Loire & More

The Chateau in Angers (in warmer times)

I've been swamped with work since I got back from France in late February, so this post is a tad late.  Apologies, as usual, and all that.  In any case, the rest of the trip went smashingly well.  Aside from a super nasty bug that sidelined me for most of the Loire shows (no Dive this year, sniff sniff), my time in France was super productive (and delicious!).

While in Angers (a beautiful city, I might add), I met up with Jean-Pascal Aubron, our Muscadet producer, who says Bonjour!, as well as Pascal Pibaleau (he was just everywhere this year).  I retasted Pascal's INSANELY good 2012 Gamay, from vines planted in 1964, which underwent 18 days of carbonic maceration (he likes to take things low and slow, looking for depth and quality, not a quicky wham bam thank you Ma'am).  Guess what, Gamay's arriving in late June/early July, so get your palates ready!

Catherine & Didier Tripoz getting all impish

There were some amazingly good meals, some great wines as usual, and visits to producers in Champange and Burgundy (sadly, nothing new from the Cotes de Nuits to report yet, but I keep trying!).  While in Burgundy, I did manage to revisit Catherine & Didier Tripoz, who make our lovely Macon Charnay Clos des Tournons.  The 9 ha walled-in plot is composed of 12 parcels of varying ages, and boy did we get geeky: we tasted each one and it was fascinating to see what they did even when handled in the same manner.  Didier hand-picks each parcel and vinifies each separately since they're differing ages.  Each one offers something unique, so Didier assembles them only once they've done their own fermentations (in steel and cement tanks - no oak here!).

After a short relaxing stay in Paris, it was back to NYC and back to the grind (or I guess the press in this case).  Our business has exploded in the past 24 months, so it was time to tend to things.  I'd have much preferred staying in the vineyards of Europe, but alas someone has to import and sell them here.  And that someone is me (well, I'm one of the someones doing it, but you get the idea). But I still LOVE this job, even if it's super difficult somedays.

Things have gotten crazy.  As of June 2013 we're in 11 states, and pushing hard to grow.  New Orleans has been one of our biggest surprises and biggest markets, we're working with an amazingly awesome team call Uncorked.  Great people, great food, great fun every time I've been down there.  Vermont is also turning into a nice change of pace, and Maine has begun picking up.  It's been a tough slog, there's a lot of competition (especially in NY, it seems like a new importer/distributor is popping up every day - I know of some stores dealing with 65 wholesalers), but the US is thirsty for more.

Which brings me to the next news: we've picked up some great new producers, so look for some new labels in Fall.  One of them is a small Biodynamic producer from the Gaillac region of Southwest France, northeast of Toulouse.  You'll meet Nicolas Lebrun doing some crazy work in his fields, working with indigenous grapes like Duras, Braucol (Fer Servadou), Loin de l'Oeil (white) and Prunelart.  The wines are big and dark and velvety but beautifully balanced with sparkling minerality and long long finishes.  I had a bottle of his basic Gourmand Sec Rouge (Duras, Braucol) that took 7 days before it faded.  This stuff ROCKS.

Look for this label in Fall, coming to a store near you (hopefully!)

Best of all, I am pretty sure this will retail around $16-17, and will be perfect for the cooler weather or BBQs in summer 2014.  I am so excited about his wines it's not even funny.  And I'm getting just as excited for our other new wine, as we're branching out from France and Spain to... Italy!  Ciao Italia!  We found a lovely small farmer Organic Chianti, which again should retail under $20.  More details to come, but we keep looking for new small Organic or Biodynamic producers to import and get to a store near you.

Frankly I haven't been this energized in a while, and planning for Fall and the future is taking up all my time.  If you can't tell, I am really jazzed for what's to come.  Heck, we even hired a COO (granted, I'm cheating a tad, it's my wife, but she is quite the slave driver), as well as a part-time salesperson for the NY market.  AND we're talking to another salesperson.  I guess it's a testament to the quality of our wines that folks are coming to me and asking to rep our wines.

Which is why I've let this blog slide a bit, shamefully.  Once again, I apologize.  Next time you see me, feel free to berate me and if I have an open bottle I'll pour you an extra-large glass of wine.  I promise to do to a better job at this.  Plus I forgot how much I loved writing, though there's no telling if you enjoy reading this.

In any case, more to come, soon...
Cheers!

Simple Things

 

It's funny, despite my love of the simpler things in life, it's easy to lose one's way and forget this most basic principle. Every day we're assaulted by a barrage of desires, enticing us to do/eat/drink more. Yet when one takes a deep breath and a step back, we (re)discover how nice it is to take some time and enjoy the simpler things in life. Especially living in NYC with its hectic energy, we sometimes tend to forget to take that step back. Yesterday, I landed in Paris, and wandering the streets and shopping for dinner, I realized what I'd lost lately.

 

A simple croissant (delicious, BTW), eaten on the street (very declasse, truthfully), was the epitome of that go-go-go attitude we have in NYC. And while that's great for a quick breakfast, I was in no rush, so why'd I do that? My first meetings/tastings weren't until the day after I landed, so I was in no hurry. Shame on me!

 

So my first dinner in Paris wasn't at a Michelin-starred restaurant (I prefer smaller, simpler bistrots, frankly), or even an intricate meal prepared at home, even though I'd bought some lovely baby chanterelles and other ingredients. No, dinner my first night back in Paris was a half-bottle of a biodynamic red from the Languedoc (nice and unassuming), some stinky cheeses, a saucisson sec (how is this not imported in the US????), and a very nice baguette. And it was the perfect meal. Me happy.

It doesn't get much simpler than that.
Cheers!

Judging vs Tasting

This past weekend I was invited to be a judge at the Concours des Vignerons Independants, the Independant Winemakers' Competition, in Paris. As you can imagine, I was very honored. But then again, I'll take any excuse to go to Paris. Even for just 4 days.

Some of the most distinctive wines are being made by these small, often family-run wineries. Most of them are really representative of their terroirs and true to the art of wine making. But, there is still an unacceptable amount of crap being produced, and this weekend I saw the good, the bad and the (really) ugly.

I also got to thinking about the difference between judging a wine and tasting a wine. While it may not seem like there are any, I found there were some subtle differences in the way I looked at the glasses before me.

 

The format was blind tasting, with two tastings in the morning and two in the afternoon. We were told what regions we'd be examining (in my case, 2007 Chablis 1er Cru followed by 2007-08 Brouilly/Chiroubles, then 2007-08 Saumur whites and 2006-07 Anjou reds on Day 1, then on Day 2 2007 Cotes du Rhones all morning followed by 2007 Petit Chablis and 2007-08 Beaujolais Village/Brouilly in the afternoon) but the bottles were hidden in sleeves. We had to give our impressions of the color, the nose and the taste of the wine, with a final comment and grade (based on 20, using the French system and not the 100 point ratings preferred in the US). Lastly, we had a maximum number of wines that we could recommend for a medal (gold, silver or bronze to be determined at a later competition).

 

Everyone there was in the wine business in France, whether as active members of professional tasting clubs (of which there are surprisingly many, and which are amazingly well-organized, in contrast to those I frequent in NY) or as members of the wine trade (making, distributing or selling it). And I was happy to see that my palate was quite similar to my table-mates (in general), though there were some times where we had divergent views, as would be expected. It was at this point that I began to see the differences inherent in a judging as opposed to a tasting.

 

A judging, as the name implies, looks for the qualities in a wine. But drinking wine is, after all, a subjective experience. What I might consider a "good" wine might be considered "bad" by someone else. So it's not as easy as it sounds. I had to fall back onto my own personal standards of what makes a good wine, which I enumerated a long time ago here. Luckily, most of the other judges tended to agree with my scoring, though they did think that I was a harsher grader than they were (if a wine was undrinkable, it got a 0/20, no matter how great it looked).

 

I found myself doing the same things I'd do at a tasting, but it was all very scientific and cold and less, dare I say, soulful. At a tasting, I'm judging the wine, yes, but I'm also looking for those qualities of wine which make it enjoyable, pleasurable, as well. At a tasting, I can go back to a wine and watch it evolve, but at a judging, it's one after another and God forbid if the wine needs more time to breathe. In fact, there were times when we'd go back to a wine only to find it had changed dramatically, for better or for worse. At a judging, time is a factor, but usually tastings are during dinners so the only constraint is how much liquid remains in the bottle. In addition, I'm comparing the intrinsic value of each wine to see which is "better" and more deserving of both a better grade and a possible recommendation for a medal. So, there are some mental gymnastics going on as well, not something I'm very good at, admittedly.

See, I told you this wasn't as easy as it sounded.

And the results, you ask? Well, the 2007 Chablis 1er Crus were delicious if young, as you'd imagine, and the 2007 Cotes du Rhone were just glorious. The Brouilly and Chiroubles were OK, the Petit Chablis nice but lived up to their names (Little Chablis), the less said about the Anjou reds the better, the Saumurs were quite nice if young (tons of acidity in the 2008s), and the Beaujolais Villages/Brouilly were awful, awful, awful. I don't know who the producers of any of these were, but the medals will be handed out in Colmar, Alsace, at the end of the month. Perhaps one of the wines I recommended will be there, who knows?

In any case, it was an interesting weekend, I met many wine people, ate some great meals, drank some lovely wines, and enjoyed Paris as it's meant to be enjoyed.
Cheers!

A Day in Champagne

There are many nice things about being in Paris. But one of the best is being only an hour or so by car or TGV from that winemaking region so close to my heart, Champagne. Yes, Champagne... Swoon...

It's a large area, with various terrains and terroirs. In the winter, and in fact for most of the year, the weather is grey and damp, which means the grapes struggle to ripen. But it is this struggle which allows them to retain the high acidity necessary for good Champagne. The soils are mainly chalk with some limestone thrown in for good measure, and each geological feature affects the grapes differently. Limestone usually leads to bigger, brawnier wines, while chalk gives more minerality and precision to the wines.

If you're into vintage Champagne, then you should know that they are comparing 2008 to 1996: lots of acidity but lots of power, and from the few '08 vins clairs (still wines) I tasted, I have to agree. This is going to be a very nice vintage.


Our first stop was cancelled due to a death in the family, so we headed over to our second appointment, at Champagne Veuve Fourny. Located in the small town of Vertus, in the Cotes des Blancs, the family has been making Champagne since the 1930s. However, they were growing grapes as far back as the 1870s. Nowadays, two brothers, Emmanuel and Charlie, run the place. I had heard of them but had never tasted their wines so I was looking forward to this.


They also fully own the tiny plot of land known as the Clos du Faubourg Notre Dame. They make a bottling from the grapes grown in the Clos, and to say it was good would be an understatement. It was fantastic! They also own the only plot of Pinot Noir in the Cotes des Blancs (only white grapes are allowed in this area), which they use to make their rosé (both in saignée and assemblage styles).


We also got a tour of the cellars, where thousands of bottles sit at a 45 degree angle upside down, their lees collecting in their necks. Anyone remember the Charlie Chaplin movie "Modern Times"? His character's hand-twitches after a day on the assembly line would be perfect here. Riddlers, as they were called, used to turn each bottle a tiny bit by hand each day, though now of course there are machines to do this.


Some of the wines are finished in oak, and we saw the malolactic fermentation (where tart malic acid is turned into softer lactic acid) taking place in one cellar. Those are bubbles frothing from the bung.


Emmanuel generously poured all their cuvées for us while we sat in their sun-dappled atrium. The wines were all quite nice, some verging on absolutely fantastic (especially the R and the Rosé). But to me the best part was hanging out with the winemaker and chatting with him, he was both gracious and generous.


My friend Nicos, who drove us to Champagne, liked the wines so much he bought a few, perhaps too many, cases, stuffing them into the trunk of his car. Eventually, we squeezed in and said our good-byes.


We met up with a Champagne writer for Wine & Spirits magazine, Peter Liem, at Champagne Diebolt Vallois. He and the owner, Jacques Diebolt, gave us an expansive tour and tasting. I thought the wines were OK, a bit on the sweet side (his dosage is relatively high compared to Veuve Fourny's). Maybe I was tired and cold and damp, but I seem to recall liking these wines a lot more in the US. Still, it was interesting to meet Jacques, he is quite the character.

All in all it was a good day, despite Nicos' bout of gastro-enteritis and the cold, damp weather. We met some great people, had some great tastings, and came home with a few new wines to share among friends and family.
Cheers!

Morning

The soft light of morning gently caresses the night's fog, its luminous fingers filling it with color. The mist parts like an ocean in slow motion, the light giving life to amorphous silhouettes, straight walls leading to curved roofs. Shadows become crisp and lucid, revealing a city waking up to a new day. Smells of baking bread and freshly-cleaned streets fill the air, and the sounds of movement and civilization begin to resonate against ancient stone walls. The sun's rays begin to pierce the grey veil, shaking the slumber from the city and its inhabitants.

And me.


I am home. I am in Paris.

A Week In Paris

Morning in Paris
Yeah, there are worse places to spend a week than in Paris.

I decided to treat myself to a week in Paris, where I could do some business and also celebrate my birthday. To put it mildly, I have my priorities straight, thank you very much.

I left Macon very early on a Saturday morning, taking the TGV from the quaint little town to the capital. To my surprise, the train was packed to the gills, though everyone was asleep due to the early hour. Rocketing through the fog-shrouded French countryside felt like flying, with nothing but clouds and sun outside the windows and that shallow rocking motion high-speed trains get. What a civilized way to travel!

Upon arrival, my first order of business, of course, was to eat breakfast (espresso and croissant, delicious) then head over to Caves Augé to meet some friends for a tasting of Burgundy producers. The tasting was a lot of fun, we met some great winemakers, tasted some very good wines (especially Marechal and Pacalet), and tasted some not so good wines (nope, won't bad-mouth them). Best of all was hanging outside on the street while tasting, and popping over to a table where some fresh jambon persillé and some paté de campagne were being served. Yum!

We then ran over to Willy's Wine Bar for lunch. A stop at Willy's is de rigueur for me on every trip to Paris. It's a great deal for lunch (20 Euros if I recall correctly), and the wine list is fantastic. We shared a bottle of 2002 Anne Gros Clos de Vougeot "Musigni" which was nice but took forever to open and reveal itself. The best glass, as usual, was the last. Of course.

It was quickly decided that we were still thirsty, so we headed over to Caves Legrand Filles et Fils, across the street. Their wine bar has some interesting selections and the store itself has some deals (sometimes, you need to really do some hunting however).

For some reason, I can't quite recall what I ended up doing for dinner...

The following morning I woke up early and decided that the apartment I rented needed some food, so I hopped on one of the municipal bikes (Velib) scattered throughout the city and headed over to the Boulevard Raspail Organic Market. If I may say so myself, I was quite dashing, with my leather jacket and scarf, speeding through the sleepy streets of Paris on this cold fall morning.

That is, until I hit the streets still paved with cobblestones.

I won't need to worry about having kids after those. Ouch. Those bikes weigh a ton, and have no shocks, so you ladies need to use your imagination, but all the men reading this just winced.

Lesson #1= avoid the cobblestoned streets.

In any case, I piled all the fresh produce (eggs, herbs, salad, etc...) into the little basket at the front of the bike and headed back to my apartment. Problem was that the place I rented was in the 9th, near Place Clichy, which is at the top of a hill. Boulevard Raspail is all the way at the bottom, and across the Seine.

Lesson #2= make sure you have the energy to bike a heavy, steel bike up steep hills before attempting to look cool biking through the City of Light.

After this abuse, I made it back home and prepared a lovely omelette aux fines herbes the way it's supposed to be: runny and gooey and freakishly delicious. There's something about eggs in Europe, they're denser and so much more flavorful than the eggs we get in the US, even from farmer's markets.


My friends Sharon and Arnaud invited me to dinner for my birthday, and much good, no, fantastic wine was consumed over a lovely meal. Highlights included a NV Ruinart Rosé from magnum (WOW), a 2000 Armand Rousseau Ruchottes Chambertin Clos des Ruchottes that was swoonfully good (yes, I just invented that word, deal with it) and a mind-blowingly good 1993 Niellon Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru "Champgains".

Over the course of the week I found a few new wine bars and restaurants that I will add to my revised Wine Geek's Guide to Paris (look on the right-hand side of the blog, link is right there). I also cooked myself some lovely meals and discovered a neighborhood I didn't know very well but ended up really liking.

Now, back in New York, I am re-energized for work and looking forward to showing more of my wines as business grows, even as I long for and miss Paris. Sigh...
Cheers!

Meals with Friends in Paris

My first week in Paris, I joined fellow blogger and good friend Sharon at her place for a fantastic lunch. A British expat, Neil, also joined us, as did my wife, who had just landed and courageously ignored the jet-lag trying to drag her down. After picking her up from the Air France shuttle, we dropped her bags at our apartment and walked through the Jardins du Luxembourg to Sharon's place.

Henri the Hedgehog
Midway through the beautiful park, we came across a group of people standing in the path, watching something on the ground. As we approached, we realized they were all staring at a small hedgehog, who was meandering slowly in the warm sun, ignoring all the gawking stares. I whipped out the camera and caught him as he made his way home for lunch. Christening him Henri (make sure to pronounce it with a thick French accent, "Hunhreeeeeeeee") the Hedgehog, we wished him a bon apetit and continued on our own way.


Lunch was amazing, as Sharon is the consumate host and cook. We started with Champagne, of course, opening a NV Jacques Lassaigne Vignes de Montgueux, light on the palate with some lovely elegant notes of citrusy herbs on a steely frame. Super dry, just lovely to quench our thirst as we feasted on homemade gougères. Alongside this, there was a NV Henriot "Rose Noire", something I'd never tried. But being a fan of the house, I forced (wink, wink) myself to taste, only to find the wine slightly oxydized and I think flawed. There was some discussion as to whether it was, but in the end I believe it was and need to retaste it.

With the meal, we opened some more bottles, of course. A 2005 Frederic Mugnier Chambolle Musigny was sacrificed for scientific purposes (talk about infanticide!). Lovely but far too young, this was a shy puppy, revealing only some dark Pinot fruit on a powerful frame. Hmmm... need to come back to that in about 5 years! Next came a 1999 Daniel Rion Chambolle-Musigny "Les Beaux Bruns" which was just singing, a gorgeous Chambolle with some age on it and ready to drink now. God, I love Burgundy. Lastly, with a cheese platter that would make most cheese shops in NYC blush, we cracked a 2000 Domaine de l'Arlot Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru "Clos de l'Arlot" Blanc. Beautiful, just absolutely fresh and fruity and minerally, with a great mouthfeel that matched the cheeses.

A week passed and I went to ViniSud, the Rhone, then made my way back to Paris for one last night of debauchery. Who else to call but some friends who like wine and good food? So Sharon and her boyfriend Arnault ventured into the warm February night to join me and my friend Cybele at Restaurant Astier, in the 11th Arrondissement.

Astier's Cheese Plate
Wow, what a deal! For 31€ you can get a 4-course meal of classic French dishes in a welcoming, low-key, unpretentious environment. Just what I like! I ordered a bouillon de champignons (mushroom broth) for a starter, then went to a Charolais beef with potatoes drenched in cheese and cream. Yum! The cheese platter was a plate a meter wide that stank to high Heaven and was oh-so-delicious. Dessert was a Chocolat Parfait, but at this point all I could venture was a few bites before stalling.


Our first wine was a white, a 2004 J.-M. Boillot Puligny-Montrachet, from a year I like where the acidities were very high in Burgundy. This was fantastic, putting on weight throughout the meal as I saved a large glass for the cheese, which was the correct thing to do. Beautifully minerally, with laser-like precision, and fleshy fruit, this was redolent of lemony truffles. Powder this up and I'd do lines of this all night!


At the same time as the white, we decided to order a red, a 1998 Jacques Prieur Beaune 1er Cru "Clos de la Féguine" and have it decanted. While this is a year I enjoy, this wine was tough to wrap our palates around. Smelling beautifully of older red Burgundy, it refused to come out its shell despite being decanted for over an hour, only coming out to play at the very end of our main courses. Ah, well, such is the way of things sometimes...

Restaurant Astier
44, Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud
75011 PARIS
Tél : 01.43.57.16.35

Cheers!

A Breakfast in Paris

Sorry, couldn't resist.
Cheers!

Market Watch: Boulevard Raspail

I landed on Sunday morning, early enough to visit the Boulevard Raspail organic market. The sun was shining and the rows between the stands were packed with shoppers and tourists, tables groaning under beautiful vegetables and fruits, fresh-killed chickens and ducks and fish and other assorted goodies.

Here are a few pictures from that stroll.
Cheers!

Paris Wine Bar: Willi's Wine Bar & LeGrand Filles & Fils

On Tuesday afternoon I met up with a friend for lunch at Willi's Wine Bar in the 1st arrondissement. This always reliable restaurant has a great wine list, both by the bottle and by the glass, and the food is delicious. In addition, it offers some of Paris' best lunch deals: 19.5€ for 2-courses (starter/main or main/dessert) or 25€ for a 3-course meal. This place is so reliable that it's become something of a pilgrimage for me on all my trips to Paris. I try to stop in at least once during each visit.

The decor is somewhat Art Deco, with old posters for Willi's on the walls (like the one in the picture above). Service is warm and professional, and as I mentioned the food is very good.

We started with appetizers of tuna tartar, deliciously fresh and sans mercury (well, I certainly didn't see any). Since my friend is a heathen and doesn't drink alcohol, I only ordered a glass of 1998 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape. I was worried that the wine would need time to air out, but since the bottle had been open the previous night it was ready to go, almost jumping from the glass with beautiful, elegant yet powerful red and black fruits wrapped in a cloak of earth on a plush mouthfeel, ending with a long and just slightly tannic finish. Absolutely surprisingly delicious, and it went amazingly well with my main, a braised jarret de veau (veal knuckle) that was tender and juicy and just scrumptious.


After a lovely espresso (another one in Paris, what's going on?), we parted ways. I had some time to kill, so I ambled across the street to Caves LeGrand Filles et Fils, in one of the old-time, beautiful covered shopping galleries, Galérie Vivienne.

This store/wine bar always offers something interesting for the wine lover, and the staff, while not always the warmest, can usually point you in the right direction. So while I looked at their price book and drooled over some of the legends for sale, I sat at the wine bar and ordered a glass of 2005 Robert Denogent Pouilly Fuisse. Redolent of lemons, almonds and hazelnuts with a minerally backbone on a slightly oily frame, this was just lovely and a perfect way to relax. The bar offers cheeses, cured meats and other snacks, but I wasn't hungry so I just sat, enjoyed the views of bottles lined all over the walls and smiled.

Life is good.

Willi's Wine Bar
http://www.williswinebar.com/
13 rue des petits champs 75001 Paris
Phone: (33) 142610509

Legrand Filles et Fils
http://www.caves-legrand.com/univers/
1 rue de la Banque
75002 Paris
Phone: +33 1 42 60 07 12

Next: Spring in the 9th.
Cheers!

Paris In Three Days

I am so happy, I am leaving for my maternal city in three days. On Sunday morning, I will be munching on a warm croissant, with a steaming bowl of café au lait while watching Parisians go about their business. This is one aspect of my job I love, the ability to fly to Paris and not have to worry about time-tables or getting stuck in meetings at an airport convention center. I refuse to allow myself to live or work like that.

I arrive early enough to hit the Boulevard Raspail organic market (assuming no delays), where I'll grab a year's worth of unpasteurized cheese (yay!), paté, cured meats, duck breast and confit, and assorted other goodies to cook in the apartment I'm renting. And, of course, lots and lots of wine!

But have no fear, I will be reporting from the City of Light, my laptop will be with me, as will my camera so I can share the views with you. Soon afterward, I'll be at ViniSud, in Montpellier, in the south, a huge wine trade show, where I'll be forced to imbibe massive quantities of under-ripe swill or over-ripe plonk, all of it bathed in new oak, all in the hopes of finding one or two new wineries to pique my interest. Such is the life of a wine broker...

Oh God, I can't wait!
Cheers!