Early Christmas Lunch with the Team at Le Pan Apicius restaurant

Early Christmas Lunch with the Team

At Le Pan Apicius (Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong), the French restaurant of the company I work for, having an early Christmas lunch with my colleagues. The chef, Edward Voon, made a special menu for us, and the Wine Director / Sommelier, Lauri Vainio, served us some interesting wines:

Today's lunch wines ©LeDomduVin 2017

Château de Fieuzal 1994 Pessac-Léognan (Bordeaux, France)
Grape Varieties: 60% Sauvignon Blanc / 40% Semillon
Very good and very much alive, slightly oxidative, sherry-like nuances, yet still fresh with great acidity, gently evolving and opening up in the glass. A very nice surprise. I had the chance to taste it many times over the last 5 years, and every time I'm taken aback by how good it still is despite its age. Pale yellow gold color with bright reflects. The nose boasts yellow fruits with nutty, oxidative notes at first but opens up nicely with time to deliver more complexity and aromas. The palate is bright, clean, still vibrant with good acidity and focus, nicely structured and ample too, and exposes the yellow fruits and nuts of the nose with mineral nuances. The finish is rather rather long and smooth. What a surprisingly lovely wine!

Château de Fieuzal 1994 Pessac-Léognan ©LeDomduVin 2017

Vodopivec "Origine" 2011 Venezia Giulia IGT (Italy)
Grape Variety: Vitovska 100%
It smells like cider and has the orange-brownish color of a cider, yet it is not a cider, but the strong appley aromas may make you think differently about it. Slightly reduced on the nose, it feels indistinct and if blind tasted you will definitely have difficulties to pinpoint the grape variety and where it is from. Once you know the grape variety name, "Vitovska", you will even have a hard time to believe that you are still in Italy, as the grape name originates from the neighbouring country of Slovenia. Very interesting overall, but lack a bit of substance in the back palate, more especially compared to the previous wine. Esoteric and definitely not your everyday wine, it still boasts the freshness and vitality of the whites in general from this region of Venezia, and ended up to pair really nicely with the food. Definitely one of those mind-scratching wines.

Vodopivec "Origine" 2011 Venezia Giulia IGT

Vodopivec "Origine" 2011 Venezia Giulia IGT

Hervé Souhaut "Les Cessieux" Saint Joseph 2013 (Northern Rhône, France)
Grape Variety: Syrah 100%
Very enticing nose of tart cherry at first, turning into ripe dark red cherries, raspberries and even ripe blueberries, with light earthy, spicy and peppery notes. After a few minutes, floral and mineral notes became more apparent and mingled with the berries aromas. The palate is rather light and bright, almost Burgundian, and expands gently and nicely till the mid-palate. Unfortunately, I personally found that it "kind of" cut short in the mid-palate and thinned out in the finish. A lovely and enjoyable wine overall, with a lot to say of up front, yet, which lack a bit of structure and texture, more especially in the back palate and finish, as it vanishes leaving a slight trace of bitterness (probably due to unripe tannins). But still, a pleasant re-discovery, as I did not try Herve Souhaut wine for a while.

Hervé Souhaut "Les Cessieux" Saint Joseph 2013

Hervé Souhaut "Les Cessieux" Saint Joseph 2013

Hervé Souhaut "Les Cessieux" Saint Joseph 2013

Château Guiraud 2014 Sauternes (Bordeaux, France)
Grape variety: 65% Semillon / 85% Sauvignon Blanc
I don't know about you, but I love Sauternes. Of Course, I love Yquem as I have the chance to taste it regularly and more often than any other Sauternes. Yet, I need to admit that Chateau Guiraud has always been one of my favorite Sauternes and this 2014 is no exception to the rule. Fresh and clean, exuberant and perfumed nose mingling white flowers, honey, beeswax and honeysuckle with candied orange and yellow fruits. The palate is clean, fresh and light on its feet, balanced, tense and focus by a bright acidity and a lovely smooth and gentle texture. It expands with ample and generous fashion toward the finish without feeling too rich or too thick, on the contrary it is like a gracious ballerina hovering on your tongue. Love this wine.

Château Guiraud 2014 Sauternes

It was a nice early christmas lunch to say goodbye to one of our colleagues for his last day and the food was exquisite thanks to Chef Edward Voon (crossing fingers for you to get 1 or 2 Michelin Stars next year).

Here are some pictures of the lunch dishes:

Santé,

LeDomduVin

Cantarutti Grave & Colli Orientali del Friuli Italy and 2001 Cantarutti Schioppettino VQPRD Colli Orientali del Friuli Friuli-Venezia Giulia Italy

Cantarutti Grave & Colli Orientali del Friuli Friuli-Venezia Giulia Italy

The post of today brings us back to the northeastern part of Italy, in Friuli. An agricultural region of mountains, plains and rivers bounded on the west by the Livenza River, on the north by the Carnic Alps, on the east by the Julian Alps and the Timavo River, and on the south by the Adriatic Sea. Rivers flowing southwards from the mountains are numerous, crossing through and dividing the gentle rolling hills then the plains as they go down.

The climate of the Friulian plains, commonly divided into the High Friulian plain and the Low Friulian plain, is humid sub-Mediterranean. The climate in this area is highly suitable for growing white wine grapes, and 2.5% of wine produced in Italy comes from this part of the Friuli region. The areas in the hills, however, have a continental climate, and the mountainous regions have an alpine climate.

Friuli evokes white wines with a lot of freshness and minerality, made with the famous Pinot Grigio (Pinot Gris) and Tocai Friulano (which soon should only become “Friulano” for Hungary claims the right on the name of the grape, spelled Tokaj, thus to avoid the occasional confusion between the dry white from Italy and the famous and long established dessert wine from Hungary; which is also why, for the same reason, “Tokay Pinot Gris” in Alsce, France, became “Pinot Gris” only).

But also other grapes like Chardonnay, Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, Ribolla Gialla, Riesling Italiaco and Riesling Renano, Sauvignon Blanc, Traminer Aromatico, Verduzzo and Malvasia Istriana. The region is known for two particular DOC: Colli Orientali del Friuli and Friuli Grave.

Yet, Friuli also produces lesser-known reds made from Pinot noir (Pinot Nero), Lagrein, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Collio and Collio Cabernet, Merlot, Pignolo, Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso, Tazzelenghe, Terran, and more especially for this post, Schioppettino (better known as Ribolla Nera).

When the owner of Cantarutti came to introduce his wines to me at the store, in need to admit that I was quite impressed by their quality and consistency from one wine to another, yet the Schioppettino 2001 was the most surprising of the bunch.

Established in the late 60s and nestled in the north of San Giovanni al Natisone, a village southeast of Udine in the middle of the Rosazzo hills, Cantarutti is a family run winery located in the Friuli “Grave”, the largest DOC zone in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, producing over 40 percent of this region's DOC wines. The word “Grave”, like in Bordeaux, indicates the presence of gravelly terrain throughout the area, covered with small round pebbles (rolled by the melting glaciers during the last ice age and the slowly lowering sea level that occurred a long time after).

The estate possesses about 54 hectares of vines and produces about 150.000 bottles a year in their brand new cellar that can contain up to 500 barrels. Cantarutti has made major investments in the winery in the last few years creating a state of the art fermentation facility and beautiful underground cellars for the aging of the wines. The vineyards are planted with pretty much all the authorized grapes cited above.


We tasted 5 wines: 2 Grave whites and 2 Colli Orientali whites and 1 Colli Orientali red. The main difference between the two regions is that the “Grave” is located in the plain where it is relatively flat and where most harvest are done with machines; while the “Colli Orientali” presents hills and slopes where harvest is done by hand and the resulting wines offer more complexity, vibrancy, depth and minerality, thus more interest (in my opinion)


2008 Cantarutti Friuli Grave Pinot Grigio Italy
Suggested retail price $10-$13
Imported/Distributed by VOS in NYC

Deep golden color, clean and creamy, a touch nutty, quite viscous and agreeable overall, yet a bit different from the usually boring Pinot Grigio out there but not at its best either. May be I should retry it, because the color and the slight nutty touch remind me more of a slight oxidation rather the actual or willing style of the producer.


2008 Cantarutti Friuli Friulano Grave (ex-Tocai) Fiuli Italy
Suggested retail price $14-$16
Imported/Distributed by VOS in NYC

Here again, the color is deeper than I’m used to for this type of wine. Richer and creamier than the above sibling with more personality and vibrancy, complemented by a lovely structure and enhancing acidity. White fruit and peach with zesty touch and minerality are the main features of this enjoyable white.


2008 Cantarutti Ribolla Gialla Colli Orientali del Friuli Italy
Suggested retail price $21-$24
Imported/Distributed by VOS in NYC

Compared to the above wines from “Grave”, this wine exhibits a totally different spectrum of color, aromas and attitude. The color is clean, pale yellow with green metallic reflects, like almost diluted. The nose is fresh with white blossom and white fruit aromas, minerals and lemon peel hints, yet it seems timid, somewhat restrained. In the palate, the wine is much expressive with flavors of apple and citrus with, here again, white blossom and mineral notes. The finish is long and inviting. The overall wine is clean, bright and vibrant with a lovely texture and enhancing acidity. Excellent.


2008 Cantarutti Pinot Grigio Colli Orientali del Friuli Italy
Suggested retail price $21-$24
Imported/Distributed by VOS in NYC

Day and night between the Grave Pinot Grigio and its Colli Orientali counter-part. The wine underwent a long fermentation in stainless steel tanks to fully extract the entire component of the grapes and allow for better ageing potential. The resulting wine is beautiful, with the same type of profile and attitude as the Ribolla Gialla above. Beautiful.


Although I liked the whites, the discovery of the day and the cherry on the cake, was the red:




2001 Cantarutti Schiopettino Colli Orientali del Friuli VQPRD Italy
Suggested retail price $31-$35
Imported/Distributed by VOS in NYC

First, I never tried “Schioppettino” before, and I need to admit, I was quite impressed. Everyone who knows my palate well, will tell you that I usually despise the overripe fruit bomb and massively oaky wines, and that I rather like vibrant wine with ideally ripe fruit, interesting character and nuances, harmonious balance and long inviting finish, presenting great acidity and some integrated tannins important for the structure and the ageing potential. Well, with this wine, I was served!

Moreover, like their Pinot Nero, Pignolo and Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso, this wine is only crafted in particularly good vintage, when the Schioppettino grape (also known as Ribolla Nera) can attain full ripeness and required maturity to be bottled on its own, otherwise it is used as part of the blend for other red wines. This is 2001 and the next vintage will be 2003.

Secondly, this wine is aged in new 300 liters barrels for 18 months in Hungarian oak, and then put back for 3-4 months in stainless steel tank to settle down and integrate before bottling. And finally spent another 10-12 months in the bottle before release to arrive on your table in perfect condition.

Its color is the one of the slightly aged red wine made with grapes adapted to cooler climate (like Pinot Noir, etc..), light to medium intensity, quite see through, garnet old red cherry-like with brick-orange touches on the rim. The nose is very expressive, perfumy, earthy, fresh and floral, with spices and tertiary aromas that evoke the fall season: underbrush, forest floor, mushroom, garrigues and balsamic. The palate is fairly light and bright, with excellent acidity and balance, elegant structure and texture with dark and red berries flavors complemented with spices, earthy and minerals notes. The finish is very long with slight oak notes and integrated tannins. I loved it. Pair it with venison, game, poultry, white meat like veal stew or pork, and cheeses.


Overall, I can say that these wines were solid and well crafted, quite approachable yet not necessarily your everyday wines, especially the red. They need some food to fully express themselves and will satisfy the racy, mineral wine lovers like me.

Enjoy!

LeDom du Vin

For more info visit the winery website at www.cantaruttialfieri.it

Step into the Green! Drink more Biodynamic and Organic wine (and food) from sustainable culture and respect the environment! Support the right causes for the Planet and all the people suffering all around the globe!