\u201cSlinky\u201d as a descriptor is one I use rarely, especially to describe the smell of a wine, although I\u2019ve used it to describe an aspect of the taste of wine 20 times,<\/p>\n
according to my FileMaker Pro tasting note database of many tens of thousands of wines. \u201cSlinky\u201d plus \u201csexy\u201d I employ even less frequently: I\u2019ve used the combo just twice. It\u2019s quite obviously a highly subjective descriptor and to many might not convey much. But Daniel Brunier of Vignobles Brunier knew exactly what I meant when I deployed \u201cslinky-sexy\u201d to describe one of the reds in his family\u2019s formidable portfolio (the Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape, Domaine de La Vieux T\u00e9l\u00e9graphe, being internationally acknowledged as one the finest estates of the appellation).<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, if it\u2019s slinky-sexy, you must be be talking about the T\u00e9l\u00e9gramme,\u201d he said as he sat down for a chat after I\u2019d concluded tasting a random line-up of eight wines.I looked again at my tasting notes and cross-referenced them with the list of order of wines I\u2019d been given and<\/p>\n
voil\u00e0: T\u00e9l\u00e9gramme. The 2013 T\u00e9l\u00e9gramme is a blend dominated by grenache, a grape for which I have considerable affection (the first wine that really got me hooked was a grenache-based red).<\/p>\n
When I tell Brunier this, he informs me that he was rather disappointed with the prevailing feeling about the grape variety when he first visited Australia several years ago. \u201cIt was strange that grenache is not well considered. I was a bit disturbed by that.\u201d A situation which is all the more remarkable when you consider that Australia has one of the greatest resources of old vine Grenache anywhere in the world. The T\u00e9l\u00e9gramme, he tells me, is one of just two of his wines which does not contain any stems (i.e. the grape berries have been removed from the bunches). The majority of Vignobles Brunier\u2019s reds, including the aforementioned Domaine de La Vieux T\u00e9l\u00e9graphe have a good portion of whole-bunches in them.<\/p>\n
He says of stems and T\u00e9l\u00e9gramme that, \u201cWe don\u2019t keep stems in this wine, because if you keep the stems in wine, it has to be discreet. Stems is not [a] simple thing.\u201d Now whole-bunch fermentation is a topic du jour in Australia; I guess it has been for best part of five or six years now (in a more mainstream way). So I ask him how long the domain has been employing whole bunches in ferments? \u201cOne hundred and ten years,\u201d he replies matter-of-factly. I double-check just to clarify, and seeing the look of incredulity on my face, he laughs, \u201cOr 112 or 116 \u2026 During a long, long period everything was not destemmed, but from [the] \u201890s we did mourv\u00e8dre, cinsault and young vines of grenache.\u201d \u201cYoung vines\u201d in the Brunier viticultural lexicon transpires to mean 30-35 years old! He continues, \u201cWe changed because we thought there was this vegetal thing<\/p>\n
Les Palli\u00e8res La Racines 2013 –\u00a0<\/strong>95(96)\/100 – $94<\/p>\n Powerful smelling with prune, demi-glace, charred beef ribs and some lavender-like aromatics. Concentrated, but still fresh smelling. As it is in the mouth with pomegranate-rose hip edginess and incredible fruit length and depth. Tight and chewy, and ideally needs another five years to show its best. Cave at: natural cork.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cSlinky\u201d as a descriptor is one I use rarely, especially to describe the smell of a […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":107,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,182,177,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-les-medias-parlent-de-nous","category-logo_financial_review","category-medias","category-vieux-telegraphe"],"yoast_head":"\n