What's Pressoir Drinking?

November 2, 2020
by Justine Puaud

I recently hosted a small gathering of friends . Everyone brings some of their recent favorite wines, we decide all together on the menu and my husband cooks. We didn’t end up opening anything crazy fancy. The goal was to discover and enjoy delicious food with great wines and good friends.

As the weather is cooling down, we started enjoying a richer cuisine and opened some full bodied red wines.

Paolo Bea “San Valentino” Umbria Rosso 2015
Fantastic winemaker who produces perfect examples of what Sagrantino and Sangiovese are capable of from Umbria, Italy. The San Valentino vineyard hosts 50-year-old vines, planted in soils dominated by clay. The composition is 70% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino, and 15% Montepulciano sourced from all his vineyards. It was a rustic and earthy red with a delicious juiciness. “San Valentino” might be the most elegant wine Paolo Bea is making, although it is a bit of stretch to use the term elegant. Let’s rephrase it and say it was the least exuberant wine we had from his range, fairly light without being too polite.

Domaine Léon Barral, Faugères “Jadis” 2015
Didier Barral is a kind of revolutionary winemaker in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. He uses biodynamic practices and has a team of twenty cows, horses, and pigs for farming his vineyards. This is the concept of sustainability at its finest! The ecosystem creates interdependence between the animals and the vineyards.
The vines are in between 30 to 90 years-old, planted on schist soils and are classic Rhône grape varieties. The Jadis is a blend of Carignan, Syrah and Grenache from a single vineyard. This wine was the big surprise of the night because it was just THE perfect pairing with the beef tenderloin and the creamy peppercorn sauce! Even if it is a full-bodied, intense red wine, it was also a really well-balanced, open and complex wine. There was a beautiful nose of black fruits, “herbes de Provence” and spices. On the palate, it was a bit rustic with succulent aromas of cherry and blueberry jam. You can definitely wait another 10 years to open it!

Beef tenderloin with creamy peppercorn sauce

I’m happy to share my husband’s creamy peppercorn sauce recipe which is super easy and made with only 4 ingredients:

• Pan juices from steak

• 1/4 cup Cognac

• 2 cups brown stock or canned beef broth

• 1 tablespoon black peppercorn, coarsely crushed

• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Cook steak to your taste, then remove and rest while you make the sauce in the same pan.

Add some butter and crushed peppercorns. 

Deglaze with some cognac, flamber to collect the cooking juices from the bottom of the pan. Add beef broth or stock, and simmer rapidly until it reduces by half (intensifies the flavor);

Stir through cream and crushed peppercorns. Serve over the steak.

News from the Vineyard

La Paulée de Meursault 2020, cancelled

Daniel, during La Paulée de Meursault in November 2018. Besides the multiple “Bans Bourguignons”, the unofficial and jovial Burgundy anthem, La Paulée lights up when guests start spinning their napkins over their head.

The following article was translated from Le Bien Public’s original article available here.

The president of La Paulée de Meursault, Philippe Ballot, has finally surrendered to the health crisis. The event, initially planned on November 16th with a limited attendance, has been cancelled. “It was not an easy decision, explains Philippe. After a recent meeting with the authorities during which the latest restrictions were discussed, we realized it was too complicated ” reported the event organizer, who had expected 250 people for November 16th. Held in the old cellar of the Château de Meursault, this feast normally hosts close to 700 guests each year and traditionally awards an author the literary award “Prix de la Paulée”.

The measure to limit the number of people per table to six was the final nail in the coffin, and what prompted the cancellation of La Paulée. According to the seating chart, “we would have had to turn away sixty guests! And we just couldn’t come up with fair criteria on who not to invite” explains Philippe Ballot, who also pointed out: “It’s not impossible that these restrictions might become even more drastic, leading to the day of La Paulée. Therefore we decided to cancel the event altogether, early enough so people could get organized.”

The napkins won’t be spinning this year.

Le Ban Bourguignon

La Fête du Champagne 2020

by the team
Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Thank you to everyone that tuned in from your home to join us at La Fête 2020. Various events and the self-guided Grand Tasting made for a celebration of bubbles that spanned 10 days. So you know, if you purchased access to the virtual self-guided Grand Tasting, that content will be accessible for you to come back to every time you open a bottle of Champagne, use it as a reference, a buying guide for entertaining or collecting or at our next Club Member BYO.

We wanted to share with you some of our favorite moments of the live webinars from the festival. If you were unable to attend one of the events and would like to catch a recording, please reach out to Justine.

NEXT GENERATION GROWERS with Mathilde Margaine, Cédric Moussé, Guillaume Sergent, and Aurélien Suenen

We had a great time Sunday 10/18 with four of Champagne’s brightest young récoltant-manipulants or grower-producers: Mathilde Margaine of A. Margaine in Villers-Marmery, Cédric Moussé of Moussé-Fils in Cuisles, Guillaume Sergent in Vrigny, and Aurélien Suenen in Cramant.

Peter Liem led the discussion, focusing on the quartet’s varied backgrounds, experiences with their terroirs across Champagne, and vision of the region’s future.

Global warming was a big topic, as it was throughout La Fête 2020, and the growers all agreed that while for the moment it was easier to make great terroir-driven wines in a warming Champagne, there were many other considerations that they had to think about dealing with in the coming years.

A highlight was a Segway tour with Cédric through his vineyards, ending at his deceivingly modern winery where he showed jars of different kinds of sulfur, proclaiming the yellowish natural volcanic sulfur to be superior as its greater protective capacity allows less to be used at bottling.

KRUG AND THE CUISINE OF L’ASSIETTE CHAMPENOISE WITH OLIVIER KRUG AND CHEF ARNAUD LALLEMENT - on Saturday 10/24 we zoomed into L’Assiette Champenoise for a delicious discussion led by Daniel, with Olivier Krug, Chef Arnaud Lallement and the chef’s son Brice Lallement, who is the next generation at L’Assiette Champenoise. With the COVID situation in France, there is a government mandated curfew which means that our 12pm event was smack in the middle of their service. We are incredibly grateful that Chef Lallement was able to dedicate his time to be with us. His commitment to his guests in the dining room was evident, as he was in and out of the kitchen throughout the event. Olivier Krug shared stories, tasting impressions and thoughts on the pairings while the chefs presented the dishes and shared secrets to their sauces, the composition of each dish and how the Champagne in their glasses impacted the overall experience and enjoyment of the pairings. It was a mouthwatering conversation, alive and fun. What came through most clearly was the mutual respect and admiration between Olivier and Chef Arnaud and their shared pleasure around each others’ craft. Brice was a fantastic edition to the event as a translator and additional voice with great commentary, referring to his dad’s methods and techniques that have obviously influenced him, and are allowing him to come into his own at L’Assiette Champenoise.

LA TRANSMISSION - A Contemporary Vision of Champagne with Anne Malassagne of AR Lenoble, Maggie Henriquez of Krug, Mélanie Tarlant of Tarlant, and Charline Drappier of Drappier

To end La Fête du Champagne, on Sunday 10/25, we had a chance to talk to four of the nine women from La Transmission, Femmes en Champagne, an organization of women who collaborate on and promote their modern, inclusive vision of Champagne. The discussion was moderated by Ariel Arce, the NYC-based restaurateur and owner of Air’s Champagne Parlor, Niche Niche, and Tokyo Record Bar. It was an extremely lively discussion, and the friendship and camaraderie were palpable through our screens with lots of cheering and laughter.

Anne, Maggie, Mélanie and Charline each spoke about their Champagne houses, how they got involved with their work, and their personal relationship with Champagne.

The four women were together in Paris and insisted on tasting Champagnes made by winemakers from La Transmission who were not present, in order to show their solidarity and spirit of togetherness. They each represented a Champagne, and the four Champagnes tasted were:

• Champagne Boizel Grand Vintage 2008

• Champagne Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Rosé 2007

• Champagne Bruno Paillard Dosage Zéro NV

• Champagne Philippe Gonet TER Blanc de Blancs NV.

Thanks to the time difference, it was “apéro time” in France and watching the quartet enjoy little snacks with the Champagnes made us all quite envious of them!

A Tasting and Conversation with Anselme & Guillaume Selosse

Trying to describe the philosophy of Anselme Selosse is no easy task. The Champagne winemaker who has inspired so many younger producers around him talks about his wine, the land, the history and other topics with the amazement of a child. When you listen to him, it takes a second to enter his world that he describes with colorful images. For example, you can listen to him comparing himself as the butler of Mother Nature. He would also talk about how the lees are to the wine what the placenta is to the baby in the womb…

It took a while for the “madman of Avize”, as some of his narrow-minded neighbors called him, to gain his current status of superstar. Anselme never fit in any category. For example, he did join the biodynamic movement but then quickly decide to give it up as the rigidity of protocol didn’t meet his own beliefs. 

Just like the man, his wines are “hors-classe” and the limited production made his bottles incredibly hard to find, creating a real cult for his work. During a conference in London, Anselme, with his particular quirkiness, explained to an audience of admirers that his champagnes had square bubbles. What happened next amazed him as the attendees lifted their glass to see if that was the case!

On October 17th, we opened the festivities of a very unusual La Fête du Champagne with an exclusive live discussion with Anselme and his son Guillaume. Peter Liem moderated this very inspiring interview and was able through his questions to extract the essence of the winemaker’s ideology. The presence of Guillaume, even if he was a little more reserved, gave us a precious and insightful idea of the direction the domaine is taking with the smooth transition from father to son. The future is looking bright with Guillaume, an equally talented winemaker, with his own personality.

Lastly, I was as honored as I was nervous to translate for Anselme and Guillaume and I am still not quite sure where these 90 minutes went.

What's Pressoir Cooking?

Raj Vaidya

October 27, 2020

As the weather turns cold and the skies gray, I tend to lean into heartier, earthier flavors in the wines I choose to imbibe and the food I put on my table. But that doesn’t always mean heavy meat dishes or rich sauces in my case. Sometimes a dish with complexity of flavor and a personal connection, one that invokes memories and emotions as only comfort food can, hits the spot just as well to warm the belly and heart. Last night I decided to make one of my Dad’s favorite ‘quick’ recipes, Maharashtra style Chole (sautéed chickpeas). My dad was a deft cook, but mostly left the kitchen to my Mom while I was growing up. On the occasions he had to pick up the slack, this was often his go-to dish as it doesn’t require much preparation time, and overdelivers in flavor and satisfaction, while also being relatively healthy! Maharashtra is the area in India where my family originated, and this style of cooking is specific to this cuisine, where spices are toasted in oil as a base for whatever vegetable or bean gets then added to coat in those flavors. To drink I finished an earthy Côte-Rôtie from 2014 that I had opened over the weekend, perfect with the toasted spiced flavors!

Check out Kalyustian (kalustyans.com) or Patel Brothers (patelbros.com) for the ingredients you may not have in your pantry.

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon amchur powder (dried mango)

1/2 teaspoon indian black salt

1/2 teaspoon chopped ginger

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1 chopped red onion

1-2 chopped red thai chili peppers

1 cup cooked chickpeas

Cilantro and lime juice to garnish

3-4 tablespoons of grapeseed oil or clarified butter

Heat the oil in a nonstick pan till steam begins to appear, add the dried spices and chili and sauté/toast for about 1 minute, not allowing the spices to burn in the pan. Add ginger, garlic and onions and sauté till aromatic and onions are translucent. Add chickpeas and heat through while coating the beans in the spice mixture. Serve with cilantro atop, a squeeze of lime juice over Basmati rice.

What's Pressoir Drinking?

by Max Goldberg Liu
October 28, 2020

Sometimes Champagne is just right for a special occasion

A closing message from the women of La Transmission, Femmes en Champagne at La Fête du Champagne 2020 was that Champagne is not just a celebratory beverage - it can, in fact, be the occasion itself, and it elevates ordinary experiences into something special.

I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment and often enjoy drinking Champagne “just because.” Still, the two Champagnes I enjoyed over the last weekend of La Fête were in fact celebratory, as my girlfriend of nearly six years (and now fiancée!) Katherine and I celebrated our engagement. Katherine is in her final year of medical school at Stony Brook and LOVES Champagne.

We started the festivities Saturday afternoon with just the two of us and enjoyed a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvée 168th Edition. After watching the fantastic discussion with Olivier Krug and Chef Arnaud Lallement, we were extremely thirsty for Krug and this did not disappoint. The latest Grande Cuvée release from the renowned house, 168 was built around the ripe 2012 vintage and the rich aromas and flavors of pastry, brioche, and almond paste really came through. Of course, the wine was not lacking freshness and balance that came from the reserve wines that were masterfully blended in, but still, this was a totally hedonistic and luxurious Champagne.

The following evening, we celebrated with my family (with many bottles of wine) but a standout for me was the Moussé Fils Special Club Rosé de Saignée 2014. There was also a tie-in with La Fête du Champagne here, as we had an enjoyable discussion with Cédric Moussé in his vineyards and his deceptively modern winery as part of the “Next Generation Growers” seminar the weekend prior. The terroir-driven purity of Cédric’s wines was on full display here, and alongside the shimmering red fruit flavors I found a highly expressive note of green tea that was extremely compelling. Perhaps it comes from the fact that the Champagne is 100% Pinot Meunier, which I often find gives Champagnes a somewhat herbaceous note. This is one of only a few rosé Special Clubs and it is made in diminutive quantities from a 100% Meunier vineyard in Cuisles called “Le Bout de la Ville” (tip of the town). A rare treat.

Many producers in Champagne are fighting back against the traditional marketing techniques of the large houses that portray Champagne as a special occasion beverage. Still, traditions die hard, and I say: “Champagne ALL the time!"

News from the Vineyard 10/20/20

by Max Goldberg Liu
October 20, 2020

The Gold in the Golden Slope

It’s a bit of an odd time of year in Burgundy - the harvest is in (historically early this year), the wines are safely slumbering, and there is little for vignerons to manage in their cellars right now other than topping-off barrels.

Some wines have already gone through their malolactic fermentations (a secondary fermentation where sharper, more pointed malic acid - the same acid in tart apples - is converted into softer, creamier lactic acid - as the name implies, the same acid as in milk) while others have not yet. As is the philosophy in many aspects of winemaking these days, this is a mostly hands-off process for many vignerons, preferring to allow their wines to develop on their own schedule.

Some vignerons take this time to tear out dead or non-productive vines to replant, but there are scant other tasks to accomplish in the vineyard, as in the cellar.

What to do, then?

Well, in a “normal year” (it can be argued that there is no more “normal”) harvest would have finished around 3-4 weeks later than it did in 2020, which would leave much less dead time before Les Trois Glorieuses - the famous trilogy of the Hospices de Beaune wine auction, the dinner at Clos Vougeot, and, of course, La Paulée de Meursault, which always takes place the 3rd weekend of November. While the auction will be held mostly virtually, the other two events have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With everything looking a bit different this year, many vignerons are simply enjoying life in Burgundy after a successful harvest. Côte d’Or means “Golden Slope,” and while that is certainly evoked by the current cost of land in Burgundy, the spectacular colors of the vineyards in autumn show a less metaphorical, yet equally accurate origin of the name.

What's Pressoir Drinking? (Club Member BYO - Champagne)

October 21, 2020

by Edouard Bourgeois

Nice lineup for our virtual gathering on Tuesday. Thanks for sharing your impressions on the great bubbles you enjoyed with us. The fascinating diversity of the wines of Champagne was really well highlighted. Even some obscure varieties like Fromenteau, also known as Pinot Gris or even Pinot Beurot made it to this fun BYO. It is also great to see both historic producers like Drappier, founded in 1808, but also the talented winemakers of the new generation were chosen. These young craftsmen and women, often in their late thirties, are shaping the wine world of tomorrow and we see a bright future through their dedication.

We hope that Champagne corks are flying left and right in your home and that La Fête du Champagne is a good excuse to bring some joy during these trying times.

Here is the list of the bottles open during the BYO:

Marc Hébrart, Rive Gauche Rive Droite - Duane and Earline

Diebolt-Vallois, Fleur de Passion, Blanc de Blancs 2007 - Edouard

Guillaume Sergent, Chemin des Chappes, Blanc de Noirs - Alex

Paul Bara, Spécial Club 2006 - Jaime

Bérêche & Fils, Le Cran 2011 - Chris and Sara

Tarlant, Cuvée Louis - Justine

Drappier, Trop m’en faut (100% fromenteau) - Max

Moussé & Fils, L’Or d’Eugène, Perpétuelle Blanc de Noirs - Daniel

What's Pressoir Drinking

October 21, 2020
By Daniel Johnnes

In regards to the wines I choose to drink, some people would call me cheap. Some would call me reasonable. Others would call me a genius. Frankly, I don’t care. I know I’m not cheap and I know I’m not a genius.

Maybe I’m reasonable. One thing is for sure: I drink for pleasure. Normally, I’ll open a delicious Beaujolais, Coteaux du Lyonnais, village level Burgundy from a great producer or maybe a Barbera, Dolcetto or Nebbiolo from Piedmont. Or a Loire valley Anjou. Or maybe a German Riesling.

These are all wonderful wines, great values and easy to open and enjoy at home for a casual occasion. Though sometimes I just get thirsty for a real treat. A Grand Cru or a top level Premier Cru from Burgundy. Maybe a Bordeaux from a mature vintage or a great northern Rhone from Chave, Clape, Clusel-Roch.

The other night, was a “thirsty for a great wine” night so I opened a Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero 2011. What a treat. It is amazing how clear the difference is between a wine that has a noble voice speaking of place, grape variety and character and a wine that is a simple delicious wine. As I said earlier, the simple delicious wine is my “vin du jour” but I get so much joy when a wine causes me to reflect, savor and even on rare occasion brings a tear to my eye. These great wines are works of art with profound nuance, subtlety and length. The Burlotto did not bring a tear BUT, it was clearly a refined and special example of a great terroir in Piedmont. This area is Verduno in the north of Piedmont on a sandy soil that yields more subtle delicate examples of Barolo. This one from the 2011 vintage was fully open with the telltale aromas of dried roses, leather, and spice. It had a wonderful texture, almost velvet and perfect balance of ripe sweet fruit layered with black currant and raspberry accompanied by a luxurious long fresh finish.

I could not believe how quickly the bottle shared with two other people disappeared. Of course, the next bottle had to be at the same level of enjoyment or better. I’ll talk about that one another day.

What's Pressoir Cooking?

by Daniel Johnnes
Wednesday, October 14, 2020

I have been ruminating on what to cook for the next La Paulée Selections 3 pack. In case you haven’t noticed our La Paulée Selection is accompanied by a short video of me preparing a dish (or 3) to go with the wines. We believe wine is enhanced by a fine dish just as a fine dish is amplified by a delicious, perfectly chosen wine.

Last month I cooked chicken 3 ways - roasted, grilled and braised. Each called for a different wine.

Now, I am preparing a striped bass one way but with 3 different sauces and seasonings, each having a strong say in what wine I would pair with it.

The bass will be accompanied by couscous tossed with fava beans, celery, carrot, zucchini, chanterelle mushrooms and depending on which wine I want it to pair with, I will incorporate either creme fraiche, lemon and tarragon or bacon and red wine or just a simple butter and lemon sauce.

Here’s the striped bass with bacon and red wine.

Couscous preparation:
1 cup couscous
1 cup chicken stock
- Bring 1 cup chicken stock to boil. Add couscous, mix, cover and set aside

Vegetable mixture
1 carrot
1 zucchini
½ pound fava beans shelled
½ pound chanterelle mushrooms
3 strips bacon cubed
1 onion
Thyme
- Sweat onion, add carrot, sauté mushrooms and bacon until cooked, then add zucchini, fava beans and thyme which cook very quickly. Remove and mix with fluffed couscous and set aside.

Fish & sauce
1 filet striped bass (about 3/4 pound)
1 diced shallot
1 cup red wine
2 tablespoons Glace de Volaille stock (I like the More than Gourmet brand)
1 branch thyme
1 tablespoon butter
- Heat sauté pan with olive oil. Sear bass on one side for 2 minutes, turn and cook for another two minutes and put in 375 degree pre-heated oven for another 2 minutes. Remove fish from pan, add shallots until translucent. Add cup red wine, 2 tablespoons fond de volatile (stock), add branch of thyme and reduce by half. Finish with one tablespoon butter.

To finish presentation
Plate one large tablespoon couscous mixture. Place fish on top and dress with 2 tablespoons sauce. Garnish with a sprig of thyme.
For the other two sauce preparations, you will have to buy the La Paulée Selection pack, available soon.

Bon Appétit et Bonne Degustation!

What's Pressoir Drinking?

Produttori del Barbaresco, Barbaresco 1978, in magnum

by Edouard Bourgeois

October 13, 2020

We pair wine with food, with friends. I even like to push the envelope further by trying to find the right music to play when I sip on a particular cuvée. But what about matching wine and mood?

This morning, I woke up to a rainy, apparently uninviting Tuesday, cold and gloomy. Looking around my apartment, an empty magnum I opened last week and saved as a trophy caught my eye. When I pulled the cork from this 42 year old Nebbiolo, the wine initially seemed ugly, almost limping, and certainly the opposite of a “fruit bomb”. As often with old Nebbiolo, the initial funk character you may smell should not discourage you. The magic rule? Decant, and wait, a long time. The wine does change over the course of a few hours as oxygen seems to be Barolo and Barbaresco’s best friend. I’m also convinced the drinker should also adapt to this metamorphosis. It is a true intellectual exercise where the taster has to be willing to make an effort to understand the wine, just like the first time you heard the curious music of Thelonious Monk, not immediately being able to capture the beauty and humor in his choppy piano strides.

1978 blessed the Piedmont with grapes able to produce ideal, age-worthy wines. It was also the last vintage of the first cellar master at Produttori del Barbaresco Giorgio Boffa. This wine evolved so much, it felt like tasting multiple wines as each layer unveiled as time went by.

So, did I manage to pair the wine and mood? Yes. As the wine unfolded, the mood of the people who shared this magnum with me also evolved to eventually harmonize with the profile of the wine.

News from the Vineyard

October 13, 2020
by Justine Puaud

2020 Harvest in Sauternes and Barsac

Most of the French producers finished the harvest a month ago but we shouldn’t forget about one region in particular which is always the last one to pick the grapes. In the southwest of France, and more precisely, in Sauternes and in Barsac, winemakers started harvesting this past weekend. 

As a reminder, Sauternes and Barsac are world-famous sweet wines of Bordeaux. They are made from Sémillon, Sauvignon blanc, and Muscadelle grapes that have been affected by the botrytis cinerea, also known as “noble rot”.

Many Premier Cru Classé Châteaux have skipped the last few vintages because, according to the winemakers, the weather conditions were not optimal to produce a good vintage. From 2009 to 2014, Sauternes and Barsac made unforgettable wines. Each vintage was unique. Some fantastic vintages were recognized for their richness and opulence while some others are appreciated by the connoisseurs for their balance with a high acidity.

So what about 2020? Most of the winemakers in France seem really happy about this vintage, but what do the winemakers from Sauternes and Barsac have to say? The quality of the wines depends on the botrytis, which can be a capricious fungus. It can give the worst as well as the best. Sauternes and Barsac Chateaux were waiting for the botrytis to concentrate the sugars and acidity in the berries. But for that, they needed a set of climatic conditions that the 2020 vintage was slow to grant. 

On average, two sortings have already been carried out. Most Châteaux launched a first sorting on the week of September 14th. They harvested some grapes at the earliest stage of botrytis - very small but of good quality. The second sorting took place the week of September 28th and the grapes were very healthy. But the harvest was not done yet. For the final sorting, everything will depend on the weather conditions to come. The beginning of October was marked by significant rain and everyone is waiting for a clearing and wind for it to dry and for the berries to concentrate.

In any case, 2020 will not be a vintage marked by a strong yield though it should be a pleasant and quality vintage.

Next time, I will share my grandmother’s recipe of foie gras to pair perfectly with a Sauternes!

Pressoir.wine Team Picks from La Fête du Champagne Packs

La Fête du Champagne will begin on October 17!

This year the festival will be fully virtual with various opportunities to enjoy the depth of this region in your home or at a friend’s home. With the help of the participating producers, our team has curated over 35 different themed packs of Champagne available for purchase with retail partner Zachys.

Our team shares their picks -

Jaime’s pick: Les Blanches Voies.

I love the Champagnes that Laurent Champs produces at Vilmart & Cie but I have never tried the Les Blanches Voies cuvée. From the beginning this 2-pack has caught my eye. I love the idea of a side-by-side tasting of two wines - discovering a vineyard by a producer I know and love, Vilmart, and another that I am excited to discover, Huré Frères. For me La Fête du Champagne has always been about discovering producers in Champagne that I did not know before. Try out something new that you have never had the opportunity to taste before!

Max’s pick: Dry is the Future

A warming Champagne region means that producers can now more often pick riper and riper fruit with less need to balance out acidity with a healthy dosage. While in some cases Brut Nature and Extra Brut winemaking can be a mouth-puckering exercise in trendiness, these Champagnes from Laval, Leclerc-Briant, and Pierre Paillard are exquisitely balanced, with their low or non-existent dosage allowing the terroir to come screaming through.

Justine’s pick: Rosé Discoveries

Some people will associate Rosé Champagne with richness, higher dosage and mostly Pinot Noir. This is the perfect opportunity to prove they have the wrong idea. In the Rosé Discoveries pack, you have 3 perfect examples of elegant, low dosage and complex Champagnes. Each of them come from fantastic terroirs and have been carefully crafted. However each winemaker has his own identity and style: AR Lenoble Rosé Terroirs is from 88% of Chardonnay from Côte des Blancs and 28% of vin de réserve. Huré Frères Insouciance is mostly made with Pinot Noir from the Montagne de Reims. They are known from their rich texture and racy acidity. Laherte Frères Les Beaudiers is a single-vineyard saignée rosé of pure Pinot Meunier which gives concentrated and meaty Champagnes.

Edouard’s pick: The Savart Producer Pack

I feel particularly animated about this selection because Fred Savart is the perfect example of the winemaker who crafts wines that resemble his personality. In Fred’s case, what comes to mind is generosity, vigor and happiness. While one cannot replace a one on one experience with Fred, great wines have this ability to make the taster travel, whether it is through time, or space and I am convinced that this pack will offer a genuine experience.

L'Ouverture is Fred Savart's entry level Champagne but it is far from one-dimensional. It is 100% Pinot Noir all from the village of Ecueil, half of which was fermented in mostly neutral barrel, while the other half is fermented in stainless steel. The wine only sees partial malolactic fermentation. Fred doesn't guide the malolactic fermentation, instead it is the inclusion of reserve wine that goes through malolactic fermentation because it has gone more temperature swings. The wine is in equal parts a blend of three successive vintages and aged under cork, not crown cap. Dosage is 7g/L.

L'Accomplie is 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay from both Ecueil and Villers-aux-Noeuds. The base vintage makes up 70% of the total blend with the other 30% coming from reserve wine of the two previous vintages. The wine is aged in a combination of neutral oak and stainless steel. The dosage is 5g/L.

Raj’s pick: Chartogne-Taillet Producer Pack

I count myself lucky to have many friends in Champagne, and have had the privilege of speaking with so many of then while helping to prepare the digital tasting experience we are debuting in just a few short weeks. But as I think back on the interviews I conducted throughout the process, the one that leaves me smiling from ear to ear with the memory of it is certainly the time I spent with Alexandre Chartogne of Champagne Chartogne-Taillet this past week. Not only is Alex a tremendous winemaker and vigneron, he is an absolutely lovely person, and extremely soulful. In speaking about the wines in this offer, he mentioned to me that the Couarres bottling is one of the best wines he has ever produced, yet did so in the least boastful and most humble manner. Truly a delightful conversation, an amazing guy and brilliant wines, which we are really excited to share with you during La Fête!

News from the Vineyard

Information sourced from the L.A Times

link to article

October 6, 2020

by Edouard Bourgeois

Wildfires on the West Coast

The worst fire in the wine country region's history has scorched 65,000 acres and damaged another five wineries, bringing the total to 18 Napa Valley wineries damaged or destroyed by the Glass Fire. That staggering scale of California’s wildfires reached another milestone Monday: A single fire surpassed 1 million acres. The total area of land burned by California wildfires this year passed 4 million acres, more than double the previous record. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the amount of land scorched by the August Complex is larger than all of the recorded fires in California between 1932 and 1999. There have been 31 deaths and nearly 8,700 buildings have been destroyed, the governor reported.

Numerous studies have linked bigger wildfires in America to climate change from the burning of coal, oil and gas. Scientists say climate change has made California much drier, meaning trees and other plants are more flammable. California remains largely warm and dry but fierce winds that fanned infernos a week ago were gone.

In addition to the tragic deaths, current air quality readings are considered unhealthy for sensitive groups according to the Environmental Protection Agency and of course, the impact on the vineyards is devastating. Some producers have decided not to harvest any fruit from its 2020 vintage due to damage caused by smoke fumes. some vintners say harvesting this year’s grapes isn’t worth the time or investment because they can’t be salvaged. Smoke contains compounds that bind to the skin of grapes and get absorbed into the fruit. The aroma releases throughout the fermentation and aging process, making a seemingly unaffected wine taste more ashy over time. In general, red wines, especially ones made with thin-skinned grapes like Pinot Noir, tend to be most affected. The fruit may taste good if you were to pick it from the vine, but the problem is the smoke taint shows itself after fermentation. In some cases, the larger wineries that would buy from a lot of different vineyards would simply reject the grapes, and the vineyard owner is kind of stuck. For the smaller vineyards, the smoke damage to 2020 vines will be harder to stomach. Some may have wines to sell over the next few years, but it’s 2023 that is going to be really problematic, referring to the year the winery’s 2020 vintage would have been sold. With the whole pandemic going on, and now the wildfires, wine country has really taken a hit. To confirm the smoke damage, grapes have to be tested. But the laboratories that perform tests are backlogged with an unprecedented volume of requests, experts say. Results that used to come back within 24 to 72 hours now take about four to five weeks.

Some wineries are getting creative with their smoke tainted grapes. using the smoky wine for spirits. A second-generation grower, Hoopes, leaned into the charred flavor profile of her wine and used it to make brandy and vermouth. The pivot required additional investment on top of losing expensive crops, but she needed to salvage what she could.

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What's Pressoir Drinking?

Raj Vaidya

October 5, 2020

It is becoming a rarity to come across great bottles of humbler appellations in Burgundy these days in many of the great collector’s cellars. Many of our Cellar Advisory services clients have cases upon cases of mature Grand Cru, but to be able to enjoy a delicious and mature Villages level Burgundy is a little harder these days. So while rooting around a friend and client’s cellar on the Upper East Side last Saturday night, him and I were delighted to happen upon this bottle of 1999 René Engel Vosne-Romanée Villages. A bottle that no doubt was purchased on release by his father in the early 2000’s. It was late in the evening, post dinner, and there was a request for an earthy red. Boy, did this deliver! Great length on the palate, somewhat rustic, leathery even. Not one of those floral and light, airy Vosne’s. Much more power here, the richness and intensity of the vintage certainly shined here. Engel’s wines are an important piece of Burgundian history, but over the years since Philippe Engel passed away and the Domaine was sold, these bottles have become quite pricy and all the more rare. Truly a memorable bottle! The Dauvissat Séchet was the follow up, well after midnight, and also delicious, but i’ll save describing that one for another time :)…

What's Pressoir Eating?

by Daniel Johnnes

September 30, 2020

With summer weather and produce just starting to wind down, we find ourselves at this amazing crossroad of warm weather activities, summer fruit and vegetables, fish and grilled meats and a wink towards the cooler autumn abundance of game, mushrooms, deeper sauces and heartier roasts and braises.

As I like to pair my dishes with what I’m drinking, I was looking at Jaime’s wine selection for this week. While Pommard has a history of being a fairly powerful red overall, the Pezerolles from De Montille is more on the elegant side. Still, I feel a light touch of cooler times ahead and wanted to get into the spirit of the season by preparing a dark meat bird and garnishing it with the first cèpes of the season. Cèpe is my favorite mushroom, combining the flavors and aromas of the forest with wonderful texture and a delicate, woodsy taste. So this fairly simple dish is a roast pigeon or squab seasoned with salt and pepper and pan roasted in butter for about 7 minutes per side for color. Then another 10 minutes in the oven at 400 degrees is all it takes to keep the flesh rosy and tender.

Let the pigeon rest 15 minutes before carving.

Meanwhile add a half pound of cèpe mushrooms, one chopped shallot, one clove of chopped garlic to the hot pan and cook till tender. Add one cup of red wine to deglaze and several sprigs of thyme in the pan and reduce by a third. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and set aside. Season to taste.

Remove the breasts from the bird and keep warm in the jus.

Serve with soft polenta and spinach on the side. Eat with a nice glass/bottle of Pommard!

What's Pressoir Drinking? Pommard!

by Jaime Dutton

September 29, 2020

Domaine de Montille, Pommard Premier Cru “Les Pézerolles” 2012

I have been looking forward to revisit the wines of Domaine de Montille after our At Home Session with Etienne de Montille this summer. Recently, I pulled a bottle of Domaine de Montille Pommard Premier Cru Les Pézerolles 2012 from the cellar. We chose this wine thinking it would be a fun and delicious choice to share with my family to celebrate my older daughter Pilar’s 12th birthday.

As I opened the bottle, I was reminded with a smile of the At Home Session with Etienne this summer on a Saturday afternoon in early July, broadcast live from a boat on Lake Geneva. He had planned an evening with friends Dominique Lafon, Christophe Roumier and Jean-Laurent Vacheron, and was going to join us from the terrace of the restaurant before they went to dinner but plans changed when they ran out of gas! I was impressed on many levels that he still made it happen - first, he was incredibly generous with his time - carving time out for us on a summer weekend during his vacation. He remained focused and engaged from the boat as his friends joked with him and the parade of boats behind him did not phase him at all. He remained jovial and light hearted, sharing the camera with the others on the boat, laughing as they floated in the sun on the lake, all while sharing information and stories about his domaine, his winemaking and experience as a winemaker of one of the most historic and established domaines in Burgundy.

Generous, focused and jovial - I was hoping that these aspects of his personality would come through in his wine and they did. Pommard is known to be hearty and robust, but Les Pézerolles is known to make a lighter style of Pommard. This wine was vibrant on the palette with a juicy character that was balanced with smoky nose and integrated tannins - it was drinking perfectly and we enjoyed it with steaks grilled on the open fire.

Merci Etienne!

Guess the Label - La Fête du Champagne edition

In honor of the upcoming Fête du Champagne, test your knowledge of Champagne and Guess the Label!

Post your answers in the comments section below.

News from the Vineyard

by Edouard Bourgeois

September 29, 2020

Hand Destemming at Domaine Lafarge

Since 2016, a very unique and rarely seen device has reemerged at the famous Volnay domaine Lafarge. The “égrappoir a main” or hand destemmer (pictured below), used in the old days before mechanization took over, has been the tool of choice for some of the gorgeous Pinot Noir grapes of the domaine. Clothilde Lafarge, who came back to the domaine in 2018 and is now fully involved, explains how incredibly labor intensive the hand destemmer is. It takes no less than 35 hours per vat and up to seven people at once to do the job. But the juice is worth the squeeze.

The hand destemmer is made of woven wicker

The peaceful, serene atmosphere embraces the feeling of communion at the winery

No, this is not a close-up of a caviar tin, but the pristine berries of Pinot Noir after being delicately destemmed

News from the Vineyard

by Raj Vaidya

September 23, 2020

This week, the work our friends and colleagues in Burgundy are busy with is primarily inside the cellars. During the last two weeks of August, when New York felt a great deal warmer, the harvest in Burgundy was in full swing. I thought it would be fun to share a few fun facts illustrated by this video of a sorting table and destemming machine at the Domaine Marquis d’Angerville in Volnay. Guillaume d’Angerville has mentioned to me in the past that the identity of the wines at his family’s estate has long been defined by the purity of fruit that is associated with destemming the grapes. Though he has pointed out, in his father’s days the destemming was done by hand, and so was rougher and less efficient than today. The destemmer today works quickly and quite gently, and is more precise in removing all the stems.

The resultant wines are perfumed, supple and fairly deep in color thanks to the lack of stems. In this short video, you can observe the team at d’Angerville giving the grapes a last sorting on the conveyor table (unhealthy grapes have already been sorted out while harvesting in the vineyard, so this is a second run) as they make their way to the destemmer.

What's Pressoir Drinking? (Club Member BYO Edition...)

by Raj Vaidya

9/23/2020

We had another lovely Club Member BYO dinner this past Monday evening in the backyard of Popina in Brooklyn. A great way to celebrate the arrival of Autumn! Many great bottles were opened, some more messily than others (scroll down for a short video…) but my favorite of the evening was the Domaine Leflaive Bienvenue-Bâtard-Montrachet. Tremendous depth and texture, but still ever so precise and focused! The wine seemed to last forever on the palate, truly a tremendous bottle.

Here is a recapped list of all the bottles we enjoyed:

Champagne Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs “Cuvée Louis Salmon” 2007

Domaine Louis Michel, Chablis Premier Cru Butteaux 2014

Domaine Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, Saint Aubin Premier Cru En Rémilly 2016

Domaine Leflaive, Bienvenue-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru 2010

Domaine Nicolas Potel, Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Les Gaudichots 1999

Domaine Sylvie Esmonin, Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru Clos Saint Jacques 2012

Domaine Sylvain Cathiard, Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru En Orveaux 2001

Domaine de Montille, Volnay Premier Cru Champans 1995

Domaine de Montille, Volnay Premier Cru Les Mitans 2003

Domaine de l’Arlot, Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru Clos de Fôrets-Saint-Georges 2009

Domaine Robert Chevillon, Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru Les Saint Georges 1988

Domaine Gros Frères et Soeurs, Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru 1995

Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat, Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru Les Suchots 2011

Domaine du Comtes Georges de Vogüé, Chambolle-Musigny Premier Cru 2001

Louis Jadot, Chambertin Clos de Bèze Grand Cru 1999

Domaine Trapet, Chambertin Grand Cru 2003

Champagne Vilmart & Cie, Cuvée Création, Champagne 1997 (in magnum)