Month: March 2023

YET ANOTHER IMPRESSIVE EFFORT FROM A THEVENET

The name Thevenet is pretty common in Burgundy, including the proprietors of a couple of our favorites from the Maconnais in Domaine de la Bongran and Emilian Gillet, and a Beaujolais producer of some repute (Jean-Paul Thevenet) as well as rising star Anthony. It’s hard to keep track of all the Thevenets without a program. Today’s subject is one we have sold only one other time (a sparkling wine) and, for whatever reason, gets little attention from the press (we did find a couple of WIne Advocate reviews…from the mid-90s. But the Thévenet & Fils Saint Véran Clos de l’Ermitage Saint Claude Vieilles Vignes 2021 was such an impressive effort at such an attractive fare, it merited adding yet another Thevenet to the mix.

Asto the estate, Jean-Claude Thevenet took the reins for this family domaine in 1971 from his father, Raymond. At the time, their holdings were a mere three 3 hectares. Jean Claude proceeded to build the domaine to its current size of 30 hectares with vineyards centered on their village of Pierreclos at the heart of the Maconnais. In addition to working their own vineyards, the Thévenet family, for three generations, has also conducted a successful nursery business producing fine quality grape vines for many family-owned domaines in Burgundy and also in the Champagne district. Now his three sons (Benjamin, Jonathan and Aurélien) are part of the team.

This prestige cuvée is produced from the oldest vines in a five-hectare parcel (Clos de l’Ermitage Saint Claude ) exploited entirely as a “monopole”by the Thevenet family. The average age of the south-facing Chardonnay vines located in Prissé are seventy years old, certainly validating the nomenclature vieilles vignes. The production of this cuvee is rather limited at roughly 1000 cases per year, and it sees no oak aging.

This is an unexpectedly broad-shouldered Chardonnay particularly given its origins. Sizeable, well packed, with a firm backbone of fine acidity and big fruit to match. Pear and citrus are the main themes with floral elements to the nose and a sleek underpinning of acidity. Impressive, particularly for the fare.

JUICY, ‘HOUSE RED’ COTES DU RHONE FROM DOMAINE MANARINE

An important part of being a wine merchant is to provide wines for any situation and budget.  It’s easy enough to cut and paste scores for hot items.  We do that kind of thing as well as anyone.  But finding that compelling, angst-free, tasty well priced go to is equally exciting to us.  We are always on the hunt for ‘the deal’ be that catching a price reduction or timing a purchase just right.  But there are also wines out there that simply overdeliver all the time.  Cotes du Rhone is one of those categories.  Find a good guy in a good vintage and you can get compelling wines for a song. 

This piece is about Domaine la Manarine, a delicious Cote du Rhone that presents of mouthful of delightful, spicy Grenache fruit for a song.  It’s been a while but that had more to do with timing with the wholesaler.  We’ve known the wine for a long time as a prior incarnation was a wine-of-the-month on the front page of one of our old printed newsletters back at the old location.

Domaine la Manarine was created by Gilles Gasq in April 2001. The winery and majority of his vineyards are located within the commune of Travaillan, on a splendid plateau northeast of Orange in the southern Rhone. Gilles is a talented vigneron who has honed his skills working as an assistant to Paul Jeune, the proprietor of the highly respected Domaine Monpertuis in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Expanding his holdings each year, Domaine La Manarine now encompasses 33 hectares of vineyards situated largely on what is known as the “Le Plan de Dieu”.

This area, covered in large, round stones called galets is a happy place for Grenache.  The standard bearer of the domaine is the Côtes du Rhône Rouge produced from the younger (but not young) vines (average 35 years old) of the estate. This wine is 100% Grenache and produces a classically spicy, full-bodied wine that speaks clearly of the “garrigue” of the region. The grapes are destemmed before the fermentation and the cuvaison is on the order of three weeks duration. The wine is bottled without filtration after twenty to twenty-four months of “élevage”.

The Manarine Côtes du Rhône 2020 is an essential wine in this category. The 2020 is a punchier, juicier version of this wine.  The Grenache follows the path of a lot of the 2020s with a big, spicy, slightly garrigue-y (scents of fresh wild herbs) mouthful of kirsch and red currant fruit.  Ample, bright, flavorful, this is a display of bright, unfettered, character-filled fruit that tastes of its origins.  It’s a steal at $13.98!

We don’t have any scores and highlights on Manarine simply because writers rarely talk about little wines like this.  But this wine’s boisterous fruit and versatility make it a great choice with a wide variety of dishes and everyone needs a delicious and economic choice to open without too much thinking. Here you go.