It's been a while, but we finally have some new wines coming in From France. Some old favorites as always, and a number of new and exciting wines never before seen on our shores. The can should be delivered to our warehouse sometime in the 1st week of September. Recession busting at its finest.
LOIRE
CAVE DE SAUMUR
The Cave de Saumur is reknowned for quality, regularity, and value. The latest vintages are some of the best that we've brought in. 2008 is a quasi-perfect vintage in all colors. I prefer it to 2005 because I think the ripeness is in better balance with the rest of the wine's attributes. One of the best white Saumurs I've seen at a small fraction of the high-end's price. 2007 produced juicy well-colored reds with friendly tannins for immediate to mid-term enjoyment.
2008 SAUMUR BLANC "RESERVE DES VIGNERONS"
Ripe, juicy, melony, citrusy flowery goodness!
2007 SAUMUR ROUGE "RESERVE DES VIGNERONS"
Deeply purple, with gobs of dark fruit. Excellent acid and warm, friendly tannins.
2007 SAUMUR-CHAMPIGNY "LES POYEUX"
Deeply purple, layers of dark fruits and dusty spices. A very consistent performer over the years.
DOMAINE DE LA ROCHETTE
François Leclair has proven to be an excellent source for a wide range of wines from TOURAINE that are exceptional bargains. Quality is always good, but in vintages like 2008 it approaches superb for a risible price.
2008 TOURAINE SAUVIGNON BLANC
Very pale, nice aromatic intensity, good weight and plenty of zip.
2008 TOURAINE PINEAU D'AUNIS
Gorgeous, electric gris color. Explosive nose, perfect texture. Exuberant, yet very sophisticated rosé. Que demande le peuple?
2008 TOURAINE PINOT NOIR
Surprisingly deep color. Excellent fruity, spicy and earthy nose. Firm friendly tannins with good zip.
2007 TOURAINE PRESTIGE DU VIGNERON" (Cabernet Franc/Côt)
Very deep opaque purple, with a medley of red and dark fruits with spice.
DOMAINE SEBASTIEN RIFFAULT
Something about me wants to hate these wines, and I would if they weren't so completely seductive. I was for some reason naturally hostile and skeptical to the concept of strictly non-interventionist 'natural winemaking' where the wine is literally allowed to make it itself. I was basically dared to taste them by a colleague in France and found my prejudices and preconceptions swept away by the extremely seductive character of these wines, which overwhelms even their strangeness. You won't need to leave your points of reference at the door, they'll be rendered meaningless all by themselves. To me these wines are revelatory. The wines all contain some solids. Don't be afraid of them, they are just part of the deal.
2007 SANCERRE BLANC "AKMENINE"
The name means "Made of Stones" in Lithuanian. 6-9 months in very old (10+) Burgundy barrels. Very bright yellow color. Bonbon anglais, nutty, lightly oxidized. Voluminous, sumptuous and exotic. Incredible length.
2007 SANCERRE BLANC "AUKSINIS"
The name means 'Golden', and that's a fair assessment of the color. 18 months in very old casks. Oxidized, candied nose. Mature, candied fruits. See above x 1.5
2007 SANCERRE BLANC "SKEVELDRA"
The name means "Fragment", and refers to the flinty soils that produce the fruit. About a year in old casks. Bright yellow with a vivid orange-ish edge. Quasi Sherry-like nose. Flavors are quite complex and pretty bizarre but most importantly absolutely and irresistibly delicious. The wine gives so much pleasure that you don't want to swallow it, you just want it to live in your mouth! One usually has to pay a lot more than this for that attribute...
2007 SANCERRE ROUGE "RAUDONAS"
The name means "Red". 18 months in old casks. Deep bricky color. Very ripe, candied, stewed fruit. Tiny prickles, bracing acids. Good volume, if bizarre.
LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON
LES COTEAUX DU RIEUTORT
A fairly recent cooperative, founded in 1996. 1250ha of vines are worked by 250 vignerons, providing a rich and varied palette of material going into the wines. From textbook VDPs to Millésime's first Saint-Chinian wine, I am very pleased to have discovered this source.
2008 VDP D'OC "LES GRANJOTS" VIOGNIER
Pale color, this is a really attactive, textbook stainless steel Viognier. Rich and intense with plenty of interest.
2008 VDP D'OC "LES GRANJOTS" GRENACHE ROSE
Delicate salmony color. Explosive fruit, bone dry.
2007 SAINT-CHINIAN ROUGE "LES SCHISTES"
Syrah, Grenache, Carignan. Carbonic for the Syrah. Deep and brilliant, this wine is explosive, intense, lush, silky and way underpriced. Best QPR red out of literally hundreds I tasted in France several months ago.
CHATEAU PLANERES
2007 COTES DU ROUSSILLON BLANC "PRESTIGE"
Tourbat/Rolle/Grenache Blanc. Tourbat is also known as 'Roussillon Malvasia' and was once widely planted in the area. Nowadays it is very very rare. It is a very noble, but late maturing and low-yielding varietal. Gilles Jaubert is a big believer in this grape, which he reintroduced at the the domaine in 1980. A revelation in 'southern whites'
2007 COTES DU ROUSSILLON ROSE "PRESTIGE"
Syrah/Cinsault/Grenache. Dark, meaty, 'structured' rosé that stands up to most foods.
2006 COTES DU ROUSSILLON ROUGE "CHANTAIL" 1L
Syrah/Grenache/Carignan. The Syrah and Carignan are vinified by carbonic maceration. Dark, soft, and juicy but with a decent tannic backbone. It is a great BBQ and paella red.
2006 COTES DU ROUSSILLON ROUGE "PRESTIGE"
Syrah/Mourvedre/Grenache. Deep and brilliant garnet with brambly, plummy and chocolatey fruit. Superb QPR.
2006 COTES DU ROUSSILLON LES ASPRES ROUGE "LA COUME D'ARS"
50% 100 year old Carignan, 30% 45 yo Grenache & Syrah. - This single-vineyard wine is earthy, juicy, big and powerful with attractive dark fruit background and firm tannins. Way undervalued, brownbag this to your next tasting group and blow some minds.
This picture doesn't really do the 'sickness' justice. Avril Lavigne on the video screens is a hint, but there were also painted bimbo 'hostesses' - all in an effort to flog 'wines' in tallboy aluminum cans.
In comparison to the disco cans, very classy and understated.
yes, it really is as far as the eye can see! The only drawback was that if you didn't go first thing in the morning it started to get pretty warm up there, which didn't exactly help a lot of the reds to show their best. 'Room temperature' is indeed a relative term.
Thousands and thousands of glasses were soiled daily.
It looked like they had enough gear in there to handle all but the most serious of cases. Made it convenient to get back to the show after coming to!
I am always happy to get wines this good back in stock. Looking for "2005 Bordeaux"? We've got a "sleeper of the vintage" right here, ridiculously priced in your favor. You need "name" Châteaux to beat this, of course you will pay double or more for those.
Fans of this Domaine will be happy to get their mitts on these wines - those out of the loop will find themselves easily convinced. In addition to an award-winning Anjou rouge and possibly the best Coteaux du Layon for the money, we are pleased to introduce Matignon's superb Saumur Brut for those of you interested in a superb, esoteric sparkler of Chenin and Chardonnay.
Superb and complex example of dry Vouvray at a laughable price.
More excellent Anjou Blanc, and a couple of firsts - An award-winning Anjou Rouge and a SUBLIME Coteaux du Layon Saint-Aubin SGN, that is CRAZY good. Don't waste it on dessert - drink it all by itself.
I was not indifferent to the sample of white from Mr. Courtinat; in fact the bottle practically drank itself. An intriguing blend of chardonnay and the obscure, local varietal tressallier which gives extra minerality and zip. All wine, no wood.
Coteaux du Giennois is an obscure AOC in the 'deep south' of the centre Loire region. An intriguing blend of 3/4 gamay and 1/4 pinot noir with major minerality and serious geek factor. I live to import wines like this - some of you will like it - a lot.
A wonderful assortment of wines young and old from Francisque Lapandéry. The antitdote to the syrupy overblown creature wines of today. 12% alcohol, exquisite balance. See our earlier post for more ample information.
The last of the 2005s from this superb domaine. Prices are up a touch from the previous absurd levels, but still represent Excellent value.
Erell Ninot is one of the many 20-something French winemakers who are blowing minds worldwide. A name to watch until the prices catch up.
Here is something new for Millesime - German wine. I was real hesitant about doing anything with German wine, but Weingut Görgen was too good to pass up. Again here is a case of a 20-something winemaker, Matthias Görgen who thanks to global warming has been making superb wines in the heretofore unsung Mittelmosel. The prices are ridiculous on this group of Rieslings - enjoy!
Just thinking of the paycheck somebody received for this effort is beyond galling. Somebody should remind these fools that the only chance they have is to create something authentic, not a contrived travesty such as this. the good news is that just past this atrocity to the left was the group "Vins Femmes Rhône" where wines of a very different sort were offered to the world's buyers.
This is actually a second label of the celebrated "Domaine du Chardonnay". Apparently their 'USA exclusive' importer isn't exactly covering the market as they have a fair bit of wine still to sell in the US.
This 8.5ha domaine is run by generations 3 and 4 of Ragots, Jean-Paul and Nicolas. Manual harvesting, selective destemming, and traditional vinifications produce age-worthy wines of great promise.
Claude is the 5th generation to work this land, his Father Charles at 89 still has an active role. Interventions are minimal, the goal is to work as naturally as possible. The domaine is a respectable 13ha in size. Harvesting is entirely manual, and is a "period of conviviality and the maintenance of tradition"
Jean-Michel is a rising star in Côte Rotie. From small holdings (4.5ha), 10% Côte Brune and 90% Côte Blonde, he produces very classy wines where elegance and finesse predominate.
I read the Hachette review on the Prestige des Garrigues, and was impressed, but let it go as I felt like I needed another mid-range CDR like a hole in the head. My Comrade Jon tried it in France and said I should really take a look at it. He was right, and we all win! What you need to do is pretend that is not a CDR, but rather a CDP - that's right, a Chateauneuf, because that's what it resembles most. I always wanted a CDR in a BIB, now I have awesome one. The VDP is killer and you will not mind that it doesn't say CDR on the label - I promise!
Escaravailles has been a big hit for Millesime since the 2001 vintage, and the hits just keep on coming.
In spite of what you may hear from some people in town who only bought the wine through the broker Jack Siler years ago, and the lost it when Jack did, I actually come the closest to having 'discovered' Villeneuve. I first learned about Villeneuve in 1992 when I met the owner, Philippe du Roy de Blicquy. The wines were then as know incredible. They had no US importer then, but they have had several over the years, and yes, I am buying it DIRECT. Excellent exposures, soils, old vines, 'biodynamie' and one man's obsession with quality produce these superb wines, which have been made for the last few years by Philippe Cambie.
Wow, was I excited to land this estate, whose massive reds will make you say "Priorat Shmiorat". The Temporis is as good as any of those silly, overpriced, Parkerized (now Jay Millerized) wines for like 1/4 of the price. You be the judge. Fans of rarely seen Vins Doux Naturels will be excited about the Rivesaltes rouge. The Chateau is located in a picturesque village of 80 inhabitants, nestled in the Aspres area of the Pyrenees, a Templar "Commanderie" in the way-back days.
Situated on the hillsides that dominate the Gulf of Ajaccio, the domaine belonged to the Peraldi family from the the 16th century until 1905, when it was abandoned upon the death of Jean Peraldi. The estate was resurrected in 1965 by the Count Louis de Poix, grandson of Jean Peraldi and father of the current owner Count Guy de Poix. Louis' ambition was to give the wines of Ajaccio their own noble titles, and the proof of the success of the project is in the bottle.
The domaine was created in 1970 by Jack Pinson, today it is nearly 13ha and produces all three colors of Sancerre. The whites are a bit masculine, but it is red that Jack is known for. The red typically gets at least one gold medal per vintage.
