#February2023
Evening Agenda at the bottom
Hello Curious, Playful, Amateurs and Fine Gourmets!
Did "Dry January" go well? Us too.... we avoided it hehe ;););) ... because we are well-behaved all year round... our motto: "drink little but drink always better!" So are you ready for "Wet February"? (little translation: Wet February?)
On our side, some very wet arrivals have continued to delight our taste buds! Come on... we're taking you all over France!
In early January, Thomas took the little truck to the Cévennes. A stop at Olivier Valence's Domaine Le Petit Malo with its great red and white "Casablanca" vintages with smooth and balanced textures and its sparkling, so fresh "Carbo" that you already love so much. Also a visit to Louis Julian near Uzès, a true farmer/winegrower with his vines, his vegetables, his poultry, his pigs, his wheat and.... the list is long....!! Good and independent living is possible at his place! Louis Julian has been a committed organic winegrower since the 80s, passionate about all grape varieties (he has about fifty different ones on his 30 hectares!) and he produces characterful wines outside of any appellation, maintaining that precious freshness specific to the Cévennes microclimate. Subscribers to the Palais Libre in January were able to discover his "Avant Garde" 2021 red, which we hope will return soon; now there are still 5-liter BIBs for the thirsty!
After the Cévennes, here is the Anjou region in the spotlight: Benoît Courault and his wonderful terroir wines, full of nature and emotions... it's hard to find anything more complete, more authentic, and more straightforward than his direct Chenins with deep, vibrant resonances and his reds of Grolleau Noir or Pineau d'Aunis with velvety and caressing textures!! Very limited quantities... sorry :(:(:(... A very nice arrival too from Domaine des Grandes Vignes in Thouarcé, in the heart of Anjou... and yes, we never get tired of it.... Some new vintages for us... a pure parcel Chenin; "La Varenne du Poirier" 2021... juicy, very, very successful (I insist, sorry...!) as well as the pretty and exciting curiosity of "P'tit Vaillant" that we knew as a red... but here vinified as a "Blanc de Noirs"... like in Champagne, meaning black grapes with white juice pressed directly without skin contact... Grolleau Noir and Cabernet Franc... not bad, right? Stunning, to discover without delay!
Next, the 2020s from Sylvain Dittière and Pauline Foucault from Porte St Jean: both so rooted in their soil, organically linked to their plots of "Pouches" or "Cormiers" with majestic expressions of Cabernet Franc and the white and feminine "Perlée" with such elegant and mysterious charm! This vintage was a solar trap in the Loire as elsewhere... but the magic of the pure and living limestone responded wonderfully by opposing its great freshness - power, finesse and minerality are present.... Be careful, these are wines for aging that will need to be measured over time.
A local favorite in Jurançon now... with the poet Sébastien Comte and his Comte S. 2019 dry vintage.... a bomb of old vines of very old Mansengs and Courbus; juicy, salty and wild hazelnuts Ole!! So good!
We will then gladly flit to Alsace in Eguisheim, at the gates of Colmar, with the Hebinger Family and the charming, creative and talented Denis Hebinger, always with 3 ideas a second, always eager to experiment and push boundaries! A big favorite for his beautiful personality that shines through all the vintages! Pet Nat "La Découverte", Riesling from the Grand Crus Hengst or Sommerberg so high up or not Grand Cru :) but pure and true, "Au Dessus des Nuages" - his orange maceration wine - such a balanced blend of the three emblematic Alsatian grape varieties (Ri, PG & GW) and his Pinot Noir so fluid, flowing and airy at the same time.... but how does he do it?
Then back to "home", stopping at the banks of the Lot and its Causse in Luzech exactly at Sébastien Dauliac's Domaine de Capelanel and its beautiful, sideral and magical siderolithic terroir!! A real favorite for fresh, juicy and dark Cahors, but without harshness or excessive extraction... quite the opposite; here is the noble Malbec grape, rather infused and dressed in velvet, with more Burgundian than Bordeaux accents. Two vintages in 2020 "Petitou" and "La rangée du curé"... To never forget that priests also love earthly pleasures!! haha
You will find a bottle from each domain in our Palais Curieux this February. Otherwise, contact us directly for other vintages.
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