Varietal(-ish) focus: Châteauneuf-du-Pape blends

Question: can a group of $30-ish Châteauneuf-du-Pape-inspired blends from around the world distinguish themselves?

Massena ‘Moonlight Run’ 2006 (Barossa Valley) $27, 14.5% abv

Composed of 54% Grenache, 24% Shiraz, 16% Mataro (Mourvèdre), and 6% Cinsault all from vineyards that range in age from 85-150 years old. Each parcel is fermented and aged separately before final blend is made, then it is aged for 18 months in seasoned French oak (old hogsheads).

Deep ruby with a bit of an alcohol white rim. The whiff of sweet perfume is what stood out on the nose. At first I guessed sweet oak, but as they age in old French hogshead, I’m now guessing the perfume of Mourvèdre was showing itself. Very curious. Alcohol was more apparent on the palate, and it clashed with the acid right away before the acid disappeared and I could get to the fruit bits (which were ripe dark fruits). Tannins were well-integrated in the mix and velvety. The finish was on the long side and was a thick, lovely layer of juicy dark fruits. And I swear vanilla!

Bonny Doon Vineyards ‘Le Cigare Volant’ 2006 (California) $33, 13.3% abv

Always amusing to read the ingredient labels of Bonny Doon wines. This is made from 43.6% Syrah, 43.5% Grenache, 11.7% Cinsault, 1.1% Mourvèdre, and 0.1% Carnignane. Also used in the winemaking process was untoasted oak chips and French oak barrels.

This was the most saturated in color, nearly to the rim. The Bonny Doon exhibited the same dark fruit aromas, but this one had a slight more ‘funk’ to it and a touch of floral. I’m guessing that’s because this wine had the highest concentration of syrah, a rather unstable fellow, and one that shows off something like Brett more readily. It added to the complexity of the nose. There was a faint trace of vanilla oak.

Body, acid and alcohol were all balanced together at about a medium intensity. The tannins were medium+ and suede-like. The dark fruit on the palate was softer (less sour). The finish was medium and made of tannins and a bit of fruit.

Domaine St. Gayan 2006 (Gigondas) $28, 14.5% abv

I chose the Gigondas as my French ‘Châteauneuf-du-Pape’ so the price point would be in line with the others. I guess I should have kept looking since this is more of a traditional Côtes du Rhône blend, but whatever. It’s made from 75% Grenache, 15% Syrah, and 5% Mourvèdre from vines with an average age of 55 years (some of the Grenache vines are over 100 years old). It goes through a typical long fermentation in neutral tanks and then spends a year in old foudres.

Lightest in color of this group (medium- ruby with alcohol rim). Also the most subdued in aromas and much more earthiness (dry dirt) and dark fruits (plums and black cherries). It was dark. I could also smell alcohol. The palate had medium+ acid and medium+ alcohol which eventually gave way to sour dark fruits. The last observation points me directly to the old world. Tannins were fine-grained (but ‘square’…rocky soils?) and medium+ intensity. Finish was all sour dark fruits lifted along with the tannins.

PS – I visited this estate in early July. The picture on the label is what it actually looks like there. No kidding. Well, except when you’re actually there it’s in color.

Observations

The old world version stood out immediate with its sour dark fruit profile. In a blind situation, I would have probably questioned the alcohol as a marker, but we’re talking about the Southern Rhône here. It was also the least extracted of the bunch.

Then again, going back to my first point above, perhaps if I actually found a Châteauneuf-du-Pape instead of the Gigondas, would my results have been different? Châteauneuf-du-Pape can be pretty ripe too.

The riper fruit profiles of the last two clearly landed me in the new world. I’m not entirely sure that the luxuriously velvet tannins of the Massena would have helped me to get to Australia (note to self: time to do a Grenache varietal focus). Nor did the lower alcohol in the Bonny Doon tell me that it was from California. The Bonny Doon spoke mostly about its cepage (being higher in Syrah…and I believe that Grenache is generally higher in alcohol than Syrah, so being higher in Syrah helped to lead to lower alcohol).

Another damn tasting where I’m not sure I gained much. It might be the design. And it might be the end user. Hhhmmm…

Varietal focus: Riesling

Set up
Hooray for Riesling! And looking at past examination, there’s an extremely good chance that it will show up again soon! I’ve tried to pull dry examples today – two from the old world and two from the new world.

The Wines
* Leitz ‘Eins Zwei Dry’ Riesling Trocken 2008 (Rheingau) $15, 12% abv
* Domaine Mittnacht ‘Les Fossiles’ Riesling 2009 (Alsace) $20, 13.5% abv
* A to Z Riesling 2007 (Oregon) $15, 12.5% abv
* Hay Maker Riesling 2009 (Waipara) $10, 12.5% abv


The Leitz had a noticeable CO2 prickle on the palate, which led me to think it was a new world wine using CO2 to heighten acidity. This was also the most dry of the bunch. The CO2 and dryness were my clues to support that it was new world, Oregon. Wrong! The flavors were some of the least intense in the bunch, which should have been my clue to this wine coming from the coolest climate. There was also a yeasty creaminess about the wine… I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that.


Mittnacht was easier to pick to me. Its appearance was a touch more intense than the other three, something I have seen before in Alsatian wines. It was off-dry, but barely so. Smoky on the nose, and then the palate was focused and medium intensity of lime, sour apples, and sour pears. The more extracted appearance, the sour nature of the flavors, the intensity and focus of those flavors lead me straight to old world, Alsace.



The A to Z was strongly petrol on the nose (and turned out to be the oldest wine in the flight at four years). This wine had the highest perceived RS in the flight, and was also the lightest in body. I focused on those two bits of data to conclude old world, Germany. What I chose to ignore was the fruit basket that appeared on the palate. My notes said lime, apple, pear, strawberry, tropical (?). Cool climates don’t usually do that, duh.



Finally, the Hay Maker was petrol and pears and spicy on the nose. Just having a basket of aromas on the nose got me thinking new world. The palate again, lots of juicy fruits to choose from propped up with a backbone of acidity. The fruits were not precise, but lovely, and that also led me to new world, New Zealand. Tech sheet: 24g/l RS.


Observations
Colors, with the exception of the Mittnacht were similar, and that turned into a valuable clue. Aromatics overall were not as important clues as were the palates: dry, off-dry, and by how much? Intensity of flavors. Muddled or precise. Those were the most helpful to get me to new world or old world. All of the wines had similar medium- to high-acidity and medium alcohol. The wines were similar in body as well, but I misread the CO2 in the German wine.

I also learned I should really look for the teach sheets before I conduct the tasting. It’s annoying not having the information right here to help guide what I’m trying to learn.

So overall, two right, two wrong. I’ll take it.