Jenny and Francois held their portfolio tasting the day after Return to Terroir. The location was downstairs at The Smith, a sub-basement private room that was teeming with enthusiasm for natural and small producer French wines. The first lot of tables were hosted by the winemakers themselves. Highlights were Catherine & Dominique Derain, whose sparkling Aligote has wicked sharp acidity, Binner’s wines were awesome, especially the 07 Riesling, which was pretty and balanced unlike the usual Alsatian monster white wines. Olivier Cousin’s Cab Francs offered pure fruit. I told him I often have a hard time with the green notes that can be heavy in Cab Franc. He then admitted to me that he usually doesn’t like the wines from this grape but…the rest I couldn’t quite understand because he spoke to me in very fast French! Note to self: follow up on that conversation.

J&F have just started importing a new Burgundy producer, Dom Montchovet, whose wines are spectacular. The Cremant was soft, fruity and very easy to drink, while the Haute Cotes de Beaune ’05 was a beautifully complex wine that showcased its terroir. I had a hard time with the wines of Dom Loup Blanc from Minervois when I first tasted them last year but I have grown to like them. They are not light wines but they express their origin and the heat of the region. The winemaker, a restauranteur who lives part of the year in Montreal, recently purchased old vines in Minervois to make wine. He loves Carignan and feels it doesn’t get its due. La Mere Grand was deep, dark and layered. I tasted a lot more that this but I left my tasting booklet in the loo before I left. Doh! Hence I’m merely working from memory – and these were some of the most memorable, as well as a funky Jura wine, I’ll get the name when I return.

Flying off to London and then Mauritius. I’ll be gone for 6 weeks and plan on blogging while on the road. Natural wines have hit London, will do some research and report back.