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Fringe Benefits of Having a Wine Blog!
You get lots of free books.
Today, I received the thought-provoking What to Drink with What you Eat by James Beard award winning authors Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page (handsomely pictured below). This is a beautifully done hardcover book that is so packed with glossy pictures that it is too heavy for a man of my age to pick-up without the aid of a younger assistant.
I've agreed to read their book and in return they will feature my blog in their newsletter to over 20,000 wine lovers. Don't miss my review on Wednesday, October 18th.
The authors were kind enough to also include, stuffed inside the book, some press coverage of their activities. They recently were mentioned on Page 6 of The New York Post opposite an extremely suggestive picture of someone named Eva Longoria, who has nothing to do with the food and wine business. Mr. Dornenburg and Ms. Page had been invited to a tasting of Lorraine Bracco's wines in Southampton and are cited as liking Ms. Bracco's Pinot Grigio, which they told the Post is a perfect match for fresh-shucked clams and oysters.
I quite literally opened the book to a random page, Page 241, where there is a picture of Domaine de la Pépière 2004 in a general section about Muscadet. According to the authors, Muscadet has green apple and salt characteristics. It goes with aperitif, clams, fish (bass), oysters, salad, sardines, raw seafood, raw shellfish and shrimp.
The Muscadet section has a quote from noted wine critic, David Rosengarten, who writes: a Muscadet by itself has hardly any flavor; it is just crisp and lemony. With a salad, the acid in the vinaigrette cancels the acid in the wine, and all the fruit flavors come out. It is a beautiful thing!
Other highlights, opened at random, include Page 113, where they suggest that Tempranillo or Vigonier goes well with Cumin and Merlot goes with spicier curries.
Don't miss this comprehensive and delightful book!
I'll have more about it as I read throgh the 356 pages.
The book was printed in Singapore.
Persuasive Reasons to Go to The October 24th Louis/Dressner Tasting!
- Conveniently located near the IND, IRT and BMT subway lines!
- Pierre and Monique Luneau-Papin from the Muscadet will be serving vintages going back to 1976!
- Eric Texier will be showing strangely elegant Rhône Valley wines!
- Silvio Messana from Tuscany’s Montesecondo will give a daredevil demonstration of unrated Sangiovese wines.
- Radikon wines are back in America and we got them!
- Thrill to Philippe Pacalet’s light and delicate Burgundies!
- Get to taste not one, but two, different producers from Jasnières!
- Taste scores of biodynamic, organic, natural and real wines without having to attend a rambling, lengthy seminar!
- Participate in exciting and lucrative contests, including a drawing to win an encounter with a yet to be found celebrity of undetermined sex, age and race!
Formal wear optional
The Fabulous Cathérine Breton is on the Cover of L'Express Magazine
L'Express Magazine, which is the equivalent of Time or Newsweek in France, has a special issue out on wine.
Cathérine Breton from Bourgueil is on the cover, as she well should be.
Congratulations!
Welcome to The Sorting Table, An Exciting New Wine Importer!
There's a new exciting wine importer with an impressive list of big stars.
The Sorting Table is representing Domaine Dujac in Burgundy, Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace and Castello di Ama in Tuscany, amongst others. According to their web site, the company:
brings a new level of service and information to the selling and marketing of fine wine in the U.S.
All I can say is that it is about time and more power to them! They've figured out how to do this, almost to a science, and I'm sure they will revolutionize the wine industry. According to their press release:
TST also has developed a proprietary, virtual, infrastructure designed to enhance communications and information flow among suppliers, distributors, key accounts and consumers. This enables the company to manage marketing, sales, product shipments, depletions, inventory, and account profiles at a higher level than traditional wine distribution companies.
They're on to something here. What the wine world really needs now is a proprietary, virtual, infrastructure and these are the guys to do it! They come with rich experience from Wilson-Daniels and Sam's in Chicago and too many varied virtual infrastructures to mention on this site.
This Wine Importer warmly welcomes TST!
Radikon - A Passion for Tradition
by Kevin McKenna
Stanko Radikon is a maverick in a land of mavericks. The town of Oslavia, on a relatively tiny stretch of hills north of the border town of Gorizia in the Isonzo zone of Friuli, is home to a number of talented and individualistic wine makers. From Radikon’s home, you can carry a plate of freshly cooked polenta to Edi Kante and Jasko Gravner, two other world-renowned winemakers, and still eat it piping hot.
Joe Dressner and I showed up on a bright, chilly morning in April at 7AM. It was hard to recognize Stanko in his vignaiolo duds. We had recently seen him wearing a natty suit and white button-down shirt at a counter-Vinitaly winetasting a few days before. Stanko was standing on the road watching for us because the sign for the winery had been removed years ago. Anonymity was the only way to get some work done and avoid waves of wine tourists.
Joe and I had an 11 AM flight from the nearby Trieste airport and it had been a long week, so we were hurried and tired, but excited to be at the winery. We had had a few memorable encounters with Radikon’s wines stateside. They were interesting, complex examples of what had come to be known, in reference to the ancestral origins of the winemaker’s working in this style and their geographic proximity to the neighboring country, as the “Slovenian” style of Friuli wines – namely hand-harvesting, extended skin maceration, large, older barrel fermentations without temperature control, no added yeasts or enzymes, and little or no use of sulfur.
The steep rolling hills surrounding the Radikon’s home/winery are testament to Fruili’s viticultural legacy. It was a particularly beautiful day to see the contiguous near 11 hectares of Radikon’s narrowly planted vines, still without foliage, laid out on the steep slope of marbled limestone clay in front of the terrace between his home and winery.
The vineyards were originally planted by Stanko’s grandfather Franz Mikulus with the local favorite, the Ribolla Gialla grape. In 1948, Stanko’s parents, who had inherited the property from his mother’s father, planted Merlot, (Tocai) Friulano and Pinot Grigio. Today, Stanko, his wife, Suzana and son, Sasa maintain their family’s land.
We asked Stanko how he came to make the wines we had tasted earlier that week.-- these golden wines, rich with complex fruit aromas, notable for their length in palate and ability to age. Stanko simply said, “It’s how my grandfather made wine in the 30’s”, and shrugged.
That made sense to us. Radikon explains on their website:
“The winery’s philosophy is to always make a natural, organic wine with the least human intervention possible and with the maximum respect for the soils and nature.
In the vineyard, the vines are planted extremely tight (between 6. 500 to 10,000 plants per hectare). We do not use any chemicals or synthetics and the treatments using absolutely innocuous, non-harmful products are minimized. Through careful pruning and selection at the time of harvest, the hand harvested yields are kept well below 2.25 tons per acre.
In the cellar, the grapes are de-stemmed and then macerated on the skins for 30 days more, with experimentation of 6/7 months for the whites, and 35 days for the reds. The pressing is done softly using a pneumatic press. All phases of the vinifications are in Slavonian oak barrels, first in wood vats and then in large barrels in which the wines are aged for about 3 years before bottling. The vinifications are done using only the natural yeasts present on the grapes. There is no sulfur added at vinification or bottling.”
Radikon, while extreme, has never thought much of the use of anfora, or buried terra cotta jars, for vinification. His idea of wine is an ideal taste of recent memory, not a renaissance of ancient winemaking arts. But not one to avoid controversy, Radikon, along with Kante, have initiated a new discourse on the ideal vessel for wine with the 2002 vintage releases.
First, Stanko believes that the 750 ml size does not really provide the right amount of wine for 2 people to share at dinner – an argument not easily rebutted. Therefore, he wanted to bottle all of his wines in liters and half-liters (because 2 people could then have a half liter of white and a half liter of red).
Following from this, in studies that he and Kante conducted with a cork manufacturer, they have devised what they think is the proper size of cork for these two bottle measures that gives the optimal surface-to-air permeability ratio for aging their wines. It is a narrower, smaller cork than the classic model. In deference to this cork, Stanko himself created a prototype bottle from silicon for the new liters and half-liters, and then had them manufactured at a local bottle factory. They are graceful, elegantly-necked bottles that were designed to fit in to most spaces where a 750ml bottle would.
The wines:
Jakot 2002 (100% Friulano)
Ribolla Gialla 2002 & 2001
Oslavje 2002 & 2001 (40% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Grigio and 30% Sauvignon)
There is no difference in the vinifications of the wines, except that the Oslavje is vinified as a field blend with all varieties harvested and fermented together.
It took us another year and some debate to convince Stanko that he should appoint us his new importer for the United States, but we are very happy to include these very interesting and distinctive wines in our portfolio.
Nana's Chophouse Menu Finalized for September 18th Louis/Dressner Portfolio Dinner
It's only $75.00, its centrally located in Raleigh and you can reserve by calling at 919.829.1212
Here's what's planned:
Reception
Goat Cheese and Fig Streusel
Duck Rillettes with brioche crouton
Crab Salad with apples and celeriac on cucumber
Roasted or Grilled Oyster with melted leek-potato “chowder” and pancetta dust
Francois Pinon, Vouvray Mousseaux, Brut MV
Francois Pinon, Cuvee Tradition, 2005
Eric Nicolas, Les Giroflies, Vin de Table, MV
1st Course
Mussel Bisque
Gingered spinach and poached mussels
Clos Roche Blanche, Sauvignon No 2, 2004
2nd Course
Pan Seared Flounder
Fennel and frisee salad with brown butter- tarragon vinaigrette and lentils Du Berry
La Pepiere, Clos des Briords, Cuvee Vieilles Vignes, Muscadet Sevre & Maine Sur Lie, 2005
3rd Course
Roasted Squab
Wild rice “risotto” with cranberries, carrots, cranberry-infused demiglace finished with foie gras butter
Clos Roche Blanche, La Closerie, Touraine, 2004
Dessert
Figs
Francois Pinon, Cuvee de Novembre, Vouvray Moelleux, 2003
Everyone is Getting Old!
Even Buster has aged incredibly over the past year.
This is probably the last year we will do a Cuvée Buster Sancerre at Thomas-Labaille. We've been doing one too long there. We need to move on and call this bottling something else.
Tomorrow is my 64th birthday. The Sherff, a regular contributor to my comments sections, has graciously invited Denyse and I to eat at Alain Ducasse's four-star, New York restaurant.
What are they talking about?
I just took at look at The Wine Spectator's web site, where there is a curious report:
What's better than sex? "SexyBack" with Veuve Clicquot. At least Justin Timberlake thinks so. Veuve was the 'tween dream's drink of choice on Aug. 28 when he and his crew hit the trendy G Spa & Lounge in Manhattan's Meatpacking District to celebrate JT's forthcoming album FutureSex. Given the title, it's no surprise that more than half of the album's songs are filled with innuendos and come-ons, like the lyrics from the racy hit single "SexyBack": "I'm bringin' sexy back / If that's your girl, baby watch your back." JT and his producer pal Timbaland toasted their collaborative effort with Veuve, and during the three-hour party, the crowd had its fill too. MTV News reporters noted a "seemingly never-ending amount of Champagne flowing." Which is always a good idea in our book, but for the record, Unfiltered would prefer to drink Veuve without having to endure those lyrics.
I know I'm an old guy, Friday is my 64th Birthday, but I can't understand what they're talking about.
Does anyone have a clue?
Thank goodness David Schildknecht is reviewing almost of the world's important viticultural regions for The Wine Advocate. He's a literate guy and I hope, by example, he elevates the level of prose in today's wine press.
Don't Miss Marc Ollivier's Incredible Cuvée Granit Mal Etiquetée Reserve Bottle!
Years from now, this rare collector's item will be worth enormous sums of money in the auction market, much like other classic examples of mislabelled commodities, currencies and postal stamps.
Cult Muscadet winemaker Marc Ollivier, who was recently called The King of the Muscadet by wine critic John Gilman, mislabelled his New York shipment of Cuvée Granit 2005. This delicious red Muscadet is a combination of 19.6% Cabernet, 19.6% Côt and 19.6% Merlot. Unfortunately, Marc put the wrong label on the bottles he sent to New York and the label mistakenly identifies the wine as Cépage Cabernet.
To correct this error, the bottles have been decorated with a beautiful gold label reading: Cuvée Granit Mal Etiquetée. Roughly translated, this means Cuvée Granit Mislabelled
Hold on to these collector items and keep them for your grandchildren. They'll be worth a fortune.
The Next Big Thing in Restaurants!
Eating in the total dark, that is.
Several cities around the world already have such restaurants and everyone swears it opens up new sensory sensations. Or something like that.
The latest is in Montréal and I'm sending my kids there Friday night to give it a try. There's an interesting article in the Montreal Gazette about the concept:
The Next Big Thing!
Chat with Wine Importer Joe Dressner and Wine Writer Alice Feiring!
Alice and I will be standing on the Northwest Corner of Bond Street and Lafayette Street on Thursday, September 14th from 2:15 pm through 3:00 pm.
There will be a special VIP discussion starting at 2pm.
Don't miss this compelling event!
Louis/Dressner Tasting at Chambers Street Wines on Saturday, September 30th at 4:15 PM
This is going to be a great event and it is open to the public!
That includes you!
There is a special VIP preview starting at 4 pm. There will be many new releases, some of which are top secret and cannot be mentioned until the day of the tasting.
Chambers Street Wine is located in downtown Manhattan, coincidentally on Chambers Street. It is a wee bit west of Hudson Street but East of Greenwich. I'm not sure if it is Greenwich Street or Greenwich Avenue.
Downtown Manhattan is very confusing. All hell breaks loose as soon as you step out of the more reasonable Uptown grid.
Don't Miss Exciting Louis/Dressner Dinnner On Monday, September 18th at Nana's Chophouse in Raleigh, North Carolina
You are invited for hors d'oeuvres and 4 seated courses prepared by Chef Konrad Catolos... featuring Loire Valley wines from the Louis/Dressner portfolio,
The date is Monday, September 18, 2006. There will be a reception at 7 pm and dinner will start at 7:30. It will cost only $75 and reservations can be made by calling 919.829.1212. The call will be absolutely free if you call using Skype, which has free calls throughout North America through December 31st.
I've never had the pleasure of sampling Chef Catolos' cuisine or dining at Nana's Chophouse. Here's how they describe themselves on their excellent web site (findable with a Google Search):
Nana’s Chophouse is an Italian style Chophouse with a contemporary American influence – A high-energy environment with a sophisticated feel. Our guests are treated to the Triangle’s finest service and highest quality, cutting edge culinary fare. Chef Konrad Catolos provides skillful preparation of local and seasonal ingredients expressed in creative antipasti, appetizers, fresh pastas and entrees. Our bar menu is served until midnight on Friday and Saturday, accommodating late night diners and post-theater patrons.
Nana’s Chophouse was born from a 1937 meatpacking plant. The brick walls and exposed beams reflect the old uses, but the rich millwork and warm yet contemporary finishes bring new life to the space. Rich walnut and brown leather cover the booths, while stunning gold and yellow fabric pop around the room. The space is designed to have an intimate feel for couples and small groups, but still a continuous and open space.
Don't miss this exciting event!
Sam Silversmith Appointed New Midwest Regional Manager!
A 28 year veteran of the industry, Sam Silversmith will be taking over as Midwest Regional Manager on October 1st.
All our congratulations to Sam and entire Midwest Regional staff!
The Radikon Has Arrived!
Stay tuned for more details.
Our first shipment of Radikon Fruili has arrived!
Trivial Pursuit!
All these changes at The Wine Advocate make me think of old favorites which first came to public notice through the pages of Robert Parker's review.
Whatever happened to Marquis Phillips?
Whatever happened to Domaine Capion Merlot? This wine was from the Languedoc (now David Schildknecht's territory) and got great ratings and sold for something like $5.99 a bottle retail. Everyone wanted the wine and everyone talked about the wine. Where did it go?
Congratulations to David Schildknecht !
Recent word from The Wine Advocate is that the talented and prolific David Schieldknecht will now be covering most of the world's major wine regions for Robert Parker. Mr. Schildknecht will not be covering Italy, Bordeaux and the Rhône Valley but his beat will include:
1. Germany
2. Austria
3. Central Europe
4. Eastern America
5. Midwestern America
6. Alsace
7. Burgundy
8. Loire
9. Languedoc-Roussillon
10. Champagne
11. New Zealand
12. South Africa
Best of luck to David and the newly revamped Wine Advocate. It sounds like an exhausting schedule, but if anyone can do it, David certainly can!
I know I would be exhausted by just doing the first six categories, although I hear the South African vineyards are beautiful and rejuvenating.
Rejuvenation is an important part of being on the wine route. I was once hospitalized in Decize after a long tasting of Pouilly-Fumé during a winter jaunt through the French vineyards. Decize is somewhere in the center of France and the correct pronunciation of the town rhymes with deceased. This made me somewhat nervous, but I was simply exhausted from too much travelling, eating and tasting and needed to be on IV units to clean out my system. Being on the wine road sounds glamorous to many people and certainly it beats many other jobs. At the same time, it can be exhausting and I wish David the best.
The doctor who released me from the hospital in Decize asked me what my next stop was going to be and I told him the Beaujolais. With great alarm, he warned me not to taste any Beaujolais wines in my diminished condition, because "they're all trafficked." I'm sure he would have approved of South Africa.
Chambers Street Wines and Louis/Dressner Featured on MSNBC Web Site
We've been getting an avalanche of publicity ever since we hired a PR agent.
All these mentions in the press sell enormous quantities of wine to people who would never buy the wine without the direction of wine journalists.
We're very grateful for all these mentions. The latest can be found at:
Ed Deitsch Praises Chambers Street and Obscure Louis/Dressner Wines on MSNBC
In addition to Ed's piece, there was also a recent piece on MSNBC by Jon Bonné, which featured some of our other wines.
Jon Bonné Reviews Some Other Obscure Wines
Our thanks to our PR firm, Katz and Steinfesse, for their excellent work!