Posted On January 7, 2010 at 8:36 pm in Savoy
Vineyard in the Bugey AOC
I spent the New Year’s weekend with friends who had recently escaped Paris to move to the hills of the Jura Mountains outside of Geneva. To get the weekend started, we picked up some local wines made from a red grape I had tried before but knew little about, Mondeuse.
Mondeuse is grown mostly is the Savoy region of France. Only around 400 acres are currently planted but it’s an ancient varietal cultivated in France or Gaul even before the arrival of the Romans. After phylloxera wiped out the vineyards very little Mondeuse was re-planted with grafted root stocks.
Jancis Robinson calls it ” juicy, peppery wines are powerfully flavoured and coloured and are some of Savoie’s few to respond well to careful oak ageing”. I found it to have a deep ruby-red color with spicy and peppery notes, good tannins and balanced acidity with a dry finish.
Its produced recently delimited Bugey AOC and most of the wines are estate bottled by small producers and sold locally leaving only 4% to be exported. A quick search on wine-searcher.com reveals that you can find it in the US. Its a wine well worth trying.
Posted by Greg Roberts · Tags: bugey, france, mondeuse, obscure grapes, Savoy, Wine · No Comments »
Posted On January 4, 2010 at 11:14 pm in Bordeaux
Since the Duval-Fleury and Corneau families bought the Chateau La Bienfaisance in 1991 sought to invest in the estate with the goal being among bestproducers in Saint-Emilion. Since 1998 they have collaborated with highly regarded wine consultant Stephane Derenoncourt.
open top vat from Ch. Cantinot
More recently, they purchased a vineyard on the Saint-Emilion limestone plateau – soils which tend to produce the richest and most complex wines. I recently spoke with the director at Chateau La Bienfaisance and they have now completed the installation of new open top oak fermentation vats. Not very exciting news in and of itself but it signifies their continued commitment to producing the best quality wines. These vats replaced at the large concrete glass lined vats and allows them to tailor vinifications on a parcel by parcel basis.
Slowly Chateau La Bienfaisance has been recognized for the quality and value of their wines. The New York Time Wine Club recently selected Chateau La Bienfaisance 2004 for their upcoming January shipment. They source limited production wines that are not widely available in the US. Members receive booklets of recipes for food pairings taken from the Times archives with their wine shipments. The club is managed by California based Global Wine Company and is run independently of the Times editorial sections. You have until January 6 to sign up to receive the January shipment or you can find it as part of the our Bordeaux Sampler- 3 bottles for $75 + Free Shipping.
Posted by Greg Roberts No Comments »
