New, for me, from Provence

scottreiner

scottreiner

scott reiner
Dominique Hauvette Baux-de-Provence Le Roucas 2006. This wine is not new, except to me (d'oh!), but is a real find! From Les Baux in Provence in Southern France, it is made primarily from Grenache, with lesser but equal parts of Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. Absolutely wonderful red fruits and forest floor. Everything is tempered by the dusty tannins, but it is these very tannins that let the wine reach the levels it does. There is a little brett, but this will only bother those specifically sensitive to it. I want to say that this is primarily a food wine, but it is just so delicious on its own that you should just drink it whenever you get the chance. The wine should cost you about $21 and is so much better than that; there is a complexity that belies its price. I'm not sure how long this wine will last, at least for a few years, but I will certainly drink many bottles this fall... Buy, buy, buy!
 
steve--i'm guessing that you're familiar with 'mas de gourgonnier' from les baux, non? how similar/different is it? it sounds like the same style blend, and i've always loved mas de gourgonnier (ecocert certified, etc.).
 
Just had the MdG '08 and '09 San Soufre on Thursday, tasted with about 4 hours of air. The '09 is a bit out of sorts- spiky with some astringency on finish. But the '08 was knit together very well. Different terroir, but was a flashback to bailing hay in Ohio this time of year- flat baking heat, clean honest sweat, ropy muscle, a little cowshit, rusty farm equipment, dusty alfalfa and spicier clover, with blackberries along the fence.

It's been a bit longer since I've tasted the Hauvette, and longer still since I've drank a bottle. But from what I remember they're a little more animal. There's some Brett on the MdG, but there's more sweet baking spice to go along with the classic garrigue. Baux-de-Provence AOC is biodynamic by regulation (one of the first to do so- nearly everyone had been "at least" organic anyway). I often get clove/cinnamon/mace with (what I fear Eric will correct me upon but what I presume to be) spontaneous yeast fermentation, and likely ones that are "wilder" (minimal or no use of sulfur). Both producers both have that quality- which I find everywhere from Lapierre to Occhipinti. With the Hauvette I get a "darker" herbal (oregano?) note while the MdG is a bit "grassier" (thyme).

Part of the spectrum between the two is the fact that these recent MdGs were San Soufre, which would account for the bit of (again, what I perceive as) sweetness. I've had the regular versions, too, most notably in a mini vertical a year ago with the 05, 06, and 07. They had a bit more structure, as what might be expected, though it was the Cab showing through- which wasn't, necessarily. They were enjoyable, but I'd hesitate to call any of them ready.
 
I always thought that clove/cinnamon/mace were flavors that came from Brettanomyces yeasts. Ethyl phenol compounds from brett produce barnyard and Band-aide smells, where ethyl guaiacol produces the spice and clove aromas.

The bailing hay in Ohio is a fabulous note.
 
originally posted by Seth Hill:
Baux-de-Provence AOC is biodynamic by regulation (one of the first to do so- nearly everyone had been "at least" organic anyway).
Click to expand...

It might be true one day. But it isn't right now.
There is no such a thing : a dcret d'appellation that specifies that you have to grow organic.
85% of the local growers have asked for this in 2007, but so far, organic growing cannot be, legally, part of the AOC rules. That was decided by the Conseil d'tat in 2009, and is apparently not going to change in short term.
 
originally posted by Brzme:
originally posted by Seth Hill:
Baux-de-Provence AOC is biodynamic by regulation (one of the first to do so- nearly everyone had been "at least" organic anyway).
Click to expand...

It might be true one day. But it isn't right now.
There is no such a thing : a dcret d'appellation that specifies that you have to grow organic.
85% of the local growers have asked for this in 2007, but so far, organic growing cannot be, legally, part of the AOC rules. That was decided by the Conseil d'tat in 2009, and is apparently not going to change in short term.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying- many of the English references to the AOC miss the distinction (including Wikipedia). I see on the AOC's site that it is as you say- I had gotten lazy with looking for a primary source and trying to decipher the French.
 
originally posted by Marc D:
I always thought that clove/cinnamon/mace were flavors that came from Brettanomyces yeasts. Ethyl phenol compounds from brett produce barnyard and Band-aide smells, where ethyl guaiacol produces the spice and clove aromas.
Click to expand...
I tend to think of spice and clove as also coming from oak-related terpenes and things like eugenol. Methyl guiacol and so on are lignin-derived oak toast flavors that give some spice and smoke, I believe.

And who could forget the murine flavors from tetrahydropyridines that Brett makes if there's enough lysine around?
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by Marc D:
I always thought that clove/cinnamon/mace were flavors that came from Brettanomyces yeasts. Ethyl phenol compounds from brett produce barnyard and Band-aide smells, where ethyl guaiacol produces the spice and clove aromas.
Click to expand...
I tend to think of spice and clove as also coming from oak-related terpenes and things like eugenol.
Click to expand...

Eugenol reminds you of cloves? You don't say, old thing! Jean still can't abide cloves in any significant quantity after steam distilling eugenol out of cloves as an undergrad. Such is the cross we must bear...

Mark Lipton
 
Last night, while watching Dexter Season 5 (series continues to be damned good), downed half of a 2007 Mas de Gourgonnier, research for an upcoming trip to the area.

Biodynamic, stainless steel, grenache, syrah, cinsault, carignan, & mourvèdre. Iron, meat, iodine and chalk. Civilized alcohol (12.5%), good body and balance, sweet edge tempered by light bitterness. Good QPR, nothing out of place, also nice for what's absent (wood, hest, etc.). Didn't rock my boat, but can be safely ordered. I'll be looking for some Hauvette and Trevallon too.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Last night, while watching Dexter Season 5 (series continues to be damned good), downed half of a 2007 Mas de Gourgonnier, research for an upcoming trip to the area.
Click to expand...
 
We will be in the area for a couple of weeks but are leaving the southland on July 2. Sounds like we can wave across the TGV tracks.
 
I wish I could stay in Paris this time, but writing commitments mean this is only family vacation (in the south). We'll only see the RER and metro.
 
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