Wine Paris 2026 seemed to be even bigger than before. Before? We couldn't remember when but we were not prepared for the gigantic hell that characterised this year's fair. Even if you attended from opening to closing on each of the three days, you would only have scratched the surface - there were that many exhibitors and wines.
Looking back we couldn't find this event in our past posts but we did find reports to another fair, the Salon des vins des vignerons independants which we attended at the same exhibition venue at the Porte de Versailles in 2016 and 2017. We had enjoyed those 'Salons' very much.
Not so much this Wine Paris - presumably with vignerons who are not somehow independant (?). It was just too vast and frenetic. What is more, we had been told that our profile 'does not match the criteria required to get a Media Credential.' That was a first but honestly we didn't hold the decision against them and if our report seems a bit ungenerous it is because we didn't have enough time or energy to cover all the interesting bottles there may have been on show. There certainly were enough of them among swathes of other less esoteric wines.
We thought we would start with Italy. Perhaps the range would be not quite as ginormous?
That was a 'forlorn hope' as it were.
Near the entrance to this pavilion (each pavilion is the size of an large airport teminal by the way) we found this Grignolino. With modest 12.5% alcohol this should have made a good start but the wine showed how difficult this grape must be more than anything else.
Ploughing on, we were encouraged to find the outstanding Piemonte producer Roberto Voerzio. Things were looking up.
And then our good friends from Azienda Agricola Obiz from whom we had received advice on planting and working with our grape 'Soreli' which we had bought from the Vivai Cooperativo Rauscedo and planted aat home in the Thames Valley.
They were on their lunch break probably but we hope they did good business at Paris Wine; they deserve to do so.
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Also deserving were the charming people from Scolari. We had enquired after a Groppello (one of our latest manias). This Posone is made from Groppello blended with Marzemino, Sangiovese and Barbera and designated Rosso Superiore from the Riviera di Garda Classico DOC. All very nice but at 14%, not for us, and where did they get their Sangiovese and Barbera from? Are they grown on Lake Garda? Just wondering.
Then, as happens more often than not, we stumbled across someone who is extremely important in our lives. In this case dott. Claudio Lenotti of Cantine Lenotti, the maker of the best Bardolino known to us!
It is impossible to describe to others the pleasure of actually meeting this wonderful person and being able to discuss his great wine. Goodness knows we have searched for years and tasted a great number of Bardolinos before alighting on Lenotti.
Why this obsession with Bardolino - a wine not held in high regard and invariably passed over for Valpolicella. We are happy to explain once again that we find so-called 'simple' Bardolino the very essence of a business-like food wine that can be drunk with as much pleasure as anything else and on all occasions.
Why should Valpolicella keep pipping Bardolino to the post all the time? It is made from the same grapes, Corvina and Rondinella in a neigbouring area so what is going on? As explained to us and reported elsewhere in this blog, Valpolicella is regarded so to say as the first stage wine on the way to Amarone. Amarone is a big deal. People love it for its power and intensity. It sells well worldwide so there is enough money for Valpolicella producers to invest in their vineyards and winemaking.
Bardolino doesn't have this investment and has been tainted in the past with over production and less than the highest standards, rather like Chianti at one stage many years ago.
In the case of Lenotti, it is not a question of a lack of investment because the company also makes Valpolicella and Amarone. Could that be the explanation of why their Bardolino outperforms so many others?
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There was considerable icing on the cake in that Dr. Lenotti told us there are two UK importers of his wine. We didn't hesitate to buy 4 bottles as soon as we came home.
Nota Bene: when discussing the grape varieties used in Bardolino, there is in the 'Disciplinare' a mysterious category of 'altre tipiche della zona' which may amount to 10% each or 20% combined of the total. These 'altre tipiche' are named thus;
Barbera
Cabernet Sauvignon
Marzimino
Molinara
Merlot
Mentioning Molinara, D'Agata (Native Wine Grapes of Italy) writes "Molinara is increasingly being phased out in Valpolicella and especially Amarone wines, for its rosy light colour wine strikes fear in the hearts of producers looking to make the biggest, blackest wines possible. Nowadays it plays a much more important role in Bardolino. where it can make up even40 percent of the blend, providing Bardolino with lovely freshness, lightness, and a strong saline note."
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| France next |
Going straight to Jura we hoped to find something new in Poulsard.
Without knowing it we stumbled on something very new indeed. You won't find Chateau de Verreux in Wink Lorch's 'Jura Wine' book originally published in 2014 but you will find it in her 'Jura Wine Ten Years On' (2024).
'Chateau de Verreux
Wines from the estate's first 2023 vintage will be released in late 2024, and were made in the cellars of the dilapidated 18th-century chateau, currently under restoration, and once owned by Joseph Girard, a historically important figure, creator of the AOC Arbois... Vincent (Remillet), who worked for Domaine du Pelican for eight years, runs the estate in partnership with Vincent Richard, ownerof the chateau. The vineyards are mainly in Arbois, with some Cotes du Jura parcels, and more is being planted to reach 9 ha, Demeter certified. Both the wines and the chateau have great potential for the future.'
Ch. de Verreux' Poulsart was beautiful.
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| Admire that colour! |
Next to 'Wine Regions'
by way of an enormous number of non-alcoholic wines. Not exactly a crowd there.
Suffering from overload at this point we noted in passing a Ridge presence among others. We checked in case there were any of Ridge's more esoteric bottlings but we didn't see any. Could there have been a bottle of Montebello on offer? We could only think of getting out of these.
But not before we had the pleasant surprise of seeing a bottle of Reze. Not something you can find easily. It is an ancient variety, first mentioned in 1313. Quite widespread pre-philloxera it may cover little more than 2 ha. today. It tastes good too.
Together with the Rauschling discovered at the end of the RAW tasting the previous day, this had been a trip notable for Swiss discoveries among others.
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