May 2024 Newsletter
Editor’s note
We at Liner & Elsen love all our wines equally. Every Newsletter we select is full of great value wines, interesting and unusual wines, classic wines that remind us of why we got into the business in the first place. However, every now and then the stars align and we are able to offer a set of wines in a newsletter that that we remember for months afterward. This month of May is such a newsletter. Every one of these wines is a top-of-its-class stunner and we hope you have as much fun enjoying them as we had picking them.
The Wild Ones: four great wines from unexpected places
The floors of Quinta Varzea da Pedra are tiled. Azulejo tiles, with geometric patterns derived from Islamic motifs introduced during Spain’s 800 year Al-Andalus period, have long been a local specialty in and around Lisbon. The label of this wine is based on a real tile at the winery, and its vivid color and contrast neatly captures the wine inside. Tomas and Alberto Emidio farm organically in the ocean-scented vineyards of Óbidos, never add yeast, and age this blend of six parts Fernão Pires and four parts Arinto on the lees in steel tanks to give this flinty, mouthwatering bright wine an extra layer of texture. Aromas of waxy pear and apple with orange zest feature, with a steely note similar to Chenin Blanc. The palate is crackling with energy, surprisingly full, and tastes of fleshy apple and orange with hints of granite and the hardy herbs that grow out of the cracks in granite. Pair with shellfish in a broth for best results.
The border between Austria and Hungary looks wrong. It zigs and zags hither and to, an artificial line that once caused a fair amount of strife. For forty-odd years this little patch of sunny farmland around the town of Sopron was a loose seam in the Iron Curtain, and people on both sides preserved the memory of a time when there was no border at all. The Weninger family have been among the winemakers of Burgenland or Sopron rebuilding their ancient family properties that once straddled the border, and this Europaschian wine, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir from Hungary and Blaufrankisch and Zweigelt from Austria, is one happy result. A ‘Ponzichter’ was a person who grew beans between their grape vines in both Hungary and Austria, in a time when most vineyards were polycultural farms. This pale red gives a literal breath of fresh air, with aromas of red currant, red cherry, raspberry, pipe smoke, burnt orange peel, and wet clay. On the palate, cranberries and raspberries share time with kumquat, smoky soil, orange zest and white pepper, all bouncing merrily along on a sine wave of acidity. This is a chillable red for Charcuterie boards and the start of picnic season.
Mariona Vendrell and Albert Canela founded Succés Vinicola in 2011 when they were 20. A Succés in Catalan is an important event, and the founding of this Vinicola was certainly an important moment because Mariona and Albert are two of the more talented young winemakers in Spain. Focused on small parcels of native varieties far off the beaten path, their wines are all organic, natural, and named to evoke the character of the cuvee. Conca de Barbera is a diverse and rugged region in the mountains just north of Tarragona. The twin influences of mountains and ocean push and pull on the vines to make wines of tension beautifully expressed through the Trepat grape, thin skinned and vibrant. Cuca de Llum means Firefly in Catalan, and this wine dances with light and energy. Aromas of boysenberry, black raspberry, and lemon zest are layered with notes of chalky potting soil and pipe tobacco. The palate is plump, full of black berries and orange, earth and a bit of black forest peppered bacon, leading into a juicy, citrus lined finish. Buy at least two because the first bottle will leave you wanting more. Serve to friends alongside barbecue fare.
Blackcurrant, raspberry fruit leather, bay leaf, iron-streaked soil: aromas that rise effortlessly from the glass. Chalky earth and incense, orange zest and inky black cherry: flavors that stamp the palate and seem to linger longer than reasonable. These are the notes of Bodegas Aranleon’s newest edition of their core red wine, the Encuentro. The Utiel-Requena DO is named for two towns at the heart of a mid-mountain valley east of Valencia. At nearly 2000 feet, Bodegas Aranleon farms organically, and their favorite red grape Bobal produces a generous crop that – when farmed correctly – can produce a structured, multi-layered red that has much of the earth scented depth, full body, and class of Cabernet Sauvignon without much of the price tag. It is the standard red wine in Valencian cafés, indeed it is the third most popular red in Spain after Tempranillo and Garnacha. This is the choice for burgers and meaty pastas, for patatas bravas, croquetas, and empanadas, and for anything else calling for a hearty, rustic red.
The Innovators: New twists on established wine regions
There are a select few wineries in the world whose wines are always great, but sometimes rise to another level entirely. We’ve run out of adjectives to describe our love of Domaine Castera’s Jurançon Sec. Franck Lihour took over making his family’s wine after working at wineries all over the world, but it was while working at a wine shop in nearby Pau that he honed his palate towards the energetic style he’s now famous for. Great dry Jurançon has a spiritual kinship with Chenin Blanc: both wines offer tension between weight and energy, with aromas and flavors that seem to clamor over each other brash and loud but never able to drown out the rest. Petit and Gros Manseng are not related, but they work together perfectly, offering here aromas of apple sauce, acacia, preserved lemon, honeycomb, oregano, flint and fresh baked cornbread, before flavors of apples, pears, and baking spices that hit the palate like fireworks. Rich and creamy yet buzzing with acidity, the Castera leaves behind a gentle lilt of pears, apples and baking spice. This is a wine for a range of powerfully flavored foods, but duck is the iconic pair.
Jean Berthenet founded the family domaine in 1974, and for a quarter century the Berthenet family sold exclusively to the cooperative in the village of Buxy. His son and grandson Jean-Pierre and François began to make their own wine in 2001, Small amounts of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Aligote from the Cote Chalonnaise that offer much of the taste of Burgundy’s more famous vineyards at a fraction of the price. This Aligote is bright and cheerful, another reminder that there’s more than one white grape that enjoys Burgundy’s limestone clay soils. Aromas of Bartlett Pear and green apple, lemon cream, candied pineapple, and touch of pleasant reduction suggest a fresh wine. The palate confirms it, bright and linear without sharp edges, carrying flavors of fresh cut apples, lemons and salted almonds. The wine is fermented and aged in stainless steel to preserve a steely shine of limestone-derived minerality, and it would be a happy partner with salty canapés, potato dishes, clams, and white fish with beurre blanc.
Rioja as it is known today owes much to the French. During the slow-rolling invasion of Phylloxera through Europe’s vineyards, there was a period in the late 19th century when the louse had not yet crossed the Pyrenees. Bordeaux winemakers, their livelihoods in tatters, fled across the mountains to Rioja, bringing Bordeaux’s technical and commercial know-how to a region of small farms and family-sized bodegas. Olivier Rivière has come a century or so later, but he still comes to Rioja with a new French perspective. Though he is originally from Bordeaux, his approach to making Rioja is rooted in the Burgundian idea that the quality of wine is determined by the quality of the site rather than time spent in barrel. This Rayos Uva cuvee is his version of ‘bourgogne rouge’, drawn from diverse sites across Rioja. A blend of Tempranillo, Graciano, and Garnacha, it ages in a mix of concrete, steel, and neutral oak. You will not find Rioja’s stereotypical pickle and vanilla notes here, only fresh, deep black cherry and raspberry, subtle baking spices, dry sandy soil, and orange zest. Medium bodied, velvety textured, and a delightful pair with smoked meats.
Surprise is an underrated element in enjoying wine. Our sense experience of the world is heavily edited by our expectations, which is both good and necessary, lest we spend all our time marveling at the shapes of clouds. This applies to wine too; when we see a bottle of red wine from Umbria, experience tells us to expect a tar-black wine full of wrought iron tannins and stern black fruit. Angelo Fongoli makes a very different wine with his biodynamically farmed Sangiovese and Montepulciano grapes from vineyards in Montefalco. This wine breaks through that veil of expectation, and thus shines just a bit brighter in the glass. It tastes just a bit sharper of black pepper, crunchy red cherries, dewey cranberries and strawberries. There are delicate notes of shiitake mushroom broth and sun-dried tomato leaf that resonate because they are so unexpected. The palate registers at 11.5% alcohol, and offers more fresh picked red berries, dusty earth, dried herbs, and a gentle squeeze of tannin – this is still Umbria, after all – on the finish. This is a perfect wine for a fresh Margarita Pizza, but it will serve well for almost any Italian dish from Sicily to Piedmont.
The Classics: Sometimes the classics are classic for a reason
Before you pull out a map to find Auxerre, Let us preface. This was once a vital source of Chardonnay for Paris, situated on a river network that gave Auxerre’s port the shortest route to the city of any wine region in France. Auxerre is right next to Chablis, and while today it is less densely planted, there are still vineyards in these softly rolling hills, and growers who did not abandon them when railroads connected Paris with the Loire and the Rhone. Pascal Sorin’s family remained: he is the 18th generation to make wine here, and he maintains a minimalist approach to making this bright, clear headed Chardonnay. Nothing is added, nothing is taken away, from the vine to the bottle, and the cool climate and clay and limestone soils give this wine unusual tension. It shows aromas lifted right out of the wine guide of apple butter, orange blossom, lemon curd and crème brûlée. The palate doubles down on the zesty orange and crisp lemon fruit, with salty brioche on the finish. There’s a creaminess to it but the acidity keeps the wine buoyant and crisp. A perfect match for the roast chicken and mushroom cream dishes on page 1 of the Chardonnay pairing guide.
We’re pretty sure this is the best Muscadet we’ve tasted all year at L&E. We have had many Muscadets that perfectly check all the boxes on Muscadet’s list: fresh, bright, salty, creamy textured with flavors of apple and lemon, but Jérémie Huchet’s Muscadets check those boxes with a John Hancock flourish. Jérémie is among a growing cadre of Muscadet makers bringing more focus to the terroir of the region. Les Montys Le Parc is a single vineyard defined by a rare form of black granite mixed with sand, and brings incandescent minerality to a wine Jérémie believes should be ‘Cru’ rated. There’s aromas of lemon balm, gooseberry, lavender, violet and bee pollen. There’s flavors of creamy lemon curd, orange zest, and salty granite-derived earth notes that linger endlessly on the finish. The Melon grape conveys terroir with the clarity of Dolby surround sound speakers, and when they’re organically grown in great vineyards these grapes have a lot to say. Shellfish, regular fish, and most things served under hollandaise sauce are the classic pairs, but one of Muscadet’s best virtues is versatility.
Fresh strawberries and nectarines here, sprigs of cherry blossoms, and white pepper there, a clutch of Mediterranean herbs like lavender and sage everywhere. This light bottle of springlike refreshment is both peachy and keen, a sun-kissed herald of better weather. La Patience is named for a particular herb - an ingredient of the garrigue tapestry of the Mediterranean coast - that grows throughout Christophe Aguilar’s family estate in the Pont du Gard region of central Languedoc. The vineyards have been farmed organically since 2007, and their oak-free treatment at the winery perfectly preserves the fresh, crisp fruits and flowers in their Grenache and Cinsault grapes. There’s a lot to love in this wine, including how easy it is to pair with food. Sharp cheeses and heavily spiced charcuterie, seafood pastas or ceviche, small bites featuring olives and other briny flavors, it’s all there on the menu for this powerfully flavored but delicately structured Rose.
Catherine Maisonneuve and Mathieu Cosse came to Cahors in 1999 with long established winemaking careers in other parts of France. Catherine worked at Bordeaux’s Leoville Las Casses, and Mathieu trained at Chateau La Coste in Provence. In Cahors, their vineyards are on the upland limestone Causses, plateaus once densely planted to Malbec before the ravages of Phylloxera, frost, and war reduced the appellation to a shadow of what was – in the 14th century – considered France’s finest wine. Today, Casse Maisonneuve is part of a renaissance in Cahors, making a finer grained, more elegant and more diverse style of Malbec. Le Combal has the iron-scented power and foursquare structure of traditional Cahors, but the blackcurrant and cherry fruit shines fresh and pure through notes of pipe smoke, clay, black rose petals and bitter herbs. The tannins are a densely planted hedge but not a thorny one, carrying flavors of pastille, currant, and black plum. Acidity is enough to keep the wine from becoming a chore, and the finish features roses and dried fruits. Roast beast, steak, and duck are all on this menu.
Statera
Luke Wylde and Meredith Bell are winemakers who believe in Chardonnay. Statera is the product of their belief that this grape has only begun to tap its potential in Oregon. They source from some of the very best sites in the Willamette Valley and turn the volume all the way up in the cellar to make wines both intense and well defined.
A blend of Chardonnay with another 'Bourgogne' grape, Melon. Sourced from the cool Elkton AVA in the Umpqua Valley.
A wine from the Royer Vineyard with just a touch of color from extra skin contact.
Chardonnay from one of the most famous vineyards in the valley, a classic wine.
Johan Vineyard Chardonnay over time. This is a Solera-method wine, a blend of four vintages. Lots of time on the lees makes this one broad, energetic, and powerfully flavored.