Traveling the Loire with a White Steed from Lessona

A spur of the moment invite a few nights ago triggered this latest installment of “Notes from a Sunday" (aka "Wine with Bill"). While my always gracious host cooked up a salubrious repast of pan-seared loin of pork, rigatoni Bolognese and, yes, even some vegetables, I got to work on opening a few bottles for the evening’s tasting. The focus, once again, was on the Loire but I’d brought along an interesting tie-in, an interloper from Italy. Before we get to that though, a little bubbly as an aperitif….

Saumur Brut Rosé, Domaine du Vieux Pressoir NV
This was pure, simple pleasure in a glass. Boisterously pink at the core and paler at the edges. Coarse mousse and a nose like red berry zinger tea. Juicy strawberry and raspberry fruit led off, followed by a nuance of fresh herbs and a fuzzy raspberry finish. Refreshingly dry yet round and generous in feel. 100% Cabernet Franc, produced from a single year’s fruit (though not vintage dated) using the Méthode Traditionnelle. Malolactic fermentation is inhibited in the base wine to retain crispness and freshness. $18. 13% alcohol. Natural cork. Importer: VOS Selections, New York, NY.


Cheverny Rouge, Clos du Tue-Boeuf 2007
Clos du Tue-Boeuf is the family estate of Thierry Puzelat and his older brother Jean-Marie. Their Cheverny rouge, as the young AOC rules of Cheverny dictate, is a blend of Gamay and Pinot Noir. Beautiful color: bright, translucent and ever so slightly cloudy. Chalky on the palate, there’s an immediate impression of raspberry bubble gum, but then there’s texture and surprising length given the wine’s initial appearances of simplicity.

The Gamay seems to assert its personality much more strongly than does the Pinot Noir. This lacks the wildness that many of Puzelat’s wines are known for but it’s no less tasty. Raspberry parfait gives way to a savory, porky nuance and a noticeably saline quality. Crisp and fresh. A lean acid profile provides a ridge right down the middle of the palate and then that texture kicks in with a scrubbing, rugged vitality. If anyone knows the story behind the psychedelic flying cow that adorns the label, I’d love to hear it. $17. 11% alcohol. Synthetic stopper (Nomacorc). Importer: Louis/Dressner, New York, NY.

Vino da Tavola “’L Franc Bandit,” Proprietà Sperino 2004
This was the oddball of the evening in more ways than one. Like the bubbly with which we started, this is varietal Cabernet Franc. It’s also not vintage dated. Yet in this case that’s a requirement of the governing bodies of the Italian wine world in this part of Piedmont, not a decision made by the producer. The wine comes from Paolo de Marchi’s new property in Lessona, a small viticultural zone in the northeastern corner of Piedmont known for its Nebbiolo based wines. Cabernet Franc is allowed in small percentages in the broader neighboring Coste della Sesia DOC but the local regulations do not allow for wines made purely from Cabernet Franc. So de Marchi’s labeling includes a clever workaround, “Lotto CF04,” which is shorthand for Lot Cabernet Franc 2004.


The rest of the cleverness on the label, I can only assume, would seem to be de Marchi’s tongue in cheek expression of frustration with the authorities who essentially have forced him to declassify the wine to the lowly Vino da Tavola category. The graffiti on the label translates something like this:

“…cross the Alps, elegant white steed, to and fro, etc. ... noble roots, silently, solitary thief, and a bunch of other things, if only they came to mind. All right then, maybe even enough, nay rather, no: he took a liking he did to these ancient sands, what noble nature, and them, him, bla bla bla ... only to arrive at a label. Vigorous, intense, sanguine, o free bandit! There you have it."

We have at least a double entendre: franco means both free (in the sense of speaking freely or frankly) and Franc/k in Italian but is clearly a reference to the vine involved and its country of origin. That reference is brought more clearly into the wine world with the image of a white steed (Cheval Blanc…) crossing the Alps, of Cabernet Franc, an unwanted bandit, leaving its home in France and infiltrating the Piedmont vineyards. Also wrapped up in there somewhere appears to be a clear statement from de Marchi that he saw the potential for Cabernet Franc to thrive in the terroir of Lessona and chose to explore it, wine bureaucrats be damned.

But what about the wine? True to just about all of Paolo’s wines, both at his Tuscan estate Isole e Olena and here at Proprietà Sperino in Lessona, this has a transparent richness and truly elegant feel and balance. Chocolate, cool earth, cassis, tobacco and stewed plums interlace on the palate. It’s medium-bodied and soft, with extremely supple tannins. There’s also a forward yet perfectly integrated oak influence, sweet and clean, that elevates the wine’s fruit without burying it in costume dress and pancake makeup. There’s just barely a touch of alcoholic heat; otherwise, this is seamless. I can’t say it screams of Lessona typicity. But then, what is the local typicity for Cabernet Franc? ‘L Franc Bandit would seem to be de Marchi’s first answer – 2004 is the first vintage – to that question. The downside? It’s an expensive answer. $60. 13.5% alcohol. Natural cork. Importer: Petit Pois, Moorestown, NJ.


Coteaux du Layon, Château Soucherie (Pierre-Yves Tijou & Fils) 2005
This, the basic Coteaux du Layon from Pierre-Yves Tijou, is consistently one of the best values in sweet Angevin Chenin Blanc, year in and year out. Still under $20, it’s a bottle that can be enjoyed today or socked away in a cool wine cellar for another 20 years. Medium-sweet, it veers only modestly into Layon’s sometime tropical fruit character. Instead, there’s lemon oil, orange creamsicle, persimmon, peach blossom and peach butter. Underneath it all is a core of stoniness that, along with medium acidity, lends balance. In spite of only medium sweetness, there’s an intense confectionery element to the wine’s palate attack. A great pairing with local Loire goat’s cheese, this would also be lovely with just about any type of pâté or rillette. $19. 12.5% alcohol. Natural cork. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchants, New York, NY.

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Notes from a Sunday

This past Sunday was to have been a night out with friends for dinner in Philly. When crossed signals decreased our group by one, the rest forged ahead. We ran into a road block, though, when we realized that Sunday was the opening night of Philadelphia Restaurant Week (which ends today, by the way). Fixed price specials at spots all over town, along with a promotional media blitz, seemed to have brought the hungry out of the woodwork. Spur of the moment reservations were simply not to be had.

Rather than resulting in frustration and frowns, our thwarted plans simply made for a lovely alternative: dinner at home with friends and a few bottles of wine to try. While my hosts seasoned a rack of pork, cleaned and sliced potatoes for the roasting pan, and prepped some broccoli rabe to be sautéed, I uncorked a couple of whites.


Savennières “Clos du Papillon,” Domaine du Closel 2001
I’m a Savennières lover. There’s a bunch in my cellar and I wish there were room and budget for more. After trying the 2000 “Clos des Perrieres” from Château Soucherie earlier in the week, I was keen for more. The “Perrieres” was intriguing but left some questions in its wake; it was showing depth and layered flavors but also a significant level of oxidation. Maybe it was just a less than pristine bottle. Or perhaps it was just the wine, as I’ve seen other Loire Chenins suggest oxidation at mid-life and then somehow recover with more time in the bottle.

In any event, Closel’s 2001 “Clos du Papillon” was showing beautifully. We drank it as an aperitif – I’d love to have tried it with some oysters or scallops – and it showed loads of feminine grace. At first, it was extremely subtle, almost completely shut down on the nose. Very soft, round textures greeted the mouth, like letting a perfectly polished river rock roll about on your tongue. No oxidative tones here. It was still showing structural youth. Peach butter, lime minerality, toasted marshmallows and a little mango all came to mind. Soft but balanced acidity carried through to a persistent finish. A touch of heat emerged as the wine warmed in the glass but hardly enough to diminish its pleasures.
$23. 13.5% alcohol. Natural cork closure. Importer: Louis-Dressner, New York, NY.

Mâcon Solutré Pouilly, Domaine de la Chapelle 2006
The least elevated of the whites of Pascal and Catherine Rollet, the rest of which hail from Pouilly-Fuissé, this is a strong value in unoaked white Burg. With loads of clean pear fruit right up front, it smells like classic Mâconnais Chardonnay. Fresh, lively acidity gives a crunchy, toothsome mouthfeel that marries well with the wine’s interplay between sweet and tart apple fruit. Mint, tarragon and a touch of chalkiness emerge with aeration. At just over $15, I’d be happy to give this a spot in my regular rotation.
$16. 13.5% alcohol. Natural cork closure. Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA.

Marsannay “Les Longeroies,” Domaine Bruno Clair 2004
As this had been opened the day before, it was more of a taste for the purpose of satisfying curiosity than it was a drinker for dinner. Pale and bright in the glass. Sour wild cherry fruit, lean and green on the palate. Skin-driven astringency, high acidity and a vegetal mid-to-rear palate all suggested unripe fruit. Interesting from an academic perspective but not something I’ll go looking to buy, particularly at the $40ish price point.
$40. 13% alcohol. Natural cork closure. Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL.

With the pork roast and potatoes about to come out of the oven, we moved on to extracting corks from a couple of suitable reds.

Bourgogne, Bernard Dugat-Py 1999
As the condition of the label in the photo suggests, this bottle had come in and out of my cellar on more than one occasion. For whatever reason, I’d always been talked out of opening it. At around $25 on release, it wasn’t the price barrier but rather the hard to find nature of Dugat-Py’s Burgundies that had always made dining companions uncomfortable with its presence. On this night, I was committed to shrugging off any such objections.

As it turned out, the bottle’s previous return visits to the cellar had been propitious as this was showing very well at eight years of age. Deep garnet red in color, going just limpid around the edge of the glass. Plenty of chewy tannins suggest further aging potential but the medium-bodied, clove inflected, brambly black cherry fruit was hard to resist now. Beautifully aromatic, with spice, earth and black fruits galore. A solid pairing with the roast pork and taters.
$25 on release. 12.5% alcohol. Natural cork closure. Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA.

Lessona, Aziende Agricole Sella 2001
Little known Lessona is nestled in the northeastern corner of Piedmont alongside Ghemme and Gattinara. The Nebbiolo-based wines grown here bear more in common with the wines of Valtellina, to the east in Lombardy, than with Barolo and Barbaresco, Piedmont’s more famous Nebbiolo zones. Sella’s Lessona makes for a worthy introduction to the typicity of wines from this high altitude, semi-mountainous growing region. Brisk acidity and sinewy structure combine with aromas and flavors of tar, raspberries, red licorice and stony minerality. Also a solid pairing with the evening’s meal. I’d like to see this come in closer to the $20 price point but it’s certainly compelling enough to make me want to try the estate’s other cuvées.
$27. 13% alcohol. Natural cork closure. Importer: Selected Estates of Europe, Mamaroneck, NY.

“Aurore d’Automne,” Domaine de Bellivière 2005
The wacky wine of the night for sure, “Aurore d’Automne” is also an intriguingly delicious sticky rosé from Le Loir, made from a blend of partially botrytized and partially dried Pineau d’Aunis and Grolleau. This was pulled out of the cellar primarily for something to check out and sip after dinner although it did acquit itself admirably with our simple dessert of chocolate/hazelnut gelato. The color of a new penny, with a nose that hit me right off with a whiff of curing tobacco. There was a barn used for exactly that purpose not far from where I grew up, so it’s one of those strong aroma memories left over from my childhood. Not far behind the tobacco came aromas of Douglass fir and red fruit confit. Sweetness is obvious but well balanced by firm acidity. Resin, sherry-like characteristics and rosemary all emerge as the wine develops, along with more delicate flavors of orange oil and rosewater. Even the napkin I used to wipe up a few drops lost to the table top smelled awfully good.
$48 (500ml). 11% alcohol. Natural cork closure. Importer: Louis-Dressner, New York, NY.

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