March 2017

CHATEAU DES TOURS BROUILLY 2015

CHATEAU DES TOURS BROUILLY 2015

It’s probably reasonable for us to go easy on the prologue here. After all, we (and everybody else it seems) has generated a ton of prose about just how good the 2015s in Beaujolais are, how top flight producers are reaching back to 1947 for a reasonable comparison, and how Beaujolais is still one of the most underpriced regions in the wine world. Based on those strong ‘bullet points’ those of you that ‘get’ Beaujolais and/or appreciate a great value will take a good look at this one.

First off, we know it gets a little confusing when it comes to names. Aren’t there a lot of different properties containing the name ‘Tours’, which is simply French for ‘towers’? You bet, but there are a heck of a lot of towers out in the French countryside, from little one man-lookouts to the more expected turret on a large fortified castle. This is the only Brouilly we know of with that moniker, and it is also the first time we have brought in this small and, in this case, enormously successful effort.

The vineyards themselves consisted of an average of 45-year-old vines situated in a natural amphitheatre around the Château. The vines are planted in sandy soils resulting from the
disintegration of the granite bedrock. In other words, nutrient poor, thin, acidic soils where are still projections of the underlying rock. While this certainly wouldn’t be a happy place for most crops, the Gamay grape thrives here and these soils help keep the yields down.

We have been buying Beaujolais like maniacs of late because they have been everything they were reported to be…full flavored, round, packed with fruit and straight up delicious. We took a hard look at this one because we had already put together a lineup that was formidable. But when we tasted it, it was one of the most tawdry, shamelessly pandering examples we have had this year of any kind of red. When we heard the price, we would have been ashamed of ourselves if we didn’t buy it.

Sure there are bigger examples, more structured efforts, and certainly more famous names. But on the hedonist scale, this was a huge scorer. The black and red fruit component showed near perfect ripeness, it was lush and still light of its feet, and the texture was absolutely charming. You will have a hard time finding something sexier for this kind of fare.

Josh Raynolds of Vinous took a shine to it as well, writing “Bright violet. Spicy and sharply focused on the nose, displaying vibrant red berry, cherry and spicecake aromas and a hint of blood orange. Taut, juicy and energetic in style, offering zesty raspberry and bitter cherry flavors that flesh out slowly and turn sweeter with air. Closes long and juicy, featuring resonating spiciness and a late jolt of smoky minerality. ” Simply a lovely drink, and that is the point…$15.98

Double Down on this aged cab!

If you have ever driven on Alamo Pintado Road between Solvang and Los Olivos, you pass right by Blackjack Ranch Vineyards. If the name strikes you as a little curious, proprietor Roger Wisted essentially made his bones by inventing a game called ‘California Aces’, a variation on traditional Blackjack that essentially made it possible for gaming interests to circumvent an 1873 law banning the game of Blackjack in California.

In any case, many of the large retailers in Southern California knew Roger as a consumer with a penchant for big time Bordeaux some two decades ago. Surely, we weren’t the only ones surprised when we heard about Roger going into the winery business. But the surprise was less because he did it and more that he chose the Solvang area to feature a winery whose reputation was based on Bordeaux varietals. From a historical perspective at the time, this was rather outside the box in an area best known for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Roger made a bet and he won. The winery has stood the test of time and has spent nearly two decades as one of Robert Parker’s favorite wineries, including over 40 wines that have scored 90+. That’s some serious consistency considering his first vintage was in the mid-90’s!

This is a very personal, ‘hands on’ operation with respect to running the place. Roger is not some absentee owner running his winery from a mansion or boardroom in another part of the country. He is invested. One can also make the point that there is a definite ‘house style’. “Blackjack reds are demur, elegant, and restrained’ said no one, ever. The reds here are dark, extracted and packed with dense, weighty fruit, somewhat the antithesis of the typical profiles of the region. The old Ravenswood motto of ‘no wimpy wines’ definitely applies here.

The winery has changed horses from a distribution standpoint a few times, which may have resulted in the wines being less visible than they might otherwise have been. But when they do turn up again, as they did a few weeks ago, their distinctive stylings are unmistakable.

A selection of reds that was presented to us recently were true to form…dark, mouth filling, and substantial. But, one really jumped out. As we have tasted Blackjack over the years, we’ve occasionally wondered how they might age. We got the opportunity to find out with the Blackjack Harmonie 2005. The answer, at least in this case, was ‘very well’. Harmonie is the flagship red, in this vintage made from 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 15% Cabernet Franc that was aged in 100% sexy, new Taransaud French oak, arguably the Prada of the genre.

The Cabernet itself was harvested via five separate passes through the vineyard to select only the fruit that was optimally ripe. The Cab Franc came from a parcel on the steep Suicide Hill, adding aromatic highlights and complexity. The resulting wine, now over a decade old, is in a beautiful groove with blackcurrant, mocha, fresh tobacco, and a pleasing tinge of sweet herb. All those great Bordeaux that Roger had experienced over the years certainly helped create the blueprint for this little gem.

Interestingly, Wine Advocate’s Jeb Dunnuck tasted this wine as recently as 2015 and wrote, “I had never tasted the wines, but Robert Parker loved the older releases and I was thrilled to be able to taste them this go around. I came away more than impressed. These are concentrated, rich, and full-throttle beauties that deliver tons of fruit and texture while remaining balanced and thrillingly drinkable.

Of the 2005 Harmonie, he offered, “… classic cassis, lead pencil shavings, bay leaf and tobacco notes in a full-bodied, ripe, layered, yet elegant style on the palate…a beautiful Bordeaux blend that’s still fresh and lively. Feel free to drink this beauty anytime over the coming decade…92 points”

Tons of fruit, texture, balanced, with time in the bottle and at an appealing price? For Cabernet drinkers that’s the holy grail. And who wouldn’t enjoy popping the cork on something that’s ‘thrillingly drinkable’?

Originally $70 at the winery, Roger has an aggressive library program (his love of older Bordeaux certainly the inspiration) and has allowed us to secure a reasonable quantity of this wine at a terrific price. Only $39.98 for a recently-tasted 92-point Cabernet with bottle age from a terrific vintage.

How often does that happen?

Blackjack Ranch Harmonie Proprietary Red Wine 2005

Winex Launches New Sale Site!

UPDATE: THE SITE IS NOW LIVE – CHECK IT OUT AND SUBSCRIBE!

Wine Exchange is excited to announce to you, our amazing friends and customers, that we are launching a brand new website dedicated to offering even more incredible wine deals! Don’t worry, our daily offers from Winex aren’t going to disappear. In fact we are launching this new brand as an outlet for all of the amazing offers that we just don’t have the means to send you the traditional Winex way.

As loyal customers of Wine Exchange we’re giving you the opportunity to get a sneak preview of how our new site will work and to sign up to be among the first to take advantage of the deals once the site goes live in a few short weeks. Think of it as an exciting new flash deal site with a few other fun bells and whistles. You’re going to see some of the best deals that the buying team at Wine Exchange has ever come across, but you’ll have to be fast. Check out the look of the new site below and sign up at the bottom of the page to be on the email list for sale notifications. As an extra incentive we’ll send you 20% off your first order!

THE THREE TIER SYSTEM, PART DEUX

So last week we talked about the three tier system where importers and producers use a distributor to sell their wines, and whose function it was to buy the wine, pay the winery or importer and make his nut by selling to retailers and restaurants. This is the way it is in most states and is the time honored system for keeping order in the marketplace. While there are plenty of folks that would have that middleman function excised from the market, it is a fact that most wineries would function poorly handling that aspect of the business themselves, nor do they necessarily want to. But there are a lot of things that the consumer doesn’t necessarily see that threaten to undermine the system.

First it should be said that most smaller operations (stores and eateries) would have a hard time functioning without the distribution system as it is. Most stores and restaurants aren’t going to buy multiple cases of a single item for discount for either space or money reasons, many couldn’t even make shipping minimums with just one item . So the distributor serves their needs by carrying multiple product lines under one roof and delivering them on one truck. Those outlets would likely not survive in the fiercely competitive California market without a classic distribution scenario. Such outlets are a dying breed as it is under the current system.

That being said, the distributors and the wineries are playing dangerous games with each other trying to have it all their way, and it is clear that two particular practices in particular, if they continue unabated, will eventually cause cracks in the dam. The first one is something that has become common place in the market…’the prearrival’. Yes stores offer prearrivals, basically taking orders on merchandise they have yet to order in many cases, and simply ordering n what they sell.

Big stores do it, though usually with the understanding that they have a certain allocation to work with that they should not exceed. Little stores do it so they appear like big stores, without necessarily having a guarantee of the goods actually being earmarked. This regrettable practice still goes on some places even in the wake of the whole Premier Cru scandal. This is not the same as actually buying the items in another market, as we do, and selling merchandise that while own while it is transit. The naked prearrival is a whole different discussion but contributes to what can be a rather tenuous situation in the market.

You see the wholesalers are kind of doing the same thing with a lot of lines these days. The distributors often don’t order in wines from a new vintage without offering it to the customers first, taking orders and then placing their orders with the importers. Smart you, say? Keeps inventory down, you say? OK, sure, but then are they really representing the lines if they offer only a list with scores as their sales campaign. Granted, that’s all some retailers do to, but it’s different (and not just because we’re retailers). A single, or even multiple retailers don’t necessarily represent the only access to the product. There are multiple retailers that can have a particular wine.

The distributor, however, is the only avenue for that wine to get into the market. So basically if they just pass around a sheet with no promotion, tasting, or other opportunities for buyers to evaluate the wines, are they actually ‘distributing’? If all they are going to do is order what we order from an importer back east, and ship it to us, have they really done enough for the brand to deserve the exclusivity that comes along the the distribution rights, which is usually one entity for an entire state? Are they performing enough of a distribution function to be entitled to the markup? We say no, but that is becoming more and more of a modus operendi among distributors.

While the practice of prearrivals in more prolific now, a few aspects have improved. Previously the wholesale would present the ‘prearrival’ to a store and not even tell them what they were going to get from their order or when it would arrive. Whatever it turned out to be would simply show up one day unannounced and at that moment the clock began ticking on your buying terms. The issue is that the wholesaler is supposed to function as a ‘stockist’ (as the Brits call them), delivery facilitator, and financier. There’s not a lot of ‘stocking’ going on.

If they are not doing those things, they are not performing their function, and cannot justify a significant finger in the pie. We could regale you with stories of how many times importers have come to us with offers based on a price understanding, and then their distributor wants to charge a full margin for doing nothing more than passing it through. Must have run it by the ‘anti-sales’ department.

The other catch is the wineries undermining their own distributors and outlets by offering better pricing to consumers than the distribution system can offer. A recent example illustrates our point. We won’t name names, but a winery with a rather well-known reserve bottling got some good recent press. As we explored the options for an offer, we noticed the standard markup based on the wholesale cost (not that we go by that price) was substantially higher than it should be based on the reviews.

We went on-line to the winery site and noted that any consumer could call the winery and join their club (at no cost), get and additional discount, and take home the wine for about $205 per bottle. The matrixed cost under the traditional distribution understanding extrapolated to about $269 and, even offering a 20% discount we could not get close because the wholesale price was set to high for the actual retail. Also note that we are a lot more aggressive than most of the market price-wise, so we can only guess how the ‘full markup’ people feel about this sort of thing.

This undercutting the market by the wineries is a growing practice as they try to expand their direct-to-consumer programs. Not seemingly a good long-term practice in that it could undermine the overall market, anger customers, and lose placements. It is especially annoying that this practice is coming from Napa Valley types that have spent the last three decades yelling at us because we were too aggressive.

We have another very popular Cabernet that not only allows a far below standard margin based on their wholesale and retail prices, but they insist you buy other items from their portfolio and maintain high prices on those for the ‘privilege’ of selling their Cabernet. Pot/kettle? Hey, we’ll be saving a lot on Christmas cards this year, and good luck selling those not-so-in-demand items yourselves.

Meanwhile, the point is that the ‘system’ either works for everyone, or no one. If everyone wants to have their cake and eat it, especially on such fundamental points, the ‘tiers’ are a little too fluid, and there really is no system at all.

SAVOIE: STILL AN UNDISCOVERED TREASURE

JEAN MASSON SAVOIE VIEILLES VIGNES TRADITIONNELLE APREMONT 2015

Savoie is still one of France’s great undiscovered treasures. These alpine valleys, pristine landscape, sleepy hamlets, and unique history make for a one of a kind wine growing region. Add to that, in this particular case, Jean-Claude Masson, described as one of the best winemakers in the region and but also a guy who might ‘party’ at the drop of a hat (or race cars, take out his jet ski or play rock and roll music). There is apparently a body of evidence to support the latter rumor but there is no doubt about generally jovial Jean Claude being as serious as a surgeon when it comes to his vineyards and winemaking.

The description of Masson’s art is intensely focused wine from impeccable organic vineyards. He is the fourth generation to run this 9 hectare estate and one who loves to explore his terroirs (he makes 10 different cuvees from his various parcels to showcase the subtle differences in character that emerge from plot to plot). The soils here are classic limestone which makes for great white wine.

For those that aren’t familiar with the tragic but remarkable story of this appellation, it’s worth a quick read. As it was succinctly described in an internet piece from ‘Down to Earth Wines,’

“The only sound to be heard is the nocturnal chorus of the wind and insects, playing their timeless tune. Out of this familiar calm and quiet explodes an unearthly rumbling. Quite literally, the heavens are falling!! Massive limestone boulders tumble and squash the majority of the homes; a panicked and bewildered crush of humanity and livestock scurry to seek shelter, helpless in the face of such elemental force. After only a few minutes of apocolyptic horror, the rumbling is done. Several thousand souls are killed beneath a 3 mile long flow of stone and earth……

This unimaginable nightmare is exactly what happened one fateful evening in 1248 in Apremont, France of the Savoie region of the Alps. The iconic limestone Mount Granier had collapsed, crushing everything in its path. The traumatic event was of such deeply scarring suffering to the valley’s inhabitants that the area forever more takes its name from this tragedy: “bitter mountain” or Apremont….As a direct result of this geological shift, the limestone debris radically changed the landscape and its agricultural usefulness.”

Tough story, but the layer of limestone that spread itself across the valley paved very special turf for growing wine, particularly the kind of zingy whites that are the hallmark of this part of France. Jacquere, Roussanne and Altesse are the stars of the region. There are similarities to Muscadet in the respect that these wines can sometimes be on the leaner side. But they always have bright acidity, plenty of verve and insistent streaks of minerality. They will usually work very nicely to quaff some lake fish or other local delicacy.

However, in the right hands, in riper vintages, Savoie whites can have a lovely core of yellow stone fruits, delicate florality to the nose, and a little richer texture, which along with the usual components makes for some pretty delicious drinking. Not big but precise, clean, fresh and persistent flavors of white peach, stones, floral notes, and white tea. This little gem is from 100% Jacquere, farmed organically, from old vines.

Sancerre Lives: CLAUDE RIFFAULT

Claude Riffault Sancerre Les Boucauds 2015

There was a period not that long ago where we were bemoaning ‘paradise lost’ with respect to Sancerre. You often don’t fully appreciate something until you don’t have it anymore. We all have had an experience or two that illustrates the saying. Well, it also happens with wine. As buyers we are supposed to take care of a variety of different genres. In our case, we don’t have a quota that dictates how many Cabernets or Chardonnays should be in stock at any given time. We taste and buy what we think are the best representations of the genre. If that means 100, fine. If we can only find 10, so be it. There are even times in the past where we’ve ended up with nothing.

Our principle objection to what was coming out of Sancerre was the lack of ‘cut’. Sancerre is prized for its verve and precision, which over a few vintages there was lacking in far too many bottlings. Was this an attempt to tune Sancerre to the broad market palate? Was the genre simply at odds with ‘global warming’? Yes, the wines have to have fruit. The trick is to have both fruit and snap. One of the producers that brought us out of our Sancerre ‘funk’ a couple years back was Claude Riffault. His 2013 Les Boucauds dazzled with both the mineral infused grapefruit and pear flavors, and that pop to the finish that left the tongue begging for more. We got excited about Sancerre again, and have been having a pretty fine run of late. But we pay special attention when the Riffault wines come along.

This domaine is now under the direction of Claude’s 30-something son, Stéphane, who is younger than most of the vines (30-40 years old) that he’s working with in this vineyard. Stéphane organically farms the hillside chalky soils, harvests by hand, carries the crates out of the vineyard by hand, and sorts them rigorously before a single grape is crushed. All is done in stainless steel to preserve the wine’s freshness and the fruit’s verve. In other words the young man does ‘all the right things’, and it shows in the wine’s purity and precision.

There’s an insistent minerality and a clean cut of acidity in this textbook effort of the Claude Riffault Sancerre Les Boucauds 2015, overlaid by an energetic, yet tender-edged blast of those familiar elements of grapefruit, kiwi, and quince. This is what great Sancerre used to taste like, in an even more deeply textured, saline sort of way. Loads of fruit, all stainless steel and the nerve to counterbalance the weightier texture Riffault achieves with this wine, perhaps that volume amplified a little more by the 2015 vintage. While he is still early in his career, it is clear that Stéphane has ‘touch’.

The notes from Wine Advocate’s Stephan Reinhardt, who is clearly ‘on board’ again, sound familiar to our descriptions of both the 2013 and this 2015. Stéphane clearly has his groove on. In Reinhardt’s words, “…the 2015 Sancerre les Boucauds is a very clear, fresh and aromatic flavored wine that was partly fermented in stainless steel and partly in French oak barrels. Full-bodied and elegant, the wine has a round, almost creamy sur-lie texture, but also a refreshing, very well-integrated acidity. The 2015 has power but also a serious phenolic and mineral grip; it comes along as a persistently aromatic, well balanced Sancerre with well dosed power and lingering fruit flavors. Very nice purity and texture…92 points”.

It may be a little premature to make predictions, but we see a lot of similarities between Stephane Riffault’s wines and some of the earlier efforts of Cotat before things went a little over-the-top there. Certainly comparisons with Alphonse Mellot are reasonable as well. In other words the ‘kid’ is already playing at a high level, and the biggest difference between his wines and the other notables we mentioned is…the price. Killer juice and still something of a value!

The three tier system

The term ‘three tier system’ is used to describe how the alcoholic beverage market works in most states. The term is tossed around rather liberally, particularly in articles regarding the ongoing battle of shipping wine to adults across state lines. This has been a hot button issue for at least the last quarter century, and we are sure a lot of consumers wonder what all of the fuss is about. We thought it might be a good time to touch on this issue. It’s complicated, and we should definitely recuse ourselves as we have a definite bias. But here goes anyway.

So what is the three tier system? The explanation is simple enough. It is a system in which each segment of the market is focused on a specific aspect of that market. At the origination level, either wineries (distilleries too for that matter) are producing wines which they then sell to wholesalers or importers are bringing in wines (or sprirts or beer for that matter) which they in turn sell to wholesalers. The wholesalers in turn sell the products to retailers and restaurants who, in turn, sell to the public. The flow chart is simple

Producers/Importers sell to>Distributors who sell to>Retailers/Restaurants

Couldn’t be simpler on paper. But in this ‘eliminate the middleman’ world we live in, there will be someone who will ask the obvious question ‘why do they need a wholesaler?’ Why not just sell direct to those retailers and restaurants? Wouldn’t the price be better without the extra markup? Pretty logical, right? Well, not really and, of course, it’s all about the money.

As you may know, some wineries do sell direct. Usually though they are limited volume brands that have a very tight control on where their wines go and don’t have to spend a lot of money on sales. Their brands are popular enough that buyers seek them out or consumers demand that the outlets carry them. In those cases it is often the case that the cost savings is minimal because the winery would just as soon pocket both ‘cuts’ of the distribution system. Also, out of state, wineries need to have a distributor either for the sake of functionality, or (often) by law.

Because they need to leave a little space to allow the wholesaler in the other states to make a profit, the winery will fix the ‘export’ price at one level (FOB) and then charge the ‘wholesale’ price here in state and keep that portion themselves, effectively selling it to everyone nation-wide at the same price. This provides what the wineries love to call the ‘level playing field’ for one and all. We could go off on quite the rant about how ‘level playing fields’ are like unicorns and leprechauns in that they are an interesting myth (and we still might do that someday). But today we are more on about the ‘why?’.

So why do wineries need distributors at all? Don’t they make more money if they sell it in the way described in the last paragraph? Yes, they do. But only a tiny portion of the winery roster has that kind of clout in terms of demand and can afford to put their own small sales force out in the market for business development and maintenance. Others that don’t necessarily have the situation to support their own sales force will offer their wines through a brokerage, paying a small commission to the seller.

So there still isn’t a reason to go with a distributor, you say. Why not minimize that middle tier cost? Like we said, it’s about the money. Usually brokers can’t sell enough of one winery’s produce to make a living. So they will assemble and represent a group of wineries, giving them more wines to offer clients. On the flip side, there is less time to focus on each of those individual wineries because there are still the same amount of hours in a day (except today of course) and they must attempt to sell everything. So the winery’s ‘sales force’ is marginalized as the representatives must spread their attention among the group. And at the end of the day, the winery themselves are responsible for collecting the money for the wines that the brokers have sold. That is easier said than done.

There are a lot of good operators out in the retail/restaurant marketplace, but also a lot of flakes. It doesn’t take long for a few slow-pays or bad-apples to run up some serious arrears that amount to thousands of dollars. Such sums can be crippling to a lot of wineries. As we have stated before in other pieces, the winery rep has to work very hard just to even get a placement in most restaurants, and then if they have to go back and try and collect that money, even if they are successful, it takes time away from selling.

The distributor model takes away all of that financial risk by buying the wine and reselling it, But they will need to be compensated not only for their investment, but their expenses of maintaining a sales force. And the distributor doesn’t necessarily want to operate as a de facto collection agency. They want the ‘good apples’, to. So typically the arrangement is all or nothing. The winery geets a smaller cut, but their money worries are greatly reduced. The distributor’s existence, the maintenance of an infrastructure, sales force, and as a collection arm, has to all be financed by that extra margin. Wineries love restaurants over retail 90% of the time, but restaurants are still one of the highest failure rate businesses, making money problems part of the territory. It’s not rocket science. Physics is much more predictable.

There is also the delivery system, and the maintenance of other services that the winery would otherwise have to arrange themselves. This model, as we said, largely eliminates financial risks (we say largely because sometimes distributors go under, too, though rarely). It also affords the winery to concentrate on production, broad market planning, going to lunch (see ‘broad market planning’), or whatever they feel they need to do.

Are we saying we embrace the distributor model and feel it is important to maintain the ‘three tier system’? Sort of. We are saying that the model exists for good ‘market’ reasons. In a lot of states, the arcane laws give the distributors almost ‘gangland-like’ fiefdoms, but that’s just the way it is (money, politics, etc.). The bottom line is there is a need for some manifestation of this service in virtually every market.

A winery could sell all of their wine to a big-box store or national chain. That would eliminate the need for a distributor. But they also wouldn’t end up with any other customers and pretty much be at that store’s mercy in time. Distributors ideally mediate that by spreading the product far and wide. It’s just like ‘diversifying your portfolio’ by establishing a broad and varied customer base.

So as to our take on the three tier system is, ‘we don’t have a better idea’. It works well enough and stabilizes the market enough that we can spend time looking for the seams and cracks and pockets where the ‘deals’ reside. The ‘system’ provides options for us to get the things that we want. The middle tier does serve a purpose because the market needs those services and they also absorb some risks. This is from guys (us) who are less in need of those services than most.

What we aren’t keen on is how some of the ‘modern’ distributors are playing fast and loose with the system, and how some of the wineries and importers are playing fast and loose with the distributors. Something’s got to give, but we’ll get into that another time.

BRIEFS (BLANC)

While we could write volumes on all of these (and may later on), we’d like to call attention to a few cool, off-the-main-road whites we’ve gathered in over the last few weeks. A little sunshine can do that. We’ll start by saying the 2015 whites from Savoie have been wonderful surprises. A little warmer vintage in these pristine high-valley vineyards add a layer of flesh and fruit as a bonus to the crisp minerality and pure, floral flavors. If we have to name one, start with the Jean Masson Savoie Vieilles Vignes Traditionnelle Apremont 2015, a fresh, delicate white with plenty of verve that is a star with lighter fish dishes.
Got Greek? We stumbled across Assyrtiko, a crisp, mineral infused white from the Greek island of Santorini during an attempt to put together a Greek wine section with a Greek food importer some years back. Curiously, not many years later, the brand, Sigalas, turned up on the Wine Spectator Top 100. Since that time more, and more serious Greek producers have found their way here. Ktima Vourvoukeli is new to us, and the winery is located in northeastern Greece about 30 miles from the Mediterranean. The Ktima Vourvoukeli Assyrtiko 2015 is an exciting find, especially considering the Sigalas has become trendy, more expensive and harder to keep in stock. This one is a touch fleshier with a nice layer of yellow stone fruit, a little less severe minerality, but still plenty of lift and brightness. We aren’t sure, since this is our first go-round with Ktima, if its the region, the vintage, or both that gives it its particular character, but it is a superb alternative white at a great price. Oopah!
We have been threatening to bring out examples of the new wave in South Africa but have be restrained to a large extent by some of the passionate new importers’ lack of logistical skills. We know enough to tell you that there is a groundswell of fresh activity around the Cape and some unique and exciting new faces coming down the pike, however slowly. We’ve been doing this long enough to know that you likely aren’t going to go looking for something called Thorne and Daughters Rocking Horse Cape White 2015 unless we give you a good reason. This is a captivating if previously unimagined white blend of 33% Roussanne, 28% Semillon blanc, 20% Chardonnay, 18% Chenin Blanc and 6% Clairette that comes together to deliver a sleek melange of white stome fruit, citrus, delicate botanicals and a slightly honeyed note. There’s a tactile yet waxy mouthfeel with a good backbone of acidity. Skillfully done, this one really grabbed us.

Maxime Magnon Corbieres Rozeta 2015

MAXIME MAGNON CORBIERES ROZETA 2015

Think different. That has been a pretty effective marketing slogan for a certain tech company over the years, but it also applies to some of the revolutionary minds behind certain wine estates. In the earliest days of our wine experience, producers were struggling with more mundane problems like hygiene and weather. But as winemaking and viticulture improved, problem bottles were much less of an issue. Then it seemed that technology took over, and there was a period where far too many wines were technically flawless but not very interesting to drink.

The pendulum has now swung back the other way, with more and more producers eschewing the extreme technical regimens and moving back to a simpler time, organic viticulture and a more hands-off approach to winemaking.

This new/old trend is almost a complete return to old school winemaking which does the most to let the character of the vineyard shine by not doing the ‘hands-on’ things that might mediate that terroir element. Wines like these, when done right, are the purest expressions of place. The very best, as we have said on occasion, achieve a level of purity and expression that transcends even the appellation itself. The Maxine Magnon Corbieres Rozeta 2015 is that kind of effort.

Maxine Magnon is a Burgundian, an interloper to this land in the Corbieres A.O.C. Assembling parcels of old vines, he purchased mostly vineyards planted on schist and limestone subsoils in the sub-appellation Hautes Corbières, bordering Fitou to the South. Dogmatically focused on maintaining soil balance and a harmonious ecosystem in his vineyards, it is not surprising that his farming is certified organic and employs a number of biodynamic practices. This regional ‘hero’ is certainly a loyal follower of his mentor’s ideas, they being Jean Foillard in Morgon and good buddy, biodynamic guru Didier Barral in Faugeres. His wine retains the character and complexity of both these hands-off winemaking legends.

Maxime has made quite a name for himself in the short existence of this domaine (founded in 2002). We have had some pretty rousing examples ourselves on occasion. But even though we know the guy is something of a rock star in his part of the world, we don’t remember anything like this. Perhaps the deep, juicy fruit of 2015 is what took this one to the next level, but whatever the cause, the result is exciting.

The wine itself comes from two terroirs, one that contains an abundance of the classic garrigue of Corbieres and the other a rocky schist with virtually no topsoil that feels more like the Roussillon. The blend is predominantly old vine Carignane (65%) in a field blend with Grenache, Syrah and not-so-mainstream varietals Grenache Gris, Macabou, and Terret (the first two being white varietals and the third having mutations in both white and red).

Now the first thing we need to say is that the Rozeta is a real attention grabber that doesn’t taste like most people’s idea of Carignane, which can lean a little stemmy, nor does it have the intense garrigue component usually associated with the Corbieres appellation. It is a captivating red with an inviting nose of red fruits, spice, lavender and minerals that grows more intense and complex as it unwinds. In the mouth you get a ripe, lifted mouthful with lots of red and blue fruit, insistent spice notes and a pleasing touch of earth. In short, this is a delicious effort with both richness and brightness that takes a path all its own, with a direction veering towards the finest Morgons from mentor Foillard or, dare we say it, Burgundy. We had no idea this was a Carignane grown in Corbieres until they told us. All we knew is the wine was ‘a trip’ and offered a take on both the region and the varietal that we had not seen before.

Previous versions of Rozeta have received great press, and this is certainly the best version yet from a terrific vintage in The Sud. It will get a HUGE score. But that is not the point(s). The wine is the point.

Is it the vintage? The terroir? The 50-60 year old vines? The naturally manicured-by-farm-animals vineyard? The 30-something, low-keyed Maxine’s je ne c’est quoi? All of the above? Hard to know, but it’s something very tasty and engaging that steps outside the boundaries of its origins. For how it performs, it’s something of a bargain as well. We bought everything Kermit Lynch had because it lit us up, but quantities aren’t huge. Good hunting.

Jamek Riesling Ried Klaus Federspiel 2015

JAMEK RIESLING RIED KLAUS FEDERSPIEL 2015

We’ve became big fans of Jamek a few years back. The best efforts were packed with character and also had sufficient flesh to go along with the traditional zing. The we lost sight of them for a number of years as they left their old importer and hadn’t found a new arrangement as yet. Finally they were back and not a moment to soon. It would have been a shame to miss their efforts from the best Austrian vintage we have tasted.

Here in Wachau, as most know, they take the step of identifying the ripeness levels of their wines ala Germany, with Federspiel being more or less the equivalent of kabinett, with the measure referring to the ripeness levels of the grapes. It means the same in fact, that the grapes were harvested at a certain sugar. But the key element is that in Germany the presumption is that the wine is fruity (it can be dry, or half-dry, but it will state that on the label). In Austria, Riesling are dry unless they say otherwise, which in the case of federspiels, they never do.

On the palate, this one flirts with Smaragd richness, with a lovely textural presentation of yellow stone fruit and pear supporting the presentation of floral, citrus, and mineral tones. As always, the wine has lift and layers, and sits higher on the palate. But the fruit and deceptive density of the vintages give this Riesling an extra dimension.

Stephan Reinhardt notes are enticing, “The 2015 Riesling Federspiel Ried Klaus offers a precise bouquet of white fruits intertwined with herbal and flinty stone aromas. Round and intense on the palate, with beautiful concentration and a persistent, lovely salty finish, this is a highly elegant and complex, tightly structured Riesling from one of the most spectacular single-vineyard sites of the Wachau. The finish is full of tension, purity, salt and finally pretty long as well.”

His accompanying 90 point score didn’t jive with the review, and we think it’s on the low side. This is an unabashed, pristine beauty that sports a uniquely ripe, tender fruit component along with all of the classic lines of the genre that are unique to this special vintage. Sehr gut!