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.

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.

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.

All roads in Frantz Saumon's winemaking lead back to Montlouis.  That is where his heart lies and that is where he believes, with his terroirs, that he can make world class wine.  So in 2008 he decided the best way to learn more about Montlouis and the Chenin Blanc that grows there, was to make…Vouvray.  You see Frantz is a believer in the notion of terroir not as a semi-mystical conception that great land makes great wine simply by virtue of it being great or simply as marketing gimmick that treats appellations as brands, but rather that specific terroirs handled with care and respect for tradition can produce wines that are uniquely their own.  Hence, why he has decided to try Vouvray a similiar nearby appellation that makes wines that can be unmistakebly different from nearby Montlouis, in order to see firsthand what the difference is.

In order to do this he found a young vigneron by the name of Sébastien Brunet who has similiar philosophies about farming.  Sébastien, like Frantz, uses no pesticides or chemicals in his vineyards and relies on manual labor to work his land.  He has been working his family's land since 2000, and took over entirely when his father Michel passed away.  All of his 11 hectares are located outside the village of Chancay.  Because the Vouvray app elation has strict rules stating that a certain period of the elevage has to be done in Vouvray proper, Frantz had to work side by side in the cellar with Sébastien (Brunet's wines are imported into the US currently and both us here suggest tracking down a bottle to try for yourselves). 

The wine, from 30-60 year old chenin vines grown on tuffeau, clay and silex plots that have been in Sébastien's family, was fermented in large used barrels without any inoculation and spent a further ten months in old barriques before being bottled and left to age a further year.  The result is a fantastically tense, nervy wine worth waiting a few years on and definitely an excellent counterpoint to slighter sweeter Montlouis offered earlier (of which we still have available inventory) if you are looking to compare the two famous Chenin Blanc appellations from one producer.  It is a Vouvray made by a vigneron whose heart is in Montlouis with the aid of another vigneron whose traditions and land are in Vouvray, and in the end it is unmistakably Vouvray, and I think that was Frantz's idea all along.

2008 Un Saumon dans La Loire 750ml:  $23.25

and for comparison:

2009 Domaine Frantz Saumon Montlouis "Mineral +" $19.13

These wines are scheduled to arrive March 25th with local pickup shortly afterwards.

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

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/

So with this offer I've decided to go ahead and show you exactly what it is and what effect it has on the wine.

Like many young naturalist vignerons in France, Edouard Laffitte uses carbonic maceration almost exclusively on his red wine (inspired by the work of Jules Chauvet).  This technique, invented in Champagne in the 1950s and popularized in Beaujolais, is a way for winemakers to protect wines against bacteria and oxidation during fermentation and avoid the use of sulfur during fermentation.  It also drastically cuts down on the tannins extracted from the skins, a blessing in regions where enamel stripping tannins are the norm (carignane, for instance, is one grape that benefits from some form of carbonic maceration).  Whole grape clusters are loaded into tanks and then topped with a layer of CO2 and capped.  The CO2 then begins to stimulate fermentation inside the grapes themselves (I won't pretend to understand the exact science behind this process) and grapes on the bottom are crushed by the weight on top of them, and begin fermentation that way.  After about three weeks the wine is then pressed and then goes through whatever other elevage the winemaker decides.  The results, like any winemaking technique, whether it is aging in amphorae, new wood, extended skin contact on white wines, is controversial and the results highly variable.  Some wines that undergo carbonic come out tasting reduced, and oftentimes it is impossible to tell the region, or even the grape variety, that the wine came from.  Edouard, with his reliance on strict organic farming and working by hand in his vineyards, is one of the producers we found getting it right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckGvMrTjXrs
Click above for a video of Thierry Puzelat using full carbonic maceration

2009 Le Bout du Monde Avec le Temps 750ml:  $18.33

100% carignane grown on sandy granite in the Côtes-du-Roussillon.  The wine undergoes full carbonic maceration for 3 weeks and further elevage in tank.  This is a bright, low alcohol carignane from a region not known for bright, or low alcohol.  Of all the wines Edouard makes this one, with its generous fruit and drinkability, is perhaps the most representative of what he can achieve with this technique.  At days end we're not selling this wine to you as an example of anything, however, except as a wine and a producer we believe in.

2009 Le Bout du Monde La Luce 750ml: $23.11

We've also gone ahead, since I told you I was going to show you carbonic maceration instead of simply tell you, and ordered Edouards "La Luce." In 2009, as an experiment, Edouard took some off his grapes that were going to be used in his carbonic wines and make a more traditional style of Côtes-du-Roussilon.  He took some syrah and grenache grown on Gneiss and fully detemmed them, crushed them and let them ferment as normal (still using 0 sulfur and commercial yeast during the crush).  The result is a wine, a wine with a bit more structure, less obvious fruit that could be set down for a few years.  This is a perfect way to see the specific differences in style between these two styles from the same producer.   Or you could simply drink the wines and not care about the rest.

We have a very, very limited amount of this wine (I can count the cases on one hand) so please be quick.

Edouard Laffitte 6-Pack:  $114.60
Includes 2 2009 Hop'La, 2 2009 LÉcume des Jours, 1 2009 Avec le Tamps, and 1 2009 La Luce

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.

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

I believe I have figured out our spam filter problem, so if this is your first email offer you've received the rest of our offers are located here and everything should be available unless it states otherwise:  http://selectionmassale.com/blog/

Update:  Wines should begin arriving March 25th.  We will let everyone when they begin arriving (they are coming in several shipments due to strikes in France, or so I'm told).  We will let everyone know about pickup and shipping around that time.