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Valley vintages show quality and character
By Aubrey Buckingham |
March 8, 2009, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Rhone Valley may not have the same mystique or romance as its Burgundian neighbor, but it is still a source of great, long-lasting wines that will go with a variety of local foods. Supplier Summergate Fine Wine & Spirits is banking on the region growing in prominence and recently announced an exclusive partnership to distribute the Southern Rhone's Perrin & Fils across the Chinese mainland.
The family-owned company recently joined the Primum Familiae Vinum, an exclusive group of the world's foremost wine-producing families. During a recent tasting to commemorate the launch, fourth generation wine maker Pierre Betrand Perrin explained that the success of his family's business was never down to just one person.
"It is very important in family business that there is no individual success, only collective," said the 36-year-old. "This is why we list on our labels (that we have been) vignerons since 1909."
Last week I wrote that Port wine was generally missing from local cellars as wine lovers plumped for vintage after vintage of grand cru Bordeaux. While the investment potential of the latter is obvious, it would be a great shame not to indulge in some other solid bets, like German rieslings or, as mentioned above, Rhone offerings.
Just as in Bordeaux, the Rhone is split into two, and often the northern appellations like Cote Rotie and Hermitage tend to hog the limelight.
The Southern Rhone has a more Mediterranean climate with harsh summers and mild winters. Here, the most famous blend is Chateauneuf-du-Pape, a blend of 13 grapes that Chateau de Beaucastel has been producing for 100 years.
The property was purchased cheaply in 1909 when vineyards across France were devastated by the aphid infestation known as phylloxera and many vignerons went out of business. Originally used as leisure grounds for the family, who had made their fortune in olives, it was only later that son-in-law Pierre Perrin, a scientist from Burgundy, decided to replant the vineyards and shift the focus back to wine.
Unlike his neighbors at the time, Perrin stuck with tradition and replanted all 13 varietals permitted by AOC regulations. The other producers in the Southern Rhone, however, took the easy route and replanted only the easy to manage grapes, which meant plenty of grenache.
While the younger Perrin admits to loving the fruity grape, he is also aware of its limitations and is glad his ancestor had the foresight not to dump the custom.
"Today in Chateauneuf-du-Pape everyone has mainly grenache, but now they are slowly back to plant some syrah because wines these days need some color," he said. This is especially true of the local market, where, according to the latest International Wine and Spirits Review survey, 65 percent of local and imported wines consumed last year were red.
Perrin went on to explain the properties of the three most important grapes. Grenanche is a fruity wine with low yield and has a juicy character ("this means it feels like you are chewing a bunch of grapes") but it can be a bit alcoholic, has low acidity and is oxidative.
Vegetal characters
Syrah, which most local aficionados know as shiraz, is used primarily for color and spiciness. While it thrives in the Cote-Rotie, Perrin feels the southern Rhone can be too hot, leading to vegetal characters in the wine. It is also high in alcohol, but is reductive instead.
Last but not least, mouvedre lends a lot of flavor with low alcohol and very reductive characters, so a high-quality blend will also have to combine the three and add the other southern Rhone grapes such as cinsaut, for example, for acidity.
The result is a magnificent wine that is constantly rated highly by influential wine doyens such as Robert Parker, among others.
Enjoying wine on a daily basis is not just about storing the cr¨¨me de la cr¨¨me, and the company also has different labels at different price points. The umbrella brand, Perrin & Fils, was established in the mid-1990s and is aimed at promoting the South Rhone as a source of fine wines.
The company is currently in the process of turning all vineyards organic (Beaucastel was certified in 1999 and the Gigondas vineyards will be ready next year). Perrin explains this is down to his great-great-grandfather's pioneering work in making sure his wines were organic, even if no certification existed back in those days.
"As one of the pioneers, we want to keep advancing. I think in 10 years, to be organic is nothing special but rather not being organic. It's a shame the market is like that, but we are not doing it just for marketing; we are organic because we think it's the only way to make wine."
The family-owned company recently joined the Primum Familiae Vinum, an exclusive group of the world's foremost wine-producing families. During a recent tasting to commemorate the launch, fourth generation wine maker Pierre Betrand Perrin explained that the success of his family's business was never down to just one person.
"It is very important in family business that there is no individual success, only collective," said the 36-year-old. "This is why we list on our labels (that we have been) vignerons since 1909."
Last week I wrote that Port wine was generally missing from local cellars as wine lovers plumped for vintage after vintage of grand cru Bordeaux. While the investment potential of the latter is obvious, it would be a great shame not to indulge in some other solid bets, like German rieslings or, as mentioned above, Rhone offerings.
Just as in Bordeaux, the Rhone is split into two, and often the northern appellations like Cote Rotie and Hermitage tend to hog the limelight.
The Southern Rhone has a more Mediterranean climate with harsh summers and mild winters. Here, the most famous blend is Chateauneuf-du-Pape, a blend of 13 grapes that Chateau de Beaucastel has been producing for 100 years.
The property was purchased cheaply in 1909 when vineyards across France were devastated by the aphid infestation known as phylloxera and many vignerons went out of business. Originally used as leisure grounds for the family, who had made their fortune in olives, it was only later that son-in-law Pierre Perrin, a scientist from Burgundy, decided to replant the vineyards and shift the focus back to wine.
Unlike his neighbors at the time, Perrin stuck with tradition and replanted all 13 varietals permitted by AOC regulations. The other producers in the Southern Rhone, however, took the easy route and replanted only the easy to manage grapes, which meant plenty of grenache.
While the younger Perrin admits to loving the fruity grape, he is also aware of its limitations and is glad his ancestor had the foresight not to dump the custom.
"Today in Chateauneuf-du-Pape everyone has mainly grenache, but now they are slowly back to plant some syrah because wines these days need some color," he said. This is especially true of the local market, where, according to the latest International Wine and Spirits Review survey, 65 percent of local and imported wines consumed last year were red.
Perrin went on to explain the properties of the three most important grapes. Grenanche is a fruity wine with low yield and has a juicy character ("this means it feels like you are chewing a bunch of grapes") but it can be a bit alcoholic, has low acidity and is oxidative.
Vegetal characters
Syrah, which most local aficionados know as shiraz, is used primarily for color and spiciness. While it thrives in the Cote-Rotie, Perrin feels the southern Rhone can be too hot, leading to vegetal characters in the wine. It is also high in alcohol, but is reductive instead.
Last but not least, mouvedre lends a lot of flavor with low alcohol and very reductive characters, so a high-quality blend will also have to combine the three and add the other southern Rhone grapes such as cinsaut, for example, for acidity.
The result is a magnificent wine that is constantly rated highly by influential wine doyens such as Robert Parker, among others.
Enjoying wine on a daily basis is not just about storing the cr¨¨me de la cr¨¨me, and the company also has different labels at different price points. The umbrella brand, Perrin & Fils, was established in the mid-1990s and is aimed at promoting the South Rhone as a source of fine wines.
The company is currently in the process of turning all vineyards organic (Beaucastel was certified in 1999 and the Gigondas vineyards will be ready next year). Perrin explains this is down to his great-great-grandfather's pioneering work in making sure his wines were organic, even if no certification existed back in those days.
"As one of the pioneers, we want to keep advancing. I think in 10 years, to be organic is nothing special but rather not being organic. It's a shame the market is like that, but we are not doing it just for marketing; we are organic because we think it's the only way to make wine."
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