Anyone for pudding?

In Perswijn 2, 2013 Lars Daniëls wrote on Grenache, a grape with a bright future. Not only because it loves high temperatures and isn’t bothered by fierce winds but also because it comes in three varieties (Noir, Gris and Blanc) and makes different styles of wines. To name but a few: the red one is the first grape in Châteauneuf-du-Pape (along with many others), loves to share a bottle with Syrah and Mourvèdre (the so-called GSM-blends), goes rosé in Provence, plays a prominent part in Rioja, has a solo in Sardinia’s Cannonau and has crossed the oceans to California and Australia. It’s white brother is a popular grape in Spain and the South of France, is allowed in a Châteauneuf-du-Pape too and blends well with Rousanne and Marsanne. Their natural high sugar levels and lack of tannins have led to extensive use in fortified wines, for example the Vins Doux Naturels (VDN, see also my previous posting). Daniëls admits he hardly ever drunk a VDN before, but that has changed.

He doesn’t tell if he always keeps a bottle of VDN in the fridge, as Carlos Badia of Arnaud deVilleneuve does. “You never know what happens,” he says, suggesting that beautiful brunettes knock on his door on a regular basis.

I know, Badia works for Arnaud de Villeneuve and had he worked for Veuve Clicquot his fridge would have been filled with yellow labelled Champagne bottles, as you never know what happens. Still, I think it’s a sound advice as these VDN are truly incredible. For pudding, definitively, but also as an aperitif.

These are fortified sweet wines, yes, but they are not sticky and as fortified wines go, not very alcoholic (16%). Think ripeness, nuttiness, dried fruit (dates, figs, raisins), orange peel. They go well with chocolate, old yellow cheeses and dried fruit. The older they are (and they should be), the softer the tones.

The 1969 (bottled three years ago) is the oldest one I tasted, and the most expensive (ca. € 70; the 80s are around € 20). Matureness is its middle name. This one doesn’t need any accompaniment. Just some attention.

 

Rivesaltes Ambré 1969

Made of Grenache Gris, Macabeu, Grenache Blanc and Muscat. Pardon my (i.e., Arnaud de Villeneuve’s) French: Vinification traditionnelle des blancs mais seul les jus de gouttes sont sélectionnés. Longue maturation en cuve, puis élevage en barriques et petits foudres. Mis en bouteille en 2010.

 

You can keep it open in the fridge for a few months. But you won’t.

 

The wines of Caves Arnaud de Villeneuve are for sale here.

 

Pink for Grown-Ups

I don’t know about other countries, but here in the Netherlands little girls wear pink dresses, have pink toys and ride pink bicycles. Till they are 10 years old. A few years later they (boys too now) start drinking pink breezers. The wine trade has realized that from breezer to Bordeaux is too big a step for this generation. They need an in between, affordable wine-like sweet and pink drink. Different wine regions come up with different answers. Pink port, served chilled, preferably with ice or as a cocktail or long drink, is one I have heard of. Another, one that I have actually tasted, comes from the Rivesaltes.

Last March Carlos Badia of Caves Arnaud de Villeneuve, a big cooperation of 350 farmers in Rivesaltes, hopped over from Düsseldorf (ProWein fair) to present his wines to a small group of Dutch connoisseurs. The Caves’ problem is not so much ‘from breezer to Bordeaux’ as ‘anyone for pudding?’, as their traditional sweet wines (Vins Doux Naturels, VDN) are less asked for nowadays. Dry whites and reds (Chardonnay, Grenache) have become more important but they have not forgotten to ‘Think pink’ either, judging by their Rivesaltes Rosé Instant Plaisir 2011. This step-in Vin Doux Naturel of 100% Grenache Noir tastes of strawberry and raspberry sweets. It’s not my style (nothing pink is, really), but I can imagine drinking a small glass on a hot day with a piece of strawberry cake. You could also pour a little over a bowl of red berry fruits and let it chill for a few hours. Some icing sugar to taste and lashings of whipped cream to top it off (not my style either, but that shouldn’t stop you).

Pink is in the air, it seems. Enjoying a delicious dinner lately at Vandemarkt’s, we were poured a sparkling Muscador rosé (Muscat grapes grown in the South of France, made into wine in Alsace at Cave de Wissembourg) with our starter of pâté de foie gras. The sommelier called it a little joke, but it’s a nice one: the soft sweetness (roses) of the wine paired quite well with the pâté, pieces of beetroot, streaks of (farmed!) eel and apple compote.

I’m almost convinced now.

 

(The wines of Caves Arnaud de Villeneuve are for sale here.)

Wine&Dine: Loire Cabernet Franc & Bavette

I love red Loire wines, be they made of Gamay, Pinot Noir or Cabernet Franc. They often combine a pleasant fruitiness with soft earthy tones, representing a certain light-heartedness, without being unserious. Of these three the Cabernet Franc is the more full-bodied and a bit sterner.

Though Cabernet Franc can be harsh and green, certainly if harvested too early (it’s a difficult grape), Jean-Noëlle Millon’s La Source du Ruault 2007 offers softness and ripeness. This unfiltered and un-fined Saumur Champigny has a fruity and herbal scent, a fruity palate and ripe tannins. It contains some depot (as an unfiltered and un-fined wine should), so you better leave the last sip in the bottle.

The website tells me Jean-Noëlle shifted to biodynamic wine making in 2007 (some years after taking over the business from Millon père) and has been certified since 2010. Grapes are hand-picked, fermentation takes place in concrete vats with natural yeasts, maturation in ‘barriques’.

 

Wine

La Source du Ruault 2007, Saumur Champigny (AOC), 12,5% alc. I was able to buy it at a discount (€ 7,60 instead of € 10,80) as the distributor needed space for new vintages.

 

Dine

We paired the Cabernet Franc with bavette, zucchini fritters, slow-cooked tomatoes from the oven and unmucked-about-with rocket. Having enough tannins for the bavette, fruitiness for the tomatoes and lightness to never overshadow the zucchini fritters, the La Source du Ruault proved to be a good choice.

Bavette? Yes, one of the cheaper and tastier steaks (popular nowadays in restaurants—crisis?). Maybe not to be found in the supermarket, but on offer at any decent butcher’s. Cut into small slices (0,5-1 cm) across the grain (otherwise the meat will fall apart), heat a frying (or even better: grill) pan till it’s very hot, fry a minute or so (no need to cook them through) on each side, sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper (and if you like a few drops of lemon juice).

Maar: attention

Ik was eigenlijk op zoek naar een boek van wijnschrijver Harold Hamersma, maar de lokale bibliotheek had niet hem, maar wel Ilja Gort grijpklaar liggen. En ach, waarom ook niet. Een Nederlandse wijnboer in Frankrijk (Bordeaux) kan vast een interessante blik achter de schermen geven. Zo kan ik meteen zien wat hij de geïnteresseerde leek op wijngebied te bieden heeft.

U kent Ilja Gort vast wel: een karakteristieke verschijning met alpinopet en peijes langs zijn kin. Zijn wijn ligt in de schappen van Albert Heijn, zijn boeken liggen in de (internet)winkel en zijn kop was afgelopen jaar op tv. In de anderhalve aflevering die ik van zijn programma Wijn aan Gort heb gezien, heb ik hem leren waarderen als iemand die met verstand, nieuwsgierigheid en ironische distantie het wijnbedrijf bekijkt.

Zijn Wijnsurvivalboek is wat lolliger en gek genoeg oppervlakkiger dan zijn tv-programma. Om van beginnende wijnliefhebbers echte ‘wijntijgers’ te maken, geeft Gort de lezer een inleiding in het kiezen, proeven, kopen en praten over wijn. En onder ‘praten over’ moet zeker ook ‘een goed weerwoord hebben tegen’ worden verstaan. Tegen hautaine obers bijvoorbeeld, die tegenstribbelen als je zegt dat de wijn kurk heeft.

Aardig zijn de verhalen over het leven tussen de wijnboeren in Frankrijk. Soms nogal gewild lollig zijn de leesadviezen bij elke paragraaf (‘lezen en onthouden’, ‘overslaan’, ‘lezen en vergeten’) en zijn voorbeelden van over-the-top wijnvocabulaire. Onbedoeld (?) grappig is hij dan weer als hij in het stukje over wijnetiketten zegt dat ‘Grand vin’ als kwaliteitsaanduiding ‘dus drie keer niks’ zegt, getuige de tekst op zijn eigen etiketten.

Raad ik u aan dit boek te lezen? Alleen als u nog niets van wijn weet en een uurtje of twee kunt missen. U hebt het zo uit en steekt er ongetwijfeld iets van op. Maar: attention, om het op zijn Gorts te zeggen, de wijnwereld is vele malen groter en veelzijdiger dan hij u laat zien. Voor hem komt wijn uit Frankrijk, dat wil zeggen: uit een beperkt aantal delen van Frankrijk. De Beaujolais vindt hij niet interessant, uit de Corbières komt volgens hem niets goeds en de Elzas noemt hij slechts in het voorbijgaan. Hij gaat af op zijn eigen smaak. Daar is niets mis mee. Sterker nog: doet u dat vooral ook. Maar wees iets avontuurlijker.

 

Ilja Gort, Het wijnsurvivalboek. Een handleiding tegen foute wijn, katers en ander wijnverdriet, Baarn: Tirion 2005

S’mores, Gorp and Nova Scotian Wine

Having dinner with perfect strangers in a Scottish B&B, what do you talk about after having discussed the weather conditions? The stomach content of a certain snail variety that is to be found only on Skye is a subject that has come up in quite some detail, as is faith. “Do you believe in the resurrection of the Christ?” I was once asked over a delicious pan-fried halibut. I am always grateful if we can stick to non-gastric food issues.

Being Dutch, the most popular question in this kind of situation, “What would you say is your national dish?,” is easier asked than answered, though I am more confident since I’ve learned the Canadian answer: s’mores and gorp. There is not much wrong with gorp (Good Old Raisins and Peanuts), but to call it a dish is slightly exaggerated. S’mores (some more) are probably something one must have grown up with to appreciate. This girl-scouting bonfire treat is made of roasted (or microwaved if you’re not outdoors) marshmallows dipped in milk chocolate and mashed between sweet biscuits.

So when I read about wine from Nova Scotia I had to get rid of (a) bias and (b) blatant geographical ignorance. Can a country that considers s’mores as their gift to world cuisine be trusted when it comes to wine making? Bias was quickly put aside as I remembered I had tasted a few Canadian wines from Pelee Island Winery at a small distributors’ wine fair in April last year. The island in Lake Erie itself I had seen before from air on my way to Cleveland via Detroit, not knowing what kind of agriculture the green fields represented. Some of the grape varieties (Riesling, Zweigelt) and the owner’s diction give away its Austrian background. I tasted a fresh blend of Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer with tones of exotic fruit and spices (2010) and a Pinot Noir of the same year that could compete with some of its Burgundian nephews.

Now, Lake Erie is on the same latitude as Rome and has a microclimate similar to Burgundy, though with more heat units. But Nova Scotia is arctic. It’s the nearly uninhabitable place where poor Scots—driven by circumstances or their landlords—were shipped in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, only to find themselves in even worse climatological and economic conditions. ‘Cool climate’ is a euphemism. Here I must admit I thought Nova Scotia to be in the same league as Newfoundland. And indeed the first settlers had a hard time, as winters over there are quite cold. But Nova Scotia is a few miles south of Newfoundland. The summers must have been a revelation to the Scottish settlers. The climate is ‘continental’, the temperature extremes moderated by the Atlantic Ocean. Still, the winter is a force to be reckoned with. As a result wine making is heavily dependent on non-vinifera vines: hybrids as New York Muscat, Vidal and Nova Scotia’s own L’Acadie Blanc. But there is some real vitis vinifera too. The wines of the only appellation, Tidal Bay, are low in alcohol, but not so low in price. They are said to be crisp and pair well with the local sea food. If those first settlers just had known.

 

For Dutch readers: The wines of Pelee Island Winery are for sale here. For the wines of Nova Scotia one has to go to, well, Nova Scotia.

A Perfect Wine List

If you were in a restaurant and the wine list contained some fine Champagnes, South-African, New Zealand and Loire Sauvingnon Blancs from renowned wine makers, an astonishing choice of German, Austrian and Alsatian Rieslings, several Grüner Veltliners, Chardonnays from all over the world, Gewurztraminer from Alsace and New Zealand, dry and sweet Bordeaux wines—and that would only be the white wine section—what would you do?

I’d ask for the menu, just to check if it contains anything but Leviathan, as I would probably be dead.

A wine list of this sort only exists in heaven, and in the mind of Jamie Goode. It’s a fun list, and as with any personal list, it may lead to animated discussion. Though maybe less animated in Burgundy (“I could just about live without Burgundy [Pinot Noir]”), Bordeaux (“I’m not sure where [red] Bordeaux would figure”), and some Spanish regions (“I can’t see Rioja or Ribero del Duero getting a look in”). Unfortunately Jamie Goode doesn’t reveal what kind of restaurant he was thinking of, let alone what dishes would accompany his wines of choice. On the other hand, with such an extended list, what dish would not find a pairing wine?

Now it is one thing to have a wine list in your mind’s eye, but (at least for me) quite another to be honoured with a try-out of candidates for a new real life wine list. My favourite local restaurant may be just that: a restaurant cherished and favoured within a 10 mile zone, their wine list covering the entire world: France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Morocco, Israel, Lebanon, Argentina, New Zealand, South Africa, United States and Chili. It needed a small refurbishment, as menu’s do every now and then. Spouse and I had just sat down for a quick dinner, rather tired after a hard day’s work and looking forward to an early night. Before we could order the boss brought out his best glass ware, poured a Menetou-Salon and asked us if we would like to taste a few wines with our dinner that he felt might have a place on the new wine list. It wasn’t a question really and we were happy to oblige. So we spent the evening sniffing, chewing, tasting, discussing. No early night, but revived all the same.

 

Menetou-Salon, Domaine de Loury, Belles Roches 2011, 12,5% alc

Great wine for an aperitif that will also go well with not too heavy fish dishes. This Loire Sauvignon Blanc has a vivid nose without the cat’s pee of its neighbours. Tastes of gooseberry, yellow apples, pear and something grassy. Zesty with an agreeable roundness.

 

Picpoul de Pinet (of which I forgot to pen down the details)

I thought it smelled of acetone and didn’t taste it. Spouse called it ‘medicinal’ and said the wine was unremarkable on its own, but suited the sesame madeleines and Thai basil that accompanied her tartare of tuna, less the tartare itself.

 

Pinot Grigio, Tiefenbrunner 2011 (Alto Adige)

I am always surprised how different a Pinot Grigio is from a Pinot Gris. One probably shouldn’t compare the two. This Pinot Grigio, made by a well-known North-Italian winemaker, has an, I quote Mr Tiefenbrunner, ‘unobtrusive bouquet.’ Though it had the difficult task to make me forget the Menetou-Salon—it failed—I must admit it paired better with the vitello tonato, due to its freshness and acidity.

 

Sequillo 2011, Swartland, South Africa, 14,5% alc

This blend of, hold on, Chenin Blanc, Palomino, Semillon Blanc, Grenache Blanc, Semillon Gris, Viognier, and Clairette was served with a grilled white fish on a puree of chickpeas. It could have passed for a Southern Rhône if the Chenin Blanc wouldn’t have given it away. Neither fined nor filtered, the bottle warns you in bold type. I like that. Exciting wine. Tropical fruit with a certain freshness, full-bodied but not fatty. A pity that it contains so much alcohol. And mind you, they reduced the alcohol level in this vintage.

 

Domaine de Piaugier, Gigondas 2010, Marc Autan et Fils, Sablet, 14,5% alc

This young Gigondas desperately needed the proteins of Spouse’s rib-eye to soften its tannins, even with the bottle open for two hours. A fruity yet full-bodied wine. Quite some alcohol, but balanced. Hope we’ll see it on the list in two years.

It Ain’t Half Hot II

“Thinking of movies and comedy series set in British colonial environments, I don’t think I have ever seen someone drinking wine. Sweaty men gulping whisky (…), yes, that I can remember (…),” I wrote in my last posting. I just found out they were quite avant-garde. See this post by Fiona Beckett.