Joe's Winos Wine Club august 2017

DOMAINE PREYS

"CUVÉE DE FIÉ GRIS" 2015

In the early 1980's Jacky Preys was looking for new vineyard sites to expand his winery. He was particularly looking for vineyards abundant in the silex (flintstone) soils that give the whites from the Touraine region their particular mineral character. The region of France's Loire valley was mined for flint during the Napoleonic wars. Jacky was surprised to hear a family was offering 50 hectares of vineyards, considerably more than he was looking for, planted on silex with a full staff and winery. As Jacky scouted out his new vineyards, he came across a small parcel of grapes that had a reddish hue. Locals couldn't identify the grape's varietal name and the French National Wine Institution INAO was also in the dark. The answer came with an 80 year old INAO retiree who, upon seeing the vineyard, said "Jacky, you have a gold mine here. This is Fié Gris," a varietal that was believed to be extinct a century ago. Local varietals of the Loire were all but wiped out in the 1890s and French wine laws that followed made planting grapes such as Fié Gris fiscally impossible. Fié Gris is a distant cousin of Sauvignon Blanc but has its own distinct character. The wine offers bright aromas of lemon, Turkish delight, honeysuckle, chamomile tea, dried papaya and mango, wild flowers, flint and sage. The palate starts off rich and candied but finishes lean and mineral driven with lime zest, wild strawberry, crabapple, and a hint of flinty smoke on the finish.

Pairings:

Rind ripened goat cheese, seared tuna and arugula salad

M.A.N. FAMILY WINES

"SKAAPVELD" SHIRAZ 2015

M.A.N. Family Wines is the result of three friends starting a winery and naming it after their wives first names. The Paarl has a long history of wine production going back to the 1680s when French Huguenots began to settle at the small trading outpost. Planting vines that became staples of the area, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chenin Blanc. The regions varying terroirs allows for plenty of experimentation with many grape types planted in small quantities. This "Skaapveld" Shiraz is co-fermented with a small amount of Viognier, a long standing practice in the Northern Rhone. Viognier, along with adding its own character, actually makes the wine darker and preserves its color longer. Skaapveld is the South African term for the grazing land set aside for sheep adjacent to many Shiraz vineyards in the region. This wine offers plenty of character for its modest asking price. Aromas of smoke, leather, dried flowers, meat, cranberry, roses, and raspberry liqueur lead to a palate of dried spices, chicory, cedar and rhubarb. This medium to full-bodied wine has nice chewy tannins finishing with smoke and black pepper. We opened this wine about 15 minutes ahead of time.

PAIRINGS:

Grilled Meat, BBQ, Wild Game