Anyone here like Mondeuse?

WINE TALK
21

btw… It was Florian Beck-Hartweg that called me and said “George… You have to taste these wines!!” Hopefully he will chime in too…

22

Nice write-up, George. Makes me want to try these. The only Mondeuse I’ve knowingly had, to borrow a phrase from you was from L’Idylle.

23

George,

Not seeing much on winesearcher except for a 2005 at Wallys. K&L doesn’t have any. Are these around right now?

24

Hi Rick,
I’m waiting for a couple of folks to pull the trigger… I only brought in the “prestige” for now because they were pricey enough - The '05 is really interesting because it was 100% stainless steel - a little funky on the nose, but still crystal clear in the glass and a fine expression. . The '06, '07 and '09 that I have saw a year in stainless then a year in very old barriques (completely neutral). The '06 is a bit more complex and longer finish than the '07 though the '07 has a great peppery nose - think '06 v '07 re: barolo but for mondeuse rather than nebbiolo. The '09 has wonderful bright bluish fruit and is, well, yummy! All of these wines check in at 12%…

I also have the 2009 Altesse - one year in new barrique then 6 months in stainless. Nose of butterscotch, honey, green apple but one gets the grippy feel of a bit of wood tannins. It’s done well as restaurant wine for someone that wants something different…

Anyone remember these wines from my donation to the Berserker ski/wine festival in CO last year?

Like I said, I waiting on a couple of folks to bring into stock (I had to lower the prices) but if you wanted to put together a mixed case to explore, I’m sure that I can work something out with one of my retailers. PM me…

One more interesting side note… No wine made in 2010 because of rain; in 2008 there was an unspeakable tragedy in the vineyard… As one might expect, the vineyards are incredibly steep. One of Michel’s dear friends/employees was using a tractor in the vineyard and lost control. He hit a wire and was decapitated. Michel refused to harvest his grapes that year…

Savoie is stunningly beautiful - hoping to get there very soon to taste the 2011 vintage…

25

Thanks for those notes George. I was “introduced” to the wine via lapassionduvin blog and one of my local caviste brings them into Switzerland. I only became aware of the wine within the last month and haven’t stopped in to pick up a bottle. They have the 05 normal bottling and both 09’s (in red). After reading your post I am certainly going to introduce my palate to his wines! Thanks again for taking the time to put together such a detailed account.

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Thanks for clearing that up Carole - there are still many sources and books that claim Refosco is Mondeuse - and I always saw the similarity in the fruit (blue-black fruits - lots of acidity) -

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You are most welcome, Paul! I hope that you will share your impressions, good or bad, with me. I haven’t tasted the 09 Prestige yet as they have only recently been released so especially interested in those.

Berserkers - if anyone is interested, I can try to put together some mixed 6-packs for Berserker fest…

g.

28

Picked up the 2003 Prestige and 2005 Tradition this evening. Both have remained in the storage of the caviste since release (needless to say the store, although Swiss, has a long running affair with Savoie). I will post impressions here this weekend following tasting with food + sufficient time to prepare the bottles.

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Thanks for all the replies, everyone. This has been a very helpful discussion! [cheers.gif]

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Hi Paul,
Just finished a week of showing the 05,06,07 and 09 Mondeuse in SF and made some amazing restaurant placements (inc St. Vincent’s, AQ, perhaps Benu)… Just wondering if you tried these yet and your thoughts. By the way - any chance ou know Claude Hildebrand in Laussane?

thanks,

g.

31

Absolutely correct George, I owe the thread a follow up. 05 Tradition was on the fruit, young, full of vibrant primary tones. 03 Prestige was brooding. I was impressed by the freshness in the context of the vintage. Maybe just a hint of what’s to come but difficult to say considering they are my first experiences. I used the 05 as a deck and evaluated the 03’s evolution.

That said, the two are very different. First, I wouldn’t put these bottles of Mondeuse in a basket as “similar to syrah” or similar to anything for that matter. They absolutely show a clean cut character all to their own. I believe this is called placeness or sense of origin or terroir or whatever else you want to throw at it. Essentially these are excellent expressions of the individual cépage and the place.

Second, back to the difference between the Tradition and the Prestige. Tradition is very elegant, nuanced, very dangerously easy to drink. Prestige possesses a lot more matière. I was surprised to see the additional amount of weight, depth and power over the Tradition. This is an extreme vieilles vignes cuvée unlike any of the similar bottlings from neighboring regions. That said it is a lot like going from a Côte du Rhone to a Côte Rôtie in terms of additional everything in the bottle. I would have loved to had two 05’s because the additional variable introduced by the two vintages was frustrating. I found the 03 to be a little “on the jam”…not cooked but just jammy fruit. The 05 was insanely fresh. I would have loved to see a bottle of the Prestige from the same vintage.

If you are going out to try Mondeuse I would suggest you approach it as a distinct cépage with its own set of characteristics, its own identity. I found the wines of Prieuré Saint-Christophe to be as unique and transparent as the best wines of the Jura (and well ahead of 99% of the Côte Rôties being produced today). If you want appealing no-brainer wines that taste like syrah I suggest Guigal. If you like highly individual wines which make you stop and think I can recommend Prieuré Saint-Christophe.

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Hi Paul,
Sorry for the delay in responding, but I see that Michel’s magic hit you much in the way that it hit me… My first reaction was “mondeuse, where have you been all my life???” but when I sought out other wines, I was, for the most part, bored by their simplicity. Actually, that is just too strong a word - not “bored” but just not wowed the way that Michel’s wines interest me.

I have been tooling around with Florian Beck-Hartweg for the last 2 weeks in California, and we’ve been showing Michel’s wines too. I think I have sold more of Michel’s wines (and Florian’s) in the last 2 weeks than I have in the last 2 yrs. It’s like all of a sudden, folks “get it”… I have completely sold out of the 2006 vintage and only have a handful of 05, 07 and 09 left.

I would have to cheat and look at the last list of available wines, but I believe that 2003 and 2009 were the last two vintages of the “Prestige”… Those are the wines that I would seek out for comparison purposes. I think you also nail it with the whole “very dangerously easy to drink” comment - 12%abv and “fresh”… so easy to make a bottle disappear!

I’m hoping to visit your neck of the woods before the end of summer - I hope we can meet and explore some other wines!

Best,
George

33

The Wikipedia article on Mondeuse noire has been fixed. Much appreciation to the folks here at Wine Beserkers (especially Dr. Meredith) for pointing out the error!

34

The 2011 of this wine is really, really nice!

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The Sicilian producer Cottanera makes a 100% Mondeuse called L’Ardenza.
Haven’t had it in many years, but I always remember it being excellent.

http://cottanera.it/en/vini/l_ardenza.php