Club Little House Wines - September 2015

Espartal Cabernet Sauvignon – Mendall (2013) 

Grape Variety(s): Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: Terra Alta, Catalonia, Spain 

Winemaker: Laureano Serres 

Soil: Calcareous Clay

Age of Vines: 10-15 yrs

Laureano Serres is not your typical winemaker.  After a career in IT spent in Madrid, Laureano moved back to his native village, Pinell De Brai, in Catalonia, just about two hours South of Barcelona.  He initially served as President of the local grape COOP, but after a few years, began making his own wine from family owned vineyards.  Gradually, Laureano and his family rented other plots and currently organically farm about 15 acres of fruit.  The majority of the vines are quite old and offer extremely low juice yields.

Serres strictly adheres to natural winemaking principles and makes some of the most interesting and memorable wines we have tasted.  He uses zero additions in his winemaking…no sulfur, no acidity treatment, no commercial yeasts, NOTHING.  The wines are not filtered or fined and are bottled, corked, and labeled by hand.

Espartal CS comes from his “Espartal” property near his home village, which sits at a relatively low elevation about 20 miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea.  Espartal CS is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged in stainless steel tanks for about a year.  Big, juicy fruit is balanced with a surprisingly firm acidity.  Refreshing and clean, this is unlike any Cab Sauv you’ve had.  Serve slightly cooler than room temperature.  Only about 100 cases made.  

Cuvée Aurore – Château du Coing 

Grape Variety(s): Chardonnay

Region: Sèvre et Maine, Muscadet, Loire Valley 

Winemaker: Véronique Günther-Chéreau

Soil: Mica and Granite (Metamorphic)

Age of Vines: 20 yrs 

Owner and winemaker Véronique Günther-Chéreau brings us beautiful wines from her estate in the Muscadet region of the Loire Valley, France.   Set at the intersection of the Sèvre and Maine rivers, Véronique’s family has been making wine at Saint Fiacre since 1421! Château du Coing is family run and uses solely estate grown fruit.  The style used here, “Sur Lie” refers to the process of aging the wines on the dead yeast cells, or lees, for an extended period of time.  This not typical for most white wines, which are usually racked, or taken off, of the lees.  Sur lie aging creates for more body, structure, and arguably more complexity. The Cuvée Aurore is 100% Chardonnay which is aged on its lees for 6 months in steel.

Notes of locust tree flower and white flesh fruit, “Aurore” is an aromatic wine with a beautiful structure and mouthfeel.  It pairs excellently with fish and pork, but also works great as an aperitif!