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Mark Angéli – Biodynamie, Peter Parker and Pruning
Mark Angéli came to New York once in his life. He was a teenager, a Fantastic Four and Spiderman fan, and he went right up to the corporate offices of Marvel Comics (without an appointment), demanded to see publisher Stan Lee and spent a couple of hours meeting and talking with the staff.
Today, Mark is a passionate biodynamiste, perhaps more extreme than Nicolas Joly. Mark is a vineyard fanatic, who lives to prune, plough and harvest. Who truly makes his wine in the vines. Biodynamie is not simply philosophy or extrapolation for him, but is a harmonious daily practice at the Domaine de la Sansonnière.
Mark’s wine and Mark’s work are serious but he has not lost that curious and comical twinkle – he fears the world is fatally threatened by modernism and global technology – at the same time, he remains the kid who barged into Marvel Comics.
The Rosé d’un Jour is his 2004 Anjou Rosé. It is perhaps the best known Rosé from the Loire Valley but was declined the AOC a few years ago for being atypical. The wine is made from botrysized Gamay, botrysized Cabernet Franc and it used to have some Grolleau. Angéli no longer wants to wrangle with AOC bureaucrats over whether it is typical or not, so he has declassified it to a table wine named with a play on words.
La Lune is one of the great parcels of Bonnezeaux which would normally be vinified as a sweet wine. Mark feels there is just so much sweet wine a normal person can drink and argues that a great terroir will be equally or better expressed by a dry vinification.
We started importing these wines knowing they would be very difficult to sell. We import them because we love to drink them. We used to have to go to France to get a bottle. Now, we store them in Edison, New Jersey and have a trucker ship them. You can help us out
Louis/Dressner Score Big in The Wine Spectator!
The phones have been ringing like crazy this week because the Wine Spectator Insider of May 4, 2005 gave great scores to some of our wines.
These scores included:
93, 92, 91, 90, 89 and 88!
In other words, we covered the entire range from 88 to 93!
Of course, more important than the scores are the tasting notes. Here are some highlights:
-- Filigreed finish
-- Hints of macadmia nut
-- Vibrant tobacco
-- Solid Tobacco
-- Vibrant flint
-- Dark olive notes
-- Firm peach pit
-- Peach skin
-- Sea Salt flavors
Of course, our congratulations go to the vignerons who worked so hard to make these fine wines. Despite these raves, we are committed to keep the same prices and will not speculate based on critical success.
Unfortunately, sales have been brisk since the review came out and we are now out-of-stock of the vibrant tobacco wine.
We do have limited quantities left of the solid tobacco wine though. Please inquire.
Chianti Classico by Any Other Name
We love wines that don’t get the AOC or DOC because they are too good. It happens all the time --- try to break out of the mold of mediocrity and the wine functionaries come after you.
In a previous life, Silvio & Catalina Messana were New Yorkers. There always had been this beautiful farm in Tuscany outside of Florence where Silvio’s mother lived. They visited yearly. After Silvio’s mother’s death, with the certain impossibility of finding an affordable rent in New York and 3 growing sons, Silvio & Catalina decided to stay, turning the Chianti Classico farm into their home and a half-year bed-and-breakfast. Silvio immediately began working on the vineyards himself.
Silvio has old and younger vines of Sangiovese and Canaiolo with plantings of Rubino, Cabernet and Merlot. The contiguous vineyards surround the farm and are on the south bank of a ravinethat has sunlight all day long. 2003 was the first vintage made using indigenous yeasts and Silvio is on his way to natural farming and winemaking.
After the 2002 harvest whch had frost in the spring and hail in the summer, the heat of 2003 was almost pleasant (it’s always hot here in summer), and the harvest was pretty normal, with good, healthy fruit.
In the spring of 2004 while visiting Montesecondo, my partner Kevin McKenna tasted a vat of 2003 Sangiovese and Canaiolo that was still in tank (no wood). It was juicy, bright and delicious and in every respect showed itself a Chianti. Kevin loved it and Silvio loved it. Kevin and Silvio talked about it and felt the wine was so juicy, so good, why change its charm?
In the fall, Silvio told us that it was bottled and had not been awarded the DOC status for lack of color. Paolo di Marchi had made a similar wine at Isole e Olena and had been denied the DOC for the same reason. They were both told that if they added a coloring agent the wines would pass….they both said no and bottled the wine as a Vino di Tavola. The curious thing is that all sorts of grapes – including Syrah, Cabernet and Petit Verdot – and barrique treatments are allowed for DOC Chianti Classico,. At the same time a wine made just using Sangiovese and Canaiolo in the method of older chianti vinifications or using just older botti (large format barrels) are systematically denied the right to use the Chianti Classico name,
Help a former New Yorker turned maverick vigneron. Buy this wine!
Raymond Quénard’s Old Vines Savoie Sold Out Already!
They only arrived a couple of weeks and they're gone already! We used to joke that we wanted to import high-end wines from the Savoie because they were every bit as unsaleable as the rest of our list. We were wrong.
They are not machine harvested Jacquère picked underripe, with blocked malos and residual sugar. They are all from old vines, only old vines. Low yields and superb sites in Chignin. Wines that have only been on the best tables in France but never brought to America before last week. We went there, loved the wines and bought some for you.
Much of the Jacquère vines are 103-years-old. The Roussanne (called Bergeron locally) is 70. Mondeuse is a youngster – only 60 years old.
2003 was a hot, ripe vintage, but 2004 was even more remarkable for its long harvest period, which produced even richer grapes. But richer grapes with sound acidity.
At this estate of 7.5 hectares, the grapes are often picked in successive tries, or passes, to get only the ripest grapes out of the vineyards. Malolactic fermentation is a matter of course for all the wines and they are aged partly in stainless steel and partly in old barriques.
The beauty of the whites here is that they finish fairly dry and will go with a broad range of cuisines. You serve these wines like you would serve fine Burgundies. The Jacquère like an atypical, ancient Aligoté, The Roussanne like top White Burgundy, the Mondeuse like a top vineyard in Vosne.
We’re delighted to finally bring top Savoie to America.
On to our second shipment!
Congratulations!
I attended the beautiful marriage of Tania Puell and Arnaud Erhard (the guy who owns 360 Restaurant in Red Hook) today.
What an event! The Gowanus Canal was alive with festivities and joy!
Congratulations to the happy couple, who are spending the evening cruising through the forgotton canal paths of downtown Brooklyn.
What a Horrible Movie!
I just watched Sideways on a flight to Wichita.
This is one of the worst and most pretentious movies I have ever seen.
I'm calling for a nationwide boycott of the New York/Wichita air corridor!
By the way, the niche Kansas wine market is booming!
Out of Chicago
I've returned to New York to supervise the remodelling of our office.
We are installing a set of children-friendly installations at our office so that the entire family will feel at home while the parents are sipping Grignolino and Pineau d'Aunis. Our idea is that wine should be a celebratory event for all ages,!
Everything should be finished by mid-June.
'
Dining Out in chicago
So, as long as I'm going to have an extended stay in Chicago, I've decided to invite salespeople from our wholesaler to local restaurants. Chicago prides itself on the quality of the local restaurants and I can see why! I'm greatly enjoying the experience.
I had lunch today at Tournesol. I've already dined there four times since I've been in Chicago, but today was my best meal yet..
I was thrilled to find out that they had just added sweetbreads to their menu the day before in the rotating "offal slot" (the liver is gone now.) I really enjoyed the sweetbreads, they were floured and sauteed so they were a little crispy. They were served with small matchstick-sized carrot slices, pearl onions and (if I remember correctly) a port wine sauce surrounding a nice pile of pureed potatoes, expressed through a pastry bag to resemble a the top of a soft serve ice cream cone. A very nice presentation.
I hope this can become a permanent part of the menu.
The salesperson (who was gender-neutral) had a pork loin roast that I tried and it was also very good.
I also have to say that I loved the duck liver mousse I got as an appetizer. Very smooth and rich, and very sublime considering it was duck. If they had told me it was goose I would have believed them. I know some people consider ducks sublime, but I rarely rate them above "excellent."
The desserts were nice but I really wish they would bring back the custard trio! It was somwhere between excellent and sublime.
The price was right too, just under $100 for 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, 2 desserts and 4 glasses of wine. If you order off the prix fixe menu, which my gender-neutral salesperson did, it's only $22 for 3 courses. An incredible value for a Tuesday lunch.
By the way, the only producer on the wine list is Robert Plageolles from Gaillac. You see the Plageolles wines all over Chicago, an odd and curious fact about this dynamic dining and wining scene!
Still in Chicago!
They won't let me out of here.
I've been to 15 steak houses in the past week.
They let me do a tasting in New Canaan on Saturday.
I want to personally thank Rick Franco (the New Canaan Wine Shop retailer) for buying a bouquet of flowers for my mother. Rick, along with my mother, celebrate the Jewish Passover.
Happy Passover to Rick Franco and Irene Dressner!
Unfortunately, I was not able to go to my mother's Passover dinner as I had prior reservations at the Ruth Chris Steakhouse on Chicago's South Side.
Help!
I am back from Italy and being held captive in Chicago.
Help!
Off to Italy!
Growers to see, wines to taste.
I haven't had the time to see Mondovino. I hope it is still at a cinema when I get back.
I had strange and disquieting dreams about Arnaud Machard de Gramont last night.
I need to get out of here.
See you all in 8 days!
Rumors About a New Cuvée Buster
We have not had a Cuvée Buster in some time now. There are rumors on some of the wine internet boards about what the next Cuvée Buster will be.
Photographed by Josephine Young
I'm not at full liberty to say right now. Negotiations are going on between our firm and the wine producer.
The wine will be 100% Carrignan and the vines will all be over 100-years-old.
There will be a dog pictured on the label, but it may not be Buster.
In fact, it might be a former nemesis of Buster.
More later.
Louis/Dressner Selections Adding WIne from the Savoie!
Kevin McKenna has written an article about our latest advenetures in the Savoie and Jura on the Louis/Dressner web site:
Read Kevin McKenna's Report on the Savoie and Jura!
Bill Deutsch and Georges Duboeuf Buy Juliénas Back from Southern Wines!
Following Southern Wines and Spirits recent acquisition of the Beaujolais region, an announement was made this week that Bill Deutsch (Importer of Georges Duboeuf Wines in America) and Georges DuBoeuf (supplier of Deutsch Imports) have repurchased Juliénas.
"Georges Duboeuf and I have known each other for 30 years and have done business together for 22 years, while watching our sons and daughters grow up," said William Deutsch in an interview with The Wine Spectator. "The idea of purchasing this special property together held great appeal and we look forward to our children and grandchildren enjoying it together." According to Mr. Deutsch, there will be a large-scale renovation of Juliénas organized by Fabrienne Duboeuf Lacombe and Fran Deutsch.
I called Southern Wine & Spirits to get their response to this repurchase, but could get no further than the order board. They have a 10-case discount this week on the new Yellowtail Shiraz/Carrignan bottling that is very attractive!
The Wine Importer Celebrates 10 Years of Continuous Blogging!
That's right!
Today's installment coincides with our 10th anniversary here at www.joedressner.com
This site remains the longest-running and most popular wine blog in existance.
Many imitators exist, but only www.joedressner.com retains its original vision and commitment -- the self-promotion of Joe Dressner in The Wine Industry!
Do I Have a Professional Obligation to See Mondovino?
The film has opened in New York.
Must I go see the film?
I met Jonathan Nossitor several years ago, when he happened to be dining at a New York restaurant at the same time we were there with about 14 French vignerons and a bunch of New York wine geeks. Nossiter talked about his project and mentioned how he was going to cast Charles Joguet as one of his heroes. I mentioned that Joguet was no longer involved with Domaine Charles Joguet, which had been bought by Charle's accountant. Nossiter denied this story, vehemently at that. I called over Bernard Baudry of Chinon, a close friend of Joguet's who was at the restaurant with us, and Bernard and his son Mathieu confirmed Joguet's separation from the estate. Nossitor remained annoyed over the whole story and continued to insist that Charles Joguet was still in charge.
We were doing a wine tasting the next day for the trade and Nossiter came with a film crew, with our ok. I wasn't interested in being interviewed as the guy didn't seem that interested in interviews. I have a limited tolerance for people who do interviews simply to flesh out what they have already decided and already think. People looking for talking heads.
Years later his movie is out and Hubert de Montille and Aimé Guibert are cast in the role of Charles Joguet.
Do I have to go see the film?
No doubt, his point of view is largely my point of view. But I am anti-Bush and winced at Michael Moore's film.
Do I have to go see the film?
What is amazing is that so many imbeciles in the wine trade agreed to be followed around by Nossiter and to speak freely with him. What did Michel Rolland expect? These people think so highly of themselves and their power that they can't imagine an American filmaker would feature them without portraying them in a worshipful fashion. It would have been easy enough for the Mondavis and Rollands to make some phone calls and figure out what Nossiter was doing.
So, I suppose they all got their due.
But, must I go see the film?
Real Wine Attack is Over!
All our thanks to everyone involved!
Real Wine Attacking Moving in Boston on Tuesday!
We're having a trade tasting with co-sponsored with that wacky bunch at Martignetti Wines. You won't want to miss this if you're a fabulous member of the exciting Boston wine trade.
Boston -- Tuesday March 15th, 1-4pm, Legal Seafoods Restaurant, Park Plaza
This is a Trade Only Event
Jean Manciat from the Mâconnais
Philippe Béraud from Mas St-Joseph in the Costieres de Nimes
François Pinon from Vouvray
Jean-Paul Brun from the Domaine des Terres Dorées in the Beaujolais
André Iché from Château d'Oupia in the Minervois
Isaure de Pontbriand-Cribiore from Domaine du Closel in Savennières
Catherine Roussel and Didier Barrouillet from the Clos Roche Blanche in Touraine
Catherine Breton from Bourgueil
Eric and Christine Nicolas from Domaine de Belliviere (Jasniere and Coteaux du Loir)
Marc Ollivier from Domaine de la Pépière in Muscadet
Meet Sheila Doherty from Louis/Dressner and LDM Wines
Meet Joe Dressner from Louis/Dressner and LDM Wines