Henri Milan

Yesterday the family spent a memorable two hours at Domaine Henri Milan. Milan is irreverent and entertaining, and the repartee with him and his winemaker, Sébastien, helped to make the visit zing. Despite a quarter century of experience, Milan continues to experiment and evolve, and his sometimes powerful and often idiosyncratic wines deserve to be better known on the other side of the pond.

Milan doesn’t destem or filter and uses minimal or no sulfur. He is proud of the blue marl in his soils, especially those used for the whites. He uses no new wood or stainless steel, only used barriques or cement. He tends to prefer his whites to his reds (I felt otherwise) and has traditionally preferred blends to varietals, since “there is no monocépage in nature.” The different varieties are therefore all vinified together. Paradoxically, he is now experimenting with a white and a red varietal, an exercise in keeping his mind (and options) open.

We began with a few whites and, as the discussion evolved, bottles started to emerge to prove this or that point, a sure sign that fun was being had.

2010 Domaine Henri Milan Sans Soufre Ajouté Blanc 13.5%
Mostly chardonnay, grenache blanc and roussane, with some muscat and rolle (vermentino). Grapefruit, red apple, thyme, crystalized sugar, and a whiff of oxidativeness. Nice freshness but, recently bottled, it’s still too yeasty.

2009 Domaine Henri Milan Le Grand Blanc 13.5%
Same blend. Some sulfur, and shows it, with grapefruit and a confectionary caramel edge. The mouth, fresh and succulent, is better than the nose, though it needs more acidity.

2008 Domaine Henri Milan Le Grand Blanc 13.5%
Same blend. Some sulfur, but absorbed. In 2008, Milan lost half his grapes to mildew. Shows a rich nose of grapefruit and quince, with thyme. Attractive minerality.

2010 Domaine Henri Milan La Carrée used oak barrel sample
100% rousanne. Some sulfur. Different, hard to read, but with decent acidity and attractive bitterness. The idea for a roussane varietal began when much rousanne was left over from the 2007 vintage. Stored in barrels for unspecified future use, it was tasted by a visiting sommelier who asked for a varietal. The guy totally flipped for it, as have others since, so Milan thinks he must look into the possibility (though he still prefers the blends).

2010 Domaine Henri Milan La Carrée new oak barrel sample
100% rousanne. Some sulfur. Only exception to no new oak rule. Oak too strong at this point, but otherwise more balanced than the preceding.

2002 Domaine Henri Milan Le Grand Blanc 13.0%
Blend of grenache blanc, rolle and rousanne. Rough vintage. This shows reduced, possibly from the headier dose of SO2 required at the time, with apricot and gunpowder showing behind the model airplane glue. Needs a good decant before judgment.

In general, I thought the whites could use a little more acidity, but the minerality somewhat takes up the slack. And lest you object that we are talking about the south of France, some of the reds that followed were fiercely acidic.

2010 Domaine Henri Milan Sans Soufre Ajouté Rouge 12.5%
Blend of grenache and syrah, with some cabernet sauvignon, cinsault and mourvèdre. Sees no wood, élevage in cement. Berries and honey, fresh, attractive, though still a bit yeasty. Very tannic, from prolonged maceration.

2007 Domaine Henri Milan Le Vallon 13.5%
Bottled six months ago. Same blend as preceding, but uses barriques (used) and sulfur. Shorter maceration. Lovely aromas of blueberries, musk and leather. Olivia’s sure there’s cantaloupe too. Smooth and balanced. Delicious and, in retrospect, the most drinkable at this point.

2009 Domaine Henri Milan Le Vallon barrel sample
Blueberries galore. Fruity and smooth. Also delish; tastes ready to me.

2006 Domaine Henri Milan Domaine Milan AOC Baux de Provence 13.5%
Long maceration. Dense and complex aromas, hard to read, somewhat closed. Very tannic and very acidic; tough to drink at this point. In intensity of acid and tannin, seems closer to Barolo than most of its compatriots. Also like Barolo, requires time; seems to have the structure to age well.

2007 Domaine Henri Milan Clos Milan
Unlike the preceding reds, this and the following reds are 60% grenache and 40% syrah. Bottled 10 days ago after two years in (used) barriques. Intriguing aromas, but dense and hard to read beyond the upfront blueberries. Another long maceration, and even more tannic and acidic than the preceding. Very harsh right now, but seems to have the structure to last eons. Try again in 10 years.

2006 Domaine Henri Milan Clos Milan AOC Baux de Provence 13.0%
Ripe red fruits, bordering on cassis. Balanced and much smoother than the two preceding bruisers, probably because of the ripeness. Very nice, but I’m no fan of jam.

2004 Domaine Henri Milan Clos Milan AOC Baux de Provence 14.0%
Red fruits, otherwise a bit closed. Fruity and tannic, lighter than any red so far, despite the higher alcohol. Milan jokes that this wine was made by Sébastian, not him, and it does seem slightly dilute in such brawny company.

2005 Domaine Henri Milan Clos Milan AOC Baux de Provence 13.5%
Ripe blackberry jam, bordering on molasses, Very tannic. Another one that needs 10 years to tame the tannins, but may not lose the sweet edge. I’d say this is a question mark for the long haul.

2002 Domaine Henri Milan Clos Milan AOC Baux de Provence 12.5%
Another ripe nose, raspberry confit. Smooth and tangy. Milan says he really loves this. I say I prefer the others because they are wilder, while this seems focused and one track minded. He nods and unsmiligly says that the wine turned out this way because he was totally one track minded in 2002, when he had a stroke and all his energy had to be focused on the single goal of making this wine in a year when the elements made it exceedingly difficult.

2009 Domaine Henri Milan Le Jardin 13.5%
Milan’s rosé, only made sporadically. Grenache, merlot and syrah, fermented until this month. Strawberry and caramel. Very fruity, yet structured. Caramelized sweet edge detracts a little for me.

2010 Domaine Henri Milan La Carrée Barrel Sample
100% merlot. On the verge of bottling. Smells yeasty, with coffee, pecan, and leather. Tannic yet smooth. Good material, but tastes way too yeasty for me.

Before we left, Milan made us a reservation at the restaurant of a friend so that we wouldn’t end up in yet another overpriced Provençal racket. So we drove to a sleepy place called Le Croque Chou in Verquières, where we had an excellent lunch for an appropriate fee.

[David M. Bueker]

Sounds like a lovely visit. I am unfamiliar with the domaine, but would try out a few wines if I saw them, based on your report.

Hmm, I see lots of Wine-Searcher hits in NY, but in Mass.

Thanks for the interesting report, Oswaldo. This is completely new name for me but I will look out for it and sample if I find. Les Alpilles are a lovely part of the world. Have you been to the neighbouring Domaine Hauvette? Dominique Hauvette was presenting her wines here last autumn. She has a rather spiky personality but I liked the wines a lot.

With Tim here, great report. Being a fan of S Fr whites, I would be interested in trying some!

I'm going to try to visit Dominique Hauvette before we go, and maybe Mas de Gourgonnier too. Spiky, heh? She was a lawyer before she became a vigneron...

I'm going to try to visit Dominique Hauvette before we go, and maybe Mas de Gourgonnier too. Spiky, heh? She was a lawyer before she became a vigneron...

This is what I wrote about the lady and her wines last November -

Since buying a couple of excellent bottles or so about 10 years ago from the late lamented La Vigneronne in London, I have felt frustration by lack of access to the wines of this estate. Now was the chance to remedy the situation. Dominique Hauvette is quite taciturn (not very common in France) but what she says is to the point and one senses a sharp brain with a sharp tongue in case of need. The wines were excellent albeit quite fully priced.
Vin de Pays des Alpilles blanc 2008 (€30), made from Marsanne, Roussanne and Clairette, was a fine Mediterranean white with a fine subdued nose showing touches of honey and complex rich palate with white fruit, “gras” and smooth acidity; 16/20++.
Les Baux de Provence (“BP”) Rosé 2009 (€15), from Cinsault 60%, Syrah and Grenache, showed good structure for a pink and lively acidity but also notes of ripe orange peel and over-ripe soft red fruit which are not my thing. I think that this may be the contribution of Cinsault (see next wine); 15/20.
BP Améthyste 2007, from Cinsault 60%, Syrah 30% and Grenache 10%, showed similar notes of orange peel and soft red fruit to those of the pink allied to an unctuous richness, more body and structure, of course; not really my thing; 15/20.
BP Cornaline (€25), made from Grenache 50%, Syrah 30% and Cabernet Sauvignon 20%. We had a mini- vertical of these –
2006 showed full body, tangy dark fruit with tar notes and an undertow of Grenache sweetness allied to focus, power, firm tannic structure and good length; much more my thing; 16.5/20 with more potential probably.
2005 added leather notes and was even darker more structured; 16.5/20 needing more time for ++.
2004 was quite different showing more elegance with fresher fruit, which was red rather than dark, medium body and greater aromatic expression coupled with fully adequate density and structure; best for drinking now; 16.5/20+.

Here you go, Dominique Hauvette...>

http://travel.viamichelin.com/web/Desti ... ute_Galine

Short visit to Domaine Hauvette yesterday afternoon. Dominique Hauvette was not in, but her assistant Nicolas ably and amiably showed us around. According to The Wine Doctor, Dominique was an attorney who moved to the area in 1982. Sources that will remain cloaked say she can be prickly, but Nicolas said she is sweet once you know her.

Dominique used indigenous yeasts from the start, so there are no descendants or mutations of industrial yeasts poltergeisting in the spheres. No fining or filtration, except some "pre-filtration" for the whites. No rémontage after the initial pressing, because Dominique favors gentle ("doux") extraction in order to make "gastronomic" wines. Temperature control by circulating cold water only if heat rises above 35C. All wines undergo malolactic. All vines are grafted and massale.

The general bent is to be as non-interventionist as the vintage allows. SO2 is used, not only at bottling, but as needed whenever the fruit is not completely healthy. Nicolas seemed a bit defensive about SO2, returning repeatedly to the need to use it if one wanted wine to last under ordinary conditions. I saw about twenty cement eggs, of which Dominque is an avid adopter. I remarked to Nicolas that they must be harder to clean and he replied (if I understood correctly) that cleaning the eggs (which they do solely with steam) was easier than cleaning the wooden tanks because the magnetic properties of the shape (no dead spots) led to a more uniform distribution of the yucky stuff, whereas in the tanks it concentrates in certain areas.

Nicolas poured from bottles that had been opened the previous evening and had since sat at Provençal summer room temperature, so was pluriapologetic about the serving conditions. So results were even more impressive if one takes the handicap into account.

The traditional Hauvette red ferments in large wooden tanks and has approx. 50% grenache, 30% syrah and 20% cabernet sauvignon, each from different plots. It acquired the name Cornaline (Cornelian) with the 2005 vintage to distinguish it from a new cuvée, the egg elevated Améthyste, made from a field blend of approx. 60% cinsault, 30% carignan and 10% grenache. But first we tasted the small production white and rosé, both excellent:

2008 Domaine Hauvette Dolia (blanc) Vin de Pays des Alpilles 12.84%
40% marsanne, 30% rousanne, 30% clairette. Attractive floral and mineral notes. Adequate acidity, despite the warmth. Satisfying balance and structure. Lovely, and surprising.

2008 Domaine Hauvette Petra (rosé) 12.5%
70% cinsault from young vines, 15% syrah, 15% grenache. Freshly bottled, so a bit closed. Light rose hips aromas, with good body and acidity. Has the structure to age.

2007 Domaine Hauvette Améthyste AOC Baux de Provence 13.5%
60% cinsault, 30% carignan and 10% grenache. Lovely dark strawberry and forest floor. Excellent balance and density, light and pleasant tannins. Liked this very much for current drinking.

2004 Domaine Hauvette Cornaline AOC Baux de Provence 13.5%
50% grenache, 30% syrah and 20% cabernet sauvignon (did not use Cornaline name at this point). Red fruit, menthol and leather. Attractive mouth feel, good balance, but could use slightly more body.

2005 Domaine Hauvette Cornaline AOC Baux de Provence 13.5%
50% grenache, 30% syrah and 20% cabernet sauvignon. Still closed, with darker fruit and alcohol. More tannin and body than the preceding, excellent sense of structure, should be quite something when it opens.

2006 Domaine Hauvette Cornaline AOC Baux de Provence 13.5%
50% grenache, 30% syrah and 20% cabernet sauvignon. Also somewhat closed, but less so. Tastes juicy, less tannic, and quite pleasant. The grenache seems to speak louder here. Perhaps not for the long haul, but should be quite nice for a few years when it opens fully in a year or two.

In short, a domaine to be reckoned with by anyone who aspires to concupiscence.

Good link, Bob! Makes up in part for not meeting her.