JULY 2021 FEATURED PREMIUM WINES
WINE ONE: CLAIRE NAUDIN BELLIS PERENNIS
About: This wine comes from two of Claire’s most prized parcels: En Daisey in Magny lès Villers, and En Bully (named for its bubbling spring) in Pernand-Vergelesses. Whole clusters were gently pressed into tank for a short settling period. The juice is then racked into barrel for fermentation. The wine is only ever moved by gravity, not by pump. After a yearlong élevage on the fine lees the wine is bottled unfiltered with just over 20ppm of SO2. Less than 600 cases were produced. It is an ode to the daisies found in her vineyards.
Taste: This wine is pale gold in the glass. You’re greeted by majesty and grace, robed in fine lace, crowned by sunshine. You’ll find aromas of yellow apple, pie crust, struct flint, honeycomb, heather, pear blossom, flax seed, and brazil nut. It is benevolent and caring. The palate is tender with fresh acidity and balancing richness. It has chubby cherub cheeks. It has warmth at its core, amplified by wood spice and gentle phenolics. You’ll find further flavours of ylang-ylang, egg tarts, spring peaches, macadamia nut, lemon meringue, and white truffle.
Pairing: Claire has conveniently offered us her suggested pairings for this gorgeous Chardonnay.
“Ce vin accompagnera volontiers des poissons de rivière, ou les ormeaux (France Haliotis) des jours de fête. Il pourra être servi sur une belle volaille de Bresse rôtie, des quenelles de veau ou un risotto safrané ! Enfin, il peut aller jusqu’au fromage : essayez sur un chèvre très sec.”
WINE TWO: GUT OGGAU MASKERADE WEIß
About: Stephanie and Eduard acquired some new vineyards two years ago and are working tirelessly to convert them to biodynamics. Until then, they don’t believe the wines will show quite the same depth of personality, so they’ve kept the characters on the labels masked, and bottled in 1L bottles for early consumption. This wine is made from a co-planting of Gruner Veltliner, Weissburgunder, and Welschriesling. The grapes spend a short time macerating on skins in stainless steel before being pressed off. It finishes fermentation in stainless steel before being bottled without fining, filtration, or SO2.
Taste: This wine is cloudy green-gold in the glass. The nose is elusive, dancing away from you every time you get close. It has aromas of white tea, greengage, gunpowder, birch bark, coriander, yellow pears, and matsutake. The palate is tight, with focused tannins, linear acidity, and just enough ripeness for cohesion. The umami finish shows flavours of dried apple, yellow plums, miso, angelica, vetiver, and warm hay. Yet another tour-de-force from one of our favourite producers.
Pairing: Despite the superb summer weather, I have a craving for a rich, vegetable-heavy miso stew with this wine. The umami characteristics will play perfectly with one another, and the modest phenolics and zesty acidity will help balance the salt.
WINE THREE: PARADISE GRAPEVINE CABERNET FRANC
About: This was Dave & Christian’s first foray into winemaking. The fruit for this project comes from Ontario’s Niagara region. The grapes were fermented in open-top tank with 50% whole-cluster inclusion. After a one-year élevage in neutral French oak barrels the wine was racked and bottled unfined and unfiltered. Only 100 cases were produced for this inaugural vintage.
Taste: This wine is medium-purple ruby in the glass. The nose is wild and savoury after a quick and vigorous decant. You’ll find aromas of wild raspberry, black plums, mission figs, charcoal, trumpet mushroom, reindeer lichen, and oxalis. Rugged meets handsome. On the pallet you’ll find macho tannins, ample richness, and great concentration. It isn’t heavy, but it certainly has some girth. On the finish you’ll find flavours of wild blueberry, damp rose, fresh sage, jalapeño, and elderberry.
Pairing:
Dave: “wild boar sausage on a bun with pickled beetroot (how Australian of him), mustard and leafy greens”
Christian: “We think the greenness of the cab franc goes pretty well with savoury/gamey foods. I actually just had a glass the other night with some meatballs that were simmered in a gently spicy tomato sauce with onions and garlic. Had them over top of some blanched then sautéed rapini with a generous amount of parmesan. Thought the bitterness of the rapini paired pretty darn well with it!”