Wine Weekend Paris - More Tastings

Paragraphs on Ravaut, but we were there for what seemed like hours, certainly for much intense conversation (in French) interspersed with slurping and spitting. From there we stopped at a producer of Châteauneuf-du-pape (the ‘new castle of the Pope’ because we all remember when the French king supported a rival Pope and installed (held?) him near Avignon, principal city in the region that produces Châteauneuf). The Chef Cousin knew this vineyard, Château la Nerthe, and thought it a better producer than the other exhibitor in the Club; I have to agree having tasted both now. At Nerthe we tasted red and white Châteauneuf, in both the Château name and in named cuvees or separate productions, which this winemaker considers to be finer wines, both in red and white; their Premier Cru, if you will.

Interesting to note that 2005 in Burgundy is shaping up to be a mythic year, certainly with mythic prices on the wines, but in the Rhone Valley, where Châteauneuf is produced, 2006 is a highly acclaimed year. Indeed the '06 white wine we tasted at Nerthe was delectable, for drinking today and for several years to come. As in Burgundy, the Châteauneuf 2005 reds were the most recent available to taste, but the grapes used are completely different. Châteauneuf is a blend of grapes; in the red, primarily Grenache, but also Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault. White Châteauneuf is also primarily Grenache, but white Grenache, and Clairette, Roussane and Picpoul. At the other producer of Châteauneuf, the difference was marked, especially with their 2006 white. The second had none of the complexity or full taste of the terroir that the first contained. Interestingly, the prices at Chateau Nerthe were roughly twice that of the second producer, Domaine de Nalys. Neither producer met my Golden Ratio measure.

Additionally, we tasted Madiran, a big, meaty, ‘masculine’ blended red wine much in the Bordeaux tradition produced in the south-west of France. I quite like it as a rule, but it is best drunk 7 – 10 years old and I can never find anything in very young Madiran that I love in an older one. We also tried several Alsace wines from Vignoble André Scherer. These wines are Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Gewurztraminer, among others. They tend to be fruitier than other wines and often sweeter. I appreciate them, particularly the ‘late harvest’ or ‘noble grape’ wines. These are the dessert wines, grapes left on the vine until more sugar is produced or until a fungus appears that aids in the production of sweeter wines. It was interesting to taste a Pinot Late Harvest that was much more interesting than a Gewurzt Noble which should have been the better one. I felt that the sugar overwhelmed the fruit and aroma of the Gewurzt. I did buy here an Poire Eau-de-Vie.

Finally, we arrived at another Burgundy producer, Roux Père & Fils. A larger producer than Ravaut, they also have a broader range of wines, some produced from grapes they have grown, some produced from grapes they have bought. The latter is not an unusual situation; there are numerous négociants in Burgundy. Some buy grapes from very particular parcelles, some buy grapes without attribution to a parcelle, some work in the village where they bought the grapes, some truck them to other locations. Some négociants even buy product after the harvest – juice, fermented juice, barrels, etc. Obviously, the closer the wine is made to where the vine grows, and the more control he has over the grapes on that vine, the more respected the wine of the négociant.

After tasting a variety of Roux wines, red and white, I found the production to be overreaching and the flavor to be different from what I appreciate in Burgundy. The Chef Cousin best described the wines as being produced to be sold and drunk immediately, not aged. This is a different mentality than most winemakers in Burgundy. Coupled with higher prices than Ravaut, Roux did not meet the Golden Ratio.