2007 Harvest Reports Being Posted on Louis/Dressner Selections Site!
It won't be the harvest of the century, at least anywhere north of Valence, but there is hope for a good crop in lots of spots!
It was a bizarre and particular year, featuring an early budding, intense springtime heat, and then lots of rain and a lack of maturation from the Beaujolais on up. At least through the third week of August.
But there has been beautiful weather, with sun, and a north wind for the past three weeks in much of France! On est sauvé....peut-être!
The early reports are coming in on my corporate, non-self-promotional site and you ought to take a look:
Follow Catherine Roussel's Mushrooming Season!
Cult Winemakers Christian Chaussard and Natalie Gaubicher to Launch New Mass Market Wines at Louis/Dressner October 17th Tasting!
For Immediate Release:
September 12, 2007
New York, New York
Cult Winemakers Christian Chaussard and Natalie Gaubicher will introduce their new mass market natural wine offerings at the Louis/Dressner National Trade Tasting on October 17th at an undisclosed location in New York City.
The first one, You Are So Beautiful, is a delicious mix of Côt and Pineau d'Aunis.
The second one, You Are So Nice is a tantalizing blend of Côt and Gamay.
Both these wines will sell for $16.50 nationally, at a store near you.
The Wine Importer Will be in Detroit Monday, September 24th, for a Public Dinner and Tasting
I love Detroit and can't wait to get back there!
The Cloverleaf Fine Wine & Spirits is going to be sponsoring a couple of terrific events, featuring every crazy geek wine in our portfolio.
This is a great town and I always love being there. People are smart about wine, hospitable, genuine and not New Yorkers.
I can't wait to get back! See you at The Lafayette for a Coney Island!
Famous Swiss Performance Artist, Erika Stucky, to Possibly Perform at Louis/Dressner National Tasting!
Famed Swiss Performance Artist might perform at our October tasting.
Although born in San Francisco, Ms. Stucky was raised in the Valais, one of Switzerland's greatest viticultural areas. Her musical achievements include Yodels, Jimi Hendrix Project, Bubbles & Bones,along with her groundbreaking rendition of Jailhouse Rock,.
For more information, please consult Ms. Stucky's Myspace site:
Erika Stucky on Myspace
Unfortunately, negotiations to have Simone Dinnerstein perform the Goldberg Variations have broken down.
Some of the Important People who will be Attending the 34th Annual Louis/Dressner National Wine Tasting
In the next few weeks, I am going to be featuring some of the important wine personalities who will be attending our 34th Annual Wine Tasting on October 17th.
We have already received confirmed bookings from the key members of our new distributorship in Ohio:
- Sydney Mendalow -- Import Director
- Morty Kimmel -- Sales Manager
- Herb Rosenfeltz -- Cleveland Area Brand Manager
- Sy Pearlman -- Logistics and Operations Manager
- Al Schumacher -- Dayton On-Premise Manager
We have never had a solid distribution in the State of Ohio and we are delighted that our wines will finally be available in the great state!
The Wine Importer Will be Appearing in New Canaan, CT next Saturday from 1 to 5 pm
At least, that's what it says in the New York Times advertisement from Francos Wine Store.
The New York Times is the paper of record and I'm sure this is true. The advertisement claims Denyse and I will be leading a free wine tasting for consumers.
Store owners Carl and Rick Franco will also be attending.
Don't miss this event!
September 15th is also my 63rd birthday. We will be handing out birthday cake to the first 25 consumers who do not want to know what grape varieties are in the wines we are serving.
Louis/Dressner National Tasting on October 17th!
This year's gala annual event will take place at an exciting location in New York City.
It starts at 12 noon and ends at 5:30 pm.
October 17th is a Wednesday.
Lots of fascinating wines are being presented.
There will be multi-media presentations and musical artists.
Many major industry movers-and-shakers will be present.
People from all over America will be in attendance.
Some Vignerons will also be there.
Attendance is mandatory.
There will be lots of great food, but we will run out at 2:30 pm.
You have to RSVP and be on the invite list or we don't let you in.
See you then.
Back in New York, Going to Montreal!
Montreal Event Venue Changed!
New York is a great town and I have greatly enjoyed being here for two days.
Tomorrow morning, we are off to Montréal to annoy our college-age children.
I had announced earlier that I would be meeting Montréal wine lovers on Thursday, August 30th from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm, at the main entrance of the Lionel Groulx Metro station.
Subsequently, I received numerous e-mails from Québec readers urging me to boycott the Lionel Groulx station on the grounds that Lionel Groulx was both an anti-semite and proto-fascist. One reader went so far as to mail me a book published in 1993 by one Esther Delisle, entilted: The Traitor and the Jew: Anti-Semitism and the Delirium of Extremist Right-Wing Nationalism in French Canada from 1929-1939, (Antisémitisme et nationalisme d'extrême-droite dans la province de Québec 1929-1939). This book, which I could only skim read in the two days I have been in New York, makes a seemingly convincing case that Griolx was an anti-semite, but I know that many Québec scholars feels that Deslisle went too far and gave a one-dimensional view of Groulx's contributions.
Clearly, I am not going to be able to resolve this by Thursday, so I have moved the event to the Lucien-L'Allier Metro Station at the same time and date.
Lucien L'Allier (1909-1978), engineer and director of public works for the City of Montreal, was the chief engineer for the construction of Île Notre-Dame and the enlargement of Île Sainte-Hélène for Expo 67. He also served as the president of the Montreal Transit Commission starting in 1964, and of the Montreal Urban Community Transit Commission from its creation in 1970. During his tenure, he served as chief engineer for the initial network of the metro.
Lucien L'Allier
Tragically, L'Allier died during the construction of the station, but his legacy remains....clean of all charges of anti-semitism and proto-fascism.
Don't miss this exciting book-signing and wine event!
Live Wines
I'm packing and have no time for this blogging nonsense....
Except someone just sent me Eric Asimov's latest New York Times Blog, a wonderful little essay on what Mr. Asimov calls Live Wines.
Eric uses Radikon's 2002 Oslavje Bianco (a wine we import and which I have consumed in large quantities) and a 2005 Lazy Creek Vineyards Riesling (which I know nothing about) as examples of Live Wines, wines which have an aliveness. He writes:
"Clumsy term? I know. But that’s what these wines are: alive. They don’t sit in the glass waiting to be swallowed. They practically come to you and pull you in, like the scent curling up from one of those cartoon pies cooling on the window sill, reaching out and causing Bugs Bunny problems.
This sense of a wine as living comes, I think, from having a captivating texture. You feel the wine coating the tongue and the inside of your mouth, and it feels so good that you are compelled to repeat the exercise. It’s not just white wines, either. Great Champagnes have this texture. So do wonderful Burgundies, but it’s not a question of profundity. Great Beaujolais has it, too. I find it in the Barolos of Giacomo Conterno and Bartolo Mascarello, and in the Brunellos of Biondi Santi and Case Bese di Soldera."
I think Eric is on to something. I've been thinking lately about how limiting natural wines, real wines, hand-crafted wines, blah-blah wines are as descriptive terms. I started using the term real wine but that also has the problem of emphasizing the process more than the final outcome.
The best I have been able to come up with is Vins Gouleyant, but that's a descriptor in another language which also has its limitations..
But Live Wines is exactly what I mean to say. I have tried natural wines which are as dead as industrial wines -- simply being viticulturally correct doesn't make the wine pop out of the bottle. There is something magic when it all comes together and has that edge and aliveness. I would argue you have to work naturally in your fields and your cellar to get that quality, but the goal of that work is to get something living and vibrant into the bottle, something which amazes, baffles and seduces us because it is so alive and has so much to say.
Of course, there is also the corollary category -- Dead Wines.
But enough for now, I have to turn off the computer, put it into the computer sleeve, and get going.
Come meet Joe Dressner, the Wine Importer, in Montréal!
August 24, 2007
For Immediate Release
American Wine Importer Joe Dressner will be meeting Montréal wine lovers, on Thursday, August 30th from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm, at the main entrance of the Lionel Groulx Metro station.
Mr. Dressner will be signing books and discussing his latest wine discoveries and adventures.This is the second time Mr. Dressner has appeared at the Lionel Grouix Metro station, a station that has great importance in the history and culture of Québec.
Abbé Lionel Groulx (1878-1967), a native of Vaudreuil, was an influential Québécois historian. He studied theology at the Grand Séminaire de Montréal and was ordained in 1903. He taught at Valleyfield seminary from 1903 to 1915 and was named honorary canon in 1943. Abbé Groulx was also the founding president of the Franco-American History Institute in 1946 and director of the Révue d'histoire de l'Amérique française (1947-1967).
Grouix was a renowned food and wine lover with a special love for wines from the Haut Poitou.
A Mediocre Blogger
I have been an irresponsible blogger all summer and have barely written anything here. I've been busy like crazy, travelling all over France and Italy to see growers, and just haven't had the time. My apologies to my readers.
We're returning to New York tomorrow, then going to Montreal to buy goods at Ikea for our children, then returning to New York, where we will once again be like fish in the sea of the fabulous wine trade.
I've had some wonderful moments this summer, wine-related and otherwise, including:
- A fabulous stay in Corsica hosted by the incredible wine-making family of Marie and Antoine Arena
- The hospitality, vineyard work and wines of Luca Roagna
- The incredible Comté cheeses of Philippe Bouvret, available at Essencia in Poligny
-
The insanely profound Savignin Ouillé 2000 of Emmanuel Houillon and Pierre Overnoy which will be available exclusively at Chambers Street wines this winter....one of the greatest white wines I have ever consumed.
- The Saucisse de Morteau from Salaisons Bouhéret
- A great meal at the Relais de Montmartre in Viré
- Drinking the 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998 and 1999 Mâcons from Henri Goyard
- Watching the various salutes to 1967 and the Summer of Love on the French television channel Arte
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Staying outdoors until late at night to watch the apocalyptic thunderstorm at Moulin Pey-Labrie during Vinexpo
- The fun neighborhood meal we had here in Poil Rouge Sud
-
Having my two kids come to France and spend time with us before we go to Montreal to buy them furniture at Ikea
-
Discovering Erika Stucky, the San Francisco born, Swiss singer, whose video of Jailhouse Rock should be factory pre-loaded on all IPODS
There were also disappointments and sadness. I was very sorry to hear about Grace Paley's and Phil Rizutto's deaths, Denyse and I were supposed to be writing a book and we did nothing, I didn't ride my bike enough, I no longer walk Buster into the vineyards but opt for the easier walk down the Rue Froide, the screen on my IPAQ 4700 PocketPC shattered when it fell to the ground during the apocalyptic thunderstorm at Moulin Pey-Labrie, and I continue to come from a country which elected George Bush twice.
But on the whole, it was a great summer for me and I hope it was also a great summer for you.
Do come to see me as I tour the country promoting our wines. I'll be in your town soon, at a liquor store conveniently located near your home.
For those of you lucky enough to be in the glamorous wine trade, place a mark on your calendar next to October 17th. That's the day we will be having our annual trade tasting, at an undisclosed location.
I have to get back to packing....see you all soon!
Holy Cow!
Everyone here in Wittenheim was sad to learn about the death of Phil Rizutto.
All of Alsace will miss The Scooter.
We've Been Invited to Dine at Captain Steubing's Table!
Alyce, Denyse, Buster and I are on board the Corsica Victoria on our way from Savona to Bastia, Corsica.
Tonight we dine with Julie and Captain Steubing.
Tomorrow we scale the Carco vineyard with Antoine Arena!
Off to Piedmont and Corsica
I've spent the summer drinking older vintages of Beaujolais and Muscadet and now feel a need for some Nebbiolo, Grignolino and a bracing white wine from a field blend of Cortese dell'Alto Monferrato, Arneis and Favorita.
So, we're driving to Piedmont today to visit Luca Roagna, the Bera family in Canelli, Teobaldo Cappellano, Stefano Bellotti at Cascina degli Ulivi and Nadia Verrua at Cascina 'Tavijn.
From there, it only makes sense to get on the Ferry and visit Antoine Areana in Corsica, come back to France, visit some growers in the Languedoc and Rhône, then return to Poil Rouge to drink some more old Beaujolais and old Muscadet.
Yesterday was the first annual Fête du Poil Rouge Sud, a fun day-long event celebrating the cultural diversity and barbecuing talents of our hamlet. The day ended in a marathon pétanque game which finished under clouds of doping accusations.
Beyond Parody
I recently received the following press release from several readers. I wish I was capable of making up such hysterical literature. Read on....
Just in Time to Release 11 New Wines, Mollydooker’s Sarah & Sparky Marquis Share Their Secrets about Creating Top-Rated, Cult-Status Wines
Marquis Fruit Weight™ and the Marquis Vineyard Watering Programme™ Are Turning Many of the Industry’s Preconceived Notions about Making Great Wine, on Their Head!
EDWARDSTOWN, South Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--For 12 years, Sarah & Sparky Marquis (pronounced Mar-kwis) have been “WOW”ing wine fans around the world with their award–winning Australian wines made for such brands as Fox Creek, Henry’s Drive, Parsons Flat, Shirvington, Marquis Philips, Integrity and now Mollydooker. This dynamic duo has been awarded the title of Australian Winemakers of the Year; is the only husband and wife winemaking team to receive Mclaren Vale’s prestigious Bushing Award three times; and is responsible for crafting four of only 24 Australian wines to receive 99 points from Robert Parker in the last 10 years. Mollydooker, Sarah and Sparky’s own label, has been a show-stopper since its inaugural release last year, and with the highly anticipated release of the 2006 vintage around the corner, it’s a great time to explore the secrets to their success.
When asked to share their thoughts on what separates Mollydooker wines from the pack, Sarah & Sparky answer “It’s our Watering Programme and Fruit Weight, mate.” The Marquis Vineyard Watering Programme™ focuses on nurturing strong and healthy vines with balanced canopy growth to achieve the most intense fruit flavors possible. The amazing fruit flavor achieved in the vineyard is exactly what creates the Marquis Fruit Weight™ in the wine. Marquis Fruit Weight™ is the “velvet glove” sensation of fruit that sits on your tongue before the structure of the wine is exposed. The higher the Fruit Weight, the more intense and rich are the flavors in the finished wine.
Achieving a high Fruit Weight grade doesn’t start in the winery; it starts in the vineyards, which is where Sarah and Sparky’s scientific know-how is first applied. “We ripen the vine, so that it can ripen the fruit,” explains Sparky. Knowing that healthy vines create the best fruit, Sparky studied vineyard canopy management for his college thesis. So groundbreaking was his work on Pinot Noir in Tasmania, that he won a scholarship to present it in France and the US. Over the last 20 years he’s developed the Marquis Vineyard Watering Programme™, which is used by all vineyards producing grapes for Mollydooker.
The Marquis Vineyard Watering Programme™ is based on intensive data collection and analysis, which starts at budburst and carries on with inspections of each vineyard throughout the entire growing season. Twice a week, the Mollydooker vineyard team physically measures the growth of the vines, and reports on canopy growth, rachis maturation and the Fruit Weight of the juice. The data is then fed into a complex set of formulas, the results of which provide the team with precise watering recommendations for the following three days.
For example, toward harvest time, the grapes have a rapidly accelerating sugar level, but the essential flavor level lags behind. So, the Mollydooker team applies water to control the sugar level until the flavor level catches up. Leigh, Sparky’s Dad and Vineyard Programme Manager, tells us, “It’s the range and intensity of the flavor which translates into Marquis Fruit Weight™, and ultimately into the incredibly rich, velvety wines that have become Sarah and Sparky’s trademark.”
Marquis Fruit Weight™ is the deciding factor that determines the label under which a particular wine will be bottled. Sparky explains, “Starting with our 2006 wines, Mollydooker now has four Fruit Weight grades ranging from 65% to 100%. Any wine that rates below 65% Fruit Weight is sold off as bulk wine.”
The “Lefty Wines” ($20) consist of five different wines that have been graded with a Marquis Fruit Weight™ of 65-70%. The 2005 Boxer Shiraz was one of the most highly acclaimed Lefty wines, and was actually the highest pointed wine in Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate issue #165 ‘Best Value Wines Under $20’. Next in line are the three brand new “Party Wines” ($50), crafted from Shiraz and Cabernet, which have 75-80% Marquis Fruit Weight™. The “Love Story” wines ($80) include the highly-rated Carnival of Love and Enchanted Path, and must obtain 85-90% Marquis Fruit Weight™ to qualify. And the brand new and very top wine, aptly named Velvet Glove ($175), is the easiest to grade, as it has obtained 95+% Marquis Fruit Weight™ - and stands alone in quality. “Due to the high Fruit Weight grade demanded for Velvet Glove, it’s likely it won’t be made in every vintage,” says Sarah.
Mollydooker’s highly-anticipated second vintage, with 11 wines in total, will begin to release in mid-June, at which time Sarah & Sparky are hitting the road across the United States to share their new wines, and to talk about the things that make their wines different, including the Marquis Vineyard Watering Programme™ and Marquis Fruit Weight™. They look forward to meeting you and to sharing the wines that make you go “WOW”!
For more information or a travel schedule, please contact: alicia@mollydookerwines.com.
Contacts
Mollydooker
Alicia Kelley Raymond
707-738-8858
alicia@mollydookerwines.com
Alive
I just back from a long trip through the Loire followed by a week retreat in the Crays of Poil Rouge to read the totality of Philippe Rapiteau's excellent French wine blog: La Pipette aux quatre vins
This is some great stuff. M. Rapiteau writes journalistically about wine, vignerons and events in an informative and catchy style. He's more concerned with you learning about the terroirs and winemakers than simply throwing out reductive tasting notes.
Don't miss this blog!
older posts...
