Meeting 344 -"Lebanese wines (Domaine des Tourelles & Clos de Cana)"
Friday 20th May 2011 Neville Hall, Waltham St Lawrence
Domaine des Tourelles, in the Bekaa Valley,
has a long history. It was founded in 1868
by a young French engineer, Fançois-Eugène Brun to produce Arack and other spirits as well as wine.
The last member of the Brun family sold the vineyard to Nayla Kanaan Issa-el-Khoury in 2000 but the new owner
retained the Arack Brun name for the award winning Lebanese national drink.
Clos de Cana, on the other hand, is a relatively recent venture, being founded by Fadi in 1998, the vineyard is on
ancient terraced slopes overlooking the Lamartine Valley to the east of the Bekaa. The vineyard enjoys an average of over
8hrs sunshine per day and the limestone clay soil and altitude of 100ms make it an ideal location for the planting of classic
Mediterranean grape varieties.
Faouzi Issa, Tourelles' winemaker, presented us with an interesting range of
wines from Tourelles and Cana. He was supported by Martin Chapman of Osborne Wines who provided his own selection of wines from Cana.
After the easy drinking Riesling Sekt from Schafer, we tasted Tourelles Dry White. Although it was 85% Viognier (and 15% Muscat [Zibbibo]),
the nose was not so pronounced as one would expect of this grape. On the palate, gooseberry fruit and some minerality was
combined surprisingly with a hint of sweetness. The wine, which is aged 5ms in concrete is meant to be drunk within a copy of years.
The Tourelles Rosé which followed was a complex mixture of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and Tempranillo.
While its nose was a pleasant mixture of cherry and toast and the palate offered a hint of strawberries with a clean mildly acid finish,
it could best be described as a summer picnic wine.
The first Red, from Cana, although defined as only an 'entry wine' by Faouzi,
had a good mature plumy nose and full fruit on the palate. The wine, made entirely in stainless steel and unoaked had
a good level of tannin on the finish. The Tourelles Red which followed, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, was an
enjoyable but unremarkable wine made for early consumption. The Jars of Cana, on the other hand, was a well balanced wine
with berry nose, soft tannins and plenty of fruit. An unusual combination of Petit Cabernet, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and
Mourvèdre, which was kept for at least 12ms on oak, this wine had a potential for cellaring for some time.
Also from Clos de Cana, the Cuvee Lamartine, was a deep, almost inky wine, with a fine herby nose of fennel and thyme.
The blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache and Merlot resulted in a very full bodied quite tannic wine that has some time to go.
As the top red from Cana this bodes well for later vintages as the vines age.
The final two reds from Tourelles, the Marquis des Beys and the Syrah du Liban,
represent firstly, the flagship wine that has been around sometime, and secondly, a relatively recent (if 2006 is recent!)
development. The des Beys, 40% Syrah and 60% Cabernet is produced in limited quantities. For me, it had a tobacco or cigar nose,
a good medium bodied berry fruit palate and a long finish. It was aged in French and American oak for at least 18ms and spends
12ms in bottle before release. Drink now but better wait for up to a decade!
The Syrah du Liban was a new venture in that it was the first time the cepage consisted of 100% Syrah. Aged in oak for 24 ms,
the wine had a characteristic spicy nose and full prune and berry body. In line with current popular practice, the 2007
we tasted had 5% viognier which always lifts the nose. A very long finish.
For the supper wine, kindly donated by Lebanese Fine Wines, we were able to taste the 2005 des Beys.
Interestingly, this was quite different to the 2007, having almost no nose and being somewhat mineraly, while
retaining the excellent des Beys full fruit. Overall not so attractive as the 2007 but still very good.
For the Supper, we are indebted to the lady members who stood in again in Charlotte's absence - who we hope will soon be back with us. They provided us with a superb Lebanese style lamb stew followed by an appropriate summer fruit salad.
A most interesting and enjoyable evening (JF)
| Aperitif: Schafer Extra Trocken Classic Riesling Sekt | ||
| (1) Domaine des Tourelles Dry White, 2010 | 13.50 | 7 |
| (2) Domaine des Tourelles Rosé, 2010 | 13.50 | 6+ |
| (3) Rouge de Cana, Clos de Cana 2007 | 11.90 | 6 |
| (4) Domaine des Tourelles Red, 2007 | 14.35 | 7 |
| (5) Jars de Cana, Clos de Cana 2002 | 18.50 | 7+ |
| (6) Cuvee Lamartine, Clos de Cana 2002 | 15.65 | 8 |
| (7) Domaine des Tourelles Red, Marquis des Beys, 2007 ** | 21.95 | 8 |
| (8) Domaine des Tourelles Syrah du Liban, 2006 | 49.95 | 9 |