Noella Morantin Touraine Gamay

A few days ago I got together with friends for a terrific meal at a neighborhood Chinese restaurant. I brought a newly released Gamay from the Loire because no red goes better with Chinese (Cantonese in particular) cuisine than Gamay. Gamay's tartness and fruity sour cherry flavors go with practically any Chinese dish, including steamed fish! Yet, I have a weakness for pork so I ordered barbecue pork cheeks. The sweet tender slices were heavenly with the Gamay.

The particular Gamay I drank was Noella Morantin's 2013 Touraine Gamay "La Boudinerie", which was fitting since she made this as a vin de soif to go with cochonailles. "Boudinerie" is the name of the farm she rents where she has her cellar. Perhaps they used to make blood sausage there, too.

After years working at Domaine Les Bois Lucas, in 2009 she jumped on the opportunity to lease a good chunk of vineyards from nearby Clos Roche Blanche, which was downsizing and now totally retired. She is helped by Laurent Saillard, who used to operate a restaurant in New York, then decided to go back to France to work at Clos Roche Blanche, then at Noella Morantin's domaine. Laurent is also leasing vines from Clos Roche Blanche and has started to produce wines on his own.

Noella's Gamay is beautifully crafted. I'm not sure how old the Gamay vines are but they probably have some age since they were from Clos Roche Blanche. Noella does partial whole cluster fermentation--maybe 60%--and vinifies with natural yeasts and no additives. She adds minimal sulfites during the one racking but none at all afterwards even at bottling.

This 2013 Gamay has a fresh and wild expression, a rawness for sure, and an edge. It would be interesting to see how it ages, but for now I love its savage charm--goes well with the bbq pork.

Vin de France Gamay "La Boudinerie", Noella Morantin 2013 $23.00

Weekend Tasting: 6th and 7th March 2015

A couple of new Gamays just arrived, one from the Loire and the other from Beaujolais. Come and taste these new arrivals this Friday and Saturday, Mar. 6th & 7th 12pm-5pm. Tasting is complimentary.

Simon Tardieux worked with Catherine Roussel and Didier Barrouillet at Clos Roche Blanche in the Touraine region of the Middle Loire. Without any vineyards, he teamed up with Alain Courtault who was just in the process of converting his vines to organic farming. Together these two are crafting delicious, unpretentious thirst wines or vin de soif at very affordable prices. The 2011 Gamay is made naturally, with native yeasts and without additives and just a small dose of sulfites at bottling.

Nicolas Testard trained at Domaine Prieure-Roch and with his close friend, Frederic Cossard, two of the very few natural wine producers in the Cote d'Or. Prieure-Roch is owned by Henri Roch, one of the co-owners of DRC and a nephew of Lalou Bize-Leroy. After his Burgundy stints Testard went back to Beaujolais and started his own domaine making affordable thirst wines or vins de soif with little intervention: no additives and no added sulfites. The 2014 Beaujolais-Villages Primeur is a Nouveau wine released late last year for immediate enjoyment.

TASTING FEATURE:

Beaujolais-Villages Primeur, Nicolas Testard 2014 $14.00

Touraine Gamay, Domaine Courtault-Tardieux 2011 $16.00

Gamay of the Purest Quality

Henry Marionnet has long been regarded as the best producer of Gamay wines in the Loire. He firmly believes that Gamay grows best in the Touraine. He replanted the Gamay vines in his estate in 1967 using selection massale. Situated at the highest elevation in the Touraine, the vineyard, with its clay, flinty soils, has the perfect terroir and microclimate for Gamay.

Marionnet farms organically and allows grass to grow as cover crop to control the vigor of the vines. He always picks late and at maximum ripeness using small baskets to bring in the fruit. He always vinify with natural yeasts and does not chaptalize or apply sulphites or other additives in the winemaking. Only minimal sulphites are added during bottling. However, in the case of one wine, the Première Vendange, there is no addition of sulphites at all!

Henry Marionnet's 2011 Première Vendange is 100% Gamay from selection massale vines planted in 1967 and 1968. It is a tribute to the first wines made by Man and so is completely natural. No sulphites or any additives were added during vinification and bottling. The wine was vinified using only natural yeast and was not chaptalized. Only a light filtration was done before bottling.

Elegant and charmingly fruity. The purity and transparencey of flavors taste absolutely refreshing!


Touraine Rouge "Premiere Vendange", Henry Marionnnet (Domaine de la Charmoise) 2011 $20.00 (click to buy!)