Past Issues:
Drinks with Les Dames, oct/nov 2006
Wine Skinny Managing Editor Robyn Tinsley
is a member of Les Dames d'Escoffier, an
international organization of women in the
food, beverage and hospitality professions.
Les Dames (or LDEI)
is a great community-based group that offers
a supportive network to its members and
participates in local educational and philanthropic
efforts like the LDEI
Civic Agriculture & Garden Initiative.
These are also some women who can really
get into a wine tasting, if you know what
we mean! Each issue, we'll bring
you the results of a Drinks with Les Dames
tasting -- what they liked, what they didn't,
food pairing ideas, and more.
This time, the ladies got into a little
custom cuvee blending, thanks to d'Arenberg's
Custodian Grenache Three Soils trio
of wines.
The idea is that the winery takes the grapes
that eventually go into their Custodian
Grenache - grapes from different vineyard
plots - and bottle them separately. Each
bottle is from grapes grown in different
soil types (thus "Three Soils"),
including loam, deep sand, and sand on clay.
The differences in the wines that come
from the three soils are most interesting!
Generally speaking, the deep, rich loam
soil produces bigger, fleshier grapes with
finer tannins and a fruity, mid-weight,
accessible, youthful wine. Deep sand in
the vineyard results in deep root structure,
little shoot vigor and relatively small
berry size that results in a distinctly
floral, spicy wine with a long palate. Finally,
sand on clay makes it difficult for the
vine to survive, resulting in small, concentrated,
highly flavorful berries and a full-bodied,
tannic, ripe wine.
We tasted all three of the soil-specific
wines alongside the final master Custodian
Grenache blend from winemaker Chester Osborne
- all from the relatively cool 2002 vintage.
After tasting through the lot, the ladies
started concocting their own, personal cuvees
- a dash of Sand on Clay to a glass of Loam;
a splash of Deep Sand to the Custodian,
etc. At some point, we all had our favorite
blends, pouring with abandon and having
a great time experimenting.
As a final note, The Custodian retails
for around $19 in its "usual"
bottling. We think it's impressive that
the winery goes to these lengths to produce
the Three Soils pack on a $19 bottle of
wine. Imagine how much work and analysis
goes into the pricier bottles!
Here are the Dames' reactions to each wine:
($N/A).
Wild blueberry and concentrated raspberry
flavors are accented with dusty sage. Long,
fleshy finish opens up to include more cherry
and a kick of black pepper.
($N/A). Deeper and more concentrated than
the Loam wine, with meaty black currant,
plum, black pepper and earthy vanilla bean
notes, with a deep, but smooth finish.
($N/A). Most interesting, with fig, caramel
and iron aromas introducing smoky blackberry
and olive and leather flavors, with loads
of tannic grip on the tightly wound finish.
($19).
Harmonious and smooth, with ripe red cherry
and berry flavors that are laced with fresh
herbs, subtle spices and toast. Bright acidity
and fine tannins support a long, fleshy
finish. Ready to drink now and over the
next three or four years.
Learn more about d'Arenberg and their
wines at www.darenberg.com.au.
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