A Very Important Addition to the Savoie Portfolio Is Back!
- I Am As Excited About This Producer As I Can Be
- Gringet - Expressive, Ageworthy, Complex - Only Planted in This Part of Savoie
I Love Champagne
- And There Is Terrific Variety within Champagne
- But Other Regions Have Mastered the Champagne Method
- And Prices Are Much Lower
- And Today, We Have Perhaps The Greatest Producer in One of My Favorite Sparkling Wine Regions Outside of Champagne
2020 Domaine Montessuit Gringet Vieilles Vignes "Cuvee Jonquille"
- 70-115 Year Old Vines, Average Age of 93 Years
- Nose: White Flowers and the Smell of a Field after Fresh Rain - Alpine Perfection
- Palate - Juicy, Mineral
- Outrageous Inner Mouth Aromatics
- Finish Is Citrus
- Mountain Meursault
- 100% Gringet
- Amazing Change of Pace Wine - Quality of 1er Cru Burgundy
- But Very Different Flavor Profile
- This Has the Depth and Complexity You Expect from 93 Year Old Vines; It Is a Remarkable Value ($27.99) for a Unique Wine
2015 Ayze Prestige Brut
- Aged for 48 Months Before Bottling
- Nose: Super Complex, Intense, Insane Mountain, Flowers, Mineral Complexity
- Palate: An Incredible Depth to the Complexity
- Sappy, Pure and Super Structured
- Precise and Elegant
- Incredible Depth
- Would be $80+ in Champagne
The Alt-Champagne Arbitrage
Everyone knows Champagne. And you pay dearly for the Champagne brand no matter if you are buying closeout swill or top tier vintage Champagne. The funny thing is that the Champagne of today is not the Champagne of yesteryear. Temperatures in Champagne are what they used to be in Burgundy and temperatures in Savoie are what they used to be in, well Champagne.
The father of the region, Domaine Belluard, took over his estate in 1988 and made Ayze sparkling wine a phenomenon and lifted it from being local innocuous sparkling wine sold to tourists. Now we are finally seeing a generation that is influenced by Belluard. Actually generation may be stretching it as Montessuit is only other producer of Ayze that I know. At Montessuit they have immense admiration and respect for Belluard.
The Magical Gringet
I am so excited to bring in someone else not only explores this wonderful mountain terroir but also
someone who also exclusively focuses on the brilliant ancestral grape of Ayze, the magical Gringet. Since Gringet entered my life through Belluard I have been obsessed with it ever since. In the 1980s 80 hectares were planted in Ayze. Gringet is only planted in Ayze and nowhere else. Then 20 years ago it was down to 50 hectares and today it is only 20 hectares. That is scary small for a grape this wonderful, this expressive and this ageworthy. In fact the grape is so wonderful that Domaine Montessuit only makes still and sparkling wines from Gringet.
The wines are brilliant and my tasting there was just exhilarating. Obviously today's offer will be about Gringet. It's hard to find the ancestry of Gringet but some have said Savagnin and others Altesse, I'd like to think it lies somewhere between the two and like those grapes it has, in the right hands, the power to be extraordinary. With the father of the region, Domaine Belluard, taking over his estate in 1988 he made Ayze sparkling wine a phenomenon and lifted it from being local innocuous sparkling wine sold to tourists. Now we are finally seeing a generation that is influenced by Belluard. Actually generation may be stretching it as Montessuit is only other producer of Ayze that I know. At Montessuit they have immense admiration and respect for Belluard.
The Wines
Up first is the middle dry Gringet and I chose this because it is a stunning wine and also because it is raised in 100% stainless steel. It is also made from very very old vines and is just a ridiculous wine and should be 3-5 times the price.
Today I have the 2020 Domaine Montessuit Gringet Vieilles Vignee "Cuvee Jonquile" for $27.99 a bottle on a 4-Pack. This is a limited cuvee as are the top two still Gringet cuvees. Vines are 70-115 years old with the average age being 93 years old. This is a stupid great wine and a stunning value. I can see this wine being $45 in a few years, a la the Berlioz cuvees.
The nose is stunning and very complex. Pungently mineral but in a distinct alpine mountain way that just screams of the great terroir of Ayze. White flowers and the aroma of a field after fresh rain. Alpine fresh air on the nose. Wild flowers. Super airy and clean. There are faint hints of pear that become more prominent with air.
The palate is to die for. It's super juicy and mineral. So pure and so, so clean. The minerality is remarkable. It's got depth and strength to it that indicates it will age. They opened vintages going back to 2012 of this cuvee and they were right. This has 10/15 years ahead of it. Juicy and elegant with so much finesse and dazzling purity. Really a finesse-driven wine with amazing acidity. The inner mouth aromas are so outrageous and distinctive. Super mountain minerality is so unreal and so persistent. Such a complex finish with terrific structure. Palate is wonderfully elegant and super expressive with major acidity and freshness. This needs air. Structure is dominant the first 15 minutes then it gets more expressive on the palate. Lovely tension on the finish. There is citrus peel on the finish that plays but loses out the incredible mineral depth. The citrus peel is perfectly judged as this is a wine about minerals, structure and depth. It's deep, powerful and concentrated and will age for 5-10 years.
The top cuvee from the domaine is the 2015 Domaine de Montessuit Ayze Prestige Brut for $42.99 a bottle on a 4-pack is that wine. The wine is brilliant and easily in the same level and perhaps better than the "alt champagnes" we have sold to date. This is aged for 48 months before bottling.
The nose is really the star as soon as you stick your nose in the glass or even near the glass. It's super complex, so intense with insane mountain, flowers, and mineral complexity. Gorgeous, herbal, mineral, yeasty, floral aromas leap from the glass. It's just so airy and so mountain like.
The palate is unreal. So complex and dense. Almost an oily texture along with the classic crispness. Very clean and super crisp. So pure. Fruit is mild citrus but this is more about that mountain structure and minerality. So elegant and with a wonderful and focused mousse. Precise and elegant with some roundness and a wonderful mouthfeel. Sappy and dense. This really has it all. There is an incredible depth to the complexity that reminds me of Huet Pettilant and super high end single vineyard Muscadet. Sappy, pure and super structured with top notch refinement. It's hauntingly elegant and the complexity is just insane. Fine fine bubbles and so so vinous. The length is just off the charts. Brilliant. Stunning and super genius wine. Would be $80+ in Champagne.
2020 Familie Montessuit Cuvee Jonquille Vieilles Vignes Ayze (Gringet) - $29.99 (111.96 4-Pack)
2015 Familie Montessuit Ayze Cuvee Prestige Brut (Gringet)- $44.99 - ($171.96 4-Pack)
No comments:
Post a Comment