Drink to the light of the lengthening days

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SAQ 11377225 | 19,40 $

Parès Baltà Calcari Xarel-Lo 2020

Joan and his brother Josep belong to the third generation of the Cuisiné family. They have been the torchbearers for the Parès Baltà vineyard since early 2000, and in organic, biodynamic viticulture from 2011.

To top it all off, the two brothers team up with their respective wives: Maria Elena and Marta. Both are oenologists and responsible for innovation, while respecting the vinification ideas developed by preceding generations.

The Calcari, a white wine tinged with gold, is a 100 per cent Xarel-Lo, very generous and aromatic. The nose is reminiscent of pear and candied lemon along with beeswax, and also wet rock. In the mouth, this translates to strength, finesse and a mineral quality.

Aging on lees allows this Penedes white to have a long finish, enough even for scampi with lemon butter, or even garlic butter.

SAQ 10675001 | 20,80 $

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Domaine Cosse Maisonneuve Le Combal Cahors 2017

In 1999 a young couple, both oenologists, Catherine Maisonneuve and Mathieu Cosse, acquired five hectares of vineyard in Cahors. Highly rewarded by both the vines and the terroir which inspired them, Mathieu and Catherine scored a bull’s eye from their first vintage and became the reference for the appellation’s renewal.

Close to 23 years later, the now 28 hectares of vines, mostly malbec, are tended by the Cosse- Maisonneuve duo with the respect integral to biodynamic cultivation. The 2017 Combal is even more surprising, coming as it does from a particularly difficult year.

Its colour is a deep, brilliant purple and its aromas are of very ripe blackcurrants and plums with a touch of licorice and woodiness. You could compare it to a lusty fellow who’s elegantly dressed, and it’s shockingly digestible.

Try it with a “hamburger” of confit of duck, red onion confit, and kénogami cheese.

SAQ 907477 | 24,30 $

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Allegrini Palazzo della Torre Veronese 2018

When I think “ripasso” I think of comfort. It’s probably due to that sensation of richness and velvety smoothness that covers the palate. In Venezia, the end-of-season temperatures are crucial to obtaining fully mature grapes bursting with sugar.

The first of them are picked at the end of September. As to the “chapped” grapes (dried grapes with concentrated sugar) – which guarantee the result sought to create the Allegrini family’s style of Palazzo della Torre – they are harvested only in December. The scent is opulent, a bouquet of jammy red and blue fruits, along with smokiness, spices, and silky tannins.

In other words, balanced and perfect for drinking in the light of the lengthening days.

 

More from this author by clicking on his photo below.

Franck Lizotte

 

Franck Lizotte74 Posts

Vulgarisateur vitivinicole/Wine world simplifier

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