Showing posts with label wine & food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wine & food. Show all posts

Saturday, August 15, 2020

MADE IT TO DESSERT WITH A VOUVRAY


In August 2020 the French Winophiles are having a bit of a free-for-all in the Loire Valley! Jill Barth is hosting this month, don't miss her invite post. The options in the Loire are endless. Red, whites, rosés, sparkling wines, pétillant naturel, dessert wines, the Loire offers it all. We were to select whichever wine(s) we fancied, and we've got quite an inspiring list from everyone. Check it out below, and then join us on 15 August at 8 AM PST to talk about Loire wines on Twitter under #winophiles.


LOIRE WINES + VOUVRAY
The Loire Valley wine region is along the Loire River and stretches from north central France to the Atlantic coast. The region has tremendous natural beauty, gorgeous châteaux, and a long history of winemaking, since the Romans planted grapevines there in the 1st century AD. Loire wines at one point were considered the most prestigious, even more than Bordeaux. A majority of the wine is white, although red wine from Cabernet Franc is also made in some areas. After Champagne, Loire is the second largest region for sparkling wine - crémant. It is also a very diverse wine region that offers exceptionally food friendly wines that are a true expression of their terroir and varietal due to no oak aging. It is a truly vast and varied wine region, sure to have something for every palate!

Each area in Loire has distinct characteristics and is known for certain wines. Almost all ~5,500 acres of Vouvray AOC, near the city of Tours, for example, are dedicated to the Chenin Blanc grape. Chenin Blanc is a high acid grape known locally as Pineau de la Loire and is believed to have originated in the Anjou wine region of Loire sometime in the 9th century. From there it eventually migrated to Vouvray. Vouvray white wines (Chenin Blanc) are categorised as sec, demi-sec, and molleux, and doux depending on acidity and residual sugar. Vouvrays from good vintages have aging potential, although they are also excellent without significant aging. Whatever the style of Vouvray wine, the one common characteristic amongst the wines is freshness/crispness.

For all that the region contributes to French and global culture, the Loire Valley was added to UNESCO’ World Heritage list in 2000. It is an area of France worth visiting regardless of any distinctions. 

THE WINERY + THE WINE
DOMAINE DU VIKING
In the early part of the 20th century, most of Vouvray (like much of viticultural France) was worked by farmers in polyculture. Cows, sheep, and grain were raised alongside vines. Such was the case for the land belonging to Lionel and Francoise Gauthier, the owners of Domaine du Viking. Francoise’s grandparents owned just 2 hectares of vines in the early 1940’s along with animals and grain crops. As is still the case in many areas of France, winemaking was primarily for family and local consumption. Until August 11, 1944 when Francoise’s grandfather, Maurice, was killed by Nazi soldiers after being caught trying to blow up some train tracks. His son, Francoise’s father, was suddenly in charge and in an effort to keep the family afloat, converted all of the land into vineyards. The family haven't looked back since then!

Most of the Domaine's 13 hectares are not on the famous chalk (tuffeau) soils that make up over 90% of Vouvray, but on the hard flinty soils of the northern tip of the appellation. Soils that produce crisp, mineral, and age-worthy Vouvrays.

As shown in the Google street view shot I took, the winery is more of a garage, although they do host tastings there. Domaine du Viking is also quite well known for its sparkling wines, made with the expertise acquired through Marcel L'Homme, the third generation of a family of farmers and vine growers.


2017 Domaine du Viking Vouvray Tendre
13.5% ABV | SRP $14
100% Chenin Blanc

Soil: 
Flint soils of Reugny rather than the more typical tuffeau soils further to the south and west in Vouvray

Vinification: 
Grapes from 50-60 year old vines, hand harvested and hand sorted, pressed and fermented by native yeasts. Aged in tank for at least 12 months before release.

Colour: 
Medium yellow

Nose: 
White flowers, lemon zest, baked apples, a faint earthiness

Palate: 
Sweet white flowers, lemon zest, baked apples, a faint earthiness, and a delightful stony minerality on the finish. Off-dry with a juicy acidity and pleasant amount of residual sugar without being cloying. Medium body and finish, overall a really delicious wine after 3 years in bottle... could perhaps be fine for a while but I'm not sure it would benefit greatly from further aging. 

Pairing: 
We had a very late lunch so we weren't hungry at dinner but by the time 9.30 PM came around we were a bit peckish so we decided to make it a light meal. We enjoyed this wine with two different but similar cheeses... a Fromager d'Affinois Brebicet from Rhône-Alps and a geo-rind MonS Mary dans les Étoiles cheese. Along with a black cherry-charred scallion relish (recipe below), a slathering of raw honey, a sunflower seed loaf, and a baguette.

The MonS Mary dans les Étoiles is a gorgeous goat's milk cheese with a rind of Geotrichum candidum (a mold-like yeast also used in Loire cheeses). It is a creamy cheese with a fresh citrusy, savoury vegetal flavour. The Brebicet is a sheep's milk cheese with a similar consistency to Brie but slightly more pronounced aromas. Can best be described as a sheep's milk Brie.

Black Cherry-Scallion Relish
makes 1 cup

- 4 scallions, cleaned
- 1 tbsp chopped green scallion tops
- 1-1/2 cups black cherries, pitted and quartered
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp white wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
  1. Put the scallions in a cast iron pan, and heat until charred and softened but not mushy. Remove from heat, let cool. Halve each scallion and dice.
  2. In a medium bowl add the salt, pepper, vinegar, and oil. Stir to mix well. Add the scallions, scallion greens, and cherries. Mix well.
  3. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, vinegar to taste.
  4. Serve with cheese and sliced baguette.

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Thursday, October 18, 2018

LIRAC AOC: HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT!



This month the French #winophiles explored Southern Rhône wines including some from Lirac AOC. A few of us, including I, received a generous four bottles of Lirac AOC wine from Teuwen Communications (http://teuwen.com/). Read to know more about the red Lirac wines I received!

 Although the 1700-acred Lirac AOC in the Gard department of the Rhône Valley is literally across the street river from the very well-known Châteauneuf-du-Pape, it is most certainly not as well known as it should be. With a history of viticulture and winemaking dating to pre-Roman times, ongoing excellent wine making by a small group of small domains making large wines, a Mediterranean climate, a location more protected from the harsh Mistral winds than the Northern Rhône, and a slew of grape-friendly soils like galéts rouléts, limestone, sand, and red clay in various combinations, Lirac is poised to produce world-renowned excellent wines. Wines that should be as famous - if not more - as Ch.-du-Pape to the east. Instead, Lirac is full of "boutique" wineries that are family-owned and operated for generations, and many that are formally committed to Sustainable Farming practices.

 Before Lirac was designated as a separate AOC in 1947, it was part of the Côtes du Rhône AOC, a designation that has existed since the mid-1700s, and at a time when Lirac was far more important a wine producing region than Ch.-du-Pape. Lirac AOC is spread over four communes, with  red, white, and rosé wines being produced. The wines here are similar to the Côtes du Rhône-Villages and Ch.-du-Pape wines. The main red grapes are grenache, syrah, mourvèdre, cinsault, red picpoul and clairette, and a few other varietals that complement the main three - GSM - grapes.

https://domainedarbousset.com/
A note on galéts rouléts: these rounded pebbles (called as such when they are within a specific size range, somewhere between boulders and various grades of sand) - are common in areas where rivers or oceans previously extended to present-day inland. The pebbles are formed by erosion from the force of the water, and are various types of rocks depending on the local geology: basaltic in Walla Walla, WA river channels, granitic in some parts of the Languedoc, and quartzite in Lirac and the rest of Southern Rhone. The pebbles, no matter what stone they are, are inert and offer no effect on the minerality or flavour of wine. But the fact that the pebbles retain heat from the daytime hours and keep the bases of the vines warm at night makes a difference to the ripening of the grapes and ultimately, the wine. They are a distinct part of climat.

 The Lirac AOC wines and pairings we had...

 FOOD
  1. Cheese and charcuterie plate, garnishes
  2. Icelandic lamb crusted with rosemary, lavender, thyme, savoury, marjoram, sage; Puy lentils
  3. Duck salmis (a very old-fashioned but outstanding way to cook duck), pommes fondantes, sautéed mushrooms, croutons
  4. Herb sausages, Puy lentils, pommes fondantes
  5. Duck rillettes, roasted grapes, fig jam, and gougères (with Comté and Füürtüfel cheeses)

2014 CH. DE MONTFAUCON "BARON LOUIS" LIRAC ROUGE, $24
http://www.chateaumontfaucon.com/en/index.html

Domain: From the famous Chateau de Montfaucon, as much a historic site with les ruines as a winery, with a long legacy dating to the 12th century and prehistoric times even before that! Owned and operated by Rodolphe de Pins, a UC Davis (CA) grad.

Grapes: 50% grenache, 15% syrah, 15% cinsault, 10% each mourvèdre and carignan. Destemmed and co-fermented for 7 days, then two weeks extended skin maceration. Aging: 70% of the blend aged in oak barrels, + 8 months bottle aging before release. 

Soil: sandy loam, limestone

Colour: Deep ruby, almost opaque

Nose: Berries, earth

Taste: Fresh berries, bramble, turned earth, hint of peppery spice. Silky tannins, medium+ acidity, lush, balanced with a long finish.

Pairing: 1: cheese and charcuterie plate. Absolutely perfect!
2015 DOMAINE D'ARBOUSSET LIRAC ROUGE, $15
https://domainedarbousset.com/

Domain: Gérald Lafont of Domaine D'Arbousset consults for 40 different wineries but Lirac is his passion. He farms sustainably on a 6.1 acre plot in Saint-Laurent-des-Arbres that he inherited from his father, and on another plot in the Claretière plateau in Lirac.

 Grapes: 70% grenache, 10% each syrah, mourvèdre, cinsault, destemmed and fermented in concrete vats using indigenous yeasts. Aging: 70% in concrete, 30% in demi-muids, 18 months. 

Soil: galéts rouléts, sand, clay, limestone

Colour: Deep ruby, almost opaque

Nose: Berries, licorice, some earth

Taste: Raisins, red berries, pepper. Silky tannins, lush, balanced with a long finish. Very elegant wine.

Pairing: We had this with 2, 3, 5. This was one of our favourite wines of the four!
2015 DOMAINE MABY "BEL CANTO" LIRAC ROUGE, $20

Domain: The Maby family were originally shoemakers who, like the rest of the village, grew some grapes and made wine to sell locally. Now they have grown substantially in production and area, but are still very much a family-owned winery formally committed to Sustainable Farming practices.

 Grapes: 100% grenache, whole cluster fermentation in 600 litre oak barrels (demi-muids) for 15 months

Soil: galéts rouléts, sand

Colour: Rich garnet, medium opacity

Nose: Red berries, peppery, floral, some earth

Taste: Cooked red berries, cherries, dried flowers, licorice. A lush wine with a peppery finish, medium-plus acidity, balanced tannins, and a medium-long finish. Delicious on its own or with food, even better after decanting for ~15 minutes.

Pairing: We had this with 2 and 3. While both pairings were delicious, the lamb was the star of the food pairings!


2013 DOMAINE DU CASTEL OUALOU CUVÉE FÛT DE CHÊNE ROUGE, $20

Domain: Terra Vitis certified family-owned and operated domain, since 1961.

 Grapes: 40% grenache, 50% syrah, 10% mourvèdre. Destemmed, foulage (grapes stomped with feet), fermented in steel tanks, and aged in concrete vats buried 17 ft. underground for 4 months then 225 litre oak barrels for 18 months.

Soil: clay, sand

Colour: Deep red, some purple, medium opacity

Nose: Red berries, vanilla, woody

Taste: Wood, pine needles, cocoa, peppery spice at the end. Medium acidity, balanced tannins, medium finish. A savoury and unique wine!

Pairing: 2, 3, 4. All delicious!


See the other rave reviews of  Southern Rhône wines from the rest of the #winophiles...
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