Saina Nieminen
Saina Nieminen
Ive was in town for a congress, so we met up for a dinner at a favourite restaurant in Helsinki: Carelia. With a starter of arctic char and a chantrelle salad we had the Gonon (great with the fish, but the salad was a touch too vinegary); with the reds we had reindeer osso-bucco with beetroot risotto - good, but not great match, as the wines were both tannic enough that I thought some bloody meat would have been ideal. But as always, Carelia proved a great place to dine with its imaginative and very fairly priced wine list and good food as well.
Vilmart Champagne Grande Rserve Brut N.V.
Crisp and pure with much red apple and floral scents - exactly as expected of a well made Pinot-based blend with no malo. Really quite a lovely drop!
Pierre Gonon St. Joseph Les Oliviers 2001
Quite simply a wonderful white Rhne! The scent is floral, summery yet delicate and extremely elegant. The palate is bright and amazingly refreshing for a Rhne white with citrussy acidity and good grip, very elegant fruit. The long aftertaste is mineral but does show some of the typical oiliness of the Rhne white varieties. It isn't often that I can say a Rhne white is elegant, but this is. Great stuff!
Domaine de la Grange des Pres Vin de Pays de l'Hrault 1995
A meaty wine, it smelled like the blood of game birds. Sweet fruit, but tangy. Big, meaty, with bright tannins and acidity reminiscent of good Barolo, wonderful purity - it may be a big wine, but it is impeccably balanced and a joy to drink. It still seems very young. Very good.
Domaine de Montille Volnay 1er Cru Les Mitans 2001
Lovely purity, brightness and transparency: pure Pinosity. Tannic, understated, elegant, bright and pure - excellent wine even though it is very young.
I also gladly had the opportunity to meet up with Ive for a brief while at the Foxy Wine House (the only wine bar in Helsinki, but happily a very good wine bar). Foxy has an imaginative list of wines by the glass. It isn't a list of fancy wines from trendy, Parker-pointy appellations, but rather extremely well made wines from mostly less "prestigious" areas.
Marcel Lapierre Morgon 2007
Wonderfully pure nose, some gravel and raspberry. Fruity but well structured; palate-cleansing, rocky and refreshing aftertaste. Quite wonderful but very primary.
Čotar Sauvignon Blanc 2003
An idiosyncratic but endlessly fascinating wine: the nose is very "natural", ripe and almost tropical with its pineapple notes, but it is also dark toned and malty, earthy and quite funky - despite a slight, greenish lift to the scent, the whole is utterly unlike any Sauvignon Blanc I have tasted before. Full bodied, dry, vibrantly fruity and vibrantly acidic: it is all about liveliness. Despite the ripe, tropical fruit notes, the acidity and general feeling of it being very light on its feet make this seem atypical to the heavy, heat-struck 2003s I have mostly had from Europe. Lovely stuff!
Čotar Malvazia 2004
A deep golden color; a wonderfully pure nose, yet as usual for Malvazia, quite perfumed. It is a mix of bright and elegant fruit and unctuous floral/rosewater notes - but though it reads like this would be a cloying wine, these sweet scents never become overbearing and the scent is actually very refreshing. Dry but well fruited, well structured: a very pleasant and harmonious whole. Nice!
Domaine Loew Pinot Gris Engelberg Grand Cru 2007
Light as water. A wonderful, extremely mineral nose with some red flower notes that might suggest Pinot Gris, but the scent is so restrained and mineral and citrussy that frankly if served blind, I would have said Riesling! Medium bodied, extremely dry, strongly mineral, persistent: for Pinot Gris it is an extremely elegant and understated style. Wonderful stuff.
Vilmart Champagne Grande Rserve Brut N.V.
Crisp and pure with much red apple and floral scents - exactly as expected of a well made Pinot-based blend with no malo. Really quite a lovely drop!
Pierre Gonon St. Joseph Les Oliviers 2001
Quite simply a wonderful white Rhne! The scent is floral, summery yet delicate and extremely elegant. The palate is bright and amazingly refreshing for a Rhne white with citrussy acidity and good grip, very elegant fruit. The long aftertaste is mineral but does show some of the typical oiliness of the Rhne white varieties. It isn't often that I can say a Rhne white is elegant, but this is. Great stuff!
Domaine de la Grange des Pres Vin de Pays de l'Hrault 1995
A meaty wine, it smelled like the blood of game birds. Sweet fruit, but tangy. Big, meaty, with bright tannins and acidity reminiscent of good Barolo, wonderful purity - it may be a big wine, but it is impeccably balanced and a joy to drink. It still seems very young. Very good.
Domaine de Montille Volnay 1er Cru Les Mitans 2001
Lovely purity, brightness and transparency: pure Pinosity. Tannic, understated, elegant, bright and pure - excellent wine even though it is very young.
I also gladly had the opportunity to meet up with Ive for a brief while at the Foxy Wine House (the only wine bar in Helsinki, but happily a very good wine bar). Foxy has an imaginative list of wines by the glass. It isn't a list of fancy wines from trendy, Parker-pointy appellations, but rather extremely well made wines from mostly less "prestigious" areas.
Marcel Lapierre Morgon 2007
Wonderfully pure nose, some gravel and raspberry. Fruity but well structured; palate-cleansing, rocky and refreshing aftertaste. Quite wonderful but very primary.
Čotar Sauvignon Blanc 2003
An idiosyncratic but endlessly fascinating wine: the nose is very "natural", ripe and almost tropical with its pineapple notes, but it is also dark toned and malty, earthy and quite funky - despite a slight, greenish lift to the scent, the whole is utterly unlike any Sauvignon Blanc I have tasted before. Full bodied, dry, vibrantly fruity and vibrantly acidic: it is all about liveliness. Despite the ripe, tropical fruit notes, the acidity and general feeling of it being very light on its feet make this seem atypical to the heavy, heat-struck 2003s I have mostly had from Europe. Lovely stuff!
Čotar Malvazia 2004
A deep golden color; a wonderfully pure nose, yet as usual for Malvazia, quite perfumed. It is a mix of bright and elegant fruit and unctuous floral/rosewater notes - but though it reads like this would be a cloying wine, these sweet scents never become overbearing and the scent is actually very refreshing. Dry but well fruited, well structured: a very pleasant and harmonious whole. Nice!
Domaine Loew Pinot Gris Engelberg Grand Cru 2007
Light as water. A wonderful, extremely mineral nose with some red flower notes that might suggest Pinot Gris, but the scent is so restrained and mineral and citrussy that frankly if served blind, I would have said Riesling! Medium bodied, extremely dry, strongly mineral, persistent: for Pinot Gris it is an extremely elegant and understated style. Wonderful stuff.
