A Unique Tasting Opportunity: Rimbert and Els Jelipins!

 3/2/11 - 

(The Els Jelipins Cellar, photo: Chris Barnes)

This coming Wednesday from 5-7 p.m. here at Chambers Street we welcome a rare pair of winemakers from the Jenny and Francois portfolio to our store. The wines of Domaine Rimbert have always been benchmarks for natural wine in the Languedoc and have graced our shelves for many years; it's safe to say they are some of our favorites from the region. Jean-Marie Rimbert founded his domaine in the mid '90s. He was attracted by the schiste soil of Saint-Chinian as well as by the old Carignan vines he found there. A champion of Carignan, Rimbert believes this is the perfect variety to express the terroir of the region and his wines consistently show great elegance and balance. Come either discover or re-acquaint yourself with the magic of Carignan.

The other folks pouring, with whom our Spanish wine buyer, Chris, had a particularly memorable visit last June, are Gloria, Oriol, and Bertha (mother, father, and daughter), the vinicultores of the rare (admittedly expensive) and soon to be (humbly speaking) iconic wine from Catalunya: Els Jelipins. This wine, a blend of the native Sumoll and Garnacha, is profound in a number of ways. Although Sumoll is a native variety, it is not allowed in the Penedes D.O. due to its high acidity and generally rustic demeanor. The wine is raised like no other wine from Spain. The vines are farmed organically; vinification is done without sulphur. The wine undergoes extremely long, whole-cluster maceration and is raised in foudre, neutral large oak, and anfora. Only approximately 1,500 to 2,000 bottles of this wine are produced and most is hand sold to restaurants in Spain. Gloria and Oriol are trained enologists who, inspired by Bartolo Mascarello, Nicholas Joly, and others, have rejected technological wine-making in order to make a singular, beautifully ethereal yet powerfully complex wine. Think old-school Barolo meets old-school Chateauneuf-du-Pape with a lighter touch. Currently the 2005 vintage is for sale and is their most complete wine yet, full of succulent red fruits, herbs, and flowers. This is a wine that is built to age and is possibly the most important wine being produced in Spain today.  Check this link for more info:

http://saignee.wordpress.com/2009/07/07/day-17-els-jelipins-the-future-of-spanish-wine/