Wines With Altitude

Following on from last episode’s climate-conscious look at wines grown beside the seaside, Jason assembles a flight (pun intended) of seven wines that hale from high places, where cool air and steep, free-draining slopes go some way towards mitigating the higher temperatures that otherwise put way too much bang in your Bourboulenc and vavavoom in your Viognier… First up; it’s creamy, it’s toasty and it’s a big deal in the Big Apple… it’s Crémant de Jura from the Tissot vineyard at Arbois. Pure Chardonnay and bottle-fermented. You want high? The mousse alone will take you to a new one! Secondly, whether skiing on the slopes or chillin’ in the chalet, Jacquère is the grape to which all Alpine aspirants inevitably gravitate. Domaine de l’Idylle’s Cruet from the Tiollier family vineyard above Isère, has a low ABV but more zing and fruit than Julie Andrews on the Mehlweg. The hills will very definitely be alive after just one bottle. Thirdly, Nathalie Margan’s highly-regarded Chateau La Canorgue Blanc wears its 13.5 ABV very lightly. ‘Uplifting, apricot and white peach flavours,’ it says on the Yapp Brothers website; ‘Go high or go home,’ says Jason. ‘Salut!’ says David, who isn’t about to go anywhere. Our high flyers’ fourth wine and first red is a fresh and spicy Pinot Noir from Domaine Girard. It’s from Malepère in the Languedoc, but the Pinot Noir makes it a Pays d’Oc. Okay, Doc? Berry, spice and minerality are all beautifully balanced, which is more than can be said for David who is beginning to wonder where he left his parachute. After such dedication to the dizzying heights that wine-making can achieve, it’s only right that our two lofty lovers of wine should find themselves in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Monte Ventoux, feared by cyclists and revered by oenophilists alike is the home of a magnificent, blackberry, pepper and spice confection from Yves Cheron. It may be one of the steepest stages of the Tour de France, but with a bottle of Terre Sauvage in your saddle bag, you’re free-wheeling all the way from Florence to Nice. For their final tasting, David and Jason cross the Atlantic and climb to 1000 metres above the city of Mendoza in the heart of Argentina’s wine-growing region. Tinto Negro from Jeff Mausbach and Alejandro Sejanovich is medium bodied and light on the oak. And at 13.5 ABV you don’t need to say ‘Goodbye,’ to bright, complex flavours, just say ‘High!’