Region: Savoie – THE ALPS! MOUNTAIN WINE!
Grape: Organic Roussanne
Vinification: Natural wine in old oak barrels, nothing added.
Tasting: Gorgeous yellow plum, mango, salty minerality and umami notes on the nose. Complex. Light body, clean bright acidity, and a dry finish. Gorgeous.
Region: Alsace
Grape: Biodynamic Riesling and Pinot Gris
Vinification: Old oak.
Tasting: Powerhouse Alsace. Riesling petrol upfront, lime zest, green apple and white flowers, against a grassy, dried hay and walnut backdrop from the pinot. Beautiful. The palate is rich but high in acidity and powerful, finishing on lime zest and nutty oxidative notes.
Region: Céphalonie (Île à l’est de la Grèce)
Cépage: Biodynamic Robola (Indigène)
Vinification: Natural fermentation in stainless steel, low sulfur. Natural.
Dégustation: BEAUTIFUL nose, very complex. Riesling-like minerality (petrol), steel, rust, some creamy brioche notes, saltiness. Clean, crisp palate with richness and high acidity.
Région: Bourgogne
Appéllation: Chablis
Cépage: Chardonnay, as always.
Viticulture: Chardonnay, as always. Les vignes sont biologiques, et ils utilisent des techniques de la biodynamie.
Vinification: Fermentation avec levures indigènes, élevage en cuves inox.
Dégustation: Classic Chablis notes of orchard fruit, white flowers and minerality are joined by an intense green almond and walnut undertone. The palate is crisp but with a lot of weight and an overwhelmingly nutty sensation. The finish is rich and dry.
Un chablis particulièrement noisette, avec des amandes et noix de grenoble qui accompagne les aromes classique de pomme, fleures blanches, et minéralité. Il reste frais et sec en bouche.
Region: Sicile
Appelation: Menfi (côte sud-ouest de la Sicile)
Viticulture: Inzolia, une cépage Sicilienne connu comme Ansonica en Toscane. Les vignes se trouvent à 800m de la côte sud de la Sicile, qui contribue à la fraîcheur et le salinité du vin. Biologique.
Vinification: Fermentation avec levures indigènes en cuves inox.
Dégustation:
The wine opens with notes of grappa without the alcohol: grassy, floral, and full of yellow stone fruit. It is fairly rich and powerful but the fruit is fresh. The freshness is even more clear on the palate which is clean and crisp, finishing dry with a mouth-watering salinity.
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Des notes de grappa: florale, prune jaune, herbes sauvages au nez). La bouche est très fraîche, très rafraîchissante et linéaire, avec une finale sec et saline.
Région: Loire
Appellation: Sancerre.
Sans doute l’appellation le plus connu au monde pour le Sauvignon Blanc.
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Unquestionably the most famous place for Sauvignon Blanc in the world.
Viticulture:
Sébastien Riffault c’est un vrai pionnier à Sancerre. Il a hérité les vignes de son père et a tout converti à une agriculture biodynamique. Il croit qu’avec une sol pleine de vie, les maturités des raisins peuvent être pousser plus loin. C’est a dire, il vendange plusieurs semaines plus tard que ces voisins. Le résultat c’est que les raisins sont plus mûres, et une partie ont subi un pourriture ‘noble’ de Botrytis, qui donne des arômes de jasmin et miel.
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Sébastien Riffault is a pioneer in Sancerre. He inherited the vines of his father and converted to biodynamic agriculture. His belief is that with healthy soils, the grapes can be left on the vines to mature longer than on soils pumped full of herbicides and pesticides, devoid of life. So, he harvests much later than his neighbours do, leading to grapes that are much riper, a portion of which are affected by Botrytis, the so-called ‘noble-rot’ that gives aromas of honey and jasmine.
Vinification:
Les raisins sont pressés et la fermentation et élevage à lieu dans les cuves inox. Rien est ajouté, ni levures ni sucre ni produit chimique, sauf une minuscule 10mg de sulfites à l’embouteillage.
The grapes are pressed directly into stainless steel, where the juice ferments naturally without added yeasts or chemicals, and a tiny 10mg of sulfites are added at bottling.
Dégustation:
Pas un Sancerre typique, qui est souvent minéral, frais, et vif. Ici par contre il y a de la richesse, profondeur, et rusticité. Le fruit éxotique demeure, mais il est transformé: poire, ananas, citronelle confit et mûre, avec un peu de gingembre et romarin. Un soupçon de noisettes devient exaggéré en bouche, à côté d’une poire frais. La bouche est riche et corsé mais pas du tout confituré, il y a beaucoup d’acidité et texture.
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The nose is nothing like a typical Sancerre, which is usually mineral, clean, and bright. Here, we are ripe, deep, and wild. The fruit of Sauvignon Blanc is still there: pineapple, a hint of lychee, pear, lemongrass; but it is overripe and bruised, like a tropical fruit marmalade with ginger and rosemary. There is a hint of nuttiness as well, toasted walnuts as well. The nuttiness, which is a mark of oxidative winemaking, is even stronger on the palate, which shows the pear from the nose, but fresh fresh fresh. None of the jammy fruit we were expecting. Full bodied, high acidity, lots of texture, and a long finish.
Région: Abruzzo
Viticulture:
100% Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. Nota Bene: il y plusieurs types de Trebbiano en Italie, Trebbiano D’Abruzzo étant de loin la plus prestigieuse. Ausonia travaille en biodynamie. 2017 était une millésime extremement difficile partout en Italie, très chaud et avec très peu de pluie. C’est précisément durant telles millésimes qu’une domaine comme Ausonia, qui travaille leurs propres vignes soigneusement, aient plus de succès qu’une domaine industrielle.
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There are several types of Trebbiano in Italy. Trebbiano d’Abruzzo is the most prestigious and famous. Ausonia works the vines biodynamically. 2017 was a very difficult year everywhere in Italy, hot and dry. It is precisely in these difficult vintages that domaines like Ausonia, who carefully work their own vines, stand out from the industrial houses.
Vinification:
Fermentation naturelle (pas d’ajout de levures industrielles) in cuves inox. Très peu de sulfites.
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Natural fermentation in stainless steel. No yeasts or chemicals added except a small amount of sulfites at bottling.
Dégustation:
Un nez très italien sur ce vin jaune pâle. Zeste de citron, herbes sauvages, zeste de pomme. Très frais. Le vin est assez riche en bouche, étonnamment, il est rond avec une texture huileux, mais très frais. Le citron et herbes sauvages continuent en bouche, avec de pêche mûre et une finale persistant.
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Thé nose of this pale yellow wine is very Italian: lemon zest, wild herbs, apple skin. Very fresh, but the palate is surprisingly round and rich, with a nice oily texture. The lemon and wild herbs persist on the palate, with some ripe peach to round things off.
Region: Lombardy – the vines are near the Oltrepo Pavese DOC.
Viticulture: Organic Pinot Grigio on clay soils.
Vinification: 10 hours of skin contact before 10 months in stainless steel.
Tasting: The nose is broad and rich, very ripe, even bruised apple, pear, with some cinnamon spices, ginger, and some nuttiness. The palate is full-body, rich, round, and soft with fairly low acidity. The wine is dry but fruit-forward and the rich baked apple dominates the palate.
This bruised and spiced apple character, along with nuttiness, is indicative of a wine that is oxidative. Think apple tart or apple sauce rather than fresh green or yellow apple.
This richer white will pair well with the Samke Harra, the Shrimp, and some hot plates like tatar borek, fattet mozat where the creaminess will complement the yogourt.
Région: Var. This is a department in Provence on the southern coast of France.
Viticulture: The grapes are typical of Provençal whites: Ugni Blanc and Clairette. Organic.
Vinification: Natural fermentation in stainless steel tanks.
Tasting: Lovely light wine. The nose is very fresh, with seaside chalky minerality. Lots of lemon zest, bitter herbs and some soft yellow apple and jasmine that round things out. The palate is very fresh, medium body with crisp acidity, and a bitter herbal finish very typical of wines of Provence.
This is a light enough wine to serve as an aperitif, or to be served with mixed mezze or the lighter grilled seafood (Samak Meshwi and the Samke Nayye especially).
Region: Pelopponese
Grape: Roditis. The most planted grape in Greece, and it’s home is here in the Peloponnese.
Vinification: Stainless Steel.
Tasting: A simple, lively white from Roditis. Peaches and orchard fruit, very fresh with some minerality and grassy components. Lovely, slightly spritzy palate when the bottle is first opened, leading to a very clean dry finish with fresh fruit and minerals.
Damas Wine 