Qupe - St. Maria - California

Qupe Wine Cellars - St. Maria - California

Qupé Wine Cellars is located on the Bien Nacido Vineyard in Santa Maria, California. Qupé shares a production facility with Jim Clendenen from Au Bon Climat, and together they have a production and sales support staff. Jim Adelman is the General Manager and also shares winemaking duties. Once a year, during harvest, visiting winemakers and wine professionals with various backgrounds (many from different states and countries) in the wine business come to work with Bob and Jim at the winery to share techniques and ideas.Focusing on fruit grown in the Central Coast Appellation of California, Qupé produces Rhone varietals and Chardonnay. A majority of Qupé’s wines (about 50%) are made from grapes grown on the Bien Nacido Vineyard, where the Syrah and Chardonnay are planted and grown to Bob’s specifications. In addition to Bien Nacido, Qupé also farms (using organic practices) a 14 acre vineyard in Los Olivos called “Ibarra-Young Vineyard.” The balance of the Qupé wines are made from grapes grown at various vineyards in the Central Coast appellation of California. Bob and his wife Louisa have recently purchased an 80 acre vineyard site in the Edna Valley which they began planting in the spring of 2005. This vineyard will be developed and farmed under the rigorous principles of Biodynamic Farming.

The Los Angeles Dodger’s 1965 World Series win galvanized young Robert Neil Lindquist’s status as a “die-hard fan.” At the same time, the sixties music scene was another electrifying force in his life. Both these passions continue to share a spot in Bob’s life with a third, the wines of Qupé.
In 1975, after working harvest at his first winery job, Bob discovered the potential of Santa Barbara’s winegrowing region at his next job, opening and managing a tasting room in Ventura County. While managing a retail shop in Los Olivos, Bob’s career took what some thought to be a bad hop. He got fired for attending a Kinks concert against the wishes of the shop owner, but fate intervened and he was immediately hired as Zaca Mesa Winery’s first tour guide—a job that included cellar work. There he met winemakers Ken Brown and Jim Clendenen who taught Bob the basics and inspired him to become a winemaker which he did by founding Qupé in 1982.
While continuing his work at Zaca Mesa he bought barrels, grapes and traded his services for the loan of the equipment in the cellar. For his first vintage he produced Syrah, Chardonnay, and a rosé of Pinot Noir. Soon, Bob’s love of the assertive and complex wines of the Rhône Valley led him to focus Qupé on the production of Rhône varietals, particularly Syrah. Chardonnay continues in the portfolio because of Bob’s connection to the wonderful fruit sources in the Bien Nacido Vineyard.
In 1989, Bob joined forces with his mentor and friend, Jim Clendenen, of Au Bon Climat, together building a shared winery in the Bien Nacido Vineyard.
Bob is also involved in Verdad, a winery dedicated to Spanish grape varieties produced by his wife, Louisa.
Bob has three sons and a daughter. He, Louisa, and son Theodore live in San Luis Obispo while they are developing their new vineyard in Edna Valley, which includes a future home site.

2005 MARSANNE “SANTA YNEZ VALLEY”

This wine is 84% Marsanne and 16% Roussanne from the following vineyards: 76% Marsanne from the Ibarra-Young Vineyard in Los Olivos (Santa Ynez Valley), 8% Marsanne from the Rozet Vineyards in Templeton (Paso Robles), 10% Roussanne from the Stolpman Vineyard near Los Olivos, and 6% Roussanne from the Bien Nacido Vineyard (Santa Maria Valley).
Marsanne has finally taken off for us, sales wise, and in 2002, 2003 & 2004 the crop at Ibarra-Young was frustratingly small because of vigor problems and unlucky weather during flowering and set. I started looking around for alternative sources to buy a little extra Marsanne, but there just isn’t a lot planted in the Central Coast… and those who have it now want it! In ’05 I was able to source a little bit of fruit through Mat Garretson from the wonderful Rozet Vineyard in the Templeton Gap area of Paso Robles. I also added 4 barrels of Roussanne from our Hillside Estate block at Bien Nacido. These extra components gave us one of our best and most complex Marsanne to date.
All of the lots were harvested, fermented and aged separately. Production techniques were basically the same for all lots – whole cluster pressed; chilled and settled for 24-48 hours; barrel fermented in older French oak barrels (the Bien Nacido Roussanne was in one year old barrels); allowed to go through malo. The lots were aged on the lees for 5 months before blending and bottling. 1352 cases of 750 ml and 200 cases of 375 ml were bottled in March 2006.
This vintage certainly stands up with our best vintages of Marsanne, like 1991, 1994, 1999, and 2001. It’s a tad bigger and richer than those wines with the inclusion of the Rozet and Bien Nacido fruit, without giving up the basic character of the core component from Ibarra-Young. The wine shows that “wet stone” minerality with hints of peach pit, orange rind and almonds. In the mouth, the wine has significant weight but is balanced by the acidity and relatively low alcohol (13.2%).

2005 BIEN NACIDO CUVÉE

This wine is 50% and 50% Viognier. The chardonnay comes from our first pick at Bien Nacido – Y Block. Most of the viognier is from Bien Nacido, with a small percentage of viognier coming from the Vogelzang vineyard in Santa Ynez. We pick the viognier ultra-ripe (around 26° brix), which on its own would be too heavy and cloying. At that ripeness however, the viognier aromatics are amazing. We blend it with chardonnay that was picked, in the case, at 22° brix, which reigns in the alcohol (13.8% here) and gives the wine structure and acidity.The various lots were harvested, fermented and aged separately. The grapes were whole cluster pressed, the juice chilled and settled overnight, fermented and aged in neutral French oak barrels for 5 month and allowed to go through malo. 2734 cases were bottled in March 2006.This wine is pure pleasure. I don’t think of it in terms of this vintage being better than that vintage, and I don’t age it. Sure, I keep some in the library for fun – but the point of this wine is freshness and youthful exuberance. It you buy a few bottles, put them right in the refrigerator – they will disappear quickly! If you buy a case, drink it up before next spring when we release the next vintage.

2005 VIOGNIER “IBARRA-YOUNG VINEYARD”

This wine is 100% Viognier from the Ibarra-Young Vineyard in Los Olivos. This is a vineyard that we’ve leased since 1986 and have been farming it organically since 1999. This is our 17th consecutive bottling of this remarkable wine, stretching back to 1989. The clonal material has been around long enough that it’s referred to as the “Ibarra-Young Clone” and has been planted at a number of Central Coast vineyards including Bien Nacido and Zaca Mesa.
We only have 1.25 acres of viognier at Ibarra-Young, which normally give us about 300 cases. Last year, in ’04, we only had 190 cases, but this year, in the abundant ’05 vintage, we have a whopping 350 cases (topped only by the 1997 vintage). Quality in 2005 was superb.
We harvested on September 16 at 24.0° sugar with great acidity. The grapes were whole cluster pressed, the juice chilled overnight, then racked into 3 year old François Frères Burgundy barrels. 3 year old barrels are pretty much neutral, but still real fresh. The wine was barrel fermented and allowed to go through malo. It was bottled with all it’s freshness in January 2006. Often, when I show people this wine they assume it was done in stainless steel because of its freshness, verve and acidity. They assume that I blocked the malo as well. The key here is the site for this varietal, relatively cool climate, and picking at a reasonably low sugar level while the pH is still low and the acid high. Viognier grapes are wonderfully aromatic in the vineyard and many winemakers are seduced by those aromatics and pick too ripe – resulting in high alcohol, flat tasting wines. I like those aromatics too, but I prefer balance, acidity, alcohols under 14% (the ’05 is 13.8%) and the minerality that accompanies this style.
This is not a wine to age – although it can. I recently pulled out a 1994 for Yves Cuilleron and François Villard and they were impressed. I like viognier when it’s young and fresh… drink this before the 2006 comes along.

2004 ROUSSANNE “BIEN NACIDO HILLSIDE ESTATE”
This wine is 100% Roussanne grown on a west facing hillside at Bien Nacido Vineyard. This 5 acre block of Roussanne was planted exclusively for Qupé and exclusively to the Tablas Creek clone. It is a special varietal, grown in one of our best terroirs and makes out most important white wine. The Santa Maria Valley is a cool growing area for Roussanne, it ripens late in the season with naturally high acidity. 2004 was a warm and whacky vintage but the Roussanne came in late enough that it wasn’t influence by and early September heat wave.The grapes were harvested on October 15 (about 10 days earlier than normal) at 24.6° brix, 3.28 pH and 7.4 acidity. The acidity was slightly lower than normal but still nicely balanced. We whole cluster pressed, chilled overnight then went straight to barrel. Once used François Frères Burgundy barrels were used exclusively for fermentation and aging. The wine went through a lengthy malolactic fermentation in barrel as well. It was aged on the lees for 12 months, racked, fined, and cold stabilized, then returned to barrel for 4 more months. 550 cases were bottled, without filtration, in March 2006.This is a rich, aromatic wine of great depth and complexity. The aroma shows a citrus-y orange peel character, along with mineral, flowers, and tropical fruit custard. Substantial in the mouth with mouthwatering freshness. Drink this over the next two years, then put some in the cellar and wait until it’s 10 years old, it will be worth it!

2005 CHARDONNAY “BIEN NACIDO - Y BLOCK”

This wine comes from grapes grown on the “Y” Block at Bien Nacido Vineyard. “Y” Block is one of the older chardonnay blocks at Bien Nacido. It’s located on the gravelly river banks of the Cuyama River, just opposite the winery. Qupé is the only winery that gets these grapes.
2005 was an outstanding vintage in every way. A long cool growing season followed by perfect ripening weather in the Fall. We started picking “Y” Block on September 16 (2 to 2½ weeks late than the warm 2004 and 2003 vintages) at 22.0° brix, 3.27 pH and 8.6 acidity. Most of this first pick went into our Bien Nacido Cuvee – Chardonnay/ Viognier blend. We picked again on: September 26 at 22.5°, 3.29 and 8.2; October 6 at 24.6°, 3.26 and 7.5; and finished on October 17 at 25.5°, 3.43 and 6.9.
I ran off all of those number to illustrate what an ideal vintage 2005 was… we harvested the grapes over a month’s time… we got plenty of juice in early, with lower alcohol and great acidity to balance the later, riper lots that give the wine its lush body and aromatics.
The grapes were whole cluster pressed, the juice chilled overnight, then transferred to barrels for fermentation. We generally only use French oak for chardonnay (for that matter our other wines too), but in 2005 we ran short of barrels and had to scramble to buy more barrels. For this wine we used about 25% new François Frères French oak, 6% Canton Cooperage Polish oak and 4% François Frères Hungarian oak barrels. The result is a bit more new oak than we usually use.
The wine went through malo in the barrel and was aged on the lees for 9 months. 4,800 cases were bottled in June 2006.
This is a beautifully balanced chardonnay – I like to call it “chardonnay you can drink.” The aromas are classic Bien Nacido with hints of citrus, pear, guava and cream, nicely balanced by the toasty oak. The flavors exhibit some minerality and, again, great balance. Drink this over the next 2-3 years, or, with good cellaring, don’t be afraid to put it down for 8-10 years.

2004 CHARDONNAY“BIEN NACIDO RESERVE – BLOCK ELEVEN”

This wine is 100% Chardonnay from our custom block at Bien Nacido in the Santa Maria Valley. This block was planted exclusively for us in 1997 on a west by northwest facing hillside just opposite the winery. This exposure doesn’t get as much direct sun and heat resulting in grapes with more minerality, lower pH and higher acidity. 2004 was a strange and difficult harvest. Hot weather during the summer, an unprecedented two week heat wave in early September and sugars rising way too fast. All that being said, the chardonnay grapes from Block Eleven were about as perfect as we can get! Our first pick was on September 13 at 23.6° brix, 3.28 pH and 9.6 acidity; our second pick was on September 17 at 24.4 brix, 3.15° pH and 8.4 acidity. Amazing numbers and acidity for a hot vintage! Most Napa winemakers would be mortifies at that level of acidity, that’s why we make Santa Maria Valley chardonnay.The grapes were whole cluster pressed, the juice chilled and settled overnight, then racked “dirty” with lots of lees into barrels. For this we used 2/3 new François Frères and 1/3 once used François Frères Burgundy barrels, mostly Bertranges forest with about 20% Allier forest. The wine went through malo in the barrel and was aged on the lees in the new barrels for the first eleven months. Right before the 2005 harvest we racked the wine, fined and cold stabilized, then returned to neutral barrels for another 2 ½ months. 1041 cases of 850 ml, 251 cases of 375 ml and 5 cases of magnums were bottled without filtration in November 1005. We bottled a couple months earlier than normal to free up barrels for the abundant 2005 vintage.This is our best Block Eleven chardonnay to date. My previous favorite, the 2001, was our first, but this one has more body. The 2002 was nicely balanced but didn’t have the intensity of the ’04, and the 2003 was just too blousy. It is classic Bien Nacido chardonnay – citrus, minerals and some tropical notes, along with spicy, creamy oak. I like the way the oak integrates – it’s there, you notice it, but it doesn’t overwhelm – that’s what low pH and relatively low (13.5%) alcohol do. This would be a good chardonnay to put down for a few years, or even ten!

Mas de Daumas Gassac

Mas de Daumas Gassac

Mas de Daumas Gassac was established in the 1970s, and since then has come to be described by some as a "Grand Cru of Languedoc". Such hyperbole may in some way be warranted, as these are indeed wines of excellent quality. What is more, they are made very much in the Bordeaux mould, based on Cabernet Sauvignon, with the necessary structure and stuffing for a prolonged period of ageing in the cellar. And I have, more than once, seen them mistaken for a St Estèphe in a blind tasting.
The story of how Mas de Daumas came to be has been well described, and so I will only briefly allude to it here. The property was purchased by Aimé Guibert, a Parisian glove manufacturer, with no intention of making wine. A visit from Bordeaux professor of Oenology Henri Enjalbert, however, provided the spark that lit the tinder. He recognised that the combination of the red glacial soils beneath the local garrigue, together with the altitude, and the nocturnal currents of cool air that pass over the vineyards, made the site ideal for viticulture. The first vines were planted at Mas de Daumas Gassac in 1974, with 1978 being the first vintage, made with the assistance of oenologist Emile Peynaud. There are now over 30 ha planted up, predominantly with Cabernet Sauvignon, and also with a range of other varieties, some of which may cause a few eyebrows to rise. These include Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Tannat and Pinot Noir, as well as a collection of Italians - Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto. The white varieties are mainly Chardonnay, Viognier and Petit Manseng, but also Marsanne, Roussane, Chenin Blanc, Sercial, Muscat and more.
The grand vin at Mas de Daumas Gassac is the standard red bottling, a Vin de Pays de l'Herault. This wine is destined for the cellar, the advice from Aime Guibert being that it frequently needs decades of bottle age - tastings of the 1985, 1983 and 1982 below would seem to confirm this. The Mas de Daumas Gassac Blanc, also a Vin de Pays de l'Herault, is approachable young but from experience I know it will age well also. It is a blend of 30% each of Chardonnay, Viognier and Petit Manseng, with other varieties mentioned above making up the remainder. In addition to these two wines, there is a new super-cuvée Emile Peynaud, of which the first vintage is the 2001. This wine represents just a small plot of the Daumas Gassac vineyards, using fruit from just the first hectare of Cabernet Sauvignonever to be planted at the domaine. Finally there is Vin de Laurence, a fascinating blend of late harvest Muscat (50%) and Sercial (50%) which, when I first tasted it, reminded me more of Madeira than anything else.
In addition to the estate wines Aime Guibert also produces a range of blends under the Collections des Vins Terrasses label. He has also been instrumental in assisting the local co-operative in improving quality. (3/2/04)

Contact details:

Address:

34150 Aniane

Telephone: +33 (0) 4 67 57 71 28

Fax: +33 (0) 4 67 57 41 03

Internet: http://www.daumas-gassac.com/

Vincent Girardin - Burgundy -

The Winery

DOMAINE VINCENT GIRARDIN" Les Champs Lins " -

BP 4821190 Meursault
Tél: +33 3 80 20 81 00

Fax: +33 3 80 20 81 10>

contact@vincentgiradin.com

Vincent Girardin was born in Santenay, in the Cote de Beaune and is part of a winemaking family with roots back to the 17th century.
Now in his forties, Vincent began his winemaking career in 1982 with only 2 hectares of vines. When his father retired, Vincent took over several additional hectares to which he could devote himself.
In order to sell his wines, Vincent did not hesitate to go from door-to-door in the big cities to convince his first clients.
Vincent Girardins wife Veronique, has been a complement to the Domaine for the past 9 years !

The Philosophy

Styled by Vincent Girardin, his white wines display their quality in finesse, their aromatic purety, and the harmony between richness and vibrancy. Vincent’s red wines are profound and intense, balancing the tannins and the ripe fruit. These wines demonstrate fullness of structure, with unmistakable grandeur, without any astringency.
Success in winemaking requires a rigour and attention to detail at all times for each individual wine. Because each wine has its own specific characteristics, the right technical decisions by the winemaker are essential.
At Domaine Vincent Girardin the grapes are harvested by hand, then sorted twice, once in the vineyard and for a second time in the winery. The sorting process eliminates all elements that are not fully ripe or not in the best condition. The presses are pneumatic in order to preserve the purety of the grapes. Next the wines are aged in oak barrels. This carefully controlled ageing process allows the wines to achieve their full potential. In order to preserve their natural qualities to the utmost, the red wines are not fined or filtered.

Wine grower

The work in the vines is carried out with the greatest care and respect for the environment and nature. Thus Vincent Girardin does not have recourse to herbicides or insecticides. The soil is worked to ensure proper aeration. Vincent Girardin rigorously controls the yields by pruning, adding only natural, slow release fertilizer, by severe removal of excess buds, and green-harvesting.
The main wines from the Domaine come from Premier Cru and Grand Cru slopes.
The great wines of Burgundy are born from great Terroir and the ability of man to interpret their greatness.

The Winemaking

White Wine

The work in the vines is carried out with the greatest care and respect for the environment and nature. Thus Vincent Girardin does not have recourse to herbicides or insecticides. The soil is worked to ensure proper aeration. Vincent Girardin rigorously controls the yields by pruning, adding only natural, slow release fertilizer, by severe removal of excess buds, and green-harvesting.
The main wines from the Domaine come from Premier Cru and Grand Cru slopes.
The great wines of Burgundy are born from great Terroirs and the ability of man to interpret their greatness.

Red Wine

The harvest is by hand. The grapes are pressed pneumatically at low pressure. The juice is separated from the solid matter under cold conditions after 48 hours, and is then left cold-soaking in vat for 7 days.
The juice is then transferred to oak barrels (40% of which are new), where they undergo alcoholic fermentation and are allowed to begin the ageing process.
The village and regional wines are racked off after 11 months and the Premier and Grand Crus after 13 months. The wines are then fined and lightly filtered before bottling.

Thelema - Stellenbosch - South Africa

Thelema Mountain Vineyards, a short history
In July 1983 the McLean Family Trust bought the old fruit farm Thelema, situated on the top of the Helshoogte Pass about 6 kilometers outside of Stellenbosch. This purchase was the culmination of a long search by Gyles and Barbara Webb for that rare location where exceptional wines could be made, for this is their sole intention.

Thelema in the morning, rising up the Simonsberg. Photo: BS Hall

The farm comprises 157 ha of land on the slopes of the Simonsberg. The elevation ranges from 370 to 640 meters above sea level of mainly south-facing slopes, making Thelema one of the highest and probably coolest wine farms in the Stellenbosch area. Although wine had been made on the farm in the early part of the century and table grapes produced until the late 1960's, there were no vines on the farm at the time of purchase. The 25 ha under cultivation consisted of plums, apples and pears in varying stages of degeneration. The neglected state of the farm could not detract from its charm - there are spectacular views of the Simonsberg, Drakenstein and Jonkershoek Mountains and the farm is dotted with enormous oak trees. It has, however, involved an enormous effort to convert Thelema into a wine farm. The farm workers housing has been renovated and new cottages built and the old Cape Victorian farmhouse restored. The orchards have gradually made way for vineyards and virgin mountainside cleared and prepared to increase the arable land to about 40 ha. Detailed tests of the soil have revealed them to be high potential decomposed granite with excellent water-retention capacity.

Gyles Webb directs all farming and winery operations, his wife Barbara is director of marketing, mother-in-law Edna manages the tasting area and the remaining directors are David McLean and Jennifer de Tolly.

July 2006
Dear Friends

The year seems to have whistled by; it feels like just the other day since I wrote our last newsletter. Maybe it's because we've been busy. Last vintage was, by some margin, the biggest we've handled in the winery, totalling over 500 tons of fruit, with Sutherland contributing about 65 tons. Fortunately the weather during harvest behaved beautifully, allowing all varieties to ripen slowly and fully, and in logical sequence, so there was no undue rush in the cellar. It was one of the driest summers I can remember, so judicious irrigation was the order of the day and we ended up with brilliantly healthy, small, concentrated berries. We had a scare in early January with fires on Simonsberg, but little damage ensued, apart from smoke inhalation irritations and sleep deprivation to all our loyal staff who man and womanfully battled the blazes at the top of the farm, usually in the middle of the night. In 2000 we had to ditch quite a lot of Sauvignon blanc that was irredeemably tainted with a nasty smoke flavour from the mountain fires, but we learnt lessons from this episode and, with the help of our neighbours, successfully kept the smoke out of the vineyards this year. Apart from that it turned out to be one of our easiest vintages, helped by the fact that I made an inspired decision early in February to heed press reports of imminent power outages by buying a bloody great big generator. It makes an awful racket when it runs but we always have lights, cooling and enough juice to keep all our equipment running, including the espresso machine.

Sutherland, our Elgin property, is progressing encouragingly well. We have 36 hectares of vineyard planted to date, with another 6 hectares to be planted this year, including some Pinot noir, that beguiling variety that every winemaker would love to master, but very few do. Maybe this is the site? Maybe I'll get it right and become famous! Maybe Eskom will get it's act together! I believe we all like to dream, and if this is true, I wouldn't be surprised if every enlightened winemaker dreamt about getting fruit from this site: it is a brilliant property and the vineyard development has been done impeccably, thanks to Chris, Andre and Aidan. If ever there is to be a local model vineyard, this will be it. So there!

I'm going to touch on that touchy subject again; wine shows. I think I mentioned last time that Thomas, one of our clever sons, was going to get involved with marketing and other stuff he learnt in Australia. Well, he did, and he entered us in some shows. So far he hasn't done too badly, because in the International Wine Challenge we entered 5 wines and got 5 medals:

Gold - Chardonnay 2004 Gold - Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 'The Mint' Silver - Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 Silver - Merlot Reserve 2003 Bronze - Shiraz 2004 He forgot to enter the standard Merlot 2004, which is a pity because I think it would have done very well.

These results are most gratifying, especially with regard to the Chardonnay. This is a terrific wine and, fortunately, we still have some left, so place your orders fast! Chardonnay, in my opinion, is still the prince of dry white wines, showing complexity and finesse, and it ages well. So why don't people want to buy it anymore? Beats me. Our other gold is for 'The Mint' Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. This is made from fruit from the first Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard we planted, back in 1985. The wine is concentrated and rich with lovely blackcurrant and black fruit flavours and a distinctive minty flavour. A knockout! Wine from this vineyard has always shown powerful mint flavours, quite different from the aromas of the wines from our other three Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards. We decided this year to give our customers a choice between the 'Full Minty' and the 'Barely-discernible Minty'. They are both terrific wines - buy a case of each and decide which style you prefer.

We have another new wine this year as well, the Arumdale Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. This is from fruit bought from our next-door neighbour in Elgin, and is a pretty example of cool-climate Cabernet Sauvignon, not too dense, with a savoury herbaceousness (not green) associated with Bordeaux wines.

We have also purchased a screw-capping machine, and will be bottling some of our Sauvignon blanc wines under screw-cap, available in a couple of months time. Phone us for details.

If you would like to buy some wine, please simply order online. If you'd like any other information about us or our wines contact me or Thomas or any one of the girls in the office, and we'd be very happy to talk to you. What would be even better is for you to pop in to visit when next you're in the Cape.

Until next time

Kind regards
Gyles

Who we are


Thelema is a family-run team.

The Directors


Gyles Webb - Cellar Master
Barbara Webb - Trade & Distribution
David McLean - Finance & Transport
Edna McLean - Wine Sales
Jennifer de Tolly - Director


The Team


Mathew Castle - Farm Manager
Rudi Schultz - Wine Maker
Karen Moon - Bookkeeper
Elana Sauerman - Wine Sales
Chateau Tourell - Wine Sales & Transport
Thomas Webb - Trade & Marketing
Hannes Antonie - Cellar Foreman
Lillian Williams - Deliveries
Cecil Siebritz - Farm Foreman

The Cellar Master


Gyles Webb. Photo: A Vorster

Gyles Webb was a Chartered Accountant in Durban when he decided to change careers and become a winemaker. After reading an Enology degree at Stellenbosch University, and working stints in South Africa and abroad, he and his wife's family bought Thelema, a run-down fruit farm situated on the slopes of Simonsberg, a few kilometers outside Stellenbosch, and began converting the property into a wine estate.

Apart from wine, Gyles's other interests include food, music, bird-watching, wild-life, fly-fishing, golf and travel. He is married to Barbara and has three children, James, Thomas and Caroline, who are pursuing careers in non-wine related areas.

The name "Thelema"
Rabelais was one of 16th century France's most colourful writers. His rather salty tales told of the glories of life and celebrated the hedonistic pleasures of the body. This was strong criticism of the puritanical Church of the time which pressed its concepts of piety and guilt onto Europe. Rabelais' stories tickle and indulge the senses, throwing social and religious commentary into the same pot as history, comedy and tragedy.



The tale of Thelema comes from a collection of his stories entitled "Gargantua and Pantagruel". In the book of Gargantua, he tells of a great battle between Gargantua and Pichrocole, in which the former "utterly defeated" the latter. After the battle, Gargantua divided the spoils and finally only had to provide for one Monk. Gargantua offered him many lofty titles, complete with bountiful lands, but the Monk refused them all. The Monk explained that he did not wish to rule over other monks - instead Gargantua could reward him with leave to found an Abbey after his own "minde and fancie". This intrigued Gargantua, who thereupon offered him all the land of Thelema by the river of Loire, till within two leagues of the forest of Port-huant. Here, with Gargantua's blessing, grew up a unique religious order.

The Abbey of Thelema was not walled; time was not circumscribed by clocks or sundials; men and women were allowed to live freely with each other; they were dressed in the finest satins and cloths. Rabelais enters into some rather bawdy detail as to what sort of person would qualify as a devotee of Thelema.... " Therefore it was ordained, that into this religious order should be no women that were not faire, well featur'd and of sweet disposition; nor men that were not comely, personable and well conditioned."

In complete contrast to the three vows of chastity, poverty and obedience taken by conventional religious men and women, the followers of Thelema were allowed to be honourably married, become rich and live at liberty. Rabelais' sumptuous account of the Abbey and its followers is best read in the context of his rich writings, which whet the appetite with their lavish descriptions of Serpentine marble, huge libraries, lush fields and magnificent landscapes.

At the foot of this earthly paradise stood a gate bearing a rather stern Admission Reserved Sign. It began:

"HERE ENTER NOT vile bigots, hypocrites,
Externally devoted Apes, base snites...
And forerunners of baboons.
Out strouting cluster fists, contentious bulls,
fomenters of divisions and debates,
Elsewhere, not here, make sale your deceits."

One law governed the Thelemites, a simple and beautiful one,

"Do what thou wilt."
It has been greatly abused and much misunderstood, for the rule is not an open invitation to chaos, but a call for true self-examination.

Our Crest
The phoenix dates back to distant mythology. It was thought to be a magical bird as large as an eagle, with scarlet and gold plumage and a melodious cry. It was said that only one phoenix existed at any one time. As its end approached, the phoenix made a nest of aromatic branches and spices, set it on fire, and was consumed in the flames. The next morning, from the ashes rose a new phoenix. Scholars regarded the bird as a metaphor for the sun as well as a being a symbol of immortality. Ancient Chinese, Sumerian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Incan and Aztec tales all tell of this fascinating creature.

A little closer to home, in the early 1900's, Rudolph Giloi started the Phoenix Garden Hotel in Kimberley. The owner's granddaughter is our very own Edna, who went on to marry David McLean, and is now the Thelema matriarch. But that's not all as synchronicity would have it, the Webb family crest is also the phoenix. This can be traced back all the way to England in the 1700's.

Pierre Damoy - Cote de Nuits - Burgundy

OUR WINES

Endowed with a brilliant ruby colour, this Chapelle Chambertin seduces with the intensity of its nose. THE NEW GENERATION

Bottling takes place without filtering or fining after 1 year of elevage for the whites and 14 to 18 months for the reds.
The most modern equipment, such as stainless steel tanks and a pneumatic press for the most gentle press, combine with low yields, serve the wines best in their youth and allow us to produce wines with plenty of character.

At present, the domaine covers 11 hectares including 2.22 hectares belong to the appellation of Chapelle-Chambertin and 5.36 hectares to Clos de B่ze in the districts of Gevrey-Chambertin and Marsannay. Pierre Damoy oversees both the viticulture as well as the commercialization of the wines.




Dominant aromas of small red fruit combine with notes of spice.

In the mouth, this wine possesses a surprisingly delicate yet generous structure as well as an astonishing richness and depth of fruit. The finish is supported by silky tannins. This rare pearl is a fine example of balance.


OUR KNOW HOW

Ever since Julien Damoy established the domaine at the beginning of the century, it has produced high quality wines, a direct result of respecting both the terroir and the vineyards.

This is why cultivation methods tend to preserve and emphasise the terroir. The essential goal is to translate the individual character of each terroir according to the vintage.



This objective imposes rigorous principles on vineyard cultivation, as well as vinification and elevage of the wines.

At each one of these stages, the highest standards are required.

VINE'S CONDUCT

Rational management of the vines has been practised for many years. In most instances, we allow nature to take its course. We avoid using weedkillers and fertilizers, enriching the earth with compost instead.

We do not consider our vineyards just by parcels alone, instead, we focus our attention on each individual vine. It is the object of attentive care, from pruning, to debudding and green harvesting, when the quantity of grapes per vine is judged to be too high. This way of operating allows us to personnalize as well as evaluate each vine individually.


WINES ELABORATION

When the grapes reach optimum ripeness, they are of course, harvested manually and brought to the winery as quickly as possible, less than 30 minutes is a reasonable time frame. After rigorous sorting, the grapes are destemmed with the utmost care to avoid any damage.

Fermentation takes place in an open vat with a floating cap under strict temperature control the entire time. Fermentation time totals approximately 18 to 23 days according to each individual cuve as well as the particular vintage. The cap is punched down manually and pumping over occurs daily in order to obtain wines with lots of fruit and freshness.

Once fermentation has finished and following a gentle pneumatic press, the wine is transferred to casks. We make judicious use of new wood according to how powerful the wine is, generally 20% new barrels for the red Burgundies and up to 80% for Tamisot and Chambertin.

THE NEW GENERATION

Bottling takes place without filtering or fining after 1 year of elevage for the whites and 14 to 18 months for the reds.
The most modern equipment, such as stainless steel tanks and a pneumatic press for the most gentle press, combine with low yields, serve the wines best in their youth and allow us to produce wines with plenty of character.

At present, the domaine covers 11 hectares including 2.22 hectares belong to the appellation of Chapelle-Chambertin and 5.36 hectares to Clos de B่ze in the districts of Gevrey-Chambertin and Marsannay. Pierre Damoy oversees both the viticulture as well as the commercialization of the wines.

Winery Armand Rousseau - Cote de Nuits - Burgundy

DOMAINE ARMAND ROUSSEAU
1, rue de l'Aumônerie
21220 GEVREY CHAMBERTIN
Tél. : 33 (0)3 80 34 30 55
Fax : 33 (0)3 80 58 50 25
Charles, Corinne et Eric ROUSSEAU
www.domaine-rousseau.com
contact@domaine-rousseau.com

OUR HISTORY


The Domain was started at the beginning of the century by Armand Rousseau who, at his majority, inherited several plots of vineyards in Gevrey Chambertin. Armand Rousseau was issued from a family of small landowners, who were mainly vine growers, coopers and local wine merchants.
His wedding in 1909 allows him to increase the superficy of his vineyards and at the same time to acquire the present Domain premises with the living house, the storing places, the cellars and the winery, situated in the oldest part of the village, near the 13th. Century church.
Armand Rousseau first sells his wines in bulk to local wholesalers. Then very rapidly, he buys new vineyards such as CHARMES CHAMBERTIN in 1919, CLOS DE LA ROCHE and CHAMBERTIN in 1920 and 1921 and he decides to bottle himself his most prestigious wines and sell them directly to consumers, particularly to restaurants and connoisseurs, wisely advised by Raymond Baudoin, a great friend of his and the founder of the "Revue des Vins de France".


As years go by, Armand Rousseau continues to enlarge his Domain with the purchase of more Grands Crus, classified as such in 1935 when the "Institut des Appellations d'Origine Contrôlée" was created, that is, MAZY CHAMBERTIN in 1937, MAZOYERES CHAMBERTIN (now appearing under the appellation of CHARMES CHAMBERTIN) in 1940, CHAMBERTIN in 1943 and 1956.
The CLOS SAINT JACQUES is bought in 1954 in his son Charles's name who, after studying law and then oenology in Dijon University, joins his father in 1945.


In 1959, after Armand Rousseau's death in a car accident on his way back from hunting, Charles Rousseau is at the head of a Domain of 6 ha which he will continue developing rapidly thanks to his great knowledge in oenology, and his experience, by acquiring new vineyards, especially in "Grands Crus" areas.
Speaking fluently English and German, he decides to turn principally towards export, and, after the USA where his father had already started to sell his wines right after prohibition at the end of the 30's, he develops the exchanges first with Great-Britain, Germany, Switzerland, soon afterwards to all European countries, then to Canada, Australia, New-Zealand, Brazil, etc. and lastly Asia in the 1970’s.



During all these years, while maintaining traditional modes of viticulture and vinification, Charles Rousseau acquires more modern and better performing equipments.
At the beginning of the 1980's, two vaulted cellars are dug in order to increase the storing capacity necessary to the acquisition of the new vineyards.

At the same time, his son Eric, after secondary studies in the Lycée Agricole et Viticole of Macon Davayé and one year specializing in Oenology in Dijon University, joins him to take care more especially of the vineyards and the vinification.



In 1993, Corinne, Charles's elder daughter, after many years of professional experience in export abroad and in France, comes back to the Domain, gets the same year a diploma in Oenology, and in her turn takes in charge the commercial relationship with customers.
New works are effected during 1996 summer with the enlargement of the winery, already fully equipped with open stainless steel vats, to allow the use of an automatic "pigeage" system, and at the same time, a new cellar is built for the storing of the bottles.


During the 1996 summer, the winery, already fully equipped of stainless steel vats, is enlarged for the use of a double pneumatic "pigeage" equipment. That same year is dug a second cellar for the aging of wine in bottles.

In 1999 and 2001, two new equipments are acquired: a pneumatic press and a destemmer to allow an even more delicate manipulation of the grapes without crushing the berries.

The winery has been renovated again in 2002 and 2004, with the addition of an air-conditioning equipment necessary to vinify our grapes in the best conditions, then we had the floor resin-covered and the walls repainted in a nice creme-rapsberry colour for better hygiene and easier cleaning.

For the vineyards we acquired a new 'enjambeur', this high-wheel tractor, in 2004 winter, which adds to the two others we already had. In fact, each vineyard is deeply ploughed several times a year and it improves daily work. For the first time this year, we also had a part of our Chambertin ploughed with a horse because of the steep slope in this area.


OUR KNOW HOW


At the present day, the Domaine vineyards have a surface area of 13 ha 70, of which 2 ha 21 are of Village Appellation, 3 ha 47 of 1er Cru Appellation and 8 ha 01 of Grands Crus A.O.C., all situated in the communes of Gevrey-Chambertin and Morey-Saint-Denis.
The vines are mostly very old with an average aged of 40 to 45 years.

The vines are 100% Pinot Noir with 10 000 vines planted per hectare. The selections used are clones chosen for their small production and their concentration. "Guyot simple" pruning is being used in all vineyards. The exposure is towards the South-East on lime-clay soils.
The method of culture in the vineyards is traditional with low yields, from 30 to 35 hectoliters per hectare. No fertilizer has been used for many years. "Debudding" and green harvest are systematically done in productive years in order to optimize the maturity of grapes and the concentration of phenolic components. Grape picking is entirely done by hand with systematic sorting to eliminate unhealthy grapes and a delicate manipulation to avoid crushing the grapes.

Vinification is done in a very traditional style with 90% destemming, a 15-days fermentation in open stainless steel vats with regular "pumping over" and "pigeage", and a strict control of temperatures with a maximum of 31-32°C. Once alcoholic fermentation is over, the wines are delicately pressed in a pneumatic press, let to settle 24 hours, and then transferred in oak barrels down in the cellars where malolactic fermentation takes place during winter.



The wine is then aged in 100 % new oak barrels for the Chambertin, the Chambertin Clos de Bèze and the Clos Saint Jacques, 25 to 30% generally for the Clos des Ruchottes and the Clos de la Roche and in 2-year-old barrels for the other Crus.
The toasting of the barrels is medium. Ageing lasts 20 to 22 months during which 2 to 3 rackings are done if necessary.
Bottling takes place twice a year in May-June and in August-September after a very light plaque filtration to preserve the delicate Pinot Noir fruit and retain finesse and elegance.



The bottling is done by gravity, directly from the barrels after "assemblage", and always at cellar temperature. The average production is 65 000 bottles per year.
The commercialization of the different Crus of the Domaine takes place for 90% in foreign countries where the wines are present in more than 30 countries. In France, they are reserved to some connoisseurs and retailers, as well as starred restaurants mostly situated in Paris, in Alsace and in the Rhone Valley.

Appellation:

Chambertin
(2.15 ha)

Vigourous and firm, with a caracteristic aroma of liquorice.
Very structured, dense and powerful with firm tannins. Great length.
Not to drink before 10-12 years.
Needs a lot of time to fully develop

Gevrey-Chambertin Village
(2.21 ha)
Compact and dense structure.
Fine and intense nose.
Red fruit aroma with raspberry notes dominant.
To drink after 5-6 years.

Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

Two appellations :

• LES CAZETIERS : 59,60 a

• LAVAUX-SAINT-JACQUES : 46,72 a
Muscular and rustic with a certain firmness.
To drink after 6-7 years.

Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos-Saint-Jacques

(2.22ha)
Well balanced and harmonious.
Strong and well integrated tannins.
Powerful and intense in the mouth with a lot of delicacy.
Black fruit and " cassis " dominant.

Mazy-Chambertin Grand Cru
(0.53 ha)
Hard and rustic body.
Virile and powerful, sometimes tannic.
Wait 7-8 years to drink until it softens
Wait at least 8-10 years to drink.

Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru

(1.37 ha)
Very supple with a lot of elegance and finesse.
Floral and little red fruit aromas.
Can be drunk after 6-7 years, but wait in long lasting vintages.

Clos de La Roche
(1.48 ha)
It is situated in the village of Morey-Saint-Denis.
Mineral, powerful and monolith.
Long aftertaste. Consistent and firm.
Wait at least 8 years to drink

Ruchottes-ChambertinClos Des Ruchottes - Monopole

(1.06 ha)
Aromatic and very complex.
Spices and little red fruit notes.
Often with a tannic finish.
A lot of elegance, velvety touch and finesse.
Do not drink too young. Wait at least 8-10 years.

Chambertin Clos De Bèze

(1.42 ha)
Complex and tannic with a deep colour and a great length in mouth.
A very rich aromatic range with little red fruit and oriental spices.
A lot of delicacy.
Not to drink before 10-12 years.

Cape Mentell - Australia

Cape Mentelle Vineyards, established by David and Mark Hohnen and now part of the Moët Hennessy Wine Estates, is a specialist producer of premium wines in Margaret River in the south west corner of Western Australia. One of the country's finest wine regions, Margaret River enjoys a maritime location, with the added advantage of a long dry growing season.


Cape Mentelle was one of the first vineyards established in the Margaret River region. First planted in 1970, there are today over 180 hectares under vine and the winery, constructed in 1977, crushes about 1,500 tonnes of fruit from estate vineyards and contract grown fruit sourced from within the region. Primary plantings are of cabernet sauvignon, semillon and sauvignon blanc with smaller amounts of shiraz, zinfandel, merlot and chardonnay. The winery and original vineyard lie between the town of Margaret River and the Cape from which it takes its name. The original Mentelles were Frenchmen, geographer Edmunde and his cartographer brother Francois-Simon, who lived in Paris in the early 1700's.

Cape Mentelle Vineyards, is committed to the concept of true regional styles and will continue to expand its operations to produce quality wines. The company believes that the role of specialist wineries lies in the production of premium wines from varieties best suited to specific regions. Emphasis is placed on individual fruit character and the development of a recognisable estate wine style.
ideally located for visitors to the region. Its spacious, rammed earth Tasting Cellar offers a comprehensive range of wines for sampling and sale, including special Cellar Door releases normally unavailable through retail outlets. The Cellar looks through to the winery's barrel hall, home to oall aspects of wine production. The winery is surrounded by landscaped native gardens, in which visitors are welcome to picnic or to just relax and enjoy the busy local birdlife. Private tasting facilities are available for special interest groups at negotiated rates, and light meals can be catered on request.

Kistler Winery - California

About Our Wines

Kistler Chardonnay is made using traditional French techniques, with the winemaker himself performing the cellar work on the wines. Kistler Chardonnay has a distinct character. It is completely barrel-fermented using indigenous and cultured yeasts, is aged in 50% new French oak barrels unracked and in contact with all its fermentation lees, has undergone a malolactic fermentation, receives minimal handling and processing, and is bottled unfiltered and, generally, unfined after 11-18 months of barrel age.
Our low-yielding (pruned and thinned to yield about two tons per acre) Pinot Noir vineyards in the Russian River Valley and the Sonoma Coast contain a mixture of clones from French and American sources. The Pinot Noir is made with an initial extended cold maceration of the grapes with their juice (for the extraction of concentrated flavors without tannin), followed by a traditional Burgundian fermentation in small, open-top fermenters. Total cuvaison time is up to four weeks and the wine is aged in 100% new French oak barrels for 14 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Our wines are released semiannually: once in the spring and once in the fall. Most of our wines are available exclusively through our Mailing List. We sell all of our wine each release and we do not have any previously released wine available for sale. The following pages are versions of the newsletters we sent to our mailing list members for the indicated releases. They include a complete list of the wines with their original retail prices. In addition to general information about the vintage, tasting notes are included for each wine.

Kistler Vineyards is a small, family-owned and -operated winery in the Russian River Valley specializing in the production of Burgundian-styled Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Kistler Vineyards was founded in 1978 by the Kistler family. The first vintage in 1979 produced 3,500 cases of wine and since then the winery has slowly grown to the planned production level of about 25,000 cases per year. Kistler Vineyards has two central figures, Steve Kistler and Mark Bixler. Steve Kistler received a B.A. from Stanford University, studied at U.C. Davis and Fresno State University for two years, and was an assistant at Ridge Vineyards for two years before founding Kistler Vineyards. He serves as winemaker and oversees vineyard operations. Mark Bixler received degrees from M.I.T. and U.C. Berkeley, taught Chemistry at Fresno State University for seven years, and worked at Fetzer Vineyards for two years.
Mark shares winemaking responsibilities, and is the chemist and business manager for Kistler Vineyards.

Our grape sources include some of the finest vineyards in Napa and Sonoma Counties. After years of planning, we constructed our new winery at our Vine Hill Vineyard in the Russian River Valley in 1992. The facility is state of the art, optimized for the production of limited quantities of the very highest quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Grosset Wines South Australia

Grosset Wines

Auburn

Clare Valley

South Australia

Tel +61 8 8849 2175

Fax +61 8 8849 2292

info@grosset.com.au

PROFILE
Jeffrey Grosset - Founder and owner, Grosset Wines
Stuart Pigott, a world authority on riesling, wrote after a visit to Grosset Wines that riesling wines are ‘dramatic images of the places where they grew and the seasons during which the grapes ripened'. But Grosset's wines, he said, are interfused not only with that sense of place and season, but with something he calls ‘the spirit of Jeff Grosset', a phenomenon that occurs by a means that ‘science has yet to explain'.

These words evoke the drama of the journey that Jeffrey Grosset has made in the past two decades. Unremitting dedication to a process that is for him a combination of the creative – often beyond explanation – and the application of technique, experience and technology has brought him to the top of his profession. His immensely disciplined approach to winemaking involves meticulous attention at every stage, from the choice of the very earth itself, as in his selection of the famous windswept site for the Gaia, to the fine tuning during pressing and fermentation.

Similarly, his leading role in the quest to improve the closure of wine bottles was part of his recognition that technology and tradition had to meet and be reconciled. Confronting the problems of closure, Jeffrey put his own wines into screwcap. The screwcap initiative, a milestone in wine closures, culminated in the London launch in May 2005 of Taming the Screw , a screwcap manual, by Tyson Stelzer, to which Jeffrey was a contributing editor. In Grosset's own words: ‘The widespread use of an inert wine closure that works is exciting for those who love wine. No more pouring down the drain wine that the closure has made undrinkable! We can look forward now to enjoying great wine not just great bottles.'
But none of his openness to technology and innovation has been at the expense of tradition or of his most deeply held convictions about his craft. Hand picking prevails exclusively in both his Clare Valley and Adelaide Hills vineyards. His pickers, many of whom have worked for him for many years, are committed to his standards, and the close working relationship that Jeffrey has with his vineyard team is indispensable to the successful management of each harvest.
All of which helps you to understand how thoroughly deserved have been his many accolades, from Jeffrey's being voted the Inaugural Volvo/ Wine Magazine Australian Winemaker of the Year and International Riesling Winemaker of the Year at the Riesling Summit II, Hamburg, both in 1998, to being listed as one of the fifty most influential winemakers in the world in Wine and Spirits , US, in 2005.

In February 2001 the same magazine published Rod Smith's tribute: ‘Jeffrey Grosset's Polish Hill riesling … tastes as though the grape juice were made of water that was filtered through layers of glacial gravel, slate and shale – which, in fact, it was (not incidentally, the vines are not grafted, but growing on their own roots). Producing the terroir-driven Polish Hill riesling has for the past two decades been a journey toward enlightenment for Jeffrey Grosset …'
But Grosset takes the concept of terroir further than Smith implies. ‘ Terroir ,' he said, in giving the inaugural New South Wales Wine Press Club lecture, ‘is the French word for what some have know in Australia for thousands of years as 'pangkarra'. Pangkarra is an Aboriginal word … that represents a concept that has no English translation but encompasses the characteristics of a specific place – the climate, sunshine, rain, geology and the soil–water relations. About the closest we can get in English is to refer to “the site”, but even that doesn't cover the major components of terroir, or pangkarra, being the soil and local topography.'

This intellectual reach wedded to experience, intuition, and an indefinable touch of genius has brought Jeffrey Grosset to the peak of his art and profession. When, in May 2005, Grosset wines produced from the Clare Valley became 100 per cent estate grown, Jeffrey reached not the destination of his journey but a new and exciting stage. Already his achievements for Grosset Wines have been translated into advantages for the Australian wine industry generally. As an acknowledged winemaker par excellence, he can – and unquestionably will – devote himself to the continuing challenge of seeking perfection for the wine lover.

WINES

Grosset Polish Hill Riesling

This is an exceptionally powerful and vibrant dry riesling, drinking beautifully when young but with the structure to reward those who wish to cellar this wine for up to fifteen years.Grosset Polish Hill Riesling
'Jeffrey Grosset's Polish Hill riesling … tastes as though the grape juice were made of water that was filtered through layers of glacial gravel, slate and shale – which, in fact, it was...' Rod Smith Wine and Spirits (USA) February 2001.
Grosset Polish Hill is a single site wine from the Polish Hill vineyard, planted at 460 metres above sea level on sandy loam over shallow clay with underlying gravel, shale and slate. Like the Watervale, it has been made each year since 1981.


Grosset Watervale Riesling

This is an intense and generously flavoured dry riesling that is very appealing when young but will reward cellaring.Grosset Watervale Riesling
According to Langton's Australian Fine Wine Guide, ‘The (Grosset) Watervale Riesling is a classic Clare style. If Polish Hill is power and intensity, Watervale is restraint and pure fruit. It evokes the expectation of a mouth-watering palate and delivers it.'




Grosset Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

Vibrant, fine and delicious, this classic blend is for lovers of flavoursome dry wine. This is the fifteenth consecutive vintage of a unique 55:45 blend of Clare Valley semillon - for the second time from the Grosset Watervale vineyard - and the Adelaide Hills sauvignon - once again from the same vineyard as previous vintages. The style remains distinctly different from the archetypal Margaret River semillon sauvignon blanc - as it is tighter, finer, more steely, and more minerally than those popular everyday drinking whites.
The 2006 has many of the hallmarks of the previous vintage but is more intense, juicier and more zesty than that wine. It has restrained yet intense cool tropical characters - guava, nectarine, lychees - and a minerally edge. There is a finesse to match the tight structure, a plump fruitiness in the mid-palate, and taut, zesty acidity. At present, it opens up considerably after 24 hours suggesting that, with six months in bottle, it will show more delicious refined fruit characters.

Grosset Piccadilly Chardonnay

This very fine example of Australian chardonnay is from vineyards situated in one of the coolest sub-regions in Australia. In a review of the Top 21 Chardonnay Recent Vintages, a special tasting reported in Gourmet Traveller Wine , Summer 2004-05, the 2003 Grosset Piccadilly Chardonnay shared top billing with three Margaret River Chardonnays, all scoring 96 points out of a possible 100. This rating raises some interesting questions because there is, of course, a significant difference in wine style between Margaret River and the Adelaide Hills. The Piccadilly Valley sub-region is particularly distinctive as is made clear not only in the tasting notes here but also in the Gourmet Traveller Wine panel's review: ‘Grosset's 2003 vintage showed the kind of steely, high acid style that should age very well, smelling of hazelnut cream and fresh cashews. All the tasters remarked on the finesse and refinement of this wine, talking of its grapefruit, lemon drops, cashew and ginger aromas and penetrating, tight, pure citron palate …'



Grosset Gaia

From Grosset's high altitude Gaia vineyard this cabernet blend gives an overall impression of power and concentration with restraint and balance. The blend of the 2003 Grosset Gaia has a touch more merlot and bit less cabernet franc than usual - cabernet sauvignon (75%), cabernet franc (15%) and merlot (10%) - and is sourced from Grosset's windswept Gaia vineyard in the Clare Valley . All components spent sixteen months in French oak barrique, 50 per cent of which were new, before the final blend was assembled.
This is a very good Gaia and, while not as forward as the previous vintage, may prove to be more approachable at a young age than most of the line. It has a brooding intensity on the nose, is supple initially, and smooth, powerful yet appears restrained, has ripe dark berry fruit flavours, some meaty, earthy notes and substantial fine tannins which build in the mouth making the finish firm and dry. It is opulent, concentrated and very impressive. It needs at least short term cellaring and will benefit from five years in the bottle, And may be cellared (in air conditioned comfort) for several more years.




Grosset Pinot Noir

Jeffrey Grosset makes tiny quantities of Pinot Noir from the central Adelaide Hills. Acknowledged as the original varieties of Burgundy , pinot noir and chardonnay seem to have found a new and exciting home in the Adelaide Hills. While various producers have built their reputation on one or other of these varieties, none has equalled the success Grosset has enjoyed with this pair of noble varieties grown in the Adelaide Hills. Ralph Kyte-Powell writing in The Age on 22 June 2004 , said that ‘Jeff Grosset's meticulous winemaking isn't confined to riesling'. Nor, for that matter, to the Clare Valley , and given that the re-planting of vineyards in the Adelaide Hills has only occurred since the early 1980s, their full potential is only just emerging.
In answer to the question whether or not Grosset Pinot Noir is Burgundian, Jeffrey Grosset says the wine is not, but that the techniques employed to produce it are. Or at least they have been until this vintage. After eleven years there has been a subtle change in approach involving the use of new fermenters which automatically but gently plunge the pinot. These fermenters are a revolutionary innovation not only because of their precision – they can be timed to plunge at regular intervals – but also because they remove the need to foot plunge at three in the morning!
Comparison with great Burgundy is, of course, inevitable, and although the description of the wines in the tasting notes to follow alludes to a different taste, their structure and finesse – qualities that pinot lovers often value the most – reflect the distinctly mild days and cold nights of the central Adelaide Hills.
As has been usual in recent years, this has been sourced from the same two Adelaide Hills vineyards and continues to show more depth and length of flavour as the vines mature. It is delightfully fragrant with characteristic aromas of Adelaide Hills pinot: dark plums, sour cherries and follows through with similar savoury flavours on the mid palate while the aftertaste lingers long in the memory.The wine is intense, has good weight and is beautifully focused. It appears more youthful than usual and not as overtly ripe as in some years (despite that it shows no unripe characters – it is just more restrained).
Grosset Pinot Noir 2004
The 2004 Grosset Pinot is vibrant, fine, tightly structured, has silky texture and great length. It will develop in the short term and may be cellared for up to five years, if you can resist the temptation to drink it sooner.
As in previous years, 40 per cent was whole-bunched fermented and immediately after pressing was run into barrels (60 per cent new barriques) and matured for twelve months.

Languedoc-Roussilion

Champagne

Alsace

Loire Valley

Northern Rhone

Southern Rhone

Burgundy Beaujolais

Burgundy Cote de Nuit

Côte de Nuits


The Côte d'Or is divided into two main viticultural regions, the Côte de Nuits being the more northerly of the two. The northernmost tip lies just south of Dijon, and the region extends down to the Côte de Beaune, onto which it abuts. Named after the town of Nuits-St-Georges, it is most widely reknowned for it's red wines, although there are a few worthy white wines made here also. Geologically, the region sits on a combination of Bajocian, Bathonian, Callovian and Argovian limestones, with some Liassic marlstone. The climate is continental, with a wide annual temperature difference. Spring rains and frost can be a problem, as can Autumn rain, which may interfere with the harvest. This is true for the whole Côte d'Or. The vineyards lie on the slope between the plain to the east, and the hills to the west. Soils on the plain, to the east of the N74 (not illustrated), are too fertile for quality wine, and on the hills it is too sparse. The easterly aspect also aids exposure to the sun.

The most northerly village of note is Marsannay, an up and coming wine region for the production of value Burgundy. Next is Fixin, a village which can produce some good value wines, although they never achieve greatness.

Further south come the villages of the Côte de Nuits that produce some of the great wines of Burgundy. Firstly, Gevrey-Chambertin, which impresses with the combination of its muscular, weighty attitude and paradoxical perfumed edge. Morey-St-Denis is a meaty, intense wine which can be superb, but like many of these famous names overcropping and poor vinification techniques can result in some very weak wines. Chambolle-Musigny may be marked by a wonderful, floral, fragrant bouquet, whereas at Vougeot we have an unusual situation. Much of the wine is classified as Grand Cru as it lies within the walled vineyard of the Clos de Vougeot, but only a small part of this wine is truly of Grand Cru quality. At best it can be a tasty, full-bodied, richly fruited wine, although it is not one of the great Grands Crus.

Flagey-Echézeaux is unusual as it lies to the east of all the other vineyards. The wines can be quite fine. Next is Vosne-Romaneé, a fine set of vineyards which can produce some superb wines. Vosne-Romaneé can have a rich, creamy, sensuous texture, even in the village wines from a good producer. Other than Nuits-St-Georges, there are no other villages of huge significance.

The appellations of the Côte de Nuits are as follows:

Grands Crus: Such wines are not required to bear the village name. Thus wines produced, for example, from the Grand Cru Chambertin Clos de Bèze would not include the village name of

Gevrey-Chambertin:

• Chambertin

• Chambertin Clos de Bèze


• Charmes-Chambertin


• Chapelle-Chambertin


• Griotte- Chambertin


• Latricières-Chambertin


• Mazis-Chambertin


• Ruchottes-Chambertin
  
  
  
  
  
  

Morey-St-Denis:

• Bonnes Mares
• Clos Saint-Denis
• Clos de Tart
• Clos de la Roche
• Clos des Lambrays

Chambolle-Musigny:

• Musigny
• Bonnes Mares
  

Vougeot:

• Clos de Vougeot

Vosne-Romanée:

• La Romanée
• La Tâche
• Richebourg
• Romanée-Conti
• Romanée-St-Vivant

La Grande Rue

Flagey-Echézeaux:

• Grands-Echézeaux
• Echézeaux

The Grand Cru Bonnes Mares straddles the villages of Morey-St-Denis and Chambole-Musigny. Nuits-St-Georges has no Grands Crus.
Premiers Crus: These are too numerous to name here. As with Chablis, a wine blended from several such sites will be labelled as Premier Cru, whereas a wine from an individual vineyard will bear the vineyard name, eg. Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Clos Saint-Jacques.

Village Wines: The villages of the Côte de Nuits are

• Marsannay (La-Côte)
• Fixin
• Gevrey-Chambertin
• Morey-St-Denis
• Chambolle Musigny
• Vougeot (although anything other than Grand Cru Clos de Vougeot is rare)
• Vosne-Romanée and Nuits-St-Georges

Village wines from Flagey-Echézeaux are sold under the Vosne-Romanée appellation.
Sub-Village Appellations: These include Côte de Nuits Villages (may be applied to wine from Corgoloin, Comblanchien, Prémeaux, Brochon, and declassified wine from Fixin), Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits (applies to a large number of communes to the west of the Côte d'Or), and basic Bourgogne.

Burgundy Cote de Beaune

Côte de Beaune
The Côte de Beaune is the more southerly part of the Côte d'Or. The northernmost tip abuts onto the Côte de Nuits, and the region extends south to the Côte Chalonnaise. The geology is more variable than that of the Côte de Nuits. The region sits on a combination of Callovian, Argovian and Rauracian limestones, with much intervening marlstone. Obviously, the climate is the same as for the Côte de Nuits - continental, with a wide annual temperature difference. Spring rains and frost, and Autumn rains, which may interfere with the harvest, can also be a problem here. The vineyards face south-east on the slope between the plain to the south-east, and the hills to the north-west, the easterly aspect aiding exposure to the sun.
Pernand-Vergelesses can be a source of some good value Burgundy, but no great wines. Nearby, however, we start to see some of the more serious wines of the Côte de Beaune at Aloxe-Corton. The wines of this village, as well as a number of other villages nearby, are red as well as white. Red Corton should be a muscular, savoury wine, whereas the white is a rich, intense, buttery drink. Beaune, Savigny-les-Beaune and Chorey-les-Beaune are all best known for their red wines. The wines produced here are well fruited, tasty, sometimes quite elegant affairs, although they are somewhat lighter (and less expensive) when from the latter two villages.
Pommard can make wonderful red Burgundy, well structured and meaty, whereas Volnay is better known for it's heady, perfumed and delicately textured wines.
Towards the southern end of the Côte de Beaune, however, are the Côte d'Or's most famous white wine villages. Meursault produces rich, complex, intense yet elegant wines, but it is Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet that lead the pack. The former bears a wonderful combination of richness with mineral complexities, the latter are sometimes broader and more open, although both are lovely, and words cannot really do them justice. Nearby are the villages of St-Romain, St-Aubin, Santenay and Auxey-Duresses. All are responsible for some value Burgundy.
The appellations of the Côte de Beaune are as follows:Grands Crus: As with the Côte de Nuits, such wines are not required to bear the village name. The Grands Crus are as follows:Aloxe-Corton: Corton (the largest Grand Cru in Burgundy, with a number of subdivisions, eg Corton-Bressandes), Corton-Charlemagne.Puligny-Montrachet: Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet, Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet.Chassagne-Montrachet: Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet.As with the Côtes de Nuits, some vineyards lie in more than one village. Here, the Grands Crus Montrachet and Bâtard-Montrachet lie in both Puligny and Chassagne-Montrachet. Most villages of the Côte de Beaune have no Grands Crus.Premiers Crus: As with the Côtes de Nuits, these are too numerous to name. As with Chablis and the Côtes de Nuits, a wine blended from several such sites will be labelled as Premier Cru, whereas a wine from an individual vineyard will bear the vineyard name, eg Pommard Premier Cru Les Petits Epenots.Village Wines: The villages of the Côte de Beaune are Ladoix, Pernand-Vergelesses, Aloxe-Corton, Savigny-lès-Beaune, Chorey-lès-Beaune, Beaune, Pommard, Volnay, Monthelie, St-Romain, Auxey-Duresses, Meursault, Blagny, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet, St-Aubin and Santenay. Blagny is a small hamlet close to the Premier Cru vineyards of Meursault.Sub-Village Appellations: These include Côte de Beaune Villages (may be applied to declassified wine from fourteen villages of the Côte de Beaune not including Aloxe-Corton, Beaune, Volnay or Pommard), Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits (applies to a large number of communes to the west of the Côte d'Or), and basic Bourgogne. There is also the confusing appellation Côte de Beaune, which refers to wines from the commune of Beaune not deemed worthy of the appellation Beaune.
The Côte d'Or - My top wines. As many producers have vineyards in so many different sites, I have grouped together the good names in Burgundy here. This is a personal list (in alphabetical order), so it doesn't include great but hardly affordable domaines such as Romanée-Conti. My list of top estates and producers includes Domaine d'Arlot, Simon Bize, Robert Chevillon, Bruno Clair, Michel Colin-Deléger, Drouhin, René Engel, Faiveley, Jacques Gagnard-Delagrange, Jean-Marc Blain-Gagnard, Richard Fontaine-Gagnard, Jean Grivot, Hudelot-Noëllat, Jadot, Jaffelin, Henri Jayer, Leroy, Méo-Camuzet, Albert Morot, Daniel Rion, Domaine des Perdrix, and Etienne Sauzet. There are, obviously, many, many more producers of interest, but there are simply too many to include here.

Burgundy Yonne

Burgundy Cote ' Or

Vintage Reports

Following Vintage and Harvest Report from:

Australia:
- Cape Mentelle

Cape Mentelle - Australia -

2005 Vintage Report



Margaret River experienced the full range of emotions from the weather in 2005, from kind, balmy mild days with a gentle zephyr of a breeze to angry days with sheeting rain, below average temperatures and more wind than Mr. Bean at a baked bean convention. Yes a memorable vintage which beguiled us initially with weather that was exactly like the beginning of the celebrated 2004 vintage; mild and dry conditions prevailed providing the ideal growing and ripening weather for another typically great Margaret River vintage, but then unexpectedly, by the middle of March, conditions changed to a situation which tested the nerve and stamina of even the most battle hardened winemaker.
Temperatures were below average for the entire season with no day getting hotter than 35 degrees and even that was a rare event. The odd shower kept vine growth vigorous up until November, after which we had hardly any rainfall at all until 20 mm of rain fell on 9 March.
From the middle of March we experienced rather uneven ripening with days that started quite cool warming to mild through the course of the day with cloudy overcast conditions, though of course we did get the odd day of sun shiny weather to kick along the ripening, but it's not often in Margaret River that you are looking for the scraps of firewood leftover from last winter to warm up home in the middle of March. The icing on the cake however was the two extra bouts of rain dumped on the vines that were struggling to ripen their fruit, around the end of March and then on 9 April.
Most of our whites were harvested under ideal conditions in early March; the Sauvignon and Chardonnay in particular had excellent varietal flavour and acidity. These varieties were as good if not better than 2004 and we are quite excited by their development. The Zinfandel was harvested early March and looks as big and mean as Zin normally does. Some early harvested batches of Shiraz were also just about perfect, showing a wonderful balance between spice, red and black berries. In fact Shiraz overall seemed to survive well. This was somewhat of a surprise to us as normally the softer skin Shiraz doesn't respond as well to rain as the thicker skin Cabernet. Cabernet and Merlot flavour development were sluggish due to the prevailing mild conditions, it was unfortunate that hang time on the vine for flavour and tannin ripeness was interrupted by the rain.
The vintage is over, mother nature has once again decided the fate of our wines and now it is up to the winemakers to respond to the challenge of creating the wines that reflect the personality of the vintage and of course Cape Mentelle.


Vintage Report 2004
Each vintage has the uncanny ability to take on a personality all of its own, which I guess is the sum of all those nuances of weather coupled with the way grapevines and winemakers react to the prevailing climatic conditions.
Having seen a few vintages in Margaret River, I can safely say that although some were similar no two vintages have been identical. So the chances of making the same wine each year is about the same as picking the trifecta in the Melbourne Cup.
What is really nifty is how all these effects - weather, soil, aspect - not to forget the intervention of the winemaker, are echoed in the way the wine of each vintage tastes, rather like a vintage seismograph.
So, what was the weather like in 2004? Winter was a touch on the cold side: I do recall a never-ending firewood supply to keep the home fires burning. Temperatures in spring and summer were pleasantly mild to warm, while most nights required at least one blanket to snuggle. Things did get pretty hot around mid-to late March with a few scorchers thrown in for good measure, but by then the whites were all in tanks and the reds were knocking on the door of ripeness.
The growing season was marked by rather dry weather that lasted from mid-November right through to mid-April when the first decent bucketing of the rainy season hit. In fact, we only had a piddling of 50 to 100 mm of rain for the six months between November and mid-April, depending on where you were in the southwest.
Lack of rain was the biggest factor influencing the nature of the wine this vintage. But in my experience this usually augurs well for wine quality especially when combined with the generally mild to warm weather. Ripening was certainly slower than most vintages - up to seven days later than normal. Slower ripening will generally giver brighter, crisper wines providing the vines weren't too stressed. Irrigation was certainly a saviour this year, allowing the vines to maintain sufficient health to ripen.
Consequently, fruit flavours in both reds and whites are well defined, with terrific varietal expression and purity. The low rainfall and lower than normal yields had added complexity and intensity, particularly to the red wines.
Vintage ranking:1. 1991, 1995, 1999, 2001, 20042. 1994, 1996, 1998, 2002, 20033. 1992, 1993, 1997




Vintage Report 2003
Yet another relatively low rainfall winter in 2002 adds weight to the boffins' predictions of long-term climate change in the southwest of Western Australia. They base their claims on accumulated data and computer projections, but these can be put into perspective.
The historical annual average rainfall is 1100mm. In a year when we only get 950mm (as in 2002) the streams still flow, the water table is replenished and the dams are filled. If winter was a bit dry, the spring months of September, October and November were close to average. The weather was mild and encourages good vigorous growth. December is always an impatient month in the annual vineyards cycle, being the time when the flowers blossom and the berries set. This occurred in favorable conditions, which persisted through January, and it seemed we were set for a walk-up start to vintage. But such was not to be.
February was testy and unruly – hot, windy weather pushed the earlier varieties rapidly to ripeness. Harvest of chardonnay and sauvignon blanc commenced in late February, facilitated by the commissioning of a new harvester which brought the mechanical team to three. Speed and flexibility were needed early in the vintage and by the time there was a cool break in the second week of March all the whites were in.
The cool weather persisted for most of March and we took the harvest of the red varieties one day at a time. Every afternoon we dialled up the weather map and the forecast, a ritual that dominated decisions well into April. The red varieties took their time to reach full ripeness.
Patience, some courage and good logistics paid off. When vintage concluded on 22 April it was judged as difficult but ultimately successful. Results were more varied than usual but the better vineyards lived up to their pedigrees and we have some very good wines to work with.
Vintage ranking:1. 1991, 1995, 1999, 20012. 1994, 1996, 1998, 2002, 20033. 1992, 1993, 1997


Vintage Report 2002
For anyone with a half interest in the weather and its consequences (vignerons and other farmers included), the nightly barometric chart on telly takes on the same importance as the All Ordinaries Index to a stockmarket punter.
Over the years I've gained some prowess at interpreting the swirling lines that depict the fluxing pressure gradients in the lower atmosphere, which give you a glimpse over the horizon to the weather ahead.
The charts we watched for the duration of the 2001 winter gave us nothing but angst. They were more like patters we associate with summer. It was a chart showing low systems south of Cape Leeuwin that should have been closer to Geraldton, rainless south-westerlies off a cold ocean instead of the north-westerlies with their moisture-laden, alto-stratus clouds.
All this added up to the driest winter on record. When the vines commenced growing in spring, we were topping up the water table from the dam. Thanks God for plastic pipe!
Budburst was early and uneven, a pattern that persisted with strong but uneven shoot growth and protracted flowering. Chardonnay was most affected, but cabernet sauvignon suffered too.
Fortunately, the dry spell did not carry into spring and there was good rainfall throughout the growing season. Ripening progressed in mild, stable and near-perfect conditions. The resulting crop at Cape Mentelle was lighter than average and for such a cool year this was a distinct advantage.
Harvest was late, drawn out and logistically a cakewalk. The ever predictable rains in mid-March were light and fleeting. All in all it turned out to be a very good vintage.
Vintage ranking:1. 1991, 1995, 1999, 20012. 1994, 1996, 1998, 20023. 1992, 1993, 1997

Vintage Report 2001
The growing season started well and progressed through spring and early summer with conditions that were drier than normal but good for vines.
January produced some hot days and the heat, combined with low soil moisture set the scene for an early vintage. During February, the warm dry trend continued and we experienced five consecutive days in the high 30's, sending grape sugar levels up.

Vintage commenced 10 days early with the first merlot crushed at Cape Mentelle on March 7th. The first week of the red crush was busy but worrying. Sugar levels were skyrocketing, while flavour and tannin ripeness lagged seriously behind.
In the second week of March, light rains and cloudy days signalled the end of summer and the onset of true autumnal weather patterns, restoring ripeness development to normal patterns.
Through the remainder of March and until the final cabernet was crushed on April 12th, we picked grapes in peak condition with high sugar levels but with full flavour and tannin to balance the resulting alcohol.
Harvest concluded eight days earlier than in 2000 with a clear consensus that it had been another very good vintage.
Vintage Ranking: 1 - 1991/1995/1999 2 - 1992/1994/1996/1998 3 - 1993/1997
It is early days yet but 2001 will be an undisputed 2 for us at Cape Mentelle; and for some producers a genuinely top tier year.


Vintage Report 2000
This comprehensive Margaret River vintage overview was prepared by David Hohnen who ranks 2000 as an impressive year.Winters are notoriously mild in Margaret River. The warm Leeuwin current, with origins in equatorial zones, hugs the Western Australian coast as it heads south to mix with the Southern Ocean. It can't do much about the howling north-westerlies but it does ensure we never get frosts and that the growing season breaks early in September, compared to October in most other regions.This year winter seemed unwilling to let go. Bud-burst occurred in the second week of September but growth didn't really spurt till October.

November, the month of flowering, set the region up for a good crop. Unusually dry conditions with above average temperatures continued into December, resulting in strong but not totally desirable vegetative growth which necessitated extra work to trim runaway shoots and open the canopies.
January was unseasonably wet with more than 50mm of rain. February continued the pattern with another 28mm and periods of high humidity. Growing conditions were more than ideal and we prepared for a vintage two weeks ahead of normal.
Harvest commenced in mid-February with chardonnay preceding sauvignon blanc. As March rolled around some merlot was picked and some wineries started on cabernet.
Cyclone averted
The first week brought considerable cyclonic activity up north. Only Olga headed south with predictions of up to 200mm of rain for the Cape. Happily, and for the first time in memory, we were saved by a south-westerly cold front that blew Olga down to Albany.
The latter half of March was mild and dry and April was sublime. All the reds were picked in typical autumn conditions with excellent ripeness. The last cabernet came in on April 20th.
A good vintage? Certainly. A great vintage? Hard to call, but I am sure some great wines will be made.

Vintage Report 1999 by David Hohnen
Vintage 99 will be remembered for the pranks of a tempestuous trio - Elaine, Vance and Gwenda - a series of three tropical cyclones that struck the Top End, and could have had disastrous effect on the harvest.But let's start at the beginning. Bud-burst was late and the first signs of spring growth did not appear until late September. october provided good growing weather, as did November and flowering commenced on the 13th. A very good berry set laid the foundations for a bumper harvest. Each summer I grow grosse lisse tomatoes, an old-fashioned variety. Usually I pick the first ripe tomatoes by 30 December, but this year I had to wait until mid-January. So it was odds-on that the grape harvest would be late too.Vintage finally got underway on 26 February with chardonnay, followed by sauvignon blanc, then zinfandel. We had one tank of merlot in and shiraz in our sights when Cyclone Elaine showed up on the 17 March forecast. Within two days, we were experiencing cloud, humidity and scattered showers.Elaine had not even departed when Vance made his debut on 20 March and for another scary week the weather persisted. Brix levels fell back and the grapes hung in limbo, increasingly vulnerable to botrytis and grey rot.The skies cleared at the end of March and we got back into harvest mode. The machines were hardly cranked up when Gwenda rolled up on 5 April. Luckily, she was a slob, lacking the determination and energy of Elaine and Vance and we got off quite lightly. The balance of April was sublime, cabernet, merlot and shiraz regained their concentration and some great fruit was harvested.