Pollux Membership July 2023: The Yet(t)i of Grapes and Visions Aligned
Vineyards in McLaren Vale, home to vanguard winery Yetti and the Kokonut.
“The Yet(t)i of Grapes”
Yetti and the Kokonut Savagnin “Mt. Savagnin”, McLaren Vale, Australia 2022
My first trip to Burgundy was 12 years ago; in preparation for my visit, I wanted to bone up on my French, which I hadn’t really worked on since music school 6 years before that. As luck would have it, the staff of the restaurant I was running had several Francophones on it, one of whom, our server Stephane, actually taught French lessons and later would go on to work for the State Department. I asked him if we could do a little six-week intensive in the little free time we both shared, in the little time that I had before I had to leave.
Working with Stephane was so rewarding; when I arrived at his home for my first lesson, there was no English spoken, forcing me to mine my cranium for nouns and verbs long since filed away. Moreover, there was no “open book, turn to page 1” tedium in Stephane’s program. Instead, he handed me a folder, and when I opened it, I found a study plan tailored completely to my needs on the trip; a glossary of wine terms in French, tasting notes and descriptors in French, and articles on French wine from native periodicals. My first “assignment” was reading about two great wine styles of the Jura region: the raisin deliciousness of the purpose-dried vin de paille, and the deliberately oxidized, age-worthy white wines that come from the Chateau Chalon AOP-the “yellow wine”, or vin jaune. The grape exclusively used to create these singular wines is an oft-forgotten white varietal, whose contributions are so significant yet whose existence is so limited, that it may very well be the Loch Ness Monster/Bigfoot/Yeti of wine grapes: Savagnin.
An oftentimes forgotten grape varietal, Savagnin was first brought to Australia purely by accident.
Also called Nature, the white grape Savagnin hails from the French region of Jura, tucked between Burgundy and the Swiss border. The process of vin jaune, Savagnin’s most famous iteration, is a sort of Frankenstein amalgamation of both biological and oxidative sherry; the Savagnin is harvested and deliberately oxidized over a period of just over six years, during which time a thin film of yeast develops on the barrels that go untopped, not unlike sherry’s flor. Although not fortified, vin jaune’s long time in the barrels (as stated, the minimum time in barrel is December 15th six years after harvest) creates the singular, nutty, curried flavor profile that has a particular umami-like character when served alongside the local Jura cheese, Comte.
I write about vin jaune because, even among the trade, that style of wine makes up probably 90% of the time the Savagnin grape is encountered-Savagnin isn’t even really planted beyond the Jura in Europe, with some vines in Germany and Switzerland thought to be possibly Savagnin but more likely close-relation clones. It is not uncommon in the world of wine to have a native varietal that is obscure; it is rare, however, to have a grape that produces one of the most venerated styles of wine, one that is a routine sommelier theory exam question, and be virtually unknown otherwise.
So, what does Savagnin not made like vin jaune, i.e. “normal” Savagnin, taste like? The Savagnin grape’s main calling card is a delicately floral flavor mix, with a bright acidity and secondary notes of honey and fresh, soft herbs. But as I said, we’ll perhaps never know, because we can’t find it anywhere…except, of course, on the other side of the world, over 9,000 miles away, a country that has always had a renegade side has, quite by accident, become the 2nd home for Savagnin…Australia. And how fitting for this unicorn grape that one of the most well-known examples of Aussie Savagnin being produced today is made by a Yet(t)i: that would be the “Mt. Savagnin” from McLaren Vale, made by David “Yetti” Geyer and his partner Koen “Kokonut” Janssens, the duo behind maverick biodynamic producer Yetti and the Kokonut.
Australia’s history with Savagnin is…very Australia. The first plantings of the grape were a happy mistake; attempting to capitalize on the surging global popularity of Galician Spain variety Albarino, wineries had cuttings imported into the country, but a mistake with the supplying nursery yielded our elusive Savagnin instead; the error wasn’t uncovered until the vines were ready for commercial production, resulting in a mad scramble for many wineries to re-label and attempt to sell bottles of a grape that was almost wholly unknown in its non-oxidized form.
By the time Geyer and Janssens founded Yetti and the Kokonut in 2015, longtime McLaren Vale producer Tatachilla had a small block of Savagnin on a flatter patch of land called the McLaren Flat that had been planted for a decade and a half. Working to make an homage to the Jura, minus the protracted aging, “Mt. Savagnin” is Yetti and the Kokonut’s take on Jura-style Savagnin. Here, these mavens who craft biodynamic and natural wines with a welcome sense of cleanliness try to match the flavors of vin jaune in a youthful wine. By aging the wine on full solids (spent yeasts and other particles), the “Mt. Savagnin” retains some of the savory textural notes of Jura Savagnin, and the lack of fining or filtration (although thankfully they do add a touch of sulphur to stabilize the wine) serves to emphasize the native flavors of Savagnin-I haven’t tasted a wine with such a specificity of flavor in a long time, with apricot, wild honey, fresh sage, and rolled oats coming through in waves. It is symmetry, then, that these two young proprietors have taken a forgotten grape variety and re-made it in their own image, showing a link between the traditions of the Old World and their quest for a New Way. I am grateful their efforts produced a wine that, unlike the Yeti, we have concrete evidence of-D.
Yetti and the Kokonut Savagnin “Mt. Savagnin”, McLaren Vale 2022
Country of Origin: Australia.
Places and People: Partners David Geyer and Koen Janssens took their respective nicknames and created Yetti and the Kokonut in 2015, with the idea of creating biodynamic, natural wines that still fit into an approachable mold. Working on tiny vineyard sites with small productions, the duo aims to pay homage to classic European styles while still maintaining a level of experimentation. "Mt. Savagnin" is their tribute to this grape's homeland of Jura in France, where the wines are traditionally aged beneath a film of "flor" (yeast), like sherry. Working from a small vineyard in McLaren Vale's subregion of Tatachilla that straddles an old creek bed with sea exposure to boot, "Mt. Savagnin" is produced from 25 year old vines and is 100% biodynamic-just 233 cases of the 2022 were made.
Soil: Sand over alluvial (river deposit) stone.
Grape Varieties: 100% Savagnin.
Winemaking: The fruit for the "Mt. Savagnin" was picked from the steeper slopes of the vineyard and de-stemmed after being brought to the winery. The whole berries were then placed into picking bins to begin naturally fermenting for four days, with hand-plunging ocurring twice a day. Pressing was done directly into a 25 hectoliter foudre.
Aging: The 2022 "Mt. Savagnin" remained in the same foudre for six months, staying in full contact with its lees (spent yeasts) until just prior to bottling. Just a whiff of sulfur was added to stabilize the wine, and no fining or filtration was performed.
Flavors and Foods: Yetti and the Kokonut’s certified biodynamic winemaking techniques are evident from first glance; the “Mt. Savagnin” has a decidedly hazy golden appearance from its lack of fining and filtration. Mark your tasting notes, members-this is the closest I will most likely ever get to featuring a “natural” wine. Despite its provenance, what impressed me about the “Mt. Savagnin” the most is how the initial nose of native yeast fermentation and skin contact (think wheat beer) gives way so rapidly to Savagin’s primary fruit flavor: apricot, which smells fresh and delicious and intermingles with white peach and mandarin orange nicely. The time the wine spends on its lees brings aromas of honey and oats, and these are replicated on the fine, fresh-tasting palate, which belies the wine’s production methods in its vibrancy and acidity. The Apricot/white peach/mandarin trifecta return for your tastebuds, and there is a distinct saltwater taffy component as well (wait, is this really Albarino after all?). I can’t stress enough how pleasant of a surprise the “Mt. Savagnin” is on the palate, with its balanced, nuanced flavor profile and easy finish-my (at times extensive) experience tasting “natural” wines led me to expect a different conclusion altogether, and I’m ecstatic that this wine defied my preconceptions. White meat ideas come quickly: Roasted pork loin with apricot sauce, grilled chicken with mandarin and mint. For a true homage to Savagnin’s homeland in France’s Jura, pair the Yetti with a high-quality Comte cheese.
Service and Cellar: The “Mt. Savagnin” is best enjoyed on the upper end of white wine cellar temperature; the 50-52 degree range will let the fruits overtake any lees aging notes and show the wine at its most innately pleasurable, and the wine’s lower alcohol content (12.2%) means the finish will not be out of balance at this temp. The wine’s lack of additives and filtration will allow the 2022 vintage to age well for the next 5 years, but I don’t see the need-this wine is to be relished for its uniquely enjoyable apricot/orange flavor profile, and any dissipation of that youthful exuberance would be a shame. The “Mt. Savagnin” will maintain an earthier balance once opened but beyond that can comfortably spend a day or two in the refrigerator with no real dropoff in structure.
Two Colchagua Valley passions: hot air balloon rides and wine at Clos Santa Ana.
“Visions Aligned”
Clos Santa Ana Bordeaux Blend “Aralez”, Colchagua Valley, Chile 2016
As I’ve discussed before, the wine importer/winery relationship can be complex, and rarely tends to be on equal footing; either the young and unproven importer is attempting to convince a venerated domaine that they can properly represent the estate and move the requisite number of pallets, or the up-and-coming winemaker has to sell his or herself as being worthy of inclusion in a longstanding portfolio. Encountering one of these games of “high status/low status” where the entity that seemingly would hold the strings relents is both infrequent and refreshing, and so I was pleasantly surprised when reading the story of the unlikely marriage between a US importer that is a bastion of Old-World sensibilities, and an upstart winery in South America with less than a decade of vintages to show. In looking deeper, however, at the relationship between New York-based importer Louis/Dressner Selections and Colchagua Valley, Chile’s Clos Santa Ana, perhaps I shouldn’t have been so shocked.
Vineyards at Clos Santa Ana on the valley floor.
For as much as they are seen as standard-bearers now, Louis/Dressner Selections had very humble beginnings, springing from the instant connection between two NYU students, lifelong New Yorker Jim Dressner and Burgundy-born Denyse Louis, who sat next to each other in class one day in the mid-1980s not realizing their lives were about to change. This simple twist of fate led to friendship, marriage, and a stay in Denyse’s family cottage in the south of the Macon region of Burgundy, a few repeat visits to which deepened the young couple’s resolve to involve themselves in the wine business on an artisanal level, seeing a niche missing in the US for smaller, independent producers (as they note on their own site, this was not entirely true at the time, as importers such as Kermit Lynch and Neil Rosenthal were already started, but their relative naivety did not diminish the need for more representation of artisan wineries in the mass-produced late 1980s). Despite knowing virtually nothing at the time about wine, Jim and Denyse began representing many wineries (amusingly, many of the wineries they contacted were buoyed by a letter Denyse sent out asking to import wines for their well-developed list of New York clients that in truth was nonexistent) that over time have become mainstays in both the Dressner portfolio and on shelves and winelists throughout the country. I encountered the Louis/Dressner label while in college (in fact, it took me a bit to figure out that Louis Dressner was not one person) and by the time I arrived in DC I found that by and large I could count on their selections to be consistently of a high quality, in much the same manner as Lynch and Rosenthal, and several locally-based companies (two of which I went on to work for). As the years went by and Louis/Dressner evolved (Joe Dressner sadly passed away in 2011), their standards have only grown stricter, particularly in terms of sustainable, organic, and biodynamic practices within the wineries they represent. Now armed with a bit of the backstory and humble beginnings of the company as they head into their 35th year, it is a bit easier to imagine that they would be able to step outside of their European comfort zone of classic producers for a winery such as Clos Santa Ana, founded by two men with a similar desire to create something from nothing, and to make it authentic, warm, and perhaps a little wild.
Vineyards stretch across the entirety of the Colchagua Valley floor.
From the start, Clos Santa Ana was about embracing the experience of nature and life in the Colchagua Valley. Founded in 2003 by Roberto Garcia and Luiz Allegretti, the partners had sought a space where they could create something from scratch, a project that would be as much about the journey as the destination. A lively 35-hectare estate with a nearly 300-year-old farmhouse that required restoration, Clos Santa Ana embraced the life of a virile farm from the outset, rescuing abandoned dogs and playing host to free-range wildlife ranging from peacocks to donkeys, goats and sheep. They hosted tourists visiting Colchagua’s broad expanse of vineyards, providing home-cooked meals, music around nightly fires, and a true sense of community in this area 55km from the Pacific, all the while revitalizing the land in preparation for viticulture. Hiring renowned soil technicians Lydia and Claude Bourgignon, Garcia and Allegretti spent 12 years strengthening and enriching terroir that had been rendered rock-solid from decades of rice production, only producing their first vintage in 2015 (and even this was made partially with purchased organic grapes; the estate was not completely self-sufficient until 2019). Similar to Jim and Denyse bringing on Kevin McKenna, a longtime customer of theirs who wanted to enter the import business and wound up becoming a partner of Louis/Dressner in 1995 (the firm is now known as LDM), Garcia and Allegretti added the voice of former sommelier Alessio Zenato to their business, and Zenato has assisted Allegretti with winemaking as well as becoming the outward face of the winery. In true boutique fashion, only 1.3 hectares of grapevines have been planted, and there are no plans to expand. No doubt this commitment to quality over quantity appealed to Dressner Selections, as well as the time-honored techniques employed by Zenato and Allegretti: an old manual press is used after harvest, and each varietal is vinified individually in an underground cellar, with large, old Chilean oak vats and amphoras used for the fermentations. Aging of each varietal is also performed individually before the final assemblage. All rackings are done manually and no sulphur is added to the wine at any point. Eventually, all of the integrity and adherence to tradition will not save you if the wine isn’t delicious, and this is where Santa Ana, particularly with their prestige cuvee “Aralez”, doesn’t disappoint. This blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec is a beautiful introduction to the wines of Colchagua, a dependably sophisticated rock of a region in a country that runs north-south for thousands of miles and has the variance of climates and wine output to match. As the three partners of Clos Santa Ana grow and evolve the young winery, their vision and ideals remain, much the same way Louis/Dressner has continued to aim high by choosing to work with estates such as Santa Ana. I am fortunate and excited to uphold my own standard by bringing this wine that is not typically available in our region to you by special order, and I hope you enjoy being the final piece in the “Aralez” ‘s journey-D.
Clos Santa Ana Bordeaux-style blend “Aralez”, Colchagua Valley 2016
Country of Origin: Chile.
Places and People: Partners Roberto Garcia and Luiz Allegretti founded Clos Santa Ana in 2003; the men initially turned this 35 hectare property with a 300-year-old farmhouse into a wildlife sanctuary and ecotourism space, but always had wine as their ultimate goal. Bringing on as partner former sommelier Alessio Zenato, Clos Santa Ana produced its first vintage in 2015 from their tiny 1.3 hectares of vines, and production of all three cuvess combined continues to be scant, as the partners don’t wish to use mechanized equipment of any kind.. The grapes for the “Aralez” were planted in 2012 once a complete and thorough revitalization of the soil had taken place. The Colchagua Valley is located in Central Chile and falls under the larger Rapel appellation; the Santa Ana estate is in the town of Peralillo around 55km from the Pacific Ocean.
Soil: A combination of Volcanic, Alluvial, Sand, and Clay.
Grape Varieties: 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc, 22% Malbec.
Winemaking: Hand-harvesting of each varietal separately is followed by pressing in an old manual press, and a two-week fermentation/maceration, also performed individually by grape.
Aging: The lots of juice for the 2016 Aralez are aged for 15 months in used French barriques, still separated, before the assemblage of the three grape varieties is made and an additional aging period of three months in barrel and 12 months in bottle occurs. The wine is bottled with no sulphur added and unfiltered.
Flavors and Foods: One major challenge in Chile is the aspect of moisture in the vineyards, and this dryness can often lead to the Cabernet Franc being picked too early, leaving you with a lot of underripe, green pyrazine notes in the finished product. Happily, the scents of bell pepper and forest pine appear in the slightest manner on the nose of the 2016 Aralez, which also sports deeply pure aromas of cedar and fine Dominican cigars. The palate continues the Aralez’s quest of bucking Chilean flavor stereotypes: there is the requisite dark fruit (Blackberries and cassis, black plum, fresh fig), but this comes with an unexpected and welcome bright acidity and supple tannin structure that doesn’t allow the wine to fall into the unbalanced alcohol-and-oxidation trap of many Chilean bottlings. Rather than more highbrow dishes, the Aralez works best as an accompaniment to roasted game, grilled leg of lamb, and underrated steak cuts (think flat-iron or hanger). The cooling, green-but-not-too-green notes make the Aralez a sneaky-good partner for grilled vegetables and fresh herbs, and hearty grains such as farro would make excellent starch additions to a meal.
Service and Cellar: The 2016 Aralez is drinking well now but definitely deserves a chance to let the fruit of these more youthful vines evolve, which I think will occur over the next 8-10 years. Serve at red wine cellar temperature (58-62 degrees F) and allow yourself the time to let the Aralez open-decanting this wine for 30-60 minutes will definitely improve its already formidable structure.