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(l
to r) Nicolas Haeni, Albéric Mazoyer, Christophe Tassan, and Michel Gassier |
(Moderated
by Christophe Tassan, Sommelier at MIX in Las Vegas, this seminar takes
look at the current crop of wines from three producers from France's Rhône Valley.)
The first seminar from the 2011 Hospice du Rhône, was designed as an introduction to the 2nd largest wine producing region in France, the Rhône Valley. The Rhône is generally divided into two sub-regions with distinct vinicultural traditions, the Northern Rhône and its Syrah-based wines, and the Southern Rhône, and it's Grenache, carignan and Mourvedre-based wines. As with an introduction of anything, there is no way to fully cover the Rhone Valley in a single seminar. Thus, three producers were selected to discuss the region and present some of their wines. Of course, no introduction would be complete without the requisite factoids. The Rhône Valley has 1,550 wineries, 96 co-ops, 55 négiotiants, and 6 unions of producers. Would you like more numbers? Okay, 80% of the wines are CdR or CdRV; 20% are Crus; 30% of the wines produced here are exported; they are the 2nd largest organic AOC; and, they experianced a growth of 22% in the U.S. versus 2009 totals.
Wines of the Rhône Valley |
Château De Nages 2009 – Costières de Nimes, Notre Paiis, Blanc. This 95% Grenache Blanc had an effusive nose of lemon-lime, honeydew and a faint waxy note. Organically grown, and coopered in neutral oak probably contributes to the juicy mouthfeel and wonderful crisp acids, and long flavorful finish.
Château De Nages 2009 – Costières de Nimes, Vieilles Vignes, Rouge. A blend of old vine Carignan and Mourvedre, the nose is a compote of creamy red and black fruit. Very nice mouthfeel, fine-grained tannins, and long tasty finish.
Domaine de Cabasse 2007 Côtes du Rhône Villages Séguret, Cuvee Garnacho, Rouge. A blend of 75% grenache noir, 10% carignan, 8% counoise, and 7% syrah, This somewhat rustic dark fruit, has plenty of raspberry fruit, yet still seems a little tight. Big and chewy in mouthfeel, plenty of dark fruit flavors, and a very nicely balanced long finish.
Domaine de Cabasse 2007 Gigondas, Rouge. This 100% Syrah was a bit restrained, yet there were some obvious notes of smoke and bacon to compliment the dark fruit. Full mouthfeel, with a nice smooth overall texture, and medium-long finish.
Domaine Alain Voge 2008 Côtes du Rhône, Les Peyrouses. Slightly rustic dark fruit nose, with aromas of limestone and chalk. Rustic in mouthfeel as well, with a huge mid-palate, yet a bit clipped on the finish. Terrific nose here, and hopefully the wine will fill out more completely over time.
Domaine Alain Voge 2007 Cornas, Les Vieilles Vignes. Lovely nose of dark fruit, bacon, roasted meat and chalky limestone. A bit rustic in mouthfeel, but quite tasty, with smooth tannins and long flavorful finish.
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After the moderator gave us a rather long slide-show introduction to both the region and the wines, we were treated to Michel Gassier discussing his Château De Nages. Speaking flawless accent-free English (due in no small part to his having spent 10 yrs in the U.S.), Michel described how his 70-hectares of Château de Nages is planted with Syrah, which seems to excel in the soil, creating dark, concentrated, tannic grapes, while the Grenache is reserved for the poorer soils which temper its natural growth. In addition, Mourvèdre seems to add a spicy complexity to the finished wines. Michel discovered that certain parcels of his had a predilection for Roussanne, as well as Grenache Blanc to round out his white blends.
Michel described Costières de Nîmes as the southern most vineyard of the Rhone Valley, where Rhone varieties are planted on the stony alluvial despoits of the Rhone River, and dry winds of the Mistral blow regularly. He also explained something less intuitive than you might think - how the heat of the day becomes cool at night to help keep the wines from this region fresh. Apparently, the top layer of stones stores up the heat of the sun. Then at night, the heat is released by the stones accentuating the natural convection caused by the cool sea air that comes in from the Rhone Delta called the Petite Camargue. The warm rising air displaces the cooler air above it, forcing the cool air downward. As a result, the temperature range between day and night is increased.
Next up was Nicolas Haeni, of Domaine de Cabasse. The Alfred Haeni family moved from Switzerland to Séguret in 1990, and operate both a winery and a hotel. In 2004, Nicolas took over management of the winery, and continued in his father's tradition. The growing area extends across twenty hectares and various appellations: Séguret, Sablet Côtes du Rhône Villages A.O.C., and Gigondas A.O.C.
He seemed to love their location in Séguret in the Provençe, a region where the Romans planted vineyards. Jucunditas (Latin for “joie de vivre”), is now known as Gigondas. Nicolas described their most recent challenge - the terracing encompassing 3.7 hectares in Séguret, which were laid out in 2005 and planted in 2006. They were able to terrace the mountain slope while at the same time taking into consideration the landscape’s view and the risk of erosion. All steps of the terracing were measured by laser and have a slope of three percent. The drainage is first led to the crest of the hill before it flows over the terracing. These specifications qualified them for the EU-supported Priorat Life Project. The terracing also afforded very dense planting.
The last panelist was Albéric Mazoyer, of Domaine Alain Voge in Cornas. Albéric is Alain Voge’s partner and operating winemaker. Albéric now runs the estate. Alain excelled in conventional grape-growing, but Albéric convinced him to go biodynamic. Voge has 6.5 ha of Syrah in Cornas AOC, 4 ha of Marsanne in St Péray AOC, 1 ha of Syrah in St. Joseph AOC, and a few more Syrah vines in the CdR. The Syrah vines are planted in decomposed granite, known locally as gore, on some of the most beautiful hillsides in the Cornas appellation. In the winery, the Syrah grapes used for the red wines are destemmed. Fermentation is done in small (30-50 hl) stainless-steel vats; temperatures are controlled, and caps are punched once or twice daily. Ageing is done in oak barrels for 14-24 months, according to the “strength” and requirements of each wine. For the white wines, the grapes are pressed whole. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation is done in barrels for Fleur de Crussol and Terres Boisées, then the wine is aged on lees for 12-16 months. The Harmonie cuvée is vinified then aged on lees in vats only for 10 months.
Impressions: just listening to Michel Gassier was captivating enough. However, each of these Rhone producers had fascinating stories to tell and their individual respect and love for what they do, as well as for the land itself was awe inspiring. Frankly, I immediately wanted to go out and buy the wines I tasted.
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(l to r) Joey Tensley, Christopher Sawyer, and Morgan Twain-Peterson |
(Moderated
by wine journalist Christopher Sawyer, we
take a look at offerings from Tensley Wines and Bedrock Wine Company, with an emphasis on noting the distinction between both their origins and potentially their styles.)
Another eagerly awaited seminar, was this in-depth look at the Central Coast wines of Joey Tensley (Tensley Wines) and Sonoma County wines of Morgan Twain-Peterson (Bedrock Wine Co.). Many of the attendees were probably already familiar with Tensley's wines, but this was a chance to get the seemingly taciturn winemaker talking about his methods. Although Twain-Peterson's Bedrock wines have been a fairly hot topic on the internet boards of late, this would be my, and I suspect many others' introduction to his wines. The icons of both winerys are eerily similar - featuring a grayscale sketch of a vine and its root system. Aside from the obvious meaning, the MoJo title also is a clever play on the first two letters of their names. Makes you want to start dreaming up some clever stuff, doesn't it?
Wines of Tensley and Bedrock |
Tensley 2010 Blanc - Camp 4 Vnyd, Santa Ynez Valley. This white blend of 65% grenache blanc and 35% roussanne, is picked once and different degrees of brix, then co-fermented to get the viscosity created by the earlier ripening Roussanne. Nose of honey and lemon-lime, and similar flavors in the mouth, and through the long finish.
Tensley 2009 Syrah - Turner Vnyd, Sta. Rita Hills. From a late ripening vnyd (picked Dec 10), yielding 1.5-2 tons per acre. 25% whole cluster, and pressed straight to barrel. Slightly sweet and ripe dark fruit nose, with scent of limestone/chalk. Quite peppery on the palate, with deep flavors of bacon and blackberry and very long finish.
Tensley 2009 Syrah - Tierra Alta Vnyd, Santa Ynez Valley. Clone 99. Bright, and slightly reductive nose. Dark fruit, rustic feel on the palate, but smooths out to a long peppery finish.
Tensley 2009 Syrah - Colson Cyn Vnyd, Santa Maria Valley. Vnyd planted to clone 7 in 1998, at 1300' on red clay. 20% new oak. Fresh and effusive nose of sweet red and black fruit. Round on the palate, with very good balance, and nice touch of bacon accents the dark fruit through the long tasty finish.
Tensley 2009 OGT Syrah - Santa Barbara County. 50% Colson Cyn, 25% Thompson, 25% Tierra Alta. Coopered in 1-yr old barrels, and bottled only in magnums. Lovely blend, with lots of spice, black and red fruit and a touch of pepper on the long finish.
Bedrock 2009 Syrah – Hudson T Block, Sonoma Co. Phelps Clone 1, this vnyd was the source of Havens syrahs. Picked at 24.2 brix, 4% viognier added and coopered in 600L barrels. Nose of dark fruit, roasted meat, coffee and espresso. Very smooth across the palate, lots of dark fruit, nice balance and finish.
Bedrock 2009 Syrah – Sonoma Coast. 50% whole cluster fermentation. Slightly sweet nose, very fine-grained tannins, and nice balance. Really nice wine for $20, if a bit simple on the back end.
Bedrock 2008 Syrah – Hudson Vnyd, Sonoma Co. Influenced by Cornas. Blackberry aroma, along with a light floral/apricot scent, and some iodine. A bit dry in mouthfeel, but very nice balance and acids on the long finish.
Bedrock 2008 Syrah – Hudson Vnyd, Sonoma Co. Influenced by Gigondas. Nose of dark fruit, light coffee and espresso. Lovely mouthfeel, with smooth textures, fine-grained tannins, and tasty long finish.
Bedrock 2008 Syrah – Hudson Vnyd, Sonoma Co. Influenced by McLaren Vale. Nose of dark chocolate, spice, and pepper. Smooth on the palate, nice fade of flavors through latter half, though it does seem to make the finish seem short.
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Joey Tensley began his career in the wine business in 1993. After serving stints as cellar-rat at Fess Parker and assistant winemaker at Babcock, Joey was then hired in 1998 as assistant winemaker at Beckmen Vineyards. It was a fortuitous move, since it introduced him to Beckmen's speciality - Rhone varietals. Steve Beckmen also offered him space to launch his own label, and Joey began Tensley Wines. Three years later, after growth from 100 cases to 700 cases, he decided to move into his own winery and devote all of his time to his eponymous label.
From the beginning, Joey decided to produce only vineyard-designated Syrahs. He also decided that those Syrahs would all be priced the same and made in the same fashion. He used 30% whole cluster fermentation, three times daily hand punch-downs, and very little or no new oak.
But, never say never, and finally Tensley introduced a white Rhone blend, the Tensley Blanc (65% Grenache Blanc; 35% Roussanne), and a Grenache-Syrah blend named for Joey’s niece, but otherwise, the line-up remains the same: only vineyard-designated Syrahs made in exactly the same way and all priced the same.
Original production of 100 cases has steadily moved up to the current 4,000 cases. Tensley has a tasting room in Los Olivos, and wife Jennifer has even launched her own brand, Lea Wines, producing small quantities ofSyrah Rose and Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara County.
It could easily be said that Morgan Twain-Peterson was literally born into the wine business. In fact, he was born at home in Sonoma, Ca. to parents Joel Peterson and Kate Twain. Largely raised at his father’s Ravenswood Winery, Morgan was obviously exposed to wine and wine tasting from the get-go.
Morgan began making small lots of Pinot Noir given to him by the Sangiacomo family. He was 5 years old at time. Yes, implausible as it may seem, he was only five years old!
Motivated by the best wines of Domaine Dujac, he began experimenting with whole cluster fermentation, different types of French oak, and various ripeness points. Vino Bambino Pinot Noir, as the wine came to be known, was made from 1986 to 2001 and has been featured on the wine lists of Craft, Gramercy Tavern, Blue Hill (which featured the original 1986), Delmonico’s, Aureole, and Mesa Grill.
After going off to school to do undergraduate work at Vassar and graduate work at Columbia University, Morgan returned home to Sonoma in 2005 to work harvest at Ravenswood. Afterward, he spent time as a visiting winemaker at Hardy’s Tintara in McLaren Vale, also spending a few highly educational days with Drew and Rae Noon at Noon Winery). In the fall of 2006, he was a visiting winemaker at Chateau Lynch-Bages in Pauillac.
When not making his own wine, Morgan is a manager of his family’s Bedrock Vineyards in Sonoma Valley, and is a member of Sunbreak Vineyard Services L.L.C, a vineyard management company run by Diane Kenworthy and Robert Burney. He has also passed the Master of Wine exam and upon successful completion of the dissertation will become one of less than thirty American M.W.’s - and, probably one of the youngest, too.
There was an interesting 'come to Jesus' moment for Morgan, as the #7 stem in the lineup, reserved for the Bedrock 2009 Kick Ranch, sat empty at all the placesettings. I'm sure all the attendees assumed the wine had been mis-shipped or something of the sort. It was painful to listen and watch Morgan as he apologized, explaining that the missing wine was apparently due to some neglect on his part - thought he actually didn't explain the details.
Impressions:
in many ways, this seminar could have easily been titled: Les Enfants Terribles - paying at least some homage to the early age/success of both of these winemakers. The wines were all very good to excellent, I've had the Tensley wines in the past, and didn't detect any change in their style from several years ago. The Bedrocks were new to me. I found them really elegant, although the fruit seemed to fade more abruptly than the Tensleys. All-in-all, a nice intro/re-intro to both wineries.
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(l to r) Pierre Gaillard, Elise Gaillard, Jean-Roger Calvet, Marjorie Gallet, Hervé Bizeul, Christian Dalbavie, and Patrick Comiskey |
(Moderated
by Patrick Comiskey, a journalist and contributor to Wine & Spirits magazine, with Christian Dalbavie as a translator - as needed. This seminar illustrated how different the Roussillon region is from the adjacent and more familiar hyphenated Languedoc-Roussillon region.)
Another eagerly awaited seminar - in fact, probably THE most eagerly awaited seminar of the 2011 HdR.
I will freely admit that I've tended to consider this area as merely the Languedoc-Roussillon. But, boy, was I mistaken. After a rousing, evangelical introduction by Comiskey (even citing some M.L. King lines), Christian Delbavie set about to describe the Roussillon region. (This turned out to be welcome, because his translation services never appeared to be needed.) Christian described how Roussillon was handcuffed with two very different levels of wine quality - high quality, and supermarche high volume plonk. It also turns out that the Roussillon region is much more Catalan (Spanish) than French - at least in terms of soils, age of vines, wine varieties, and style of wine.
Wines of Roussillon |
Domaine Madeloc 2009 Cuvée Tremadoc Blanc - Collioure. This white blend of grenache Gris, roussanne, and vermentino has a lovely nose of lemon-lime, and honeyed bees wax and spicy old-vine aromas. Fabulous flavors and textures, with excellent balance and long delicious finish.
Domaine Madeloc 2006 Cuvée Magenca Rouge - Collioure. A blend of old vine grenache, mourvedre, and carignan. Restrained, but nice red and black fruit in the nose. Some of the old vine (briar, spice) comes through on the palate, yet the fruit is fresh and vibrant.
Domaine Thunevin-Calvet 2007 Les Dentilles – Côtes du Roussillon. A blend of grenache and carignan. Nose of black fruit, with nice earthy touch of figs. Very chewy in mouthfeel, excellent balance and very long tasty finish.
Domaine Thunevin-Calvet 2007 Hugo – Côtes du Roussillon. A blend of grenache, carignan and syrah aged for eighteen months in new or fairly new barrels. Nose of dark fruit, limestone or chalk, and a fascinating floral component. Huge, tasty, mouth-coating fruit, seemingly perfect balance, and unrelenting finish.
Domaine Thunevin-Calvet 2007 Les Trois Maries – Côtes du Roussillon. Slightly restrained nose of dark fruit and rose stem. Fabulous balance with nice minerality to compliment the dark fruit, licorice and nutty qualities.
Domaine Roc des Anges 2009 Vieilles Vignes Blanc – Côtes du Roussillon. A blend of old vine grenache gris and macabeu vines fermented in foudres. Slightly oxidized aroma to the lemon scent. Lots of acid on the palate, with flavors of fresh lemon, saline and minerals through the long lingering finish.
Domaine Roc des Anges 2008 Rouge 1903 – Côtes du Roussillon. From 2 hc of carignan planted in 1903. Lots of dark fruit and floral material, with nice sweet earthy notes. Sense of sweetness on the palate, with deep earthy yet brigh flavors, and delicious finish.
Domaine Clos des Fees 2009 De Battre mon Coeur – Vingrau, Côtes du Roussillon. Overtly fruit forward in the nose, with red and black fruit. Delicious mouthfeel and flavors of raspberry and blackberry. Tasting like a Chateauneuf blend, I was surprised to hear is was 100% syrah, on schist, and fermented in stainless steel.
Domaine Clos des Fees 2006 Vieilles Vignes – Vingrau, Côtes du Roussillon.With its chalky limestone nose, this wine is similar to the De Battre, but with a nice saline touch to the mouthfeel and talc-like tannins. Smooth and seamless on the palate, through the long finish.
Domaine Clos des Fees 2006 Clos des Fees – Vingrau, Côtes du Roussillon. Similarly endowed with a chalky limestone nose, the wine is understandably tighter than the VV. That said, it is still fruit-driven, and seems to wear a healthy blanket of oak.
Domaine Madeloc 2007 Cirera - Banyuls. Slightly sweet in the nose, with just a faint wiff of fortification. The flavors and mouthfeel is akin to a Late Harvest old vine Zinfandel, with a lovely smoothness throughout.
Domaine Les Terres de Fagayra 2009 Op. Nord - Maury. This label from Marjorie and Stéphane Gallet (Dom. Roc des Anges), comes from the Maury commune, just north of Banyuls. Almost purple-black in color, this wine smells and tastes like a Late Harvest Syrah, with briary blackberry throughout.
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In 2003, Pierre Gaillard, the renowned winemaker from the Northern Rhone Valley regions of Cote Rotie, St Joseph, Condrieu, and Cornas, fell in love with teh Roussillon area, creating Domaine Madeloc in the southwest of France in the village of Collioure. Collioure is a gorgeous town on the Spanish border and is probably more famous for producing the dessert wine Banyuls than dry wines under their own village AOC. Facing the Mediterranean, with it side toward Spain, this region has much in common with the Priorat.
Pierre had always been attracted by the amazing landscape of this region, with high Pyrenean mountains diving into the sea, and its schist soil, which is the same as Cote Rotie - and Priorat, for that matter. He rebuilt the abandoned vineyard once again, and adapted techniques from the Rhone valley and used traditional practices from Banyuls area. Currently, Domaine Madeloc has over 28ha and produces 10 different cuvees.
Introducing his daughter, Elise, as the vigneron of Domaine Madeloc, Pierre seemed quite proud of what they've achieved so far. Demurely, Elise said it was her 'father who was the real winemaker.' She was humorous, as well. During their beautiful slide presentation, Elise called our attention to a photo of a horse plowing a field within sight of the Mediterranean, saying "See, the horse is working, enjoying the sea," giving the audience, as well as herself, a chuckle at the thought.
Jean-Luc Thunevin, who built his notoriety with Château Valandraud in Saint-Emilion, created a partnership with Jean-Roger Calvet named Domaine Thunevin-Calvet, and dedicated to the wines of the Roussillon of which he is particularly fond of. The project is limited to only a few hectares of old vines planted on black schist. "Bad Boy" Jean-Luc Thunevin made his first mark on the wine world with (what is now) the cult wine Chateau Valandraud in Bordeaux. Valandraud is recognized as one of the first “garage” wines of Bordeaux.
In 2001, Thunevin teamed up with Jean-Roger Calvet, a local winemaker who was doing great work with Carignan and Grenache, to produce their first vintage. Domaine Thunevin-Calvet wines are aged in high quality barrels and built on power. Hugo and Les Dentelles are made of a blend of Grenache, Carignan and Syrah aged for eighteen months in new or fairly new barrels. The Trois Marie is produced with only one varietal of Grenache and aged in new barrels.
The Roc de Anges domain of 32 acres was created in February 2001 by 23 year old Marjorie Gallet. Exposed to wine at an early age (she grew up near Côte Rôtie), she earned her degree at Montpellier while doing apprenticeships with Yves Cuilleron and Pierre Gaillard in the northern Rhone. Her final apprenticeship with Domaine Gauby in the Roussillon was cut short when she decided to create her own domain.
The domain is located in the valley of Agly, 20 miles north west of Perpignan on shallow schist soils(the bedrock is less than one meter down in most parts of the vineyard).
Of the 32 acres, 23 are in red varietals (15% Syrah, 25% Grenache Noir, and 60% Carignan) and 9 are in white (80% Grenache Gris and 20% Grenache Blanc and Maccabeu). 30 different parcels make up the domain with primarily a northern exposition on the side of the Força Real mountain, protected from the ocean wind and humidity. 40% of the vines are more than 95 years old! Another 40% are 40 to 90 years old and the remaining 20% are young vines which were planted at very high density – 7,000-10,000 vines per hectare. The vineyards are worked manually, ie no chemicals. The grapes are harvested by hand and are pressed in a wooden vertical basket press.
Domaine Clos des Fees is the brainchild of Hervé Bizeul, a former sommelier and restaurateur. Fed up with the Paris scene, Hervé headed for Roussillon in 1997, and began his quest to become a vigneron. He started by small plots of land and vineyards dotted with seemingly abandoned looking old vines. It turns out, the all look like this, due to having resisted the sands of time, strong winds and a harsh climate for years. The twisted look was merely the vine's effort to adapt to the terroir.
After a few years of hard work, experiments, and lots of experience, he came to realize that winemaking was his ardent desire, and producing great wines would be the natural outcome. In 1999, he established his estate in the little Roussillon village of Vingrau, and converted his garage into a small winery for his first vintage.
From only a few hectares and hardly any money, he persevered, and the estate has now reached a 27 hectares of vines, covering 125 small sites with several distinct terroirs in Roussillon, with vines averaging 60 year old. The huge range of soils - from granite to schist, from limestone to small pebbles, reflects the diversity of the vineyards. In fact, this level of deiversity is seldom seen. This, and the old vines (80 to 100 years old) of Grenache Blanc, Grenache Rouge, Syrah, Carignan and Mourvèdre, were the original drawing card that brought Hervé to Roussillon. The fantastic results literally speak for themselves.
Impressions:
the energy of this seminar was palpable from the very start. Nevertheless, Patrick Comiskey did a very good job of rousing people with not just his intro, but also his urging people on with "...can I get a hallelujah......can I get a hallelujah......can I GET A HALLELUJAH!" The seminar was an eye-opener. And, the wines themselves were immediate thoughts of "wow" or "whoa," as each producer took us through his/her wines. It was blindingly easy to see smell and taste the similarity to Priorati wines.
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(l
to r) Drew Noon, John Alban |
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(Moderated byJohn Alban, this seminar was to provide us a one-on-one with Drew Noon, and his wines from Noon Winery in McLaren Vale.)
After a glowing introduction from John Alban, we were into our last seminar of 2011. Drew Noon apologetically mentioned that he had turned down one or more previous invitations to come to HdR to talk about his eponymous winery. But, he was here now. Drew's plan was to take us through the 2011 growing season in McLaren Vale, Australia. Using a mixed media slide show, he proceeded to show us what goes into a season - both from the grower's perspective as well as from the winemaker's point of view. Thankfully, he was both.
Wines of Drew Noon |
Noon 2010 Dark Noon Shiraz Rosé – Langhorne Creek. From a grower-owned plot, this wine is lightly floral and earthy in the nose. Additional scents of charcuterie and animalé really round out the aromas. Nice entry and mid-palate, but the fruit seems to fade off abruptly at 3/4 point. That said, it also picks up a nic e meaty aftertaste. (Usually made from grenache, but the all was lost to heat of the vintage.)
Noon 2008 Eclipse – McLaren Vale. A blend of 40% shiraz, 40% grenache, 15% carignan, 5% graciano. Lovely old-vine grenache aromas in the nose, with a trace of volatile acidity. Slightly sweet and spicy mouthfeel, nice juicy acids, and delicious long finish.
Noon 2009 Reserve Shiraz – 20 Rows Vnyd, Langhorne Creek. Nose is spicy and toasty, with a light floral component, along with clove, mint/eucalyptus aromas. Lightly sweet mouthfeel, with nice savory/salty note, fine-grained tannins and very long finish.
Noon 1999 Solaire Grenache – Winery East Vnyd, McLaren Vale. Light chalky/mineral quality to the very ripe dark fruit. Slightly sweet mouthfeel, lots of viscosity. Seems to pick up a touch bitterness, which carries through the very long finish. Given the nose, I wonder if the bitter component increases with age.
Noon 2010 Grenache (barrel sample, Eclipse component) – McLaren Vale. Nosew of fresh red raspberry and strawberry. Tasy flavors, with a nice almost old-viney quality.
Noon 2010 Shiraz (barrel sample - destemmed - Eclipse component) – McLaren Vale. A bit stinky or funky initially, and experiencing some reductive qualities. A bit reductive in taste as well. The fruit here is black, with a short finish.
Noon 2010 Shiraz (barrel sample - whole bunch - Eclipse component) – McLaren Vale. Nose of floral qualities, with a decided whole cluster scent of stem and plant material. Some blackberry and rhubarb aromas. Nice flavors, lots of semi-smooth tannins, off-sweet flavors and very long finish.
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Nevertheless, there was noticable hush about the crowd. Of course, John and Drew were both soft spoken, but there seemed to be something else going on. Admittedly, this type of material can be difficult for geeks and non-geeks alike to sit through. Most of us have either witnessed, or have a fairly good concept of what the growing season looks like. Pruning, cover crops, weather concerns, bud break, weather concerns, veraison, weather concerns, havest dates, and more weather concerns.
Not to belittle or trivialize the processes involved, but, you've got to be pretty hard-core to want to listen to yet another version of the life of a grapevine. I think that factor led to a quieter crowd, preventing attendees from continuing with the same level of energy garnered from the previous seminar. All of that being said, the presentation was very nice, save for a small tech glitch that caused us to miss part of the show.
Begun by French teacher and hobby farmer David Noon, Noon Vineyards sold grapes to McLaren Vale winemakers throughout the 1960's before David became interested in winemaking himself. His inquiring mind led him to quizz winemakers for years about their processes. And, he began to reserve a small amount of his fruit for himself to test things out. He bought the usual textbooks, and started picking up equipment of the years - a basket press here, a crusher there.
With the help of his teenage children - plus some neighbors and friends, he made small batches of wines from Noon grapes, and, increasingly, fooled around with small lots of grapes bought from neighbors and other acquaintances around the valley. Finally, he hung up a sign at the end of the driveway announcing wine for sale. Sure enough, people started buying.
David's son, Drew, grew up on the mixed farm, which included apricots and almonds, in addition to the 8 acres of Grenache. Drew has early memories of cutting and drying apricots, and then gradually shifted to winemaking as Australia with the Parker-influenced red wine boom of the late Seventies. As soon as Drew finished high school, he was interested enough to pursue wine as a career. After Roseworthy college, he landed a job at Tyrrell's winery in Hunter Valley. This hands-on job would teach him what the books wouldn't.
Though apparently naturally adept at growing wine, Drew wanted to get some more experience with the processes. To that end, he spent five years as a government enologist in the state of Bendigo, and then another five years at Cassegrain north of the Hunter Valley. All of this drove home the fact that he didn't like the large-scale winery operation, nor did he like the human resource management that went along with it. It was evident that he liked the process itself - the beginning, the middle, and the end stages of growing wine, and decided to join the family farm. So, in 1996 Drew and his wife took over the winery from his father and have been the stewards ever since.
Drew explained how the Mclaren Vale is hotter than the Rhone Valley, potentially imbuing the wines with more ripeness. The estate is composed of 3600 hc of shiraz and 439 hc of grenache. Drew says trhe best he can hope from the plants comes at 15-20 yrs; thereafter, they get frail. The vines are 'own-rooted,' and no trellising is done. He does seem a bit worried about the potential for phyloxera to get to these vines.
Drew also uses a little cabernet and graciano to blend. The vineyard is dry farmed, and biodynamically at that. Although it is not certified, and he has no intention of becoming certified. He does use a little "501 spray, as needed," he says, but that's all. He believes these methods have served both the crop and the family best, and maintains that both the the vines and the family's health prove it. His cellar regime is nearly the same. Grapes are fermented in open-top older oak barrels that he has lined with paraffin. Native yeasts and no temperature controls mean that the grapes chart their own course. Drew also continues his father's tradition of never fining or filtering.
Basically, Noon is a two person operation. Everything is run by Noon and his wife, Raegan, with maybe a little help from friends and neighbors when it comes time to picking. Because the vineyards are dry farmed, nature gets the final say. And, as a result, the crop in 2010 was non-existant. Noon's roughly 2500 case production is focused on red wines exclusively, in addition to a small amount of rosé, called Dark Noon. Most of the estate's 60-80 year old Grenache goes into their flagship wine, Eclipse.
Impressions:
an interesting and infromative seminar - and it was nice to put a face to Noon winery. I recall during the heady Aussie years from a decade past, this was one winery you just had to collect. Drew Noon did a great job of putting together this material. Aside from one small technical glitch which prevented him from showing us a particular segment, it was an excellent presentation. Unfortunately, the calm demeanors of both Drew and John never really brought the energy level up to the level of the 1st seminar of the day - which, I must admit, was definitely a tough act to follow.
2011
HdR : Tastings
| Seminars | Auction Lots | Photo
Journal |
