CLARET & FRENCH DRY WHITES In the long ... - The Wine Society

CLARET & FRENCH DRY WHITESIn the long, leisurely, sun-drenched gap – well, we can dream – between the rustle ofspring and autumn jamming, there is plenty to keep gueules amused. Think ofsummer herbs in their prime, ripe, musky melons to lend a bit of sweetness to saltyhams, lamb enriched by months of prime grazing and, in the distance, the prospect ofthe Glorious Twelfth, for those willing to part-exchange a house for a grouse. Beloware some British seasonal suggestions for the classic French wines in this summerselection.WINE AND DINEChristian Moueix Saint-Emilion, 2006, Saint-EmilionThe backbone and clean fruit here are good foils for slowly-roasted belly of pork withall the fat rendered out, and crackling you can knock audibly with a spoon. Theseasonal bit is a piquant sauce made from fresh plums, simmered in red wine spikedwith star anise and cinnamon sticks which can be removed before serving, leaving asweet, subtle heat. Steamed pak choi adds a bit of colour.Château Vieux Clos St Emilion, 2006, Saint-Emilion Grand CruRub four lamb shanks with salt, pepper and a generous pinch of dried oregano and putin a casserole with a large, thinly-sliced onion, two crushed garlic cloves, a cinnamonstick, and a bayleaf. Add 400ml of white wine, water or a mixture. Cover tightly andbake at 180ºC/Gas 4 for two hours, until falling off the bone. Serve this cheat’skleftiko with a salad of crunchy lettuce, cucumber and cubed feta cheese, dressed withfreshly-squeezed lemon juice and some of the oil from a jar of good olives.Château La Garelle, Puits Rasat, 2006, Saint-Emilion Grand CruWe eat with our eyes, so kick-start your guests’ appetite with a magnificent cold ducksalad. Fry the ducks skin side down for 15 minutes to crisp the skin, then flip over foranother 5 minutes for pink meat. Cool, slice thickly and arrange on a bed ofnasturtium leaves and flowers, with sliced avocado sprinkled with a few drops ofhazelnut vinaigrette.Saint Véran ‘En Crches’, Domaine Jacques et Nathalie Saumaize, 2009The important thing about English corn on the cob, at its sweet best now, is thedressing which, for me, has to be unsalted butter, the better to echo the dairy notes ofa good chardonnay. Boil or barbecue the cobs and cut into manageable thirds orhalves, with black pepper on the side.Pouilly-Fumé, 2009 (Domaine Seguin)A fine match for lemon sole, cooked whole on the bone. Gut, skin and put into thebottom of a grill pan (dispense with the grid) with knobs of fresh herb butter, somelemon juice and a splash of white wine. Steam-grill until opaque and sit on a bed ofjust-cooked young spinach leaves.Gewurztraminer, Domaine Zind-Humbrecht, 2009If you grow heritage tomatoes, this is a chance to showcase them. Combine as manyshapes and colours as possible, halve, toss in olive oil, salt and pepper and grill until

producing traditionally vinified wine. Minimal intervention in the cellar means thatsome natural deposit may develop in bottle, in which case decant or pour carefully offthe sediment.ref FN-CS7881 £12.50 bottle £150 dozenFRENCH DRY WHITESSaint Véran ‘En Creches’, Domaine Jacques et Nathalie Saumaize, 2009Tasting note: Good Saint Véran in a hot vintage like 2009 retains its natural aromaand freshness and gains extra depth. Jacques and Natalie Saumaize make very goodSaint-Véran. A joy!Grape Varieties: ChardonnaySweetness/Fullness Code: 2Alcohol content: 13%Origin: BurgundyAbout the wine:From hillside vines on the broad back of La Roche de Vergisson, just a little higher inaltitude than those allowed for Pouilly-Fuissé, this is made by Jacques and NathalieSaumaize from small crops of grapes from 30-year-old vines. The wine is left on itslees to extract as much flavour as possible. Unoaked, but with lovely complexity andfreshness on the palate.ref FN-BU46491 List £11.50 bottle WWF £11.25 bottle £135 dozenPouilly-Fumé, 2009 (Domaine Seguin)Tasting note: Fresh, classically styled sauvignon with the hint of gunflint that istypical of this famous Loire appellation.Grape Varieties: Sauvignon blancSweetness/Fullness Code: 1Alcohol content: 12.5%Origin: The LoireAbout the wine:Hervé Seguin’s son Philippe is the sixth generation of the family responsible for therunning of this excellent domaine, and does so with the greatest care and not a hint ofshowiness. This is an impeccably run cellar which is always spotlessly clean and theattention to detail is reflected in the quality of the wines which seduce with their purefruit, fine balance and delicate minerally streak.ref FN-LO8531 List £12.50 bottle WWF £12.25 bottle £147 dozenGewurztraminer, Domaine Zind-Humbrecht, 2009Tasting note: Fabulous, bone-dry gewurz showing huge character and strength.

Grape Varieties: GewurztraminerSweetness/Fullness Code: 1Alcohol content: 14%Origin: AlsaceAbout the wine:Gewurztraminer is the essential Alsace grape variety producing full-bodied andfragrant wines that easily stand out. It’s a variety that works well on heavy clays andthrives in hot vintages like 2009. Léonard and Olivier Humbrecht are not only amongthe top growers in Alsace but also top producers of gewurztraminer. They seem tohave an innate understanding of this grape and have ideal slopes for this variety toprosper. Certified biodynamic and organic.ref FN-AL8701 £10.75 bottle £129 dozenBACK PAGEVINTAGE TALESWe now know that, in France, the new millennium has already yielded twooutstanding harvests, of the kind some commentators have already dubbed ‘vintagesof the century’. There is no doubt that 2005 and 2009 are the vintages of the decade,but real wine drinkers, as opposed to speculators, can’t live by stellar vintages alone,and the virtues of years that come between a perfect pair need to be flagged up. In thissummer selection, we celebrate the 2006 vintage in Saint-Emilion.After the uniformly glorious 2005 in Bordeaux, 2006 was a year of more mixedresults. It started well with a blazing July, which led into a cooler than average end tothe summer, which saved the grapes from blowsy jamminess. In September, afterpromising signs of an Indian summer, down came the rain for the best part of a week.Happily, in the merlot-driven right bank, a crop of ripe, healthy grapes was safely in.One of the words we used in The Society’s opening offer, a significantly smallerselection than its 2005 or 2009 counterparts, was ‘radiant’ and the most successfulwines do have a glossy, almost luminous quality about them. Three Saint-Emilionsfeatured in this selection demonstrate the clean lines, focused fruit and strikingfreshness of a classy merlot vintage.Members opting for the white or mixed cases can revisit 2009 in some of the classicvineyards of France. The Loire, as we have already pointed out many times in recentLists and offers, had a cracking year, along its impressive (1,000km) length, despitebizarre weather conditions from winter temperatures below -10ºC in Touraine to oneof the longest, hottest, fruit-stressing summers imaginable. Between these extremes,there were some vicious hailstorms in the Central Vineyards, but Pouilly, inparticular, gathered in an excellent if low-yielding crop of sauvignons of strikingconcentration.While the Loire was focusing on poise and purity in 2009, Burgundy played thehedonistic card, with sensationally ripe, rich whites that already charm in the glass.Here the weather was quieter, and a bumper crop followed a very successful

flowering, swelled by rain in July and air-dried by sunny late-summer conditions. Thetwin challenges were to control yields with strict and timely pruning, and to pickbefore super-ripe became over-ripe.With two fine consecutive years in the bag, growers in Alsace hoped to complete thetreble with 2009, and they certainly had the weather for it. Winter was crisp and dry,spring balmy, early summer warm and just wet enough, and a blissfully hot and dryAugust, leading seamlessly into early autumn and harvest time. Producer and Masterof Wine Olivier Humbrecht is taking a cautiously optimistic long view of the potentialof this vintage, and who can blame him? He has had years and years of practice, andknows better than most that every one of them was completely different from whatcame before and what followed.Meanwhile, for members who have opted for the white or mixed cases, we’ll let oneof his gewurztraminers do the talking.