2011 Concerto Jean Pierre Robinot
Masquerading as simply a light red from the Loire, on closer taste this is an entirely new wine, keeping the red wine tannins but swapping the fruit part with white characters: grapefruit pith, pomegranate seeds and campari orange. After an hour, the Pineau d’Aunis grape interrupts like a waiter with an oversized pepper grinder stopping the conversation. After this interruption it settles down again into a light-bodied red wine, and losing the funk, making the whole experience as unsettling to the senses as being lost in some South-East Asian market before the humidity rises and the fruits are unpacked in the cool early dawn.
Robert Parker would call his Anti-Pleasure Police, which is not such a bad thing, but I had myself reaching for my bookshelf. Jean Pierre Robinot could be said to be one of the founders of natural wine (along with Marcel Lapierre) so if you like wines made for modern air-heads this is not for you. However, if you are in to weird Loire grapes and intelligent winemaking this keeps you guessing the next move like a game of wine flavour chess.
Ps Despite its name, and the old nickname Chenin Noir, Pineau d’Aunis is related to neither Chenin Blanc nor Pinot Noir. DNA profiling has ruled out both, and its parentage is still unknown, which seems fitting for a grape that keeps you on your toes.
This is from a great Wine Club mixed case from Robersons
6 responses
I’ve never tried Pinot d’Aunis, but I want to now! I love your descriptions Juel.
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Gen sp Pineau d’Aunis, I think, like that other Loire weirdo Menu Pineau…
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Thank you for this clarification – on Roberson web and notes as Pinot d’Aunis so I was thinking, is this really related to Pinot family? Do love how these Loire grapes lead you up these crazy paths… Half the fun of it really. X
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PRODUCER NOTES
Jean-Pierre Robinot is best known as one of the founding fathers of the natural wine movement. In the 1980s he invented the natural wine bar, opening one of the first venues in Paris that only sold wines made without additives and with minimal (if any) sulphur. When, in 2001, he returned to the Loire and became a vigneron, he set about applying those natural principles to the overriding aim of making the finest wines possible from local grape varieties (Chenin Blanc for the whites, Pinot d’Aunis for the red) grown in unheralded appellations. With long periods of ageing both in barrel and in tank, extraordinary attention to detail and a determination to make his wines the best they can be, the results are stunning.
http://www.robersonwine.com/shop/red-wine/france/loire/concerto-2011-les-vignes-de-langevin-jp-robinot
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Five minutes alone with Wine Grapes is enough to make anyone dizzy! XX
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Ah yes, imagine. I need to get Wine Grapes – such a wealth of new knowledge. Thanks for reminding me! x
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