Saturday we’re looking ahead to the upcoming holidays and pouring some new French quaffers that suit an array of banquets and feasting. Besides being festive and delicious, these wines are also all organically or sustainably farmed and made by small independent producers making them even better. Come have a taste and find something to toast with this coming season.
2011 Domaine Chapelle & Fils, Aligoté $17
Domaine Chapelle dates back to 1893, when the Chapelle family purchased land in Santenay and Chassagne-Montrachet. Today Jean-Francois Chapelle and his wife Yvette run the 20 hectare, organically farmed estate. Aligoté is the other white grape of Burgundy. It is crisp and citrusy with good body, mineral notes and a long finish.
2012 Domiane du Coudray, Quincey $20
Sauvignon Blanc
Coudray has 6 hectares of organic vineyards with sand-clay-gravel soils that are perfect for the Sauvignon vine. The Quincey has grassy and floral aromas, good mineral notes and a dry herbal fruitiness.
2012 Domaine Roque Sestière, A L’Orée des Pins Corbieres $13
60% Syrah, 40% Carignan
Domaine Roque Sestière is a fourth generation, organically farmed, family estate. The L’Orée has broad shoulders with lots of dark fruit and smooth but deep tannins.
2011 Maison Lou Dumont Savigney lès Beaune $36
Pinot Noir
Driven by a passion for Burgundy and the dream of making wine, Japanese Sommelier Koji Nakada left his native Tokyo in 1996 and moved to Beaune to study oenology at the prestigious CFPPA. The first thing he had to do was learn French. He enrolled in language class at Dijon where his teacher was the lovely Jae Hwa Park, an expatriated Korean. During Koji’s studies, and his subsequent internships in Bordeaux, Champagne and Alsace, the two dated, married and formed Maison Lou Dumont with the intent to produce pure, honest, regionally correct Burgundy of minimal manipulation from organically farmed grapes. Their Savigney lès Beaune is a full, rich, aromatic Pinot.
2010 Domaine Abltia, Irouleguy Rouge $27
Tannat, with a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc
Abotia’s sustainably farmed vineyards are located in the heart of the Basque Country and surrounded by the Pyrenees. In this robust red, the Tannat variety, indigenous to the southwest of France, lends its distinctive local character. To this tannic grape Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc bring the finesse and charm of red fruits and minerals. An age-worthy wine, Irouleguy is a great accompaniment for rich meats, such as duck confit, or local cheeses such as Ossau-Iraty.
Madrona Wine Merchants offers free wine tastings featuring 4-5 selections on a theme every Saturday from 2 until the bottles run out and on Sunday we offer a mini-tasting of two wines all day from 11-5. No matter what day you stop by we always have something open to sample.