Hitting the spot with Gamay and Garnatxa. Two gorgeous reds for your short-list!

Hitting the spot with Gamay and Garnatxa. Two gorgeous reds for your short-list!

Bonne Tonne Cuvée Cléa Régnié (AC) 2019, 13.5%,

Look out for this in restaurants. If you find it in retail (Mary Pawle Wines), expect to pay €34 to 35.

From a small Beaujolais estate, Domaine de la Bonne Tonne, comes this lovely light ruby wine.  Gentle aromas of berries welcome you to the glass, invite you to sip. And you know you’ll have fruit-driven flavours (strawberries, raspberries mostly)  and balancing acidity to enjoy all the way to a soft and sweet spice finish. Another excellent Beaujolais, full of finesse and gently expressive fruit and Very Highly Recommended, from a family winery that I’ve come to admire over the past few years.

They  (Anne-Laure and Thomas) say this wine, “is a bit special for us because it bears the first name of our daughter ‘Cléa’ born in 2017.” Thomas likes to say that it matches his daughter’s personality, which is “full of character.”

No added sulfites or inputs! It is a 100% natural cuvée, 100% Gamay. It is produced in small quantities, hence its name “micro-cuvée”. This cuvée gives a structured wine, with spices and character. However, this spicy side does not dominate and yields to much more subtle and silky aromas.

There are ten crus in Beaujolais: Chiroubles, Saint Amour, Fleurie, Régnié (the most recently created cru), Brouilly, Cote de Brouilly, Juliénas, Chénas, Morgon and Moulin-à-Vent. It is mostly a red wine area and Gamay is the top red grape. Just two per cent of the harvest is white, mostly Chardonnay, and quite a lot of that, especially in Northern Beaujolais, is sold under the better-known Macon appellation according to Jean Bourjade (Cork 2016), then MD Inter Beaujolais.

Domaine de la Bonne Tonne is a small Beaujolais estate and perhaps best known for their superb wines from the famous Morgan cru, including Les Charmes, Grand Cras and Côte du Py, all three available via Mary Pawle and all three Very Highly Recommended on this blog.

The Gamay grape produces wine that “pairs with all manner of dishes..” According to Wine Folly. Outside of France, “Gamay has a tiny but devoted following.” Happy to be included in the tiny fan base.

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Top Wines 2022. With Reviews & Irish Stockists. 

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Dit Celler Selenita Garnatxa Negra (DO Monsant) 2019, 14.5% ABV. 

RRP  about €17.20. The Dairy Toon's Bridge/ Olive Branch, Clonakilty / Mary Pawle Wines

Montsant in Catalonia in the northeast of Spain and is more or less next door to the much better known Priorat. The two produce broadly similar wines but Montsant’s are sold at lower prices. 

Montsant is a relatively new DO (established formally in 2001) and takes its name from a rocky massif that wraps itself around Priorat. Its vineyards, planted on limestone, are situated in picturesque hilly countryside, scattered amongst rocky peaks, woods, almond trees and olive groves. No shortage of diversity here.

Importer Mary Pawle says if you are fond of the robust wines of Priorat “then this Montsant from the opposite valley should please. A powerful wine made from Garnacha, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Firm tannins and well suited to hard sheep’s cheese or ref meat dishes.”

You’ll know straightaway from the slow-clearing legs or tears on the walls of your glass that this is a high alcoholic wine. Colour is a dark ruby.  Intense dark fruit aromas (plum, cherry, cassis), toasty notes too. Powerful yet velvety on the palate, elegant, deeply flavoured and tannins by now well-integrated (you’ll get a soft reminder on the lips), smooth spice, and the long finish echoes the palate. A big hug of a wine and Very Highly Recommended.

The producer: Vibrant and complex, this wine is made with grapes from very old vines, and aged in French oak for 18 months. ….the "Marinada", the cold wind that enters the mountains in the afternoon from the Mediterranean Sea, give the wines a special freshness, characteristic of this area.

Are you a Selenita? Now that we know about Montsant, how about the name of the wine? The Selenita are the inhabitants of the moon and the producers infer that some of their night-time magic has been bottled. You too are free to use your imagination! While we’re on it, the winery is named after its founders Dani Sánchez (from Azul y Garanza in Navarra) and Toni Coca, so D and T (DiT).

To mark World Grenache day in September, Decanter Online published a list of 18 top scoring examples to try. No less than fourteen of them were from Spain! Details here. 

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Best Value Wines 2022. With Reviews & Irish Stockists. 

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Found Two Beauties For You. An Italian Verduzzo and A Spanish Garnatxa.

GIOL Verduzzo Marca Trevigiana (IGT), 12%, 

RRP c. €14.00 Taste, Castletownbere// Little Green Grocer , Kilkenny// Mary Pawle

This organic and vegan wine, part of the vineyard’s 1950 series, is made from a local grape Verduzzo. This off-dry white (15 g/L) has a cork closure, quite a pop when extracted. And quite a lot of bubbles on the surface for a short while. 

Colour is a weak straw yellow with definite green tinges. Aromas are on the shy side, hints of peach just about making it to the fore. Fresh on the palate with peach sweetness and citrus tartness and a bubbly tingle on the tongue. Pleasant indeed and Highly Recommended. Not the longest of finishes but an agreeable one with a nice bit of citrus in attendance.

I can agree with the producer’s suggestions to pair it “with spring herbal dishes, with pizza, it is pleasant between meals, delicious with desserts and sweets. Serve at 10-12 degrees.”

They say: For nearly 600 years, our winery has placed an emphasis on nature, quality and beauty. Our family’s long experience is apparent in our esteemed wines. Since 1987, we have been producing wine from grapes grown in our historic vineyards using organic farming methods, respecting both the environment and the raw ingredients.Vegan wines are intact and pure products of the highest quality. They are preferable for their high digestibility and more natural taste. 

Verduzzo enjoyed considerable fame here in the past, later obscured by the arrival of international vines, it is now almost completely abandoned: very few producers continue the cultivation of this variety. “we vinify it in purity, giving life to a very pleasant product that deserves much more consideration than it has been granted up to now.” 

The late harvest of the grapes is done manually (towards the end of September). The production includes the following phases: crushing and destemming, soft pressing, static decanting of the musts, racking and inoculation with selected yeasts. Then the controlled cold fermentation takes place at 14 °. At the end of fermentation, the wine is decanted and maintained on its noble lees with periodic batonage, to then move on to bottling.

Marca Trevigiana IGT is just one of several IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) titles used in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy. A Marca Trevigiana IGT wine may be made in any one of various styles: red, white or rosé, blend or varietal and still, frizzante or sweet. 

DIT Cellar “Cabirol” Monsant (DO) 2018, 14.5%

RRP €16 Stockists: Lettercollum Kitchen in Clonakilty// The Olive Branch in Clonakilty// Mannings Emporium, Ballylickey// Connemara Hamper, Clifden// Mortons of Galway// Mary Pawle 

From the first certified organic winery in Montsant, comes Cabirol, a tasty and intensely fruity wine. It is a deep colour, more or less purple. Aromas are also intense, a melange of small black and red fruits fruits and a whiff of peppery spice. Spice and vibrant fruit (cherry and blackberry) appear too on an immediately engaging palate and there is a racy acidity; everything is in balance, smooth and elegant with a similar finish. Cabirol, complex and with good length,  is Very Highly Recommended.

It isn’t uncommon to see a Cabirol (a European deer) when you are ascending (or descending) through the vines in the Llaberia mountains where this wine is born. The vineyard, 20 to 75 years old, is located in the natural park, surrounded by forest. Every summer afternoon, a wind coming from the Mediterranean called “Marinada” cools down the temperature and helps give to the wines a special freshness.

DiT Cabirol is made by Danni of the Azul y Garanza trio and is his personal project. It is Garnatxa but with some Syrah, % depending on the year. 

Four Super Wines from Mary Pawle

Four Super Wines from Mary Pawle Wines

Maison Emmanuel Giboulot Bourgogne (AOC) 2016, 11.5%, €30.00 Mary Pawle Wines

This wine is organic and biodynamic, as are many of the wines that Mary Pawle imports. So nothing new there.

Except that, as recently as 2014, this winemaker Emmanuel Giboulot was fined and threatened with a jail term for sticking to his principles. He was convicted for refusing a government order to spray crops with pesticides, following fear over an outbreak of golden rot, only to have the decision reversed on appeal. Prison rather than poison.

This is quite a wine with a lovely light gold colour. Delicate aromas of white flowers. A velvety mouthfeel, beautiful intense fruit (stone, citrus) from start to long finish. Excellent bright minerality too. This elegant wine is superbly balanced and is Very Highly Recommended.

Emmanuel met the problem of agricultural practices and its impact on wine and human health head on and is now a prominent advocate for organic and biodynamic viticulture. His wines reflect his principles and the widely acknowledged exceptional Burgundy terroir. Enjoy this one!   As we celebrate Real Wine Month.

Maison Emmanuel Giboulot “Terres Macônnaises” Mâcon-Villages (AOC) 2016, 11.5%, €30.00 Mary Pawle

Sometimes, I have very little to say about the better wines - they speak for themselves. This is one such. It is 100% Chardonnay and biodynamic. Colour is a very bright light gold. There are appealing aromas of white fruit, blossom notes too. Superb fruit (pear and apple), a refreshing acidity, and that balanced mix takes you all the way to a long and satisfying finish. Very Highly Recommended.

Grapes are hand-picked and sorted. The whole bunch is pressed and cold settled for 24 to 48 hours. The light must is fermented in old oak tanks. Before being bottled, it is aged on fine lees for 11 months.

The Mâconnais wine region is in the south of Burgundy and takes its name from the town of Mâcon. It is best known for its Chardonnays. 

Hemingway was quite a lover of these wines as he disclosed in A Moveable Feast. On a drive up from the south of France with Scott Fitzgerald, they enjoyed a packed lunch which included truffled roast chicken and he reported that Scott was very happy when we "drank the white Maconnais at each of our stops".  Later on that day, "At Mácon I had bought four bottles...which I uncorked as we needed them." No breath-analyser in those roaring twenties.

The French World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann was born and raised in Mâcon but was deemed too small to play for Lyons so headed for Spain where he is now earning about €400,000 a week with Atletico Madrid. Since I didn’t have to say too much about the excellent wine, I thought I’d throw that in!

                   

Dit Celler “Selenita” Montsant (DO) 2008, 14.5%, €17.00 Mary Pawle Wines

Biodiversity in the vineyard

This powerful red is a blend of Garnatxa, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. Mary Pawle: “If you are fond of the wines from Priorat then you should enjoy the Montsant wines from the opposite valley.”

Priorat is a region in Catalonia, Spain. The central part of the region, Priorat històric, produces the highly-regarded wines that are certified under the DOQ Priorat. Wines from elsewhere in the region are certified as DO Montsant.

So now that we know about Montsant, how about the name of the wine? The Selenita are the inhabitants of the moon and the producers infer that some of their night-time magic has been bottled. You too are free to use your imagination! While we’re on it, the winery is named after its founders Dani Sánchez (from Azul y Garanza in Navarra) and Toni Coca, so D and T (DiT).

Wine-Searcher says Montsant, an approved wine region only since 2001, has earned a reputation for its high-quality red wines. This dark ruby offering is one of them. It is lighter at the rim (still very narrow, even after ten years). The legs are certainly slow to clear, confirming the high abv. Intense dark fruit aromas (plum, cherry, cassis), toasty notes too. Powerful yet velvety on the palate, elegant, deeply flavoured and tannins by now well-integrated (you’ll get a soft reminder on the lips), smooth spice, and the long finish echoes the palate. A big hug of a wine and Very Highly Recommended.

Mas Théo Gemeaux Vin de France 2016, 13.5%, €17.20 Mary Pawle

The little-known Grignan-les-Adhémar AOC growing area lies to the south of Montélimar (a Rhone city famous for its nougat). Planted among fields of lavender and thyme or olive groves, on land long famous for its truffles, the vines soak up the scents and aromas distilled by the generous sun of the Drôme provençale and it is in the heart of this area that you’ll find Mas Théo. Mas by the way means farmhouse; Mas de la Dame near Baux de Provence is another example. This AOC is between the northern and southern Rhone and is regarded as southern.

This “delicious and crunchy” wine is a blend of Carignan (60%) and Mourvedre (40), is organic and biodynamique. Recommended serving temperature is 14%.

It has a very dark red robe and you’ll find blackberries and notes of the garrigue in the aromas. It’s nice and smooth on the palate, has excellent acidity, medium to full bodied, smooth tannins and a good finish. Highly Recommended.