Selection Massale

Selection Massale Jura Offering 2010
Gregory Monnier of Domaine Gregory Monnier Cuvée "Dilemme" 2007

Gregory with a pan of the wax for bottling

The vignerons we search out and work with are people whose whole lives are tied up with wine.  It isn't merely a job for them it is an all encompassing life, the work is tied up with the land, and the end result isn't simply an agricultural product, it  is tied to an entire (as one vigneron friend succinctly puts it) a "culture of wine."  They view wine not only as a an alcoholic beverage but something with roots in the place it was made, with the people who make it, and the history of both.  Some are simply the newest in a line of vignerons stretching back generations, like the Dupasquiers and Lenoirs, and others like Edouard Laffitte and Gregory Monnier are new to this culture of wine, working in remote areas on terroirs rarely heard of outside the nearby villages to bring back something they feel has been lost.  None of them are rich, and none of them ever expect to become rich bottling wine.  You need investors and brands for that, these are farmers. 

While traveling through France one of the things that stood out most about these small farmers was their willingness to abandon certain wines, vineyards, or whole vintages when the land didn't give them fruit to make the quality of the wines they want in any given year.  It is remarkable that these vignerons, most of whom rely on no more than a handful of hectares, could sell off fruit or drop it on the ground when many other wineries in the use every trick in the book to churn out product.  The flipside to this is that many good vignerons are able to coax something special from so called "bad" years by cutting back, selling fruit, and ultimately making less wine.  In 2007 Gregory Monnier did just that, decided that the tricks weren't worth it, and cut his production drastically.

Gregory's newest vineyard

2007 overall was a good year in the Jura, but when the weather where Gregory's vineyards are located didn't cooperate and hail destroyed some of the crop and damaged much of  what was left, he took the fruit he wasn't happy with and sold it off.  Keeping only what he thought were the best grapes from his scattered vineyards .  So instead of making his usual 7-9 cuvées broken down by variety, vineyard and style, he made one, cuvée "Dilemme" or translated simply "Dilemma" which he named in honor of the bind his vineyards put him in that year (which reminds me a bit of Paolo Bea, after dumping most of his fruit in 2002, writing "Difficult, But Surprising"on the label of his Rosso de Veo, his only wine that year).  What was left was a tiny parcel of some of the best wine Gregory has made so far.

This wine is set to arrive in March and ship in the spring.  Quantities are somewhat limited on this wine, but I think I have enough for everyone.

Selection Massale Roussillon Offering 2010
Edouard Laffite, Le Bout du Monde, Languedoc-Roussillon

Edouard's Old Growth Carignane in LaTour de France

Le Bout du Monde.  The end of the world.  The place where ships fall off the map.  If there is an equivalent to this in the French wine world, it is certainly Lansac, a tiny village in the Côtes-du-Roussilon.  This is a landscape that is so remote that old growth vines of 80+ years on steep hillsides go for half as much as flat vineyards which the large industrial growers can spray and machine harvest.  It is a land where it is still hard to sell good wine because the reputation of the region has been marred by these same industrial growers.   It is here in Lansac that Edouard Laffite and two other young winemakers have rehabilitated an abandoned wine cooperative to fly their flag and reclaim this region for drinkable wine.

When we arrived in Lansac after driving through increasingly smaller and smaller towns, a grinning Edouard greeted us, his shirt emblazoned with the word "picole" which, in French slang means "to drink." If Edouard has a philosophy it is this, "to drink." Bringing back wines that are simple, unpretentious, ready to drink but still made with care.  He walked us through the reclaimed cooperative, which he and his small band of like minded vignerons are quite proud of revitalizing, bringing back that sense of community and fraternity that the co-op was meant to stand for.  It is a place, musty with almost 60 years of winemaking smells, that puts a smile on your face, even before you taste the wines.  Here Edouard has a small office in one of the enormous blending cuves, in other cuves old barrels are stacked, in others wine is being made.  It is a place being rewritten.

Edouard, who began his career working at the famed cave coopérative d’Estézargues, has a total of six hectares split amongst 5 villages near Lansac (Lansac, Rasiguères, Lesquerdes, Cassagnes et Latour de France), all of which are composed of old growth vines of  varieties common to the area.  The vineyards are only plowed, Edouard doesn't have to use any sort of treatments and the wines are vinified according to their soil type (shale, gneiss and granit).  The wines are macerated by full or semi carbonic methods and then go into old barriques.  The Hop 'La is a blend of Grenache and Syrah grown on gneiss.  L'Ecume des Jours is made from LLadoner Pelut (a rare Catalonian variety similiar to Grenache), Carignan and Syrah grown on shale and vinified partially full carbonic and partially semi-carbonic.  They are reminiscent of the wines from Domaine Gramenon, which Edouard respects a great deal.  Neither wine has any hint of extraction, of high alcohol, they aren't marked by wood or other tricks to fatten the wine.  These are fresh light examples of grape varieties that in the south of France are so often asked to make thick, soupy wines.  In Guilhaume's words these are "wines for pleasure."  They are wines to take to friends house, wines for barbecues.  I don't want to under sell them, these are exceptionally well made wines from one of the regions new crop of conscientious growers, it is just that when I drink these are the types of wines I reach for, and I think after you try them you'll feel the same way.

The wines are set to arrive in March and ship in the spring.  We have limited quantities of these wines so please let me know soon what you would like and I will allocate.

2009 Le Bout du Monde Hop'La 750ml:  $17.87
A blend of Grenache and Syrah grown on gneiss. Full carbonic maceration and further elevage in old wooden barrels.  A quintessential "drink me now"wine.
2009 Le Bout du Monde L'Ecume des Jours 750ml: $18.71
LLadoner Pelut (a rare Catalonian variety similiar to Grenache), Carignan and Syrah grown on shale and vinified partially full carbonic and partially semi-carbonic. A bit more serious perhaps but no less fresh and beautiful.

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:  list@selectionmassale.com

Frantz Saumon, "Un Saumon dans La Loire"

In addition to his tiny production Montlouis, which is between 15,000 and 18,000 bottles per year (a truly small amount in wine terms) Frantz Saumon also makes wines under his négociant label, "Un Saumon dans la Loire."  Over the years this label has given Frantz an opportunity to stretch his legs and experiment with a number of varieties and appellations from around the Loire valley.  Purchasing fruit from vineyards and growers that follow his strict organic protocols

These are wines that are meant to be drunk right now, vin-de-soif as opposed to the vin-de-garde of Frantz's Montlouis wines.  The Menu Pineau, 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 producer in the Loire, inclding Thierry Puzelat and Herve Villemade), are perfect springtime wines, light fruit with palate cleansing acidity.  The 2009 Gamay Moelleux is a rather unique expression of that grape, being sweet instead of dry.  The fruit comes from the late Stéphane Cossais, another Montlouis producer who tragically passed last year at age 42.  Frantz decided that since the vintage was looking too ripe to make the style of Gamay he wanted and given the particular exposure of the vines he instead chose to harvest late and create a slightly sweet red, which Stéphane had done before with the same fruit when he felt it was the best way to vinify the wine. 

Frantz Saumon "Le Saumon"

2009 Un Saumon dans la Loire Menu Pineau: SOLD OUT
2009 Un Saumon dans la Loire Gamay Moelleux: $13.89

This wine is set to arrive in our warehouse in late February or early March and will be shipped in the spring when weather permits.

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:  list@selectionmassale.com

The list has grown quite a bit.  Please look over our Terms & Conditions if you have not.  There have been a few minor changes as well.

Selection Massale Vintage Chinon Offering 2010
Alain Lenoir, Domaine les Roches, Chinon

A bottle of 1989 Chinon pulled from the Lenoir's cellar

Along with the new releases from Domaine les Roches we offered last week, we have secured small (and I am talking seriously small, it took two visits to convince these two to sell us any vintage wine) lots of three back vintages that Alain and Jerome consider exemplary and that show what these wines can do with serious bottle age.  Alain, who made the wines, selected from the domaine's cellar three vintages that stand out among the finest he made.  These are decidedly old school wines from a decidedly old school producer (even the labels haven't changed since the 1960s).  Alain still sells wines by the liter from his cellar to people in the surrounding villages for astoundingly cheap prices ("it's what we've always done" he tells us with a shrug).  Of the three vintages we have the 1989 is the true standout, from a legendary vintage in the Loire. 

Alain in the cellar

Let us know how many you want and I will make allocations based on what we received.

1994 Domaine les Roches Chinon Rouge: SOLD OUT
1990 Domaine les Roches Chinon Rouge: SOLD OUT
1989 Domaine les Roches Chinon Rouge: SOLD OUT
Vintage 3 Pack: SOLD OUT

In addition we've gone ahead and purchased more of the 2002 and 2001 since the response was so good, including magnums of 2002.  The original offer is located here http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=07cc6b4479fd9e2a334349aeb&id=931aec1de5&e=f9fe85cce8 and below are the prices in case you missed out:

2002 Domaine les Roches Chinon Rouge 750ml: $22.27
2002 Domaine les Roches Chinon Rouge 1500ml: $46.73
2001 Domaine les Roches Chinon Rouge 750ml: $20.97
each of the6 Pack (one bottle of eachthe 1989, 1990, 1994, two 2002 750s, and one 2001 750): SOLD OUT

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:  list@selectionmassale.com

Selection Massale Jura Offering 2010

Domaine Gregory Monnier

Gregory in his vineyard

The son of a French diplomat who lived in at least a dozen countries before he was 18, Gregory Monnier took a decidedly different path from his father and, after leaving school, converted his grandparents home in the tiny hamlet of Montaigu in the heart of the Jura into a winery and began to make wine in 2004.  His first purchase was a plot of land in the famed Chateau-Chalon appellation from which the most famous oxidized vin-jaunes are made (Gregory's are still in barrel, waiting to be released when he feels it is ready).  Later he purchased plots thoughout the Jura to make almost exclusively white wine.   Since 2006 Gregory has been exclusively organic in all his vineyards, a response to the dead soils he was getting with the use of chemicals, converting instead to plowing or mowing depending on the vineyard in question.

Found growing alongside the young vines

If there is one principal that guides how Gregory makes wine, it is experimentation.  In person he is a bit restless, nervous even and this shows through his approach to making wine.  Gregory believes the vintage should dictate his action in the cellar, and nothing else.  When he feels the year calls for making oxidative wines, he makes those, and if he feels that he should make more Cremant-du-Jura rather than still wine he does that.  Some years he makes blends, as in the 2007 vintage where he placed all his wine into one cuvee because the single varieties felt short by themselves.  In 2005 was a different story for the whites in the Jura when he put together the cuvée Decouverte from 100% Chardonnay.  2005 was a excellent year for white wine in the Jura, and from it Gregory made several single variety cuvées.  Aged in neutral oak for 3 years, topped up for the first and let go after that, this wine shows more of the faint oxidative character that the region is known for.  Gregory believes this is a wine built for the long haul, and we here agree.

This wine is set to arrive in early March for spring shipping.

2005 Gregory Monnier Cuvee "Decouverte" $17.20
AOC Cotes-du-Jura 100% Chardonnay, 3 year elevage in large format neutral barrels, further 2 years in bottle before release.  This is a classic expression of Jurassic Chardonnay, leaning ever so slightly towards the oxidative style the region is famous for.  Should be good for several years to come.

Cheers,

Cory & Guilhaume

  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:  list@selectionmassale.com

There are currently no minimum or maximum amounts to order given the size of the list so order as much as you want.

Domaine les Roches, Chinon, Alain and Jérome Lenoir

Jérome Lenoir

Walking into the cellar of Domaine les Roches is a bit like stepping out of time.  Located in tiny Beaumont en Véron in the northwest of Chinon, Domaine les Roches is run by father and son vignerons Alain and Jérome Lenoir.  Sitting atop an ancient convent, the cellar is between five and six hundred years old, dug right into the tuffaceous soil common in the area, giving an icy temperature year round.  The cellar is cold and full of ancient foudre blackened by decades of Cabernet Franc put into them.  Thick mold covers the back vintages of wine that line the walls in an inventory system known only to Alain and Jérome (I cannot tell you how far back the bottles go, but my guess would be close to the founding of les Roches).  At one point in our six hour tasting marathon in the cellar Jérome, the thirty four year old who had recently taken over the day to day operations from his father, was pointing out the age of certain barrels in the cellar.  Most were between thirty and sixty years old, with a few in their twenties.  Jérome then sheepishly pointed to a large foudre that hadn't been blackened by the advance of time in his cellar.  "This is a new barrel.  I'm not quite happy with it yet." he tells us.  When we ask him how old the barrel is he tells us he bought it in 2002, so what Jérome considered new was in fact eight years old. 

The ancient cellar where even lightbulbs seem out of place

That Jérome considers an eight year old barrel "new" is a testament to how him and father before him, and his father before that and his father before that made wine (a true family affair beginning in 1900 when Jérome's great-grandfather bought the property) , with no concessions to modernity or new styles.  The domaine makes only two cuvées, a red Chinon from Cabernet Franc planted on just three hectares of the property, and microscopic amounts of  white Chinon from the few rows of Chenin Blanc next to the cab franc.  Like the wine-making, all the farming is old-school, everything by hand and without chemicals just like it has been done for over 100 years.  The majority of the vines in the vineyard are old-growth and new plantings are done with either massale selection (meaning the vines are grafted from cuttings in the same vineyard instead of using clones) or through the use of marcottage (where one branch of a vine is trained into the soil until it starts developing its own root system).  After fermenting in large wooden foudres and tronconique all the wine undergoes a long elevage in the very old wood, either foudre or bordelaise barrels, for three years and then further aging in bottle before it is released, a result of both an insistence on releasing wines the Lenoirs think are ready, and the frigid temperatures in the cellar which force the wines to mature slowly.  This means that instead of releasing wines from 2009, the Lenoirs are currently selling their 2002s.

All of this deeply traditional winemaking leads to wines that share the same quality.  There is no attempt to hide the essential characteristics of Cabernet Franc or Chinon behind layers oak or over-extraction, there is still a strong streak of brambly vegetation underneath the light (all of the Lenoir's wines come in at around 12-12.5% alcohol, even the wines we tasted from the scorching 2003 vintage) fruit and tannins.  The only thing I could come to compare these wines to were the Chinon's of the legendary Charles Joguet, who is still friends with Alain and Jérome.  In addition these wines are stunning values, as you rarely see wines cellared with such care for such a long time at these prices.

The 2001 here is perfect drink now wine, showing a bit more lightness than the more classically structured 2002s, which is a perfect vintage for cellaring. 

2002 Domaine les Roches Chinon Rouge 750ml: $22.27
2002 Domaine les Roches Chinon Rouge 1500ml: SOLD OUT
2001 Domaine les Roches Chinon Rouge: $20.97

Cheers,

Cory & Guilhaume
http://selectionmassale.com/

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

Selection Massale Montlouis Offerings 2010
Frantz Saumon of Domaine Frantz Saumon/Un Saumon dans la Loire

Domaine Frantz Saumon, Montlouis, Frantz Saumon

Old growth Chenin Blanc from Clos du Chene, Montlouis

Everyone,

As an inaugural wine for this email list I can think of no better single wine than Frantz Saumon's "Mineral +" from Montlouis, a wine so good that we upon tasting it back in April, decided it was worth it to drive hours two days later just to retry it. 

Frantz Saumon has been making wine in Montlouis since 2002 when he graduated from oenology school.  Instead of taking the traditional route and working for an established producer to learn the ropes, Frantz jumped in feet first and purchased a small plot of land in Montlouis.  A slightly obsessive serious minded vigneron, Frantz set about to make true Montlouis that reflected the specific terroir of that appellation, and to this end he began converting the vineyards to organic viticulture and relying only on indigenous yeast.  After a few disappointing vintages Frantz began to hit his stride and began to acquire more plots of land in Montlouis, which became an obsession for him.  To that he later added a small négociant business named "Un Saumon dans la Loire" (a salmon in the Loire) to supplement his Montlouis production.  The land Frantz owns is entirely in the appellation of Montlouis-sur-Loire.  Most of his 5.5 hectares are comprised of old growth Chenin Blanc (he likes to do everything in his Montlouis vineyards by hand himself, one reason he has so little land). 

Frantz looking over his newest vines in Montlouis

The Mineral + is a blend of fruit from all his plots around Montlouis (he makes one single vineyard wine the Clos Du Chene, which is made in tiny quantities and is held back longer by Frantz).  As can be expected from the name, the wine is meant to show off the very distinctive mineral characteristic of Chenin Blanc grown in the Montlouis appellation.  The vines are mostly planted on limestone (tuffeaux) and clay soil along with a vineyard that Frantz owns that is comprised of flint (silex) and limestone soil.  There is acidity, a mild sweetness, and loads of rocks.  The vintage in 2009 was hot and ripe in Montlouis, which shows up as 8 grams residual sugar in Frantz's wines instead of alcohol, these wines could technically be labeled as a sec-tendre which is between sec and demi-sec (off-dry would be the best translation).  Despite the hint of sweetness, These are remarkably pure, cut wines and could definitely benefit from a few years in the cellar.   All this comes across as mind-blowing stuff.  If you are a Loire valley Chenin Blanc fan, this wine is for you.

Silex soil in Frantz's vineyards

2009 Domaine Frantz Saumon Montlouis "Mineral +" SOLD OUT

This wine is shipping from Frantz' Domaine shortly and should arrive in our San Leandro warehouse in February

Cheers,

Cory & Guilhaume
 

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

As this is the first email offer, please take a moment to peruse our shipping page and see if we ship to your state: http://selectionmassale.com/shipping/ (if not, please contact us and perhaps we can work something out).

Selection Massale is a small import company based in San Leandro, California.  It is run by Cory Cartwright and Guilhaume Gerard and is focused entirely on small, traditionally made wines in very little quantities of no more than several thousand bottles.  We to hope to be open in early fall 2010. Please email us at info@selectionmassale.com with any questions or to be placed on our mailing list.

You can also follow us on Twitter Here: @selectionmassal