- Intro
- The Competition
- The Line-up
- Tasting Notes White
- Tasting Notes Red
- Conventional/Organic/Biodynamic/Natural
- The Winery
- David Motion
- About the Champagne
Intro
After a glass of organic Champagne by Sabine Godmé from 1er Cru vineyards around Verzenay on the Montagne de Reims, we will be tasting three white and three red wines – contemporary examples of organic, biodynamic and natural wines.
The Competition – there’s a twist
Tonight’s wines are all listed here but to spice things up a bit we’re going to serve them blind – we’re not going to tell you which is which. Fill out the sheet on the back and whoever identifies the most correctly (subject to a tie-breaker if you all get them right) will win a prize. Good luck! Also, please score each wine out of 5.
5 if you really like it, 1 if it’s not to your taste – or somewhere in between.
WHITE
DRY RIESLING FROM GERMANY
Descriptors – blackcurrant leaf, floral, minerals, racy, limey.
Riesling trocken 2014, Thorsten Melsheimer (Mosel/Germany) BIODYNAMIC
ORANGE WINE
Descriptors – orange marmalade, toffee, apple, nuts and wax.
Vade Retro Riesling trocken 2014, Thorsten Melsheimer (Mosel/Germany) NATURAL
BIODYNAMIC CÔTES-DU-RHÔNE WHITE
Descriptors – fragrant, oily, white peach, apricot stones, honey and almonds.
Le Haut des Côtes 2014, Coriançon (Rhône/France) BIODYNAMIC
RED
BIODYNAMIC CÔTES-DU-RHÔNE-VILLAGES
Descriptors – herbal, rich, ripe, dark berry fruit, spicy, warming, powerful.
La Grande Ourse 2014, Pascal Chalon (Rhône/France) BIODYNAMIC
NATURAL WINE – A GAMAY FROM WESTERN FRANCE
Descriptors – strawberries, raspberries, lilac, violets, savoury.
Les Ermitures Gamay 2014, La Vigne du Perron (Bugey/Western France) NATURAL
BIODYNAMIC TUSCAN RED
Descriptors – supple, succulent, ripe, juice-saturated.
Carmignano 2013, Terre a Mano (Tuscany/Italy) BIODYNAMIC
Riesling trocken 2014, Thorsten Melsheimer (Mosel/Germany) BIODYNAMIC
trocken = dry
“I’m the only one stupid enough to work the steepest part of the Reiler Mullay-Hofberg vineyard” says Thorsten Melsheimer, the perfect picture of a Saxon in rude health. “It’s not as if the vines are actually facing in an ideal direction either. It forces you to work hard. It helps to be biodynamic. You have to slash the yield and pick insanely late. I bought some vines in a perfect south facing vineyard on the other side of the river and the wines are not as interesting – the vines are just lazy!”
Thorsten is certainly not lazy – he has been nursing old vines back to life, rebuilding walls in the remotest, steepest, least accessible parts of the Mullay-Hofberg vineyard. “When I get really hot working in the vines, I jump into the Mosel for a quick swim to cool off.”
Certified Ecovin (Organic) since 1997, in 2013 Thorsten now also has the Demeter Biodynamic certification.
Thorsten sees this dry Riesling as his calling card – it’s a blend from his vineyards other than the Mullay-Hofberg; Reiler Goldlay, Reiler Falklay, Burger Hahnenschrittchen and Pündericher Marienburg.
Racy, limey, floral, blackcurrant leaf and packed with slatey minerals.
Vade Retro Riesling trocken 2014, Thorsten Melsheimer (Mosel/Germany) NATURAL
Same grower, same grape, different winemaking style. This illustrates the difference between one that is made biodynamically (and yet tastes fairly conventional) and one made in the Natural/Orange Wine style. Never filtered, never pumped, no added sulphites (although, like all wine, it contains a small amount of naturally occurring sulphur dioxide – a byproduct of fermentation).
Evocative of baked apples, savoury marmalade, toffee, nuts and wax.
Le Haut des Côtes, Côtes-du-Rhône 2014, Coriançon (Rhône/France) BIODYNAMIC
The heavily moustachioed François Vallot is a fourth-generation wine-maker and owns one of the oldest wineries in the Côtes-du-Rhône, an area where much of the wine is bottled by the big co-operatives. Since the 2007 vintage he has been fully biodynamic. His winery is in Vinsobres, one of the named Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages, like Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Cairanne, all satellites of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. It’s a beautiful, warm, windswept setting with the jagged Dentelles de Montmirail and Mont Ventoux as a backdrop. Since the arrival of his daughter Anaïs in the day-to-day management of the winery and vineyards, we notice some subtle changes in presentation; an overhaul of the website and a new label for the latest vintage of their Côtes-du-Rhône.
This, their top white, is a blend of Viognier with Grenache Blanc and Clairette. Fragrant, oily, white peach, apricot stones, honey and almonds.
La Grande Ourse 2014, Pascal Chalon (Rhône/France) BIODYNAMIC
We stumbled across Pascal Chalon in the village of Tulette not far from Chateauneuf-du-Pape, making biodynamic Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages in his Granny’s garage. We clambered around, amongst the tools and apples, squeezed ourselves around her beaten-up Renault and, as soon as we had tasted his two wines, “La Petite Ourse” and “La Grande Ourse”, were quick to back the van up and load the last cases he had. La Grande Ourse is a deep, meaty blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre from vines caressed (some might say ravaged) by the Mistral wind. We love its deep richness and herbal flavours, evocative of the lavender and thyme-laden local landscape.
Les Ermitures Gamay 2014, La Vigne du Perron (Bugey/Western France) NATURAL
If you drive 45 minutes due east of Lyon, just as you see some serious hills and mountains, you might stumble upon a village called Villebois. François Grignand, previously a piano teacher, started making wine in 1993. Natural from the beginning, he has had ups and downs along the way. He has just 2.5 hectares and got into difficulty in 2005, going into liquidation in 2007. Two wine-loving Belgians, fans of his wines, who hadn’t realized he was in trouble came one evening and said, “would it help if we bought your entire stock”? La Vigne du Perron was able to rise from the ashes. We stumbled across some of this stock in Copenhagen and were keen to track François down.
His wines are totally Natural. “No pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers or other chemical means are used in the vineyards. Very low yields. The culture principles are derived from organic agriculture and biodynamic (without certification). The vinification takes place on indigenous yeasts, without chaptalisation, enzymes, fining, filtration, and without any other means of chemistry or “technology” winemaking.”
Les Ermitures (also Friche in French) means abandoned ground, usually wild covered with grass. He chose the name as a gentle dig to his neighbours: his parcels are always covered with grass – unusual in a region where the use of herbicides was so systematic.
Les Ermitures is 100% Gamay from vines on chalky soil at the base of the rock face that towers above the village.
Carmignano 2013, Terre a Mano (Tuscany/Italy) BIODYNAMIC
Rossella Bencini Tesi inherited the beautiful estate high up in the hills and woods above Prato, 40 kms west of Florence, from her grandfather. Her grandfather had been a lawyer in the mediaeval city of Pistoia in the valley below and bought the estate in the 1920s. It was run as a self-sufficient smallholding and previously formed part of a much larger estate belonging to the Medici family which was used for hunting parties.
Although Carmignano was recognised as one of the first Super-Tuscans in 1975, the locals argue that its DOC (Denominazione d’Origine Controllata or Appellation) dates back 300 years to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo III de’ Medici who proclaimed that Carmignano, Chianti, Pomino and Valdarno were superior quality and granted them legal protections.
Carmignano is allowed to blend a percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon into their Sangiovese. Rossella is keen to point out that Cabernet was not new to the area – Catherine de Medici married into French royalty and the grape was brought to the area and known locally as Uva Francesca.
Biodynamic since 2001, Rossella’s blend is 75% Sangiovese with a 15% splash of sunshine-soaked Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Canaiolo (which, along with Sangiovese, is one of the grapes used for Chianti). Supple, high-class, high-toned, juice-saturated Tuscan red.
The Winery
Based in a former Victorian pharmacy in London W9, we import our entire range of wines and champagnes ourselves from small growers in our specialist regions around France, Italy, Spain and California. We are also well-known for our wide selection of New Wave dry wines from Germany, the largest range in the UK. We hold monthly tastings open to all. Our next tasting is scheduled for Monday 17th October from 17.00-21.00h.
The Winery, 4 Clifton Road, London W9 1SS – info@thewineryuk.com
www.thewineryuk.com
David Motion
Wine merchant, composer, dry Riesling evangelist, Riesling Fellow. After several years in the music business, firstly as a record producer and then as composer, David bought The Winery in 1996.
Travelling extensively searching for new wines, he also regularly appears in interviews talking about New Wave German Wines, Biodynamic Wine and the Lunar Calendar. He is a panel taster for Decanter Magazine and contributor to Noble Rot Magazine, including a gently controversial piece called “Red Wine With Fish – The Dark Art of Food And Wine Matching”. David was delighted to receive the Riesling Fellow award from The Riesling Fellowship in 2013.
Champagne Brut Réserve NV, Sabine Godmé (Champagne/France) ORGANIC
You can make out the village of Verzenay as you thunder south of Reims on the Autoroute des Anglais towards the Autoroute du Soleil. It nestles below the tree line on the Montagne de Reims (which is more of a gentle incline than a mountain) and is easily identifiable with a windmill at its west end and a lighthouse at its east. Why is there a lighthouse this far from the sea? It was built by a grower called Joseph Goulet to remind his homesick wife of Brittany and is now a wine museum.
Godmé is a small family domaine run by two sisters, Sabine and Dominique, and Jean-Marie Guillaume, Sabine’s husband. They have been farming organically since 2004 and certified in 2013. There has been a small reorganization recently as the two sisters have divided their domaine in readiness for the next generation. We noticed recently that the label has also undergone some radical change. Sabine’s daughter Marie is now involved – she’s fresh out of college and keen to bring some of her fresh perspective on “Le Marketing”. Whichever labels you might prefer there is no doubting the sheer quality of their Champagnes.
Brut Réserve is the Godmés’ calling card, a blend of 70% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Noir and 15% Pinot Meunier from 20 parcels of 1er Cru vines. The quality is always extremely high, thanks in part to the inclusion of 50% of Reserve wine from earlier vintages.