[WARMING WHITES] from La Pinte (Jura) →

The endless summer has finally ended. And since autumn lasted no more than 2 weeks, the fires of winter have now been permanently lit, and we want some comfort stuff.

There’s nothing better for by-the-fire dining than the powerful white elixirs of the Jura. Start with some unctuous, generous, glowing Savagnin, or a rounded, plump, oak fermented and aged chardonnay. Then when the game meat dishes are served, don’t forget Poulsard, the curious cousin whose herb and spice aromas and fine acidity make it a great match.

More than a trend, wines from France’s Jura region are unstoppable in Australia at the moment. I believe the structure of Jura wines perfectly match the modern food revolution, asserting big flavours, yet hiding layers and layers of fine detail.

We are currently stocking the following great winter wines from Domaine de la Pinte in Arbois (Jura): Chardonnay Classic, 2011 (Blue Marl soils); Chardonnay Fonteneille, 2012 (Limestone & Clay soils); Savagnin, 2007 (Blue Marl soils); Poulsard, 2011 (Red Marl soils).

[CO-PLANTING] Field of dreams - The Natural →

Co-planting is an ancient practice, so old that it would have existed unconsciously and instinctively, not as a purposefully sought out method of agriculture.
 
In fact, its antithesis (i.e. planting a field with a single variety of plant, or more accurately in today’s era, we should say the planting of a single cloned genetic individual), is likely no more than a hundred years old at most, and is nothing more intelligent than a consequence of the hunt for easy farming and high yields.
 
GMOs, clonal selection, super-productive clones, resistant clones, etc. These were the 20th Century’s solutions to the age-old dilemma of farming (seasonal changes, weather variations, crop diseases, differing yields). Prior to this, diversity, instinct and superstition were relied on.
 
Today, there is a return to the ancient practices, more harmonious, holistic and sustainable, but now with more intelligence and less superstition. Co-plantation is one such response. Today, in viticulture, we call it a “field blend”, where multiple grape varieties are planted in the one field. They all live together, grow together, are harvested together and ferment together.
 
Field blends are an echo of a well functioning modern multicultural society, where individuals are allowed to identify with and express their macro and micro cultural specificities of origin, yet function uniquely in response to their new environment, and also in response to the other cultures around them. They all impact on each other, such that the presence of each different culture has its influence on the general direction of the “local” culture. Each individual is a unique expression of the combination of its own genetic baggage, its past, its present environment, and its reaction to the other individuals surrounding it. The result is, on mass, a stronger society with more complex and complete responses to a given situation; i.e. in vineyard terms, a healthier and more resistant field. And in wine terms, the result is an end product where grape variety often slides well into the background, and terroir can speak loudly.
 
It’s actually the same argument that applies to natural fermentations. By using a high performance selected yeast, an oenologist is allowing only one individual yeast clone to express itself in the fermentation. Whereas during a natural fermentation, where the full population of indigenous yeast are allowed to have their impact, multiple and complex answers are given to the same question, i.e. a more complex wine aromatically and texturally.
 
And worse still, it should be mentioned, there is a new trend where wealthier wineries will hire a laboratory to select a yeast strain from their own cellar and reproduce it for use in their winery. This allows them to respond to the awkward question about how their wine is fermented with a more comfortable response “we use our own unique home-grown and selected yeast”. Some reputed wineries even commercialise their “home selected” yeast on the pretext that it will make other wines great like their own. But ultimately, it all falls down on the same problem: one individual gets all the say. It’s a bit like a nationalist dictatorship.
 
We vote for diversity! And this, at all levels, from micro-biology to plant genetics, to wine and food, and society and politics.
 
In our humble opinion…

by Charlie Simpson

[SKIN CONTACT] - The sensual way to wine and dine →

First, a very quick refresher course in Orange wine making. The initiated can skip forward a bit.
 
Orange wine / skin contact white / maceration white. These are all terms to describe the same thing: wine made from white wine grapes where the wine spends an unusually long time infusing with the solids (skins, seeds, and perhaps stems, etc.). Of particular importance is the contact with the skins as they contain lots of aromatic compounds and tannins, which are thus infused into the wine. The infusion (maceration) could last anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months or even a year or more. Red wine is classically made in this style. Thus the easy analogy is that Orange wine is white grapes made like a red wine.
 
Orange wine is not like rose. Rose is made using red grapes which are pressed off the skins immediately after harvest, prior to fermentation. Thus the juice receives very little or no skin contact. Classic white wine is made in this way. Thus the easy analogy is that Rose wine is red grapes made like a white wine.
 
So what’s the big deal!? Orange wines, thanks to their long maceration, contain a certain amount of tannin, which is a great carrier of flavour when food is in the picture. Likewise, the wine has had a certain level of exposure to oxygen during its maturation, which tends to generate more robust flavours, again good for food.
 
In gastronomy, we tend not to match white wines with robust food dishes, especially aromatic whites. This is because the majority of classic white wines would not stand up to the power of the food, i.e. the delicate aromas of the white would be wiped out by the richness of the dish. Orange wines, however, can provide the chance to match aromatic “white” wine flavours with robust dishes, thanks to the robust structure of the wine. An orange wine can therefore behave like a sprig of rosemary or a handful of bay leaves in a rich osso bucco, for example.
 
Marc Kreydenweiss co-planted 1 hectare of white grape varieties in his Rhone domaine in 1999. The field is planted with 3 Rhone varieties and 3 Alsatian varieties – Grenache Blanc, Vermentino, Viognier, Reisling, Pinot Gris, Gewurtztraminer. This diverse population of differing cultures lives together. Surprisingly, the grapes reach ripeness at the same time, despite the different varieties being genetically prone to being over a month apart. The whole field is harvested together and made into a delicious orange wine, filled with aromatics including orange and lemon rind, lavender and herbal tea, with a very grippy tannic structure which melts in the mouth once food is introduced. Delicious!
 

Santé!

by Charlie Simpson

[THE UPSIDE(down)] Of eating out these days →

The last 5 to 10 years have seen the gradual but total unpicking of all the remaining stiches of what fine dining used to be. But the pieces weren’t discarded; rather, they were re-shuffled and re-built into new and stunning forms.

What’s out? The traditional construction of a meal seemed like cycling up and over the Col de Tourmalet followed by a rapid descent on the other side: Appetizer – Entre – Main – Cheese – Dessert Light – Savoury – Powerful – Sweet Small size – Medium size – Big size – Small size Vegetables – Fish – Meat – Sauce – Carbohydrate – Dairy Chefs competing on the one playing field with classic dishes Champagne – Aromatic White – Oaky White – Big Red – Bigger Red – Sweet Wine What’s in? Emotion, magic and surprise. A meal is built more like a winding footpath through forest, field, cliff face and valley, where every turn hides a new emotion, aroma, flavour or discovery. Multiple dishes (often share plates) arrive one after the other in a sometimes unexpected order, all are typically equally portioned, all are balanced and poised in their own right, none are replicas of a classic, they are all inventions and expressions. Wines are no longer the only drink option, with sake, beer, juices, teas and infusions having a loud voice with food matching. And when the wines come, they are often not expected, with light chilled reds opening the score, and major flourishes of aromatic oxidative whites, tannic orange wines, then dry fresh bubbles to finish!

Santé!

by Charlie Simpson

[RED BEARDS] and chilled rouge →

Put your hands up if at some stage during this summer you were offered a glass of red wine for aperitif. And keep ‘em up if, when you said yes, the barman went to the fridge to get it. You were probably in a cool hipster bar or eatery, and the barman probably had a stylish red beard (and I have no comment on red beards, other than to say, objectively, that they are very cool).

There is a genuine and apparently lasting trend towards drinkability in wines, including and especially in reds. The classic codes are slowly being broken, mainly thanks to a curious, de-complexed Generation Y, who just wants every experience to be fun. And they want it to be fun now. Red wines made with easily drinkable structures, light on tannin, big on flavour and acidity, fit this bill. And fruity, low tannin wines with a good acid structure can taste a bit like… well… they kind of behave a little bit like white wine in the mouth. So why not drink them chilled?

That’s what’s happening. And the biggest proponents of this style of wine making seem to be the natural wine crowd, and a lot of it is thanks to producers using a carefully judged dose of the winemaking technique called Carbonic Maceration. Check out the spot-light on this technique below.

So are you serving “highly drinkable” red wines? Are you serving them chilled? It might be time to start.

Santé!

Charlie