Send an e-mail to Joe Dressner, The Wine Importer
Click to Read An Exciting Exposé of The Three Tier Schnook System!
Click Here to Speed to the Non-Fictional Louis/Dressner Selections Website
My Friend André Iché, An Appreciation
View current page...more recent posts
Speaking of Great Food and Wine Matches
Denyse, Alyce and I will be dining with Emmanuel Houillon and Pierre Overnoy tomorrow afternoon.
We will be enjoying one of the most sublime food/wine matches imaginable. Great Comté and great VIn Jaune.
I don't think this matching is feasible in America. All great wine lovers in America ought to travel to the Jura to experience this wonderful pairing.
Be on the lookout for the next issue of The Art of Eating, my favorite little, private food/wine journal. There's been a serious of brilliant articles this year in this magazine and the next issue will feature an exploration through the Jura by Ed Behr, who came all the way to the Jura to eat Comté and drink Vin Jaune.
It is reassuring to know there are still journalists out there with sound priorities.
Radishes
Can anyone tell me where to get good radishes in the greater New York Metropolitan area?
I've been chomping on radishes all summer. I'll never forget the first time I saw a French person eat a radish. I thought it was a gag. My future wife cut a large slap of butter, put it on a plate, spread a pile of salt right next door, and ate a buttered, salted radish. I had never seen such an exotic custom, but my wife assured me the entire French nation eats radishes like that.
It turns out to be the case.
Ever since my stroke and bypasses, I am on a reduced butter/salt diet. But man, do I love radishes. And for some reason I can never find the same taste, crispiness and freshness in an American radish. I think they have a different breed in America, they like the fat radish that conserves well in transport and stockage. It is kind of like the difference between the old vines in Europe and the UC Davis clones.
I like eating a radis masale, not a radis clonale.
I'll trade a rare bottle of Muscadet for a good source of radishes in New York. Let me know if you have sources.
Library Release from Domaine de la Pépière!
Who knew, but Marc Ollivier has a library.
Just like the Californians have. Packed with old vintages.
He's releasing the 1999 Clos des Briords. This was a vintage that was closed in its early years but is now a living/breathing testament to the Melon de Bourgogne. This was a fairly hot vintage and it is drinking fine right now. The wine is available in modest, yet real quantites and should be arriving in America in the fall.
In other Muscadet news: Ollivier is releasing a new cuvée called Le Moulin la Gustaie. This is a new vineyard for him and is in gneiss, unlike the Clos des Briords which is in granite. The 2004 is being bottled in a few days and was last tasted by me a couple of weeks ago. It is fat, rich and more typical of the Muscadet than Marc's granite vineyards.
About 1/3 of the vines are between 55 and 60-years-old and the rest are 25 to 30. There was an actual Moulin in the area, which strangely enough decapitated one of Marc's ancestors several generations ago.
This is a celebratory bottle that should not be missed.
Emmanuel Houillon/Pierre Overnoy Gift Packs!
I'm off to the Jura tomorrow to make our annual selection of Emmanuel Houillon/Pierre Overnoy Christmas Season gift packs.
We're looking for a range of old Poulsard and old Savignin. They have a 1996 Savignin available that was made like a Vin Jaune but is considerably cheaper. Not to say that it is cheap.
Stay tuned for more exciting news from Pupillin.
Anyone Attend the Polaner Selections Tasting?
I was in France and could not make it.
I heard Eric Solomon was there!
Anyhow, how did it go? Any highlights?
Did my cousin from Radio Coteau show up?
Chardonnay from the Haut Mâconnais
Does anyone really have to be convinced anymore that one of the greatest expressions of Chardonnay in the world is the premier côte of the Haut Mâconnais?
There's also the advantage here that the vignerons did not have the money to totally screw up the chemical balances of their vineyards with too much fertilizer and chemical treatment. At least in the best sites.
Unfortunately, the area was always dominated by cooperatives and the Haut Mâconnais has never developed the reputation it so richly deserves.
Denyse and I had the pleasure last night to dine with Henri Goyard and his wife. Goyard is the retired vigneron of the Domaine de Roally, whose Mâcon-Viré and Mâcon-Montbellet were always among the top standards of this region. Last night we drank a 1997 Viré followed by the memorable botrysized 1994.
My God, what wines!
Why bother with a tasting note. What a sublime experience.
The French Expression for Spoofulation
It is difficult to come up with a direct translation.
But, I heard the next best thing the other day while tasting with a producer of white Burgundy. Unfortunately, I cannot mention the vigneron's name due to commercial restraints.
His phrase:
Les vins réanimé.
Not bad, that.
Haricot Verts
Denyse and I spend the summer buying and eating Haricot Verts here in the Mâconnais.
Why can't we find good Haricot Verts in America?
No doubt, there is a deluxe vegetable sales outlet in New York or elsewhere that sells first class string beans for a king's ransom.
But here in Poil Rouge, we have no trouble finding delicious Haricot Verts from a wide array of farmers and merchants. No specialty store need apply.
Over here, its just an agricultural product, not a fancy food.
Contest for New Louis/Dressner/LDM Logo
We have been conducting a serious competition to find a new logo for our company.
The current frontrunner, an original design from Ghislaine Martemot, the famed Meursault vigneronne, is shown below:
Any feedback?
I tell you, its great having a vanity website!
What Sort of Egomaniac Runs a Commercial Web Blog?
Yes it takes a lot of ego and a lot of free time.
Someone demented enough to spend their spare moments indulging in endless self-promotion.
Yes, self-indulgence is the word.
But sometimes, there is something else lurking behing the successful Egomaniacal Web Blogger.
My real motivation:
Posting pictures of my dog Buster on the internet.
Thank God! It's Raining in the Mâconnais!
This has been a summer of terrible dryness all over France.
Today, Sunday, August 14th, it is raining here in Poil Rouge.
Thank goodness. The vines could use some water.
DSL at La Pepiere!
That's right!
I am writing this on a DSL connection in the Muscadet.
If only they would get an English language keyboard.
It is a miracle that they can make good wine here, given the illogical and impossible layout of the French keyboard.
Better rush now and order the Cuvée Eden 2004 Magnums. They are being bottled soon!
Comings and Goings in the Sancerrois
Carla Harrison has sold the Hotel de la Loire in St-Thibault. This fabulous hotel, right now I am blogging from the Louis XV room, was beautifully renovated by Carla and her husband about ten years ago. She has been a warm and attentive host and I will sorely miss her.
In other breaking news: Jean-Paul Labaille has a new seasonal worker. Joining the team at Thomas-Labaille is Elodie LePrêtre who prunes, harvests and does lots of vineyard work with enthusiasm and care. Of course, Elodie is the daughter of Labaille's famous neighbor, Georges LePrêtre, Ithe famed proprietor of Chavignol's world reknowned Musée du Miel.
Sales of tartartic acid have dropped off dramatically here, after the banner selling season following the 2003 harvest. I always found it incredible that so many people in the American market complained about the lack of acidity in the 2003 Sancerres when so many 2003s were packed with fake, non-integrated and disagreeable acidity.Our vignerons here were among the few who did not reacifidy and yes the wines were not classic, but they were exotic and natural and time passes and we are on to the 2004s.
In other events: there was a guy walking around Verigny yesterday who was a dead ringer for Cleveland-based importer David Shiverick. I stopped him, as I thought it might be Mr. Shiverick himself, but it turned out to be a Dutchman on holiday who was looking for a restaurant.
A good part of the Sancerrois was touched by an emormous hail storm last week. There was hail as big as ping pong balls that actually broke car windows in the area. The hail was localized, but it will be a difficult year for many vignerons.
Philippe the Depanneur was kept busy replacing car windows and other associated body work after the hail storm.
In other news of note: The Thomas/Labaille family is dining this coming Sunday at Jean Bardet's restaurant in Tours to celebrate Claude Thomas' 80th birthday. We started working in Sancerre with Claude, some 12 years ago, and it has been a privilege to know such an authentic and honest vigneron. Happy Birthday!
I have to run. A quick breakfast then off to Didier Dagueneau. More later.
My Heartfelt Thanks
We couldn't figure out where the hell the spare tire was on our sparkling new Peugeot and it turned out it was under the car, attached to the bottom of the trunk. Who would have known.
Certainly, not Denyse and I. Happily, we found an emergency phone along the highway and the highway authorities dispatched Philippe the Depanneur.
Philippe the Depanneur quickly found our spare time, changed the tires, and sent us on our way after billing us some 87 Euros. What a guy!
Two hours later we were in Sancerre munching Croquets de Sancerre, the famous cookies from the region. We also tasted wine at Fernand Girard and Jean-Paul Labaille.
2004 is a return to a less gentle, more nervous Sancerre. There is acidity and crispness, like our Grandparents loved their Sancerre. It ain't 2002, but it is what the public tends to look for.
Philippe the Depanneur only drinks Sancerres from Lucien Crochet. He saw Neal Rosenthal in Jonathan Nossitor's document Mondavino, and now Philippe the Depanneur only buys wines imported by Neal Rosenthal.
Go figure!
Help!
I have a flat tire and I am about fifteen kilometers from Charolles. We are going to be late for our appointments in Sancerre!
Help!
Blog Hiatus
I have been too busy running around France and too busy vacationning in the Mâconnais to blog over the past few weeks.
My apologies to the readership. I am an old man getting older and have trouble finding energy.
Lots of exciting wine events have happened but my fingers and hands are now plagued with rheumatism. I have difficulty typing.
But I am hoping to get back up to snuff and be more active here at the end of August. I'm about to leave for a two week trip through the Loire where I won't have internet access.
Here in the Mâconnais, we only have dial-up and it is very time consuming and laborious to be active on the web. Combine that with my rheumatism-plagued hands and fingers and creeping old age and the end result is a relatively inactive blog.
I have been active on the excellent Wine therapy wine board, but my activity there has given me great pain in my hands and fingers.
OK, I'll work on some exciting material in the next few weeks.
In the meantime, I have missed all my loyal readers. Leave some notes in the comments section to let me know how you've been and what excitement you've been up to.
Joe Dressner
The Dressneriztion of Muscadet!
I am at Vinexpo in Bordeaux and have overheard this espression four times.
The Dressneriztion of Muscadet!
Yikes!
Wine Tasting
I just finished reading a prepublication version of Elin McCoy's upcoming book about Robert Parker. I found a copy, by accident, at a local coffee shop and was lucky to read this interesting book before it comes out in July.
On the whole, it is a balanced portrait of everything the man has done well and badly for international wine. I'll have more to say about the book's treatment of Parker when the book is published, but McCoy's portrait of how the wine world changed from the 1970s through today is a compelling story.
McCoy sees the tasting organized in Paris in 1976 by Steven Spurrier as one of the turning points. That tasting, for those who don't remember, created international headlines when a series of California wines bested some of the great names of French viticulture in a blind tasting conducted by some of France's best-known wine critics. Stags Leap came out the winner, matched against some of the greatest wines of Bordeaux.
There seemed to be something democratic and practically revolutionary about the results. The upstarts from America beat out the aristocratic Moutons and Haut-Brions and the lesson was that tasted blind, without seeing the prestigious labels and without knowing the history, the superior wines were from young vines from a young country with a young wine industry which was not trapped by tradition and class privileges. American brashness and dynamism reigned supreme.
More importantly, the old system of evaluating wines, a system based on the history of a region, a vineyard, a producer and the track history of their wines was no longer reliable. Blind tasting, deconstructing wine into fleeting aromatics and flavors was now the way to evaluate the worth of each bottle. Wine was no longer a culture, a way of life, a complement to a meal, but was now an Olympic event best judged by great and aspiring-to-be-great palates. Wine was removed from context and the eventual result was the Score/Tasting Note evaluatory system.
I spend a great deal of time with impassioned vignerons and always try to explain to our customers how the work in the fields and in the cellars is what makes great wine. I try to explain that the 20 second sniff and spit tasting exercise can only offer a glimpse of the vigneron's work and achievements. But, it is often difficult to sell wine as a natural product since so many people in the trade have been trained to believe that the way to judge wine is through a reductionist search for "tasting" characteristics.
So few people now are being trained to taste a wine in context, for where it came from, what it expresses and how it interacts with food and the real world. Instead, we have an external construct of fruit/wood/earthy flavors and aromas and we try to pigeonhole a wine into the confines of these external evaluators. We do not taste and drink the wine for what it is, but for what it approximates in wine tasting lexicon.
Certainly, famous wines are not great wines because of their birthright and history. There are underachievers, deceptions and disappointments -- wine is horribly complicated..
But I am still happy to drink a Raveneau knowing it needs years to develop and seeing a Raveneau label when I drink a Raveneau does not dull my critical perspective. In fact, it enriches my knowledge of what I am smelling and tasting.
Because the wine is not about me and not about my palate. Wine is not a vehicle for egomania, boastfulness and self-promotion. All the great "tasters" I have known are able to submerge their ego and understand what is in the bottle. Where it came from and where it is going. And they've done that without charts, tasting wheels or tortured prose likening wine to 57 different fruits (the Heinz Variety Tasting method).
A great taster is at one with the wine. Something we can all hope to be through experience, constant skepticism and openness to new experience and new sensations.
How boring the world of Points/Tasting notes has become! I even see my friends, people I like, writing endless tasting notes with endless useless fruit/wood/earth analogies that are of no possible use to anyone. Yes, they drop off the points, but they are still using the same methodology. Furthermore, modern oenology has learned how to manipulate wine to create manufactured aromas and flavors that fit into the "tasting palates" artificial construct.
I'm always shocked to see people enjoying fake fruits and fake sweetness and fake viscosity that is so obviously fraudulent and alien to wine. But even people with good intentions get sucked into this whirlwind of tasting frenzy, thinking that they are somehow coming closer to learning something about wine.
Why not just sit down with one great bottle. Learn everything you can about the region and producer. Go visit them on a vacation. Immerse yourself.
Learn to enjoy wine.