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Off to Italy!
I'm off to Italy, now that The Real Wine Assault has totally exausted me.
We've already put together a modest list of curious Italian wines and we are going back for more.
I'll try to write something here every few days, but I won't be back until about April 15th.
I hope all of you keep up the good work and I will see you soon.
I'll be turning off the comments section while our maintenance staff gives it a workover. Unfortunately, we are getting lots of spams from disgruntled veterinarians and the technical staff is working on ways to filter them out.
Real Wine Assault Disperses Until Next Year!
I'm back in New York and the vignerons are back at their home outposts.
The last event was a delicious luncheon offered by In-N-Out Burger, the corporate sponsor of The Real Wine Assault.
The event was held somewhere down the Peninsula at an unidentified In-N-Out Burger Outpost. Hosting the event was Harry and Esther Snyder of Baldwin Park, the founders of the restaurant and great lovers of artisan wines.
Speaking for all the growers, Jean-Paul Brun (seated on the left) handed Mr. Snyder a check for 400 Euros to benefit the In-N-Out Burgers Foundation. Mr. Brun ate two In-N-Out Burgers, prepared "Animal" style.
Huge Trade Tasting on Monday for Real Wine Assault at Fort Mason!
Estate Wines Ltd., our wholesaler, got together a large crowd at Fort Mason to taste with the Real Wine Assault vignerons.
No Veterinarians were in attendance, as this was a wine trade only event.
Highlights included the various Pineau d'Aunis, Melon's de Bourgougnes and Eddie Wrinkerman's luscious Côte-du-Toul.
Over 200 People at K&L Tasting on Saturday!
Over 200 people attended the Real Wine Assault tasting at K&L in San Francisco on Saturday, including a delegation from the Walnut Creek Veterinarian's Guild.
Happily, all the vignerons were able to get on their morning flight from Seattle to attend the event. Unfortunately, Jean-Paul Brun was late for his departure, but Laurence Brun, his sister, was able to hold down his table until he arrived at 2:30 pm.
That night, we split up to eat at Slanted Door, Citizen Cake and Chez Panisse. Luckily, I always travel with my GPS and we were able to find the directions to the restaurants. My group, which went to Chez Panisse, found a cab driver who didn't know how to get to Berkeley and I had to mount and program the GPS to go from the plush Carlton Hotel in San Francisco's Tendernob to Chez Panisse. On our return, the Berkeley driver did not know how to find San Francisco's Tendernob and I once again had to mount and program the GPS. The Berkeley driver was Cantonese and didn't speak English well, but happily my Tomtom GPS has both a female and male Cantonese voice.
Thank goodness for modern technology.
100 People at Friday's Seattle Trade Tasting! Fabulous Dinners at Campagne and Le Pichet!
The Real Wine Assault 2006 came into Seattle with a bang and barely got out of town to make our flight down to San Francisco on Saturday morning.
Seven veterinarians, including two from Bellevue, attending the trade event. There was one veterinarian at Campagne and one at Le Pichet.
Pierre Breton and Thierry Puzelat stayed in Seattle on Saturday. Unconfirmed reports are that they were served lunch by Bill Gates or someone in Bill Gates employment.
275 People at Two Portland Tasting and Now We're Off to Seattle!
The Real Wine Assault took Portland by storm yesterday as 275 people attended a trade and then consumer tasting.
There were 14 veternarians at the consumer tasting, breaking all records for this swing through the west coast. Otherwise, many of the consumers were lawyers, consultants or significant others.
This is a town with a wine culture and everyone was impressed with the level of knowledge and interest for real wines.
Highlights of the day included a moving reunion betweeen Pierre Breton and Ken Collura (the famous sommelier) and Jean-Paul Brun's morning solo excursion into downtown where he managed to sell 25 cases of Beaujolais Rose to a retailer who didn't even demand a sample or ask what the varietal composition of the wine might be.
It is 6 am here and I am suffering a mild cold and jet lag. In 90 minutes, we will be on our charter plane for our flight to Seattle for an exciting trade tasting and consumer dinners tonight.
See you there.
What a Polaner Tasting and Here We are In Portland, Oregon!
Nearly 600 people attended Tuesday's Polaner Selections tasting in New York. It was a great crowd and there were people from all over the country and all walks of life. I counted at least two veternarians, one from Omaha, Nebraska.
Wednesday was a travel day with The Real Wine Assault winding up in Portland, Oregon.
One little known fact I have learned here in Portland is that Pierre Breton and Thierry Puzelat are pool sharks. The flights out there were uneventful and Jean-Paul Brun managed to sell 14 cases of Beaujolais to the air hostesses on Frontier Airlines.
Don't miss today's exciting trade tasting here in Portland. You have to be a card carrying member of the Wine Industry, but we would love to see! Call Holly Wing at Domaine Selections for more information. Her cell number is 503 389 7243.
Our thanks to Dino for the great dinner last night at the Family Style Restaurant.
Congratulations to Astor Wines!
The new Astor Wines opens today in New York.
Astor Wines has been a fixture on the New York wine scene for years. They are now moving to the corner of 4th and Lafayette Street into the historic DeVinne Press Building. The store is huge, gorgeous and will be a valuable and unique addition to the New York wine scene.
We had hoped to have a Real Wine Assault tasting at the new store, but unfortunately the timing was not right since the final move was this past weekend.
Congratulations to everyone who planned, designed and implemented this beautiful store!
Crush Wines Tasting Tonight at 5 pm!
The Real Wine Assault moves on to Crush Wines on 57th Street between 3rd Avenue and Lexington.
The following Vignerons will be pouring wine there.
1. Catherine Roussel & Didier Barrouillet: Clos Roche Blanche
2. Franck Peillot, Bugey
3. Marc Ollivier: Domaine de la Pépière
4. Evelyne & Isaure de Jessey-de Pontbriand: Domaine du Closel
5. Nadia Verrua: Cascina ?Tavijn in Piedmont
6. Mario Zanusso: I Clivi from Friuli
7. François Pinon, Vouvray (along with several of his daughters)
8. Eddie Wrinkerman, Domaine Wrinkerman in Pacherenc-de-Vic-Bilh
9. Pierre Breton, Bourgueil
10. Thierry Puzelat, Clos du Tue Boeuf in Touraine
11. Sylvie & Thomas Morey, Domaine Bernard Morey in Chassagne-Montrachet
12. Grégoire Hubau, Château Moulin Pey-Labrie (Canon-Fronsac)
13. Jean-Paul Versino, Bois-de-Boursan in Châteauneuf-du-Pape
14/ Jean Manciat, Mâcon
There might also be a guest appearance from famous Beaujolais vigneron Jean-Paul Brun!
Don't miss this incredible event.
Chambers Street Tasting and 360 Dinner a Smash!
312 people attended the Chambers Street Tasting yesterday. It was a great group of serious tasters and intelligent consumers. Many of them were even good-looking!
Our thanks to Jamie Wolff and David Lillie for all the work they've done for our vignerons over the years.
We were then off, in a series of stretch Hummer limousines, to the fabulous 360 restaurant in Red Hook. This places keeps getting better and better! We had a great meal, everyone got drunk, we sang songs and took the stretch Hummers back into Manhattan at about 1 am. Arnaud Erhart himself, the famed owner of 360, closed the doors on each of the Hummers and wished us all a good trip back to Manhattan.
A great time was had by all and we are hoping it will continue for the next 8 days as we spread Real Wine Assault across America.
Chambers Street Wines Tasting Today at 4 pm as Thierry Puzelat Rushes into Town!
Don't miss the exciting Real Wine Assault Tasting at Chambers Street Wines today.
Many vignerons will be there with many fabulous wines.
Thierry Puzelat is rushing into town and his flight appears to be early:
Thierry's flight experienced small turbulence when it first went over the Atlantic, but after 10 minutes the flight smoothed out again. The flight attendants continued the meal and beverage service during the turbulence, which is always a signal to the passengers that everything is fine.
Thierry is currently dozing, but he enjoyed viewing The Family Stone, one of my favorite movies.
For anyone who views holiday gatherings with equal parts joy and dread, The Family Stone offers plenty of comedy to identify with. Writer-director Thomas Bezucha's slapstick premise begins when Everett (Dermot Mulroney) brings his fiancé Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker) home to meet his family for Christmas. Readers of this blog will remember that Sarah Jessica Parker was the star of Sex and the City, but I believe she was trying to update her image with this film.
It's an instant disaster when parents Sybil (Woody Allen's former girlfriend Diane Keaton) and Kelly (Television veteran Craig T. Nelson) agree with their gay, deaf son Thad (Ty Giordano, who is actually hearing impaired), pot-smoking son Ben (Luke Wilson) and daughters Amy (Rachel McAdams) and Susannah (Elizabeth Reaser) that Meredith is way too uptight to be welcomed into their family.
Meredith doesn't know what do, so recruits her sister Julie (Claire Danes) to help her thaw the Stone family cold front, and after building a solid emotional foundation for his holiday comedy, Bezucha starts to stack the deck with plot developments that, while heartwarming, border on the absurd. Let's face it -- this is a perfect airline film! You go with the movie's flow and enjoy the appealing cast (featuring some really nice work by Keaton, Nelson, Parker and Danes) and it's easy to forgive Bezucha's unlikely blend of yuletide cheer, petty animosities, and romantic tables turned in the blink of an eye.
Toss in a case of terminal illness and you've got a sad-happy tearjerker that works in spite of itself. If you don't recognize at least part of your own holiday clan in The Family Stone, you probably haven't been paying attention.
Vignerons Volants Flight to Land Soon!
Catherine Roussel, Didier Barrouillet and Pierre Breton's flight from Fort Lauderdale is about to land.
The Captain has asked all the passengers to return to their seats and fasten their seatbelts. He has also asked the passengers to stow any carry-on luggage below their seats and to return the seatback tray to its attached position. He has also asked all passengers to turn off all electronic devices and to not turn on their cell phones until the plane arrives at its gate.
Cult Muscadet Winemaker Marc Olliver is Between Bangor and Portland Maine
Marc Ollivier's flight is 20 minutes early and he will not be diverted to Fort Lauderdale.
Marc Ollivier's Flight
Marc was happy to learn that American Airlines was showing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on his flight.
While Marc has never seen this film, many Muscadet vignerons consider this film the best of the Harry Potter series.
When Harry Potter’s name emerges from the Goblet of Fire, he becomes a competitor in a grueling battle for glory among three wizarding schools – the Triwizard Tournament. But since Harry never submitted his name for the Tournament, who did? Now Harry must confront a deadly dragon, fierce water demons and an enchanted maze only to find himself in the cruel grasp of He Who Must Not Be Named.
Everything changes as Harry, Ron and Hermione leave childhood forever and take on challenges greater than anything they could have imagined!
Les Vignerons Volants Leaving South Carolina and Approaching North Carolina!
Pierre Breton, Catherine Roussel and Didier Barrouillet are about to pass over North Carolina on their Continental Air flight.
The passengers have already received complimentary beverages with a small breakfast and are now watching a movie. Today's feature is Free Willie 3: The Resue. This is the best film of the Free Willie Trilogy, a moving series about a boy and his killer whale.
Beautifully photographed, it's worth watching just for the heavenly British Columbian scenery and underwater photography. It helps that the story is well thought out and more expertly executed than the first two films in this series. Jason James Richter, the little boy from the previous Free Willie flicks, is given a credible role as a research assistant trying to understand why whale populations are decreasing. His story parallels that of the son of an illegal whaler who knows his father is involved in criminal activity and is particularly disturbed by the moral ramifications.
Unlike the pro-environment characters in other movies, the fishermen in this story are given a valid point of view, as they are facing very real economic hardships due to the overfishing of the oceans. This plot tangent is given equal footing with the friendship between the two key boys in the story. It all gets a little too corny, but overall this is a fine movie for travelling vignerons.
Pierre Breton, Catherine Roussel & Didier Barrouillet Diverted!
The three vignerons are on their way to New York, but for some inexplicate reason, their Paris/JFK flight was diverted to Fort Lauderdale.
Real Time Flight Details for Pierre Breton, Catherine Roussel & Didier Barouillet
In Fort Lauderdale, they were required to wait and get all their luggage and recheck into a Continental Flight going to Newark. Unfortunately, we have already paid for a driver to meet them at JFK airport, who is holding a sign Bienvenue Vignerons Volante in front of the doors leading out of customs.
We will keep you posted as new details emerge.
This Site is Now on Wineblogwatch!
If you are totally bored and want to read wine blogs, there is a new reference site which updates all the most recent blog entries on the internet.
That's right, it is:
Wineblogwatch!
Just look for The Wine Importer and you'll be able to click to my exciting new entry.
There's lots of wine blogging news this week.
I had dinner with Jon Bonné of Amuse-Bouche.
Eric Asimov now has a blog at The New York Times web site.
Alice Feiring has just been nominated for a James Beard Award for best best Food/Wine blog!
Catherine Roussel, Didier Barrouillet and Pierre Breton Taking Planes to America on Friday!
The countdown is here.
The Real Wine Assault is about to begin!
I will be having real time shots of the Flying Winemakers flight progress on the blog tomorrow night.
Sometimes I Get Nice E-Mails
Most of my e-mails are pointed demands about how to become a glamorous wine importer. Every so often, I get a nice note:
Dear Joe,
I really like your wine blog for several reasons:
- you speak honestly
- you speak from you heart and "say it as it is"
- you have something interesting to say (to me the wine business is very interesting)
- you are not afraid to point the good and the bad of what life brings to us (most business blogs lack that and to me that makes your blog an interesting read)
Regarding your medical problems: you mentioned that you have had 4 bypass surgeries. How are you feeling these days?
If I may point something that might help you (food and lifestyle is my second passion after wine, as my best friend is a Stanford trained MD):
I suggest the following and if it doesn't work I will reimburse you for your cost somehow. :)
- You should try to eat as natural food as possible
- Try to get protein from legumes, tofu, fish, eggs and dairy (no steaks)
- Try to get carbs from rice, brown rice, millet, barley, parsnips etc.
- Food should be cooked, boiled, not fried or grilled, as that is very carcinogenic
- Food should be made at home. You never know what rats they fry in restaurants and I have worked in many
- Buy only the best quality food available
This radical change of diet essentially means adding lots of fruits and veggies, organic if possible (fruit especially). Fruits: should be eaten BEFORE any meal as they speed up the digestion. Blueberries fortify immune system, lower cholesterol and blood fat levels. A good combo is kefir and blueberry shake (or other berries like raspberries,
elderberries etc.). Also, nuts, like walnuts, lower cholesterol.
- Make your breakfast a real meal rather than something light like cereal etc. You will need it for the day.
- Use 100% maple syrup or honey as sweetener
- Add spices to your meals, because that's what makes a meal tasty
The writer then has a long passage about Hungarian wines which I have edited out
I wish you best of luck!
Patrick