Selection Massale

Selection Massale Montilla-Moriles 1905 Offering 2011
Bodegas Pérez-Barquero, Montilla Spain

This is an offering that won't come along too often given that is a drinkable, incredible wine older than anyone reading this, and I'll keep it short because there is microscopic quantities of it.

Perez-Barquero 1905

When Perez-Barquero was founded in 1905 they began the difficult, long term task of building a solera, the traditional way of aging sherry.  To mark the occasion they took three barrels, one of Amontillado, one of Oloroso, and one of Pedro-Ximenez and put them aside to age.  One hundred years later, to mark the anniversary, they took these barrels out and bottled them, releasing 1000 of each to the public (you can read about the Bodegas below)

Unlike some bottles of this nature, these are not, however, simply relics to be shown off.  When we drank them last year with José Pastor they had all evolved into something quite special.  they have taken on more oxidation, but stylistically they are quite separate, the Amontillado still retains the finesse and complexity that the younger versions show, the Oloroso force, the PX tastes like, well, something incredibly unique itself.  If you are a serious sherry fan this is a rare oppurtunity to taste something like this.  We are only selling these right now as 3-packs because we would really like them to go to someone who will appreciate them for what they are and get to know all three bottles (originally the 3-pack was priced at $1500+). 

Bodegas Perez-Barquero 1905 500ml Vintage 3-pack: SOLD OUT

And for those interested, we still have the following current release Montilla's available from Perez-Barquero.

Bodegas Perez-Barquero Fino 500ml: $10.00
Made from the first pressing of the grapes, the mosto de yema this wine differs from Sherry in that it has never been fortified, the sugar content in Pedro-Ximenez allowing for the wine to reach higher alcohol content naturally.  An exceptionally bright, nutty, complex, fresh style of this type of wine.  I was talking with José and he mentioned that, contrary to what a lot of people do, these wines are best consumed the night after opening.

Bodegas Perez-Barquero Oloroso 500ml: $11.00
From the secondray colored pressing of the juice, the mostos de recorte.  This wine is fermented and then fortified to around 18% alcohol, and then put into barrel.  The strong fortification makes the formation of a flor impossible, and the wine in turn becomes more intensely oxidized.  There is more force and directness in this wine than the fino or the amontillado.

Bodegas Perez-Barquero 2 Pack (Fino and Oloroso): 20.00

When Guilhaume and I first started working together at Terroir one of the things that we instantly figured out was that both of us were enamored of the strange suite of wines from all over Europe that were intentionally oxidized by their producers.  We would sit around with bottles of Sherry, or Vin-Jaune, or ancient Riojas, drinking slowly, enjoying what to many people is still intentionally flawed wine.  To us it was heaven.

Some of the wines we were most interested in were the wines of Bodegas Pérez-Barquero that Guilhaume had purchased from Spanish wine importer José Pastor, who has now offered us the last of his stock of the wines to sell to you (he is no longer importing them).  We couldn't be happier about this first foray for Selection Massale into the wines of Spain, especially coming from an importer we know and trust like José.  Bodegas Pérez-Barquero is located in the Denominación de Origen of Montilla-Moriles in Andalusia, which is slightly northeast of Jerez, the region famed for sherry.  This closeness is important because at first the wines from Montilla-Moriles can be easily  mistaken for the wines of sherry given the similar styles of elevage to produce the unmistakably oxidized wines the region is famous for.  The main difference is that in Jerez the main grape is the light, slightly saline grape Palomino, while in Montilla-Moriles the grape used is Pedro-Ximenez, which is also used in both regions to create a thick sweet wine that is bottled under the name Pedro-Ximenez, or simply "PX."

Bodegas Perez-Barquero began their first solera, the traditional barrel aging system used to create these wines, in 1905 and has been continually operating it since then, meaning a tiny fraction of the wine is over 100 years old.  The grapes are all picked from their vineyards located around Sierra de Montilla and Moriles Alto (considered two of the best sub-zones in the region) and they are grown on nearly bone white chalky/limestone soil known as Albarizas, which is the preferred soil for Pedro-Ximenez.  After the wines are picked, pressed and fermented they then go into the top layer of barrels in the solera, the unique barrel aging process that gives both Sherry and Montilla their depth.  The finos are then allowed to age under a layer of flor yeast, which keeps them from turning into vinegar and slowly moved down from the top barrels, which hold the newest wines, to the bottom barrels, with each layer retaining some older wines.  When they finally reach the lowest level they are then bottled and the younger wine behind them moves down meaning it isn't uncommon (like in this instance) to have a mixture of wines dating back over a century in the bottle.  (For more information on this process look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solera).

The soleras at Perez-Barquero

This wine is set to arrive in our warehouse from Josés tempertature controlled warehouse in the next couple of days, and will be shipping out this Spring.  José uses the same temperature control door to door that we do.  It will be available for pickup at the end of this week.

Selection Massale Montilla-Moriles Offering 2011
Bodegas Pérez-Barquero, Montilla Spain

When Guilhaume and I first started working together at Terroir one of the things that we instantly figured out was that both of us were enamored of the strange suite of wines from all over Europe that were intentionally oxidized by their producers.  We would sit around with bottles of Sherry, or Vin-Jaune, or ancient Riojas, drinking slowly, enjoying what to many people is still intentionally flawed wine.  To us it was heaven.

Some of the wines we were most interested in were the wines of Bodegas Pérez-Barquero that Guilhaume had purchased from Spanish wine importer José Pastor, who has now offered us the last of his stock of the wines to sell to you (he is no longer importing them).  We couldn't be happier about this first foray for Selection Massale into the wines of Spain, especially coming from an importer we know and trust like José.  Bodegas Pérez-Barquero is located in the Denominación de Origen of Montilla-Moriles in Andalusia, which is slightly northeast of Jerez, the region famed for sherry.  This closeness is important because at first the wines from Montilla-Moriles can be easily  mistaken for the wines of sherry given the similar styles of elevage to produce the unmistakably oxidized wines the region is famous for.  The main difference is that in Jerez the main grape is the light, slightly saline grape Palomino, while in Montilla-Moriles the grape used is Pedro-Ximenez, which is also used in both regions to create a thick sweet wine that is bottled under the name Pedro-Ximenez, or simply "PX."

Bodegas Perez-Barquero began their first solera, the traditional barrel aging system used to create these wines, in 1905 and has been continually operating it since then, meaning a tiny fraction of the wine is over 100 years old.  The grapes are all picked from their vineyards located around Sierra de Montilla and Moriles Alto (considered two of the best sub-zones in the region) and they are grown on nearly bone white chalky/limestone soil known as Albarizas, which is the preferred soil for Pedro-Ximenez.  After the wines are picked, pressed and fermented they then go into the top layer of barrels in the solera, the unique barrel aging process that gives both Sherry and Montilla their depth.  The finos are then allowed to age under a layer of flor yeast, which keeps them from turning into vinegar and slowly moved down from the top barrels, which hold the newest wines, to the bottom barrels, with each layer retaining some older wines.  When they finally reach the lowest level they are then bottled and the younger wine behind them moves down meaning it isn't uncommon (like in this instance) to have a mixture of wines dating back over a century in the bottle.  (For more information on this process look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solera).

The soleras at Perez-Barquero

Bodegas Perez-Barquero Fino 500ml: $10.00
Made from the first pressing of the grapes, the mosto de yema this wine differs from Sherry in that it has never been fortified, the sugar content in Pedro-Ximenez allowing for the wine to reach higher alcohol content naturally.  An exceptionally bright, nutty, complex, fresh style of this type of wine.  I was talking with José and he mentioned that, contrary to what a lot of people do, these wines are best consumed the night after opening.

Bodegas Perez-Barquero Amontillado 500ml: SOLD OUT
Amontillado develops when a cask of fino fails to develop a complete flor (some producers force this effect on the wine, but Perez-Barquero still lets it happen naturally and the results are tremendous).  After that the wine is lightly fortified to stabilize it against strong oxidation.  Several casks of this were recently used to make Equipos Navazos La Bota de Fino Amontillado "Montilla" #24, for you sherry connoisseurs.  We have a very limited quantity of this particular wine.

Bodegas Perez-Barquero Oloroso 500ml: $11.00
From the secondray colored pressing of the juice, the mostos de recorte.  This wine is fermented and then fortified to around 18% alcohol, and then put into barrel.  The strong fortification makes the formation of a flor impossible, and the wine in turn becomes more intensely oxidized.  There is more force and directness in this wine than the fino or the amontillado.

Bodegas Perez-Barquero 2 Pack (Fino and Oloroso): 20.00

Bodegas Perez-Barquero 3 Pack (Fino, Amontillado, and Oloroso): SOLD OUT

This wine is set to arrive in our warehouse from Josés tempertature controlled warehouse in the next couple of days, and will be shipping out this Spring.  José uses the same temperature control door to door that we do.  It will be available for pickup at the end of this week.

Selection Massale Loire Offerings 2011
Frantz Saumon of Domaine Frantz Saumon/Un Saumon dans la Loire

Correction: On my last email I said "with the addition of any yeast" which should read "without the addition of any yeast" since Dominique has never had use for cultured yeast.

Our final offer from Frantz Saumon is an easy one, a wine to toast the first shipment of wine into our warehouses (and to you not long afterwards).  It's a springtime petillant-naturel with a comic label and a slightly naughty name "La Petite Gaule du Matin." (You'll have to ask your French friends what that means, but please, not in mixed company).  The wine is made from the same Menu Pineau as Frantz's still Menu Pineau offered earlier, sourced from a vineyard in Loir-et-Cher owned by farmer Phillipe Bougré (Phillipe doesn't make wines, and he supplies grapes to some of the most exciting producers in the Loire, including Thierry Puzelat and Herve Villemade).  Petillant-naturel, for those who don't know, is a type of sparkling wine made entirely with indigenous yeast and using only one fermentation instead of the two that give Champagne its sparkle.  This is done by cooling down the wine in tank before the wine is completely dry, and then allowing it to complete fermentation in the bottle.  It's appeal to many of the young naturalist vignerons in France (many inspired by Loire stalwart Christian Chaussard, or Cho-Co to his friends, who was Frantz's teacher starting out, we also suggest Pascal Potaire, Thierry Puzelat and the Preambulles from Causse-Marines) is the ability to make a sparkling wine without the need to resort to a champagnisateur.  What the result is a slightly sparkling aperitif wine (this one clocks in at 12.5% alcohol) that is all the rage in France right now. 

The great label (which will become perfectly clear once you know the correct translation) is the character Jean-Claude Tergal done by Didier Tronchet who is a friend of Frantz's, as well as a very well known comic and political artist (

Un Saumon dans la Loire "La Petite Gaule du Matin" Petillant Natural: $17.49
This is everything a spring wine should be.  Light, acidic, sparkling, fresh or, as Guilhaume likes to say, a quaffer, not an ager, but still one of the best we've tried.  Drink now until the Summer, and I promise you won't have any left.  Though this is technically classified non-vintage, the fruit is all from the 2009 vintage.

And for comparison, the still wine from the earlier offer:

2009 Un Saumon dans la Loire Menu Pineau: $15.59

To place an order simply reply to this email or email quantities you wish to order, or if you have any questions regarding the wines or shipping/pickup:  list@selectionmassale.com

This wine is set to arrive directly from Frantz's cellar today and will ship in the spring.

We also have a archive of our past orders in case anyone missed anything since the list is growing so fast.  It is located here: http://selectionmassale.com/blog/

Shipping/Pickup Update:  Our first wines will begin arriving in our warehouse April 1st (this should be official by now) and will continue to arrive throughout April.  We will ship as soon as you have a full case unless you tell us otherwise, in which case we will ship as soon as your wine arrives, or if you are local you can pickup anytime after the wine arrives (please email us at cory@selectionmassale.com beforehand so we can put your order together).  I will begin sending people invoices next week and you can tell me then when we should ship.   We will try our hardest to avoid any inclement weather that will damage your wines in transit.  If you want to us hold your wine for pickup, please let me know.  You must be completely paid up for local pickup.  I will provide more details for loacal pickup as soon as the wine arrives.  We cannot sell wine onsite.

Selection Massale Savoie Offering 2011
Dominique and Patrick Belluard, Domaine Belluard, Haute-Savoie France

Gringet at Le Baratin

So there we were in Belleville, in the north of Paris,  late at night sitting at a table at the famed restaurant Le Baratin.  After a few glasses of champagne Guilhaume's friend Bertrand (formerly of L'Arpège and L'Agapé in Paris) starts talking about this producer we have to see in the Haute-Savoie who was doing something special with a nearly extinct grape.  Pinuche, the serious owner of Le Baratin agrees and goes directly into his cellar for a bottle of Domaine Belluard's Gringet.  We were hooked, and two weeks later, miles out of our way, freezing cold, and standing in the middle of some of the most dramatic vineyard landscape you'll ever see (the picture below doesn't do it justice) we were thinking that, yes, something special is going on here.

Looking towards the Belluard's domaine

In a land survey from 1730 the total acreage in Ayse was estimated to be 375 hectares.  After the repeated blows from Oïdium, Phyloxerra, and the two world wars, in 1955 there was only 40 hectares, seven years later the number was down to a mere nineteen.  It was in this time of what must have seemed to be the end of the local wine industry that the Belluards began making wine.  In 1947 Dominique's grandfather began farming land around Ayse, growing a mixture of fruit trees and grapes, primarily the incredibly rare indigenous grape Gringet.  this continued until the 1980s when Dominique, fresh from oenology school returned and made Gringet's fate his own.  Since then he has worked tirelessly in this small commune to grow, protect and promote Gringet, which is grown on only twenty two hectares of land worldwide, of which he owns twelve.

Dominique's entire philosophy of winemaking is based upon getting the best expression of  Gringet on his terroirs.  Gringet (which contrary to what some people believe is not Traminer/Savagnin according to DNA testing) is perfectly at home on the southern exposed slopes around Ayse.  The grape, which ripens late, requires enough sun during the day to prevent the frost that plagues the region.   In 2001 Dominique decided to convert his vineyards to biodynamics, which he feels interferes the least with the some seven hundred years of history (that we know of, some people speculate that Gringet pre-dates the roman influence in the area) between the land and the vines that grew there.   When he didn't like what wood was doing to his wines, he got rid of the barrels he was trying out and moved to stainless steel.  Later he decided that perhaps fermenting his wines in larger volumes wasn't doing justice to his individual parcels he decided to invest in concrete eggs (for his white wines) and clay amphorae (for his tiny plot of Mondeuse) to ferment his wines, a process he is still in the middle of.

Belluard's concrete eggs

2009 Domaine Belluard "Le Feu" 750 ml:  $36.60
100% Gringet selected from Belluard's oldest vines in his best vineyard.  The wine is all grown on iron rich clay whose red color gives the wine its name.  This vineyard is located on a forty degree grade, giving it maximum exposure to the sun and Dominique keeps yields low to ensure quality.  Elevage is done is small concrete eggs with the addition of any yeast, and sulfur addition is kept to a minimum.  Even with all these advantages Le Feu is made only in vintages which Dominique considers exemplary.  This is bright, mineral driven, fresh, textured wine with a long beautiful finish.  there is no attempt made to bring opulence to this wine, it still remains lean and tightly structured despite the complexity.  These wines can cellar from 6-10 years, or perhaps longer. Le Feu is Dominique's top wine and as such we have a very small allocation.

2007 Domaine Belluard Ayse Brut "Méthode Traditionelle"  750ml:  $20.57
100% sparkling Gringet grown in limestone scree from the nearby moutain range of Chablais.   The elevage for this wine is done in house, unlike many people making sparkling wine outside of Champagne Dominique does not bring any of his wine to a champagnisateur, opting instead to do all the work himself, a considerable financial investment.  The wine is made méthode champenoise and spends 2 years on the lees prior to disgorgement.  This is the wine Dominique makes the most of (Ayse used to produce mostly sparkling) and it is perhaps the wine that best translates the minerality and freshness that Gringet brings.  These are some of the most serious sparkling wines we've come across in all of France and would suggest laying some down for 2-4 years as they develop beautifully.

To place an order simply reply to this email or email quantities you wish to order, or if you have any questions regarding the wines or shipping/pickup:  list@selectionmassale.com

This wine is set to arrive directly from Domaine Belluard in late April/early May and will ship in the spring weather permitting, or in the fall.

We also have a archive of our past orders in case anyone missed anything since the list is growing so fast.  It is located here: http://selectionmassale.com/blog/

Shipping/Pickup Update:  Our first wines will begin arriving in our warehouse March 31st (this should be official by now) and will continue to arrive throughout April.  We will ship as soon as you have a full case unless you tell us otherwise, in which case we will ship as soon as your wine arrives, or if you are local you can pickup anytime after the wine arrives (please email us beforehand).  I will begin sending people invoices next week and you can tell me then when we should ship.   We will try our hardest to avoid any inclement weather that will damage your wines in transit.  If you want to us hold your wine for pickup, please let me know.  You must be completely paid up for local pickup.  I will provide more details for loacal pickup as soon as the wine arrives.  We cannot sell wine onsite.