Les PervenchesSeyval ‘Macpel’ 2020 (750ml)

Mike and Véronique of Les Pervenches have been growing grapes and making wines outside of Montreal – a most serious boundary region of viticulture – for over 20 years. They are the OGs of the Montreal wine scene and are coveted and poured at the best restaurants of this amazing city: Joe Beef, Nora Gray, Le Vin Papillon, etc. Les Pervenches has, more or less singularly, led the group of young winemakers who are experimenting with both hybrid and vinifera vines, including Pinard et Filles and Domaine du Nival. Yet Les Pervenches is different; these wines are some of the most quietly, subtly complex wines I have ever had: intricate puzzles etched on the head of a pin. The wines seem to me able to have a dialogue with any of the great wines of the ‘old world,’ relating most obviously to the cooler climates of Europe. The best of them feel as if they were made in an ancient European winemaking tradition that doesn’t exist: Chablis dropped in the coolest vineyards of the Saar? From where or why or how this unique-ness comes about, I don’t know, but I do feel it, profoundly.

The 2020 “Macpel Seyval,” which clocks in at 11.5%, is a peppery, stalky, pungently mineral wine – it smells like the dust of almonds, pine needles and pulverized rock. The “Macpel” stands for “macération pelliculaire,” meaning skin contact. Thus, on opening, the wine is phenolic and a bit reductive; 15-20 minutes brings out a salty-creamy citrus, a green florality and taut, energetic spice rack. Texturally, the wine feels lighter yet dense, compact – present. There is some density, a sneaky concentration and length.