Coteaux du Languedoc Terrasses du Larzac

Domaine de la Soufrandière, Mâconnais

La clef des terroirs

http://www.laclefdesterroirs.com | La Clef des Terroirs est un film documentaire sur le vin en biodynamie imaginé et réalisé par Guillaume Bodin.
L'agriculture traverse une période de crise écologique et industrielle, il est grand temps d'apporter des solutions pour l'avenir de notre planète.
Les acteurs: Bret Brothers, Pierre Masson, Thibault Liger Belair, Thierry Germain, Aubert de Villaine, Richard Leroy, Olivier Jullien, Jean-Baptiste Granier, Sylvain Loichet, Dominique Massenot...
Réalisation: http://www.universditvin.com

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Benjamin Roffet at Château Pichon-Longueville Baron, Pauillac

Pichon-Longueville Baron vineyards

Champs de la Truffière

One more star joined our collection yesterday... Champs de la Truffière 2008 from Domaine du Deffends in Provence. Blend of 55% cabernet sauvignon and 45% syrah gives a wine with character. After an hour in decanter the wine had blackcurrant, tobacco and black truffles aromas on the nose suggesting a certain evolution  and complexity of flavours. In the mouth black fruits and  licorice were perfectly married by the tannins. Vintage 2008 is ready to be drunk now but will still be great in 4 or 5 years time.
The wine has spent 2 years of ageing in a tank and 400 and 600 liter barrels plus one year in a bottle.



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Renaissance des Appellations 2013

Renaissance des Appellations 2013 at Grenier St Jean, Angers, Loire Valley was a great place today to taste organic and biodynamic wines. I had a pleasure to taste wines with Catherine and Phillipe Delesvaux from Domaine Phillipe Delesvaux in Loire Valley and with Jacky Barthelmé from Domaine Albert Mann in Alsace. 

Salon des vins de Loire tomorrow will be a chance to taste more wines and maybe find some new producers to add to Vinovino's portfolio.

Benjamin Roffet

Millésime Bio 2013 - organic wines show's 20th anniversary

Millésime Bio 2013 is taking place for the 20th time in Montpellier. Almost 700 wine producers from around the world are presenting their organic wines. There are many exhibitors from France where organic winegrowing has never before been so popular. France is today second after Spain biggest producer of vin bio from organically grown grapes. There are three French regions holding  two-thirds of the surface
area in certified vineyards: Languedoc-Roussillon, followed by the Provence-Côte d’Azur region and Aquitaine. The organic sector is expanding because there is more and more demand for it.

Champagne Agrapart&Fils

Domaine Agrapart in Avize, Champagne is run by Pascal Agrapart who joined his father at the beginning of the 1980s. He decided to vinify different parcels of his 10 hectares vineyard separately to produce wines reflecting the terroirs. Recently Pascal coplanted one parcel with all 6 permitted grapes varieties: chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot meunier, pinot meslier, pinot blanc and arbane to see if terroir can dominate a grape variety. Coplanting is a new concept that Pascal wants to develop.

Frantz Chagnoleau: Rising star of the Mâconnais

A perfect wine for X'mas

My perfect wine for Christmas? Coteaux du Layon, Cuvée Les Clos 2010, from Domaine Philippe Delesvaux made from botritised and late harvest (50:50) chenin blanc grapes. It is luscious and deliciously sweet, but not clogging. Works well with marzipan, foie gras and all the festive cakes, from fruit cake, cheesecake to poppyseed cake.
The sweetness that comes from late harvest dehydration is perfectly balanced by the acidity. On the nose quince, pink grapefruit and apricot flavours are combined with honey. In the mouth the wine is round and rich, well balanced with long-lasting finish.
Can't wait till Christmas...

 

Marie Bories, Domaine de Blanes

Congratulations to Marie Bories from Domaine de Blanes who's rancio won award for best wine during the Salon du Club des Professionnels du Vin de Strasbourg. Rancio is a local speciality from Roussillon, produit du terroir, made of grenache blanc that followed 9 years of controlled oxidation in a barrel. With age this white wine turns gold, than amber in colour.This atypical wine matches perfectly with pan fried foie gras and  caramelized turnips.

Late harvest chardonnay

Just finished picking late harvest chardonnay from a small parcel in Venzelles, Mâconnais. Some grapes have been affected by botrytis. After very slow,gentle press in an over 50 years old wooden press Marmonnier the wine will spend 18 months of ageing in oak barrel. The result,as in previous years, is expected to be elixir with aromas of candied fruits: figs, quince jelly yet at the same time wine with elegance and freshness.  This wine has a substance and will age well...

Côtes de Provence

Just spent a weekend tasting rosé wines from Côtes de Provence. It felt almost like a  summertime: 18°C and sun...

Autumn at Domaine du Deffends

Year 2012 has been difficult at Domaine du Deffends. Extreme climate changes, from torrential rain to worrying drought, from the coldest to the hottest days, hail, frost...And yet nature is strong, after burning hot summer we can now admire green grass brought back by the autumn rains.
In the cellar the wines from harvest 2012 are now finished, winification went without any problems.
For the first time wines from 2012 vintage will have "vin bio" that is organic wine status rather than just "wine made from organically grown grapes". That change has been brought by European Community that finally reached an agreement to establish a charter regulating the winemaking in Europe.

Champagne cork

A tiny bit technical today with the constitution of the cork aiming at sealing a bottle of champagne.

Indeed champagne cork must have very specific qualities to resist a pressure of 6 kg/cm2, which is almost three times the average pressure found in car tires. The top part is made of agglomerated cork  to ensure resistance to torsion, when the bottom part that is in contact with the wine, known as mirror, consist of natural cork in the form of one, two or three pellets, each 6 mm wide. On the top of that champagne cork is nearly as wide as long : 31mm to 48mm.

Finally the word "Champagne" have to be written on it.

 

La Montée de l'épine

Vintage 2012 is not going to be a good one for Catherine and Philippe Delesvaux in the Loire Valley. After endless weeks of rain and very low temperatures fungal diseases developed on the vines. Results of this year's crop are very disappointing : only a quarter of the cabernet franc plantation has been saved from water and there is no cabernet sauvignon this year, which did not have a chance to ripen and finally has rotten. No Montée de l'épine 2012! Grapes were not good enough to harvest them and so will serve as birds food this year.
La Montée de l'épine 2011 ,that already taste very good, will be available at the beginning of 2014.
Luckily there is still some of the 2010 available on the market (www.vinovino.pl) so enjoy it!

Game time

Game birds, wildfold and deer are in full season now so take advantage of those little merveilles and enjoy them with firmly structured red wine from Provence, Champs de la Truffière from Domaine du Deffends.  This  spicy, opulent, concentrated wine with well integrated tannins will work magic with game's strong flavours. Enjoy
 

Dinner prepared by Gilles Grasteau and Thierry Marx for the Association of Sommeliers in Paris

I had a great honour of commenting sweet wines (Sauternes and Barsac) that went with dessert Saint-honoré (Choux pastry filled with  crème Chiboust and vanilla whipped cream) during the dinner for L'Association des Sommeliers de Paris. The  dessert was created in 1847 by pastry chef M.Chiboust of the pastry shop that was located on the Paris street Rue Saint-Honoré, just around the corner of where the dinner gala was held.

 I especially appreciated the buckwheat tagliolini with smoked tea (Lapsang souchong) emulsion and clams prepared by Thierry Marx and paired with medium dry Vouvray.

Benjamin Roffet

 

Dîner de Gala

‘’ Sous le Signe du Partage ‘’

Lundi 29 Octobre 2012

Les Salons du Westin Hôtel Paris-Vendôme

Magnum de Grand Siècle par le Champagne Laurent-Perrier

Four Seasons Hotel George V Paris

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Vouvray ½ sec Domaine du Clos Naudin Philippe Foreau 2005

Commenté par David Biraud,

Mandarin Oriental Paris

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Montilla Moriles ‘’ Fino Electrico ‘’ Toro Albala – Espagne

Commenté par Manuel Peyrondet,

Hôtel Royal-Monceau Raffles Paris

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Saint Emilion 1^er Grand cru classé Château Angélus 2005

Commenté par Olivier Poussier,

Lenôtre Paris

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Magnum Jurançon sec Cuvée Marie Charles Hours 2009

Commenté par Mikael Grou,

Four Seasons Hotel George V Paris

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Passito di Pantelleria ‘’ Sangue d’Oro ‘’ Carole Bouquet 2009 Italie

Commenté par Jonathan Bauer-Monneret,

Hôtel Royal-Monceau Raffles Paris

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Sauternes 1^er Grand cru classé Château Guiraud 2008

Barsac 1^er Grand cru classé Château Climens 2008

Commenté par Benjamin Roffet,

Hôtel Trianon Palace Versailles

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Rhum vieux Martinique J.Bally Reserve Cantarelli 1970

Commenté par Eric Beaumard,

Four Seasons Hotel George V Paris

 Menu Signé

Gilles Grasteau et Thierry Marx.

Le partage du pain du Westin.

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Double consommé glacé de homard

Parfumé au poivre sarrawak.

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Pressé de foie gras, anguille fumée, terre et estuaire

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Pâtes de Sarazin au thé fumé et palourdes

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Poitrine de pigeonneau rôtie

Pomme fondante, jus aux abattis, radis fanes.

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Ossau-Iraty - Alain Perret, cerise confite

Longuet de Fourme d’Ambert, fruits secs au pain des Esséniens

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Saint-honoré

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Café

Macarons

Idealny zestaw na Halloween

Zupa z dyni z mleczkiem kokosowym w towarzystwie czerwonego wina z Prowansji Champs du Bécassier, Domaine du Deffends

Pouilly-Fuissé

Nothing better than a glass of delicious Pouilly-Fuissé for those cold, autumn days...