I have had the pleasure to become acquainted with amazing wine aficionados in stores around town. I salute them for their discriminating palates and the back stories they provide on their wines and producers. My New Year’s request: Point me to a red and a white with excellent value and a cool story.
First up is Kevin McLean of Market Wines. Speaking with passion, he gives you the feeling he might be a family member of the wineries he favours. His enthusiasm for these wines is infectious.
For a white, he went with the Cave D’Irouleguy 2019 Kattalin Blanc. This wine is made at high altitude in the Basque region of southwest France. Owners have small plots on steep terraces on the slopes of the western Pyrénées. In 1952, they established a cooperative in order to combine forces and bring their wines to market, and by 1970 they were accepted into the AOC structure, the highest level for French wines. As a result of the slope and altitude, you get a terroir-driven wine with lifted aromatics. I found a great mix of citric and tropical elements on the palate with refreshing salinity on the finish. The blend is Gros and Petit Manseng, which are novel varietals for most. This would be a tremendous pairing with sushi.
Kevin’s eyes lit up as he told me the story behind his red selection. He described a drive on crazy, winding, unmarked roads to a mountain in the middle of nowhere in the Languedoc region of southern France. Many a hermit is known to live among the 100-year-old Carignan vines. The Sous la Montagne DSM Vin D’Altitude 2016 is a masterful blend of Carignan, Syrah, Grenache, and a local varietal Liedoner Pelut. An online review called this wine “Otis Redding Soulful”. This wine gives a dusty ambiance that I connect with a solid Chateauneuf du Pape which is high praise indeed. Kevin McLean never lets me down!
