When you live in France and your core business is selling French wines, where do you go to find your next superstar wine? Finland! Bet you didn’t see that one coming. Let me fill you in on the details and it will make more sense. There was in fact a wine fair organized by Business France called Tastin’ France 2022 Sustainability. Location: 87 km north of Tallinn.
HELSINKI It had been ages since I last visited Finland and the idea of a short business trip sounded good to me. In reality, the 72 hour-getaway included four flights and countless other taxi, bus, train etc. correspondences to get From Metz to Luxembourg to Amsterdam to Helsinki. Was it worth it? Absof*lutely! This annual event held at the prestigious Valkoinen Sali near Helsinki marina gathered 30 sustainable French wineries looking to export to the Nordics. All major wine regions were represented and the selection of wines was astonishing. Most memorable stands were Champagne Jacques Picard for its unbelievable price-quality ratio, especially on the brut reserve NV bottle. Château la Loubière was a nice discovery for its wide range of Bordeaux reds. But the biggest surprise came from Saint-Émilion based Château du Val where the Alloin family pays tribute to their Alsace origins and cultivates Riesling. Yes, you heard me right, a Riesling in Bordeaux and let me tell you, it is a wine like nothing I have ever tasted before. Orfèvre du Val – crystalline and mysterious. Think about papaya, honeysuckle and bergamot. Sadly, way over my budget, but absolutely worth its price tag. I can only imagine the places it will go with time…I should also mention, that as important as the wines were for me in Helsinki, equally so was forging relationships with like-minded and passionate people from the industry. I met many but a few of them merit an extra mention. Typhaine, the charming and professional export manager from Château du Val was one of them.
Next, I was moving on to the versatile stand of le Caveau à Auxey. François represented different producers from Burgundy and I really enjoyed his explanations about the various appellations and his winemakers. A refreshing crémant by Domaine Deliance proved to be very satisfying and reasonably priced. One of the highlights of the fair, was when my friend Lisa and I got to gush over a 2017 Corton grand cru Le Rognet by Domaine Michel Mallard. How could I possible describe it, well perhaps like drinking liquid gold made from Pinot Noir grapes. If you know me at all, you know that I am not one to easily hype up Burgundy wines just because they come from Burgundy. Often overpriced, resting on their laurels, gone before you can even place an order and the list goes on, but if and when they are made like this one here, you take a bow and go: ‘Damn you Burgundy, you are a freaking wine wonder indeed.’ Well, I rest my case until the next time I tell you about B.
Now, please meet Guillaume Blanchet, the grape grower and wine maker that sold me THE RED WINE I HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR SINCE you know FOREVER. Somewhat a surprise to me was the fact that I went for Beaujolais wines but his Juliènas was just too good not to take in. Beaujolais crus are definitely not well known in Estonia but I am a firm believer of spreading that awareness. So juicy yet with a considerable depth to get us through the long dark winter months. It’s a wine that is carried by the quality of the grapes and the tender care Guillaume shows his wine, naming each cuvée after his children. I even ended up investing in his Beaujolais Blanc meaning a crispier forest floorish Chardonnay that doesn’t imitate its famous Burgundy neighbors. A few weeks after the fair, he was attending wine events near Metz, so we got to meet again, reminiscent of Helsinki and I remain hopeful that one day I will visit his vineyard in the beautiful hilly Beaujolais.
As all good things eventually come to an end (definitely wine bottles, like all the time, right;) so did the Tastin’France event but I didn’t leave empty handed. Business cards, price lists, brochures and on a more intangible note, I left with parched red wine lips and a content smile on my face. Also, I was extremely happy to have met Liisa again, a true legend in the Nordic wine arena. I first met Liisa Salminen years ago at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and we randomly started talking about wine and in all honesty, she became of my first role models and reasons behind my professional reconversion into the industry. Her reputation precedes her and for a good reason. She passed the infamous Sommelier exam in 1994 and her impeccable taste for aesthetics is explained by her degree in Art History. She is a lady that can tell you fascinating stories about blind tasting sparkling wine made from tannin-rich Nebbiolo grapes and how the entire Scandinavian wine scenery came to be. Always so youthful, so fun to be around and her knowledge in wine intimidating to say the least. I am proud to call her my friend and can’t wait to see her again.
As it was only a 72-hour trip, clearly it was time to head back home. At Vantaa airport I overheard a young woman talk about the wine fair and I quickly understood we had yet to cross paths professionally. In the fear of missing out, I introduced myself 30 minutes before boarding and hoped for a catch up. Turned out, Laura was working for Dom Brial wine estate in Baixas, Languedoc-Roussillon and what a wonderful acquaintance she turned out to be. She explained to me all the different types of wines they make with the most emblematic being their famous vin doux naturel meaning natural sweet wines. This regional Roussillon delicacy labeled AOC Rivesaltes is packed with flavor, has an intense aroma complex and you can find them in both white and red. It serves as an alternative and exiting way to end a meal with especially the older vintages diffusing powerful aromas of nuts, vanilla and dried fruit – basically like a dessert in itself.
Wines that are so well orchestrated taste like a harmonious symphony
A while later she sent me a case of her favorite Dom Brial wines to taste in Metz and I was very impressed. I am definitely thinking about some of their organic wines as potential new entries to my Quintessence selection and in the meantime, we keep in touch with Laura who I am glad to say, is yet another example of a person so fond of her métier and who’s passion for quality wine making is simply contagious.
And so, I declare November 2022 an especially successful month with many new contacts in the wine world established, many different wines discovered and my beautiful Beaujolais wines making it to Tallinn safe and sound. Another great wine tasted that month, was Clotilde Davenne’s 2018 Pinot Noir from Irancy appellation. This red Burgundy was suggested to me by one of my favorite wine cellars in Metz and the balance between fresh juiciness, deep berry flavors and present tannins made it incredibly pleasant to drink. Irancy, not the most well-known appellation in Burgundy, allows up to 10% of the local César grape variety that adds a deep purple pigment and tannins to the local wine. Try it out, if you can find it 😉On the 19th of November I had the pleasure of visiting another wine fair, this time one for the general public, called PlappeVignes. Out of the 40+ winemakers, two estates provided especially memorable tastings. First of them was Terra Vita Vinum from Loire and although their entire presented range was a pure delight, my absolute favorite was the cuvée Grandes Rogeries, a 2019 Anjou Blanc. I wouldn’t call it a déjà vu moment entirely, but tasting this wine reminded me of entirely different natural red wine from Southern Rhone, but as I was advised, it was probably the common lees contact, that made me yet again think of roasted peanut shells. I know it doesn’t sound mildly as interesting as it tastes, but since our palates
have a pretty good (and trainable) memory, sometimes I just love to feel nostalgic. So yes, definitely a powerful umami wine, if I might say so. Wirth mentioning also, their red cuvée called Infusions from 2021 and labeled as vin de France. As the name hints, it is quite literally an infusion of Cabernet Franc grapes and the juiciness is incredible. And also, who doesn’t love a red wax cork on a wine bottle. But as I mentioned, there was another estate that captured my attention and that was Burgundy based Capitain Gagnerot. The representative on the stand made no secret that since the foundation of the estate in 1802, little has changed in the manner they handle their Pinot Noir and that they take great pride in preserving the generations-old traditions. The wines, in all their excellence, were indeed quite old school burgundy, but in a safe and comforting way. Like the ones you could find in more traditional high-end brasseries for example. My favorite cuvées were the white 2021 Saint-Romain ‘Au Bas de Poillange’ with a delicate hint of linden and the red 2020 Aloxe-Corton 1er cru ‘Les Moutottes’ where the fruitiness of blackcurrants and blackberries was so round and balanced it just melted in my mouth. Long story short – a great experience of a wine fair gone well and would gladly visit it again in 2023.
REIMS Although the year was almost over, before we could raise our champagne glasses for 2023, I still had time to actually go to Champagne. As I had mentioned earlier, our friends in Metz, Maryvonne and Jean-Louis, whom I had started to consider as my French fairy godparents, had a longtime friend making boutique champagne in the village of Aÿ. Coincidentally he is exactly the winemaker whose champagne I have been importing to Estonia since 2021. So, imagine that out of those 16,000+ winemakers in Champagne, we knew the same person. Well, I until now, I only just knew his champagne but luckily Jean-Louis took me to meet Christian in person and we spent a lovely day around the estate, the cellars, the vine parcels and had an amazing lunch in a small restaurant called Rôtisserie Henri IV. What I can tell you about the champagnes of Christian Gosset, is that they are incredibly precise. Wines, that are so well orchestrated they taste like a harmonious symphony. His masterpieces are the parcellaire meaning plot-based champagnes that reflect so precisely the nature of its terroir and are just pure expressions of their birthplace. My favorite French wine critic, Alexis Goujard has described Christian’s champagnes as the modern and elegant expressions of the local Pinot Noir from Aÿ and who am I to argue with this connoisseur. The views from the hillsides were just incredible, even for a frosty December morning and I can definitely say the vines grow in picturesque landscapes. As for my own little not-at-all guilty pleasure, I brought back home his cuvées Loiselu and Sorangeon. Those two got popped on New Year’s Eve and sent off this beautiful 2022 vintage with a bang it deserved.
