Ian Hoare wrote:

> While I'd agree with you about 95% of the Aligotés I've drunk, a
> really good grower can succeed in making the wine delightful, I feel.
> I don't know the Lafarge - it probably all crosses the the pond! My
> current favourite is from François Mikulski, but I've had others that
> were also very good.
>
> They aren't going to compare with Meursault-Genevrières,. but at €6
> instead f €36, it would be naive to expect them to.

I've heard this from a number of defenders of the grape. To date, I've
had the Aligoté from M. de Villaine's Bouzeron and DeMoor. I've also
heard that perhaps young Aligoté needs some oxygenation (carafé, if you
will) to show well. I think, that at this point, I'll let some
interested party try to convince me with an example that they like.

>
> In passing - and because you mentioned oxidative wines, we had a
> winemaker friend for a meal a couple of days ago, and because it is
> always fun to find wines they don't know, I pulled a couple of real
> left field Bergerac (I don't think either are AOC, being too way out)
> for him. One is a dry white VdP du Périgord from Bruno Bilancini at Ch
> Tirecul la Gravière. This is made from almost pure Muscadelle, and is
> a dry whilte made from the grapes that didn't get noble rot. It's
> almost got the mouthfeel of a dry Oloroso. Hints of walnut and
> hazelnit remind me of a Chardonnay from the Jura, but the fruit is
> quite different. With over ripe grapes, it's never going to have much
> acidity of course, but is mineral and with plenty of fruit. We served
> it with a chicken liver pté, (very concentrated flavours) and it
> stood up well.
>
> The other wine is even more way out. The wine is "Jour des Tendres" (a
> play on words suggested by Jacquie) from Ch Tour des Gendres. It's a
> saignée method rosé, taken from the vats which go to make their top
> red wine. What sets it apart is 4-5 years in barrel. Yes, it's got a
> lot of wood, but no, it's far from being an oak soup. Because the must
> is so powerful, even when drawn while still pink, the oak really does
> integrate. Served with porks chops baked in foil with a wild mushroom
> duxelles and creme fraiche, it stood up to the dish very well indeed.
>
> Finished with little sticky toffee puddings and a Blandy's Bual -
> completely flummoxing Stéphane, who thought he knew Madeira wines.
>
> Great fun was had.

Fun, indeed, Ian! That dry Muscadelle would have been a fascinating
wine to try. Recently, on the "interesting and maybe even enjoyable"
front, I shared a '97 Grüner Veltliner Federspiel from Nikolaihof and a
'94 Tyrell's Vat 1 Semillon with a fellow winegeek in Southern
California. Both wines were still alive, with the Semillon showing no
signs of fading over the course of a 3 hour lunch.

Mark Lipton


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