this is a reposting with some spell checking of last evening's post. the mistral is howling and the sky is a glorious blue. sorry about ipad's version of how to spell some things, i hope i have corrected it all.
we headed south this morning on the a6 and got to watch about 400km of jammed northbound traffic. ah, the route de soleil at this time of year; i hope it will be better going northward next week when we are going that direction, otherwise we take the 6 hour rural route to nuit st george. our original plan had been to visit the southern parts of burgundy and make some stops in the northern rhone, but we had an appointment in tavel at 1600 that was not to be missed. we arrived at domaine du moulin in st laurent des arbres (our base for all of our trips, kudos to antoinette and otto, our exceptional hosts), unpacked, and hit the road. the original plan had been to taste in tale tomorrow, but when offered 30 out with harvest impending one takes it. there was a specific vigneron we wanted to visit based upon the french wine society meeting last month. we tasted several wines from tale today, but i only am going to write about one very special producer and his wines.
we in les etats unis do not appreciate rose wines. tavel is exclusively rose wine. the wines spend a significant period of maceration before being run off, pressed, and blended. this gives a nice extraction of color and an impressive "backbone" of the fruits used. tavel is not about how "pale" can a rose be made, and it is fermented dry unlike the "blush" wines made in the states. this is serious wine. the design is for it to be drunk young, but one of the wines today was specifically designed as a "vin gastronomique," and has the potential to age and evolve; unfortunately, this specific cuvee is not imported into the states.
tonight's feature is hateau de Trinquevedel and its owner, winemaker, and 4th generation producer, Guillaume Demoulin. we had the opportunity to tour the vineyards and his impressive family chateau with him. the property was built by his great grandfather Eugene in the 1930's and he inherited it beginning in 2006. the tasting was four wines. his tavel is macerated and fermented in old cement tanks. maceration is 12 to 48 hours.
we began with 2008 Trinquevedel. the year was difficult because of the weather, but good work was done in the cellar. the wine had good color, a nose of red fruits, and nice mineraltiy, and it finessed distinctly with strawberries; there was a hint of hotness at the end. this was a nice wine from a tough year, and it set the stage for wonderful wines to follow.
next was 2009 Trinquevedel. the year was outstanding, and the work in the cellar was great too. this wine's color is bright pink. it has a much more prominent red fruit nose with spicy red cherries, red raspberries, and a hint of strawberry. the acid, mineral, and fruit balance perfectly. the finish is cherry and raspberry. i thought this wine was outstanding.
following this we had Les Vignes d'Eugene 2008. this is a rose that is built to age. it is produced only from selected vines and is not imported into the states. this wine had a hint of orange to its color, probably from the oxidative nature of the grenache and clairette. the wine's nose was complex, with dried red fruits and spice, the balance was perfect, and it finished with raspberries. there was a hint of toffee to this wine. i know of two bottles coming to the united states.
the last wine was guilaume's 2009 Cotes du Rhone; next year this should become AOC Lirac, the bulk of the wine is his grenache grown in lirac and he will have his mouvedre to blend from there soon. this is a fresh and fruity red to drink now. it is a very nice wine which i suspect will become more serious once it can be labeled from the AOC Lirac. this wine had a really difficult act to follow given the roses we had just tasted; we are drinking it now and finding a potential and complexity in it we did not appreciate initially. getting to revisit this wine tonight shows me that it hits the target as a wine to drink now with summer food in warm weather. it perfectly matches its intended target.
this was an absolutely spectacular visit and tasting. this is a true family enterprise now in its 4th generation. the wines are excellent and express the nature of the people who produce them. these are special wines, they show the character of the soil and the soul from which they come. kermit lynch is the usa importer. i would love to see these wines on the shelves in pennslvnaia next spring (2010 is going to be a good year). jill says, "you can't get these wines in pennsylvania, and there is a problem with that." i agree, this is serious rose, a real wine.
i strongly recommend this wine. if the opportunity to visit the property presents itself, i would say it is a must do. everything about Trinquevedel is special and unique.
www.chateau-trinquevedel.fr
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