Late Autumn and It's that time again! With thoughts of YOU! And time for Wine!
Hello and welcome to the Late Autumn edition of Time for Wine! Everything in this offer is chosen with a nod toward the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, and what I want to be drinking with the foods of the season, and also, what I'm enjoying any way possible, season be damned! Wines that say something to me, that communicate vivaciousness, freshness, ponderance, memories, and hope. These are worthy and attainable qualities to attach to our wines, are they not?
There is something for everyone here; from sparkling, to white, to rosé to red, all of them slightly bent to refract expectations, send them through a prism and present to the eye, a palate of color that is not quite R-O-Y-G-B-I-V.
#1- Alice, Veneto Marzemino "M Fondo"- $29 Two women tending vines and making purely pure wines of purity in the far northern reaches of the Veneto, the hills of Conegliano and Valdobiaddene. Most of us know this area for its Prosecco and yes, this is sparkling but no, it is not Prosecco, and it's not white, but red, of a highly translucent ruby color. The soils are glacial, which means lots of deposits, loose and shifting, allowing vines to dig deep and suck up the mineral on their way down. With the Dolomites for a backdrop, Cinzia and Pier Francesca are devout in their attention to detail, in every aspect of the growing and vinification cycle. Focussed, the Marzemino reminds me of Gamay or a super light Cabernet Franc...SPARKLING RED WINE! I can't think of many things that go better in the opening phases of a relationship, than the frivolity of effervescence and the intellectual impression of a minerally red wine. Perhaps you pick this up . . . and fuck the drink out of it? I see a pair of reading glasses stuck at the end of your nose, reciting the ingredients off the back of a box of Cheerios and calling it post-modernist poetry.
#2- Fabien Jouves, "Tu ne Vins Plus aux Soirees" 2020 VdF (Cahors)- $23 A logical, if accidental follow-up to the Marzemino from above, this is a super fresh, super natural blend of Malbec & Cabernet Franc from a young master of the genre. Let me say here that natural doesn't always mean funkier than fuck. This is pure and focussed, the result of a wine maker who pays fanatical attention to detail, because he knows that if he wants his fermentations to stay on target and not veer off into a free-form improv, he must provide guidance. There is a place for gently nudging things in the right direction, just as there is a place to abandon all and do naked back flips through the field and start a revolution. Perhaps Jouves does a little bit of both? You decide.
#3- Clos Perdus, Project 108 Blanc, Corbieres 2020- $30 Talk about starting a revolution . . . This golden nectar with a scent of stars and beyond; that's what Muscat can do to me. It is hard not to love it just on the nose alone! But here's where the grape can disappoint: it's often hollow on the palate, especially in its dry form. There is this initial syntilation as it hits the tongue, with all of this promise of things to come, and then . . . just goes flacid, and I'm like, "Where's the beef?"
THIS WINE IS NOT LIKE THAT! for two reasons:
1. It is helped along by the weighty, substantial, and somewhat viscous, Grenache Gris (10%)
2. It is 50% whole cluster fermented and left on the skins for ten days.
Meaning, some phenolics from the skins and stems, extra texture from extended skin contact . . . the wine fully births itself in your mouth.
#4- Domaine Philemon, Jurancon Noir, Tarn 2019- $20 Alright. Anything that has Tarn in its name, is a do-er for me. That name puts out so many images: Stone walls lining a still, black river, overhung with trees, rusting metal, half decomposed old farm houses and amazing full moons that rise above a landscape that gives no hint of being anywhere close to existing in this century, let alone the last two hundred years . . . in my dream, there isn't even an autoroute humming nearby. And all of this is embodied in the wine: iron ore, a stillness that runs deep, a simplicity that just is and doesn't have to try; and yet, with a presence that gently grips you like a warm, friendly hand. That must be the tannins. Wake up!
#5- Domaine de l'Astre, Flamenc Rosé - $26 What can I say about this wine? It may be my favorite of the line-up! Can I say that? It shouldn't detract from the rest and I know, even as I write this, I will not be able to deliver justice to its truth. This comes from the Perigord Poupre, the southwest of a region, once a province of France, now part of the department of the Dordogne. Truly a magical place, and a friend of mine, now passed on, once had a farm there. He and his wife were truly magical people so, I know that anything coming out of Perigord, possesses at least a bit of magic, and this wine is all of that plus some!
The Flamenc is 50% semillon, 30% cab franc, ad 20% cabernet sauvignon, all co-fermented and aged in old barrels for 6 to 7 months before bottling. In every way from nose to palate, seemless, a richness that follows through from scent to taste to length, WTF! A perfect wine. So perfect, in fact, that I have a separate offer for three more of their wines coming out in a separate offer behind this one.
That's what I have for you! You know what to do!
Minimum 4 bottles in Seattle proper, bring me to your door
6 bottles outside city limits