Caves Augé, Paris
Another Primeur and Beaujolais-Nouveau day in Paris, this time I just had time to really go the the usual bottling-tasting of Nouveau at Caves Augé in Paris before going to work. The iconic wine shop has for years this event on the 3rd thursday of november with
prominent natural-wine vintners bringing a barrel of Nouveau straight from their cellar and filling/corking bottles in front of you. That's something not to miss, it starts at 11 am and ends at 7 pm and the winemakers are there in person. And you can come back to a barrel you've already sampled and ask for another try, actually I've often spent hours at these sidewalk tastings, chatting along with the winemakers and acquaintances.
I shouldn't print that but I was often pretty high when I'd leave on my motorbike afterwards, good think that breath checks are mostly unheard of inside Paris, i'd be more cautious in the French provinces and villages...
Let's remind that this wine shop was founded in 1850 and is owned by Lavinia since 2006, this is both a tradionnal high-end wine shop and one that puts forward the best artisan domaines vinifying naturally. Jérôme Moreau (pictured on left-center) is the new director at Caves Augé, the young man has worked previously at Lucas Carton, Le Bristol and Le Crillon.
Look at that, Paris is certainly the place to be at this time of the year, where else could you taste (often generous) pours of some of the best winemakers on a sidewalk for free ? And in the evening if you know where to go you'll rub elbows in the hottest wine bars around town sipping Bojo (not free but maybe 5 € a glass) and inadvertedly stumbling upon other of your favorite winemakers along crowded counters...
This year there were seemingly fewer wiemakers at Augé compared to when Marc Sibard was in charge (he's been fired last year after his conviction in 2017 for misbehaviour against female employees). But it may be also that some producers stopped producing Nouveau in order to prop up the main cuvées, this is what happens when the volumes of grapes happen to be low (this year mildew maybe ?). there was also some kind of new rule at Augé which I'm not sure was adequate, you had to give a 10 € deposit for the glass (paid back when you'd leave) and these were large fine glasses, the ones used the previous years were I think more adequate in size. But it may be useful to ward off the occasional bum who'd walk by and sneak in for a few cheap shots...
There's nothing like drinking a wine straight from the cask, and even though these producers don't add SO2 at bottling, there's another dimension in the wine when it's straight from the barrel, no bottle shock, no recovery lapse, you enjoy the real thing, and you can
buy a bottle that has been filled in front of you. These Nouveau were all sold for 11 €, you'd have been able to have an autograph signed on a label by the way... Lovely Foillard indeed, had to come back a few times at the barrel stand to be sure...;-)
Jean Foillard who was there with wife Agnès told me Alex was now in charge, even if he's having an eye on the whole thing. For the vineyard work Alex also begins to do the work. Asked about the vintage, Alex says it's been a nice one with generous volumes of grapes, they even got a shortage of fermenters and vats, they had to borrow some elsewhere. He says that following two years hard-hit with hail, the vines bounced back on fruit volume this year. The quality was pretty good also this year, not much mildew.
You have of course the corking by hand right after the filling, like things were done in the past (there's quite a few artisan vintners who do it that way stil now). You'll see that at evey Nouveau day at Caves augé, actually if I remember the first time I attended one of these sidewalk tastings was when Marcel Lapierre himself was corking his wine right there, at the very sidewalk spot where Alex was standing and his buddy was corking, this was back in 2004 in the very first year of this wine blog, natural wine was still below the radar for most wine lovers, even in Paris....
There was a newcomer at Caves Augé, here is Arnaud Combier who is managing a new domaine after years of maming natural wine in the Mâconnais (southern Burgundy). He works on about 10 hectares near Lancié, the vineyards were purchased from a retiring vigneron, they're right now on the usual process of converting the vineyard on organic farming, vinifying naturally the first vintage without SO2 or with very little of it. The people who funded this venture are François de Nicolay of Domaine Chandon de Briailles in Savigny-Lès-Beaune and Jeff Carrell, a négociant based in the south of France and focused on vins d'auteur. Arnaud himself was previously based in Saint Véran making whites there (domaine Arnaud Combier) and for the last 4 years he was vineyard manager at Chateau des Jacques in Burgundy, actually managing all the Jadot vineyards in southern Burgundy where he learnt a lot on the different terroirs.
This wine is made with whole-clustered grapes in a basic 60-hectoliter cement vat, they picked in a parcel that is known every year for its lower potetial alcohol, and this hot year it was perfect because it retained freshness and makes only 12 % in alcohol. The wine is both suave and light. This is a carbonic maceration but Arnaud still does a few remontages (pumping over) and a few delestages (taking out the free run juice), it's not the pure carbo where you just keep it quiet other than taking the leaking juice out. But he adds that in the last few years because of the weather patterns it's morteand more difficult to make a "pure" carbo because pH tends to be higher and this changes the balance and the maceration parameters. he still likes it and works on several modus-operandi for the carbos.
Very fruity wine, lovely unfiltered Bojo. Sells for 11 € too. Initially his intention was not to make a primeur, it's more like the first, if early wine of the domaine, and they worked the wine in that philosophy, they degas much more the CO2. Speaking of SO2 if he ever uses some, it's not before bottling it's at the post-fermentation stage, and he does it if he feels the need regarding bacterial activity. By the way in Saint Véran he was making whites without SO2 and this was not a problem for him, you can do it but you need élevage time in bottle afterwards to get back its mouth length.
All these wines were certainly great but this one really made my day, Jean-Christophe Comor at Domaine des Terres Promises in Provence made here a terrific primeur, really awesome, ths is made with 15 varieties including a few whites, i couldn't
get more into specifics about the winemaking, Jean-Christophe was kind of elusive but what's the point, it's a Vin de France and the appellation people don't have a say here.
Near the Terres-Promises barrel on the side there was a small group of Comor's young pickers who brought a passionate and vibrant vibe, I spoke with one of them (pictured on right), he worked for the domaine for 6 years, he knew of course Julien Pineau (also a former Comor employee) who is a childhood friend. he confirms that the volume was good this year. He told me his name but forgot to note it.
I spoke with Marin, the son of Jean-Christophe Comor, he says he has been working regularly with his father on the domaine all the while studying (he now studies law in Toulon), he does the pruning and also cellar work plus orders and shipping, he also travels for hs father's wine, like recently in Montreal, New York and Los Angeles for Raw Wine. For this cuvée A Ma Guise, he says it's the truth of the grapes that express themselves fully without interference of the élevage as there's none.
__ A ma Guise 2018, that's the Primeur of Comor, a terriffic, fresh wine, if I understand the whirtes and reds were picked and vinified together at the turn of august and september, he used also the end of presses of rosés, Jean-Christophe says it's a wine that is a bit complicated to make, actually the most complicated in spite of beein the cheapest. My advice, buy this and check that you get indeed the 2018 and not remains from the 2017, not that the latter is bad (I always enjoy A ma Guise, even a year after it's been released) but this one is really special. And this year there's more volume, Jean-Christophe says that in 2017 he lost 50 % because of fros and drought, and now in 2018 they're up even if they lost a bit because of mildew.
There was also a white Primeur with Jo Landron's Muscadet Nouveau, a cuvée named Grains de Raisins 2018, very nice, lots of vibrancy on the tongue, it sports a 13,5 % alcohol but goes down very easily. I guess the alcohol level is related with the drought this year that yielded more concentrated juice. Sells also for about 11 € at the shop. Jo Landron wasn't there in person, too bad. I hope next time they get more winemakers to come here fill their barrels on the sidewalk.
Also included in this sidewalk tasting but without the presence of Richaud was his Côtes du Rhône Nouveau 2018 which I liked very much as well, very subtile, feminine and with a slight sweet side that was very welcome, it was very fresh as well, a good bargain too. Comes from the terroirs of Travers and Sousville and this is a blend of Syrah & Grenache. Alcohol is 14 % here but certainly because of the natural acidity it goes down very well.
This was later that day, after work I tried to go to the Repaire de Cartouche but that how the bar looked like around 9 pm, from the street window, no way to put a foot inside or access the counter, I sadly gave up. There was a live jazz band, next year I'll really take more time and go to these places in time...
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