Warming up to a delicious Loire Valley white

When I opened a bottle from France’s Loire Valley this past weekend, Hervé Villemade’s 2015 Sauvignon Blanc, I was reminded of the importance of temperature in enjoying the full spectrum of a wine’s flavors – and that wines without prestigious appellations on their labels can often be delicious values.

What turned out to be a lovely, subtly complex wine appeared at first one-dimensional and enclosed. But within a few minutes, the wine seemed to come alive, releasing wonderful and complex aromas and tastes and reinforcing my confidence that a wine with the broader “Val de Loire” classification could indeed be memorable.

What had happened, simply, was that the wine had warmed up a few degrees or so,  literally taking the chill out of the bottle and allowing the wine to express itself. If you have left a white wine in the fridge for more than an hour so or ordered one at a restaurant, chances are it’s going to be too cold. Tell your waiter to hold the ice bucket and let your wine sit on the table. (Conversely, I often ask that red wines be chilled down a few degrees to bring them to the more expressive and refreshing “cellar temperature.”)

As for the sauvignon, Villemade produces his wine in Cheverny, an appellation that calls for sauvignon to be blended with some chardonnay or a couple of other white varieties. Hence, an all-sauvignon wine must be declassified to the “Val de Loire” designation.

The sauvignon is made from organically farmed grapes (as are all of Villemade’s wines), and shows notes of orange, pear and apricot, a subtle herb touch and a nice mineral edge. The overall impression is generous and round, even with alcohol listed at just 12.5 percent. This is a beautiful wine with a winning price of about $14. It's available at Chambers Street Wines in New York and other stores.

Just promise me you won’t drink it too cold.

Beating the heat with these refreshing whites from France's little-known Quincy

It’s mid-August, and with the heat and humidity truly stifling here in New York, I have no use for wines that aren’t fresh and light (while still interesting, of course). Among whites, sauvignon blancs immediately come to mind. For the “interesting” component, my mind -- and palate -- naturally veer toward France’s Loire Valley.

The Loire is sauvignon blanc country, unparalleled in its quality and range of perspectives on the grape, from the racy and relatively uncomplicated wines of the large Touraine appellation, to the complex and celebrated offerings from Sancerre and its neighbor Pouilly Fumé.

Somewhere in between are the wines of Quincy, a storybook village in the upper Loire that lives in the shadow of its

more famous neighbors like Sancerre. I remember thinking the first time I was there that lunch didn’t get much better than a hunk of the local chèvre, a baguette and a bottle of Quincy (although the young woman I was with may have had at least something to do with it).

If Quincy (pronounced can-SEE)  is not a great sauvignon appellation, it is very good, and the prices reflect its less rarefied place in the pecking order. That said, I was reminded on tasting several samples sent to me this summer just how satisfying the wines can be.

Take Domaine Mardon’s 2014 Quincy “Tres Vielles Vignes,” listed online for $15 to $20. Apricot, orange and lime notes are softened by a subtle creamy overlay that also gives it richness. A steely minerality keeps it sharply focused. This mineral component, by the way, is what defines good sauvignon and other Loire wines, both white and red.

Another standout is Domaine Sylvain Bailly’s 2015 Quincy “Beaucharme,” fresh and zingy, light and complex with citrus, herb and subtle vanilla notes. It’s about $16 and available here. The stated alcohol level of both wines is a relatively modest 13 percent.

In an endless winter, wines that will transport you to summer

As I write this, it’s about to drop down to two degrees again here in New York, hardly the kind of weather that brings on thoughts of refreshing summer wines. But as part of my own strategy for coping with this brutal blast of winter we’ve been enduring for weeks, that’s exactly what I’ve been tasting. They're not a substitute for a warm beach, but they've taken some of the chill out of my mind, at least, and given me a jump on some exciting new releases to be enjoyed in the months ahead.

From New Zealand, Mud House’s 2014 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc ($12) immediately got me in the spirit of spring. This is classic Kiwi sauvignon with delicious grapefruit and gooseberry notes, vibrant acidity and a touch of cream on the long finish. It’s notable as well for its roundness -- there’s nothing strident, as New Zealand sauvignons can sometimes be. Alcohol is 13 percent. Imported by Accolade Wines North America, Napa, California.

I have often said that rosés can and should be drunk through the year, a point reinforced by the first two rosés I’ve tasted this year. They represent two very different styles and both are memorable.

From France’s Loire Valley, Saget La Perrière’s 2014 La Petite Perrière Rosé ($14) is as refreshing a rosé as you’ll find, It is made from 100 percent pinot noir, an under-appreciated Loire variety. I was struck immediately by a liveliness produced by its bright acidity, just the right quality to counteract a deep-winter funk. With its light salmon color its tastes evoke ripe cherry and strawberry with some lemon, orange and a touch of cream on the finish. Alcohol is 12 percent.

In a slightly fuller style, the 2014 Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé ($14) is notable for its minerality that punctuates concentrated strawberry and raspberry notes. There’s a refreshing citrusy finish on this one as well. Alcohol is 13.5 percent. Los Vascos is produced in Chile’s Colchagua Valley and is owned by Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite). Both rosés will be available this spring and are imported by Pasternak Wine Imports, Harrison, New York. All three wines were received as samples for review.

Sips: A visit to the Loire Valley and some first notable wines

For the next week, I’ll be traveling through France’s Loire Valley, trying to deepen my understanding of this large and highly diverse region along with four other American wine writers. As I customarily do on such trips, I’ll begin with a word about how I got here. I was invited to the region by two of its trade organizations, Interprofession Vins de Loire and Interprofession des Vins du Centre Loire, which are paying for my travel to and accommodations in the region. The arrangements were made by a U.S. public relations and marketing company, Benson Marketing Group. There was no agreement with these organizations about my coverage of the wines or the region for either this blog or for my weekly column for MSNBC.com, although I have no doubt that I will have plenty to say about my tastings and travels.

Now, on to some of the first wines I tasted after arriving here. At our first dinner at the Brasserie du Theatre in Angers, we decided to order two very different white wines, as most of us were ordering fish or shellfish. And both were outstanding in their own ways. Domaine Pellé’s 2010 Menetou-Salon “Morogues” is quintessential sauvignon blanc and was wonderful at both the beginning and end of my dinner – with a variety of oysters on the half shell and then with a little goat cheese. There’s lots of gooseberry here, some lime, a bit of cream and a nice smooth texture. I found a briny note as the wine opened up. A balanced, refreshing and fairly complex sauvignon with alcohol at 13 percent. It retails in the U.S. for about $25 or so.

The second white was almost a world away in taste, Eric Morgat’s 2008 Savennières “L’Enclos,” a chenin blanc from this small appellation famous for the variety. I was happy to see at least a few years of age on this one. On first tasting, there was a good deal of wood in the mix, but as it breathed over the next couple of hours and its temperature warmed up, the oak influence receded nicely and its considerable complexity and opulence emerged (alcohol is 14 percent). It had a core of rich pear and apple, some orange and a beautiful (but not cloying) creamy quality. Later in the evening I detected a little licorice on the nose. It had enough backbone to hold up to my main course, an assemblage of salmon and two other local fish, one of them smoked, served with boiled potatoes on the side and over a bed of sauerkraut. Somehow it all worked quite well together. From what I gather, the wine sells for about $40 in the United States.

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Sips: An odd couple that proves to be a superb food and wine matchup

I had a delightful revelation about food and wine the other night. But first, a little background on how I got there. For years, I’ve had an unwritten rule about Italian-inspired food: match it with Italian wines, which so often seem just the right choice. With linguine and white clam sauce is there anything better than a pinot grigio from Alto Adige or a Vernaccia di San Gimignano? Don’t tomato-based sauces, with or without meat, seem made for Chianti Classico or Barbera d’Alba? With that in mind, I was headed in the direction of Italian wine the other night as I made a simple sauce built around the last Ziploc bag of tomatoes I had picked at their peak ripeness in late summer and early fall, then frozen to be enjoyed many months later.

After cooking the tomatoes down and breaking them apart with a wooden spatula, I poured them into my favorite cast-iron skillet, in which I had sautéed three or four cloves of chopped garlic in olive oil. I tossed in a handful each of chopped basil and parsley  and a pinch or two of salt and cooked everything for a few minutes more. A quick taste revealed a sauce sweeter than anything that might have started in a can, confirming the rewards that come from the time and trouble of storing fresh tomatoes. Meanwhile, a pot of fusilli was now done to al dente, which I combined in the skillet with the sauce. To finish things off, I sprinkled a generous amount of chopped fresh mozzarella over the pasta and put the skillet under the broiler until the cheese and the top layer of fusilli were a crispy brown, but not burned (cast-iron is best for withstanding the high temperatures of the broiler).

Now about the wine. Since my instinct steered me toward Italy, I opened a bottle of red I had on hand, a negroamaro from Salento in Puglia. Alas, I knew immediately that this wine was not going to cut it. It was earthy with low acidity, a wine more for a juicy roast than a lively sauce. I wanted something that jumped out of the glass, a wine with refreshing acids that wouldn’t be overpowered by the tomatoes. And so, throwing caution to the wind, I opened a red from France’s Loire Valley I had bought that day.

By now you might be thinking it was a cabernet franc, the region’s principle red, or perhaps a pinot noir or a cot, as malbec is called there. In fact, it was the 2009 Gamay from Serge Batard’s Domaine Les Hautes Noelles, a Vin de Pays from this top producer of Muscadet from Cotes de Grandlieu sub-zone. Its transparent, light-ruby red color suggests a wine of delicacy that might easily be overpowered. But just the opposite was the case. Packed with flavor and with great underlying acidity and minerality, it more than held its own against the sauce and, slightly chilled, provided the perfect refreshing counterpoint. With flavors or red and black cherry, a touch of gingerbread and a very long finish, this is a wine of unusual finesse and, at just $10 here in New York, is one of the great bargains out there right now. Alcohol is 12 percent.

And so, my rule about Italian food and wine was broken. A humble gamay, the same grape grown in Beaujolais, proved itself exceptionally well with, of all things, a big-flavored pasta sauce. A Daniel Johness Selection, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, New York.

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Swirls: In a restaurant, feeling like a prisoner of excessive wine markups

How often, when enjoying an evening out, are you distracted by annoying wine issues? For us, a case in point came the other night when friends invited us to dinner at a restaurant in New York’s Greenwich Village. In these budget-conscious times, don’t we all want to believe we’re getting good value when eating out in both food and wine?

But that was hard at this restaurant, where the least expensive white wine on the list was a vidal blanc from the Finger Lakes at $42 and where I ended up choosing a sauvignon blanc from France’s Loire Valley, Domaine de la Chaises’s 2010 Touraine, a wine I had enjoyed not long ago and reviewed here. On one hand, I was glad to see a wine on the list I was familiar with and had recommended, but I winced, then laughed in astonishment, when I saw the price. This very good (but hardly sensational) wine, available at retail for $13, was $48.

When the sommelier, an imposing young man who might have been an actor or model in another life, returned with our bottle, he announced rather ceremoniously in his baritone voice, “The 2009 Domaine de la Chaise.” I wanted to chuckle again. The formality -- and the price – were at odds with the way I thought of this wine, as a fresh and delightful sauvignon that would pair well with a variety of appetizers and lighter main courses, which it did on this evening. When I told the sommelier that I knew the retail price of this wine, he smiled knowingly but withheld comment.

He did, of course, make sure that our glasses were always topped off, even though (in our minds at least) we were certainly going to order a second bottle because we were enjoying it, despite the high price for a relatively cheap wine. And when we did, that brought the tab for two bottles of Domaine de la Chaise to $96. Which takes me once again to the issue of restaurant and wine economics and The Markup. I am keenly aware that restaurants make much of their profit from wine, and I have come to expect the price of wine in restaurants to be about three times retail, which would have put the Domaine de la Chaise at around $39 instead of $48 and would have made the selection more palatable (yes, $9 makes a difference to me).

It’s worth noting as well that the standard markup from wholesale to retail is 50 percent, which means that the cost of this wine to a store or a restaurant is under $10 – and probably even less depending on how many cases are ordered. So the markup (not necessarily the profit) on each bottle of the sauvignon blanc we ordered is around 400 percent, which seems excessive even by New York standards. (The least expensive red, by the way, was a Montepulicano d’Abruzzo from Italy at $44.)

I can’t help but think that if the markups came down a bit and a few more relatively inexpensive wines were offered at this and other restaurants, profit from wine would be the same or even greater. And most of us would feel at least a little more as though we were getting our money’s worth. What do you think? Please share your recent experiences and observations on wine in restaurants.

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Sips: From the Loire Valley, rolling the dice and winning with Domaine de la Chaise’s Touraine

Among the joys in this line of work are the elements of surprise and discovery – taking chances on new wines and seeing what they bring. Sometimes, of course, there is disappointment, as with a simple ‘09 Beaujolais I bought last night. It was imported by a company I respect, which is often a first line of defense when it comes to quality. Alas, the wine was dull and uninspired. Didn’t the folks in the wine shop taste it before buying it? Unfortunately, there are stores whose owners don’t even bother.

But I’m happy to report that I had a far different experience recently with another wine from another store on which I rolled the dice. I often like to begin the evening with a crisp white as I cook dinner and unwind. There were several Loire Valley sauvignon blancs in the cooler – a Sancerre priced in the high $20s, a Quincy in the high teens, and then a Touraine offered at $14. Touraine, you’ll recall, is a very large area and broad appellation in the Loire where both sauvignon and chenin blanc are grown, along with a variety of red grapes.

It turned out that Domaine de la Chaise’s 2010 Touraine is as good a sauvignon as you’ll find at this price from the Loire Valley or elsewhere. Its elegance and superb fruit come across in the first sip with tastes of pear, lime and orange, a little vanilla and subtle herb, spice and mineral notes. Its overall complexity and signature Loire style make the wine a superb value and a top contender for fish and shellfish, simple chicken dishes and as a pleasing aperitif. It would do well in a blind tasting with more famous and expensive Loire sauvignons. A typical case discount will make it even more of a bargain. Imported by Gabriella Importers, Bohemia, New York.

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Swirls: My proposal for Starbucks wine, Chinese Lafite counterfeits, weighing in on wine bottles

SWIRL: Let’s face it. Finding a casual and convenient place for a quick glass of wine or beer can sometimes be a challenge. So Starbucks is expanding its reach into alcoholic beverages with plans to offer them in seven stores in the Chicago area by the end of next year, the Chicago Tribune reports. Beer and wine are currently served at five stores in the Seattle area and one in Portland, Ore. No doubt, the big commercial wine brands are already setting their sites on these re-imagined Starbucks stores. But consider this: how cool would it be if Starbucks were to take a refreshingly un-corporate approach to its wine offerings? Instead of some  marketing committee in Seattle deciding on the wines based on lobbying from the big wine companies, why not offer a sampling of artisanal or lesser-known wines from around the world that changes each week? How about a grüner veltliner from Austria, a cru Beaujolais, or a sparkling Crémant from the Loire Valley with an emphasis on organic and biodynamic growing? Might take a little training of the staff but I have a hunch that many Starbucks customers might be open to a little adventure and smaller-production, sustainable offerings when it comes to wine.

SWIRL: It’s not surprising to hear that in Bordeaux-crazed China, counterfeit bottles of Château Lafite are making the  rounds.  China Digital Times reports that “curiously, China appears to consume far more of the top foreign wines than it actually imports, with counterfeiting rising alongside the legitimate trade. Empty Château Lafite bottles are salvaged from restaurants to be illicitly refilled, and rumours speak of a floating wine factory hidden aboard a cargo ship.” Here’s the full story.

SWIRL: We’ve all received them, those extra-heavy bottles intended to signal a wine’s stature and status, meant to distinguish, say, a reserve wine from a regular bottling. But in this eco-conscious era in the wine industry and beyond, are these bottle behemoths really necessary? Paul Gregutt in the Seattle Times thinks not, and I agree. He cites the growing use of the heavy bottles among wineries in Oregon, a state that, paradoxically, has often led the way on environmental concerns. This story is long overdue.

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Sips: From dry to very sweet, a tasting reveals some memorable wines from France’s Vouvray

When it comes to the underappreciated chenin blanc, no place in the world is as important as Vouvray in France’s Loire Valley, which sets a standard by which all other examples of the grape are judged. The wines are made in a wide range of styles from dry to sweet, but if there is a signature Vouvray it is “demi-sec,” or semi-dry, which may or may not appear on the label. As with most French wines, the consumer is often left to know what’s in the bottle and, in the case of Vouvray, just how dry or sweet a wine is. These days, that is changing slightly in Vouvray, where the driest, or “sec” wines, can now be called that only if they have less than nine grams of residual sugar.

Both styles match well with a variety of foods, as I was reminded at a recent dinner that featured the wines at Craft, a New York restaurant, that was sponsored by the Loire Valley Wine Bureau. How much variety? Beyond an assortment of appetizers (served with two sparkling Vouvrays), there was a first course of charcuterie and two kinds of oysters; a second course of hamachi and quail; a main course of striped bass, guinea hen, asparagus and Hen of the Woods mushrooms, and an Asian pear-apple crisp for dessert. Except for the dessert, each course was served with both a dry and a semi-dry Vouvray and it was up to the assembled writers and members of the wine trade to to decide which style worked better with each part of the dinner (the pie was served with two sweet Vouvrays).  As you might imagine, there was little agreement.

I found myself leaning toward the drier wines, and several of them stood out, starting with Didier Champalou’s very dry, fresh and lively Vouvray Brut, which is priced well at $18. Pierre Chainier’s 2009 Clos de Nouys Sec, $20, matched beautifully with the hamachi and quail, the latter cooked to perfection medium rare. The wine’s minerality and green apple notes emerged as it warmed up a bit. Another standout was François Chidaine’s 2009 Vouvray “Les Argiles,” a $23 wine I have enjoyed for many years. Made from biodynamically grown grapes and fermented with indigenous yeasts, it showed the delicacy and depth for which Chidaine has become justly famous.

The evening’s real treat was from the region’s most celebrated producer, Domaine Huet’s 2005 Vouvray Moelleux “Close du Bourg 1ere Trie.” This amber-colored sweet wine, $75, has a nose that can be described, without overstating it, as incredible, a complex and concentrated blend that included orange rind, honey and mocha supported by a firm acid structure that made it altogether refreshing for all its sweetness. While it seemed made for the pear-apple crisp, the pie was almost an afterthought. The wine was a memorable dessert on its own – and will be so for years to come.

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Thanksgiving wine lists: what Randall Grahm and others in the business are thankful for

There is no shortage of Thanksgiving wine advice out there, so instead of joining the pack, as I have for most of the last decade with my own pronouncements about Thanksgiving wine pairings, I decided to do something different this year. What were some of my friends and colleagues in the wine business planning to serve or recommend – from wine styles to regions to individual bottles? A set of email queries prompted a quick response and a broad range of possibilities, which included wines from California, Oregon, Washington, many parts of France as well as Italy, Austria, Germany and Chile. If one theme emerged, it is this: when it comes to Thanksgiving, there are very few rules about wine. Like the stuffing or the gravy, everyone’s tastes and preferences are going to be different. I would add (and the responses largely bear this out) that the wines, whether red or white, will work best when they are on the leaner and less  alcoholic side. Beyond that, my friends seemed to gravitate toward wines with finesse and individuality, as you’re about to see.

The most enviable response came from Joshua Greene, editor and publisher of Wine & Spirits Magazine, for which I occasionally serve on tasting panels. Josh said he would raise a glass, in absentia, from Spain, where he will be meeting on Thursday with the owner of one of the great Rioja producers, R. López de Heredia. “Will think of turkey, native Americans and pilgrims,” he said, “as I toast with a 1981 Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia.”

Randall Grahm, the founder and self-proclaimed president-for-life of California’s Bonny Doon Vineyard, put Thanksgiving in the context of his own wine evolution (or is it revolution?). He wrote: “These days – and I’m more or less counting on this being a semi-permanent state of affairs – I’m pretty much only interested in wines that might be called vins de terroir: wines that express a sense of place, but also wines that exhibit a quality of minerality or life-force (two sides of the same coin). As it turns out, I do think that these sorts of dynamic ‘vital’ wines are in fact a great foil to turkey, which is itself, shall we say, somewhat static.” Among whites, Randall is thinking about a dry riesling from France’s Alsace, perhaps an older example from Fréderic Emile, or one from Austria’s Wachau, or a grüner veltliner, perhaps a Prager Grüner Alte Reben. For reds, he said, “it will most likely be infanticide of an ’05 red Burgundy,” perhaps from Fourier, definitely decanted, or maybe a Cornas from the northern Rhône. As an apéritif, he’s going to try to get his hands on some of Eric Bordelet’s Poire “Granit,” a pear cider from Normandy.

Sips: “Sancerre and Friends” – some top Loire Valley whites

Sancerre is arguably the most well-known white wine of France’s Loire Valley, the benchmark sauvignon blanc appellation by which other examples of the variety in the Loire – and throughout the world – are  judged. And so it was with a good deal of anticipation that I attended a superb dinner last night that was dubbed “Sancerre and Friends,” the friends being the nearby appellations of Pouilly-Fumé, Quincy, Menetou-Salon and Reuilly in the so-called Centre Loire, as well as the larger  Touraine appellation to the west. The wines are known for their distinctive minerality, which is achieved by the soils in which the grapes grow (primarily chalk and flint for Sancerre, limestone, flint and clay for Pouilly-Fumé, for example), and this gives them a signature, an originality, that is achieved nowhere else. You can see a good example of the rocky soils of Sancerre in the photo, which I took on my visit to the region in February.

We tasted a dozen wines at The Modern, which is attached to the Museum of Modern Art and which, in just a few years or so, has become a landmark on the New York restaurant scene. The dinner was built around fish because the wines are in their element with seafood. The pairings were, for the most part, right on target, especially the two centerpieces, a Maine lobster salad with roasted beets, black truffles and goat cheese followed by  a gorgeous “dorade royale” with a nasturtium flower broth and Swiss chard. The latter was one of the more exciting fish dishes I’ve had in recent months, the subtle broth, golden in color, providing a perfect accompaniment to the mild and beautifully textured fillet, which should boost the status of the local porgy, a dorade relative.

As for the wines, we’ll stipulate that the last two in the tasting were the top wines, as well they should be at $65 and $120 respectively. The first was Domaine Vacheron’s 2007 Sancerre “Les Romains,” a wine of beautiful balance and great length with citrus, apple and vanilla notes; the second was Didier Dagueneau’s 2007 “Silex” Pouilly-Fumé, which showed extraordinary fruit, notably apple and apricot with a rich, round mouthfeel.

Other notable wines were:  Domaine de Chatenôy’s 2008 Menetou-Salon, $20, which won the prize as the evening’s most unusual offering – an elegant and zesty wine with orange, grapefruit and green apple tastes and a flinty backdrop; Gerard Boulay’s Sancerre ‘Les Monts Damnés,” $41, a generous, rounded wine with layers of spicy pear and vanilla; Domaine des Caves du Prieuré’s 2008 Sancerre, $23, a classic Sancerre with lots of minerals and notes of green apple and a touch of brown sugar on its long finish; Claude Lafond’s 2008 Reuilly “Clos Fussay,” $19, which is on the simpler side with lemon and lime notes that almost demanded a dozen oysters or clams; and the bargain of the evening, Domaine Duret’s 2009 Quincy, $13, elegant and reserved with minerals, tropical fruit and lime.

These wines reminded me that when it comes to sauvignon blanc, there is the Loire Valley and then all the rest; the wines, with their distinctive terroirs and varied styles, are unique and compelling. (Dinner and wines presented by Loire Valley Wines.)

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Sips: Le Bernardin and Muscadet

Le Bernardin and Muscadet might seem to some like a food and wine oxymoron, pairing the cuisine of the famed New York restaurant with the modest, inexpensive wine from the western end of France’s Loire Valley. After all, isn’t Muscadet, made from the melon de Bourgogne grape, a fresh and slightly briny young wine that is in its element with a dozen oysters on the half shell? Or as a wash-down wine for fried clams served in a basket on a red and white checked tablecloth? Well, yes and yes, but the point of the dinner convened for a group of wine writers last week (we sampled 11 wines, with as many glasses in front of each of us) was to reinforce the fact that Muscadet can and should be about much more than just the simplest of food pairings. This is something that I and others who have studied the wines have understood for some time, appreciating them as terroir-driven wines that express the range of soils in which the grapes are grown. And yet, the producers and promoters of Muscadet have had a hard time moving it more broadly beyond its reputation as the Rodney Dangerfield of white wine.

At a big tasting event I attended several months ago in the Loire Valley, for example, a prominent producer told me of people who get excited about the complexity and depth that one can taste in Muscadet, only to laugh dismissively when told of the prices (Muscadets tend to be in the $12 to $20 range). According to this line of reasoning, wines of such dimension need to be priced higher to be taken seriously. That’s okay. The rest of us will enjoy them at their humble tariffs.

At our dinner last week, the wines were separated into three groups: young and fresh wines from 2009 and 2008; those with a few years or so of bottle age, and a few that go back 15 to more than 30 years. The young wines were paired superbly with a first course of smoked yellowfin tuna “prosciutto” served with crunchy Japanese pickled vegetables, and some of the slightly older wines, which tend to take on a more creamy quality, matched well with the main course of baked wild striped bass in a delicious light Périgord (truffle and wine) sauce.  Here are my favorites:

Domaine l’Aujardière 2008 Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu sur Lie, $13. Chablis-like with lots of minerals and a honey note.

Michel Delhommeau 2009 Cuvée St. Vincent Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie, $13. Delicious apricot, tropical fruit, pineapple and mineral notes.

Domaine de la Louvetrie 2008 Amphibolite Nature Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, $16. Young and austere with a pear note and beautiful balance. Organically and biodynamically farmed.

Claude Branger 2007 Les Gils de Gras Mouton Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie. Spicy with a green apple note and lots of creaminess; still quite young.

Domaine Luneau-Papin 1995 L d’Or Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie, $30.  Beautiful fruit and mineral mix; rich yet still refreshing.

Domaines Ollivier Frères 1986 Domaine de la Grenaudière Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie. Probably the most interesting wine of the evening with exotic spices, a good deal of creaminess and still-vibrant fruit. Alas, it’s no longer available but demonstrates the wonderful aging potential of some Muscadets.

And by the way, did I mention that we enjoyed one of Pascal Guilbaud’s Muscadets with oysters? And that the pairing was nothing less than superb?

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The great reds of France’s Loire Valley

When two fellow  journalists asked me the other day what wines I was thinking about for Easter, I told them, almost without missing a beat, that I was leaning toward Loire Valley reds. One of them seemed genuinely surprised while the other seemed more perplexed and was clearly unfamiliar with the wines. Lamb, I explained, was a tradition in our family at Easter, and these reds, with their fresh acidity and minerality, match superbly with it, as I was reminded the other day at a dinner featuring the wines. I’m fairly certain that my choice would ultimately be forgotten or ignored by my colleagues; Loire Valley reds, after all, require a little work:  it helps to be able to recognize some of the appellations, such as Chinon or Bourgueil, for example, or to know that the primary red grape is the cabernet franc, which expresses itself with elegance and complexity in the varied terroirs of the Loire (there is also some pinot noir and gamey grown in parts of  the region). It also helps if you can can get past the notion that big fruit and high alcohol are requisites for very good wines.

The other night, we tasted more than a dozen reds from various parts of the Loire in a pre-dinner sampling and with various courses. For me, five of them really stood out. Yannick Amirault’s 2007 Bourgueil “La Coudraye,” $21, was grapey and delightful with refreshing acids, minerals and a touch of pepper. René Mosse’s 2008 Anjou, $23, was a bit closed at first but opened up nicely, showing notes of sour cherries and a bit of the green herb character that you’ll often find in cab franc.  Bernard Baudry’s 2008 Chinon “Les Granges” is showing beautifully with wonderfully expressive and fresh aromas that transported me back to Bernard’s cellar (he’s on the left in the photo) , where we tasted Les Granges right from the tank, along with his other wines, a couple of summers ago. The ‘08 Les Granges is full of earth and minerals with vibrant red fruits that suggest cherry and raspberry. This is also a great value at $18.

As the lamb course was served (it was prepared exquisitely at New York’s Gramercy Tavern with salsify, hazelnuts and Hen-of-the-Woods mushrooms), two reds from 2005 were served and demonstrated how these wines begin to evolve and mature with some bottle age. For one thing, the red fruits give way to darker berry flavors. The ‘05 vintage was also a warm and dry one and the two wines we tasted reflected this in their concentration and weight.  Domaine des Roches Neuves’ 2005 Saumur-Champigny “La Marginale,” $40, was at once earthy and elegant and provided a seamless match with the mushrooms and the lamb, its ample blackberry notes supported by lively acidity.   Another standout was Chateau de la Grille’s 2005 Chinon, a big and perfumed wine showing notes of leather, blackberry and some pepper. It’s not yet available at retail.

The hallmark of these wines is their dimension and subtlety. You’ll find yourself swirling them again and again, taking another sip, thinking about them some more and discovering something new. With moderate levels of alcohol, they are also made for food, especially earthy, slightly rustic, fare. They have Easter lamb written all over them.

 

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Video – a French view of screw caps

While the use of screw cap closures has been embraced by many wine regions, especially for white wines meant for quick drinking, the French have been a bit slower to replace the cork. I spoke about the subject last week in the Loire Valley with Isabelle Moreau, head of exports for Monmousseau, the big sparkling wine house that also offers a range of still wines, mainly for the French market, and has begun to use screw caps on some of them. As you’ll see, Isabelle is animated and passionate and was a delight to talk with. I’ll have more from our conversation in coming posts.

The superb Montlouis

I had a delightful tasting and lunch in France last week with Lise and Bertrand Jousset, a young couple who have been farming about 26 acres in the Montlouis-sur-Loire appellation since 2004. Mountlouis has been overshadowed for most of its history by its larger and more famous neighbor, Vouvray, but Lise and Bertrand are among those demonstrating why tiny Montlouis is making its mark producing some of the most exciting chenin blancs in this part of the Loire Valley.

For one thing, they are farming and making their wines organically, though Lise says you will never see the word “organic” on their labels. While an increasing number of winemakers here and elsewhere use organic certification as a badge of honor and as a marketing tool, the Joussets beg to differ. “We don’t want to use ‘organic’ to sell our wines,” Lise says. “We want people to buy our wines because they like them, not because they’re organic.” She adds, “There are a lot of industrial wines that are organic. We don’t want to be mixed with these people.”

The Joussets’ wines, made from chenin blanc grapes from 40- to 130-year-old vines, speak for themselves, as I quickly found out  in the small cellar below their house, tasting five or six 2009 barrel samples from various vineyard parcels, some of them still fermenting. The fruit, though still a bit bitter in some cases, is ripe, concentrated and altogether delicious and another sign of the quality of the ’09 vintage that I found in a week of tastings in the Loire Valley.

The vineyard lies on soil with a good deal of flint, or silex as its known, which gives the wines a precise, focused quality. I liked all three wines from the 2008 vintage, the dry Premier Rendez-Vouz, with lush pear, honey and minerals, still a bit bitter at the end reflecting its youth; the Trait d’union, a semi-dry chenin with a good deal of tropical fruit and a touch of banana supported by firm acidity; and the racy, more austere and profound Singulier, made from some of the oldest vines on the property, which has a superb finish.

Chenin blanc, as I was reminded time and again in my tastings last week, not only benefits from but really requires aging to enjoy fully, and the point was emphasized when Bertrand served the 2005 vintage of Singulier at lunch in the couple’s kitchen. The food highlight was a simple soup that Lise had made with pureed carrots, potatoes and leeks and flavored with what Lise called some some “bones,” or veal scraps. The wine, with a few years of bottle age, had lost its edges and made for a sublime pairing.

The Joussets’ production has been and will remain small. They’ve been making 20,000 to 25,000 bottles a year and will go up to about 40,000 this year. But that will be it for now. As Bertrand explained, “We want to keep it a human winery. I like to work the vines myself. I don’t want to be a businessman.”

Bubbly for breakfast

On our second day at the Loire Salon tasting here in France we concentrated on a few of the great names and appellations of the region as well as some lesser known areas and producers. We started off with a “breakfast of bubbles,” as our guide, the highly knowledgeable and delightful Ross Wassermann, put it. Many Americans may not know that the Loire Valley is the second-largest producer of sparkling wine in France after Champagne, and that the wines are made throughout the region from chenin blanc combined with other grapes. The appellation Crémant de Loire is the biggest for sparkling wine and also the most prestigious, though by no means a household name beyond France or even the Loire itself.   François Régis de Fougeroux thinks that’s starting to change. He’s the young general manager of one of the best-known Crémant producers, Langlois-Chateau in Saumur (the property was founded in 1885 by Edouard Langlois and his wife, the aptly named Jeanne Chateau, and has been owned since 1973 by the Bollinger Champagne house). As he poured for us today, Régis de Fougeroux said he believes the wines are becoming better known and are increasingly perceived as having “authenticity,” as he put it. “People are now asking for a ‘Crémant,’” he told us. It’s no wonder. The wines can be quite distinctive, are refreshing with their crisp acidity and cost a good deal less than Champagne.

Three from Langlois-Chateau stood out for me. The basic Crémant de Loire Brut, made from 60 percent chenin blanc, 20 percent chardonnay and 20 percent cabernet franc, is zesty and fresh with pretty, lemony fruit and a bargain at about $20. The 2003 Crémant Reserve is made from the same blend and has a somewhat longer finish and more minerality. The 2002 “Quadrille”Crémant Extra Brut, though nominally drier than the Bruts, is actually richer and more Champagne-like in practice with its long, creamy finish, achieved from extended contact with the lees, the remnants of the yeasts and solids of the grapes. The Quadrille is made with four varieties -- 50 percent chenin, 30 percent chardonnay, 15 percent cab franc and five percent cabernet sauvignon.

We also enjoyed some nice Crémants from Louis de Grenelle, also located in Saumur, and for me the standout was the organic “Louis” Brut, which was at once refreshing, creamy and citrusy, reminding me of lemon meringue. Our “breakfast” was a tasty one indeed. I’ll be posting on more great wines from the Loire Valley in coming days.

Loire Valley 2009s: an exceptional vintage

Just finished my first day of tastings here in France at the Salon des Vins de Loire in Angers, a big trade event where hundreds of Loire Valley producers are pouring their newly released or soon-to-be released wines. Headline: the 2009 vintage is excellent, with great fruit and balance in both the reds and whites. Some highlights:

Lucien Crochet’s 2009 white Sancerre reminded me why sauvignon blancs from the Loire Valley are the benchmark with which others are compared. It’s a model of elegance and balance. Sancerre’s reds are made from pinot noir, and  Crochet’s  2006 “La Croix du Roy” Pinot Noir speaks well for Sancerre’s ability, with certain producers and in certain vintages, to make distinctive pinots with both ample fruit and high acidity. It’s a style that I, for one, prefer.

From Chinon, Bernard Baudry is making some of the most delicious cabernet francs in the Loire Valley – or the world (his son Matthieu is seen holding one of them on the right). Cab franc can be dominated by the variety’s “green” notes, but in Baudry’s wines they are in the background. One focuses, instead, on the concentrated red fruit and violet notes and the minerality of the wines, which show nuanced differences depending on whether the grapes are grown in soils with gravel, clay, limestone or chalk, all of which are found in Baudry’s vineyards. Four of his   Chinons – the basic Les Granges as well as Les Grezeaux, Le Clos Guillot and La Croix Boissee – are must buys in ‘09 when they are released beginning in a few months or so.

Other highlights included a sauvignon blanc, pinot noir and rosé of pinot gris from Domaine de Reuilly in the small Reuilly appellation in the southeast Loire; several Saviennieres, both dry and sweet (the grape is chenin blanc) from Domaine des Baumard; a dry chenin blanc (Les Chanteaux) and Chinon (Les Graviere) from Couly-Dutheil; and another sauvignon blanc, the 2008 Pouilly-Fumé from Chteau de Tracy.

We’re in the Loire Valley

I arrived today in the chilly Loire Valley of France, which is still one of the more under-appreciated wine regions, and I’ll be posting from here during my week-long look at the wines of the Loire, which include such well-known appellations as Sancerre, Vouvray, Muscadet and Chinon, but also many others that deserve to be better known. The centerpiece of my visit is a three-day event here in Angers, in the central Loire, known as the Salon des Vins de Loire. It’s a giant tasting that attracts hundreds of winemakers who hope to make an impression with their latest offerings on the world’s importers, retailers, restaurants and journalists. I’m here with a small group of American wine writers invited to attend the event and sponsored by InterLoire, the region’s wine trade body. The tasting and spitting begin bright and early tomorrow.

This afternoon, we had a delightful warm-up at Domaine Richou just a few miles outside Angers. Didier Richou, seen above on the right, took us around his vineyards and poured his expressive, terroir-driven chenin blancs, both dry and sweet, as well as his red gamays and cabernet francs. I’ll have details on our tasting shortly.