Behind the Cork™ - Wines of Domaine Bousquet, Part 1

Embraced for their freshness, vibrant aromatics and fruit-forward qualities, wines from Tupungato Valley in Mendoza’s Uco Valley have become “must-haves” for Argentine connoisseurs. Domaine Bousquet, an early pioneer in this high-altitude sub-region of the Uco Valley of Argentina, stands out for its singular reliance on eco-friendly organic fruit. And their prices are extremely competitive!

At Domaine Bousquet, they have two paths of former rivers running through their property. These riverbeds, lined with alluvial deposits from the mountain sand seismic debris, are rockier than the plain sand areas. The characteristics of sandy soil are magnified in this rocky soil.

The Domaine Bousquet wines are:

Organic: The dry, low-humidity soil eliminates the need for pesticides and other chemicals to prevent disease, making organic farming easier. And, the dreaded phylloxera louse cannot survive in sandy soil!

Elegant: The harder the soil, the heavier and more powerful the wine. The lighter the soil, the more elegant the wine. The ability to produce elegant wines was so important from the start that Domaine Bousquet’s tagline is “Naturally Elegant Wines.”

Aromatic: Thanks to the sandy soil, the grapes thrive in an area with big differences between day/night temperatures, allowing the grapes to retain acidity and terpenes, those volatile compounds that result in wonderful aromas.

Complex: With riverbed and non-riverbed fruit available, the winemaker has more options, a bigger palate from which to blend.

All three of these wines are made from organic grapes and Vegan friendly:

2021 Domaine Bousquet Sauvignon Blanc ($13)

This grapes for this wine were harvested the first two weeks of February, underwent cold maceration for 24 hours and were fermented for 15 days.

It is medium-yellow in color with bright aromas of citrus and green apple. At 12.5% ABV, it’s light and refreshing with medium acidity and a soft finish.

2019 Domaine Bousquet Reserve Chardonnay ($18)

This wine is made from 100% Chardonnay that are grown by the foothills of the Andes at an altitude of 4000 feet. This high altitude yields cool nights that preserves the fresh fruit flavors and acidity in the grapes. This Reserve Chardonnay is fermented in oak for 15 days and then aged six months in oak and lees.

It’s deep gold in color with aromas of pear and baked apple. Although it’s fermented and aged in oak, the oak influence is restrained resulting in a medium-bodied Chardonnay with fruit flavors that are not too bright and not overly oaked - just right.

2019 Domaine Bousquet Reserve Pinot Noir ($18)

This wine is made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes that are manual harvested, undergo cold maceration for 72 hours and then fermented for 15 days. It is aged for six to eight months in French oak.

It is pale ruby in color with subtle red-fruit aromas. It has the characteristic cranberry flavor with a bit of black cherry and a round finish.

These are fine examples of affordability and attainability wines that fit right in with the Behind the Cork™ Wine of the Week theme. Check further details at the Domaine Bousquet website and keep an eye out for them. Cheers!

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Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received these samples at no cost for review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Samples Provided by Creative Palate Communications

Behind the Cork™ - Sosie Red Blend

2019 Sosie Rossi Ranch Sonoma Valley Red Blend ($43)

For Sosie, France has always shaped their appreciation of wine. It has influenced the way their vineyards are farmed and in the way they treat the fruit in the cellar. They proclaim this affinity with France with their label and their name “Sosie” which in French means ‘twin’ or ‘spitting image.’

In the French tradition of the Rhone Valley, Sosie produces this blend with 51% Grenache, 34% Mouvèdre and 15% Syrah, all from the same certified organic vineyard. However, their wine isn’t just a blend, it’s co-fermented, with all the fruit picked on the same day and the percentages decided then and there. This approach can be a big risk, but it can also yield big rewards.

This Sosie Rhone blend did indeed yield a big reward. While only 10 barrels were produced, I bet they wish they’d made a lot more! The production began with 19 days of skin contact, fermentation in stainless steel tanks and then got the benefit of 15 months of aging in neutral oak.

This GSM Rhone blend is medium ruby in color with dark cherry, lavender, clove and anise aromas. On the palate it’s dusty dry with very moderate tannin, great richness and complexity, flavors of blackberry and plum, and a balanced finish with just the right touch of acidity.

This Sosie Rossie Ranch Red Blend is vegan friendly, organically farmed and fermented with native yeast. With just 10 barrels being produced you may want to get your hands on this one quickly through a direct order from their website. Cheers!

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Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received this sample at no cost for review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Sample Provided by:

Michelle Keene | Account Director
CALHOUN & COMPANY COMMUNICATIONS

How Vegan Wine is Made

Last time we learned that wine makers use clarifying agents in the ‘fining’ process to remove small natural particles that exist in wines. These particles includes microscopic protein particles from grape skins, seeds and dead yeast. And, the most common agents used in clarify or fining a wine are gelatin (an animal protein), albumin (egg whites), casein (animal milk protein) and isinglass (fish bladder). While these agents do a very good job of clinging to particles and then being removed from the wine, they disqualify a wine from being considered vegan.

So, what does someone who is a vegan do? Well, as the market for vegan wines grows, wine makers are learning to make wines without the use of animal products.

Wine makers can choose to either leave the particles in the tank or barrel and allow them to sink naturally to the bottom (a slower, more costly, but completely natural method), or use non-animal based fining products.

Today many winemakers use clay-based fining agents such as betonite, an unusual form of clay, or carbon (activated charcoal). There is even a man-made plastic substance called poly vinyl poly pyrrolidone (PVPP) that is an effective synthetic water-soluble polymer fining agent. There are even vegetable-based gelatins, and other protein fining agents that are being derived from peas and potatoes.

So, vegans, don’t despair. There are wine makers looking out for you. Now, you need to look out for them. Check the label. If it’s vegan, they want you to know and will prominently feature it on the label. Cheers!

Ever Wonder? What is Vegan Wine?

Natural, organic and vegan products are becoming more and more popular. As consumers continue to seek out these products, producers are focusing on these markets. But, there seems to be confusion and misunderstanding when it comes to natural, organic and vegan wines.

One might think or expect that wine, made from fermented grape juice, is natural, organic and vegan. Right? Well, in most cases, the answer is that wine is not. And, in a recent conversation, I was asked “What is vegan wine?” So, let’s take a look.

Simply put, for a product to be vegan, it must contain no products derived from animals. So then, why isn’t all wine, that’s produced from grapes and yeast, considered vegan? Well, it mostly has to do with products that winemakers use to filter out the very small particles that naturally exist in wine. These particles come from the grapes, seeds and skins as well as the yeast. And, wine producers and consumers want their wine, especially white wines, to be crystal clear. Nobody wants a hazy, murky glass of wine.

Given enough time, these small particles will mostly fall to the bottom of the barrel or tank under gravity. That sediment can then be drained off leaving a clarified wine. But in today’s market, wine producers don’t often want to take the extra time to allow their wines to settle. Instead, they’ve learned that certain products are able to quickly bind to the small particles and fall to the bottom of the barrel or tank. These products have in the past all been animal-based products. Hence, the wines are not vegan.

Some of the most common agents used in clarify wine (referred to as fining) are gelatin (an animal protein), albumin (egg whites), casein (animal milk protein) and isinglass (fish bladder). And while these agents do a very good job of clinging to particles and then being removed from the wine, they disqualify a wine from being considered vegan.

Even the cork used in a wine bottle can contain animal products. Today, many corks are “composite.” They are formed by gluing together ground up cork bits. And, unfortunately, these glues can contain animal products.

So, how are wine makers producing vegan wines? We’ll take a look at that next time. Cheers!