A Provençal Winter
2007 Triennes St. Auguste
Two Words: STOCK UP
Jacques and Jeremy Seysses (Domaine Dujac) and Aubert de Villaine (Domaine de la Romanée-Conti) make hallowed Burgundy - the kind that can run you anywhere from $400-$40,000 a bottle.
If I had to condense this email down to just two words, they would be: STOCK UP.
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Seriously - this is one of the values of the season, perfectly suited to the season. So, while quantities last, Back Up the Truck because at $156 on the case buy, this is a no brainer.
This IS Provence for the winter: A medium-bodied red showing layers of baked red and black fruits, roasted Provençal herbs, pepper, licorice and meat, as well as a beautiful integration of soil and stone.
The wine has depth and clarity and freshness (something you can't often say of Provencal reds) and really does drink something like a Bordeaux at $30+. We've been carrying the wines of Triennes for years, but Jeremy was in the store recently and we tasted the 2007 Triennes and found it in just a magical place. So we went long.
Triennes is a project of Jacques and Jeremy Seysses of Domaine Dujac and Aubert de Villaine of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in Burgundy - it's impossible to overemphasize the pedigree here. Seysses and de Villaine bought this domaine in Provence in the late 1980s, lured by the potential. One can imagine they were rigorous in their search for the right terroir and indeed Trienne's vineyards enjoy perfect southern exposure on a clay and limestone hillside at about 400 meters elevation. Here, grapes see plenty of sunshine, but cool nights and a long growing season are ensured, which translates to wines of even ripeness with great acidity.
They immediately focused their work on the vineyards, growing varietals like Cinsault for their rosé and Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot for their more substantial red blends like St. Auguste. They knocked yields way down and ramped quality way up, taking care to use organic and natural treatments wherever possible.
In terms of winemaking, they consulted with the likes of Lynch-Bages and Mouton-Rothschild in Bordeaux and Paul Draper at Ridge in California, learning how to coax out rounder fruit with a more vibrant character.
The results in their St. Auguste Rouge (a blend of their best barrels of Syrah, Cabernet and Merlot) are rich and ripe, evidently from a warmer climat yet also instilled with freshness, vigor and a firmly tannic structure. The cooler night temperatures and the limestone soil contribute a balancing current of acidity while beautiful notes of fig, black currant, black licorice and roasted herbs unfold in the glass (a generous decant is advised and will bring everything into harmony more quickly).
The wine is well-suited to occasions and dishes in every season - think roast lamb in the spring, burgers on the grill in summer, tailgating chili in the autumn - but it seems to me to especially beg for a winter night cozied up inside with a fire going and a big bowl of cassoulet or daube de boeuf (Provençal beef stew) hot off the stove.
This is also the kind of bottle you should have on hand for entertaining, a glass at the ready for guests coming in out of the cold as well as an extra bottle to bring to say thanks to those hosting you. For this reason, we've gone right to case pricing.
Should you, for some strange reason, not be able to get through a case this winter, there’s nothing standing in the way of this holding its own - beautifully - in the cellar through 2015 at least.
To order, please click below, e-mail us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463. When our stock runs out - so does the deal.
Robert Schagrin
Managing Partner
Crush Wine & Spirits