Sancerre and Marlborough minerality... Yes, minerality!

I work for a winery in Marlborough - New Zealand called Clos Henri Vineyard, that's owned by a French producer from Sancerre called Domaine Henri Bourgeois. Few days ago, was organised a wine diner in a restaurant of Christchurch (South Island of NZ) of the name of St Germain - www.st-germain.co.nz . The menu was matched to our wines, and each dish was paired with a sauvignon blanc from Sancerre and one from Marlborough, from both wineries indeed. And i was talking to the restaurant customers about the wine, explaining the story of the wineries as well as each wine specificities. And i have been so enthused all along the way, both by the wine and food match and by the wines. It is the kind of event that i do on a regular basis, and it is always such a pleasure and surprise to have your own wine specifically matched by great chefs.

It actually started with a veloute of asparagus with a basil and parsley oil matched with the Petit Clos sauvignon (which are the young vines of the estate, aged on fine lees for 10 months). The textures of the veloute, quite smooth and creamy and the soft and rounded sauvignon were really matching well, added to the fact that the asparagus (which isn't an aromas found in this wine) was balancing the Petit Clos to make it somehow a bit more spicy and kind of 'meaty' (actual word in fact of my neighbour table, that i thought very appropriate) - a delight!

The most incredible was actually served on a monkfish on a bed of lentils. The match was undoubtedly good. The wines were however just showing wonderfully. On the nose, i would never have been able to tell which sauvignon was from Sancerre, and in the mouth it wasn't that obvious either, as the Monts Damnes from Sancerre was very masculin and somehow tight but still showing fruit ripness and expression from good sun exposure slopes, whereas the Clos Henri was very feminin and floral and nicely fresh. The expression of minerality in both wines was outstanding, and something i wish everyone could experience.

Malrborough has such a beautiful potential, such a terroir.... i hope from the bottom of my heart that the viticulturists and winemakers of Marlborough will one day Love their sauvignon blanc! As when it happens - and Clos Henri isn't the only winery in this case - the results are truly meant to be shared, meant to be shown with pride.
www.closhenri.com
www.henribourgeois.com

8 wired, a pale ale with sauvignon blanc flavours...

I've recently tried a craft beer called 8 Wired, the Indian Pale Ale from Marlborough, 100% hops grown in Nelson. Really hopy on the nose, and then came the surprise of a beer that actually had all the aromas of a typical Marlborough Sauvignon blanc!
That sort of gooseberry, and green leaf tomatoes and sweat, all with a kind of tropical fruit flavour. The whole of typical sauvignon blanc from the region, and all the characteristics of each valley from the Wairau to the Awatere. It was actually very appealing and fresh, i'm not sure I would drink more than 330ml, for it might become a bit sickly because very rich in flavour, but it was very enjoyable. That's a serious and complexe beer.
Interesting to find these similarities...

Defining a style, a question of patience, commitment and passion

The winery i work for has produced its first vintage in 2003, and i arrived in NZ with the 2004 vintage being bottled. Although my role is in sales and marketing, I worked with the winemaker in 2005 and was bottling the wine, which got me to understand about the bottling process, without touching the wine in the cellar though. In 2006 we changed winemaker, and from there i stopped bottlings, and have been part of the blend tastings, and diverse experimentation tastings with the winemaker, his assistant and the viticulturist. I have been lucky enough to have tasted quite a bit before i started working with this winery, and that the winemaking team welcomed me in their tastings and blending decisions. I am sure it is something not so obvious in lots of wineries, but here my opinion was taken into account for both what it was in terms of pure tasting and what it needed to be from a commercial point of view as well.

Therefore, it's been now 5 vintages that we work on understanding the characteristics given to both our sauvignon blanc and our pinot noir by first the different soil types of the estate, and then different other components such as different coopers (which we now have defined which ones suit better our wines and styles), different finings, different closures (cork, screwcap, which degree of sealing etc.) etc.
The second important point for us was to determine 3 styles, corresponding to our 3 labels, which also correspond to 3 price points, and in the end 3 different terroirs (or almost). Starting from scratch, to succeed in determining these 3 labels is a fantastic story we write vintage after vintage, for we have to understand what we get from nature first, and then try to integrate the different components listed above (and more indeed), and finally define 3 different profiles. We wanted 3 wines showing one identity but with 3 syles that we defined through natural differences. To be more precise, the clays would give a sort of richer wine, while the gravels would be generally finer. That was the base of our styles.

It is now very exciting to see that after trying different blends from different soil types, or at different proportions, we finally defined our 3 styles. Today we were tasting the final blends of pinot noir 2009, the objective of the tasting was to see the wines before and after fining.
But finally it is rewarding to realise that we have defined these 3 styles, and that they show the identity, the philosophy of that one winery and its terroir. It is obvious on the nose and in the mouth that each wine corresponds to its label, and that it is in the continuity of last vintage. Blind, you can classify them per label. The identity is generally elegance, subtle fruit rather explosive fruit bombs, rounded mouth, femininity rather than big extracted wines - and it is true for our both varieties. But we managed to decline this identity in 3 styles, 3 labels, 3 different price points - and this with the same work in the vineyard (same yielding, same ripeness). It is a question of precision on the tastings, and blending propositions back and forth, and it is above all a question of time... patience has a good reward though. I have of course to add that this was possible because the vineyard is worked to show natural characteristics (or terroir), and that the style of wine we wanted to produce was first defined in the vineyard.

This winery brings its new lots of joy to me, everyday, not one excepted - since 6 years. It is for me such a beautiful story to be part of, this story is being written right now and i love being part of drawing these lines one by one.

Raw Nature savours

I have experienced a savour i never particularly paid attention to today - rosemary sap. I add some simple pasta with herbs, and just went in the garden to pick up some fresh rosemary and cut it as is on the pasta, without any cooking of the herbs.
The flavour of the rosemary is well-known to everyone, but thist ime as the herb was really fresh and raw-uncooked, the flavour of the sap was present. It is a lovely feeling to taste nature, to taste these raw flavours that are not specifically savours of traditional cooking but precisely of raw nature.
One of these i would love to experience is earthiness. Not as you find it in a wine, which shows earthy savoury characters, not raw forest floor, this lovely aromas you smell when you walk in a forest after the rain. Not mushroom, no, that complexe forest floor after the rain full aroma.
I hear your sarcastic thoughts: the best way is maybe to put my nose in the forest floor and eat whatever dirt comes to hand. Wouldn't that be too simple and actually not enjoyable? Not what i'm after.
But i'm sure they would be a way to produce these kind of 'raw nature' savours in an real food experience (or experimentation). Let me know if you come close to something like that...

Bordeaux primeur 2009 and NZ wines prices - thoughts...

I've received today some information about Bordeaux primeur 2009. Apparently, Robert Parker comments:
"I have bever tasted such powerful and concentrated Medocs. First and most importantly, for soe Medocs and Graves, 2009 may turn out to be the finest vinatge i have tasted in 32 years of covering Bordeaux. From top to bottom, 2009 is not as consistent as 2005, but the peaks pf quality in 2009 may turn out to be historic. The vintage displays many of the characteristics of such creamy-textured, opulent, fat, succulent years as 1959, 1982, 1990 and some of the northern Medocs of 2003. Yet, the 2009s also have structure, freshness, acid levels as well as vibrancy and precision of such cooler years as 1986, 1996 and 2000. In that sense, this is the glory of the 2009s. For as big and rich as well as high in alcohol as they are, they are also remarkably delicate, fresh and pure. This paradox, albeit a wonderful one, is unprecedented in the three plus decades i have been tasting Bordeaux barrel samples. This is a magical vintage!"

Doesn't this sound promising! I checked the 2009 En Primeur prices we can get in NZ. Well, this is real food for thoughts. Imagine that in NZ to drink something of reasonnable quality and specifically reasonnable complexity, you have to buy at NZ$30 (approx. 15euros) and when you want something nice you spend between NZ$40 and $50 (20-25 euros) - without being crazy. Prices for NZ wines are just high, and not less high on the own NZ market. With the global financial crisis prices have dropped, and you can now find simple wines (never any default but never any complexity)under NZ$10 (5 euros), which was not really the case few years ago - but this is derived from and entails another subject.
So i just looked at what i could buy for the same average amount spent on NZ wines. And this is quite amazing to see that even En Primeur from overseas, with taxes, extra packaging, freight etc., i could buy some cru classe (Chateau Carbonnieux in Pessac Leognan), some cru bourgeois (Sociando Mallet in Haut Medoc, Chateau Carbonnieux in Moulis, Chateau Potensac in Medoc), some 2nd wine (Carmes de Rieussec in Sauternes, Demoiselle de Sociando Mallet), some Grand cru classe (Chateau de Camensac in Haut Medoc) etc etc. the list is really long. i agree, it's not because the wines are classified that they are good, but i happened to have tasted the above, and i like them and find good qualities to them - Bordeaux that are not hugely expensive but deliver special and specific qualities.
Maybe that's the thing, the list is really long and you're spoilt for choice, and the wineries have to compete without being cheap. And in NZ at NZ$40-50, you are not spoilt for choice and although you sometimes find this complex and surprising wine, it is not that commun. Do you always find complexity and surprising wines in Bordeaux (for example) for that price? Well no, but it does happen quite a bit, and consumers are ready to pay that much but they expect complexity. The wines have to deliver for the price - fair enough, isn't it?
So i'm not saying NZ wines are not complex, i'm saying the price is high for the complexity you get compared to wines from elsewhere - here the example was Bordeaux (En primeur - yes), but it is full of wines from other regions/countries that deliver better quality-complexity- surprise effect for money than NZ wines.
And if we think of low prices, the difference is even bigger. You can actually find little beauties under 7 euros (NZ$14) in european wines. The great thing with NZ wines is that even cheap (and some producers from Europe would even think that i'm talking nonsense as they consider 7 euros isn't cheap at all), there are really rarely winemaking defaults. The wines are always clean. So that's nice for cheap and cheerful; but for cheap and valuable, a bit of complexity or at least of character is essential... much more difficult in NZ Wines, if not impossible!

Fish and wine trial matches...

I've 'cooked' some hapuku fish yesterday with the idea of trying it in its raw flavour and try to find wine matches with different varieties. So I simply steamed the hapuku.

Well after trying the oaked chardonnay, which was too rich and round and with too loud aromas not matching the freshness of the fish, i tried some unoaked chardonnay. Rather more interesting of course, nice acidity and citrus aromas were this time accompanying the fish. Sauvignon blanc was a nice match too, but i must say it was a quite restrained style, not the fruit focused NZ sauvignon type, so the minerality was going pretty well with the fish. Little trial this time, i had only these 3 bottles under my hands.

Well, after finishing my little experience, i just stopped and decided to have a simple beer, just a classic lager (i know!...). ... Best match!... I was just finishing my last bite of hapuku, and I started my beer. Freshness of the beer, fresh aromas, something quite nice actually revealed the iodine of the fish and combined to enhance a nice sort of smokey flavour. But no more fish to try that again... Damn!

Another great surprise! But now i can't wait to try again, and this time i'll add spices to the fish - still steamed but with the objective to check on spices as well. And beer will be in the game! Step by step in the experiences, I add flavours and then textures, and then both. It is a game of patience indeed, but every step teaches something new. More results to come...

Isn't this complete nonsense?

Imagine you are given the choice to have for diner a home dish of fresh tuna balls cooked in a fresh tomato sauce, the whole lot cooked with pinenuts, lemon zest, flat parsley etc. or a visit to Mc Donald (no need or me to describe the menu there). What do you choose?

My flatmates went for Mc Donald. Nowhere does this make sense to me. The mell was lovely, the dish fresh and healthy but not a boring salad, no something a little bit elaborated althoug classic... And they are not in their 20's (whih is not particularly an excuse, but which would be a little more understandable), no they are rather is their 50's, quite foodie and love a nice beer or a nice wine.

You could say, sometimes you can't be bothered cooking... well in that case they only had to put their feet under the table. No i suppose they wanted to eat something unhealthy, fat and to feel lazy. Total nonsense to me!

To prove the dish was not at all repulsive, check these... So would you have gone for Mc Donald too?

Wine ... Food, a love I nurture

Haven't been writing for a while on this blog... Thinking about it, i believe that i haven't had much fantastic wine experience this year in fact. Sad, indeed! Again, if i look deep in my memory, only food memories come up...

I actually had my best food experience so far in a restaurant in San Francisco US. it was fantastic from the beginning to the end, i promised myself i would write an email to the chef, but didn't... Anyway, fresh seafood, like you dream of! first experience of sea urchin, simply cooked, with few alguas, a drop of mayonnaise (sounds very basic, but no it was not!) - yes, mayonnaise sounds weird, but it was quite amazing. First, the urchin was extra fresh, the iodine of the urchin was very present, the mayonnaise was just bringing that touch of sweetness and great balance to the whole. then i had a bouillabaisse, when i saw it coming, came also disappointment because it was not at all the traditional french dish i was expecting. But finally, absolutely no regret - i must also say that the waiter told me in advance it wouldn't be the french thing - again the fish and seafood were so perfectly cooked and the flavours simple ans sophisticated at the same time. The clams were not quite crunchy, not quite too cooked, they were tender and had kept all their flavours, and so were the schrimps, and the fish. the whole secret of that whole meal was in the freshness of the seafood, and the respect of the original flavours of each of the seafood/fish and this by cooking every piece in perfect timing. It was also fantastic because all the dishes were outstanding, not only one thing, but the whole food experience! Gosh, i wish this restaurant was down my road! www.swellsf.com

What else, great herring in Belgium... it doesn't sound very appealing, but the flavours were this time around very strong and delicate at the same time. fresh herring with white wine, fresh onions and herbs, lemon. The herring was actually raw or more precisely soaked in a brine, nice balance between the strength of the flavours, the acidity of the wine and lemon - the onions were nicely bringing zing and opposite crunchy texture to the quite fat herring. Quite a delicate fish in fact - but still, it was lucky i didn't have anyone to kiss afterwards!

Aah, and there was also the bugtail in Brisbane Australia, to die for. Bugtail is apparently the speciality of Queensland, it is a kind of freshwater lobster or crayfish. So the bugtail was cooked in a pan with garlic, and it came on a freshly made ravioli of spinach and ricotta, on a creamy broth with peas. Amazing combination of delicate flavours, none overwhelming the other, and the combination of textures...! The soft of the ravioli pasta, the tender although firm of the bugtail really did work well together. The filling of the ravioli was quite small actually, and that was good because it delievered the texture of the pasta perfectly and just added few more flavours to enjoy, but the soft thin pasta was the centre point gathering all the other elements.

I have a good memory of Wine & Food match... In Sancerre France, i tried for the first time a Reuilly AOC, which is made out of sauvignon blanc. i thought, all right, nice savvy, i had a good goat cheese salad, and was forced to have dessert (work lunch, i had to be polite and nicely accompany my guests). I first ordered an apple tart, but there was none left, so my choice went to creme brulee, but there was only liquorice creme brulee. So there it was, i had a liquorice creme brulee with a glass of Reuilly sauvignon blanc. Amazing! Once again, on its own, both the creme and the wine were good, but you wouldn't lose your sleep on it. But together, a complete harmony! The minerality of the sauvignon and the citrus flavours were totally completing the liquorice flavours, and the difference between the onctuous creme brulee and the zingy sauvignon was just not clashing at all! The liquorice was actually lifting the creme brulee to the freshness of the wine. I should try this with NZ sauvignon and see if it works... good thing with the Reuilly was that it doesn't have too much fruit, but more minerality and floral aromas, so it's more on the gentle side of sauvignon, compared to a Sancerre on flint that would be more strict, or an NZ that would be more explosive. Anyway, it's worth trying!

There are other moments i enjoyed wine or food this year, but specifically for the moments or company, not particularly the wine in itself or the food for itself. More about why i didn't write at all about wine this year later on...