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Late Breaking News!
Steve Mosher, the Boston Retailer, will be in attendence at tomorrow's Louis/Dressner tasting!
Mr. Mosher was originally going to watch Whirling Dervish run the fifth race at Suffolk Downs, but cancelled the engagement when he learned we would be showing a bottle of Teobaldo Cappellano's 1947 Chinato. Mr. Mosher is an investor in Whirling Dervish, along with five other race horses.
We're glad he will make the time to attend the tasting and wish Whirling Dervish great success.
Only One More Day Until Exciting Louis/Dressner Tasting!
A Mini-Vertical from Marc Ollivier!
A Mini-Vertical from Pierre Breton!
A Mini-Vertical from Teobaldo Cappellano!
A Mini-Vertical from Emidio Pepe!
A Special Wacky Wines Contest!
Win a Feature Article With Your Photograph (touched up with Photoshop) Appearing on This Blog!
Eric Texier Back and Live!
João Roseira With Infantado Portos!
Jeff Viera!
Amy Pommier!
Meet Mona Moore!
I also publicly promise that I will be nice to everyone who attends. I will shake your hand, discuss the state of your business and personal life with you, smile, and act charming. I will be sympathetic and find all your jokes very funny. I will make direct eye contact and appear engaged by everything you say to me.
Ìt will be difficult, but I have working with a Business Coach for the past three months.
Don't miss the tasting!
Superb Harvest in the Arbois
We just received an e-mail from Anne Houillon and they couldn't be happier with the quality of the harvest at Domaine Houillon/Overnoy.
Below is Adam Houillon checking the phenolic ripeness of the savignan:
An Amazing Fact About Americans under 25!
In a recent national survey, only 14% of American under the age of 25 had heard of the actor/comedian WC Fields.
Amazing and true!
An Amazing Distributor Part 2
Polaner Selections distributes about 80% of our wines in New York and New Jersey.
Doug Polaner, Tina Fischer and Michael Wheeler are the owners of this dynamic company. They have introduced and successfully marketed not only our wines, but a range of great producers like López de Heredia and Guisseppe Mascarello, plus they sell Eric Solomon's wines! Not only that, they handle the wines for my cousin Eric Sussman at Radio-Coteaux.
What is remarkable about Polaner is that they create wine excitement and have transcended the humdrum salesmanship of wine distributorships. They bring an added value into the market at a time when distribution is going over to standardization, consolidation and boredom.
We're having our 11th Annual Louis/Dressner Selections tasting this year and the bulk of the wines are with Polaner. But what is remarkable is that the entire Polaner organizations throws themselves into promoting the event, even though there will be lots of wines they don't sell and don't make money from. I can't say I know another distributor in America who would be so generous with their time and resources.
Two people came to our First Portfolio Tasting in 1994 -- Amy Pommier and Danny Cohen of the now closed l'Acajou restaurant. We expect at least 25 people this coming Wednesday, maybe even more, and we have Polaner Selections to thank for our added presence in the New York marketplace.
We're also fairly certain that Amy Pommier will be attending for the 13th consecutive time.
All our thanks to everyone at Polaner Selections! From the inside people who have helped us with samples and logistics (Kathleen, David, Eric, Roselyn, Carol and Carolina) to the salespeople (Mark, Susan, Tim & Tim, Meg, Linus, the new guy upstate, the new guys in New Jersey, the new woman in New York and Josh who succeeds at selling our wines in New Jersey despite enormous market obstacles) who pound the pavement selling our wines.
And of course to Doug, Tina and Mike.
All our thanks.
An Amazing Distributor Part 1
We sell our wines in New Orleans and a bill is just about due these days.
I finally got a hold of our wholesaler, International Wine & Spirits, last week. I felt calling to ask about a payment -- obviously there are bigger problems in New Orleans than paying off a bill for geek wines from Louis/Dressner Selections. I felt guilty making the call, like I was just another sleazy businessman concerned with their narrow interests and petty cash flow. I make myself sick sometimes.
I assumed we were going to lose money, or wait for insurance claims, or get paid in five years, or get paid a percentage and/or varioui other disastrous scenarios. I called the company to negotiate.
The outcome....no problem, we pay our bills, I was told, business is picking up and International Wine & Spirits honors its commitments. Payment is being made.
My God! These people are crazy or something! But it gives you confidence that New Orleans will rebound and one day be even more vibrant and more exciting than it ever was.
Cult Wine Internet Personality Robert Callahan to Attend Next Weeks's Tasting!
The mysterious and elusive Robert Callahan will be attending next week's Louis/Dressner Selections Tasting.
Mr. Callahan will be driving up from his headquarters in Franklin, West Virginia. Mr. Callahan is best know for his internet wine forum:
Robert Callahan's Wine Therapy Discussion Group
In an unrelated development, Linus Kessler of Polaner Selection will also be in attendance along with three guys from Centerba Selections, our new wholesaler in North Carolina.
Late News: João Roseira from Quinta do Infantado Will Be Attending the October 19th Portfolio Tasting!
That's right!
Mr. Roseira will be showing a range of available wines from Infantado, along with a very old wine and the Porto Nouvo.....that's right a preview of the 2005 Porto harvest! He will also be showing the 2003 Vintage for the first time in America!
The tasting will also be host to the historic reconciliatory meeting between Mr. Roseira and Jeff Viera of K&L Wines in California's Bay Area. Don't miss this moving moment!
Information on Tables 4 and 5 Leaks Out!
We've learned more information this morning about the upcoming October 19th Louis/Dressner tasting.
Table 4 will be called: French Vignerons Who Make White Wines and Who Own Dogs!
Wines will include:
Domaine Luneau-Papin Muscadet-sur-Lie Pierre de la Grange Vieilles Vignes 2004
Domaine Luneau-Papin Muscadet-sur-Lie Clos des Allées Vieilles Vignes 2004
Domaine Luneau-Papin Muscadet-sur-Lie L d’Or 2002
Clos Roche Blanche Touraine Sauvignon Blanc 2004
Domaine Franck Peillot Roussette de Montagnieu Altesse 2004
Domaine du Closel Savennières la Jalousie 2004
Table 5 will be called: A Mini-Vertical of Grand Cru Muscadet from Marc Ollivier’s Domaine de la Pépière
We would have a police raid if the tasting was being held in France. In France, the Fraud Squad would shut us down because Muscadet does not have Grand Cru. But the tasting will be held in New York, where we can say anything we like! Isn't that what made America a great nation and why we sent our boys to Iraq?
This table will include:
2004 Muscadet-sur-Lie-de-Sèvre-et-Maine
2004 Muscadet-sur-Lie-de-Sèvre-et-Maine Moulin de la Gustaie
2004 Muscadet-sur-Lie-de-Sèvre-et-Maine Cuvée Eden
2004 Muscadet-sur-Lie-de-Sèvre-et-Maine Clos des Briords
2001 Muscadet-sur-Lie-de-Sèvre-et-Maine
2001 Muscadet-sur-Lie-de-Sèvre-et-Maine Cuvée Eden (The first!)
1997 Muscadet-sur-Lie-de-Sèvre-et-Maine Clos des Briords
1995 Muscadet-sur-Lie-de-Sèvre-et-Maine Clos des Briords
1994 Muscadet-sur-Lie-de-Sèvre-et-Maine Domaine de la Pépière
1991 Muscadet-sur-Lie-de-Sèvre-et-Maine Domaine de la Pépière
1988 Muscadet-sur-Lie-de-Sèvre-et-Maine Clos des Briords
I'll be attending the event. See you there!
A Merry Yom Kippur to All Our Jewish Friends!
A very Happy New Year to all our Jewish Friends out there!
Today is the Jewish Day of Atonement and a very important holiday for the Jewish religon.
Many Jews fast during the day and then have a big meal at sunset.
This can be very tiring but very cleansing.
An old Jewish ritual is to drink a bottle of Muscadet at night when they break the fast.
This is an important tradition that we respect and cherish.
L'Shana Tova!
Yet More Details about Fabulous October 19th Tasting!
Table 3 is called: French Vignerons Who Make White Wines and Who Don’t Own Dogs
It includes:
1. Domaine François Pinon Vouvray Pétillant
2. Domaine François Cazin Cheverny Blanc 2004
3. Domaine François Cazin Cour-Cheverny 2002
4. Domaine Jean Manciat Mâcon-Charnay Franclieu 2004
5. Terres Dorées Beaujolais Blanc Chardonnay 2004
6. Domaine de Roally Mâcon-Montbellet 2002
7. Domaine Raymond Quénard Chignin Vieilles Vignes 2004
8. Domaine Raymond Quénard Chignin Bergeron Vieilles Vignes 2004
9. Domaine Fernand Girard Sancerre la Garenne 2004
10. Domaine François Pinon Vouvray Tradition 2004
More Details Emerging About Louis/Dressner October 19th Tasting!
Table 2 is called: Exciting New Wines Never Seen Before Anywhere West of Quiberon!
These wines include:
1. Clos Roche Blanche Touraine Rouge Pif 2004
2. Emmanuel Houillon Arbois Pupillin Chardonnay 2004
3. Vasja & Branko Cotar Malvasija Kras 2001
4. Vasja & Branko Cotar Sauvignon Kras 2002
5. Domaine Luneau-Papin Muscadet-sur-Lie Pierre de la Grange Vielles Vignes 2004
6. Vasja & Branko Cotar Teran Rosso 2003
7. Domaine de la Ferme St.-Martin Côtes-du-Ventoux la Gérine 2004
8. I Clivi di Ferdinando Zanusso Bianco Collio Galea 1999
9. Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet-sur-Lie Moulin de La Gustaie 2004
10. Terres Dorées Fleurie 2004
11. Château d’Oupia Minervois Hommage à Poupette 2004
12. Gourt de Mautens de Jerome Bressy Rasteau 2003
A Great Read: Château of Echoes!
Just the other day, I received an e-mail from a publicist who asked if I would be interested in reviewing her client's book. Now that my blog has been mentioned in Food & Wine Magazine, I'm being besieged with offers. Apparently, all good marketers know that the way to get products moving in today's cyberworld is to get the bloggers blogging. The blog noise creates market buzz leading to big sales.
The publicist wrote:
Hi, Joe. I recently ran across your blog and thought you might be interested in a book my firm represents. Chateau of Echoes by Siri Mitchell tells the tale of an inn-owner in the French countryside. Fabulous French recipes are used throughout the novel, complete with appropriate wine choices. Ms. Mitchell is a former resident of Paris (now living in Atlanta, GA) and has parlayed that experience into a wonderfully written novel that illustrates the beauty of the French countryside, its people, food, and wine.
The book came today and I've already read all 407 pages -- I couldn't stop turning the pages even though I have a million things to do for our October 19th Trade Tasting.
My favorite passage:
As I slid pats of butter across the crêpe pan, poured pools of batter on the metal surface, and spun a rake across the mix to spread it out, I had to be honest with myself. Cranwell was attractive....His eyes were hypnotic....In myriad ways Cranwell seduced the senses.
Château of Echoes is a must read for lovers of travel, fine food, fine wine and romance!
Amazon Link to Siri L. Mitchell's Scorching Novel!
Details About the Upcoming Louis/Dressner October 19th Tasting Begin to Leak Out
Apparently, the first table will be called The Wacky Wine Table.
All tasting attendees will be asked to rank the wines on an ascending level of wackyness. The idea is to use the American scholastic notation system, the old 1 to 100, to evaluate wine. Of course, just getting into the bottle guarantees you 50 points and the distinction between an 89 Point Wacky Wine and a 90 Point Wacky Wine is uncertain. Nevertheless, the 90 Point Wacky Wine ain't making it into Sherry-Lehman's Christmas Catalog, that's for sure!
We like wacky wines and are proud to be buying and selling them. They often have that extra edge of craziness and rarity that can only come from the soil and not from a laboratory. They can add a diversity and richness to everyday life that no oenologist will even invent.
Here's the wines to be evaluated:
1. Blaterle from Weingut Nusserhof
2. Maulé Sasssaia 2003
3. Cascina degli UliviMerla Bianca 2003
4. Cascina degli Ulivi Montamarino 2002
5. Domaine de la Sansonnière Fouchardes 2002
6. Luneau-Papin Le Poyet Sempre Excelsior Muscadet 2002 -- $30.00 Muscadet!
7. Luneau-Papin Clos de Noelles Sempre Excelsior Muscadet 2002 -- Yet another $30.00 Muscadet!
8. Domaine de Bellivière Les Eparses 2003 -
9. Domaine du Closel les Caillardieres 2003 -- a dry wine as a charming moëlleux!
10. Pierre Overnoy & Emmanuel Houillon Poulsard 2002
11. Frick Pinot Noir Rot Murle Sans Soufre 2002
12. Château St-Anne Bandol Collection 2000
More details about the tasting tomorrow.
Mondovino Out on DVD!
I recently bought a DVD player to hook up to my television. I consider it important to be up on new technology.
The other night, I watched the DVD version of Mondovino. Having bought a DVD player, I immediately subscribed to Netflix. This is a great service which sends you dozens of DVDs and leads to sleep deprivation as you frantically try to watch all the movies they send you.
The main reason I subscribed to Netflix was to watch countless episodes of the Alec Guiness BBC productions where he plays George Smiley, the John LeCarré spy character. I'm already through episode 12 and loving the stuff. Denyse, my wife, has a tough time with all the Smiley shows and has trouble following the plot line. But after all these years of marriage, she has agreed to watch all the Smiley episodes they stock at Netflix. Denyse did not realize they have a dedicated warehouse.
Denyse had not seen Mondovino, so I also rented that film. At first they made a mistake and sent me Fritz Lang's M instead of Mondovino. I've had a lot of problems lately with internet ordering -- I just received an order from Fresh Direct last night, who sent me 24 blueberry scones I did not order and I was not charged for.
I loaded what I thought was Mondovino into my new DVD player and was delighted to watch a film without a jumpy camera, without too many dogs, without too many Michel Rollands and without too many Robert Parkers congratulating themselves for being humble Americans who stood up to Old World Aristocrats. At first, I thought it was the Mondovino director's cut, but as soon as I saw Peter Lorre stalking a child and that familiar music, I jumped off my couch (where I was sipping a 2004 Clos des Briord) and checked the sleeve of the DVD jacket. That's when I noticed that something was going on and that I wasn't watching Mondovino.
Eventually, they shipped Mondovino (after I returned M to their Flushing, New York address) and I found I enjoyed Mondovino more on the small screen than the large screen. The DVD gives you the option of changing the ending, and I opted for the ending where Michel Rolland cackles as he buys Southern Wine & Spirits and dresses as a mobster circa Al Capone's Roaring 20s Chicago. Even Rolland's chauffeur dresses like a petty hoodlum.
Great stuff.
Good Muscadet Article on MSNBC
There's a nice article about Muscadet on MSNBC. MSNBC is a big internet portal which is owned by Microsoft. Microsoft is a major backer of the Melon de Bourgogne. Bill Gates is a major Muscadet drinker. The next edition of Microsoft Windows, still in Beta, is codenamed Micaschist.
Jon Bonné actually went out and bought some good bottles in Seattle and spent a great deal of time talking to industry experts like myself and Putnam Weekly, a retailer in Detroit.
Mr. Bonné particularly likes the new horribly expensive Luneau-Papin Muscadets that receive extended lees contact and which are cropped at ridiculously low yields. We are happy to finally see Muscadets at over $25.00 and I can't wait until they get more expensive than that.
In reality, they are worth more. The beginnings of such a market is needed to give value to this AOC, where there is so much misery and such small quantities of good wine. But when those Muscadets are good....you're drinking some of the great white wines in the world.
Don't miss this article.
Jon Bonné Muscadet Article on MSN
1947 Barolo Chinato from Teobaldo Cappellano to be Showcased at Louis/Dressner October 19th Tasting!
Actually, his father made this wine.
Michael Wheeler, a past recipient of the Wine Personality of the Year Award, has graciously donated a bottle of this rare wine for the tasting. The wine has been stored for nearly 50 years and is the latest library release from the Michael Wheeler Wine Library.
Mr. Wheeler will be presenting this wine, along with a wider range of Cappellano wines, during the October 19th Louis/Dressner Tasting. Mr. Wheeler is a principal in the firm of Polaner Selections, who distributes the bulk of Louis/Dressner wines in New York and New Jersey.
A google search has found some interesting background on this wine....lifted from the Kobrand Wines web site. Kobrand sells lots of great wine and I want to thank them for the use of this material:
In the 1800s, pharmacists were also referred to as "chemists" or "druggists," as they occupied a role of therapist to their patients in administering compounds of spices prepared in their pharmacies to help overcome various indispositions such as flu, colds, headaches, digestive and appetite problems and other ailments. These compounds were produced from a few basic pharmaceutical products which they had at their disposal combined with raw materials naturally available in the area in which they pursued their art. Relying on the scientific knowledge of the day and their imaginations, these pharmacists created unique preparations often effective for their purposes.
Of particular note was a pharmacist of Serralunga d'Alba, Giuseppe Cappellano, first known as a gourmet and then as a pharmacist. Resident of an area of great gastronomic tradition, he seriously undertook the creation of an efficient digestive. His love of fine Barolo was reinforced by his belief in the wine's therapeutic properties when drunk well aged, and so he began his research with this great wine. He departed from an alcohol infusion of quinine bark ("china") to which he added numerous herbs and spices such as clove, wormwood and cinnamon; this was blended with Barolo slightly sweetened with cane sugar. This delicious elixir soon became famous among the Piemontese bourgeoisie and much appreciated by the house of Savoy, who served it at royal banquets not only as an excellent digestive, but also as an aperitif and as a dessert wine to accompany chocolate.
Win a Biographical Profile, Complete with Your Picture, on this Web Site!
We are going to be having several contests at the upcoming Louis/Dressner October 19th tasting.
Remember, you have to be a certified member of the wine industry to attend this spectacular event.
Everyone attending will be required to place a business card in a fishbowl. Actually, we don't own a fishbowl, so one of you will be obligated to bring your fishbowl with you to the tasting. At the end of the tasting, Shawn Mead (the latest addition to the Louis/Dressner team) will pick a card at random. The lucky winning entry will be featured on this web site in an entirely syncophatic portrait. We will make it seem like the winner is the most important person in the history of the wine industry. We will take a picture and have our graphics team doctor it in Photoshop so that the winning entry actually looks attractive.
The winner will also win a bottle of a fabulous wine.
This contest is not open to employees or family members of employees of LDM Wines, Inc.