Light Summer Reds
Technically it’s still spring, but the last few weeks have definitely felt like summer. And I’ve already featured some favourite whites, rosés, and big BBQ reds, so I think it’s time to look at some nice, easy-drinking, lighter reds for the summer weather. But “easy-drinking'“ and "“lighter” doesn’t have to mean simple or any less delicious. Sometimes people write-off or dismiss light bodied wines as inferior big full bodied wines, or equate value to bigger body. There is no correlation between body and quality, you can have extremely complex, flavourful wines that are so light red and transluscent in the glass they’re bordering rosé. In fact, the most expensive region for wine in the world in Burgundy and it’s entirely Pinot Noir, one of the lightest grapes! All that to say that light bodied wines are every bit as legit as full bodied wines. They can be so flavourful and versatile with all kinds of different cuisine and excellent to drink on their own. So whether you’re chilling out on the patio, having a nice dinner, or BBQ’ing something other than burgers and steaks, here’s some favourite bottles that won’t steer you wrong…
Thomas in his natural element.
Thomas is not only one of Canada’s best winemakers, but easily one of the best in North America. He was born in Montreal and began his winemaking career in Burgundy where he was educated and was mentored in vineyards. After school and some work in Burgundy he moved to Oregon to work with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the New World for a few years, then back to Burgundy, then back to Oregon again to help start Lemelson Vineyards where he was head winemaker before eventually coming back to Ontario to help start Le Clos Jordanne. Thomas helped Le Clos Jordanne became one of Ontario’s most famous Pinot Noir and Chardonnay producers and then left The Clos to partner with his wife Mary to follow their dream and start their own operation, making cool climate Chardonnay in the 3 places they had come to know intimately: Burgundy, Oregon, and Niagara. They made wine similtaniously in all 3 places the same way each year. A really cool terroir project that they simply called Bachelder. But, as outstanding as his Burgundy and Oregon wines are, ironically the Niagara wines were what has been in most demand so Thomas and Mary have started to put all their eggs in that basket and focus-in at home.
Thomas’ wines have been on top lists of New World Pinot Noir by Jancis Robinson, Decanter, The World of Fine Wine, New York Times, and many other top international critics and publications. He’s a bonafide Pinot Noir and Chardonnay specialist who we’re lucky to have among our local talent. And on top of all that, he’s the most chill, down-to-earth, super cool guy who will mesmerize you for hours with interesting wine knowledge or chat about random things like philosophy or country music (which we often do). His wines are all light in body, but high in flavour, depth, and complexity. They’re all very terroir-driven…I won’t go into detail on all that here, but if you’re interested check out the IGTV chat I did with him last week from my farm in Southwestern Ontario to his cellar in Niagara. We discussed Niagara wines, Oregon terroir, as well as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Gamay in general. And as always, lots of interesting info from Thomas.
Parfum + Les Naturistes dead soldiers from last night’s dinner.
BACHELDER, ‘PARFUM DE NIAGARA’ PINOT NOIR, 2018 | $24.95 x12
This WAS an exclusive wine for restaurants-only, but after the pandemic hit and restaurants closed they opened up sales to consumers as well…at least for the time being. His single vineyard bottles go for around $45 a bottle, this is a blend of those same vineyards for about half the price, at $25. A hell of a deal when you consider how top-end the fruit is that it’s made from. Its name refers to the beauty and perfume that Pinot Noir can have in equal measure to the earthiness or terroir character it’s so often famous for. Look for a super elegant body with nice acidty but smooth mouth feel and texture. Notes of ripe cherries, cherry pits, flowers, and a bit of fresh turned earth or potting soil. Crazy good on its own or with a variety of dishes from cheese, charcuterie, patees, salads, oilier fish, land ighter meats…very versitle and delicious. Since there’s no page for it on his website, here’s the empty bottle I enjoyed last night for a bottle shot!
BACHELDER, WILLMS ‘LES NATURISTES’ GAMAY NOIR, 2018 | $26.95 x6
If you’re not familiar with Gamay Noir, you may be familiar with Beaujolais? All Beaujolais wines are Gamay. But if your association is the sweeter tootie-fruity neuveau, cheap stuff, forget that. This is the real deal. All Gamay is light bdied, like Pinot Noir, but it can be as serious as Pinot too. This is Thomas’ experiment with partical whole cluster fermentation and minimarl intervention in all neutral oak. It’s all wild yeast ferments (like all his wines) and very little sulphur until the end at bottling. So since this wine has very little done to it he’s calling it his nudist wine: les naturalists. Expect Gamay juiciness, but with a bit of stemmy character from the whole clister and some nice earthiness. A really great Gamay that dances between classic Cru style and the natural Gamays that are all the rage today.
MAISON CHAMPY, ‘CUVÉE EDME’ BOURGOGNE PINOT NOIR, FRANCE, 2018 | $34.99 x12
Dimitri Bazas, Maison Champy Oenologist for past 20 years.
I did a piece on Champy’s Chardonnay a few weeks ago, and a lot of the same applies to their Pinot Noir. Burgundy is the home of Pinot Noir, and Maison Champy is the oldest winery in Burgundy…so they know a thing or two about good Pinot Noir. These days it’s hard to find good value in Burgundy, but when you’re 3 centuries old, you own enough great vineyards that you’re less affected by the increasing land prices and can produce some of the better values on the market. And for those Burgundy nuts out there, this Bougogne Rouge is a blend of Pinot Noir from the Cote d’Or, Macon, and Auxerre. Really outstanding value at $35 a bottle, especially considering what Burgundy costs today! This bottle leans to the more elegant, lifted, floral, purfumed Pinot Noirs, and less to the earthy barnyard. Look for red fruit, cherries and a dry, round, smooth savoury texture. It opens more after every sip from the glass, I find myself liking this wine even more and more after subsequent sups. This is a 2018, a year dubbed “the heat wave year”, seen as one of the best vintages in recent years, prompting critics to compare it to the mythical vintage 1947 vintage. But all the heat didn’t over do the body or the alcohol, it’s surprising how elegantly this drinks for such a warm year!
DOMAINE JEAN BOURDY, COTES DU JURA ROUGE, FRANCE, 2018 | $36.99 x12
Jean-Francois Bourdy, in his family’s 1475 cellar.
If you drive an hour east from Maison Champy in Beaune toward Switzerland, you’ll find yourself in the Jura in the foothills of the Alps on France’s eastern border. This region is incredibly famous for their Comte cheese, but not as famous as it should be for wine…and frankly that’s OK with me, as the prices are still incredibly reasonable for how insanely good the wines are. If you like wines with a bit of funk to them, Jura will be your new best friend. It is one of the oldest winemaking areas in all of France and is undeniably still the most traditional. Many domaines still make wine more-or-less the same wine they did centuries ago, and have the family records to prove it. And in this case, Domaine Jean Bourdy is in it’s 7th century of operation from when they began making wine in the very same stone house where they started 17 generations ago in 1475. Because this is such a special winery, I did a separate write up about my visit to Bourdy in Jura a while ago, check out this link on more details on this extremely old and respected house. But in general Jura Whites are Chardonnay and/or Savagnin, and Jura reds are almost always blends of Pinot Noir, Trusseau, and Poulsard. In this case, it is equal thirds of each. Here expect floral cherry fruit on the nose mixed with some earth and leathery funk on the nose. Almost a perfect orchard and farm on the nose. The wild cherry fruit and floral components mixed with the adjacent barnyard and earth. A real delight in the glass that’s ever changing and will age easily for many decades (more on that in the previous link).
Poggio Morino vineyards in Chianti.
Remember when “a glass of Chianti” was the go-to thing at any Italian restaurant? It was never fussy, super complex, or overdone, just easy-drinking and delicious. That’s what this is. A throwback to the Italian bistro wine that was meant for weeknight dinners and for opening several bottles at a party (or when your social distancing neighbours come over). This Chianti is 100% Sangiovese and it’s fermented in stainless steel, then aged in large Slovenian oak barrels that are traditional in Chianti. Usually, Chianti's in this price range are DOC Chiantis made from grapes throughout the broader Tuscany region labelled as a regular DOC Chianti, but this is a great value as a DOCG Chianti at that same price. Poggio Morino is a hill, or knoll, the place in Chianti where this wine was born. It blends Sangiovese grapes from several areas in the Chianti sub-zones, but is named after where it stared. Overall, it’s a dry red wine with hints of raspberries, cherries and violets. Ruby-red in color, with well-balanced acidity and tannins. Delicious with light meat and tomato dishes. Highly recommended as a light, easy-drinking sipper or versatile pairing with appetizers, pizza, pastas, and lighter meats.
Terre Del Barolo, growers/co-owners in the 1950s.
First are foremost, just to be clear, this is not a Barolo. So often people see this and assume is an incredibly well priced Barolo. Unfortunately, this wine is a bit confusing that way. It is a wine from an excellent Barolo producer in the Barolo region called ‘Terre Del Barolo’ who makes many excellent Barolos, but this particular wine is not a Barolo. The grape is Pelaverga, and it’s an antiquated, traditional grape of the region, most likely used in Barolo wines historically before Nebbiolo was isolated as the only grape allowed in proper Barolo. Pelaverga was once thought to be nearly extinct, but a few plots remained and several growers including Terre Del Barolo have been bringing it back and it’s become quite popular amongst those who know what it is. To me, I’d describe it almost like a northern Italian Gamay. It’s got a slight be of that same earth or leather that Nebbiolo or Barbera does, but in a lighter, smoother, almost Pinot Noir-like way; characterized by softer, smooth tannis, cherry fruit, and a cracked black pepper spicy charcter to it. A very cool wine if you’re looking for something a bit outside of the box and entirely new. And from a very cool producer, Terre Del Barolo is a grower owned co-op started by the Mayor of Castiglion Falleto in the 1950’s to put economic power back into the grower’s hands from the big companies. There are almost 300 small vineyard owners and growers who have various slices of amazing terroir and old vines (like Pelaverga) who contribute to this really cool label that makes significantly less expensive wines becasue of their co-ownership structure, in a way cutting out the middle man of production. This parcel of Pelaverga comes from the Barolo commune of Verduno, the most northwestern village of the Barolo region. It’s quite rare to find anything other than Nebbiolo planted on Barolo territory anymore since those wines command such a greater price, so it’s pretty cool to find this rare little gem.
VINCENT CAILLE, ‘PART DU COLIBRI’ CÔT, LOIRE VALLEY, FRANCE, 2018 | $24.99 x12
Vincent Caille in Muscadet.
Potentially another first for some people. If you’ve never heard of Côt, it’s genetically the same thing as Malbec…but doesn’t drink anything like it. It’s almost how Zinfandel and Primativo are the same grape, but California Zin and Italian Primativo taste nothing alike. Malbecs from Cahors in France or Mendoza in Argentina are all characterized by big body, big tannin, and generally high alcohol, the kind of wines I was highlighting in our Big BBQ Wine feature. But when grown in the Loire Valley, Côt drinks almost more like a cross between a Gamay from Beaujolais and Cabernet Franc from Chinon. This wine is from superstar natural winemaker and Muscadet biodynamic pioneer Vincent Caille, who I featured in my Spring Natural Wine offer a couple months ago. This wine is certfied organic and biodynamic, and for more on him and how he’s bringing organics back to his region, follow this link. In this wine expect cherries, macerated strawberries, and herbaceous and floral mix of sumac trees and lilac bushes. Light but firm and grippy tannins with a nice bite and fresh, edgy acidity. It’s firm but juicy. A great food wine, and really refreshing red. It went extremely well with our casual Thursday night taco salad 🌮👌
Just a reminder that the order deadline for Friday delivery is Wednesday at 9am. Reach out if you have any questions, and check out the archive of past FEATURES if you’re interested in other recommendations. Lastly, please feel free to forward this to anyone in Ontario who may be interested in home wine delivery and follow us on instagram for daily wine content at @capitalwine.ottawa!