With the nice weather having arrived and the end of lockdown looming on the horizon, it’s time to start winding down our weekly Zoom Tastings and get out of the house on the weekends. We’ll continue to have weekly Capital Wine features and carry them at the Byward Wine Market in Ottawa and some at Pan Chancho in Kingston, but what started as an idea for a short term way to kill time during the January lockdown has become almost 6 months of weekly Zoom tastings since we began on New Year’s Eve. We’ve covered a lot of topics and fun themes, did some tournament style brackets, had a bunch of really great special guest winemakers join us, and hopefully we’ll be able to continue some version of this as in-person events once all the restrictions have lifted. Considering there are a few more weeks of lockdown left in Ontario before things begin to open up on June 14th, let’s do a couple more topics to wrap things up on a summery note.

So this week we’re going to explore French reds for the BBQ, a bit of a Tour de France, if you will. And next week let’s finish with a feature on some excellent Spanish Whites for some really crisp, delicious and interesting summer sipping! As usual, grab any of these wines by the case from Lifford, or from Byward Wine Market in Ottawa, or Pan Chancho in Kingston and send me an email join the Saturday 7pm Zoom!

TOUR DE FRANCE…for the BBQ!

France has A LOT of terroirs, many of which we’ve explored throughout the 2021 rolling lockdown season, so this week is a bit of a roundup of a few spots we didn’t feature as prominently that definitely deserve to be highlighted. And it just so happens they go great with back decks, cottages, and BBQs. We’ll keep the features inexpensive, but overall awesome, and truly expressive of their terroir and history…plus some pairing suggestions for Saturday night.

Dominique Piron, Beaujolais-Villages
$25 per bottle from Byward Wine Market or Pan Chancho, or $22.99 x12 from Lifford Wine
Beaujolais is politically and geographically part of the Burgundy department (like a province or state), but it is it’s own entirely separate wine appellation from Burgundy. Whereas Burgundy runs along the Cote d’Or and it’s soils are mostly a blend of calcareous limestone and clay, Beaujolais is almost a southern extension of Burgundy, right below where the Mâcon ends. It’s only about a 15 minute drive from Macon to Saint-Amour, but it gets a bit warmer, a bit higher in elevation and the soils change from limestone and clay to granite, schist, sandstone, and clay. And so the grape changes from Pinot Noir to Gamay Noir. Both are light bodied grapes and there’s a lot of flavour profile crossover between the two, but generally speaking Pinot Noir can live on a stylistic spectrum from floral and perfumed to forest, earth, and barnyard, whereas Gamay goes more from fruity and juicy to spicy and savoury. And Gamay in particular is great to serve a bit chilled.

Dominique Piron is a house that goes back 15 generations in Morgon. They are a cornerstone of the region and while not certified organic, they operate without any chemicals or pesticides. Because this is a bit lighter wine, it’s not the usual wine you think of for BBQ with steaks and burgers, but it makes the perfect aperitif wine to sip on while you’re cooking. Throw it in the fridge for 20 mins, get a little charcuterie and cheese platter going to sip and snack on while cooking and that’ll be an ideal match. And if you’re grilling something lighter like chicken or blackened fish, it’ll go nicely with that main course too. Such a great warm weather versatile red to drink a bit chilled and will pair nicely with a variety of foods.

Chateau Grand Renom Rouge, Bordeaux
$23 per bottle from Byward Wine Market or Pan Chancho, or $19.99 x12 from Lifford Wines
Bordeaux would have been a great feature week but we never really got around to it, unfortunately. It’s clearly one of the most famous wine regions in the world, and for good reason. Quick Bordeaux 101: The red grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Carmenere…but that’s more historical. Not many plantings remain of Carmere, which was not widely replanted after phylloxera devastated Europe in the late 1800’s. All of Bordeaux exists around the Girdone Estuary, essentially a wide river that runs north/south just off the west coast of France and divides the Left Bank from the Right Bank of Bordeaux before it splits off into two different rivers below. Most wines in Bordeaux are blends even though it is legal to make 100% varietal wine. On the Left Bank Cabernet Sauvignon is king, and typical blends would be predominantly Cab Sauv with a bunch of Merlot to round out the bold and tannic edges of the Cab Sauv, and smaller percentages of Cab Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot as the flavouring ingredients in the blend. On the Right Bank it’s mostly Merlot with Cabernet Franc playing the supporting role. This grape blend difference is mostly because of terroir. Merlot does really well in heavier clay soils of the Right Bank and Cab Sauv does really well in the gravelly soils of the Left Bank. Then beyond the Left Bank and the Right Bank we have the Entre-Deux-Mers, or the area between the two rivers to the south. Entre-Deux-Mers is not as famous a terroir as the gravel of the Left Bank’s Madoc or the heavy clay/limestone of the Right Bank’s Saint-Emillon, but it has a heavy mix of both that allows for very good wines of consistent quality for a great price. And that’s where we meet Chateau Grand Renom.

Grand Renom has become one of my favourite value reds. It was founded in 1861 by an Italian family as a winery and biodiverse farm with grapes, grains, and livestock. Today Grand Renom is entirely vineyard and a winery but is continued to be farmed with environmentally friendly holistic vititcultre. For just $23 this is an absolutely killer bottle of wine. It’s 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc aged in a combination of stainless steel, cement vats, and French oak barrels. The result is a really nicely balanced Bordeaux with red fruit, plums, and savoury earth and some leather or cigar box. A great companion to a nice fatty steak or burger with some applewood smoked cheddar or comte and sliced koshur dills.

Domaine Des Aspras, Provence
$31 per bottle at Byward Wine Market and Pan Chancho, or $28.99 x12 from Lifford Wines
In the early 90’s, Provence winery owner Michel Latz decided to turn his family’s vineyard (Domaine Des Aspras) organic. He loved the results noticing how much happier the vineyard was: the vines were more vibrant, the fruit was higher quality, and it was generally healthier for the animals, family, and employees. So in 1995 he decided to run for Mayor of their small Provence town of Correns on the platform of turning the whole down organic. He won, and the town became the first all-organic village in France—and maybe the world? The town is still organic and Michel Latz is still Mayor today. Therefore we affectionately call this “the Mayor’s wine”.

Aspras is Greek for rock, so you can expect a nice minerality in this wine. They’re planted at a pretty high elevation for Provence and have a lot of limestone, so the heat is balanced with some altitude that keeps the acidity fresh and the minerality popping. This is a certified organic, low-intervention natural wine. Since it’s mostly Syrah you can expect classic dark fruit notes mixed with smoked and salted meats, white pepper, earth and nice rustic wet wood forest floor characteristics. Also equally a great wine with steaks or burgers on the grill.

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The Byward Wine Market is fully open for in person shopping, as well as online orders offering curbside pickup or local delivery within Ottawa. Reach out if you have any questions, and check out the archive of past FEATURES if you’re interested in other recommendations. Lastly, please feel free to forward this to anyone in Ontario who may be interested in home wine delivery and follow us on Instagram for daily wine content at @bywardwinemarket!