MAY 2021 FEATURED WINES
WINE ONE: LAURENT SAILLARD LUCKY YOU
About: The grapes for this cuvée come from a section of Clos Roche Blanche plated in 1973. The cépage is roughly 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Chardonnay. The grapes are whole-cluster pressed into stainless steel where the juice ferments slowly until the spring. Malolactic conversion took place before the wine was fully dry. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered with minimal additional Sulphur.
Taste: This wine is pale gold in the glass. It billows and gusts with aromas of yellow apple, chamomile, pear skins, pine nuts, matsutake, silver needle tea, and nectarine. The palate is graceful and flowing like silk but with a prickle of acidity. It has a saline quality, and a coolness I really admire. You’ll find further flavours of quince, sweetgrass, sandalwood, and meyer lemon. A gentle creaminess adds length.
Pairing: The Loire Valley is famous for its perfect produce. The orchards yield some of France’s most delicious fruit; the fields nourish the goats that make some of France’s most delicious cheeses; the forested areas and underground caves yield spectacular mushrooms. In fact, 40% of the worlds Blue Foot Mushrooms come from one single farm in the Loire. They even have a mushroom museum if that’s your idea of a good time. What I’m trying to say is this wine will pair exceptionally well with seasonal mushrooms as well as white asparagus and goat cheese.
WINE TWO: DOMAINE DE LA GARRELIÈRE LE CHENIN DE LA COLLINE
About: This wine is made from a 3.2ha plot of 30+-year-old Chenin Blanc planted on aeolian sand over silex. This wine was made as an ode to the south-facing slope they find their vineyard on and all the equinox parties they’ve thrown on top of it. They take three passes through this vineyard to harvest each bunch at optimal ripeness. The wine ferments for several weeks in concrete tank before élevage, a light filtration, and bottling.
Taste: This wine is medium gold in the glass. The nose is warm and inviting with aromas of apricot, almond paste, warm laundry, early peaches, honeysuckle, and lemon zest. The palate is robust with plenty of glycerous weight. The suggestion of sweetness is balanced by Chenin Blanc’s signature acidity. You’ll find further flavours of dried pineapple, orange blossom, wool, white truffle, and key lime pie on the palate. After 5-10 years in your cellar, it’ll get even richer!
Pairing: Chenin Blanc is incredibly versatile. Its combination of ripe fruit, persistent acidity, and umami help it go with a wide variety of dishes. Like Laurent Saillard’s Lucky You above, it has an affinity for mushroom dishes. I think back to the shitake and matsutake I had grilled over the coals at a small neighbourhood yakitori place in Hamadayama outside Tokyo. Something about Japanese charcoal calls out for this wine.
WINE THREE: DOMAINE DUSEIGNEUR LA GOUTTE DU SEIGNEUR
IMPORTED BY GARNEAU BLOCK; WRITE-UP BY OWNER GABRIELLA BERGSTEN
About: Domaine Duseigneur was founded by Bernard Seigneur's father in 1960, who moved to the southern Rhone Valley (where this wine is from), and planted grapes for the vineyard in the Lirac AOC. Certified organic since 1998, and biodynamic since 2002, the harvest is done by hand. This wine sees 2 weeks of maceration in a concrete tank, no oak ageing, ambient yeasts only. Organic grapes, grown biodynamically; unfined.
Taste: Juicy, freshly picked strawberries, and super silky tannins. Eminently drinkable.
Pairing: Netflix and any day that ends with "Y". It's also delightful with all the al fresco dining we have been partaking in lately.