Pineau d'Aunis planted@Le Clos Roussely, Saint-George-sur-Cher in 1905
Although Touraine producers may be opting for a very restrictive range of permitted grape varieties, elsewhere in the world producers and consumers are celebrating the grape's range and diversity. See this article by Huon Hooke, one of Australia's leading wine writers.
Varietals are the spice of life
Huon Hooke
August 24, 2010
It wasn't the shirazes or merlots that stood out at the Boutique Wine Awards but the rarer types of grape.
In Australia's vineyards, 72 per cent of vines grow shiraz, cabernet, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc grapes. That leaves 28 per cent for the other 100 or so varieties we grow.
Read the rest here: http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/top-drop/varietals-are-the-spice-of-life-20100823-13dqw.html
3 comments:
Huon, say you ? Tell me about being prejudiced. Never travelled “Down Under”, no good chips (= French Fries) to be found there. Hence, “Dunno the chappie”. Thought was a kind of “Hu Hong” with a broad epicanthal fold, as judged by the proximity of Asia and its plains and rivers. But no: Huon is similar to Hugh, Hugues, Hue and originates in “Huonis”. Thank God, he’s “one of us”, as a snapshot on the web confirms. Exit my bloody racist mistake, here comes a sound reaction.
It’s not the varietals (= varietal wines) that are the spice of life (but they may become the sinews of war, unfortunately), it’s the varieties (= cultivars) themselves.
For the rest, Mr Hooke is right.
Some stand alone pretty well, some are made for blending. Is it true?
Poor old solitary syrah is a beauty in the hands of, say, Thierry Allemand or Jean-Louis Chave, and mostly bland and dull without a partner in the plains of Herault or the modest undulations of Alentejo.
Mourvèdre thrills me when Agnès Henry (La Tour du Bon), Jean-Marie Castel (Lafran-Veyrolles) or Richard Auther (La Courtade) use it ; but equally so whether they make varietal mourvèdre cuvée’s or on the contrary blend it with grenache, cinsault or, for that matter, even carignan.
Even my beloved riesling, undisputedly the Emperor, the Kaiser of all white cultivars (I’m a cheat), can accept a partner, as in Marc Kreydenweiss’ “vins gentils”. I don’t willingly forget you, Mr. Deiss, but I like Marc better.
Bonjour Luc:
'Yeah, we're jammin, jammin / I wanna jam it with you / We're jammin, jammin / I'm jammin, I hope you're jammin too .'
Jam ...aica ? (‘cos Jah(m)’s the Savior).
Traffic Jam ?
Jam future, I hope.
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