Joel Stewart
Joel Stewart
Puttin' on the Rietsch...
3 from the "Insolite" section of the Alsatian producer Rietsch's offerings. Though Rietsch appears to make more standard, expected wines from the usual grapes, these 3 are the only ones I've seen imported to Japan so far. I like the playfulness going on here....
2007 Rietsch, "PAS SAGE", Mittelbergheim, Alsace. Pinot noir vinified blanc in old barrels purposely not topped off and left to oxidise, vin jaune style. Non-filtered, non-sulfured. And, it's 15.3%. Pure amber color, initial nose is whoah baby, rye bread full on, white flowers, apricots both dried and fresh. Palate is just so loaded with flavors, it's hard to keep up with the circus in the mouth. Closest thing I can think of is a heavier Heredia blanco/rosado done in off-dry style plus a lovely proto-perly tickle around the tongue. Apricots, deep roasted grain and fruit notes, forest, mushroom, tang etc. etc....and the beat goes on. Holy crap. Day 2 shows more development on the palate...apricots come further forward in a near Kracher-like way...and yet the wine remains mostly dry...and, I'll add, very elegant. No detectable heat at all. At $31, this lovely oddity calls for more purchases.
2008 Rietsch, "Sans Doute", Riesling, Mittelbergheim, Alsace, (12.6%) - Cute label which includes a frog and (separately) a crown. What me worry? It's only a non-sulfur riesling that spent 11 mos on lees, bottled unfiltered. Ever so slightly turbid in glass..deja vu aromatics...I've been here before, but where is here? Musky, Sir Leasy, pear, honeysuckle...residual sugary. Thoughts wander to a mix of Alsace, Chablis, Macon, Nantes..perplexing, but likeable. Bone dry on the tongue...not a trace of rs; lemony mineral saline notes all over the place with touches of deeper must and musk. Texturally delightful (again, in a proto-effervescent sort of way)...my tongue is feather-lashed with minerals that near the prickling point, but dissolve just before. The whole package is fun, intriguing and finally the deja vu finds it's answer - gruner. A riesling that shows like a gv. Weird, but fun.
With more air - this is all about lime, lemon and minerals, subtle tingles and crisp grapefruit finish. Then come the lentils. Absolutely gorgeous with crispy fried chicken skins.
2006 Rietsch, Cremant d'Alsace, Chardonnay, (12.5%) Price? $22 Pale gold in glass and initially, a funky, uric acid-like punch, surrounded by hints of white-frosted cake. Frisky mousse at first, which masks the quite tart cab franc-like bitter notes, an appley malic touch, but not quite, and a lengthy grapefruity thing happening on the finish. I pour into both a flute and a Bordeax glass...interestingly, the flute completely clamps down on the wine, as if the lack of 02, snuffs the life out of it. The Bord glass brings out twice the amount of nuance, though nothing seems to get past the foaminess (I still wonder if foaminess is not also related to ph levels in the mouth...any chemistry thoughts anyone?) With time, this wine opens and shows more balance and intrigue. It's enjoyable and yet the mousse puts me off a bit. Plenty of depth, but if the texture is a distraction (esp. where bubbly is concerned) then it's practically game over.
Watermelon in Easter Hay
2008 Chateau Cambon, Beaujolais Rose, (Lapierre)$19.(12.5%). Shy nose - a bit of petrichor here, a floral note there, bare hints of carbonic sweetness. Given time, some freshly chopped garden greens emerge in the swirling, but only just. Contrast this to the palate, where the wine is generously rich, plush even...definitely in the "almost fat" range. Is that a bad thing? No, not really. I'm just reporting here. This is easily the most plush rose I've ever had.
There are close to off-dry red fruit notes, esp. watermelon candy and some grip towards the finish, which is long...very long. Overall Baroque, yes.....in a nearly jiggly Rubensian way. Good with food, but really even better alone. Sort of a different take on the genre...for me at least. I liked it well enough. Far, far superior to that silly VDP thing, and much more serious to boot.
2008 Lapierre, Vin de Pays de Gaules, $17, (12.5%) - Leery about this. Almost like a dark rose in the glass, watery clear on the rim. Cherries, fresh cut greens, a bit of orange rind and a candied hint as well that reminds me of B. Nouveau. Not bad, sort of expected this. Palate is thin and though I gave it plenty of chances,it seems like it's only covering ground already much better represented in the L basic Beaujolais, which I have an extreme fondness for. It left me wondering what's the purpose here, unless the screwcap is a way of saying "drink within a yr of vintage". Not at all competitively priced, but then again, I wouldn't buy it again at any price, unless city water was found to be full of arsenic and bottled water cost more.
2007 Lapierre Morgon sans soufre, (12.5%) Slightly meaty/bretty nose at first, smoke and cherries underneath. Palate shows this too. This is much more astringent an effort than the sulphured version. They might as well be two different wines. I prefer the sulphured, with it's silky texture, bright red fruit and firm, crunch of structure. Here we have something pinched and way too frugal.
I have had a few red wines from Loire producers which taste like this...in fact, this is now a dead ringer for some Puzelat red's I've had (and thus why I prefer P's whites, which seem to show more distinction). I'd have never thought such from previous sulphured Lapierre bottlings. With time, this one develops nicely but, in the end it doesn't shake that brettiness, or whatever that green, stinky tang is. Astringency dominates whatever chance there was at silkiness. I'll take the rose and the entry level sulphured Bojo.
3 from the "Insolite" section of the Alsatian producer Rietsch's offerings. Though Rietsch appears to make more standard, expected wines from the usual grapes, these 3 are the only ones I've seen imported to Japan so far. I like the playfulness going on here....
2007 Rietsch, "PAS SAGE", Mittelbergheim, Alsace. Pinot noir vinified blanc in old barrels purposely not topped off and left to oxidise, vin jaune style. Non-filtered, non-sulfured. And, it's 15.3%. Pure amber color, initial nose is whoah baby, rye bread full on, white flowers, apricots both dried and fresh. Palate is just so loaded with flavors, it's hard to keep up with the circus in the mouth. Closest thing I can think of is a heavier Heredia blanco/rosado done in off-dry style plus a lovely proto-perly tickle around the tongue. Apricots, deep roasted grain and fruit notes, forest, mushroom, tang etc. etc....and the beat goes on. Holy crap. Day 2 shows more development on the palate...apricots come further forward in a near Kracher-like way...and yet the wine remains mostly dry...and, I'll add, very elegant. No detectable heat at all. At $31, this lovely oddity calls for more purchases.
2008 Rietsch, "Sans Doute", Riesling, Mittelbergheim, Alsace, (12.6%) - Cute label which includes a frog and (separately) a crown. What me worry? It's only a non-sulfur riesling that spent 11 mos on lees, bottled unfiltered. Ever so slightly turbid in glass..deja vu aromatics...I've been here before, but where is here? Musky, Sir Leasy, pear, honeysuckle...residual sugary. Thoughts wander to a mix of Alsace, Chablis, Macon, Nantes..perplexing, but likeable. Bone dry on the tongue...not a trace of rs; lemony mineral saline notes all over the place with touches of deeper must and musk. Texturally delightful (again, in a proto-effervescent sort of way)...my tongue is feather-lashed with minerals that near the prickling point, but dissolve just before. The whole package is fun, intriguing and finally the deja vu finds it's answer - gruner. A riesling that shows like a gv. Weird, but fun.
With more air - this is all about lime, lemon and minerals, subtle tingles and crisp grapefruit finish. Then come the lentils. Absolutely gorgeous with crispy fried chicken skins.
2006 Rietsch, Cremant d'Alsace, Chardonnay, (12.5%) Price? $22 Pale gold in glass and initially, a funky, uric acid-like punch, surrounded by hints of white-frosted cake. Frisky mousse at first, which masks the quite tart cab franc-like bitter notes, an appley malic touch, but not quite, and a lengthy grapefruity thing happening on the finish. I pour into both a flute and a Bordeax glass...interestingly, the flute completely clamps down on the wine, as if the lack of 02, snuffs the life out of it. The Bord glass brings out twice the amount of nuance, though nothing seems to get past the foaminess (I still wonder if foaminess is not also related to ph levels in the mouth...any chemistry thoughts anyone?) With time, this wine opens and shows more balance and intrigue. It's enjoyable and yet the mousse puts me off a bit. Plenty of depth, but if the texture is a distraction (esp. where bubbly is concerned) then it's practically game over.
Watermelon in Easter Hay
2008 Chateau Cambon, Beaujolais Rose, (Lapierre)$19.(12.5%). Shy nose - a bit of petrichor here, a floral note there, bare hints of carbonic sweetness. Given time, some freshly chopped garden greens emerge in the swirling, but only just. Contrast this to the palate, where the wine is generously rich, plush even...definitely in the "almost fat" range. Is that a bad thing? No, not really. I'm just reporting here. This is easily the most plush rose I've ever had.
There are close to off-dry red fruit notes, esp. watermelon candy and some grip towards the finish, which is long...very long. Overall Baroque, yes.....in a nearly jiggly Rubensian way. Good with food, but really even better alone. Sort of a different take on the genre...for me at least. I liked it well enough. Far, far superior to that silly VDP thing, and much more serious to boot.
2008 Lapierre, Vin de Pays de Gaules, $17, (12.5%) - Leery about this. Almost like a dark rose in the glass, watery clear on the rim. Cherries, fresh cut greens, a bit of orange rind and a candied hint as well that reminds me of B. Nouveau. Not bad, sort of expected this. Palate is thin and though I gave it plenty of chances,it seems like it's only covering ground already much better represented in the L basic Beaujolais, which I have an extreme fondness for. It left me wondering what's the purpose here, unless the screwcap is a way of saying "drink within a yr of vintage". Not at all competitively priced, but then again, I wouldn't buy it again at any price, unless city water was found to be full of arsenic and bottled water cost more.
2007 Lapierre Morgon sans soufre, (12.5%) Slightly meaty/bretty nose at first, smoke and cherries underneath. Palate shows this too. This is much more astringent an effort than the sulphured version. They might as well be two different wines. I prefer the sulphured, with it's silky texture, bright red fruit and firm, crunch of structure. Here we have something pinched and way too frugal.
I have had a few red wines from Loire producers which taste like this...in fact, this is now a dead ringer for some Puzelat red's I've had (and thus why I prefer P's whites, which seem to show more distinction). I'd have never thought such from previous sulphured Lapierre bottlings. With time, this one develops nicely but, in the end it doesn't shake that brettiness, or whatever that green, stinky tang is. Astringency dominates whatever chance there was at silkiness. I'll take the rose and the entry level sulphured Bojo.