First collaborationAccord Tannique with the festival « Summer nights' thoughts » Bazas. In a beautiful setting, under the great Halle, I was pleased to be accompanied by the internationally renowned Lutheran Thomas DUNFORD. With him I propose a tasting of 4 exceptional wines. Participants were able to discover the subtleties of the Music & Wine agreements.
Selection of 4 high-end wines
- Domaine Fallet-Crouzet– Blanc de Blancs – AOP Champagne Grand Cru – 2015 & 2016
- Peter Sichel Domain – Montanha – IGP Country of Cucugnan – 2023
- Domaine Font de Courtedune – Châteauneuf-du-Pape – 2020
- Domaine Vial-Magnères – Gaby Vial – 7 years old
Musical chords by the luthist Thomas DUNFORD
Luthist, theorbist and baroque guitarist, Thomas Dunford offers a series of Music & Wine chords for this Musical Tasting.
Back in image of the evening
The tasting sheets of the Soenologist
Wine #1 : A festive bubble to sharpen our palates
Name: Champagne – Grand Cru – Avize
Area : Fallet-Crouzet
Terror : Coteaux exposed south-east, with limestone soil. They are old vines: 50 years on average, 80 years for the oldest.
Grape(s): 100% Chardonnay (White White)
Cuvée: Grand Cru – Extra Brut
Vintage: 1/3 of 2015 (exceptional vintage) and 2/3 of 2016 (large vintage)
Service: 10°
Description : A real champagne winemaker! The minerality brought by the limestone soil gives the freshness necessary to balance the wine.
Dress : Golden yellow – visible evolution
Nose : The nose is complex, it is marked by toasted scents of brioche bread. The aeration also produces notes of very ripe yellow fruits (pear, caramelized apple), flowers and dianis.
Mouth : The attack is creamy, very tasty. On the palate, the foam is creamy, thin and dense. The body is astonished and full while remaining fresh and lively. The finish on the hazelnut is a superb length.
Music & Wine Agreement : A sparkling and quiet piece at once. Invitation to the party. Illustrating the effervescence in music!
John Dowland – Come Again
Dalza – Calata
Wine n°2 : Grenache in an original form, lightness and finesse
We will enter the heart of our theme, a grape variety in different forms!
Grenache is a fascinating grape variety that embodies the very essence of Mediterranean wines. Two words sum up: generosity and heat. Originally from the Spanish province of Aragon towards the 15th century, its name derives from the Spanish word "garnacha", meaning "granade", with reference to the shape of its clusters.
Area : Peter Sichel (the winemaker is called Alexander Sichel)
30 years ago, Peter Sichel (big Bordeaux merchant), family owner of Château Palmer, built Château Trillol in the heart of the Cucugnan Valley in Languedoc. In 2019, his grandson Alexander Sichel took over the estate and renamed it Domaine Peter Sichel in tribute to his grandfather. The vineyard of 20 hectares and its 39 plots, located between 200 and 500 meters above sea level, are in biodynamic conversion for wines from organic farming.
Name: IGP Country of Cucugnan, in the Roussillon
Terror : Cucugnan valley. Ground of argilo-calcar collutions, located 300-400 meters above sea level. The climate is typically Mediterranean but tempered by altitude.
Grape(s): 100% Grenache
Cuvée: MONTANHA (means Mountain in Occitan)
Vintage: 2023
Service: 14° (to be served slightly fresh)
Carafage: 2H before
Alcohol: 12,5%
Description : a short infusion of Grenache Infusion (2.5 days). Wines of great finesse, far from what can be expected in this very hot region. Alexander Sichel was elected revelation of the year by the Revue des Vins de France. So it's a field that has the wind in its stern. The Montanha cuvée is an infusion of fresh mountain fruits.
Dress : Beautiful light ruby dress
Nose : Very clear and frank nose, on red fruits, strawberry wood. Light caramel
Mouth : The structure is fine and elegant. It's very stoned, it's drunk on its own.
Music & Wine Agreement : Fruity / Fresh / Elegant / Wine of friends
We're friends, friendliness, it seems easy, but it's actually complex.
Bach : Prelude & Suite
Wine #3: A classic of the genre!
If there's a region you think of when you say Grenache: Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Creator of the vineyard, Clement V, the first pope of Avignon, was before the archbishop of Bordeaux, and lived next to Haut-Brion where he founded one of the best Pessac Léognan: Château Pape-Clément.
Area : Domaine Font de Courtedune – 39 ha including 5 ha in C9NdP
Family estate (3 generations) – Caroline Charrier at the Chai and her brother at the vineyard
Recently rated 100/100 by the famous RVF
Name: Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Terror : Northeast of the appellation, we are on the sands (Safres) like the Rayas
Grape(s): 100% Grenache
Cuvée: C9dP
Vintage: 2020 – "normal" year tells me the winemaker
Service: 16°
Carafage: 2H
Alcohol: 15°
Description : Particularity of the domain : They do not swell, and vinify whole clusters + 18/24 months concrete tank.
Dress : Purple dress with tiled reflections
Nose : Red fruits, tapenade, crushed strawberries and dried flowers, black fruits, olive, spices
Mouth : Final on licorice, lots of finesse and distinction. Soft tans.
Music & Wine Agreement : Central part of the programme, complexity, dormant point!
Bach : Chaconne
N°4 : A great wine of meditation to finish smoothly
Area : Vial-Magneres (name legend field)
Bernard Saperas, an icon of this vineyard that has made Banyuls known worldwide. Left too early, in 2013, he left behind a masterful work!
Reprised by Laurent Dal Zovo, elected winemaker of the year 2021 by the Hachette Guide.
Name: Banyuls
Terror : Schistes. Planting in terraces, driving cup. Mediterranean climate, warm and dry summer, mild winter. Very windy, the Tramontane is almost daily.
Marine entry = natural mist
Grape(s): 70% Grenache Black / 30% Grenache Grey
Cuvée: Gaby Vial
Service: between 10-12°
Carafage: 2H
Alcohol: 16.45% / 80gr residual sugar
Description More commonly called 7 years of age, this Banyuls is more oxidative than traditional Banyuls.
Banyuls are so-called wines « transferred » : i.e. alcohol is added to the must to stop alcoholic fermentation, which helps to keep some of the natural sugar in the grape.
This one is aged in oak (reddening medium) to give a typical oxidative banyuls!
Description: An intense pleasure around the combo: macerated cherry, fig, cocoa
Dress : Tiled, amber red
Nose : We have the fruitiness of Grenache + fig, a little nutty. Nose of candied red fruits, mainly macerated cherry, some coffee and chocolate/cacao. Caramel.
Mouth : Unctuous, but digested at once – The mouth is tender, supple, greedy and slightly oxidative
Music & Wine Agreement : From Past to Present / Meditation Wine / Power / Sun
Satie : Gnossienne + Gymnopedia & web on John Lennon's Imagine
