valentine's day

About N.V. Billecart-Salmon Rose Champagne Blend

About the Winery Billecart-Salmon
Champagne Billecart-Salmon was founded in 1818, with the marriage of Nicholas Francois Billecart and Elisabeth Salmon, and is run today by their descendent, Francois Rolland-Billecart. The firm owns 74 acres of its own vines, and buys in grapes from another 346 acres as well. Ninety percent of the fruit comes from within a 20-mile radius of Epernay, with some 35 crus contributing.

About this Vintage
Appearance: Its pale and bright pink colour is adorned with warm glints of gold and its delicate slowly rising bubbles give it a persistent mousse.
Aroma: This cuvée unveils a subtle aroma leading to an elegant, delicate bouquet of fine notes of red fruits and
zest of citrus fruits.
Palate: Its special method of vinification gives this cuvée a light, elegant flavour, followed by a fresh finish with a taste
of raspberry.
Serving: This rosé champagne is an ideal partner as an aperitif and can also accompany a dish of wild salmon or
sushi. For dessert, it will add a sublime touch to red fruit flavours.

Vacqueyras- Domaine Montirius 2006

A.O.C. VACQUEYRAS MONTIRIUS "Le Clos"
La parcelle unique de 8.5 hectare de vigne située au début du plateau des Garrigues s’élève au dessus de la plaine du Comtat, avec de tous côtés sur ses pentes 11 ha de bois de chênes centenaires qui le protègent et l’isolent du reste de l’appellation.
Il y règne un micro climat et une atmosphère particulière où la pluviométrie y est plus faible qu’ailleurs.
www.montirius.com

the wine of the evening is 2006 Domaine Montirius "Le Clos." This is a wonderful wine consisting of 50% grenache and 50% syrah. it is an opaque inky purple. the nose has both red and dark fruit, with hints of fig, pepper, and smoke; the fragrance of the garrigue surrounding the vineyard is readily evident. nothing is lost on the taste as the fruits, smoke, and pepper carry through. there is a perfect balance of fruit, tannin, mineral, and alcohol as the wine finishes. this coats the mouth and lingers with a hint of spice for several minutes. it is a great wine for superbowl sunday, and should match well with the pizza and salad this evening. that said, it would be wonderful with a more complex meal of roasted meat and provencal vegetables. this is a very nice wine and one i hope to add to my cellar.

as usual, to me the mix of ripe fruit, spice, mineral and long peppery finish in this wine takes me straight away to vacqueyras. the wines of this aoc contain a lower percentage (generally) of grenache and a higher percentage of syrah, thus the pepper, spice, and smoke. when i taste these wines my mind goes directly to thoughts of rustic rural wine; to me this is a sense of wildness as compared with the more polished and refined wines of gigondas (minimum 80% grenache) and the huge polished wines of chateauneuf. i love the wines from all three aoc's, but vacqueyras always is special and seems always to identify itself.

the domaine is biodynamic and "Le Clos" is located on the plateau, on predominantly clay soil. vinification is in cement and possibly stainless steel.

shopping this wine on line would suggest that the united states importer has managed to make quite the profit. it is available in pennsylvania shops for $25.99 but can be had in europe for substantially less. even at the inflated pennsylvania price it is a bargin because it leaves many of its more distinguished and expensive neighbors in its "wake."

i strongly recommend this wine, only leave a dozen bottles for me. i will put this up against a chateauneuf or gigondas in a tasting as a great part of wine games.

the Goats of Vacqueyras

we were driving along and thought that we were the one's doing the sightseeing...

of course there was a "cave" across the street. more to come.

hazard a guess?

This is an amusing item we found in Chateauneuf du Pape, but the only sizes were for kids.

http://www.tahttp://www.tavel.tm.fr/images/TerroirsA.gifvel.tm.fr/images/TerroirsA.gif

tavel in pictures, completed

Most of the literature describes 3 main soil types:light filtering sandstone, fluvial sand and shingle; chalky gravel and red clay, red clay and quartzite shingle. As the geologic map and the photos show, there are more. Many vineyards will have more than a single soil type as one walks up the slope. The Tavel website describes two main soils, galets and lauses (which are to the west, www.tavel.tm.fr), and goes on to describe pebbly sandy soil at the foot of the slopes. The cross section of this is well illustrated in the geologic map and in the photo of the hillside cut.

The grape types are: Grenache, maximum of 15% Cinsault, Clairette white and Rosé, and 10% maximum of Picpoul, Calitor, Bourboulenc, Mourvèdre, Syrah and Carignan. Maceration is allowed typically for 12 to 24 hours. Minimum alcohol is 11%, and some sources indicate that there is a maximum alcohol level as well.

This is true rose wine. It is fermented dry, if one closes their eyes the tastes are of red fruits. In the States, we have been trained that rose wine is like- white zin, with residual sugar making it sweet and fruity. This is a dry wine. Most are made to be drunk young, although a few are designed as gastronomic wines and are intended to be age worthy. The color is vivid pink, partridge eye. The nose yields flavors of ripe red fruits- strawberry, cherry, and raspberry with some white pepper notes. The taste is crisp with well balanced acid and mineral and a lingering finish of the fruit. Some of these wines, particularly those intended to age, undergo malolactic fermentation and have a rich creamy texture which coats the mouth.

Although we are conditioned to think of rose wines for summer pairings, I think they can be drunk year round. I do feel they are best with fresh produce and simply prepared meals.

The wines of Tavel have been identified as the "King of Rose" because they have over the years been favored by French royalty- from Phillipe le Bel, through the Avignon Popes, to Louis XIV. "Les habitants de Tavel n'ont ni commerce ni industrie mais ont une grande ressource dans la vente de leurs vins qui par leur grande qualité sont infiniment recherchés."
(Extrait des rôles de la capitation 1734)

Unfortunately, Tavel was one of the first French regions impacted by phylloxera. It recovered and in 1902 established a strong wine syndicate. In 1936 it was granted AOC status. Presently, there are approximately 40 producers of Tavel wine, comprised of predominantly independent vignerons with some large firms and a fine cooperative. I have had the good fortune of tasting the wines of over half of these producers as I attempt to understand the breadth of this commune. The majority make fine wines; unfortunately, it is not always possible to meet the individuals behind the wines.

There will be more to come on this project, which I think will take a few years. Now I have to understand why "blogger" published the post in mid sentence. Or, is it just another Vista quirk?

Tavel in Pictures

Most of the literature describes 3 main soil types:light filtering sandstone, fluvial sand and shingle; chalky gravel and red clay, red clay and quartzite shingle. As the geologic map and the photos show, there are more. Many vineyards will have more than a single soil type as one walks up the slope.

The grape types are: Grenache, maximum of 15% Cinsault, Clairette white and Rosé, and 10% maximum of Picpoul, Calitor, Bourboulenc, Mourvèdre, Syrah and Carignan. Maceration is allowed typically for 12 to 24 hours. Minimum alcohol is 11%,