As probably the majority of American wine drinkers, I have always judged wine by a few tried and true criteria; taste and price being the driving forces while other more incidental features having some subtle influence and sway. I’m a sucker for cool label art. I have bought far too many a bottle with a cool label only to be bitterly disappointed in the wine within. Obviously my logic of “Any winemaker, who spends this much time on a cool design, must have some class ‘A’ wine” has failed me more than once. I have also found that bottle shape and size have influenced my purchasing in the past. As much as I love Gruner Veltliner, I rarely buy it when it comes in that long lovely bottle that serves the acidity so well. Why? It doesn’t fit well into either the shelf or side door of my refrigerator. I may love wine, but I am far too lazy to reconfigure the shelves of my fridge to accommodate my alcoholic purchases. Considering this fact, having flung open my refrigerator door in haste only to have a half empty bottle of Gruner topple over spilling all the remaining goodness over my fridge, dinner and self, I no longer buy it. I have decided that Gruner Veltliner is a wine I will enjoy at restaurants or only when I am sure I will be polishing off the entire bottle in one serving.

Let’s get back to the first two major criteria that I listed, taste and price. Price, in this economy, needs no explanation. I am hard pressed to ever spend more than $30 for daily drinking. Actually the amount is closer to $20 but I’ll say $30 for argument’s sake. Sure, I’ve bought my husband a great bottle here and there as an anniversary or birthday gift. I’ve bought friends expensive champagne for special occasions. But for day-to-day consumption $30 is my limit.

That leaves taste. Thinking back to my young adulthood (honestly, it was really my teens) when I first started sampling wine, my preference and/or aversion for certain wines was firmly set. Of course these preferences and aversions were formed in the most refined of fashions. By finishing off the few dredges left at the bottom of my mother’s wine glass while cleaning up the kitchen or pouring a small amount out of the bottle from the fridge, I decided that I absolutely despised CHARDONNAY. The syrupy texture, the yellow hue, the cloying buttery taste, the over powering oaky aroma, to me, it represented all things wrong with wine. If I had to choose between chardonnay and dieing of thirst, I would gladly choose the later. Needless to say, I am no fan of chardonnay. We all have emotional baggage from our childhood. Memories of stolen sips from the box of wine in our kitchen, is my steamer trunk.

Fast forward a decade or two and here I am working with the talents at Maslow 6. A few afternoons ago I found myself sitting at a wine tasting with Maslow’s quietly classy Keri K. and brilliant and effervescent Mollie B. Philip Tuinder from Chateau de Fuisse and Vincent has just poured us our first taste. I sipped. I enjoyed. It was a lovely, smooth, easy white wine. I sipped some more and listened to Philip discuss the changes that they have made on the label; reworking the logo, changing the wording, and finally, placing the varietal CHARDONNAY right there on the front. What?! Chardonnay?! How could this be? I liked this wine. I wanted to drink more of it. My wine world had turned upside-down. I sat in awe as Philip, Mollie, and Keri discuss the label, the wine, the market, and so forth. At some point, someone asks for my opinion, why, I’m still not sure. I, in all my oenophilial knowledge blurted out, “If I walked into a store, picked up the bottle, and saw chardonnay, I would never buy it.” Classy, I know. Tact is not my forte. As much as my colleagues tried to reassure me that I hadn’t totally embarrassed myself and insulted this lovely man, I felt like a total heel but at least an honest one. I really never would have bought that wine and what a pity that would be. It had none of the characteristic that I so despise. It had an extremely reasonable price. And the label art was quite nice. It met all of my wine buying criteria! The only problem was the name – chardonnay.

This incident started me thinking about what truly is in a name? I have come to discover that with wine, this is a complicated and complex question to answer. So what is a novice wine enthusiast to do? Sample, read, learn, listen, try – all of these things are just the beginning but oh so important. Embarrassing as this episode might have been, I now know that I don’t despise chardonnay as a whole. I know that there are characteristics of certain wine that I don’t enjoy as much as others. Developing an understanding of your own taste preferences is crucial to enjoying wine. Never again will I discount a wine strictly due to its name. I will ask. I will try. And hopefully, I will build a lovely collection of wines, chardonnays included.

Next time, those pesky European labels………..

Anne-Claude Leflaive is an inspiration for women in the wine industry – for anyone in the wine industry.  Her dedication – to her vines & wines, her family & heritage, and the people who support her in her endeavors – is limitless and her passion is contagious.  She certainly inspired me, and she epitomizes the values we hold dear at Maslow 6; passion, belief in education, and dedication.  After listening to her talk about her vision and tasting her wines, a group of us made a pact to go visit Anne-Claude in Burgundy to attend her school “Les Ecole du vin et des Terroirs”.  Most of the classes are in French, but they can arrange an English version for a large enough group (12-14).

The school is part of Anne-Claude’s vision, and is meant to educate consumers, winemakers, vignerons, sommeliers, journalists and the curious about the practices of Biodynamie, or Biodynamic farming.  These principles, as noted in an earlier blog, were first written down by Rudolf Steiner, and championed by some of the most passionate and meticulous winemakers today – Nicolas Joly in the Loire, Ann-Claude Leflaive and Lalou Bize-Leroy in Burgundy, Marcel Chapoutier in the Rhône Valley, Olivier Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace, and the list goes on and on.

One morning in early March, Anne-Claude and Pierre Morey, the now-retired winemaker for Domaine Leflaive, sat down with a group of about 15 sommeliers to tell us about her estate and her wines.  She has been Biodynamic for 18 years now, beginning in 1990.  From the 1960’s, the soils in Burgundy had become lifeless due to excessive use of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and use of heavy machinery in the vineyards, which compacts the soil.  She and her team began farming some parcels in Clavoillon, Bienvenues Bâtard-Montrachet and Bourgogne with alternating rows of organic and biodynamic methods.  The parcel in Bienvenues was quite ill, and was 30 years old at the time. The parcel is now 55 years old, and in good health due to Biodynamic methods.

This experiment continued for 7 years.  During this time, more microorganisms developed in the soils of the Biodynamic rows than in the organic rows, although both improved the quality of the vine health.  In 1900, Anne-Claude began farming all of her vineyards Biodynamically.  The methods may seem strange to some, but they certainly deserve merit, as they saved Anne-Claude’s old vines in Bienvenue and improved the quality of the vine health, resilience, and immunity – not to mention the wines – in all of her vineyards.

A few interesting tidbits of information really stuck out to me that day.  Many times I’ve experienced that it is difficult to taste wines on days when it is rainy and the barometric pressure is low (see Peter Liem’s blog for more), and Anne-Claude agreed, adding a layer of interest into the theme.  In the Biodynamic calendar, there are four different types of days:  fruit, flower, root and leaf. Leaf days, or water days, are not good for tasting, as the wines will taste vegetal.  Neither are root days, or earth days, when the wine tastes pushed and mineral.  Fruit and flower days are best for tasting.

Another interesting thing, in 2003, Anne-Claude did not acidify her wines.  It was a hot year, and the vines were suffering, sugars were climbing in the grapes.  Many people decided to harvest, but Anne-Claude did not.  A new moon was coming, and with a new moon brings a change of weather:  just a little rain arrived, and just in time.   The grapes, according to Anne, tasted completely different the next day.  The oneologist said to add acid, but Anne declined, due to an analysis done on the sensitive crystallization or the energies and vibrations of the juice.  The analysis said ‘do nothing’, so Anne did nothing.  Very deep roots due to deep plowing between the vines gave them extra resiliency in 2003, and gave the wines an extra shot of minerality.

And just one last little interesting fact, then on to the tasting notes of Anne-Claude’s amazing white Burgundies.   In 2008, there were days with excess rain and humidity, causing non-organic and biodynamic vignerons to spray their vines for rot and fungal diseases.  At Domaine Leflaive, a dusting of talcum powder on the vines not only sucked up extra moisture from the vines saving them from fungal disease, but did not impact the soil in a harmful way.  It was an idea that quickly caught on.

Now for the wines of Domaine Leflaive:

*A special note about these wines:  These were tasted with Joshua Greene, Tara Q. Thomas, Nicole Drummer, and Chris Hallowell of Wine and Spirits Magazine, along with a select group of sommeliers (I was lucky enough to be invited).  Some of the wines were opened a few days before, and decanted.  At least one was from a magnum bottle.  All of these wines, especially the younger ones, would benefit from decanting prior to serving.  For most full-bodied whites wines that are meant to age and develop in bottle will benefit from aeration if they are to be served while still young.  This will allow the aromatics and flavors to develop more fully from exposure to oxygen.

Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles 2006 (this bottle was tasted on Friday, but opened on Wednesday):  The aromas were filled with brown butter, mineral and sablé cookies, lemon and grapefruit, butter, oak and spice.  On the palate, flavors of sweet apple and pineapple were balanced with razor-edged acidity (so typical of Puligny) and steely minerality (also very Puligny).  Softly textured despite the acidity, with leesy notes.  This bottle, opened for a few days, showed more oxidative qualitites (brown butter, bruised apple, slight nuttiness), which were not unattractive – they were rather delicious.  It also showed the alcohol a touch more than the following bottle, which was opened that morning, or the night before.

Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles 2006: This bottle, opened in the morning, was less open on the nose, less aromatic.  More floral notes on the nose, with touches of brown butter, lemon, grapefruit and honey.  French oak lends aromas of vanilla and almost a powdery sweetness to the nose.  In the mouth, the wine is rich and soft, with floral, oak and grapefruit rind flavors.  Creamy, custard apples and a deep minerality follow.  Steely, with racy minerality, this wine is more gripping in the mouth and does not show the alcohol of the bottle which had been opened for a few days.

Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles 2005: The araoms are honeyed, with flinty, smoky minerality.  The wine is slighty herbal, briny, salty, with very intense notes of apple and pear, flowers and grapes (like wild scuppernongs) with powdery, vanilla, spicy notes of new French oak.  On the palate the acidity is chalky and grippy, with lemon and grapefruit citrus, steely, smoky, flinty minerality.  Notes of French oak – sweet baking spices and vanilla – are well integrated.  This is a rich wine with a firm structure (due to the acidity).  It is very young, but will age quite nicely over the next 8-10 years and even longer if you can stand not to drink it all before then.

Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles 2004: This wine would definitely benefit from decanting.  Very mineral, with apple skin and melon, honey, smoke, chalk and flint aromas.  Green aromas of muskmelon, green plum and salty, oyster-shell minerality balance out the sweet aromas of honey and butter.  The wine is very long in the mouth: rich, round and long-lasting, with flavors of honey, smoky minerals, ripe fruit and sweet spice.

Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles 2003: 2003 was a hot vintage.  Aromas and flavors of pineapple and baked apples, honey and minerals are fat and rich.  The acidit in this wine is markedly lower than in the other wines, which is typical in this hot vintage.  Many wines were acidified in 2003, but Anne-Claude and Pierre Morey decided not to acidify.  In this wine, the texture is fatter and richer than in most vinages, and the flavors are tropical, and not as long in the mouth.  It is a beautiful wine, perhaps for drinking on its own or with richer dishes, such as roast chicken with roasted root vegetables or celery root puree.

Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles 2002: This vintage was a “normal, nice vintage” according to Anne-Claude.  Aromas of butterscotch and honey, with minerals, apple skin, baked apples, melon, lees and butter and smoke and flowers and brown butter.  A very complex nose!  In the mouth, the wines is first steely and stony, with an almost salty, briny flavor and sharp acidity.  The acidity and minerality balance out the ripe citrus, apple and melon fruits.

Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes 1998: This vineyard is closer to Meursault, so it is rounder and softer than most Puligny-Montrachet wines.  The wines of Puligny are more steel-edged, while in Meursault, the hazelnut aromas and a buttery texture prevail.  Honeyed and pineapple on the nose, with bruised apples – notes of oxidation and age.  Ripe and rich, salty, with a slight nuttiness almost like an Amontillado sherry.  Very long on the palate.

Puligny-Montrachet Grand Cru Bienvenues Bâtard-Montrachet 1998: This vineyard is 1.30 hectares (just over 3 acres), of 55 year old vines.  These vines were the ones saved with Biodynamie.  The nose is more closed than the Les Combettes, with more floral notes, honey, muskmelon and spice.  On the mouth, the wine is tight still, with chalky acidity and briny, salty notes.  Flavors of honey and lees, spices and minerals are very long on the finish and very fresh.  This wine will continue to develop, but is beautiful now as well.

Plowing at Domaine Leflaive

Plowing the vineyards.

Francois Thienpont and Terra Burdigala

About a month ago, a friend and wine producer, Francois Thienpont, came to town and we – Maslow 6 – thought it was the perfect opportunity to host an event in his honor.  Keri was particularly excited.  I had introduced her to Francois in Bordeaux in September of 2007, and she fell in love with the wines then.  He’s visited us a few times in New York, but this was the first chance to gather with friends to taste Francois’s wines and hear his story.  Of course, the story is always better when Francois tells it.

The wines of Terra Burdigala express the terroirs of Bordeaux’s Right Bank, where Francois’s family owns several estates, including Le Pin, Vieux Chateau Certan, Chateau Pavie-Macquin, Chateau Charmes-Godard and Chateau Lauriol.  Stephane is the oenologist behind many prestigious chateaux of the right bank: Canon La Gaffeliere, La Mondotte, Pavie Macquin and Clos Fourtet, as well as Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte in Pessac-Leognan.  Francois and Stephane’s intimate knowledge of the right bank was the inspiration behind creating this collection of single estate wines from a variety of terroirs.

Terra Burdigala is the ancient Roman name for Bordeaux.  Here, the soil composition in each particular site contributes to the ripening of grape vines.  Proximity to the rivers, the slope of the hill and amount of sunlight and rain combine with soil composition to create many unique combinations throughout Bordeaux.  The vineyards of St. Emilion and Pomerol form the heart of the right bank.  Here, the best soils range from limestone to gravel mixed with calcareous clay, such as the famous molasse of Pomerol.  In St. Emilion, where the Thienpont family owns Chateau Pavie-Macquin, and Terra Burdigala manage Chateau Peyroutas, the soils are limestone clay over a hard limestone base.  These soils regulate the amount of water provided to the vine, allows the roots to grow as deep as possible and also retain heat, which warms the vineyards during the cool night hours.  Merlot and Cabernet Franc are the dominant grape varieties grown here, as the climate is slightly cooler and less influenced by the Atlantic than the left bank, and these varieties ripen the earliest of all the Bordeaux red grape varieties.

Soils in the Cotes-de-Castillon are sand mixed with gravel, and lie just to the east of the vineyards of St. Emilion.  Similar soils exist in the Cotes de Francs, which lies to the north of the Cotes-de-Castillon and northeast of St. Emilion, but the soils here are less rocky.  For both Cotes, Castillon and Francs, an intense interest in the fruity, yet accessible wines produced on these sandy soils has brought investment from many of the top names in Bordeaux, including the Thienpont family.  Chateau Puygueraud, Chateau Lauriol and Chateau Charmes Godard, all in the Cotes de Francs, are properties owned by the Thienponts, while Chateau le Manoir de Gravoux, in the Cotes-de-Castillon is managed by Terra Burdigala.

Chateau le Manoir de Gravoux is situated on a clay and limestone outcropping that gives extra intensity and ripeness to the grapes.  ‘La Violette’ is a particular parcel of vines within this property, producing wines with an intense floral, mineral and plum aromas, firm and dry tannins and gravelly minerality.  The wines of the Cotes de Francs tend to be a bit heavier and denser than those of the Cotes-de-Castillon, due to the presence of more clay and less rocks in the soil.  Chateau Puygueraud, a Merlot based wine from the Cotes de Francs, shows more black plum aromas, richer fruit flavors and deeper concentration and bigger tannins than the Castillon neighbors.  The Cotes de Francs is one of the few appellations in Bordeaux that has an Appellation Controlee for both its white and red wines, and Chateau Charmes Godard’s blanc, made with mostly Semillon and aged in new French oak, is a great example of what the appellation can achieve with its whites.

Terra Burdigala also produces wines made from fruit purchased from various sources.  The value driven La Vigne d’Argent, made predominantly from Sauvignon Blanc, is produced at a co-operative cellar where the wine-making is controlled by Stephan Derenoncourt to ensure quality at each step.  Causse Rouge and Chateau Roc de Jean Lys are both wines made from grapes sourced from vineyards that are managed by Stephan’s team of viticultural specialists.  The beneficial arrangement between the co-operative, the vineyard owners, and Terra Burdigala gives the growers the best money for their grapes and Terra Burdigala the best grapes for their money.

Francois’s goal is to make wines that reflect the land where he grew up, where his family has their homes and their livelihoods, and where his children will likely grow up.  It is also a land known for the most expensive wines in the world, and wines that can’t compete with the New World for flavor and value.  Bordeaux – a land with a rich wine heritage and some of the most unforgettable wines in the world – is also a land that produces a vast quantity of very forgettable wine.  Francois hopes to make wines that will compete with New World fruit-driven values, by offering Old World terroir at the same value.  Personally, I think he’s done a pretty good job.   The range includes a crisp, dry white and an unctious, rich white; light, juicy reds to robust, hearty, tannic reds.  The terroirs are well represented and the wines are balanced, never too high in alcohol, which makes them great with food.

Francois’s philosophy, to let the terroirs speak for themselves and to make accessible Bordeaux wines that everyone can enjoy, ties in very closely to what we believe at Maslow 6.  Wine should be accessible, wine should be fun, and wine should engage you.  Go out and engage with wine this weekend!  It’s cool and rainy out, perfect for a bottle of Bordeaux and a simple, grilled steak or a hearty braise of short ribs.

Wines tasted included:

Terra Burdigala La Vigne d’Argent, Bordeaux Blanc 2007: A super-crisp, mineral-driven white wine with grass and grapefruit, lemon and coriander aromas backing up the stony notes.   High in acidity, but balanced by ripe flavors of grapefruit, fresh, delicate herbs, a touch of honey and wax from the Semillon, and a lemon-lime finish.

Terra Burdigala Causse Rouge, Bordeaux 2006: The Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes that are sourced for this wine come from a vineyard with an average vine age of 25 years.   Extra vine age lends complexity and concentration.  Aromas of cassis, black plum, cedar and stony earthiness are moderately pronounced and youthful – a nice blend of ripe fruit and earth.  Soft and smooth on the tongue, with flavors of plums, cherries and cassis fruit mingling with underbrush, forest floor and stones, this wine comes to a medium-long, smooth finish.

Terra Burdigala Chateau Roc de Jean Lys, Bordeaux Superieur 2006: This red, made from 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc sourced from a limestone plateau vineyard in the Entre-Deux-Mers,is ripe and soft and round, with medium-plus tannins that are velvety and cocoa powder fine.  Stephan Derenoncourt’s vineyard team ensures ripe, not over-ripe fruit from a selected plot within the Roques de Jeanlice estate vineyard, where they routinely pick 2 weeks later than their neighboring vignerons.

Terra Burdigala Chateau Manoir du Gravoux, Côtes de Castillon 2006: Heavy sorting of the grapes at the winery coupled with ripe, balanced fruit at harvest drives the quality of this elegantly styled Côtes de Castillon.  Aromas of minerals, smoke and earth, brambly black fruit, red raspberry, plum and cedar fill the nose.  The palate is smooth, with medium-plus tannins and acidity balanced by bright red and black fruit flavors, cedar and bramble.

Terra Burdigala Chateau Manoir du Gravoux ‘La Violette’, Côtes de Castillon 2006: A blend of 92% Merlot and 8% Cabernet Franc, this wine is silky and ripe, with a beautiful floral perfume of violets and underbrush, cedar, cassis and black plums, red raspberries and Christmas spices.  Fresh acidity makes this wine juicy, while medium-plus, ripe tannins lend structure.  There is a core of red raspberry and plum fruit laced with violets that balances it all.

Terra Burdigala Chateau Peyroutas, St. Emilion Grand Cru 2005: Perfumed on the nose, with aromas of black earth, stony minerals, black cherry and plum, herbs and flowers followed by a velvety textured palate with balanced acidity and tannins.  Flavors of cedar, pencil lead, chocolate cassis, red raspberry and plum linger long on the tongue.

Thienpont Chateau Gravette de Certan 2004: This wine was tasted thanks to Keri Jackson, who pillaged her own cellar to bring this wine to the luncheon.  This is a very classy wine, with elegant, silky tannins, ripe fruit and fresh acidity.  The 2006, which was tasted a few days later with Francois, was rich and dark-fruited, with new oak flavors well integrated with the concentrated fruit and velvety, ripe tannins.

Thienpont Chateau Lauriol, Côtes de Francs 2006: Full-bodied, with rich, ripe black and red plum notes on the nose, chocolate, cocoa, black tea and smoky, spicy notes from oak and medium-plus, fine-grained tannins from both the grape skins and the oak.  This wine is concentrated, ripe and balanced, with the oak and fruit flavors playing harmoniously on the nose and tongue.  Flavors of chocolate, baked black plums, red cherries and sweet vanilla linger long on the finish.

Thienpont Chateau Charmes Godard Côtes de Francs 2003: A successful wine from a difficult vintage.  Stephane’s attention to phenolic ripeness and sorting at the winery really paid off, as this wine displays ripe, round fruit and lush, velvety tannins.  A generous helping of new French oak balances the rich fruit and lends its spicy, smoky, vanilla soaked flavors.  70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc.

Thienpont Chateau Charmes Godard Cotes de Francs Blanc 2006: Made with 75% Semillon and 25% Sauvignon Blanc, the waxy, floral, roasted pear and baked yellow apple aromas of Semillon lead the way, with Sauvignon’s grassy, grapefruit and lime-citrus notes bringing up the rear.  The rich, ripe fruit flavors are accented by vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg spices, which complement the fruit without overpowering it.

Chateau Puygueraud, Cotes de Francs

Vineyards at Chateau les Charmes Godard