Carbonic Maceration

J

JasonA

Jason Adams
I was at a Pierre Breton tasting last night at a LWS that featured the '09 Trinch, '08 Les Galichets and the '09 La Dilettante. The Trinch and the Les Galichets have never been more approachable or jsut simply delicious for that matter. I was not too impressed by the La Dilettante, it was too sweet and lacked the dimensionality of Breton's other wines if not Cabernet Franc in general. The man himself was there and he went on to explain that the La Dillettante was to appeal to "young drinkers" as a starter wine or as a simple summer quaffer. Fair enough.

Later that evening I finished off the bottle of Gramenon's "Poignee de Raisins" with a somewhat spicy dinner. Poor wine pairing there. The Gramenon just fell flat and did not get back on its feet until the meal was finished and the last sip taken on its own.

Both the Poignee de Raisins and the La Dillettante under go carbonic maceration in their vinification and I have come to the realization that I don't like them for this reason. Carbonic maceration may work well in Beaujolais but it can stay there in my book. The La Dillettante was the most graphic in displaying how heavy handed this "manipulation" can be.

Thoughts?
 
originally posted by JasonA:
The La Dillettante was the most graphic in displaying how heavy handed this "manipulation" can be.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

This was discussed here recently and the reasonable (I thot) observation was made that CM is no more manipulation than pigeage.
 
What's important about Natural Winemaking™ is that all wines should taste the same. Isn't that the goal?
 
originally posted by JasonA:
...I was not too impressed by the La Dilettante, it was too sweet and lacked the dimensionality of Breton's other wines if not Cabernet Franc in general. The man himself was there and he went on to explain that the La Dillettante was to appeal to "young drinkers" as a starter wine or as a simple summer quaffer. Fair enough.

The La Dillettante was the most graphic in displaying how heavy handed this "manipulation" can be.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I tried a Breton Dilettante that was a petillant Vouvray and it was a lot of fun.
I can't believe you guys don't like it.
Maybe this is a different wine?
 
I liked it at a tasting at Spring's boutique in Paris last year and was pelted with rocks and garbage (there's a reference for you), so it's possible it's a controversial wine. But it was the only Dilettante that I liked; the rest was kinda awful.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
It requires some effort.

When I object to it, it's on aesthetic rather than ideological grounds.
Click to expand...

I am pretending to follow.
 
originally posted by .sasha:
originally posted by SFJoe:
It requires some effort.

When I object to it, it's on aesthetic rather than ideological grounds.
Click to expand...

I am pretending to follow.
Click to expand...
I don't have a rule against it, I just don't always like the results.
 
got it.
Next time I don't like a wine, I'll make sure to remember it's on aesthetic grounds :)
 
originally posted by Marc D:
originally posted by JasonA:
...I was not too impressed by the La Dilettante, it was too sweet and lacked the dimensionality of Breton's other wines if not Cabernet Franc in general. The man himself was there and he went on to explain that the La Dillettante was to appeal to "young drinkers" as a starter wine or as a simple summer quaffer. Fair enough.

The La Dillettante was the most graphic in displaying how heavy handed this "manipulation" can be.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I tried a Breton Dilettante that was a petillant Vouvray and it was a lot of fun.
I can't believe you guys don't like it.
Maybe this is a different wine?
Click to expand...

Same here. I tried the sparkling Dilettante last weekend at Terroir in SF and loved it. Fun and balanced.
 
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