A Sans Soufre with age

I've always been a fan of Stephane Tissot. Red, white or even sparkling (his Cremant is excellent) all are worthy of buying them. His style is very Burgundian but I think he always manage to keep a sense of place in his wines even with this Burgundian style.
Conducting biodynamic practices in his vineyards, Stephane vinifies 2 cuvees without any sulfur. The 1st one is his Arbois Trousseau Singulier. The 2nd one is the Arbois Poulsard Sans Soufre. The Poulsard usually benefits from 3-4 years to fully develop. So when I got the chance to get the 2005 Poulsard Sans Soufre, I was relly excited to try it.



This Poulsard comes from different vineyards: Les Bruyères, La Vasée and La Mailloche (Clay soils). All have a South east and North West exposition. The oldest vines were planted in 1942 and the most recent were planted in 1972.
As for the vineyards, they are all in biodynamic agriculture, certified by Ecocert and verified by Demeter. The vineyards are worked without weedkillers, chemical fertilisers, or other synthetic products.To treat the vines sulfur, copper and plant concoctions are used. They make and use their own compost. The soil is worked manually.
Hand harvested in small baskets,the grapes are destemmed and macerated for 17 days in stainless steel tanks with little pumping over, then aged in foudres and demi muids for 12 months. Bottled without filtration and no added SO2.

This 2005 seemed to be at its peak. The nose was great, very Burgundy like, earthy with some funk and some violets and cherry. There's also some herbs and olives. Pretty similar on the palate, med body with rustic tannins. Long finish. Nicely balanced. All in all, a quite complex Poulsard, fresh and pure and very easy to finish the full bottle! After all, this is the destiny of great bottles of wine.

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 !

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....!

Magic with no tricks

After our blind tasting on sauvignon blancs from all over the world, we all agreed that this grape became uninspiring and a commercial caricature with no depth, elegance or class. Only a handful winemakers can work with this grape and do magic (Cotat, Boulay etc..).
I was lucky enough to recently try one sauvignon blanc who gave me back some hope. When I drunk this bottle, I asked myself what is the trick behind to do such an amazing wine. Well, thing is there's no trick at all: no chemicals as the domain is organic, no sulfur at all (neither during fermentation and bottling), no additives. I told you: no tricks.
The wine is from Les Cailloux du Paradis and its winemaker Claude Courtois who has been working naturally for a very long time. He is located in Soings en Sologne, 150km east of Saumur.

This 2008 cuvée is called Quartz, a vin de France, made from old sauvignon blanc vines and most of them are franc de pied i.e. pre-phylloxera. The very obvious thing is that this does not taste like any other sauvignon blanc. The terroir and winemaker managed to sublime the grape here. This is ripe but has a tremendous acidity and showed pear and spices (the wine is vinified and raised in barrels) and finally the minerality takes over while it keeps evolving in your glass. Only 11.8% (!!!), this is a wine with no sulfur added, and needs time to blossom. Much, much better on day 2. The way the power, acidity and minerality are managed remind me of Francois Cotat.

Do yourself a favor, get out and grab a bottle and let the wine takes you away.

Not perfect? Not a problem !

What's a perfect wine? I don't know as I have not had one yet. But I wonder: is a perfect wine will give me the most pleasure ever? Or will it be so perfect that, because of that perfection, I'll have the impression of something missing, that little imperfection which would make the wine...well perfect.


One thing for sure is that this 2003 Domaine Léon Barral Jadis was not perfect, far from it. But it managed to thrill me in many different ways.



2003, as everybody know, was terribly hot all over Europe and the Languedoc region suffered from it like any other regions. Making balanced and fresh wines was certainly not easy. Sure, you can always acidify, modify, manipulate your wine but at the end is it really your wine? Enter, Didier Barral, winemaker with his brother for the Domaine Leon Barral (Leon was their grandfather). No manipulation is allowed here, what you have is the direct result of the vintage. To see how they treat their vineyards is really spectacular. Pigs and bees have been introduced. They consider the surrounding forest, just like Selosse, as very important and crucial for the balance. As little as possible sulfur is used. If you want a "natural" wine (even though I dislike that term), there you go.




For all this reasons, and more, it seems that there are a lot of bottle variations. Some with a lot of VA, some where it refermented, some dead before being opened...I actually don't care, I accept and am ready to take this risk because I know Barral's wines are special and always tell me something.

This 2003, Cuvée Jadis, had many reports of bad bottles. Just after pulling out the cork, I decanted the wine. Surprisingly, it made a thick foam and it started smelling like in a fermentation vat. The very 1st sip had a "cider" aspect. Well after an hour it settled down. Was there some VA? Yes, for sure. The acidity was surprisingly high but seemed not totally integrated with the wine. But despite all this, the nose was complex and enticing: cocoa powder, very floral, strawberry and leather. Yeah sure, throw some VA in the mix. On the palate, it's big but not overwhelming. Save for that weird acidity, it is also complex with again plenty of leathery and floral notes along chocolate and ripe strawberry. Far from a perfect wine but it managed to give me so many different emotions and showed different faces.



This is 2003, this is the vintage. The vines have suffered, the winemaker as well. The wine is showing it. But this is what I want. I want to understand the vintage when I taste the wine. More and more, wine (especially Bordeaux) is becoming like a NV Champagne: the same year after year when everybody try to erase the particularities of the vintage.

I remember Jean-Marc Roulot, saying he wants his wines to be different every vintages. Well, Mr Roulot, Bravo !