While in Burgundy, my friends, Chantal and Susan, convinced me into writing about the amazing wines that hit my lips and permeate my palate. So here are my pickings for the week.
First up there was a little Astor Wines reunion last week comprising of former wine buyer, Jeff, who returned to Canada about two years ago, there was former assistant wine buyer, the fabulous Kristen, who everyone falls in love with eventually and JR and I — former Astor wine consultants. Ms. L., the current wine buyer (and fashionable shoe shopper) hosted the get together.
Jeff was extremely influential on Astor Wines when he moved in. He started off on the wrong foot when he began reorganizing the Burgundy shelf but soon stole everyone’s hearts when we got to know the kind and kooky soul behind the quiet and guarded exterior. Jeff has a funky palate, he champions small winemakers, he is a Loire Valley geek and he was good friends with Joe Dressner, long before he even started working in wine. The usual, big name, safe producer Astor inventory started to shift when Jeff joined the ranks and it was thanks to him that the entire Astor staff at the time, got to know what real wine meant.
Naturally, on such an auspicious night there were good wines open. Jim and I were floored by the most beautiful sparkling wine I’ve had in a while: Rene Mosse Pétillant “Moussamoussettes.” Great name. It’s a rose, that’s obviously unfiltered with plenty of particular matter floating around. The bubbles are gentle and the fruit was pretty in an unassuming way. It was like checking out the nerdy chick at the back of the class – the one whose great beauty is detracted ever so slightly by her braces and her free NHS glasses. It costs 24.99 at Astor:
http://www.astorwines.com/SearchResultsSingle.aspx
p=1&search=20357&searchtype=Contains
The weekend just passed and we celebrated JR’s b’day (which is today – HAPPY BIRTHDAY FATSO!) with his son and girlfriend, who cooked up a great feast for the occassion. We brought along the Domaine de Montbourgeau Etoile from Jura (imported by Rosenthal), twenty bucks from Astor:
http://www.astorwines.com/SearchResultsSingle.aspx?p=1&search=15472&searchtype=Contains
It was stunning. If Jerez made sherry out of Chardonnay, this is what it would taste like. If you tasted me blind on this, I would surely have guessed manzanilla. But nope, it was one of the fabulous, purposefully oxidized wines from the Arbois region of Jura and it tasted like the sea – all mineral and seaweed.
We finished off with the new Bollinger Rose. I received a sample of this wine a few months ago. The eminent Grand Marque just came out with a new expression/release that, thankfully, has no flashy packaging, no designer labels and all that fluff. As would be expected from the house of big bubbly, it’s a full-bodied style and I liked it. I wonder how much press coverage it’ll get come the holidays? I think this costs a somewhat beastly ninety-five dollars, which in comparison to the Mosse, seems outrageous. But if you were buying on status alone, this is a good pick.