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TN: Arvine Luneau Wolff de la Cote Conterno Oliverhill Tempi

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Bill Spohn

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TN: Arvine Luneau Wolff de la Cote Conterno Oliverhill Tempi

by Bill Spohn » Sat Sep 17, 2022 3:03 pm

We did a blind tasting with an unusual theme – wines that for one reason or another are underrated and that we thought deserved a higher profile/appreciation level. In some cases that resulted in wine that were of little known varietals and in others wines that had for one reason or another become less distinguished than they once had been.

2019 Alpine Roots Petite Arvine – this little known varietal hails from the Valais region of Switzerland, a country that never features near the top of anyone’s list when trying to guess origin. I had very successfully brought a Syrah from the Valais which stumped the group when they guessed it as a Northern Rhone (to which I said yes) but then they went through every area in the French Northern Rhone getting negative results. They were dismayed when I told them that they never asked what country it came from, just assuming they had nailed it when they guessed Rhone. This wine was mid yellow in colour and showed a cherry nose, which tended to throw us a bit. Slightly reductive with some sulphur, decent body and a clean bright finish.

2007 Domaine Luneau-Papin Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Cuvée Médaillée – winner of the longest name award of the day. Excellent wine with a more golden colour than the previous wine and some fresh fruit in the nose – both citrus (lime?) and sweet (apple), slightly off dry at the end and with a hint of nuts in the finish. Intriguing wine and it satisfied the premise of the tasting nicely – I wonder how many of us cellar and age Muscadets.

2020 Wolff Estate Pinot Noir (Vancouver Island) – very different pinot presentation than we are used to. A medium dark pink rather than red (I swear I have seen Pinot Gris with as much colour) and a remarkable nose that featured cherries. Super dry finish and a bit short, but worth tasting just for that nose.

2014 Domaine de la Cote 'Sta. Rita Hills' Pinot Noir – garnet colour, interesting red fruit nose tinged with floral and herbal notes, bright fruit on palate, ending with crisp acidity. Nice wine.

2012 Giacomo Conterno Barbera d'Alba Francia – I am a long time admirer of Barbera and feel that most people drink it far too young. Fairly dark, with good nose of blackberry with a hint of cocoa with just a touch of mint that crept in toward the end of a decent finish. Nicely made the point that this varietal doesn’t get the attention it deserves and is too often overlooked in favour of other regional wines mostly starting with ‘P’.

2006 Oliverhill Petite Sirah – PS, also sold as Durif in Australia is not that common. This one had a warm rich sweet nose with excellent fruit (blueberry? blackberry? It changed every time I went back to the wine). Violets came out in the nose with time and the sweet fruit in the finish was quite tasty. Not a subtle wine!

2004 Domaine Tempier La Tourtine – not a secret among those that love Bandol (we made a point of visiting the winery a few years ago) this was also quite dark and had plenty of dark fruit and lots of dried herbs and some mocha, and finished quite dry and with good length. I love these wines.

1993 Rosemount Estate Balmoral Syrah – my wine, chosen both because this brand, at one time the largest such still privately owned (and a big exporter to North America) first merged with Southcorp and then was bought out by Treasury Wine Estates which shut down the winery. Wine is still sold under the brand name, but it is cheap and sometimes nasty stuff today. This one was dark, gave out an immediate whiff of dill (American Oak), some good dark berry fruit and hints of roasted meat plus a little iron/blood. Good length, long finish. Notable for being one of the few in Australia using 'syrah' instead of 'shiraz'.

1988 Graham’s Malvedos Port – from a 375 ml. Bottle I found hiding in the cellar, this wasn’t really in theme except for the fact that wines made in other than declared Port vintages can be really good (Malvedos and Vargellas are two examples). Medium red (as an antique hound I’d call it mahogany) with some nice sweet fruit – apricot and plum, maybe a bit of fig, and a sweet entry followed by a low acid smooth long finish. I still have a few full bottles and won’t be in any huge rush with them. What I would call an idea luncheon Port.
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Re: TN: Arvine Luneau Wolff de la Cote Conterno Oliverhill T

by Bob Parsons Alberta » Sat Sep 17, 2022 3:32 pm

I agree with your comment about some age for Muscadet. Excellent tasting indeed.
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Re: TN: Arvine Luneau Wolff de la Cote Conterno Oliverhill T

by John S » Sat Sep 17, 2022 8:04 pm

2019 Alpine Roots Petite Arvine – This was impossible to guess! Light yellow in colour and showed quite reductive at first, with sulphur and cheese on the nose. There was citrus and minerals and white flowers on the light to medium bodied palate and quite dry.

2007 Domaine Luneau-Papin Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Le 'L' d'Or Cuvée Médaillée – The name was even longer than Bill noted! My starter wine, as I thought it wasn't fully appreciated in three ways: it is a white (no one else would agree with this viewpoint), it is a muscadet, and few people age these wines. I find they really become richer and gain some deeper fruit with age. Light gold in colour, rich but with mineral and nutty notes. Great balance still. Some said it has some oxidative notes, but I didn't get that. I love these wines!

2020 Wolff Estate Pinot Noir – Vancouver Island wines definitely are not seen as 'serious' wines! Rose-like in colour and with a lovely nose, as Bill noted. The palate, though, was extremely dry and very short. I think this was around 10% alcohol: it tasted like it!

2014 Domaine de la Cote 'Sta. Rita Hills' Pinot Noir – Light in colour, nice cheery and cherry notes, and orange peel. Nice acidity. Did NOT taste 'Californian', so the winemakers achieved their goals. My first DdlC wine, and I thought it was one of the top wines of the day.

2012 Giacomo Conterno Barbera d'Alba Francia – Very dark in colour and with a lovely nose of a melange of red fruits. Fairly deep and rich, but not OTT. Tasted younger than it was - no rush on this.

2006 Oliverhill Petite Sirah – This was REALLY deep in colour. As Bill said, "A warm rich sweet nose with excellent fruit (blueberry? blackberry? It changed every time I went back to the wine)". And in a good place for drinking - classic rich, powerful PS.

2004 Domaine Tempier La Tourtine – Also mine, I think Mourvedre doesn't really get a lot of love, especially as a single varietal (though this wine is only 85% mourvedre, with grenache and cinsault I think). Dark in colour, and didn't have the meaty notes I was hoping for. But it had lot of deep, rich red fruits and slight tannins. Still on the young side, although I had given it about 3 hours of air.

1993 Rosemount Estate Balmoral Syrah – Wow, this screamed Australia and American oak right away! Australia sure doesn't get a lot of respect nowadays. This wine was kind of a perfect example of the old versions of shiraz - I thought the American oak, dill notes were too much for me.

1988 Graham’s Malvedos Port (375 ml.) Non-declared vintage ports can be better than many people think, so I think the wine fit the theme for that reason. I really liked this, a wonderful port in a great place. A tawny colour, with still some sweetness, but again very nice now. this was one of my favourites too.

Edited the correct vintage of the Muscadet.
Last edited by John S on Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: TN: Arvine Luneau Wolff de la Cote Conterno Oliverhill T

by Jenise » Sun Sep 18, 2022 3:29 pm

Enjoyed this theme, though now I want a do-over. I can think of so many wines I would have brought instead as I was disappointed in our two. And unfortunately, due to a sinus infection, I was afraid to trust that I had my full faculties and didn't want to risk some really high-end subversive "underdogs". By the way, I liked John's interpretation of the theme best: wines that get no respect. That conjures up slightly different things in my mind than just 'underdogs'--we can repeat with this tweak, would be fine by me.

Anyway, my take:


2019 Alpine Roots Petite Arvine Valais
Mine. I liked it okay, but: here's what I said about it a year ago. "Rich golden color, heady slate-y nose and body worthy of Grand Cru Chablis, dry palate fruit of chalky pippin apples, long enchanting finish. Would buy more if I could find it." Well I did find more and brought one to this tasting, where I thought: Reductive, apple fruit, furniture polish, okay but lacking most of what wowed me a year ago. Eh.... But whatever it was, or wasn't, at least it wasn't the watery, dilute whites we all expect from Switzerland--hence me thinking it was a great underdog.

2007 Domaine Luneau-Papin Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Cuvée Médaillée Melon de Bourgogne
Bill--you and John show this as an '08. Yes there was an '08 Award medal sticker on the neck but I am certain the vintage was 2007, so I'm writing it that way. Check the bottle. Anyway, back to the wine:
Bronze-gold color with flavors of preserved lemon, apple fritter, and hazelnuts. Flamboyantly aromatic, and old but not oxidated. A thrilling wine that makes you bang yourself on the head for not aging wines like this.

2014 Domaine de la Côte Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills
Mine again. I opened a bottle of this ten months ago, and was gobsmacked by how Burgundian it was. It had the whole package, warm and earthy, a new world Chevillon in the works from a ho-hum California vintage. Also, the basic blended bottling, not a single vineyard: hence, in Cali-wine-speak, an underdog by virture of that alone. But because of the Dec '21 bottle I expected even more of this bottle, which I splash-decanted at home in the morning and decanted again immediately on arrival where it had about an hour and a half wait until service. Unfortunately, IMO though others were kind, it didn't show up. Spicy, interesting nose but more reticent on the palate, so much so that pinot noir wasn't their first or even second guess. Not bad, but not the wine I expected it to be.

2012 Giacomo Conterno Barbera d'Alba Francia
Coop's. Deep color in the glass, dense and lush on the nose and palate with dark fruit, mint and cocoa. Classy, and the not the country brute barbera the reputation for being (but of course, it's Conterno, so duh).

2006 Oliverhill Winery Petite Sirah McLaren Vale

Probably due to my current sinus issues, the big open flavors of this modern Aussie really appealed to me. It was so easy to parse out polished flavors notes of violets, warm blackberry/black currant fruit, and powdered sugar donut sweetness on the finish. Joyful.

2004 Domaine Tempier Bandol La Tourtine Mourvèdre Blend, Mourvèdre
Dark fruit and lots of herbs, but missing the blood and horse blanket notes I associate with mourvedre. Nonetheless, a very good wine and showing well enough though, as John noted, it doesn't show its age in the more desirable ways hoped for.

1993 Rosemount Estate Syrah Balmoral McLaren Vale
The American oak jumped out but even then I didn't go straight to Australia because of the eucalyptus note among the tertiary berry fruits and iron. Always been a favorite Aussie and I considered bringing an '05 for the same reason you opened this.

1988 Graham Porto Vintage Malvedos Port Blend
From 375. Bill described it perfectly: mahogany reddish brown, sweet figgy fruit with an apricot kind of tang, long smooth and sweet finish. Coop immediately guessed Grahams, but it didn't seem THAT sweet to me. Really good.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: TN: Arvine Luneau Wolff de la Cote Conterno Oliverhill T

by John S » Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:45 pm

You are correct, it was a 2007 muscadet.
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Re: TN: Arvine Luneau Wolff de la Cote Conterno Oliverhill T

by Tim York » Mon Sep 19, 2022 5:51 am

Jenise wrote: But whatever it was, or wasn't, at least it wasn't the watery, dilute whites we all expect from Switzerland--hence me thinking it was a great underdog.



That's not what I expect from Switzerland. I was lucky enough to spend some holidays in the Valais and visit some of their vignerons. IMO Valais and to some extent Vaud are capable of producing world class wines, particularly from their native varieties Petite Arvine and Cornalin.

There are also pockets of high quality wines in German speaking cantons. I'm less keen on the wines from Ticino, mainly from Merlot. Swiss wines from Syrah, Savagnin, Pinot Noir, Gamay, Chasselas, etc. can be very good too. Quantities being low, prices quite high and the presence of an enthusiastic local demand mean that very little is exported.
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Re: TN: Arvine Luneau Wolff de la Cote Conterno Oliverhill T

by Jenise » Mon Sep 19, 2022 7:10 am

Tim York wrote:
Jenise wrote: But whatever it was, or wasn't, at least it wasn't the watery, dilute whites we all expect from Switzerland--hence me thinking it was a great underdog.



That's not what I expect from Switzerland. I was lucky enough to spend some holidays in the Valais and visit some of their vignerons. IMO Valais and to some extent Vaud are capable of producing world class wines, particularly from their native varieties Petite Arvine and Cornalin.

There are also pockets of high quality wines in German speaking cantons. I'm less keen on the wines from Ticino, mainly from Merlot. Swiss wines from Syrah, Savagnin, Pinot Noir, Gamay, Chasselas, etc. can be very good too. Quantities being low, prices quite high and the presence of an enthusiastic local demand mean that very little is exported.


On my first visit to Switzerland and did some wine tasting in Zurich, EVERY white we tasted was pale and dilute, every single one, and we didn't taste any reds. Of course, it's possible that we didn't taste at the best possible places--that was long ago and we didn't know much then--but my Canadian friends at this lunch with the exception of Bill's syrah story confirmed their experiences with Swiss whites have been pretty similar to mine.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
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Re: TN: Arvine Luneau Wolff de la Cote Conterno Oliverhill T

by Tim York » Mon Sep 19, 2022 7:30 am

Jenise wrote:
Tim York wrote:
Jenise wrote: But whatever it was, or wasn't, at least it wasn't the watery, dilute whites we all expect from Switzerland--hence me thinking it was a great underdog.



That's not what I expect from Switzerland. I was lucky enough to spend some holidays in the Valais and visit some of their vignerons. IMO Valais and to some extent Vaud are capable of producing world class wines, particularly from their native varieties Petite Arvine and Cornalin.

There are also pockets of high quality wines in German speaking cantons. I'm less keen on the wines from Ticino, mainly from Merlot. Swiss wines from Syrah, Savagnin, Pinot Noir, Gamay, Chasselas, etc. can be very good too. Quantities being low, prices quite high and the presence of an enthusiastic local demand mean that very little is exported.


On my first visit to Switzerland and did some wine tasting in Zurich, EVERY white we tasted was pale and dilute, every single one, and we didn't taste any reds. Of course, it's possible that we didn't taste at the best possible places--that was long ago and we didn't know much then--but my Canadian friends at this lunch with the exception of Bill's syrah story confirmed their experiences with Swiss whites have been pretty similar to mine.


That was also my impression from early visits to Switzerland from the 50s through the 80s. More recently I have been very impressed by Swiss wines. There have probably been improvements in standards but, more importantly, I have become better informed by reading the French wine press, which gives Switzerland decent coverage, and by talking to quality cavistes in Switzerland. The Swiss themselves consume the best of their small local production at prices high enough to give the producers little incentive to seek export markets.
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Re: TN: Arvine Luneau Wolff de la Cote Conterno Oliverhill T

by Jenise » Mon Sep 19, 2022 3:12 pm

Tim York wrote: The Swiss themselves consume the best of their small local production at prices high enough to give the producers little incentive to seek export markets.


Fully understood.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

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