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Excitement Mounting for October 17th Louis/Dressner Tasting!!
Remember, bloggers and freelance press people are not allowed to attend.
I'm on My Way to Detroit!
Detroit is one of my favorite cities in America and I can't wait to get there!
Cloverleaf Wines has organized two great dinners, one tonight and one tomorrow. Don't miss these fabulous events!
Several New York Area Stores We Are Not Sending Invitations for our Trade Tasting!
Someone has been kind enough to give us a comprehensive mailing list of New York area wine shops and restaurants. We are trying to eliminate some of the people on the list to save postage money.
Some of the eliminated entries include:
- Liquorama
- Lisa’s Liquor Barn
- Liquor Town
- Liquor Outlet
- Liquor Loft
- Liquor City
- Liquor Cabinet
Nine Mandatory Reasons for Attending the Louis/Dressner October 17th Tasting
It is only 24 days away! Or something like that.
- Meet Eric & Laurence Texier in person and drink Rhône wines under 16 degrees of alcohol!
-
Discover benchmark producers from wine regions you never even knew existed!
- Experience nearly 27 wines with scores of 90 or higher in John Gilman’s View from the Cellar!
- Preview new releases from Dard & Ribo, Philippe Pacalet, Antoine Arena, Christian Chaussard, Laurent Barth and Pierre Dupont!
- Worship Muscadet at the altar of granite-based Melon de Bourgogne!
- Collect informative fact sheets!
- Ask João Roseira from Quinta do Infantado Ports for colourful details about daily life in the Douro Valley!
- Participate in the first trade tasting where the overused words artisan, boutique and handcrafted are nowhere to be seen!
- Eat delicious food until we run out at 2:47 pm
New Louis/Dressner Web Site to Launch at October 17th Tasting!
The Launch will be followed by an invitation-only party at a new club on the Bowery.
E-mail for more details.....
Louis/Dressner Praised in GQ Magazine!
Frankly, I find this alarming.
I buy all my clothing from Eddie Bauer or LL Bean, have size 15 feet and wear orthopedic shoes, am overweight, constantly have food stains all over my shirts and don't own a tie. Denyse buys from Bean and Lands End. Kevin has some stylish faults, but he's all alone. Shawn has good taste, but is probably not cutting edge. Eddie wears the same t-shirt and jeans every day. Why would GQ Magazine be promoting us!
One of my friends, who is stylish, just called me to let me know about the GQ mention. I forced Sheila, who is potentially stylish but who is on a stylishness hiatus, to buy the current GQ issue.
The lead article in this issue is Dress Like a Winner, followed by an article on Barack Obama (who is pictured on the cover and is awfully handsome and stylish). The magazine is horribly glossy, with some 412 pages. I have arthritic hands and it hurts me to lift up the magazine. The magazine is filled with advertising featuring stylish men wearing beautiful clothes alternating with stylish women wearing very little clothes.
On page 186 of the current issue, in between a full page ad for American Eagle and a full page ad for 501 Jeans, is an article on the importance of importers. The very stylish Eric Solomon is mentioned (he has great suits) along with Jorge Ordonez (cited as the King of Spain). Neal Rosental is there, as is Kermit Lynch (who was a stylistic pacesetter in Berkeley casual). Terry Theise is mentioned as is Louis/Dressner Selections. Frankly, I don't understand why Peter Weygandt didn't make the fashion list -- he has great wines and is an excellent dresser.
David Lynch (who I assume is the guy who did Twin Peaks), who wrote the article, writes:
From the same righteous school as Theise, Joe Dressner & Co. promotes all-natural, minimal-intervention wine styles. If you dig minerally, earthy whites, check out their unparalleled Loire Valley portfolio.
Is Vogue next?
Louis/Dressner Loire Valley Wines Get Critical Raves!
Finally, our wines are getting a lot of critical raves and the wine trade is talking about the latest reviews hot off the Adobe Acrobat press.
John Gilman's View from the Cellar has just been sent out and many of our wines did great. Inevitably, great press means big sales and these wines will soon disappear. John writes with great enthusiasm and his love for these wines is apparent in his descriptions. Some examples:
2006 Muscadet Clos des Briords "Vieilles Vignes"- Domaine de la Pépière
Marc Ollivier's old vine bottling....Clos des Briords is absolutely stellar in 2006. The bouquet is deep, refined and beguiling complex as it jumps from the glass in a blaze of lime, grapefruit, crystalline minerality, delicate leesy tones, ocean breezes and a gently floral topnote. On the palate the is full, snappy and rock solid at the the core, with a beautiful stoniness, bright acids, excellent focus and a long, complex and soil-driven finish....94
2006 Cabernet France "Le Pépiè"Marc Ollivier
I have tasted few reds from the Muscadet Region, but Marc Ollivier's La Pépiè is a delicious and almost sappy bottle of cabernet franc that offers stunning value The bourquet on the 2006 jumps from the glass in a blaze of red cherries, bell pepper, lovely, stony minerality, tobacco leaf, woodsmoke and a floral topnote.....It should make a glorious restaurant wine....89+
Cuvée Granit Rouge -- Domaine de la Pépière (Marc Ollivier)
....there is brilliance in the glass. The Cuvée granit is a blend of cabernet franc, malbec and merlot, and is planted on granite soils alongside the domaine's fine Muscadet holdings. The bouqet on the 2006 Cuvée Granit is deep and very serious, as it offers up a youthful mélange of pure black cherries, dark berries, tree bark, woodsmoke, espresso, and a great base of stony soil. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and laser-like in its focus, with rock solid core of fruit, brisk acides, a bit of ripe tannin, and a very long, nascently complex and palate staining finish....Can there be a better value for ageworthy red wine in France than this stunner? 92+
Anjou Blanc "La Lune"-- Mark Agnelli
Mark Angeli's "La Lune" 2005 is a big, ripe and beautiful chenin blanc that probably registers between a broad-shouldered demi-sec and a flat our moelleux. The nose is brilliant, as it soars from the glass in a mélange of pear, candied quince, a touch of guava, honeycomb, a touch of hay and a lovely base of chalky soil. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, deep and very gently glazed by botrytis with great mid-palate depth, bright acids, and a very long, soil-driven finish that shows just a kiss of residual sugar on the backend. This is a beautiful wine from a most talented and inspired winemaker....93
Le Tue-Boeuf "Rouillon" - Le Clos de Tue-Boeuf
The nose of the Le Tue-Boeuf is deep and sophisticated as it offers up a mélange of black cherries, dark berries, a bit of blood orange, fresh-roasted coffee beans, smoke, pepper, a great base of soil and a delicate topnote of balsamic vinegar. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, complex and very transparent to the soil, with excellent mid-palate depth, ripe tannins, sound acides and outstanding focus and grip on the long, complex and tangy finsih. There is just a touch of volatile acidity here that may put some tasters off, but I find it simply lifts the aromatics and adds to the overall complexity. 90
L'Arpent Rouge -- Clos Roche Blanche
This is a brilliant wine, as it soars from the glass in a blaze of red berries, cherries, nutskins, fresh herb tones, a bit of marinated orange rind, autumnal smoky tones, dried rose petals and a lovely base of chalky soil. On the palate the wine is fullish, deep and intensely flaovred, with a dancer's step on the attack, a fine core of fruit, stunning transparency and a great long, tangy and superbly complex finish that closes with a note of bitter chocolate. This is a wine that would really bring delight to a dyed-in-the-woold Burgundy drinker, as it shares the same sensibilities of time and space92
Mr. Gilman's publication is available only by subscription. See his website:
http://viewfromthecellar.com/
New Canaan Embraces Romorantin!
It's flying off the shelves here at Francos Wines.
Help!
I'm being held hostage in a liquor store in New Canaan, Connecticut.
Information on Tastings in Detroit....Press Release from Cloverleaf Wines Dressner on Craic
Q: What’s the craic?
A: Comedian, contrarian, wine visionary and importer Joe Dressner is coming to Michigan next weekend. You are invited to meet him, have a few glasses of wine, and see the renaissance of Detroit from the perspective of fabulous Corktown.
From the Cloverleaf to the Roots
Corktown is Detroit’s oldest neighborhood and the center of a torrent of urban renewal. It was named after county Cork in Ireland. Every cloverleaf has deep roots there and it’s time for Cloverleaf to follow them.
Space is limited and time is short.
So don’t wait to reserve your craic in Corktown!
Reply or call Cloverleaf now – (248) 357-0400
Corks Over Corktown
WARMUP:
LOS PISTOLEROS
Sunday, September 23, 6-8
p.m.
Enjoy Slows Barbeque and tour the famous Los
Pistoleros studios and O’Connor Real Estate (all
adjacent to one another). Los
Pistoleros is a group of Detroit artists and
builders who prioritize the craft of carpentry and the
re-use of building materials from abandoned structures.
Tight-grained, virgin forest pine – commonly used as
studs and joists in old Detroit houses – are transformed
here into unique, handsome finishing wood that would be
unobtainable any other way (while saving it from a date
with the landfill!) Slows itself is festooned with this
material. (Did
you see the paper today? It’s all happening.)
$35 – call Cloverleaf now (248) 357-0400
MAIN EVENT:
BAILE
CORCAIGH
Monday, September 24, 6:30 p.m.
Dinner begins promptly at 7:00.
Enjoy a crack
six-course meal with ten astonishing, delicious, natural
wines. Savor spicy crab cakes with old-vine white
burgundy. Indulge in leek, potato and cheese pie with
red burgundy. Feast on Clonakilty
style corned beef and savoie cabbage with old-vine
syrah. A full vegetarian menu will be offered as an
alternative (to include, among other things, Paddy’s
Pancakes: crepes filled with spinach and mushroom a la
crème.) $45 – call Cloverleaf now (248)
357-0400
Dressner on Craic
The New York Times' Eric Asimov wrote this about the wines of Joe's Louis/Dressner Selections:
"The wines that I love the best are most often the result of winemakers who combine great terroir with a minimalist winemaking approach, who care for their land, believe in balance and refreshment, imagine their wines as part of a meal, and first and foremost make wines to please themselves.
"I was thinking about this yesterday
at an industry tasting of wines imported by
Louis/Dressner Selections. This firm, based in New York,
seeks out wines that are made in that style. It’s not
the only importer that specializes in these sorts of
wines, nor is it specifically idealistic. The wines
happen to be the sort that the principals like
themselves.
"I like an awful lot of them, too. In
fact, I was struck at the tasting by how many of the
wines stood out as bright and alive."
I can't promise, but maybe I'll make pizza:
