines, especially when they have to be shipped overseas in, sometimes, less than ideal conditions.
That said, I would be intrigued and happy to try one of their wines with some age. To be continued then....!