Wednesday, 9/13 tasting
6-8 pm no reservations needed
$15 + 10% off any wine tasted

Seleque “Solesscence” Champagne Brut Nature NV
Domaine de La Roche Bleu “La Belle un Bulle” Pineau D’Aunis pét-nat Vin de France 2021
LeCointre “Rue du Pineau d’Aunis” Pineau D’Aunis Vin de France 2020
Mouillard “Sur la Cour” Trousseau Côtes du Jura 2022

Pineau d’Aunis is an archaic red grape variety that is native to France’s Loire Valley. It may date back as early as the 10th century and is certainly one of the very oldest grapes cultivated in the Loire today. Pineau d’Aunis is a pre-modern variety not closely related to any other contemporary grape: the antiquity of the grape is key, as when someone asks, “What’s it like?” the best response is “Nothing.” I’m not being a smartass here, it’s just that pineau d’aunis can taste quite unlike any other contemporary grape variety, and we’re here for it.

I often see the phrase “white pepper” to describe the aromatics of pineau d’aunis, and that’s a fine descriptor, but even more so is that is fundamentally a Janus-faced grape. One face is glou-glou, infused, acid-driven, tart, and low-extract, with a sour cherry, raw rhubarb fruit profile. The other face, when picked a bit riper, is into the woods, with a black cherry-herbal medieval apothecary vibe. Friar Tuck may appear from behind an oak tree at any moment, and wood nymphs are just out of eyesight.

The madeleine pastry proffered to Proust by his mother opened an unexpected window into childhood memories and sensations that he thought forever lost. Drinking a bit of pineau d’aunis is akin to opening a window onto the sensibilities of another time and place, but not your own. If you are Aunisian and susceptible to the grape variety, you may find that it lights up parts of your brain and illuminates fragments of sense memory—illusory, confected, confabulated, I do not pretend to know—that you never knew were yours to forget, even though you were born far away in time and place.