Enchanted
Dear Friends,
If you are into Frank Cornelissen, Cedric Bouchard, Francois Blanchard or any of our other pioneers, this offer is for you.
As far as the Loire and all things underground are concerned, Renaud Guettier of La Grapperie is playing with a stacked deck. He has produced a new super-cuvee based on the 2005 Adonis bottling especially for wine geeks (and extreme gastronomes) that will be discussed in more than a few circles. When I use the term super cuvee I do not mean more extract and alcohol, I mean even more eccentricity and magnetism. Instead of re-hashing the La Grapperie story, Ive reprinted my original offer for the La Grapperie Adonis below (which is sold out) to give you an idea of what were dealing with here. I would advise scrolling down, reading that first, and then coming back to this offer I will insert a pause here to allow you time to scroll down...
Now that youve read about the 2005 Adonis, todays offer is for the big sister, the Lenchanteresse. I tasted the 2005 Lenchanteresse for the first time yesterday and Im still thinking about it this afternoon it opened my mind the way Sgt. Pepper forced the cerebral cortex of the musical world to expand beyond its 1967 horizons. In a nutshell, for one winemaker to produce two red wines with this level of ingenuity and intrigue (the 2005 Adonis and 2005 Lenchanteresse - with Pineau dAunis no less) is not only revolutionary but needs to be proclaimed from the hilltops. Please allow me to nudge you with as much gentle force as I can.
While compatriots, the two wines have distinct differences. Where the Adonis is youthful, in-your-face and full of aromatic insanity, the Lenchanteresse is more regal, powerful and serious although its core is still centered around an aromatic free-for-all and the deep-toned, black colored, liquid cement and pepper-dusted palate that fans of the Adonis will relish. (A presence normally associated with Cabernet Franc - light-bodied Pineau dAunis this isnt). The grapes for the Lenchanteresse are hand-picked from the very oldest vines on the property (some are pre-phyloxera in a 1,9h parcel simply referred to as vignes centenaire and older) - they only produce a few bunches per plant. Instead of 12-15 months in 228L vessels (like the Adonis) the Lenchanteresse spends 24-30 months laying in wait all without any topping, additions, subtractions or added sulfur of any kind. The result is a production level that is almost too small to commercially offer (1160 bottles in 2005, approximately 96 cases) but I will take all that is presented (10-15 cases for the US - the rest is divvied up in 5 case lots for Germany, Switzerland and Belgium the remaining 40-50 cases for restaurants in France).
The 2005 Lenchanteresse is unlike anything else being produced in the Loire or in France it is almost an Ausone-like take on Chenin Noir with the Wizard of Oz character that La Grapperie has become synonymous with. It is a wine to study as much as it is to enjoy. As far as biodynamic and progressive entrants are concerned, La Grapperie is among the most cutting edge in France and I advise any bonafide wine pundit or blogger to be on the lookout for these wines before establishing a position of wholesale knowledge of the Loire. Not everyone will enjoy the wines of La Grapperie but they are a reference standard that needs to be tasted (at least once) to insure your palate is centered circa 2009 and not 2004 when Puzelats version of Pineau dAunis was the US reference. This is not a proclamation on the validity of Puzelat (most of you know I adore Thierrys wine) it is simply a statement from where I sit as of July 17th, 2009. In my mind, the world keeps moving forward and the quest for wine knowledge should continue to evolve with it.
With that said, La Grapperie is now among the most influential and intriguing French underground experiments of the moment all of the wines are well worth your experience and experimentation and they are far more enjoyable to actually drink than many of the pioneer wines we offer (unlike most of the entrants from someone like Frank Cornelissen, you can actually drink Lenchanteresse and fall in love with it simply from a vinous perspective).
