Pick of the week
Domaine Huet Brut Vouvray 1999 ($25.95, product No. 037002). On the nose, it has a pronounced stone and mineral character as well as a nice floral lift. On the palate, it hints at orange and honey flavours, but the overall impression is dry. Vintages
In last week's column I made reference to the popular sport, among wine aficionados, of sauvignon blanc bashing. Some see the grape as a chardonnay wannabe, with a reach exceeding its grasp.
I'm not sure I agree, but if sauvignon blanc has an opposite number, it's chenin blanc, the overachiever of white grapes.
Poor old chenin blanc is below just about everybody's radar yet produces some of the world's most spellbinding and cellar-worthy white wines.
Coincidentally, it also reaches its greatest expression in the appellations of Savennières and Vouvray in the Loire Valley, not far from Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, the two French districts that most excel at sauvignon blanc.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Vouvray - which is made from 100 per cent chenin blanc - was one of the most popular premium French wines in North America.
Like Sancerre, it was both elegant-sounding and easy to pronounce. It also probably helped Vouvray's cause in those early, sugar-and-bubble-craving wine years that it came in a variety of styles, including sweet and sparkling, as well as dry.
I recall a few years ago an American-sounding woman sitting next to me in Willi's Wine Bar in Paris selecting a glass of Vouvray from the chalkboard list, enthusing to the waiter that Vouvray was among her preferred wines. After a sip, she quietly expressed disapproval to her male companion, saying she'd expected it to be dry.
Tastes change and now almost everyone prefers dry wine to sweet, regardless of occasion. Perhaps that's one reason Vouvray and chenin blanc in general have declined in popularity. Another reason, I'll bet, is high acidity.
In the past, North Americans generally confined their wine drinking to the dinner table, where a crisp, mouth-cleansing finish is usually a welcome quality.
Today, a lot of us treat wine like a cocktail and judge it in the absence of food, so we tend to favour smoother, softer wines.
There's a good chenin blanc released in limited supplies last week in Ontario that will enable you to step back in time in more ways than one. Not only is it an old-school Vouvray; it's also got almost eight years of cellar age behind it, so you can taste how handsomely a good white wine can evolve. And have no fear, this one is very dry.
Domaine Huet Brut Vouvray 1999 ($25.95, product No. 037002) comes from one of the Vouvray district's most respected producers, now run by the son-in-law of the late Gaston Huet, who adheres to environmentally friendly biodynamic farming practices.
This is one of those proud sparkling wines that's not trying to imitate the fruity-yeasty flavours of champagne. On the nose, it has a pronounced stone and mineral character as well as a nice floral lift.
On the palate, it seems at first to promise sweetness, hinting at orange and honey flavours, but the overall impression is dry, thanks to zesty acidity and a lively mousse.
If I had to draw a picture of the flavour, I'd sketch orange blossoms amid slate rocks connected by wire to a nine-volt battery.
Chenin blanc is grown in many parts of the world, most notably South Africa, where it also goes by the name steen.
A few Canadian wineries are experimenting with it, too, and a good Niagara example is Reif Estate Chenin Blanc 2006 ($19.15), which took home a gold medal at the Ontario Wine Awards. Light, medium-bodied with good flesh and ripeness, it hints at honeyed melon and tangerine and finishes crisp. A nice match for Asian food. (Visit http://www.cancart.net/reifwinerystore.com.)
What follows are a few selections from the Ontario Vintages release which I didn't have the room to mention last week.
Sandrone Dolcetto d'Alba 2005 ($20.95, No. 026245) is a rich example of the normally lighter and brighter dolcetto grape, sometimes referred to as the Beaujolais of Italy.
Luciano Sandrone, a Pied-mont producer better known for Barolos, has turned out a concentrated style that is crisp and agile enough to match nicely with grilled fish.
From a Chianti producer that rarely disappoints, consider Fonterutoli Chianti Classico 2005 ($27.95, No. 977629). This 2005 vintage may be a tad lighter than usual, but it shows good flavour concentration and succulent cherry-like fruit, with excellent balance and that classic, sangiovese quality of saltiness on the finish.
And if you're a fan of organic wine and Indian food, don't miss Vinecol Torrontés 2006 from Argentina ($13.95, No. 032748). The dominant flavour here, as with most torrontés-based wines, is of white table grapes, not unlike Muscat. Pair this dry white with Indian spices and you've got a winner.
It's medium-bodied, dry, very fruity and almost oily in texture, with hints of honeydew and spice and just a hint of heat from its 13 per cent alcohol.
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