Best Summer rosés
Pick up one of these blush-hued bottles for your next park picnic, backyard BBQ or rooftop party.
The pick: “There aren’t many rosés that are coming from certified biodynamic vineyards, so we’re very, very excited about the 2011 Château Maris Minervois Old School rosé. This is the first vintage in the U.S. It comes from Minervois in France’s Languedoc region, and you get this nice minerality and a touch of muscle weight that balances the strawberry and orange zest notes. Its weight and smacking acidity are perfect for picnic fare."
Best Organic Red Wines We've Tried
"The 2009 Chateau Maris La Touge Syrah is abiodynamic vegan wine made with organic grapes that lives up to its billing as having "cherry and berry aromas with a plush and seamless mouth feel."
Set in the South of France's Languedoc region, Chateau Maris has been carefully restored from depletion since 1996 by biodynamic vintner Robert Eden. He's in the midst of building what he calls the world's first zero-carbon wine cellar made from hemp bricks. Unlike concrete or metal, hemp bricks "are 'alive' and able to breathe," helping to maintain proper temperature and humidity."
Chris Cree, Master of Wine, Syrah "Natural Selection" 2009
"This is a wine we loved at first sip! This Domaine is fanatically committed to natural and sustainable practices in the vineyard, winemaking, and all aspects of operation including a winery built from hemp - no snickers - and horse drawn plows for the vineyards. This smoky, sultry, fullish-yet-supple red is a blend of 85% Syrah and 15% Grenache grown on hard and soft limestone and alluvial soils. It is fermented in a mix of concrete and conical oak foudres, and aged for 12 months in barrel (30% new oak and the rest in two and three year old barrels) and bottled unfined and unfiltered. It is redolent of ripe black fruits and flowers (cassis, violets), with a hint of pepper, black olive and and that ethereal scent of herbs and garrigue that pervades the dry rugged hills of the region. Perfect with grilled chicken, beef, lamb and other hearty fare."
Forget Burgundy: Navigating Natural, Organic, and Biodynamic Wines
March 1, 2012 by Caroline Helper
Chateau Maris Grenache Gris 2010 “Brama” ($50): Apparently those natural wine makers have a thing for obscure and practically extinct grapes – because Grenache Gris is another one! This wine had the most amazing nose of smoky roasted almonds and burnt popcorn, followed by a wine that is has big sweet juicy fruit, soft body, and racy acidity. A really interesting and rare wine that’s definitely worth the price tag.
Chateau Maris 2009 “La Touge” Syrah : This biodynamic wine is made without any filtering or fining. Despite this, the nose is rather shy with a whiff of black raspberries. It’s clean, bright, fruity and has nice lively acidity and some tannin to hold the whole thing up and accents the slightly herbal notes in the wine, as well.
As gray, overcast December days begin to roll in, I steep in the reality that we are just at the beginning of another NYC winter—and we are still in the good part—the holidays! Afflicted with a mild seasonal discontent, Brendan Donovan introduced me to a temporary cure for the winter doldrums residing in a few bottles of wine from a vineyard in the South of France.
Brendan invited me over for another tasting in continuance of his search for high-quality, unique and of course flavorful wines for Donovan’s Cellars. My interest was piqued upon learning the wines du jour were both organic and biodynamic, as I had just finished a course in viticulture as well as spent time on a well-known biodynamic producer’s farm in California. Thus, I only recently grasped the amount of labor and love required to practice this philosophy, and therefore had a newfound appreciation for such efforts.
The first bottle we sampled was Jacques’ baby, his own label produced from the Chateau Maris vineyard near Carcasonne in Minervois—Natural Selection Syrah 2009. The wine was perfumed with violets, and spicy, black fruit jam and carried a medium weight in the mouth, with flavors of wild, sun-baked blackberries and strawberries, herbs and pepper-spice layered throughout. The slightly chewy tannins lingered through the bright finish.
On a side note, the label for the Natural Selection Syrah is quite unique, and it unabashedly proclaims the wine’s biodynamic heritage. So distinct is the label that I recognized it when the bottle came to my table on Christmas Eve while dining at a local NYC restaurant. My husband had ordered a glass of “some biodynamic Minervois” that was on the list; I am happy to report the glass was as good on that special occasion as it was with Jacques.
Next up were two estate wines from Chateau Maris, a pioneer since 1997 of biodynamic farming and sustainable, carbon neutral winemaking; and bottling; and shipping; and sales; literally everything. An entire column should be dedicated to what this man and his business partner are doing with their winery—for instance, it is built from hemp—Today, it’s just about the wines.
First was the 2009 La Touge Syrah. The nose foretold notes of wild herbs, black pepper, roasted meat, ripe black and blue fruits and hay on the dynamic palate. This Syrah was alive and kickin’! The fog of winter was receding from my brain as this wine engaged the senses. The second bottle, a 2008 Grenache “Nouvelles Fraiches” was also a remedy for the winter blues. Medium in body, my glass was filled with freshly muddled strawberries and blueberries, baking spice, and a mood-lifting brightness that carried through to the chocolate-dipped strawberry finish. This was not a thinking man’s wine; it was a pleasure wine, perfect for reconnecting with family and friends around a fireplace during the holidays. Or over a summer picnic- but we know that’s a long ways off.
I can’t claim that my newfound appreciation of biodynamic farming made the fact that the wines were biodynamic any more evident to me when tasting them, but Brendan and I agreed they exuded an unusual liveliness and brightness not always expected of reds from Minervois in the Languedoc. These flavors were vibrant and I don’t think it was because of the steely sky outside. Again, Brendan has managed to track down another round of excellent wines—ones that I would gladly prescribe for winter maladies, no doctor’s note necessary.
Lauren Mowery
"Among the several wines I sampled that night, an organically produced Syrah from the Languedoc region of France was the best and most elegant, and paired perfectly well with nearly all the food I ate. I often dismiss wines like this as gimmicky. It was explained to me that Chateau Maris, the producer, is a very green operation and, in fact, uses hemp to power a lot of the biodynamic operation and has a negative carbon footprint, and it was at this point my eyes started to glaze over as I prepared to be underwhelmed by a trendy wine. Not so. The Chateau Maris Biodynamic Syrah was quite beautiful, actually, lighter and with better balance than you’d expect a varietal to be, with a restrained fruitiness."
Karibi is a mighty horse, his back taller than a grown man. You would not want to get under one of his enormous hooves as they bite down into the soil, or try to stop this powerful beast from pulling his plough across this hillside in the south of France. He snorts at the presence of strangers, and shudders under his huge yoke, but keeps going, turning the earth.
Karibi is a Percheron, the French equivalent of a shire, a mountain of sinew and steaming hide. He and his driver, Yannick, work the patchwork of fields and vines known as Château Maris, co-owned by an Englishman, Bertie Eden (above). Scattered around the village of La Livinière in the Languedoc, these vineyards are kept by just half-a-dozen staff and their seasonal helpers. "When we drink a bottle of our wine, we know who has done what at every stage of the process of making it," says Eden, a balding, blond but deeply tanned 45-year-old in jeans and cotton shirt. "We know who cut the stem of the vine, going right the way through to who put the juice in the bottles. Our methods are different."
He looks down the slope of the hill towards another vineyard, owned by a neighbour, in which two men in boiler suits are preparing to spray chemicals. That doesn't happen at Château Maris, where everything is bio-dynamic, following a philosophy that originated with Rudolf Steiner in the 1920s and has now been developed into a sophisticated but entirely organic agricultural method.
Biodynamics sees the soil, the vines, the weather, the insect and animal life in the field and the men, women and horses that work it as part of the same, interdependent living system. "This is great shit," says Eden, kneeling and scooping up a handful of the coffee-black cow manure that has been piled under hay at the side of the field. "It's teeming with life. That is going to get spread and feed the plants." They don't use machines to plough the earth like their neighbours. "If you are putting lots of effort into covering the soil with live matter," says Eden, "it doesn't make sense to have it trampled by machinery."
All this is no doubt friendly to the planet, but does it work? I am not the best person to say, since I usually judge a wine by whether it costs under a fiver, and besides, my head is swimming. Over the course of several days in Eden's vineyards, I have sniffed, sipped and swirled countless gorgeous samples, and been overloaded with sensory information. But one lesson is burning bright in the alcoholic fog: I now know why the critics spit.
Fortunately, those who make a proper living writing about this stuff know when to stop, and what to write afterwards. The authoritative Wine Advocate answers my question by saying of the 2004 vintage Old Vine Grenache: "Anyone interested in understanding what purity of sweet fruit and polish is possible in the Languedoc should taste this."
For more than a decade now, Eden has been rehabilitating vines and soil which, when he bought them, had been exhausted and poisoned by chemical pesticides and fertilisers. He treats the plants with infusions made from their natural allies, such as camomile and stinging nettles (full of copper and sulphur). Planting and harvesting are done according to a calendar showing the movements of the planets and cycles of the Moon. "The real step forward in bio-dynamics is when you can sincerely comprehend that the spirit of a tree is equal to your own, therefore its life is equal to your own."
In France, there has been some resistance to the innovations of a bumptious Englishman with aristocratic blood (his great-uncle was the prime minister Anthony Eden), but Bertie is a wine man who spent decades learning his craft in the fields of Australia, Italy, France and Spain. Now he has an even bolder plan: for the first zero-carbon, self-sufficient, gravity-operated wine cellar in the world. Readers of The Independent on Sunday will have the chance to visit, drink its fruits and become intoxicated by Eden's enthusiasm for his pioneering work, by joining the paper's new wine club. You will also meet Karibi.
The vines in the field the horse is working today are a dozen years old. The grapes will be picked by hand, at night, in September and de-stemmed. Then, behind old sandstone walls in the present winery, the fruit will be allowed to ferment, with the skin, pips and juice all circulated and aired – a process known as racking – to give the wine its colour. "It is alive," says Eden. "You're not having to use cultured or industrial yeasts to develop it. You're continuing your respect for the live being, which in this case is a lot of juice in a tank."
In December, the juice will be put into wooden barrels, where it will stay for a year to 18 months. In the cool of the cellar, we taste a very young wine made from Syrah grapes, harvested just last year. "What I like about this is the elegance which is already there," says Eden, turning the glass by its stem, inhaling the fragrance. "That's delicious.
"Once you start thinking about bio- dynamics, it transforms your lifestyle and the way you think about food, energy, everything," he adds. "We see that life is intrinsically linked to cycles: the Moon, the planets, the turning of the seasons. So, we will keep doing what we are doing, making wine for people who appreciate it, our way. Not everyone understands but, in time, the seasons will turn."
The Independant: Join the bio bunch: Bertie Eden's vineyard is reaping the rewards of biodynamic wine-making. June 2009
David Schildknecht, Wine Advocate, June 2011
Grenache Gris “Brama” 2010 90 Pts
“La Touge” 09 89 Pts
Carignan CDN 08 90 Pts
Grenache CDN 08 90 Pts
“Les Planels” 09 92 pts
Old Vine Syrah 08 93 Pts
Proprietor and passionate biodynamic practitioner Bertie Eden, along with his French-born, Australia-trained cellar master Benjamin Darnault are refining their style without sacrificing richness. Levels of alcohol have also come down a bit, and in the past three vintages have seldom been much over 15%. Eden tends to minimize the differences between the 2008 and 2009 vintages, insisting that his Syrah did not suffer significant stress in the latter. Darnault adds that the presence of springs in the sites where Maris has Syrah planted is critical in drought years, which approach the norm in La Liviniere. I prefer the results here from 2008, but Eden believes the 2009s will need a year in bottle to level the playing field in any imaginary competition between the two collections, and that point they will then seem pretty evenly-matched. (For more about this estate and the evolution of its style, consult my report in issue 183.)
Tasted blind, it was not hard to guess the varietal origins of Maris's 2010 Brama - the first of its kind - rendered in tiny volume from an ancient, largely Grenache Gris vineyard. (Brama is a mountainous site northwest of Felines where Domaine Courbissac also has acreage.) Loaded with ripe, lusciously juicy honeydew melon and pineapple, alluringly and intriguingly accented by mint and narcissus; this benefits from the counterpoint offered by lime peel and crushed stone in its finish. Vinified in a mixture of tank and new but not especially toasty barrique, it represents one more example of the versatility that accrues to one of the world's great yet obscure grapes. It's anybody's guess how this might age, but I suspect if will be best enjoyed over the next couple of years.
The Maris 2009 Carignan Continuite de Nature - blended with around 15% Grenache - evokes dark cherry compote accented by piquancy of cherry pit and high-toned, spirituous suggestions of kirsch. Full and sweetly fruited, it finishes forcefully with a striking sense of energy and invigoration whose effect is diminished only by its alcoholic heat. Eden opines that "the Grenache is just coming through more strongly at this stage, whereas the 2008 is now showing this cuvee's true nature." This will certainly merit revisiting next year and over the next several years.
The Maris 2008 Carignan Continuite de Nature features juicy, sweetly-ripe cassis and blackberry, beguilingly complimented by toasted walnut, cherry pit, dark tobacco, and brown spices. Luscious, rich, and soothing, its slight finishing warmth is largely overridden by sheer generosity of fruit, and mouthwatering salinity. This ought to be worth following for at least 4-5 years.
Pure black raspberry in both confitured and juicy, fresh layers inform a Maris 2009 Grenache whose sheer generosity of fruit overrides the bit of heat generated by its roughly 15% alcohol. A peppery note you might more expect from Syrah adds counterpoint to the finish of this generous, straightforward expression of its grape, which I would plan on enjoying within the next couple of years.
The Maris 2008 Grenache displays ripe red raspberry and strawberry in confitured and fresh form - a nice change of pace from the darker berries that dominate most of the wines from this address. Nutmeg, almond extract and inner-mouth heliotrope perfume seductively compliment this excellent value's sweetness of fruit. It is almost like chamber music compared to the symphonic scope characteristic for Chateau Maris - and what lovely music! I would tentatively plan to enjoy this over the next two years while the fruit is very fresh, though it might well end up evolving interestingly for a couple of years thereafter.
Confitured and liqueur-like black raspberry in the Maris 2009 Grenache Old Vine is accented by slightly acrid smoke and crushed stone mineral notes. Lush and expansive on the palate, this benefits from saliva-inducing salinity in a pure, sweetly-fruited finish that approaches the honeyed. Tasted from tank just prior to bottling, it really responded well to a strong aeration, its fruit intensity reaching almost explosive intensity. Benjamin Darnault says he prefers with Grenache to go into bottle in a slightly reduced state. It should be interesting to follow this wine's evolution over the next 5-7 years.
Effusively-scented with black fruit confiture and floral perfume suggesting lilac and heliotrope, the Maris 2008 Grenache Old Vine's sense of sweetness is reinforced by its lush, glyceral-richness and by notes of praline and brown spices. The generosity of fruit, spice, and inner-mouth perfume is vividly set-off in a long - and for a wine so full-bodied, uncannily buoyant - finish by an undertone of wet stone. This would make a deviously delicious ringer in a Chateauneuf tasting, whereby some celebrated wines of that classic appellation might seem somewhat inelegant alongside. It ought to be worth following for at least 5-7 years.
Mingling intensely resinous evocations of scrubby garrigue with confitured black fruits, the Maris 2009 Syrah La Touge - a cuvee from less-favored Syrah sites and featuring 12-15% Grenache - displays ample body; a rich texture; and a generous as well as invigoratingly pungent finish, though not the infectious juiciness and saliva-inducing savor of its 2008 counterpart. I expect this will be best enjoyed over the next couple of years.
Rich ripe black fruit and roasted red meat juiciness inform a seamless, polished palate in Maris's 2008 Syrah La Touge, with peat-like smokiness, mouthwatering salinity, and the savor of pan drippings rendering its long finish both invigorating and compelling of the next sip. This impressive effort and terrific value should drink well for at least 3-4 years.
Redolent of diverse smoked meats; rosemary; and confitured dark cherry, and blueberry, the Maris 2008 Syrah Old Vines benefits from glycerin-richness in conveying a lush, plush impressions, while retaining a primary juiciness that largely overrides the bit of alcoholic heat generated in its finish. Black pepper, clove, rosemary, bacon, subtly tart berry skins, and saliva-inducing salinity combine for a pungent, invigorating, palate-staining finish that offers perfect counterpoint to this wine's sheer richness of fruit. This was not harvested until late September, surely a factor in its phenolic diversity. I suspect that this terrific value will be worth following for the better part of a decade and quite possibly acquire even more complexity.
Due to have been bottled a few weeks after I tasted it in April, the Maris 2009 Syrah Old Vine reflects its ripeness of fruit in tar and licorice as well as cooked beet root and confitured black fruits. Intensely aromatic, full-bodied, and texturally lush, this finishes with low-toned earthiness allied to striking sweetness of fruit. A sense of mineral dimension and hints of bright berry skin edge emerged as it took on air, and I suspect it will grow in bottle - perhaps even in its final weeks in tank - and be worth following for at least 6-8 years.
Jancis Robinson on Grenache"Nouvelles Fraiches" Grenache 2008
"The fruit, the whole fruit and the wines tastes as though there is nothing but the fruit in this splendidly rich evocation of Grenache's visceral appeal. Perhaps helped by Bertie Eden's organic going on biodynamic methods, this throbs with life and is all too easy to glug."
Wine Advocate on Old Vine Syrah 2007
"From tank, a reductive hint of cassis leaf needed to be shaken off of the Maris 2007 Syrah Old Vine, a bottling based on the estate's best block, surrounded by garrigue on a deep clay hillside near La Liviniere. A wine of exceptional purity, extreme black fruit ripeness, and a velvety texture emerges, girded by ultra-fine tannins and enlivened by springs of fresh berry juiciness as singular in the context of wine this ripe as is the spring that apparently literally lies beneath this vineyard. A small proportion of this cuvee is kept in tank to preserve freshness, but the harmony of oak (un-toasted at this address) and fruit is also perfectly judged, i.e. the former is scarcely noticeable as such. Cardamom, ginger, black pepper, pencil lead, and sweet floral suggestions add to the complex allure of this long-finishing beauty that deserves to be entered in a World Syrah contest."
93 Points
The Wine Advocate