WN: Frederic Mabileau 2006 Les Rouilleres

From the moment I poured the Frederic Mabileau 2006 Les Rouilleres into my decanter, I had a positive feeling this was going to be a delicious, fun wine: there was that unmistakable sweet, sweaty aroma of farm animals. No, a sheep hadn't pooped in the wine. This was wine with some serious in your face Brettanomyces funk. Definitely not a wine for everyone, especially if you like your wine as processed as Velveeta cheese, but the bouquet conjured up an image of picking ripe cherries in a country orchard with jasmine simultaneously in full bloom, some dry underbrush under foot, and a horse stable a few hundred meters in the distance.

But let me take a step back before I wax poetic further about why such a seemingly idiosyncratic wine is so very very right. Frederic Mabileau is a producer based in Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgeil, a small appellation in the Loire Valley across the Loire River from Chinon and adjacent to Bourgueil to its the west. The Loire Valley is to Cabernet Franc what Burgundy is to Pinot Noir. If you want authentic Cab Franc, the Loire is the go-to option.

Of course, if you can't stand Brett, the Loire might not be your preferred destination. But the interesting quality I've found in several Loire Cab Francs is that the animale funk is entirely in the bouquet; the flavor of the wine remains unspoiled. Often times a funky nose is simply a precursor to similar shenanigans on your palate. But this was not the case with the '06 Rouilleres. As usual, the rustic nose gave way to a clean, cherry-driven attack with moderate acidity and just enough tannin to sustain the finish. This is an aromatic wine with floral qualities in the driver's seat, and livestock, herbs and ripe berries in the backseat that nonetheless has the body and even elegance to seduce.

And if that's not enough intrigue, there's also an utter lack of oak worth highlighting. A disturbing proportion of American red wines are simply abused with oak to the point that the vanillin leached from the barrel dominates every other aroma and flavor. Some folks get it right and treat oak like one would treat salt while cooking, as a seasoning to complement other flavors. Ideally, oak adds a bit to the aromatics while also adding some tannins for structure and to lengthen the finish. But far too many producers simply oak the crap out of everything in sight, then ask questions later. Well, Mabileau didn't mess around with this cuvee: it was aged in stainless steel and bottled only lightly filtered. What you get is the pure fruit in all of its glory with whatever Brett decides to tag along in the bottle for the cross Atlantic trip. This wine absolutely oozes character and craftsmanship, and is also a great value. Superb stuff that somehow manages to be both rustic and polished simultaneously.

Score: 90-92
Price: $14 from Winelibrary

WN: Alma Rosa 2006 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay

The Alma Rosa 2006 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay is the entry level Chardonnay of Richard Sanford's new venture following the breakdown of his partnership in his namesake Sanford Winery. I picked this out for my parents since they were visiting and I wanted to share a nice, but not overly expensive example of what California Chardonnay can be in the hands of a producer who is sensitive to his terroir and the expression of his fruit. Basically, this is Chardonnay for the Chard Oh No! crowd. Incidentally, this also turned out to be Wine Enthusiast's #4 wine of 2008, garnering a stratospheric rating of 94 points.

As much as I love Alma Rosa, I didn't enjoy this wine enough to agree with Wine Spectator's appraisal. That said, this was an excellent Chardonnay produced in a style nearly opposite that of the ultra-creamy, buttery, smoke and vanilla style. It's a very rich, round fruit forward style, but not an overdone wine that bears little resemblance to the fruit from which it was born. The ABV is a moderate (for California) 14.1% and doesn't show through at all. The bouquet had just a hint of smoke and vanilla in the background behind layers of tropical fruit. Think pineapple with a little mandarin orange. The acidity (which was preserved by foregoing malolactic fermentation) was nonetheless firm and served as a nice counterbalance to the opulence of the fruit. The only quality keeping me from adoring this wine was a little awkward bitter tang on the finish.

The bottle actually lasted to a second day. Sadly, the wonderfully hedonistic attack had mellowed significantly to a more mineral quality and the bitterness on the finish was more pronounced. However, the bouquet had evolved to reveal an intense honeysuckle aroma almost reminiscent of a Viognier. I preferred the day one profile, but there was enough stuffing there to allow some interesting evolution once open. All said, I think I prefer the 2007 vintage, which I tasted recently at the winery. The '07 has a pH of 3.12, significantly lower than the 3.44 pH the '06 vintage sports, and I think I liked the more muscular mineral quality of the current vintage. Regardless of vintage, this is definitely one I'd recommend, especially since it'll set you back less than an Andrew Jackson.

Note: Yes, the bottle has a screw cap, or more correctly, a Stelvin closure. Screw caps have a bad reputation, but don't taint wine with TCA like cork, are better for the environment, and seal more effectively than other synthetic closures. So get over it; you'll be seeing a lot more premium wine with a screw cap in the near future.

Score: 86-89
Price: $17.50 from Vinhus in Solvang

WBW #54: Produttori del Barbaresco 2006 Langhe Nebbiolo (WN)

The topic for this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday is "A Passion for Piedmont," and this turned out to be pretty convenient since I had recently ordered a bottle of Nebbiolo, the Produttori del Barbaresco 2006 Langhe Nebbiolo. Other than tasting a Barolo and a Nebbiolo d'Alba at a local wine shop a few weeks ago, Nebbiolo is a grape I haven't come across much despite its noble reputation. The Barolo and Nebbiolo d'Alba I tasted both were very tannic and acidic, with the Barolo clearly being the wine built to age due to the overwhelming structure it possessed. Based on price and general drinkability, the Nebbiolo d'Alba, with its kitchen spice bouquet and less punishing tannins, was clearly the one to buy for immediate drinking.

Since I love wines with ample structure in a medium bodied package with more than simple fruit to offer on the nose, I was optimistic this Langhe Nebbiolo would offer a profile similar to the Nebbiolo d'Alba. I was not disappointed. The Produttori del Barbaresco was a translucent red color, much like a Pinot Noir. This perhaps shouldn't be all that surprising since both Nebbiolo and Pinot Noir are "pigmentationally challenged." Acidity and hearty tannins abound in this Nebbiolo, and this is where you realize that you're drinking something vastly different from a Pinot Noir. The body isn't thin, but it certainly isn't heavy, either. The nose is mostly red cherry with high-toned floral accents and just a hint of the kitchen spice that was so intriguing about the Nebbiolo d'Alba. This is what I'd call a muscular, lean wine with no excess fat. It was a bit tough at the start, but rounded out with more time in the decanter. The finish also was quite nice. I think this is a better food wine than a stand alone sipper, but there is such purity and character to it that it can hold its own. Although I'm sure you can do better at higher price points, this one really hit the QPR button for me as it offered quality and character at a very modest price.

Score: 87-89
Price: $15 from Wine Library

Out with the Buttonwood, in with the New

My girlfriend and I have decided to drop the Buttonwood Winery club membership. It's not so much a matter of no longer liking their wine as wanting to explore different wines. However, their current vintage of Marsanne was definitely not up to par (watery, metallic), while their Syrah Rosé is also not as good as last year's. We have a few of their reds tucked away and are ready to move on, at least for a while. Another shipment of three reds would be too much of one thing even though I like their rustic, Old World approach and varietal Cabernet Franc.

Perhaps most importantly, the synthetic closures they employ really don't cut it, and I've been disappointed by a few library wines that seemed to have aged rather hastily. Their current run of '04 reds could definitely use some time to evolve, but that's too risky with a rubber cork. When a winery's library wines may be past their prime and their current releases aren't bottled to age, there's a severe consumption conundrum.

So we'll be on the free agent market for a while. Longoria Winery is the top contender for a cellar club membership, but this will be a good excuse to try out a few new places we haven't visited yet.

WN: Iron Horse 2007 Rosé de Pinot Noir

I picked up the Iron Horse 2007 Rosé de Pinot Noir after Christmas at the winery. I liked just about everything I tasted at Iron Horse and praised the winery effusively about a month ago on this blog. But sometimes when you return to a wine you enjoyed in the context of tasting at a beautiful estate winery, it doesn't quite live up to the memory.

This rosé actually topped my expectations as a dual Valentine's Day and parental visit selection, however. The color was a fairly dark cherry red for a Pinot Noir rosé, though it would not have been mistaken as regular Pinot Noir. Poured from the bottle at home, the bouquet was every bit as good as it was on a crisp morning in the Green Valley. I found the desired watermelon, strawberry and cherry aromas as well as a high toned floral aroma that unfortunately I don't have the words to describe. The balance of flavor and structure was superb. At 13.5% ABV, the alcohol lent body without being overtly noticeable. The palate was full and fruit-forward, yet had a light acidic tingle on the attack and finish. This is one of those rare wines with a seamless arc of flavor that makes your mouth water, then has a finish that just goes on and on. It's not really built to age, but it's so delicious and complete that it's amazing that it costs under $20.

Iron Horse wines are generally not cheap. But this is the third Iron Horse wine I've regretted not buying or buying more of for the future. I left the winery with only this rosé; I probably should have splurged on a couple of bottles of this as well as their estate Pinot Noir. If you have a chance to buy just about any Iron Horse wine, buy more than one while you can. It's a purchase that you'll be hard pressed to second guess. I'd love to have a few more bottles of this rosé for the warmer months, but since it's sold out at the winery I'll have to be a bit creative if I want to stock up.

Score: 91-93
Price: $18 from Iron Horse Winery