Tag Archives: Domaine Henri Gouges

WBC18 Day 2 Quick Impressions

Amber LeBeau in Blind Tasting, Event reviews, General, Wine reviews

Published on October 6, 2018

Tom Wark (right speaking) of Fermentation Wine Blog and James Forsyth of Vinous/Delectable

Update: Check out my post Exploring the Cascade Valley at WBC18 about the wines featured at the lunch this day as well as my Day 3 overview for more details about the conference.

I’m darting away from the 2018 Wine Bloggers Conference activities to jot down a few quick thoughts from yesterday’s events. To see my thoughts from Day 1 check out my post here as well as my pre-conference worryfest here.

While a lot of those fears ended up unfounded, Day 2 introduced quite a few meaty questions for me to gnaw on.

It seems like an unofficial theme for Day 2 was “Why Are You Blogging?” with the morning panel and keynote speaker prompting a lot of inward reflection. I will admit that this is a question that has been wrangling around my head for a while now and will probably be the source of much rumination on the long drive home tomorrow.

Wine Bloggers vs Wine Influencers (vs The World)

This panel, moderated by Thaddeus Buggs of The Minority Wine Report, featured James Forsyth of Vinous/Delectable, Michael Wangbickler of Balzac Communications and Tom Wark of the Fermentation Wine Blog.

The aim of the panel was to distinguish what may separate a blogger from an influencer as well as how the future of social media and niche apps like Delectable could impact both.

I may write up a fuller review of this panel but there were three big takeaways that I got that really caught my attention.

1.) From Michael Wangbickler

Social media isn’t an alternative to blogging but it is another channel. While its ideal to utilize multiple channels, some are more tailored to certain audiences than others. For instance, Instagram seems to appeal more to image driven and younger generations while Facebook tends to cater to more lifestyle driven and older audiences. Twitter appeals to a diverse demographic that prefers one on one interactions.

Thaddeus Buggs (far left) of the Minority Wine Report and Michael Wangbickler of Balzac Communication (left seated).

Questions for me to explore:

Who is my audience? This is something I will definitely be pondering more. I think I can eliminate the image driven side. I personally don’t view wine as an “image accessory” nor do I write like it is. To me, wine is about enjoyment rather than enhancing status or image.

I feel like my style caters more towards the wine student and general enthusiasts but who knows? Maybe you guys can help me with some thoughts in the comments.

2.) From Tom Wark

If you are going to blog then you should focus on something that you can be the champion of and commit to posting at least once a week, if not more. Don’t be a generalist. Be the go-to person for something.

Questions for me to explore:

What do I want to champion? Or maybe to put it another way, what drives my passion that can fuel a commitment to write steadily about a topic? This is a dozy for me to chomp on because I can’t really say that I have had a focus with this blog at all. I’ve definitely followed more the generalist approach, writing about whatever has tickled my fancy at a particular moment–even dipping my toes into the world of spirits and beer occasionally.

Do I need to hunker down and focus on something? What can I possible be the “go-to person” for? My initial instinct is to focus more on the wine student aspect and write about the info that I have been seeking out for my studies. In some ways that has always been an impetus for me in writing. Wine info is scattered across the internet and books and I initially started writing wine articles for Wikipedia as a way to consolidate and digest that info into one source.

Do I continue that path with things like my Keeping Up With The Joneses of Burgundy series, Bordeaux Futures and expanded research articles on figures like Martin Ray, Bob Betz, W.B. Bridgman, etc?

3.) From James Forysth

Niche apps like Delectable are ways that writers can build credibility and authority with publishing their reviews as well as get useful backlinks.

Questions for me to explore:

Eh? Reviews are something that will probably always have me conflicted. To be 100% brutally honest, I really don’t think anyone should give a flying flip about what I think about a wine. This is also why the idea of being “an influencer” never appealed to me. If you read my review and go out and buy a bottle of wine, you are spending your money and you will be the one drinking the bottle–so really only your opinion should matter.

This is why I very deliberately organize my reviews to have my opinion shoved down to the bottom. For me, the story of the wine and whatever cool or unique details I discover are far more important.

I will share my opinion on the relative value of the wine versus its cost only because I’ve spent probably way too much money on wine and have learned a few lessons the hard way. I say “relative value” because ultimately we each have to decide on our own if a wine is worth paying what the asking price is–like $2600+ for a bottle of Petrus. That’s a decision that I can never make for you–nor should you ever want me to.

The Wines of Rías Baixas

Master Sommelier Chris Tanghe

I was looking forward to this event moderated by Master Sommelier Chris Tanghe. Since I’ve joined the Somm Select Blind 6 subscription, Albarino has been a royal pain in the rear for me to pick out blind. I confuse it so often with several different wines–Oregon Pinot gris, California Viognier, Argentine Torrontes–that I haven’t honed in yet on what’s my blind spot with this variety.

My Albarino issue is probably fodder for a future post but, after trying 8 vastly different examples of the variety from the Spanish wine region of Rías Baixas, I now have at least one razor sharp tell-tale of the variety to look for.

Salinity.

Every single one has this very precise and vivid streak of salinity–even the examples that had a lot of oak influence. While the highly floral and perfume examples will still probably steer me towards Torrontes while the weightier examples will trip up me thinking about Pinot gris or Viognier depending on the fruit profiles, it may ultimately be the salt that leads me home.

Keynote Speaker — Lewis Perdue

Lewis Perdue has a long history in journalism and the wine industry–working for the Washington Post and founding Wine Business Monthly. He currently manages the website Wine Industry Insights which is most prominently known for its daily email News Fetch that is curated by Perdue and Becca Yeamans-Irwin (The Academic Wino).

The bulk of Perdue’s very excellent keynote was about the importance of bloggers building and maintaining trust with their audience. He made the very salient point that admist all the noise of traditional and digital media, ultimately the readers are buying into you and you have to demonstrate that you are worth their time and attention. A big part of that worth is your credibility.

From here Perdue highlighted several pratfalls that befall bloggers who seek out paid promotion opportunities from wineries (are they being upfront with their readers and the Federal Trade Commission?) and noted that the more “the sell” increases in your writings, the less credible you are.

Ultimately each blogger has to answer the question “Why are you blogging?” Are you trying to make money? Trying to inform? Trying to build a reputation?

So….why am I blogging?

I know I’ve very fortunate in that I don’t have to try and scrape together a living from blogging. My wife is a manager in the tech field which safely covers all our bills (especially the wine bills). Listening to Perdue’s keynote as well as comments from the panel earlier and the seminars I took on Day 3 of the Wine Bloggers Conference has only solidified in my mind that I really don’t want to bother at all with influencing/paid promotion junk.

Which probably takes my blog off of a lot of PR and wineries’ radars but oh well. If your winery is really interesting and doing cool stuff like Tablas Creek or Domaine Henri Gouges, I’ll probably find you eventually and be glad to spend my own money on your product.

I know that if it lives up to the hype, I’m going to have a heck of a lot more fun writing about it and telling others than if a winery came knocking on my digital door wanting me to tout some mass-produced Cabernet and Chardonnay.

Frankly if you ever see me writing multiple posts about some bulk brand, dear readers, don’t go and buy the wine. That’s my distress signal. I’ve been kidnap. Send help.

But back to Perdue’s question.

Why am I blogging? I suppose it is to build a reputation and establish credibility. I’ve always been a big believer in the mantra “Show, don’t tell.”

Yes, I’m working on my various certifications and I would like to someday be a Master of Wine but I really don’t want my credibility to rest on some initials. I’d rather get out there into the world and prove my mettle by letting my work speak for itself.

Credibility is extremely important to me which is why I’m an obsessive fact checker and like to litter my posts with frequent links and attributions to other worthwhile sources (something that gets Perdue’s seal of approval). I want to get it right and if I have it wrong, I want to learn where I erred so I can be better the next time.

Live Red Wine Blogging

This was crazy chaotic and I need to hurry up and wrap up this post so I can get to the next round for Whites & Rosé. While I tweeted and Instagram about a few things, the wines that are really worth a more in-depth review I will seek out bottles to purchase for a later post.

Out of the 10 wines I tried, the ones that I will definitely be seeking out are:

In fact, I already bought a bottle! Kind of made it easy with the Mansion Creek tasting room in the Marcus Whitman hotel.

Mansion Creek Cellars 2015 Red Dog — 70% Tinta Cão (hence the name), 28% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Grenache-Syrah. Super cool blend and great back story with the Iberian grape varieties.

Stone Hill 2015 Chambourcin — This wine made this Missouri girl super nostalgic but also super impressed. It was fairly early in the tasting event and I was spitting so I can’t blame palate fatigue but I don’t remember Missouri Chambourcin being this tasty.

Tertulia Cellars 2014 The Great Schism — This winery thoroughly impressed me at this past February’s tasting of the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance in Seattle. They poured the 2013 release of the Great Schism which ended up being my wine of the event and this 2014 was just as good. If you are a fan of savory and complex Rhones then this winery needs to be on your radar.

Mystery Wine Country Excursion — L’Ecole 41 and Woodward Canyon

Rick Small (left) of Woodward Canyon and Marty Chubb (right) of L’Ecole

I pulled the red ticket and boy did I score with my mystery location being jointly hosted by the crème de la crème of Washington wine. I can’t do the evening justice in a short blurb so I will save my thoughts for a future post.

But I will say that this event was the perfect fulfillment of my original expectation from my pre-conference post of wanting to hear other opinions from non-Washington bloggers about our local wines.

I really enjoyed listening to the perspectives of Las Vegas-based blogger Louisa from The Grape Geeks and Dallas-based Diane and Nathan Roberts of Positive Vines as they enjoyed these benchmark Washington wines.

I eagerly look forward to reading their write-up of the event (as well as Earle Dutton of Equality 365 who was my dining companion) and comparing notes.

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60 Second Wine Review — Ayoub Blanc de Noir

Amber LeBeau in 60 Second Reviews, Oregon wine, Wine reviews

Published on May 11, 2018

A few quick thoughts on the 2014 Ayoub Blanc de Noir Pinot noir from the Dundee Hills.

The Geekery

Ayoub Wines was founded in 2001 when Mo Ayoub planted 4 acres of vines in the Dundee Hills. The first few vintages of Ayoub were made by Josh Bergström at the Bergström Winery until space was finished at Ayoub’s home to accommodate production.

Winemaking was turned over to former Stags’ Leap Winery winemaker Robert Brittan (who also makes the wines for Winderlea) and eventually production was expanded from 400 cases a year to around 2000 cases.

The estate vineyard is planted to 5 clones of Pinot noir–667, 777,114, 115, 04. The Blanc de Noir (white Pinot noir) is made by harvesting the red Pinot noir grapes and quickly pressing them to avoid skin contact and color maceration. This style is becoming more common in Oregon with several producers experimenting with different methods (such as harvesting and pressing like Champagne grapes to vin gris production).

The Wine

Medium-plus intensity nose with an intriguing mix of ripe white peach and red plum notes. Very rich and fleshy aromatics with some subtle oak baking spices in the background.

On the palate those rich fruit flavors carry through with very full-bodied weight. However, the ample medium-plus acidity gives its exceptional balance that keeps the palate from being weighed down. The oak notes on the nose become more faint and give way to exotic Asian spices like tumeric, star anise and, particularly, ginger. The long finish lingers on those spices and the red plum notes.

Photo by Evan-Amos. Released on Wikimedia Commons under CC-Zero

Very rich and fleshy red plum notes characterize this white Pinot noir.

The Verdict

There were a lot of similarities with this Ayoub wine and the Henri Gouges La Perrière White Pinot from Nuits-St-Georges (especially with the exotic spices) and I enjoyed geeking out over both wines.

I won’t deny that at $45-55, this is a premium for an Oregon white wine but it’s undoubtedly a very character-driven and interesting wine that I would put on par with some of the state’s great red Pinots in the same price range.

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Getting Geeky with Henri Gouges La Perrière White Pinot

Amber LeBeau in Burgundy, Wine grapes, Wine Knowledge, Wine reviews

Published on April 6, 2018

Going to need more than 60 Seconds to geek out about the 2014 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-St.-Georges 1er Cru La Perrière–a white wine made from a unique mutation of Pinot noir.

The Background

Remington Norman and Charles Taylor notes in The Great Domaines of Burgundy that Henri Gouges started his domain in the early 1920s with the purchase of around 22 acres in Nuits-St.-Georges. During the economic slump of the 1920s and 1930s, Gouges continued to take advantage of depressed vineyard prices. He was able to greatly expand the domaine choice parcels from several esteemed premier crus.

In the early 1930s, when concerns about rampant fraud and mislabeling was taking a toll on Burgundy prices, Gouges joined the Marquis d’Angerville and Armand Rousseau to rebel against the négociant houses by estate bottling all his domain wines.

Clive Coates described Henri Gouges, in The Wines of Burgundy, as the “Doyen of Nuits-St.-Georges” whose lasting influence in the commune has been far reaching. He was elected mayor several times. In the 1930s when the Institut National d’Appellation d’Origine (INAO) was establishing the classification of Burgundy’s vineyard, Gouges represented the interests of Nuits-St.-Georges on the regulatory committee.

It is believed that because Gouges was a major owner of the famed Les St-Georges vineyard, and would have benefited greatly if that vineyard was classified as a Grand Cru, he wanted to avoid any potential conflicts of interest by advocating against any Nuits-St.-Georges vineyard being singled out as a Grand Cru. Instead, the committee awarded the commune 41 premier crus. After Beaune’s 42 premier crus, this was the highest concentration of premier crus in the Côte d’Or .

Domaine Style

The village of Nuits-Saint-Georges in winter.

The domaine has long been a proponent of “traditional” and “natural viticulture” techniques–eschewing the use of chemicals when possible. In the vineyard, they prefer massale selection of vine cuttings instead of clonal propagation. Gouges’ grandson, Pierre, pioneered the use of ryegrass cover crop in the commune to curb erosion and encourage competition for the vine roots to find resources. Since 2008, all the domain’s vineyards have been farmed organically.

The Grape

The story goes that Henri Gouges was inspecting his Pinot noir vines in Nuits-St.-Georges 1er Cru La Perrière in late summer in the 1940s when he came across a vine that had all white clusters post-veraison. Intrigued, he cut off a branch of the vine and propagated to see if the new “Pinot noir” vine would also produce white clusters. It did so Gouges and his descendants continued to propagate the variety now known as “Pinot Gouges” in not only La Perrière but also in the premier cru vineyard (and Gouges monopole) of Clos de Porrets-Saint-Georges.

Is it a “White” Pinot noir or Pinot blanc?

Pinot noir, Pinot gris and Pinot blanc are genetically the same grape.

An interesting question and one that I couldn’t find a definitive answer for.

Throughout history, Pinot vines have been observed having clusters with different colored berries on them. Sometimes even different colors on the same berry!

The Pinot grape is notorious for its genetic instability with Jancis Robinson’s Wine Grapes noting that there are more than a 1000 registered clones. That’s just the number of clones we know of. However, ampelographers believe that the mutation rate for Pinot is actually on par with other varieties and instead attribute the vast number of known mutations and genetic variations to the grape’s longevity and 2000+ year history.

Even with the many mutations, genetically all the various Pinot varieties (noir, blanc, gris, Meunier, Teinturier, etc) are the same–which to some degree makes the argument of what “Pinot Gouges” is moot.

But the concept of “White Pinot noir” does exist with producers pressing the red Pinot noir grapes quickly to produce a white wine. Used in Champagne for centuries, this method is a popular way to make white sparkling wines from red Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier grapes. When made as still wine, these White Pinot noirs often have a fuller-bodied, weighty fruit with just a tinge of color—traits that bore out in my tasting of the Gouges La Perrière.

Pinot blanc wines tend to be more moderate weight with medium to medium-minus acidity with brilliant clarity and no color–especially when young. While it can often be confused for Chardonnay (like the Gouges wine in my notes below), my experiences with true varietal Pinot blanc vines are just too different from tasting this Pinot Gouges which leads me to considering this a “White Pinot”.

The Vineyard

Photo derived from map provided for public use by Bourgone Wines.org

The Les Perrières vineyard located south of the village of Nuits-Saint-Georges.

La Perrière is a climat within the Premier Cru vineyard of Les Perrières located south of the village of Nuits-St.-Georges on the slope above the 1er Cru of Les Poirets (Les Porrets). The vineyard used to be a quarry with the name “Perrière” referencing the French term for quarry-workers. The soil is accordingly stony and pebbly.

Several producers have bottlings from this vineyard (all of them red) including Meo-Camuzet (Wine Searcher Ave $148), Louis Jadot (Wine Searcher Ave $134) and Domaine Robert Chevillon (Wine Searcher Ave $95)

The Wine

Medium-plus intensity nose. In a blind tasting, I would be thinking Chardonnay with the tree fruits of apples and pears but there is a lot of spice here–not oak spice but rather exotic spices. I can’t quite pinpoint them but it smells like you walked into an Indian restaurant. There is also a white floral element that has me thinking of apple blossoms.

Lots of exotic spices and layers in this White Burgundy.

On the palate, there is a lot of weight and texture–things that would indicate new oak except for the complete absence of oak flavors. I also get some roasted hazelnuts which would make me think of an older Burg (like a 5 to 7 year old Meursault) rather than something that is only a little over 3 years old. Medium-plus acidity balances the weight of the fruit well but could be a tad higher. Moderate length finishes ends on the pear and spice notes.

The Verdict

Priced in line with upper-tier Premier Cru white Burgundies, the wine holds it own at the $90-110 range. It’s hard not to compare it to a well-made Meursault Premier Cru like Les Charmes and Les Perrières though I think what ultimately separates this Nuits-St.-Georges White Pinot from those crème de la crème Chardonnays is precision and longevity.

While there are lots of layers in this wine, they don’t have the crystal clarity and precision of flavors that truly highlight great white Burgs. You could say that develops with bottle age but this relatively young wine already tastes far older than what you would expect with its age. While it is giving considerable pleasure now, I can’t see it getting anywhere near the levels of a great Meursault wine from the same vintage 3 years down the road, much less 5 or 15.

Still, this is fascinating and exceedingly character driven wine that is worth seeking out just to experience. From a commune that is 97% red wine (with the entire Côte de Nuits being 95% red), it is truly a unicorn with only around 2000-2500 bottles produced each year.

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Wine Geek Notes 2/28/18 — Interesting Tweets & Burg Vintages

Amber LeBeau in Burgundy, Geek Notes, Wine Knowledge

Published on February 28, 2018

Here’s what I’ve been reading today in the world of wine.

Odds & Ends from Twitter

Some interesting weblinks from Twitter that are worth the read.

Smelling Terroir: A New Study Suggests People Can Smell the Difference Between Wines Solely Based on Terroir (but can we, really?) from the Academic Wino (@TheAcademicWino)
Very cool read about a 2016 study that showed that both experts and non-experts were able to smell the difference between wines grown in two different terroirs. Becca looks a little more in-depth at the study to question if it’s really the terroir differences they are smelling or something else.

new maps & saturday afternoon in the meursault sunshine from Bill Nanson (@billnanson) at the Burgundy Report with the tweet coming across my dash via @RealWineGuru
I’m a bit of a map geek (as evidence by my geek out over this Clos Vougeout map) so I absolutely squealed at the discovery of these incredibly detailed Beaujolais cru maps. Also some lovely pictures of Meursault that had me daydreaming about sipping on a Les Charmes.

So you want to be a wine judge by Master of Wine Sarah Jane Evans (@SJEvansMW) courtesy of @WSETglobal
As noted in yesterday’s Wine Geek Notes, I’ve been doing a lot of research on Wine Competitions and this article from Sarah Jane Evans added another perspective. One of the questions that I’ve been debating in my head is “Who benefits from Wine Competitions–the winery or the consumer?” which Evans answers rather bluntly “Remember that ultimately you are doing the judging for the winemaker and brandowner.”

Plant more Chenin!!!! The author screams into the void.

Wine of the Week: Lang & Reed, 2016 Napa Valley Chenin Blanc from Peg Melnik (@pegmelnik) at The Press Democrat with the tweet coming across my dash via @jncorcoran1
The subheader is what hooked me: “What happened to chenin blanc in California?” I have a soft spot for Chenin and have bemoaned the lack of interest of it in Washington State so I was similarly disheartened to read the staggering stat of how 3000 acres of Chenin blanc in Napa in 1980 has shrank down to just 14 acres today.

Burg’in Around

For my 60 Second Review of the 2013 Domaine Coquard Loison Fleurot Chambolle-Musigny I did some background research on the estate and 2013 vintage that had me stumbling across a few nifty links.

Pearl of Burgundy YouTube Channel
Features well produced short 2-4 minute videos from several Burgundian producers. While the Domaine Coquard Loison Fleurot vid is what initially caught me, I also enjoyed the videos from Domaine Henri Gouges, Domaine Lamarche and Domaine Grivot. By this point I was hitting the subscribe button for the channel.

2013 burgundy – the fairy-tale vintage? from Master of Wine Jancis Robinson (@JancisRobinson)
Always some of my favorite vintage write-ups. Great summary at the bottom of the article about the big issues facing 2013 but I also like how she explores the potential similarities (and differences) between 2013 and 1996 that also segue into comparing 2012 to 1998/1988.

The 2013 Red Burgundies: Fascinating and Challenging (Paywall) by Stephen Tanzer (@StephenTanzer1) on Vinous.
Tanzer takes a slightly more pessimistic outlook on 2013 and goes into more details about the challenges that the Côte de Beaune, in particular, had.

A Vintage Viewpoint…(2013, 2012, 2011…) from Bill Nanson at the Burgundy Report.
A nice little one page summary of the 2013 vintage in comparison to the 2012 and 2011 vintages.