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Six Things I Like About Marc Ollivier of the Domaine de la Pépière!
1. Marc hunts bécasse (woodcocks) and sometimes serves them at the mind-blowing meals he and Genviéve make.
2. His beard
3. The way I think I'm at a high altitude when I'm in the Muscadet when I'm actually at sea level.
4. Reading back issues of Bécasse Passion in Marc's bathroom .
5. His contempt for my dog Buster (whom he views as one of the ugliest mutts in God's creation).
6. His wines.
Six Things I Like About Franck Peillot!
1. The man cooks the most amazing meals I have ever eaten.
2. The vineyards in Montagnieu are amazingly steep and beautiful.
3. The amazing meals he cooks.
4. Franck's father is a laugh riot and a bécasse hunter (woodcocks). Sometimes, we get some bécasse when Franck cooks an amazing meal.
5. Franck's command of the English language.
6. His wines.
Real Wine Countdown -- Six Things I Like About Each of the Vignerons Who are Attending!
Every day, I will be listing six
things I like about each of the vignerons who will be participating in the 2006 Real Wine Assault.
The first vignerons are Catherine Roussel and Didier Barrouillet from the Clos Roche Blanche.
1. They serve great goat cheese from their goat farmer friends.
2. The fossil collection on the window ledges around the house.
3. Pif and Margot, their dogs.
4. The private bedroom downstairs where I sleep, complete with my own fully appointed bathroom.
5. Their old bottles of Romorantin which I force them to serve me.
6. Their wines.
Real Wine Assault Schedule!
Here's the final schedule, more or less, of the Real Wine Assault 2006:
Saturday March 18th, 4-8 pm, Chambers Street Wines
There will be a fabulous tasting followed by a fabulous dinner at the fabulous 360 Van Brunt restaurant in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Dinner reservations must be made through Chambers Street. Vignerons include:
1. Catherine Roussel & Didier Barrouillet: Clos Roche Blanche
2. Franck Peillot, Bugey
3. Marc Ollivier: Domaine de la Pépière
4. Evelyne & Isaure de Jessey-de Pontbriand: Domaine du Closel
5. Nadia Verrua: Cascina ?Tavijn in Piedmont
6. Mario Zanusso: I Clivi from Friuli
7. François Pinon, Vouvray (along with several of his daughters)
8. Eddie Wrinkerman, Domaine Wrinkerman in Pacherenc-de-Vic-Bilh
9. Pierre Breton, Bourgueil
10. Thierry Puzelat, Clos du Tue Boeuf in Touraine
11. Sylvie & Thomas Morey, Domaine Bernard Morey in Chassagne-Montrachet
12. Grégoire Hubau, Château Moulin Pey-Labrie (Canon-Fronsac)
Monday March 20th, 5-8pm, Tasting at CRUSH Wines on 57th Street
This tasting will include all the above, plus:
Jean-Paul Versino, Bois-de-Boursan in Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Jean Manciat, Mâcon
Tuesday March 21st, 10-5, Puck Building, Polaner Selections Portfolio Tasting
This is a trade tasting, by invitation only, which will include 28 producers who work with Eric Solomon, all of our producers listed above, and:
Jean-Paul Brun, Domaine Terres Dorées in Beaujolais
André Iché, Château d'Oupia in Minervois
Alain Coudert, Clos de la Roilette in Fleurie
Catherine Le Bihan, Mouthes le Bihan in the Southwest
Christine and Eric Nicolas, Domaine de Bellivière, Jasnières
Eric Texier , Rhône Valley
Wednesday March 22nd, 6-8pm, Prospect Wines, Park Slope in Brooklyn
Jean Manciat, Mâcon
Nadia Verrua: 'Tavijn
Thursday, March 23rd in PORTLAND, Oregon
That's right, Wednesday is a travel day and we are off to the West Coast. There will be two main events:
Trade Tasting at 1 pm: Studio 1050 at 1050 SE Water Avenue
Contact Domaine Selections, our fabulous wholesaler, for more information.
Fabulous Public Tasting Organized by the Guy Du Vin! 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the same spot!
Call the Guy Du Vin at 971.244.1596 to reserve a spot.
The following vignerons will be appearing:
1. Catherine Roussel & Didier Barrouillet: Clos Roche Blanche
2. Franck Peillot, Bugey
3. Marc Ollivier: Domaine de la Pépière
4. Isaure de Jessey-de Pontbriand: Domaine du Closel
5. François Pinon, Vouvray (along with five of his daughters)
6. Eddie Wrinkerman, Mas de Wrinkerman in the Côtes-de-Toul
7. Pierre Breton, Bourgueil
8. Thierry Puzelat, Clos du Tue Boeuf in Touraine
9. Jean-Paul Versino, Bois-de-Boursan in Châteauneuf-du-Pape
10. Jean-Paul Brun, Domaine Terres Dorées in Beaujolais
11. André Iché, Château d'Oupia in Minervois
12. Alain Coudert, Clos de la Roilette in Fleurie
13. Catherine Le Bihan, Mouthes le Bihan in the Southwest
14. Christine and Eric Nicolas, Domaine de Bellivière, Jasnières
15. Eric Texier , Rhône Valley
Friday, March 24th in SEATTLE, Washington
We have rented a private plane to zoom us up to Seattle that morning.
There will be a trade tasting, two delicious dinners, and an in-store tasting.
Triage Wines Trade Tasting
1:00-4:12 pm at the Palace Ballroom
Dinners at Campagne (206-728-2800) and Le Pichet (206-256-1499)
The vignerons will be splitting up and there will be dinners at the above restaurants. Please call each restaurant for reservations and details. Catherine Roussel from the Clos Roche Blanche will be appearing at both restaurants simultaneously.
Saturday, March 25th at McCarthy and Schiering -- Tasting with Pierre Breton and Thiery Puzelat
Pierre and Thierry will be pouring at the store's two locations:
McCarthy and Shiering
Ravenna Shop from Noon to 2:00 pm
6500 Ravenna Ave NE
206-524-9500
Queen Anne 2:30-5:00 pm
2401 Queen Anne Ave N
Phone 206-282-8500
Saturday, March 25th at SAN FRANCISCO's K&L Wines from 1:00 pm to 4:12 pm
This event will include acrobats, clowns, oysters, star chefs and prominent television personalities. Everyone will be there who was in Portland, except for Thierry Puzelat and Pierre Breton. They have to go home! Contact K&L for all the details
Sunday Morning, March 26th at 10 am -- Ride San Francisco's Famous Cable Car with Catherine Roussel of Touraine's Clos Roche Blanche
The group will be leaving Market and Powell at 10 am. Please contact MUNI for further information.
Sunday Night, March 26th -- Fabulous Dinners at Cav Winebar (415 437 1770) in San Francisco and Baywolf (510-655-6004) in Oakland
Please call each restaurant for details. The Baywolf dinner is being organized with Paul Marcus Wines of Oakland. The vignerons will split up but Catherine Roussel from the Clos Roche Blanche will be appearing at both restaurants simultaneously.
Monday, March 27th Estate Wines Ltd. Tasting at Fort Mason from 1:00 pm to 4:12 pm
This is a trade-only tasting which will include everyone still standing except for Jean-Paul Versino, who has to go home.
What are the Grape Varieties in the 2004 Eric Texier Côtes-du-Rhône?
We have started selling Eric Texier wines again and are getting many questions about what exactly is in the 2004 Côtes-du-Rhône. Americans like exact details and tend to view all wines as varietal compositions.
A prominent Manhattan wine shop has done an extensive lab analysis and recently e-mailed us the details:
Grenache -- 59.681 %
Carignan -- 14.835 %
Cinsault -- 10.044 %
Clairette Cultivar N°1 -- 4.987 %
Clairette Cultivar N°2 -- 5.031 %
Roussanne -- 5.021 %
Sauvignon blanc -- 0.003%
Zinfandel -- 0.002%
Petite arvine -- 1.044%
Without Any Particular Identity : Everything else
There is no merlot, petit verdot or chardonnay.
This is a delicious wine and comes highly recommended by the wine press.
Don't Miss the Fabulous K&L Real Wine Assault Tasting on March 25th in San Francisco!
San Francisco retailer, K&L, released the following press release today. Or maybe it was an e-mail:
Real Wine Assault Comes to San Francisco!!
This special event will take place on Saturday March 25th from 1-4pm in the parking lot adjacent to K&L's San Francisco store (638 4th St between Brannan and Townsend). Joe Dressner, Importer and Internet Wine Personality will be on hand with his group of vigneron from various regions in France to meet you and present their wines along with appetizers from some of SF's most famous names. Dressner's collection of growers are known throughout the industry for producing honest, unmanipulated wines that are never “over-anything”. All the wines you will taste are made with these guiding principles in mind: Wild Yeasts, Hand Harvesting, Low Yields, Natural Viticulture, No or Minimal Chaptalization, Non Filtration, Non-Interventionist Winemaking and Quality Control... expressions of the places and the people. Tickets ($50) must be purchased in advance while they last.
Jeff Vierra from K&L in Mareuil-sur-Cher planning the Real Wine Assault
In addition to the wines and growers that will be detailed below, Hog Island Oyster Company will be on hand shucking away, Charles Phan of The Slanted Door will be tempting you with inspired small bites and Doralice Handel new proprietor and cheese guru of The Cheese Shop of Healdsburg will be force feeding a selection of regional French and American cheeses. All guests will receive a free wine glass from Riedel.
Pouring their wines that day will be: Catherine Roussel and Didier Barrouillet from Clos Roche Blanche in the Touraine, Jean-Paul Brun from Domaine des Terres Dorées in Beaujolais, Christine and Eric Nicolas from Domaine de Bellivière in Jasniéres, Franck Peillot from the Bugey, Marc Ollivier from Domaine de la Pépière in Muscadet, Isaure de Pontbriand-Cribiore from Domaine du Closel in Savennières, Eric Texier from the Rhone, Suzanne and François Pinon from Vouvray, Alain Coudert from Clos de la Roilette in Beaujolais, Jean-Paul Versino from Bois de Boursan in Chateaunuef du Pape, André Iché from Château d'Oupia in the Languedoc and Catherine le Bihan from Mouthes le Bihan in the Southwest.
Along with some select older vintages that the growers have sent over, too many wines will be poured and too much fun will be had... so don’t miss out! This event will surely sell out well in advance, so get your tickets now. Any cancellations must be made at least 72 hours before the event.
Tickets are available online at: http://www.klwines.com/product.asp?sku=1020169
K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
Back in New York!
I finally finished my 25 day swing through France and am back in New York.
The trip was awfully tiring but I stayed energized thinking about how glamorous a job it is to be a wine importer.
I know it is a glamorous job, because I constantly receive e-mails from people who want to break into the glamourous wine importing business. For instance, I received the following inquire during my absense:
Dear Joe:
As a dental supply executive and a commercial landlord, and as the in-house
lawyer for both of these enterprises, I have read "Grape Varieties, Lawyers
and Medications" and asked myself this: were you being sarcastic when you
called the day glamorous? To me it sounded pretty darn that (except for the
doctor's visit, of course).
Don't get me wrong, I'll never tire of answering the ubiquitous cocktail
party "So, what do you do?" with that perfect trifecta of sexy careers
mentioned above. Oh, the ass I could get! If only I weren't happily
married. (By the way, don't ask for the plastic cups dentist's use - we
don't handle them.) And yet, I'm interested in starting something new, as a
sideline, something perhaps closer to my heart, something I might be able to
stand having a conversation about: importing wines from Spain. I grew up
speaking Spanish (ever met a Mexican Jew before?) and I've spent a fair
amount of time in Spain. I'd like to spend more.
I've been reading up on the biz for some time, especially the legal
regulations. Then I came upon a rarer source, one from the actual industry,
The Wine Importer. Pump this guy for info, I told myself right away.
So here's my idea (assuming you're still with me):
One of our buildings is in Manhattan, on 21st between 5th and 6th. A fine
restaurant neighborhood, as you probably know. It has a shop window that's
been closed up for many years. My plan is to have the window restored, and
to install a beautiful, first-class display. "Cavador, LLC ~ Wines from
Spain's Finest Boutique Producers ~ To the Trade Only." The same building
has a very nice corporate apartment on the top floor (for out-of-town guests
of the dental business). I could get access to this for tastings. Another
of our buildings has a lot of empty storage space in the basement, where
it's cool and dark.
I set all this up, then sit back and wait for Danny Meyer to call. Okay, so
that's not going to happen. But does this sound like the foundation for a
realistic business plan? Can I do this and still keep my day job? Or am I
likely to blow through my life savings just getting labels approved, with
nothing to show for it in the end? Already, with my limited knowledge of
the regulatory landscape, I see so many issues! Are they just hoops you can
jump through if you try? Or is it really a minefield of business-killers?
(I'm not sure what's in it for you, to help me with this.)
Sincerely,
N.................
A Fabulous Luxury Spot to Stay in Beautiful Avignon
Micaela Pererra, Avignon's famed restaurateur to the stars; has finally opened her own luxury bed-and-breakfast.
I've just spent a week of hedonistic luxury here at Chez Micaela, and can't recommend the new place highly enough.
Rooms are booking up fast; so rush and make your reservations while there are still vacancies.
Click to go to Fabulous Resort in Avignon!
Tell them that Joe Dressner, The Wine Importer, has sent you and you will receive a complementary basket of homemade cornbread with your breakfast. That's right, cornbread made from Fanny Reboul's ancient provencal recipe!
Francois Pinon Vouvray Petillant Saved My Life!
Details to follow.
Off to France
I'm leaving today to tour viticultural France and will be back on February 23rd.
I don't travel with a laptop and rarely have an internet connection when visiting vignerons, so I don't expect to be on here frequently, except to write the definitive biography of star New York sommellier Bryon Bates (which I promised three months ago).
I'm going to the Loire for an extended trip, then down to Burgundy, the Mâconnais, the Beaujolais, then off to the Bugey and the Savoie, then to the Rhône and finally winding up in the Languedoc.
I haven't been in the vineyards and the cellars since August and even though the weather sounds horrible all over France, I always look forward to my winter trip. Conventional wisdom is to take a trip to a warm climate and you'll feel new and rejuvenated. But for me, after five months of business dealings, buying and selling, talking to customers and suppliers, hearing all the gossip about which distributor is buying which distributor, I need to get back to the vineyards. The Wine Industry is about commodity -- it can get so tiresome and so depressing. It can wear you down.
It is always a joy to get out into the vineyards and back to the vine, the cellars and the vignerons. This remains a joyful and passionate occupation and going to the source reminds me, every year, of how priviliged we are to be importing wines from so many great vignerons and great regions.
I'll miss my wife, my kids and my dog and wish I could bring them along. I'll also miss my readership here, each and everyone of you, and hope you all have a good month. Work hard, drink good wine and do something that will bring joy and peace to everyone around you!
I'll try to write in every so often. See you all soon!
Real Wine Assault 2006!
An enormous group of vignerons will be making it to America starting March 18th. Various members of this troupe will be touring New York, Portland, Seattle and San Francisco. Some will be in all four cities, some only in New York, and one will only be coming to Seattle because they want to make a Nirvana pilgrimage and see the original Starbucks.
That's right, this year there is going to be a big West Coast swing!
Vignerons include:
1. Catherine Roussel and Didier Barouillet from Clos Roche Blanche
2. Jean-Paul Brun from Domaine des Terres Dorées
3. Christine and Eric Nicolas from Domaine de Bellivière,
4. Franck Peillot from the Bugey
5. Marc Ollivier from Domaine de la Pépière
6. Various Mothers and Daughters from Domaine du Closel
7. Eric Texier
8. Suzanne and François Pinon from Vouvray
9. Alain Coudert from Clos de la Roilette
10. Jean-Paul Versino from Bois de Boursan
11. André Iché from Château d'Oupia
12. Claude Maréchal from Burgundy
13. Pierre Breton from Bourgueil
14. Jean Manciat from Mâconnais
15. Nadia Verrua from Cascina 'Tavijn,
16. Thierry Puzelat from Clos du Tue Boeuf
17. Sibling Desvignes from Louis-Claude Desvignes
18. Catherine le Bihan from Mouthes le Bihan
19. Sylvie and Thomas Morey from Chassagne-Montrachet
There will be more information in the next few weeks. Lots of exciting events and door prizes.
Don't miss out!
Whatever Happened to the Expression Mind-Boggling?
"That wine is awesome!"
I hear people say that all the time, but I never hear them say:
"That wine is mind-boggling!"
What happened to the expression mind-boggling? Has it gone the way of "too far fucking out?"
Point/Counterpoint on the History of the Term Spoofulation
I wrote an article several weeks ago about spoofulation and modern wine.
I received a note this morning from Harmon Skurnik on the origins of the term Spoofulation. Mr. Skurnik has been gracious enough to let me print his contribution here. I am also printing the response from Michael Wheeler, who I have previously credited as the popularizer of the term.
Harmon Skurnik, along with his brother Michael Skurnik, is a partner in Michael Skurnik Wines in New York. In addition to being a distributor, they are also the national importer of Terry Thiese's German, Austrian and Champagne selections. Over a decade ago, Michael and Harmon created a new standard in wine distribution that is being followed by other companies around the country and in many ways the emergence and success of their company marked a significant break in the dominance of the wine trade by old-time liquor/wine wholesalers. See my article about Sidney Frank.
Mr. Wheeler is a former salesman at Winebow and later Michael Skurnik Wines, and is now a partner in Polaner Selections, also a distributor in New York. Doug Polaner, who founded Polaner Selections along with Tina Fischer, is also an alumnus of Skurnik wines. Polaner Selections is part of a newer wave of wine distributors, who draw on the earlier work of the Skurniks.
Point: From Harmon Skurnik
Dear Joe:
I just read your "Christmas Spooftide Carol" however - and I would like to point out some incorrect historical references that appear in the following paragraph:
"I have received many inquiries lately about the origin of the word Spoofulation. While there is some controvery about the origin of the word itself, there is little question that the popularizer of the term has been Michael Wheeler, the famed New York Wine Industry Personality. Anyhow, here goes....
Spoofulation is a form of manipulation which takes wine away from nature and into the technological world of fake extraction, fake aromatics, fake flavors, fake density, fake acidity, fake tannin levels, fake color and fake sugar levels.
Basically, fake wines."
First off, it is unquestionably true that Wheeliamo is the biggest "popularizer" of the term in recent years but he is not the originator of the term (nor the original "populizer")
Michael Wheeler (on the left) and Harmon Skurnik
The truth of the matter is that Mr. Wheels first heard the term while under the employ of Michael Skurnik Wines from the original "populizers" of the term, Michael and me. We used the term often at sales meetings, etc, but alas, it never meant "fake wine" - it seems to have morphed into that meaning but did not originally have that meaning at all.
The origin of the term is as follows (I have explained this to Wheels in the past but he finds it hard to believe, for some reason. But alas, it is true.
The Year Was 1990 (give or take two years) - my wife Lori and I were traveling through Napa Valley and we stopped upon the tasting room of Chateau Montelena...as we tasted through their wines, the pretty young girl behind the counter explained to us how Montelena's Chardonnay did not go through malolactic, and therefore retained some acidity and freshness, after which she uttered the famous words, "not like all those spoofulated Chardonnays being made in the Valley these days".
I proceeded to ask her what she meant by "spoofulated" and she explained that she meant the new (at the time) style of Chard i.e. full malolactic, ultra rich, lees-stirred, golden, extracted, low acid Chards that were just starting to be produced by the likes of Helen Turley etc (and which Parker, incidentally, had yet to discover). She was passionately defending Montelena's style of Chard, which was old fashioned (and frankly works quite well in the often torrid Napa
Valley)...
Lori and I both laughed at her term "spoofulation" and repeated the story several times on the trip. Upon returning home, Michael and I started using the term in sales meetings to refer to wines that were overoaked, overwrought in some way, or with too much "makeup" on them to really let the terroir, if there is any, to shine through. Not "fake
wines" - just misguided ones that are "underwined".
Anyway, I think Wheels latched onto the term at one of our sales meetings and started using it freely and adopted it as his own cry for "natural wines" - and, of course, that's a good thing - all of us who are the defenders of "real wine" (yes, even us, Joe) out there want to promote what's real and uncover the fakes. But "spoofulated" wines, as
defined by the originator, are not always bad. Coche-Dury's awesome Burgundies, for example, are "fully spoofulated" in my mind, but they have the material to withstand all that manipulation! And they are far
from "fake".
Thanks for listening - just wanted to clarify this piece of winedom history. LOL
Feel free to post my thoughts on your "blog" (I would if I knew how!)
Your friend and colleague, Harmon Skurnik
Counterpoint -- Mike Wheeler
Harmon:
I look forward to Joe's response and I will not argue that you brought the term to NYC...
But the word as used by the Montelana lady is of no interest for the true meaning of Spoofulated.
Until a word is recognized by the Webster or other dictionary's (even if slang) the word is open for discussion, empowerment, and most important "usage", and the use of this word you knew in Cali in 1990 is not the term in use now all over the country today, 16 years later....it has morphed, congrats to you for being an important part of history!!
Spoofulated as used by all the people I know is a term for many modern process's applications etc
These include: 200%+/- new oak, rottofermenters, micro ox, oak chips, de-acidifying, spin cone, reverse osmosis, adding nontraditional/not approved grapes to blends (for example Vallana Spanna's in the glory days, he added Aglianico but sold it as pure Nebb, aka he was one of the Great Historical Spoofalators, history has many examples of Spoofalicious Wines, like great Pinot with "Rhone/Algerian" juice added, I had a 59 Chambertin the other day that was awesome, been sitting in a cellar for over 40 years, yummy but not pure Pinot hence, Spoofulted)....also spoofed wines are wines where enzymes/yeast/flavors are added to "create" a wine etc
So yes Spoofulated wines can be Spoofulicious, some of these I know Joe would not love but he is correct that the current use of the term Spoofalted in 2000's wine jargon is as he describes...
Sidney Frank Dead
Sidney Frank, the maverick booze baron who started the super-premium liquor revolution with Grey Goose vodka, died last week in San Diego. He was 86. The cause was heart failure, according to his publicist, Sarah Zeiler. Frank was ranked No. 164 on the Forbes 400 Richest Americans list in October, with a net worth of $1.8 billion.
Sidney Frank was born in Norwich, Conn., in 1919, the son of a poor orchardman. As a kid, he often gazed at the Manhattan skyline while traveling by train to visit a cousin in Brooklyn, dreaming of making it big. In 1937, Frank convinced an admissions officer at Brown University to let him enroll based on his strong handshake. He dropped out after a year because he couldn't afford the tuition but forged some powerful friendships.
His roommate was Edward Sarnoff, son of then-RCA President David Sarnoff. Visits to the Sarnoff's lavish mansion in New York left a lasting impression. "Ed's sheets were so soft," Frank told Forbes in a June 2004 interview. "My mother used to sew flower sacks together to make sheets, so cotton sheets were a real treat. I knew I had to marry a rich girl."
After proposing six times, Frank finally convinced Louise Rosenstiel to marry him in the late 1940s. "Skippy" was the daughter of booze maven Lewis Rosenstiel, owner of Schenley Distillers, then the largest liquor distiller in the country.
Frank had a successful career with Schenly and then went out on his own to market the famous Jägermeister. In 1974, Frank stumbled on the obscure German liqueur in a New York bar. Tasting of root beer, black licorice and Vicks Formula 44, older Europeans had been drinking the stuff since 1935 for its medicinal purposes, rather than its strong buzz. At the time, Jägermeister was selling just 600 cases per year in the U.S. Seeing opportunity, Frank flew to Germany to meet then-Jäger Chief Executive Walter Sandvoss and came home with the rights to sell the drink from Maryland to Florida. Other suppliers faltered, and Frank picked up the rest of the country.
In 1986, Frank had a brilliant idea: "People love sex." He parlayed the drink's early success in southern college towns with the Jägerettes, a group of scantily clad girls who would flirt with male students and convince them to down shots of Jäger instead of Jack Daniels. Last year, sales grew to 2 million cases per year.
In 1999, he paid $2.6 million to settle sexual harassment complaints from 100 women who were among the 1,000 hired as "Jagerettes" to promoting the sweet liquor Jagermeister at parties. The company admitted no wrongdoing.
With Jägermeister established, Frank set out to create his fortune in vodka. He was convinced rich folks would pay $15 for a martini or $10 for a cosmopolitan if the drinks were mixed with the world's best vodka. He sent executives to France to create the vodka, because he believed the French create the best in everything. Grey Goose girls were tapped to sell the vodka at high-end lounges and nightclubs. Sales grew exponentially, eventually catching the eye of executives at Bacardi.
Frank eventually sold Grey Goose for something like 2 billion dollars.
His next project, tragically ended by his untimely death, was to become a wine industry titan and to do the wine industry what he did for spirits.
We mourn the passing of this industry giant, who did so much to market alcohol and spirits to the American consumer.
Who is this Woman and What is her Relationship to Natural Wine?
Answer correctly and you will receive an autographed copy of Byron Bate's biography, autographed both by the author and Byron Bates himself!
Only one entry per contestant. Louis/Dressner employees and their family members are not eligibile to participate.
Louis/Dressner Wines Get Big Points in Wine Spectator!
Yesterday, the New York Times rated two of our Muscadets as the top two Muscadets available. Of the top 10 Muscadets notated, five of them were from our firm.
Today, The Wine Spectator Insider issue was released on the internet. This is a private subscription service which gives a preview of top reviews which will go into future issues of the Wine Spectator.
Our wines received -- 93 points (and the Hot Wines Selection), 92 points (two of our wines), 91 points (3 of them) and 90 points (two of them). All these wines are from the Loire Valley and these are very high scores for Loire wines.
Some of the wines are bony, some have chives, some have sweet peas, and some have cocoa. Others have lemon curd or chamomile or mango or papaya. Yet others have toast and mocha. The highest scoring wine (the Hot Wines Selection) has a beam of green almond, fig pear tartine and green tea.
We're very appreciative of these high scores as are the vignerons who worked so hard to achieve them.
Breaking News from the Muscadet in the New York Times!
Don't miss Eric Asimov's excellent coverage of the Muscadet in today's Times.
There are pointed contributions by David Lillie of Chambers Street Wines and Chris Goodhart of Balthazar/Pastis.
NY Times on Muscadet
You need to register to get on the Times site. You can use my log-in name, VILENIN, and my password, Bukharin.
Catherine Roussel and Didier Barrouillet Win the 2005 Wine Personalities of the Year Award!
The year marks the first multiple personalities award, as we honor the two people behind the Clos Roche Blanche in the Touraine.
I met Catherine Roussel and Didier Barrouillet in 1993 at the Angers Loire Valley Fair. David Lillie (who was then the Loire Valley buyer at Garnet Wines and is now co-owner of Chambers Street) and I were looking for a Touraine and drudging from booth to booth tasting one industrial Touraine after another. God only knows how many we tasted and between the high level of sulphur and the uniform sameness of all these wines, I was getting tired. So, I approached one of our last Touraine tables and asked the smiling and charming owner if they harvested by machine and used innoculated yeasts. When she said yes, I thanked her and told her we would not be interested. Dozens of wines later we were still empty handed.
The next morning, David and I were eating breakfast at our hotel and the same woman who I had arrogantly dismissed came up to our table, once again all smiles. She told us that she had a close friend who was making exactly the type of wine we were looking for and she had talked to her about us and that we should rush to the exposition hall because they would be there first thing at 9 am ready to have us taste their wines at Booth B432.
David and I got there early, anxious to taste their wines. Catherine and Didier arrived 30 minutes late, but finally had us taste through their range of cuvées.
Yes, this was what we were looking for! Naturally made wines with consistency, honesty and precise flavors and two crazy proprietors who seemed plenty serious but also very funny, witty and engaged. David ordered an insane amount of wine and a collaboration was born.
It has been a privilege for me to know Catherine and Didier. They have worked biodynamically, organically and naturally but still keep a distance from every dogma and sect that is now splitting apart the French wine world. They have their own road, their own style and count as friends assorted idiosynchratic winemakers from all over France and various schools of viticulture and winemaking. For Catherine and Didier, the important thing is to work hard to express a terroir and in the Clos Roche Blanche they have been blessed with one of the great sites of the Loire.
Even more importantly, they have become close and dear friends.
What is remarkable about the Clos Roche Blanhe is that both Catherine and Didier had no training and no technical preparation for taking over such an estate. They learned everything on-the-job and have turned this estate into one of the most respected wine producers of the Loire Valley.
Congratulations to Catherine and Didier -- The 2005 Wine Personalities of the Year!
Denyse Louis from Louis/Dressner Selections interviewed Catherine Roussel for the following article.
The Fabulous Story of the Clos Roche Blanche, Catherine Roussel and Didier Barrouillet
The story of how Catherine’s father became a winemaker is a little complicated. Everything came from second marriages, and Catherine’s father, Jean, was adopted by his stepfather when he was nearly 30 and officially took over the estate, in 1963. Jean Roussel started working at the estate during WWII, until his death at 51 in September 1975.
Catherine’s mother, Solange, and Catherine, the older sister of the famous physicist Pierre Roussel and the younger sister of Françoise Roussel (who directs a major insurance company), decided to carry on with the estate, with the help of long-time employee René Vrillon. Catherine says it’s thanks to him that the estate survived, because neither she nor her mother had ever vinified or really led the vineyard work, although they both had long helped out when they were needed. Most of the wine was then sold to négoce, although Catherine’s father had been among the very first to bottle and sell his wine himself in the 60’s.
In 1981, sick of feeding and taking care of 20 people for a month every harvest, Catherine bought a harvesting machine. Since René was driving the machine and couldn’t be in the cellar, Didier Barrouillet, who was working for the first time at Clos Roche Blanche, took on the winemaking duties. Catherine already casually knew Didier, a Parisian, who was interested in both working the harvest and enthused about making the wine -- something he had never done before in his life.
Catherine says she has never liked making wine: it requires a lot of patience (she has none) and a meticulous nature (not her style.) The 1981 vintage was not one to remember for its excellence, but Catherine offered to create a partnership with Didier. He stayed on to work for the estate, receiving a small stipend, food and a small house in the vineyards.
In France, it is difficult to work in any field without the proper diploma, so Didier went back to school in the fall of 1982, at the age of 30, to get a baccalauréat diploma as a “jeune vigneron”. The quickest way to get a diploma was to pass a second baccalauréat, with agricultural specialization. So, while working full time, Didier studied on his own and passed the exam in 1983, and the GAEC Clos Roche Blanche was created as a formal partnership.
In his previous life, Didier was a Parisian who had passed his baccalauréat of science at 16, and gone on to special high flying math classes for two years. When time came to start engineering school, he left everything and took odd jobs, notably as a worker in a factory for 3 years. He also travelled quite extensively. His parents, an engineer and a nurse, had dreamed of being farmers themselves, but nothing predisposed Didier to becoming a winemaker (his two brothers now also live in the country, one of them working part-time at Clos Roche Blanche.)
As an aside, Catherine was 30 when she discovered that wine was a pleasurable beverage. Her main goal in life was not to be a vigneron, but to live at Clos Roche Blanche. Didier says she has roots instead of feet. Didier drank only water in 1981, and thought that wine was making people stupid. Now he barely ever drinks water.
For ten years, things went on as in the past, but Didier was dissatisfied with the wines he was making, the wines were correct, even good, but not great. When he tasted around the appellation, he was more and more tired of the uniformity of the wines from the area, he could never tell which was from what terroir or even who had made a particular wine, they were all the same to him.
In early 1992, after the terrible frost of winter 1991, their neighbor Yves Bucher offered to sell them his vineyards. Clos Roche Blanche more than doubled its surface, from 15HA1/2 to 32HA. That same year, Catherine and Didier decided to completely change their methods in the vines: they stop using herbicide and pesticides and started the conversion of all the vines to organic agriculture.
They had already abandonned the use of chemical fertilizers a few years earlier, in favor of organic compost. That was a radical and brutal decision, and the vines did not like it much. Yields dropped dramatically, the vines looked sick, shrunken, as if trying to protect themselves against this sudden aggression. Plowing a soil that has been treated for years with herbicide kills all the superficial root system that the vines use to get most of their nutrients; it takes a while for the deep root system to take over and feed the plant, and the grapes. Catherine and Didier were so convinced that there was no turning back that in 1993 they registered their estate with Ecocert, a certifying organisation that oversees organic agriculture.
The first vinification gave a happy surprise and comforted them in their new way: the indigenous yeasts, unimpeded by any pesticide and fungicide, started the alcoholic fermentation on their own strength.
After two very difficult and nerve-wracking years, they converted a portion of the vines to the stricter practices of biodynamie. The wines were getting better and better, and by 1995, they were able to bottle and sell the entire crop. By the late 90’s, the estate was down to 27HA, some vines had been sold to their friend and neighbor Michel Augé. In 2000, Catherine and Didier realized that they had too much work with 27 HA and that they would make better wines if they concentrated more on their top parcels. They also didn't want to hire someone new. They decided to sell 8HA1/2 to their Japanese importer, Junko Arai.
Didier has since started a study of useful auxilliary insect with an entomological institute in Tours, and planted all sorts of flowers and herbs among the vines. Unfortunately, the crazy hot summer 2003 killed most of the plantations (there is no irrigation in French vineyards) and what survived did not make it in 2004 and 2005, two years with a big deficit in rainfall.
There is no heir to take over the estate. Claire, now 21 and a student in sociology, is allergic to vines. But who knows?