Oswaldo Costa
Oswaldo Costa
Short visit to Domaine Hauvette yesterday afternoon. Dominique Hauvette was not in, but her assistant Nicolas ably and amiably showed us around. According to The Wine Doctor, Dominique was an attorney who moved to the area in 1982. Sources that will remain cloaked say she can be prickly, but Nicolas said she is sweet once you know her.
Dominique used indigenous yeasts from the start, so there are no descendants or mutations of industrial yeasts poltergeisting in the spheres. No fining or filtration, except some "pre-filtration" for the whites. No rémontage after the initial pressing, because Dominique favors gentle ("doux") extraction in order to make "gastronomic" wines. Temperature control by circulating cold water only if heat rises above 35C. All wines undergo malolactic. All vines are grafted and massale.
The general bent is to be as non-interventionist as the vintage allows. SO2 is used, not only at bottling, but as needed whenever the fruit is not completely healthy. Nicolas seemed a bit defensive about SO2, returning repeatedly to the need to use it if one wanted wine to last under ordinary conditions. I saw about twenty cement eggs, of which Dominque is an avid adopter. I remarked to Nicolas that they must be harder to clean and he replied (if I understood correctly) that cleaning the eggs (which they do solely with steam) was easier than cleaning the wooden tanks because the magnetic properties of the shape (no dead spots) led to a more uniform distribution of the yucky stuff, whereas in the tanks it concentrates in certain areas.
Nicolas poured from bottles that had been opened the previous evening and had since sat at Provençal summer room temperature, so was pluriapologetic about the serving conditions. So results were even more impressive if one takes the handicap into account.
The traditional Hauvette red ferments in large wooden tanks and has approx. 50% grenache, 30% syrah and 20% cabernet sauvignon, each from different plots. It acquired the name Cornaline (Cornelian) with the 2005 vintage to distinguish it from a new cuvée, the egg elevated Améthyste, made from a field blend of approx. 60% cinsault, 30% carignan and 10% grenache. But first we tasted the small production white and rosé, both excellent:
2008 Domaine Hauvette Dolia (blanc) Vin de Pays des Alpilles 12.84%
40% marsanne, 30% rousanne, 30% clairette. Attractive floral and mineral notes. Adequate acidity, despite the warmth. Satisfying balance and structure. Lovely, and surprising.
2008 Domaine Hauvette Petra (rosé) 12.5%
70% cinsault from young vines, 15% syrah, 15% grenache. Freshly bottled, so a bit closed. Light rose hips aromas, with good body and acidity. Has the structure to age.
2007 Domaine Hauvette Améthyste AOC Baux de Provence 13.5%
60% cinsault, 30% carignan and 10% grenache. Lovely dark strawberry and forest floor. Excellent balance and density, light and pleasant tannins. Liked this very much for current drinking.
2004 Domaine Hauvette Cornaline AOC Baux de Provence 13.5%
50% grenache, 30% syrah and 20% cabernet sauvignon (did not use Cornaline name at this point). Red fruit, menthol and leather. Attractive mouth feel, good balance, but could use slightly more body.
2005 Domaine Hauvette Cornaline AOC Baux de Provence 13.5%
50% grenache, 30% syrah and 20% cabernet sauvignon. Still closed, with darker fruit and alcohol. More tannin and body than the preceding, excellent sense of structure, should be quite something when it opens.
2006 Domaine Hauvette Cornaline AOC Baux de Provence 13.5%
50% grenache, 30% syrah and 20% cabernet sauvignon. Also somewhat closed, but less so. Tastes juicy, less tannic, and quite pleasant. The grenache seems to speak louder here. Perhaps not for the long haul, but should be quite nice for a few years when it opens fully in a year or two.
In short, a domaine to be reckoned with by anyone who aspires to concupiscence.
Dominique used indigenous yeasts from the start, so there are no descendants or mutations of industrial yeasts poltergeisting in the spheres. No fining or filtration, except some "pre-filtration" for the whites. No rémontage after the initial pressing, because Dominique favors gentle ("doux") extraction in order to make "gastronomic" wines. Temperature control by circulating cold water only if heat rises above 35C. All wines undergo malolactic. All vines are grafted and massale.
The general bent is to be as non-interventionist as the vintage allows. SO2 is used, not only at bottling, but as needed whenever the fruit is not completely healthy. Nicolas seemed a bit defensive about SO2, returning repeatedly to the need to use it if one wanted wine to last under ordinary conditions. I saw about twenty cement eggs, of which Dominque is an avid adopter. I remarked to Nicolas that they must be harder to clean and he replied (if I understood correctly) that cleaning the eggs (which they do solely with steam) was easier than cleaning the wooden tanks because the magnetic properties of the shape (no dead spots) led to a more uniform distribution of the yucky stuff, whereas in the tanks it concentrates in certain areas.
Nicolas poured from bottles that had been opened the previous evening and had since sat at Provençal summer room temperature, so was pluriapologetic about the serving conditions. So results were even more impressive if one takes the handicap into account.
The traditional Hauvette red ferments in large wooden tanks and has approx. 50% grenache, 30% syrah and 20% cabernet sauvignon, each from different plots. It acquired the name Cornaline (Cornelian) with the 2005 vintage to distinguish it from a new cuvée, the egg elevated Améthyste, made from a field blend of approx. 60% cinsault, 30% carignan and 10% grenache. But first we tasted the small production white and rosé, both excellent:
2008 Domaine Hauvette Dolia (blanc) Vin de Pays des Alpilles 12.84%
40% marsanne, 30% rousanne, 30% clairette. Attractive floral and mineral notes. Adequate acidity, despite the warmth. Satisfying balance and structure. Lovely, and surprising.
2008 Domaine Hauvette Petra (rosé) 12.5%
70% cinsault from young vines, 15% syrah, 15% grenache. Freshly bottled, so a bit closed. Light rose hips aromas, with good body and acidity. Has the structure to age.
2007 Domaine Hauvette Améthyste AOC Baux de Provence 13.5%
60% cinsault, 30% carignan and 10% grenache. Lovely dark strawberry and forest floor. Excellent balance and density, light and pleasant tannins. Liked this very much for current drinking.
2004 Domaine Hauvette Cornaline AOC Baux de Provence 13.5%
50% grenache, 30% syrah and 20% cabernet sauvignon (did not use Cornaline name at this point). Red fruit, menthol and leather. Attractive mouth feel, good balance, but could use slightly more body.
2005 Domaine Hauvette Cornaline AOC Baux de Provence 13.5%
50% grenache, 30% syrah and 20% cabernet sauvignon. Still closed, with darker fruit and alcohol. More tannin and body than the preceding, excellent sense of structure, should be quite something when it opens.
2006 Domaine Hauvette Cornaline AOC Baux de Provence 13.5%
50% grenache, 30% syrah and 20% cabernet sauvignon. Also somewhat closed, but less so. Tastes juicy, less tannic, and quite pleasant. The grenache seems to speak louder here. Perhaps not for the long haul, but should be quite nice for a few years when it opens fully in a year or two.
In short, a domaine to be reckoned with by anyone who aspires to concupiscence.