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Enough is Enough!
I'm returning to New York from the Mâconnais!
The news here in Southern Burgundy is that the Marquis Phillips brand is endangered!
What's going on?
I'm packing up the house and returning to New York.
Off to the Loire Valley
We will be stationed in Montlouis-sur-Loire over the next two weeks where we will get down to the brass tacks of figuring out allocations and prices with Manuela and François Chidaine.
I don't expect to be on the internet.
Have fun!
Great New Mâcon
We have been blessed to acquire 22 cases from two different cuvées from Alexandre Jouveaux.
Alexandre is a new winemaker with superb plots in Uchizy. The man has a bit over two acres, no tractor, does everything by hand, brings the vines to total maturity, although has dry fermentations, and makes wines of incredible depth, length and character.
Look for these wines this fall at a retailer near you. Louis/Dressner Selections is the proud importer.
Mâconnais Invaded!
A slew of star winemakers from illustrious villages in the Côte-de-Beaune are buying vineyards here in the Mâconnais.
Incredibly, they are all buying in average to lousy spots where no one has ever made good wine and no one ever will. Minimally, one might ask these vignerons to examine the Mâconnais before making an investment -- but apparently the prevalent wisdom is that there is no terroir here just Chardonnay vines that will be turned into gold by biodynamistes descending from Puligny or Meursault. It is depressing to see the entirety of the Mâconnais treated as a homogenous site by owners of great estates in Puligny, who for some strange reason want to buy vines in the forgotten back alleys of Verzé (which unfortunately suffered a devastating hail storm last week). Let alone vignerons from Meursault who want to buy ruined estates that have been abused by chemical treatments for decades, complete with vineyards planted in clones that have inferior terroir and expositions.
Minimally, a newcomer to a viticultural area might make the effort to do some geological research, talk to the locals, and spend some time figuring out where to buy vineyards. They could have called me.
Go figure.
Memorable Wines of the Summer
One of the great things about being a wine importer is having access to wines that no one else will ever drink. I've been spending the summer in France immersed in a program of deep relaxation, obscure wine consumption and endless hours of beautiful compansionship with jovial dining with the scores of French in-laws who have visited us this summer.
Amongst the wine highlights:
1991 Domaine des Terres Dorées Beaujolais à l'Ancienne -- incredibly fresh, with casis and violets.
1996 Mas des Chimères Viognier VDP Lac de Salagou -- go figure....I wish I could find Condrieu that developed this well eight years later.
2000 Chassagne-Montrachet Séléctions des Grains Nobles -- That's right, a SGN from Chassagne-Montrachet! Of course, this is a thoroughly illegal product and cannot be sold in commerce. Only a tiny quantity of this wine was made and it was incredibly rich but lively. Exotic but familiar.
1999 Domaine des Terres Dorées Cuvée Prémieres -- Go figure. This wine is the young vine first bottling after the nouveau. Had the feel of a great Burgundy. Go figure.
1996 PIerre Overnoy Poulsard -- Unfortunately, this should have been decanted for two hours before consumed. But it was still fantastic.
Of course, there were many others. Stick around and I'll try to write about them.
Hail Hits Mâconnais
Sorry I've been absent, but I've been trying to vacation here in the Mâconnais.
Yesterday, the Mâconnais was hit by one of the most violent thunderstorms I can remember. There was significant hail damage and the crop in the village of La Roche VIneuse was totally destroyed. Nothing left on the vine.
Yes, we all enjoy wine and discussing the relative merits of various vignerons. But sometimes we forget that whole agricultural regions are dependent on the vine for their very livelihood.
It was extremely sad to walk through the vineyards today. Imagine going a year without any revenue. That's going to be the case for many vignerons in this area.
Contest: Describe What is Wrong with Pierre Rovani's Evaluation of George Duboeuf and Win a Touraine Gamay Sampler
I've arrived in France and visited the Beaujolais and Puligny-Montrachet.
Someone sent me Pierre Rovani's explanation of George Duboeuf's vinification techniques, excerpted from a computer wine bulletin board. It reads:
I can only assume that you haven't tasted and Duboeuf wines in the past few years and are basing your comments on the somewhat distant past. A number of years ago he had producers with whom he had contracts using an artificial yeast that promoted fruitiness. That yeast was also responsible for tropical flavors like banana... and had a way of masking some of the differences between the crus. When he realized what was happening that was stopped. Today, the growers he buys from typically only use indigenous yeasts. The "Duboeuf signature" of the old days is no longer there... and I'd bet money you'd adore the wines if tasted blind.
The reader who best described what is wrong with this evaluation, in cogent and polite terms, will win an exciting Touraine Gamay Sampler. Just click on the comments section.
Frankly, it is scary that Mr. Rovani, who is no doubt an honest and hard-working fellow, writes about Duboeuf as if Mr. Rovani is a flak for the Duboeuf organization. I don't care that Rovani likes the Duboeuf wines, but I do object to him acting as a PR piece. Imagine, reporting that Duboeuf discovered he had producers using "artificial yeasts" and Duboeuf putting an end to such practices.
Amazing....
Off to France
I'm off to France on Wednesday for a couple of months.
The entire family is going -- my wife, daughter, son, dog (Buster) -- and we are hoping for an exciting summer. We will be setting up shop at the Louis/Dressner compound in Poil Rouge. Poil Rouge is located in an indeterminate part of Southern Burgundy.
Follow our adventures on this web site.
The Pastoral Serenity of Poil Rouge
Joe Dressner Leeked
Strangely, the French Government has awarded me an Ordre du Merite Agricole. While I have always followed the Groucho Marx adage to not join a club that would have me as a member, I'm deeply honored to accept this award on behalf of all our vignerons. .
The Order du Merite Agricole is a salute to French nationals and foreigners who aid the cause of French agriculture. I suppose, in a small way I have done my part. There is a ribbon, that I will have to wear all my waking hours, that is pictured below:
The award is also known as "Le Poireau," as the green streak resembles a leek.
I will be writing my memoirs soon.
While not mandatory, colleagues, friends and family may now address me as The Marquis. Calling me The Marquis has nothing to do with me winning the Poireau. It's just something I would greatly enjoy.
There will be an award ceremony in September with the French Minister of Agriculture. You will all be invited.
Rumours of Louis/Dressner Sale
I don't know who started the rumours but they are all false. Literally, there is no truth to the rumours that our company has been sold or is up for sale.
We greatly enjoy finding, buying and marketing such a fabulous groups of vignerons. We're going nowhere.
By the way, from now on I intend to use English spellings.
Leaving the Marvin Circuit
I have done my last marvin.
At least my last marvin in an automobile.
We have wines that are truly creative. Wines that are the creation of hard work and grand terroir. Selling grand vin in the future is going to be a creative process, orchestrated by creative people who can create enthusiasm for the original and the authentic. As the trade consolidates, the larger players (be it Costco or other larger retailing chains) will be grabbing all the shelf talker, easy sell nonsense out there in the market. At Louis/Dressner Selections we do not have those types of wines. And I simply do not want to sell our wines anymore like we are selling liquor or Parker/Wine Spectator points.
I recently spent a week in the Northwest marvinning various accounts in Oregon and Washington. It has taken me a week to recover from this ordeal.
I don't like the automobile. This is why I live in New York. The constant motion and near life-threatening circumstances of ordinary automotive travel are simply too exhausting for me. I spent five straight days getting into a car with a sales rep for a distributor (who are always at least thirty years younger than myself) trying to see important accounts scattered all over the globe. Generally, these sales reps are underpaid and have undersized cars. I can barely fit into their front seats and their shock absorbers usually need repairs. We drive twenty minutes, thirty minutes, or more, nearly being hit be large longhaul freight trucks every five minutes, and I arrive at important restaurants and retailers totally spent, disshevelled and emotionally drained.
When I arrive at a retailer, I am so physically shaken from the automobile ride that I go immediately to their bathrooms to try to compose myself. If it is a fancy retailer who does not use plastic cups to taste wine, they invariably keep a pile of Wine Spectators and Wine Enthusiasts next to the toilet and store their Reidel stemware above the toilet. This is the same Reidel stemware they are going to use to decide if they want to stock your selections. You know they are going to grab this stemware as soon as you get out of the bathroom and use it to taste your lovely wines. This makes you hesitant to do anything in their bathroom that will alter the potential customers perception of you and your product. You also want the Riedel stemware to be fresh and smell well. So you hesitate to do anything drastic in their bathrooms.
I notice that most distributor salespeople do not eat during the day. They say they are too busy selling product. But my guess is that they want to avoid being in embarassing situations with their customer's Reidel storage areas.
So, little gets done in the retailer's bathroom. I show some product, get back into a car, go screaming down an interstate highway with a salesperson on their cellphone driving recklessly while trying to sell the latest Eric Solomon spanish wines that got big scores from Robert Parker to one of their customers.
So, I've called it quits. I would love to meet important accounts and I am happy to drive to see them. But I am taking myself off the marvin circuit.
Long Live the Robert Chadderdon School of Wine Marketing!
More Praise for 360 Van Brunt Street
It is good to see Jorge Riera featured in this week's glowing New Yorker review of 360 Van Brunt Street.
The publicity-hungry Arnaud Erhart has already appeared in several publications. It is time that Jorge get his due.
The food has only gotten better over there in Red Hook and the wine list remains the cutting edge list of the New York wine scene.
The New Yorker Goes to Red Hook
Lawrence "The Hulk" Dressner's Murder Conviction Overturned!
Once again another Dressner appears to have been involved in a criminal activity. As in the case of Dustin "Shorty" Dressner, see below, we know nothing about this Dressner.
BOSTON -- One of the last men to face the death penalty in Massachusetts is now a free man.
A Boston judge overturned Lawrence "The Hulk" Dressner's murder conviction in April after his lawyers discovered the Boston police withheld key documents in the case.
Dressner learned Monday that the district attorney would not retry the case.
"It feels like a period at the end of a profound statement. I'm ready to move on the next chapter," Dressner said.
So far, the 51-year-old's life has read more like a horror story. In 1972, he was convicted of murdering an MBTA worker. He spent 30 years behind bars for a crime he says he did not commit.
In April, a judge overturned the conviction, and prosecutors announced they will not retry the case.
"Based on the state of the evidence it is impossible to say if he was guilty or not guilty. What we can say is that he did not receive a fair trial," District Attorney Bob O'Connor said.
One of the reasons Dressner is free is that most of the witnesses in the case have died. But one man, who remembers the murder well, said that he's not convinced justice was served.
"They beat him to death with a sledgehammer," the victim's friend, Sean McNally, said. "His hands were all busted up. His head was caved in. It was a big story back then. Whether he did it, I think he did. That's my own feeling."
Dressner said that he is ready to move on.
"I don't think that bitter is a word for it. I think more or less disappointed. I would like to pick up my life and move forward."
Dustin "Shorty" Dressner Sentenced to Death in Louisiana
While I have never met Dustin "Shorty" Dressner and have no reason to believe he is a relative, I was deeply saddened to read about the horrible suffering Mr. Dressner has caused the entire Fasullo family. While I am opposed to capital punishment, sending Shorty Dressner away to solitary confinement for the rest of his life seems a fitting ending to his horrible life. The following account of the murder trial is excerpted from Paul Purpura's excellent coverage in The Times Picayune.
Dustin "Shorty" Dressner, a resident of Avondale, Louisiana, was sentenced to death by lethal injection late Monday for killing a grocer and trying to kill his wife during a bloody home invasion two years ago.
A Jefferson Parish jury deliberated about two hours before coming back with the death sentence for Dustin "Shorty" Dressner, 20, who looked over his right shoulder at his parents as the clerk read the verdict in 24th Judicial District Judge Hans Liljeberg's courtroom.
In his first sign of emotion in the eight-day trial, Dressner fell into his mother's embrace, buried his face in her right shoulder and cried as his father caressed his close-cropped hair after security personnel cleared the courtroom on Liljeberg's order.
On Sunday night, the same jury of 10 women and two men convicted Dressner of first-degree murder for the June 6, 2002, slaying of Paul Fasullo, 39, the co-owner of the Piggly Wiggly in Gretna. Fasullo was killed in his home at 5313 Tulip Court in Marrero's Oak Cove subdivision.
Fasullo died from a stab wound to his chest. His wife, Shannon Fasullo, 24, was stabbed more than 20 times with a steak knife, including wounds she received while trying to protect her 2-year-old daughter.
She identified Dressner as her attacker early the next morning as she was treated for her wounds at West Jefferson Medical Center. Dressner was arrested the day after the killing, outside his parents' home as he tried to clean blood from his blue 1990 Buick Skylark.
Dressner was the last of three men who have been sentenced in connection with the homicide; under questioning by detectives, he named his cohorts and said one of them, Kellen Parker, forced him to commit the crime, according to police testimony. Parker, 21, was sentenced to life in prison in November after a jury could not agree on whether to sentence him to death -- a fact Dressner's attorneys cited to the jury Monday in hopes of swaying them to sentence him to life in prison, too.
Troy Arnaud, 21, was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.
During the sentencing phase, which began Monday morning, family members and friends of the victims and Dressner told the jury about how the murder has affected their lives. As the emotionally charged testimony wore on, several jurors broke into tears.
Prosecutors urged the jury to put Dressner to death. Though no members of the Fasullo family made that plea to jurors, Dressner's family and his attorneys directly asked for mercy.
"Please don't kill my son, please," Dressner's mother, Shirlene Dressner, said in testimony interrupted by tears. "Please don't kill my son."
She apologized to the Fasullo family and said she holds herself accountable for her son's actions, telling the jury that though she saw troubling behavior in her son early in his life, she did not believe in psychological help.
"In some ways I feel like it's my fault," Shirlene Dressner said. "I'd seen some things, but I didn't want to believe it. And I feel like if I had gotten some help, we wouldn't be here" at the trial.
Shannon Fasullo testified that she must raise her 4-year-old daughter alone, saying her late husband "adored her."
In closing statements prosecutor Cameron Mary for the second time played a tape recording of Shannon Fasullo's panicked 911 call, in which the Fasullos' child, then 2 years old, could be heard screaming uncontrollably.
Jefferson Parish Deputy Robert Pellegrin, one of the first officers to arrive at the Fasullo home, testified a second time at Monday's sentencing hearing, saying he found the toddler covered in blood and sitting on a sofa near her father's body. The child received a split lip, and the blood belonged to her parents, according to testimony.
"What is the measure of a man?" Mary asked the jury. "His life's works. What does (Dressner) have to show for his 20 years of life on this planet with us? Dustin Dressner's life work: He turned a loving husband and doting father into that," he said, holding up a photo of Fasullo's body to the jury.
Defense attorneys attempted to portray Dressner as a good child and member of the First Baptist Church in Westwego who went astray as he approached his teen years, saying his family has a history of mental disorders.
Dressner spent time in four mental institutions, and his attorneys presented the testimony of a psychologist and a psychiatrist who said Dressner has bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which can lead to poor judgment and impulsive behavior.
Defense attorney Lee Faulker argued during the trial that Dressner went to the Fasullo home looking for drugs but didn't intend to kill the couple. Specific intent to kill is a key element of a first-degree murder charge.
But prosecutor Donnie Rowan said Dressner was not in the throes of mental illness during the attack and described him as manipulative, trying to counter defense testimony that Dressner has shown remorse while in jail awaiting trial. "He's remorseful because he got caught," Rowan said, calling Dressner a "walking tombstone of death."
"He deserves no pity," Rowan said. "He deserves absolutely no mercy"
Alive
Exactly four years ago I had four coronary bypasses.
This is why I have a blog. So, that someone can publicly wish me a happy birthday.
Happy Birthday Joe!
A Devout Note from Louis/Dressner Selections
Louis/Dressner Selections has taken a turn to the Catholic right wing.
Don't miss this fervent and humble coverage at:
Louis/Dressner Selections
Congratulations to My Son!
My son, who wishes to be nameless and who is endlessly embarrassed by the existence of this web site, will be graduating the Lycée Français de New York tomorrow!
If you think wines age fast, try having children. My God, my son is 18 and off to college!
Congratulations and all my love!
Come Meet The Wine Importer in Seattle and Portland!
Joe Dressner, see column to the left, will be tasting wine all over the Pacific Northwest next week.
There are trade tastings and marvins planned in both cities. Members of the wine industry will have already received invitations for these major events.
There are also public events:
Wednesday, May 26
Campagne Restaurant in Seattle is having a Louis/Dressner dinner featuring Joe Dressner and some of the wines he imports. Daisley Gordon has whipped-up a fabulous menu, this is the third year in a row they are doing this dinner, and the meal costs $90.00 with dozens of mind-blowing wines. Call 206 728 2800 for reservations.
Friday, May 28
Liner & Elsen, a fine wine shop in Portland, will have Mr. Dressner serving his wines from 5:30-7:30 p.m. There will be a 5% discount for alumni of Francis Lewis High School.
There are also numerous private dinners and functions that you might be eligible to attend during this gala week. Call me on my cell phone for further details -- 646 321 3424.