WOW... 7 years already, with two yeras of which in barrels and five years in bottles. That’s reasonably old, as compared to our usual wine drinking behavior (WINE ENTHUSIAST revealed in 2012 that more than 90% of wine was consumed within 48 hours of purchase, regardless to origin and quality…). But it seems this is still young for this wine from CAHORS (mainly made of MALBEC grapes).

Very intense, it exhales aromas of cherry, tar and toasted hazelnuts, or cherries in syrup, with prunes and smoked bacon, chocolate and caramel… if you prefer. Powerful, its opulence kisses my tongue and is gently caressing the palate. The overall impression though remains tagged by a superbe and delicate acidity, to which the Verhaeghe brothers seem to have found the door, the key, and the secret hideaway. Very fine and still youthful tannins and of nice length. An encouragement to taste, to enjoy and to feast... but without being in a rush. You still have time, it’s (almost) as well in your cellar as in your glass.

CARNIVOR SUPPORT : This wine loves duck !
HERBIVORE SUPPORT : Ratatouille with risolle made of milo and oriental spices, Hokkaido pumpkin & boletus risotto…

…this is going to be a classic. Its tannins are already balanced to the immense juicy fruits and dark wood flavors that bring out spiciness. It’s powerful while not over the top, showing elegance at the same time as an opulent texture. Give this gorgeous wine until 2018.

Wine Enthusiast Magazine Novembre 2014

Looking closely at grape varieties you may learn a lot. That’ s what we did with VIOGNIER at the beginning of 2015. The variety almost had disappeared in the sixties (there were barely 8 hectares left in 1965), but nowadays it guarantees for international reputation of the wines of CONDRIEU, with more than 100 hectares of vines planted on steep terraces and slopes of this AOC in the northern Rhone Valley. Thanks to its flavours, this variety has gradually conquered the world. Today it occurs frequently in French Mediterranean vineyards, as well as in CALIFORNIA and in AUSTRALIA. And it may also be found in CAHORS, where Pascal and Jean-Marc Verhaeghe cultivate one hectare of this Rhone varietal (under the label IGP du Lot), simply because they love its taste.

Generally considered as being intensely floral and fruity (and unfortunately often reduced to the scent of “apricot” as a single sign of recognition), it is also said to be fat, large and smooth. Rather appealing as a promise. But this is also where problems may arise: too much fat, too large, too thick... Maturity and balance of both plants and grapes are to be monitored closely. It is therefore not surprising to meet Viognier regularly in blends rather than bottled as a single varietal wine. It’s a great teammate for grapes like white GRENACHE, CLAIRETTE and MARSANNE, but it is also good company with CHARDONNAY or CHENIN, as frequently shown in so called “new world wines”. The latter fromfrom the point of view of the “old world countries” of course.

Personally, I often compared VIOGNIER to MOURVÈDRE. Not in with respect to the taste, but rather on a agricultural level: both are identified as high quality grapes all over the world, but you’d better think twice before planting those varieties on the first available plot. If the vines find their balance with a terroir, the grapes are very good and the wine being made of it can be REALLY GREAT. But if it growths without balance, the power of VIOGNIER and the tannic structure of MOURVÈDRE may cause you problems for decades...

The years best collectable wines

In 2014, just over 17000 wines were reviewed by our editors and, from that total, a mere six percent merited the Cellar Selection designation – a marker for highly rated wines that exhibit the potential to evolve and improve for many years. From this already choice sampling, we colled our Top 100 Cellar Selections of 2014 list – all the must-haves of the year that deserve a spot in your cellar.

Château du Cèdre 2010 Le Cèdre Cahors (N° 49)

This is a great vintage of Le Cèdre. With dark tannins and impressive structure, it is big and fruity while never overwhelming. Dense black fruits, bitter cherries and dark chocolate combine with mineral, juicy acidity. It’s a wine to age for many years, don’t drink before 2018.

November and december are MALO months! No relation at all to the French seaside resort of Saint Malo. The MALO I’m talking about takes place in the cellar, in tanks or in barrels. I’m talking about malolactic fermentation, in France also called FML (fermentation malo-lactique) or just MALO.

MALO ideally begins after the alcoholic fermentation. The latter is carried out by yeasts, which feed on sugar and produce alcohol and a whole bunch of aromas. MALO is done by bacteria (lactic acid bacteria more precisely). Like yeasts, lactic acid bacteria (we will call them LAB here) are a natural part of the wine world (they are just everywhere! In the vineyard, on grapes, in the pumps, on the floor, on the ceiling...). MALO can therefore start spontaneously, without having to intervene. Of course, you can also start it by adding LAB to the wine. LABs favorite food is malic acid. It’s a strong acid, which comes from the grapes. LABs would kill for malic acid and by eating it all, they make it disappear from the wine. More exactly, the malic acid is converted into the much milder lactic acid and some aromas by the LAB metabolism. Wines therefore often taste softer and may have gained aromatic complexity after MALO.

For red wine you make sure that the MALO always takes place. For white or rosé, the decision is not always easy. To obtain balance in those wines, it may sometimes be of advantage to preserve malic acid. In these cases: NO MALO! We block MALO by adding sulfites (which kill the bacteria), through sterile filtration (which take them out), or by low temperature (LABs like temperature above 20°C). Whatever technique is used, the most important is that MALO doesn’t occur after bottling. Because a wine that “does its MALO” (il fait sa Malo) just isn’t very tasty...

Nathalie in the Champagne (sometimes) does MALO on her wines. Even if straight and mineral acidity is primordial to the balance of Champagne, MALO may smoothen the wines in a pleasant manner. And let’s not forget the increased aromatic complexity.
“But often the wines decide themselves, whether they perform MALO or not,” says Natalie. “Wine is a natural product and therefore it does not always come to our doings, how it develops. Vintage, maturity, tanks, barrels… many factors play a role”.

Depending on the blend, Pascal Verhaeghe may prefer to let MALO be done in more or less large oak barrels and tanks.
“This has several advantages: The wines are smoother and softer and the woody character just seems to fit better into the wine”"

I admit it’s a little early to talk about the 2014 vintage. But if you rake around the wineries at this time of the year, tasting some barrels and some tanks, you may set up a slight idea about this vintage’s character. And I can tell you that everything worked out fine, despite the weather was not in the mood in some wine regions. The yeasts did their job transforming all the grapes that were picked into wine. Into good wine in fact…

It was a difficult year in Champagne. Freshness and some rainy periods were favouring the development of mildew, compelling alertness and an increased presence in the vineyards. But the team of Champagne Paul Lebrun seems to have done a great job, as the vineyards were in very good shape when I visited them a couple of days before harvest. The was no problem with waiting for optimum ripeness of the grapes and picking started on September 15^th in the vineyards of Sézanne and Cramant (6 days after official start of harvest in the region). Fully ripe Chardonnay grapes from the prestigious Clos l’Abbé were picked from Saturday September 20^th.

In the Languedoc, the weather gods seemed to be particularly grumpy at the beginning of autumn. Luckily for Pierre Cros, only some of his old Carignan vineyards went through the first wave of heavy rains, while the other grapes were already comfortably fermenting in the cellar. Carignan is a very tough grape variety and the mostly centennial vineyards of Pierre Cros aren’t really impressed by capricious Mediterranean weather. I can already tell some of Pierres 2014-secrets: There are some really EXTRAORDINARY Syrah wines in the cellar, and the old grape varieties he planted in early 2012 (Aramon, Picpoul noir, Ribeyrenc…) have given their first wine…

Same region, same weather at the Domaine de l’Arjolle. It was a tough job to bring the promising harvest before the weather went mad. The entire harvest was carefully sorted and all tanks and barrels fermented without any problems. There is less wine than in other vintages, but what you can pour from the tanks and barrels looks already good. Very good!

Malbec is doing great in Cahors! After a very small harvest in 2013, yields returned to normal this year. And quality is great! That great, that Pascal Verhaeghe told me they fermented several tanks at Château du Cèdre without adding sulphur for the first time this vintage! Good news!

Will Gigondas be the king of the Rhône-Valley this year? After early picking of some Grenache and Syrah vineyards, the time of patience and waiting started. Bad weather threatened, but only light rainfalls made it up to the Dentelles de Montmirail during the ripening period. As a result, there are some knockout Gigondas wines in the cellar, with power, elegance and a multifaceted bouquet. According to Yves Gras, the quality of the vintage comes very close to 2012 and 2013…

This 100% Malbec, perfectly aware of its power of seduction, plays its best cards with a certain kind of nonchalance: An explosive bouquet, a dense and creamy mouth feel, a (very) long final, fresh minerality.

Exuberant fragrances of raspberry and violets, but also marzipan and toasted hazelnuts rapidly capture the entire attention of our olfactory cells, while our taste buds turn somersaults between the velvety mouth feel and the impressive tannin structure. A wine that unleashes passion, expects affection and deserves some subtle cooking (grilled zander with bacon and capers in its youth, slowly cooked venison with sour cherry after a couple of years of cellaring).