AUGUST 2022 FEATURED PREMIUM WINES
WINE ONE: LES LUNES ASTRAL BLEND
About: This wine comes from sites Shaunt & Diego farm themselves: Kimberly, Bottage, Bruce, and Marcheschi Vineyards. Through a combination of thoughtful cover crops and composting to increase organic matter, they’ve been able to reduce watering drastically, with the ultimate goal being dry-farming. This wine is made from Pinot Noir (30%), destemmed, and fermented on skins for five days in open top tank with gentle cap management. Zinfandel (30%) sees three disparate treatments: direct press, destemmed and macerated on skins, and as a co-fermentation with Sangiovese (10%). Chardonnay (24%) was partially direct pressed and partially skin fermented for two weeks before being pressed off. The final component is made from short-macerated Syrah (6%). The wines are all aged independently in tank and barrel until blending and bottling (unfined, unfiltered, 18ppm SO2) in January.
Taste: Are you ready to ascend to a higher plane? Are you ready to leave your corporeal form behind? Are you ready to exist as pure consciousness? Are you ready to dislodge yourself from space and time? Are you prepared for an interdimensional voyage? Take a sip of this iridescent Kool-Aid and follow the light. The flavours defy logic, swirling from nibs and watermelon to dragon fruit and pomegranate. The acidity is frisky, the tannins are feathery, and it glides over your tongue weightlessly. The finish offers flavours of red gooseberry, nectarine pit, blood orange, basil seeds, and cherry juice. Keep all limbs inside the spacecraft.
Pairing: Get yourself a cast iron skillet and make some fried chicken. Sides should include watermelon salad with mint and smoked mac n’ cheese. Keep it simple, it’s too hot out!
WINE TWO: PETER WETZER BLUMENTHAL KEKFRANKOS
About: This cuvée comes from a small plot in Sopron called Blumenthal. The vines are 50-60 years old and were planted with old massal selection. Soils here are slightly richer loam with gravel and limestone. The grapes are nearly all destemmed before being fermented in open-top wooden vats. After a couple of weeks of maceration, the wine is pressed off into neutral barrel. It tends to be the richest, most bombastic cuvée he releases.
Taste: This wine is vivid ruby in the glass. The nose is familiar and polished with brilliant aromas of red cherries, rooibos tea, pomegranate, fresh roses, peppercorns, sweet tobacco, crushed stones, and raspberry jam. The palate is expansive with broad shoulders and a barrel chest. It’s not imposing, but it is sturdy. You’ll find silky tannins and cool acidity backed up by warmth from the moderate level of alcohol. The finish shows notes of cedar, damson, violets, juniper berries, sweet sage, carraway, and red currants. You’re going to want one to drink, and one to cellar.
Pairing: I asked Mark what he’d like to eat with this wine, and he immediately said either sausages or a stew. Since it’s 31º out today, I’m going to lean towards the sausages – preferably grilled and beef forward. It can definitely hold up to some spices as well, in particular, ample paprika.
WINE THREE: DORMILONA YOKEL VERDELHO
About: Surprisingly, Verdelho is the classic grape of the Swan River Valley. These 80-year-old dry-farmed vines reside in the Lamonts Vineyard in the upper valley. The grapes were crushed and macerated on skins briefly before being pressed off into large format oak and tank for cool fermentation. After élevage on full lees, the wine is racked and bottled with minimal SO2.
Taste: This wine is a medium hazy green-gold in the glass. The nose is flamboyantly aromatic with aromas of white peach, cucumber skins, nectarine, agave, dried pineapple, daisies, green peppercorns, and kombu. The palate is mouth-wateringly juicy. It is dry, but the ripe fruit and fleshy texture trick you into imagining sweetness where there is none. On the finish, there are flavours of chamomile, lovage, green grapes, dill seeds, dried papaya, fresh apricots, angelica, and coriander seeds.
Pairing: I love cooking whole fish. Whether they’re steamed in a banana leaf and topped with lime and fish sauce, or deep fried with chillies and soy, there’s a certain level of culinary theatre I can’t get enough of. Either way, this wine is going to make a great table mate.
WINE THREE: LE GRAPPIN ALIGOTÉ ‘SKIN’
About: This cuvée comes from the lieu dit of Perelles le Haut in the Mâcon. The vines are over 80 years old, producing low yields of concentrated fruit. The grapes were fermented whole-cluster in a small tank for a week before being pressed off. The wine finishes fermentation in neutral barrel before a nine-month élevage on full lees.
Taste: This wine is pale gold in the glass. The nose is stoic and contemplative, wise and introspective. There are aromas of yellow apple, anjou pear, nutmeg, oyster shells, lion’s mane mushroom, candied lemon, ginseng, and white tea. It is intense but so tightly knit you need to really focus to pull apart each flavour. The palate is muscular like a ballerina; lean but powerful, slender but strong, fleet and surefooted, somehow weightless and grounded simultaneously. There are tea-like tannins, nervy acidity, and a detailed texture – bas-relief on weathered stone. The finish yields flavours of quince, powdered ginger, peach pit, sassafras, marcona almond, cornflower, meringue, marmalade, and sweet oats. Wonderous.
Pairing: We’d suggest making yourself a proper lobster roll as a pairing. You’ve earned it. You work hard all week; you deserve a decadent sandwich from time to time. My sneaky tip is a couple of pieces of pickled celery, and a few celery leaves to ramp up the freshness. Serve with a chilled potato salad.
LINK TO PODCAST: MP3 | SPOTIFY (Featuring Sharla Swanson from Metro Vino, Bridgette Bar, and Lulu Bar)