Merrimack Valley Magazine

Our wine journey began at a Shaw’s supermarket in 2006. The store was offering a promotion: Buy five bottles and get the sixth one free. It didn’t take long before my wife and I migrated to the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlet, which had a much larger selection. Knowing nothing about wine, choosing what to buy there was difficult at first. Fortunately, the very knowledgeable Joe “The Wine Guy” Comforti (the current wine director at Tuscan Kitchen) worked at the Salem, N.H., store on Saturdays. He suggested that we try a bottle of Chateau La Nerthe’s Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

All we knew about this wine was that it was French and cost $30 a bottle. We figured it had to be good.

My wife and I enjoyed that wine so much that we returned the next day and bought a case. The wooden crate that it came in has remained a treasured souvenir all these years, marking the beginning of a wine collection that currently numbers more than 250 bottles.

Chateauneuf-du-Pape or “The Pope’s New Castle,” is a designated wine region (AOC) in the Rhone Valley of southern France. The region is about 8.5 miles long and 5 miles wide, encompassing several villages and communes. Its name was derived from the historical fact that beginning in 1309, Pope Clement V and eight subsequent popes called Avignon their home.

Fifteen different grape varieties are allowed by law to be blended into Chateauneuf-du-Pape wines, but 75 percent of the grapes grown in the region are grenache. Most wines made there are a blend of grenache, mourvedre and syrah. The other allowed varieties are blended by winemakers to taste, much like a chef would blend spices into his or her creations.

Wines from the region tend to be a bit high in alcohol — very bold, earthy and chewy. There are plenty of fruit flavors, but you can also expect a floral nose along with flavors of smoke, coffee, leather, garrigue (wild scrub herbs) and sometimes barnyard. All of these attributes are the result of the terroir. The soil there is loaded with rocks, sand, limestone and clay, making it unsuitable for most crops but fantastic for wine grapes.

It’s not uncommon for garrigue to be growing among the vines. The barnyard notes are the result of a naturally occurring yeast called Brettanomyces, “Brett” for short. Many winemakers eliminate this yeast, but others embrace it as part of the flavor profile expected from the region. Brett can give off an odor when a bottle is first opened, so when serving Chateauneuf-du-Pape, always decant for one to two hours.

During a recent visit to Lucia’s Bodega in Windham, N.H., I spied a bottle of 2015 Chateau La Nerthe. The last vintage we had was 2003, and I was hoping we would enjoy the same magic in this one. We experienced the expected complex fruit flavors from this blend of 50 percent grenache, 25 percent syrah, 20 percent mourvedre and 5 percent cinsault.

Chateau La Nerthe is one of the oldest and largest vineyards in the region, but, as is the case in many other regions, some of the best wines come from smaller producers.

I visited Andrea Comeau, beverage catering manager at Andover Classic Wines in Andover and was directed to Domaine Roger Perrin Reserve des Vieilles Vignes Chateauneuf-du-Pape. This winery was established in 1969 and has only 37 acres of vineyards, compared with La Nerthe, which was established as early as 1560 (the historical record is uncertain) and has about 220 acres. Roger Perrin blends 76 percent grenache, 12 percent syrah, 7 percent mourvedre, 3 percent cinsault, 2 percent clairette, 2 percent counoise and 2 percent vaccarese to create a delicious fruit-forward blend with notes of freshly picked sweet berries and a touch of earthiness. At $56, you would expect something special, and you won’t be disappointed.

I also made my way to the Wine Connextion in North Andover, where I found one of their employee picks: Crous St. Martin Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Established in 1879, this winery cultivates 120 acres of vineyards. The wine turned out to be a bargain at $30 a bottle. Along with the bold fruity and earthy tones, there was a floral component to this wine that I really enjoyed.

One thing to look for when buying these wines is the embossed papal crest on each bottle. This crest guarantees authenticity, strict production criteria and, since 1979, a taste test. Wines that do not meet the taster’s standards are refused the right to be labeled for the appellation.

During the upcoming holiday season, consider gifting a bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape to someone special; 2015 was a great vintage, and 2016 is reported to be even better. It’s always at the top of our wish list.

Salute!

Andover Classic Wines
Andover, Mass.
(978) 470-0500
AndoverClassicWines.com

Lucia’s Bodega
Windham, N.H.
(603) 421-9463
LuciasBodega.com

Wine Connextion
North Andover, Mass.
(877) 469-5025
WineConnextion.com

Learning to enjoy fine wine is a journey, and everyone begins at a different place. Mine began when I was 18 (that was the legal drinking age at the time). I recall bellying up to the bar and ordering a Chablis. The bartender promptly grabbed the big silver gun, pushed the “c” button and poured a glass of white something that I didn’t care for too much. I moved on to other options.

In a wine store several years later I spotted the word “Chablis” on a fancy bottle, along with a bunch of words in French that I didn’t understand. Surely this wasn’t the same liquid that flowed from the gun. It seemed expensive, but curiosity got the best of me and I spent the money. After chilling the bottle at home, I realized that this was the best wine I’d ever had, and wondered how the same word, Chablis, could be used to describe what had come out of both the gun and the bottle.

Chablis is a town in France, and the area around it is a government-certified “appellation d’origine contrôlée” (AOC) where they primarily grow chardonnay grapes for winemaking. Chablis is one of the northernmost towns in France where wine grapes are cultivated, and is considered to have a rather cool climate for this purpose. The cool weather prohibits the grapes from reaching their full sugar potential, and resulting wines tend to have a higher acidity. Winemakers struggle each season to let the grapes ripen before the frost arrives. Some years they’ll even spray water on the vines and use fire pots to keep the vineyards warm.

The soil in the Chablis region is a gray colored limestone that imparts a “minerality” to the wine that some people describe as slate or gunflint. These mineral flavors give Chablis its most unique characteristics. The best wine from Chablis comes from one southwest-facing hillside that is divided into seven different “climats,” in this case plots rich in limestone soil.
The wine from these seven climats is referred to as Chablis Grand Cru and represents only 3 percent of the total wine production of the AOC. All of the fame this premier region enjoys comes from one 247-acre hillside.

I went on a mission to find some of the wine I was so fond of many years ago, but what I really found was that Chablis isn’t very popular. Most stores had a limited selection, if they had any. One store owner found a single bottle that had been on his shelf a little too long and convinced me to take it off his hands at half price so he could make room for something that sells better. Some large U.S. winemakers have for years used famous French AOC names such as “Chablis,” “Champagne” and “Burgundy” to label generic low quality wines. This has caused great confusion among consumers and degraded the popularity of these premium French wines. I persisted and eventually brought home six of the best bottles of Chablis I could find. Prices ranged from $20 to $48. The most expensive was a “Premier Cru,” which is the second best wine from Chablis. It was good, but since I’m not a big fan of white wines, I needed something truly exceptional to light my fire. I had to find a Grand Cru to taste, and no one in the area carried even a bottle.

Then one day I had business to conduct in Boston, so I asked a friend who works for a large wine distributer where I could find a Grand Cru. He directed me to Charles Street Liquors. It was a difficult location, with no parking except for the valet across the street. So, in Bostonian fashion I simply parked illegally. I have to say, the trip was worth the trouble. The owner introduced me to Nick, his wine director, who was extremely knowledgeable. Still, they had only one Chablis Grand Cru, a 2012 Jean-Paul & Benoît Droin from the climat of Valmur. Nick insisted it was a great buy at $67, since most Grand Cru Chablis generally costs $75-plus. I finally found what I was looking for. This wine had great minerality and structure. It had a nice, crisp acid lift that complemented the cheese and crackers that accompanied our tasting.

This summer, while you are enjoying lobsters and steamers, I suggest that you try a good bottle of French Chablis, perhaps a Premier Cru. If you want to be impressed in this wine category, you have to pay to play, and pass on the big gallon jug that says “Chablis,” because it isn’t. Salute.

Charles Street Liquors
Boston, Mass.
(617) 523-5051
CharlesStLiquors.com

Chateauneuf-du-Pape

Wine Notes – Chablis

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