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Eric Texier has Missed His Flight!
Eric's high-speed train was delayed in Lyon on his way to Roissy and he missed his Continental flight. Unfortunately, he will have to book at considerable more expense on a later flight on a competing airline!
The unfortunately complication is that Monique and Pierre Luneau are on the same plane and do not speak English. They were counting on sharing a cab with Eric from Newark to my apartment in New York, where they will all be sleeping.
Eric, Monique and Pierre do not know each other, so they were all going to have little signs with their names printed on them when they get their luggage at Newark. I fear Monique and Pierre are going to be standing around for a long time waiting for Eric to show up.
Excitement Mounts!
I was up until 2 in the morning last night working on the comprehensive tasting notes for Tuesday's Louis/Dressner Tasting Extravaganza.
Highlights include a major profile of Ruth Fertel, the founding genius of the Ruth's Chris Steakhouse Chain.
Definitive Book Review:
WHAT to DRINK with WHAT you EAT
I was approached by the authors of this book, Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, to write a book review. I had no idea when I accepted, but the book's cover proudly proclaims that it is The Definitive Guide to Pairing Food with Wine.
I'm always cautious when reading, eating, drinking, watching ,smoking, medicating, physically interacting with, brushing, scratching or assessing anything which self-proclaims that it is the Definitive something or other. Unfortunately, I didn't know before I accepted this assignment that this book was just such a project.
Why did they approach me? Ask any savvy marketeer: its the bloggers who create the buzz leading to mass sales and commercial success. So, Mr. Dornenburg and Ms. Page, two people I had never heard of, offered to put links of this blog on their blog and send e-mail to their 20,000 loyal readers mentioning this blog if I reviewed their definitive book. They approached a series of bloggers with the same proposition and each one gets a day of links and mentions on the Dornenburg/Page web site along with being named and linked in the 20,000 person e-mail blasts that Dornenberg/Page regularly send out to their readers.
I have always been a great admirer of Michiko Kakutani and jumped at the opportunity of having my own book review, to be read by the over 50,000 people who read this site and the 20,000 people who read the Dornenburg/Page site and their e-mail blasts. Today is my day, October 18th, and here's my review!
I'm also reading the Philip Roth Zuckerman novels and watching François Truffaut's Antoine Doinel movies when I'm not reading the Dornenburg/Page book. I'm hoping to negotiate a deal with Tom Wark over at Fermentations, America's leading and definitive wine blog, for us to cross highlight each other's blogs using photos of Jean-Pierre Léaud playing Antoine Doinel. For instance, you'll click on Doinel's picture on my site and you'll speed over to Tom Wark's site. Mr. Wark would make a similar accomodation to promote this blog. Doinel and Zuckerman seem like such kindred spirits and I’m sure Mr. Wark will be in agreement with me on the obvious similarities and the possibilities of mutual self-promotion.
Not surprisingly, Tom Wark is also part of the Dornenburg/Page promotion of the definitive book. In fact, he loves the book. His day was October 6th. Mr. Wark writes that the book is: the most comprehensive, illuminating and useful book of its type I've yet to come across. While that leaves open the possibility that there might be another book more definitive than the Dornenburg/Page book that has yet to catch Mr. Wark's attention, Mr. Wark does seem truly enthusiastic and just stops short of hailing the book as being definitive.
About 20 or so bloggers have enthusiastically reviewed the book since this coordinated blog promotion started and they all love the book. Even Peter Boyle, the star of Mel Brook's recent Young Frankenstein movie, seemed to love the book. Mr. Boyle wrote: You can't do better than to follow Karen and Andrew's advice! All these people get a free book and they immediately become great fans. I hope it isn’t that easy to get a good review out of Michiko Kakutani!
In fact, I found the book overwhelming in general detail and without useful concrete advise. In the guise of making things simpler for neophytes, the authors talk about the wine world in such broad strokes that their advise becomes unhelpful, if not downright confusing. The real problem in the wine world is not that newbies are intimidated, but that wine is no longer being made to enhance food. Wine has become a beverage to wow reviewers and wine buyers, a spoofulated concoction based on fermented grapes.
A more appropriate project would be an exposé of why today's wines don't go with foods then to pretend we're all living in a nifty world of food and wine matches we can all enjoy. The authors organize wines by region of production or AOC as if there was a uniformity of style, quality and ambition for every wine coming out of that area. This simply is not the case and Dornenburg/Page, speaking in the name of newbie, have written a public relations tome for themselves and people in the wine and food trade that finally does more harm than good for the lover of fine wine, or even the newbie trying to find something interesting to drink with their evening meal. They are writing about a fantasy construct of groovy wines and groovy food which simply does not exist!
I've always been wary of people who speak in the name of the great unwashed masses. Surely, Dorenburg and Page have a point of view. They seem talented, capable marketers and capable of writing something of greater interest and use. I hope they do so in the future.
I'll even pay for that book.
I've never met either of the authors but did speak with Karen Page recently. I was shocked to find out that she has never viewed Jean Renoir's film La Grand Illusion.
October 24th Tasting to Include Louis/Dressner Souvenir Shop
We will be selling T-Shirts, bumper stickers, ancient price sheets in French Francs, signed copies of Joe Dressner's first blog in 1983 and other memorabilia.
Proceeds from these sales will go to the Platypus Pete Foundation.
Official Invitations Delivered for October 24th Louis/Dressner Tasting!
Over 3500 postcards were delivered all over the country this past week for our exciting tasting next week.
Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime event!
Not to be repeated until October 2007!
Join Alice Feiring and Joe Dressner for a Walking/Subway Tour of Brooklyn's Hottest Wine Stores!
Alice Feiring, the wine journalist, and I will be teaming up again for an exciting encounter with wine lovers.
Join us on Tuesday, October 17th at 1 pm at Grand Army Plaza for a walking/subway tour of Brooklyn's greatest wine stores.
Bring your curiousity, walking shoes and Metro Card!
Alice, a native of Park Slope, will also point out many architectural gems.
This event will take place, rain or shine!
There Will be 239 Wines at the October 24th Louis/Dressner Tasting!
They will be arranged in ascending order of quality, from 239 to number 1.
The North Carolina Triangle
I just spent 3 1/2 days in what's called the North Carolina Triangle. This is the area bounded by Raleigh, Durham and Carrboro.
It was amazing to see how there is a whole new generation of professionals and consumers open to real, natural wines. What an explosive scene there!
The Tar Heel State has embraced Jasniéres and there is no turning back.
Two Interesting Things I Have Learned in North Carolina
There's a slew of stores, consumers and restaurants interested in real wines here in North Carolina. I'm currently holed up in the luxurious Millenium Hotel in Durham, and having a great time meeting people in the market.
The two interesting things I've learned are:
(1) There is a spreading fear in the wine community over the impending "Millerization" of Spanish wine. I was initially puzzled by this phrase, but then realized it is a reference to Dr. Jay Miller's recent ascendency to The Wine Advocates Spanish wine reviewer position.
(2) No one under the age of 45 has ever seen the The Grand Illusion, Jean Renoir's classic 1937 film. Someone at dinner tonight in Chapel Hill connected this to Dr. Jay Miller, but frankly, I can't see any connection whatsoever.
More Details About the October 24th Louis/Dressner Tasting Making the Rounds
I've heard several unconfirmed rumours about the Louis/Dressner October 24th Tasting which seem pretty exciting.
In addition to the extensive vertical of Luneau-Papin Muscadets, the range of Texier wines, the Radikon madness, the Montesecdo Tuscan frenzy and Roagna Rage, there were also be a several other major themes.
They will include:
- The Compulsory Aperitif Table -- lots of Larmandier Champagne, Sparkling Chenin, Sparkling Menu Pineau, Sparkling Shiraz and sparkling Pineau d'Aunis to start the festitivities.
- The Blind Tasting Table -- There will be eight wines served blind and eight large photos of eight different vignerons perched on easels behind the table. Based on photographic evidence and what is in the glass, you will have to guess which wine belongs to which vigneron. The highest scoring contestant will wine a magnum of Terre de Vertus!
- The Non-Kosher Wine Table -- A stunning collection of non-Kosher wines to serve non-observers and non-Jews!
- The Hipster Paris Wine Bar Table -- thrill to a selection of wines beloved by Parisian hipsters but unknown in Amerca and New Jersey. The table comes complete with Gitane and Gaulouises stubs and the guy behind the table looks like Serge Gainsbourg come back from the dead! Contests include guessing which wine will referment in time for Valentines Day!
- The Wines Served at Ruth Chris Steakhouses All Over America Table -- this includes many more conventional wines from deep in the Louis/Dressner Portfolio.
- The Wines that Cost Too Much Table -- this features wines with a bad QP ratio.
- The Wines Which Will Get Big Points from Dr. Jay Miller Table -- This includes a range of hedonistic fruit bombs which will tantalize the new Wine Advocate writer.
Other tables too numerous to mention and already mentioned in the official announcement....
There is also a rumour that there will be a Stump Byron Bates table. This is totally untrue.
New York Times Writes About Harvest at Clos Roche Blanche and Clos du Tue Boeuf!
Melissa Clark has a nice article in Today's Food section.
Take a look:
Being Fed by Catherine Roussel's Mother!
Special Hotel Rates for the October 24th Louis/Dressner Tasting Are Now Sold Out!
A lot of people are coming to the tasting from all over the country and we were able to secure some choice rooms at a special rate.
Unfortunately, we have completely booked (much to our surprise) our quota of rooms and we no longer have these reservations available.
Our apologies.
Some Important Facts About the Louis/Dressner October 24th Tasting
- Formal wear is optional
- The tasting is by invitation only. If you're not invited, you're not invited. Do you go to other people's dinner parties without being invited? This is a private event.
- Having a business card you printed on your home printer which describes you as a wine consultant or wine journalist does not qualify as that all-important invitation.
- You are always free to call our office or send an e-mail requesting an invitation. The worst that can happen is we will say no, but it doesn't hurt to try.
- This is not an event for people with no interest in our wine who want to get drunk or network to further their personal careers.
Objects Confiscated from Gate Crashers at Last Year's Louis/Dressner Tasting.
- Anyone caught filling a half-glass of wine to take a tiny taste and then spilling everything out will have their arms broken at the door by our security team.
- The third person who tells us it is great they can buy direct from us because they can avoid the excessive mark-ups of our wholesaler will have their arms broken at the door by our security team.
- Anyone asking if Galimatias from Domaine le Briseau is available in New Jersey and if they can have the three case price for a one case order because Galimatias will be a hand sell in New Jersey's less sophisticated market, will have their arms broken at the door by our security team.
- Anyone asking why Galimatias from Domaine le Briseau is more expensive to a restaurant account in Connecticut than a restaurant in Brooklyn will be on their way back to Connecticut faster than they can say Metro North.
- The fifth person who tells me that the Poulsard from Emmanuel Houillon is a wacky wine will be subject to a public humiliation, to be announced later.
- Your packages and bags are subject to a security search at the entrance of the tasting, at the discretion of our security staff. We apologize in advance for this inconvenience, but we use a very sophisticated system of wine tasting parasite profiling.
A so-called wine consultant being searched at the entrance of last year's Louis/Dressner Tasting. Notice the offender's lack of optional formal wear.
- This is a very congenial, user-friendly event. Our experience is having gate crashers hurts the ambience.
- Most important, have fun!
Byron Bates Sommelier
The Wine Importer would like to congratulate Byron Bates of Bette Restaurant in New York for winning last year’s annual Louis/Dressner Selections contest during our October National Portfolio Tasting. Byron was one of over two hundred attendees who put their business card in a fish bowl at our annual drawing. Yes, it was Byron’s card which was picked at random to win the big prize – a feature article on this blog.
Byron has been very patient, particularly as it has taken me nearly 11 months to publish this article. There were several legal obstacles – one of New York’s best known sommelier, whose name I legally cannot reveal, threatened action against me if I featured Byron Bates on my blog. This sommelier, who now is the head buyer for a major restaurant in New York, insisted that the contest had been rigged and that we had intentionally awarded the prestigious article profile to Byron Bates because he buys a lot of our wines for Bette Restaurant. After several months of wrangling between his attorneys and our legal team, the sommelier has dropped his legal pressure and I am finally free to publish this article. Let me assure you, dear readers, that the drawing was at random and under the supervision of one of New York’s leading accounting firms.
So, Congratulation to Byron Bates and the whole Byron Bates Family!
What do Thierry Puzelat, George Clooney, Colman Andrews, Pierre Breton, Florence Fabricant, Christian Chaussard, Uma Thurman, Cher, Michelle Williams, Ed Norton, Paul Giamatti, Eric Nicolas, Stanko Radikon, Russell Hermann, Scarlett Johannsen, Ellen Barkin, René Mosse and Alyson Careaga have in common?
All of these people are presences at Bette Restaurant in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. Amy Sacco has brought her clientele to this restaurant where famed sommelier Byron Bates has put together a world-class list of natural, real wines. Rather than serving what would simply be easy to sell, recognizable brands which everyone buys without thinking twice, Byron Bates has tried to bring the world of natural wines to this part of Manhattan’s cultural scene.
Byron Bates was born in Forth Worth in 1968. He father worked on an assembly line at a General Motors factory and his mother worked for Bell Telephone (the predecessor to Skype). He was a cute, cooperative and devoted son.
Byron came to New York to make it as an actor, as many demented young people have done for so many years. He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, but found that dramatic exercise and rehearsals tired him out. He became sick of pretending to be a bear or a lion.
Like many young drama students, he started working in restaurants to make a living. From the beginning, the wine side of the restaurant business seemed intriguing to him. Byron loved the weekly tasting sessions for the staff, where he would learn about wine and how it worked with food.
“I got into the wine trade by default,” Mr. Bates said. “I just took an interest.”
Mr. Bates career had its ups and downs before he arrived at Bette. “I don't think you can find anyone in New York who has worked in more places. I’ve been fired or banned all over the place,” he said.
“I was horrible” Mr. Bates said, “I always rubbed the managers and owners the wrong way. I joked around too much and didn't follow procedures…. It was like still being at school, and I was class clown of the restaurants.” As an example, Mr. Bates fondly recalls sneaking behind patrons and picking them with toothpicks in their thighs while they were reading the daily specials.
Mr. Bates’ career settled down and he began to get more serious about wine because of Opus One, of all things. “I was working in a restaurant in 1995 where a sales rep from Opus One came in to train the staff,” he said. “The guy went on and on about the marriage between the Mondavi family and the Rothschilds and everyone is all perked up and impressed. It was a big wine event for us, because usually we were drinking crap like Kendall Jackson and management had talked up this wine event for weeks,” he added.
“Finally, I tasted the wine and remember thinking it was horrible,” Mr. Bates said. “I realized then that I had a perspective on wine and could see through the bullshit. That's where my real wine interest started, or maybe I should say my disinterest in California wine.”
Mr. Bates then went on to work at Pravda and Balthazar and learned much under the wine programs of Jonathan Nossiter, who later went on to make the movie Mondovino. “He wasn't interested in points or trends and during the tastings we only tasted wines that were 30 dollars or under. It didn't make sense to me at the time; I wondered why we were not drinking the heavy hitters. “
But Mr. Bates came to admire the style of wines that Mr. Nossiter was featuring. “The idea was that those were the wines that were going to be everyday wines. Rieslings, food friendly wines. Cabernet Francs and Gamay.”
“That's when a lot of us got interested in simpler, real wines,” he said... “Right after that I became a Beaujolais freak. I became obsessed. Everyone called me Beaujolais Byron.”
In 2000 he spent four weeks in the Beaujolais and cycled all over the region to taste with vignerons. Every day he would drink Beaujolais, hop on the bike, and drive all over the often steep hillsides of the Beaujolais Crus.
“I started going to France once or twice a year and began to understand that wine was an everyday thing. They weren't drinking Opus One or anything like that. That connected me and I was really proud that I understood that. That it wasn't about perking up to a Mondavi/Rotschchild collaboration. Instead, it was working class, almost honorable.”
Now that Mr. Bates has his own wine program, he finds that the clientele is incredibly receptive. “Drinking natural wines is fun, we match them to the food and people love them. It is really as simple as that.”
Mr. Bates still has difficulty making concessions. “I subscribe to the French notion of wine service -- everything should be at temperature and don't preopen bottles,” he insists. “Especially temperatures…it never ceases to surprise me how four star places get away with serving too hot or too cold. Or too oaky or too high in alcohol. You can’t get a good restaurant rating if your cutlery is not up to snuff, but you can if you serve boiling red wine. It makes no sense to me.”
Bette Restaurant has now been open for over two years and with Byron’s help is more than a celebrity hangout. Yes, Amy Sacco is a fabulous host, and if you combine that with Mr. Bates' great wine list and the superb cuisine of Ken Addington, you have a fabulous way to spend your evening.
Byron Bates truly deserves the 12th Annual Louis/Dressner Award for Distinguished Service to the Wine Industry!
Or whatever award he won 11 months ago!
The Wine Importer is Now Available 24 Hours a Day on Skype!
For Immediate Release:
The Wine Importer is now available 365 days a year, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day on SKYPE!
Just download their software. You can get me on Skype at thewineimporter
Don't hesitate to contact me with any questions you have...big or small.
Fringe Benefits of Having a Wine Blog!
You get lots of free books.
Today, I received the thought-provoking What to Drink with What you Eat by James Beard award winning authors Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page (handsomely pictured below). This is a beautifully done hardcover book that is so packed with glossy pictures that it is too heavy for a man of my age to pick-up without the aid of a younger assistant.
I've agreed to read their book and in return they will feature my blog in their newsletter to over 20,000 wine lovers. Don't miss my review on Wednesday, October 18th.
The authors were kind enough to also include, stuffed inside the book, some press coverage of their activities. They recently were mentioned on Page 6 of The New York Post opposite an extremely suggestive picture of someone named Eva Longoria, who has nothing to do with the food and wine business. Mr. Dornenburg and Ms. Page had been invited to a tasting of Lorraine Bracco's wines in Southampton and are cited as liking Ms. Bracco's Pinot Grigio, which they told the Post is a perfect match for fresh-shucked clams and oysters.
I quite literally opened the book to a random page, Page 241, where there is a picture of Domaine de la Pépière 2004 in a general section about Muscadet. According to the authors, Muscadet has green apple and salt characteristics. It goes with aperitif, clams, fish (bass), oysters, salad, sardines, raw seafood, raw shellfish and shrimp.
The Muscadet section has a quote from noted wine critic, David Rosengarten, who writes: a Muscadet by itself has hardly any flavor; it is just crisp and lemony. With a salad, the acid in the vinaigrette cancels the acid in the wine, and all the fruit flavors come out. It is a beautiful thing!
Other highlights, opened at random, include Page 113, where they suggest that Tempranillo or Vigonier goes well with Cumin and Merlot goes with spicier curries.
Don't miss this comprehensive and delightful book!
I'll have more about it as I read throgh the 356 pages.
The book was printed in Singapore.
Persuasive Reasons to Go to The October 24th Louis/Dressner Tasting!
- Conveniently located near the IND, IRT and BMT subway lines!
- Pierre and Monique Luneau-Papin from the Muscadet will be serving vintages going back to 1976!
- Eric Texier will be showing strangely elegant Rhône Valley wines!
- Silvio Messana from Tuscany’s Montesecondo will give a daredevil demonstration of unrated Sangiovese wines.
- Radikon wines are back in America and we got them!
- Thrill to Philippe Pacalet’s light and delicate Burgundies!
- Get to taste not one, but two, different producers from Jasnières!
- Taste scores of biodynamic, organic, natural and real wines without having to attend a rambling, lengthy seminar!
- Participate in exciting and lucrative contests, including a drawing to win an encounter with a yet to be found celebrity of undetermined sex, age and race!
Formal wear optional
The Fabulous Cathérine Breton is on the Cover of L'Express Magazine
L'Express Magazine, which is the equivalent of Time or Newsweek in France, has a special issue out on wine.
Cathérine Breton from Bourgueil is on the cover, as she well should be.
Congratulations!