I’m infatuated with Rolly Gassmann. The Auxerrois from Moenchreben de Rorschwihr is my favorite wine.
The Gassmann family has been making wine in Rorschwihr since 1676. The Rolly Gassmann estate has only existed since 1967, when Marie-Therese Rolly married Louis Gassmann. The estate, which began its conversion to bio-dynamics in 1997, stores an astonishing 800,000 bottles. Production is 200,000 bottles per annum of which ninety-percent is white. Wines are only released when the winery feels they have aged appropriately, sometimes as many as 20 years after bottling.
“Auxerrois is both the name used for the black-berried Malbec in Cahors, where it is the dominant vine variety, and the name of a relatively important white-berried variety in Alsace. And as if that were not confusing enough, Auxerrois Gris is a synonym for Pinot Gris in Alsace, while Chardonnay, before it became so famous, was once known as Auxerrois Blanc in the Moselle – as distinct from Auxerrois Blanc de Laquenexy, which is the variety today called Auxerrois in north east France (including Alsace) and Luxemborg. In 1999, DNA profiling at Davis showed that this Auxerrois is a progeny of Pinot and Gouais Blanc.” Oxford Companion to Wine, 55.
Alsace is the driest region in France with more sun than the national average. The wine produced here is primarily white. The main grapes are Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, Auxerrois, Sylvaner, and Muscat. There is no official labeling to distinguish dry from off-dry wines and this has and will continue to cause confusion with consumers. Alsace is the only AOC region in France where Riesling is grown.
Rolly Gassmann ‘Auxerrois’, Moenchreben de Rorschwihr, Alsace, France 2005
Nose: Match-head, tropical fruits dripping sap from their stems, flowers, meadows, Spring, bees-wax, oranges flowering, bees spraying, soy, sweet brimstone, honey, surf, sea shells, ripening white peaches, white pepper, cucumber, chile peppers, skillet, this wine has its own compass, sulfur and earth, coastal New England, wet rock, raking leaves, turf, pine, maple, lemon, lime, talc.
Palate: A steely frame, lime, papaya, a frame like two saws, gras (fat), pine-needle, winter, vegetable char, coal, embers, camp-fire, primitivity, qualities of both Riesling and Gewurztraminer, bees-wax, blood-orange, pepper-mint, cut grass, peel, blade wheel splits the mango, brass, rainy day, wet rock, rind, tremendous definition, veins in stone.
How do you find a bottle? This may take some effort. How committed are you? Alsatian wine as a whole has more in common with German wine than with French wine. The best wines are typically off-dry. Off-dry wines fell out of popularity with the last generation. Thankfully the Riesling Renaissance prophesizes a new generation of wine drinker, a more educated and conscious consumer, one who is no longer led by its baby taste. Know this, thou ardent defender of “dry”, your Malbec is “sweeter” than my Auxerrois.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
2002 Nicolas Joly “Les Clos Sacres”, Savennieres, France
I had the good fortune last month of visiting with my parents for a week in Florida. We had wine with two meals.
2002 Nicolas Joly “Les Clos Sacres”, Savennieres, France. The Joly family has a monopoly on one of the worlds greatest white wine vineyards ‘Clos de la Coulee de Serrant’. Planted in 1130 by Cistercian monks the seven hectare (hectare: 2.471 acres) vineyard has been producing wine for almost nine hundred years. Joly began the properties conversion to bio-dynamics in 1980. Bio-dynamics is a radical form of farming made famous by the Austrian Philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). Steiner believed the worlds spiritual crisis was due to a lack of nutrition. When asked how humanity could deepen its esoteric life he responded, “Nutrition as it is today does not supply the strength necessary for manifesting the spirit in physical life. A bridge can no longer be built from thinking to will and action. Food plants no longer contain the forces people need for this,” (Agriculture Course, 7). Bio-dynamic practices include the addition of fermented herbal and mineral preparations to homeopathic composts and the use of an astrological sowing and planting calendar. The idea is to re-invigorate the cosmic forces latent in the vegetable kingdom by balancing the farms internal and external processes.
The appellation is Savennieres in France's western Loire valley. Savennieres was granted AC (Appellation Controllee) status in 1952. Savennieres is planted exclusively to the native Chenin Blanc. Chenin which is called Pineau de la Loire locally may be the parent of Sauvignon Blanc. On his web-site, Joly states that the amber color of his wines is due to the inclusion of grapes infected by noble rot and should not be confused with oxidation. The wines undergo partial malolactic fermentation and are racked frequently to encourage contact with oxygen. Before bottling there is no fining or cold stabilization. The cellar and vineyard practices are strictly bio-dynamic. “Les Clos Sacres” is one of three wines made by the estate. It is the only wine bottled which is not designated ‘Grand Cru’.
What to expect: dried orange peel, cheese-rind, apricots, smoke, burning leaves, pine-needles, decomposing Autumn, honey, a pin in an orange.
2003 Chateau Pradeaux, Bandol, France. Bandol is among the elite of French AC’s for red wine production and is one of eight wine zones inside Provence. The grape is Mourvedre, an international variety most likely Spanish in origin, arriving in France after the 16th C. Bandol is Mourvedre’s power-base and it is the only French wine appellation dominated by this grape. The tannic and rustic Mourvedre has an affinity for Grenache and is often blended with Grenache, Syrah, and Cinsault. It is one of the thirteen permitted varieties in Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
In 1752 Jean Marie Etienne Portalis inherited Chateau Pradeaux from his grandmother. In 1789 the domain was ravaged by the French Revolution and in the late 19th C phylloxera struck the French vineyards. It wasn’t until the second world war that the Chateau was restored. On his web-site Neal Rosenthal, Pradeaux’s U.S. importer has this to say, “The vineyards are cultivated in as natural a manner as possible with reliance on organic methods. In fact, during the spring months sheep are permitted to graze in the vineyards thereby eliminating any need to use herbicides and at the same time providing a natural compost…The wines of Pradeaux are brooding and difficult. Produced on the back of the noble Mourvedre, Pradeaux in its youthful stages is tannic, backward, and sometimes ornery. The wines are not destemmed; ‘elevage’ in large oak foudres can last as long as four years; the essential blend is at least 95% Mourvedre.” The average age of the vines is 35 years. There is no new oak used.
Definitely slow to start, great life ahead of it(?), a bit one-note,the nose was best, field of flowers, degenerative, farm-yard.
P. Lancelot Royer, “Cuvee des Chevaliers”, Blanc de Blancs, Cramant Grand Cru, NV Brut. The Domaine of Lacelot-Royer is located in the village of Cramant; one of Champagne’s seventeen Grand Cru’s. It is a sub-region of the larger Cote de Blancs, one of five districts in Champagne and the most important for Chardonnay. The five hectare Domaine was created in 1960. It’s average annual production is thirty-seven hundred cases. “Cuvee de Chevaliers” is one hundred percent Chardonnay.
Flamboyantly kirsch, with chocolate, lime, chalk, and salt in the corners. A firm golden color, nose like an orchard, cherries and oranges.
2002 Nicolas Joly “Les Clos Sacres”, Savennieres, France. The Joly family has a monopoly on one of the worlds greatest white wine vineyards ‘Clos de la Coulee de Serrant’. Planted in 1130 by Cistercian monks the seven hectare (hectare: 2.471 acres) vineyard has been producing wine for almost nine hundred years. Joly began the properties conversion to bio-dynamics in 1980. Bio-dynamics is a radical form of farming made famous by the Austrian Philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). Steiner believed the worlds spiritual crisis was due to a lack of nutrition. When asked how humanity could deepen its esoteric life he responded, “Nutrition as it is today does not supply the strength necessary for manifesting the spirit in physical life. A bridge can no longer be built from thinking to will and action. Food plants no longer contain the forces people need for this,” (Agriculture Course, 7). Bio-dynamic practices include the addition of fermented herbal and mineral preparations to homeopathic composts and the use of an astrological sowing and planting calendar. The idea is to re-invigorate the cosmic forces latent in the vegetable kingdom by balancing the farms internal and external processes.
The appellation is Savennieres in France's western Loire valley. Savennieres was granted AC (Appellation Controllee) status in 1952. Savennieres is planted exclusively to the native Chenin Blanc. Chenin which is called Pineau de la Loire locally may be the parent of Sauvignon Blanc. On his web-site, Joly states that the amber color of his wines is due to the inclusion of grapes infected by noble rot and should not be confused with oxidation. The wines undergo partial malolactic fermentation and are racked frequently to encourage contact with oxygen. Before bottling there is no fining or cold stabilization. The cellar and vineyard practices are strictly bio-dynamic. “Les Clos Sacres” is one of three wines made by the estate. It is the only wine bottled which is not designated ‘Grand Cru’.
What to expect: dried orange peel, cheese-rind, apricots, smoke, burning leaves, pine-needles, decomposing Autumn, honey, a pin in an orange.
2003 Chateau Pradeaux, Bandol, France. Bandol is among the elite of French AC’s for red wine production and is one of eight wine zones inside Provence. The grape is Mourvedre, an international variety most likely Spanish in origin, arriving in France after the 16th C. Bandol is Mourvedre’s power-base and it is the only French wine appellation dominated by this grape. The tannic and rustic Mourvedre has an affinity for Grenache and is often blended with Grenache, Syrah, and Cinsault. It is one of the thirteen permitted varieties in Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
In 1752 Jean Marie Etienne Portalis inherited Chateau Pradeaux from his grandmother. In 1789 the domain was ravaged by the French Revolution and in the late 19th C phylloxera struck the French vineyards. It wasn’t until the second world war that the Chateau was restored. On his web-site Neal Rosenthal, Pradeaux’s U.S. importer has this to say, “The vineyards are cultivated in as natural a manner as possible with reliance on organic methods. In fact, during the spring months sheep are permitted to graze in the vineyards thereby eliminating any need to use herbicides and at the same time providing a natural compost…The wines of Pradeaux are brooding and difficult. Produced on the back of the noble Mourvedre, Pradeaux in its youthful stages is tannic, backward, and sometimes ornery. The wines are not destemmed; ‘elevage’ in large oak foudres can last as long as four years; the essential blend is at least 95% Mourvedre.” The average age of the vines is 35 years. There is no new oak used.
Definitely slow to start, great life ahead of it(?), a bit one-note,the nose was best, field of flowers, degenerative, farm-yard.
P. Lancelot Royer, “Cuvee des Chevaliers”, Blanc de Blancs, Cramant Grand Cru, NV Brut. The Domaine of Lacelot-Royer is located in the village of Cramant; one of Champagne’s seventeen Grand Cru’s. It is a sub-region of the larger Cote de Blancs, one of five districts in Champagne and the most important for Chardonnay. The five hectare Domaine was created in 1960. It’s average annual production is thirty-seven hundred cases. “Cuvee de Chevaliers” is one hundred percent Chardonnay.
Flamboyantly kirsch, with chocolate, lime, chalk, and salt in the corners. A firm golden color, nose like an orchard, cherries and oranges.
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