News from the Vineyard

May 19, 2021
by Justine Puaud

Homage to Jim Clendenen
The “Mind Behind” au Bon Climat in Santa Barbara County

Jim Clendenen, the boisterous, rebellious winemaker of Au Bon Climat and an influential force in the international wine scene, passed away on May 15, 2021 at age 68.

Jim created Au Bon Climat in 1982 and was quickly recognized as a winemaker icon for his Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris.

He regarded Burgundy as the benchmark to which he should aspire, bringing clones of Pinot Noir from Burgundy in a bid to make wines with restraint and finesse. His wines combined the precision and grace of Burgundy with the flair of the West Coast.

In addition to his wine expertise, Jim was a legendary bon vivant. An expert in cuisine, he made hospitality an integral part of his personality. Jim especially enjoyed cooking for visitors at Au Bon Climat and organizing long and epic lunches!

We will remember him as a flamboyant California pioneer with an incredible talent and a big heart. RIP Jim…

Below is a tribute from Daniel who was friends with Jim for over 30 years.
“Jim Clendenen was not just a friend. He was an essential part of the natural order of my/our world of wine. We met at Becky Wasserman’s home in 1986 or 87 and his presence and spirit filled the room with joy. He has been a constant presence without even seeing or speaking to each other. He was just always there keeping our wine world as it should be. It has taken me a few days now to digest the enormity of his absence. I still can not grasp how deflated everything feels. Like the air poofing out of a balloon and falling flat. Let’s raise a glass to this enormous larger than life individual who gave us all so much joy. Merci you darn francophile vinophile Californian hippie!”

Click here to watch the full recording of his At Home Session from last August below.

What's Pressoir Drinking? Stéphane Bernaudeau, Vin de France "Les Onglés"

by Max Goldberg Liu
Wednesday May 19, 2021

Our 4-part THIRST for the Loire Valley series prompted some, well, thirst for Chenin Blanc, and this bottle from Anjou wizard Stéphane Bernaudeau was a perfect way to slake it.

From a 2 hectare parcel on schist, Les Onglés may be Stéphane’s “entry” wine but it shows a remarkable amount of personality and complexity, just like the man, who farms his vines biodynamically, by horse, and usually untrained (ie. no wires).

Aromas of lemon oil and spices lead to an almost shocking amount of salinity and precision on the palate, surrounding a core of stone fruit. The minerality is really quite astounding, as is the length. What’s more, the wine is only 11% alcohol and is a perfect example of how some growers and terroirs can achieve one of the hardest feats in wine - creating power and intensity without weight, a phenomenon that was ascribed to the vineyard of Les Amoureuses by Fred Mugnier at La Paulée this year.

Now, it is not quite fair to compare the wines in any capacity, but for me, there is an echo of that same sensation and emotion.

This wine was a perfect pairing with cheese, especially with an Epoisses brought by Justine to lunch.

Stéphane trained with the now legendary Mark Angeli of La Ferme de Sansonnière and is firmly established as a pillar now of the natural/biodynamic school of winemaking in the Anjou region. The wines are extremely limited in production as he only owns 3 hectares of vines, but are available from many of the top NYC retailers like Chambers Street, Flatiron, and Crush. Stéphane also makes an even more limited and rare Chenin from a vineyard called Les Nourissons which has an average vine age of over 110 years - if you find a bottle, definitely snatch it up!

What's Pressoir Drinking?

Edouard Bourgeois
May 19, 2021

Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage 1979

1979: While Pink Floyd releases its now iconic album “The Wall”, the Sahara desert experiences an incredibly rare episode of 30 minutes of snow. That same year, some pristine clusters of Syrah are meticulously harvested on the daunting hill of l’Hermitage. Domaine Jean-Louis Chave, founded in the XVth century and run by the same family ever since, without interruption, is often considered to be “the king of the hill”. There is Hermitage and there is Chave Hermitage, a step above. I have been lucky enough to taste older vintages like this 1979 over the course of my sommelier career. With bottle age, this brooding style of Syrah has the ability to keep an intense personality. For me, olives and black pepper are often the descriptors that come to mind, along with bacon fat. But what really amazes me is how “simply delicious” these powerful wines remain. Another feature that always stuns me is the incredible length on the palate.

The Chave family is a strong believer in blending. If not the grape, then the plots. The well-known Hermitage cru “Les Bessards”, often bottled separately by other producers, represents the base of the blend at Chave’s while other crus such as Péléat, le Méal, Rocoules or l’Hermite play a role in fine tuning the overall balance and nature of the vintage. The domaine also produces an authoritative white Hermitage, the result of a blend of century-old vines of Marsanne and Roussanne. Just like its red sibling, this cuvee is capable of very long aging.

Interview with Brice Lallement of L'Assiette Champenoise

May 11, 2021
by Justine Puaud

Gala Dinner of La Fête du Champagne 2019

Brice Lallement is a chef and the son of Chef Arnaud Lallement of L’Assiette Champenoise, a Michelin three-starred restaurant just outside of Reims in Champagne.

What have you been doing during the pandemic?

The hotel was open but Dad decided to close the restaurant until further notice. Many Michelin starred restaurants decided to offer takeout to their clientele but we see takeout as a completely different experience. When you go to a Michelin star restaurant you go not only for the food but for the entire culinary experience. We didn’t want first time clients to miss out on what it feels like to eat at L’Assiette Champenoise.

However, we have been busy! We completely renovated the main dining room with a beautiful marble fireplace and stone walls for a warm and convivial atmosphere. In addition to that, I spent quite a bit of time driving around Champagne and visiting winemakers such as Vincent Laval and Anselme and Guillaume Selosse. I also met fantastic people who are part of the next generation like Paul Gosset and Antoine Bouvet. We also went to the Rhône Valley to visit Domaine Trevallon and Roc d’Anglade.

Can I say that L’Assiette Champenoise is a family affair?

Definitely! The whole story started in the seventies. My grandfather was working for Chef Roger Vergé of Moulin de Mougins. In 1974, they decided to go back to Champagne when my grandmother was pregnant with my dad. A year later, they built the restaurant which was in Merfy (close to Domaine Chartogne-Taillet). Papi [my grandfather Jean-Pierre Lallement] got his first Michelin star in 1976. He unfortunately lost it a few years later. In 1980, they moved the restaurant to its current location in Tinqueux and built a Relais & Chateaux establishment. Papa became the Chef of L'Assiette Champenoise in 1997. In 2001, Papa got his first Michelin star. Four years later he received a second star and in 2014, he received a 3rd star. Papi would have been really proud. My grandmother is not working at L’Assiette anymore but she stops by every day. L’Assiette Champenoise is part of her life or should I say it is the love of her life. My dad grew up within these walls and I did too.

When did you decide to become a chef?

I was around 15 years old when I knew I wanted to be a chef. One day during an interview, César Troisgros (of the famous Troisgros family of chefs) said something that I couldn't agree with more: “As you are growing up, so many people around you keep saying you will be a chef like your dad without asking you if you want to be a chef. And when you are a teenager you start to assert yourself and the only thing you DO NOT want to do is to be a chef like your dad… but there is this feeling inside of you… You grew up in a kitchen, you know the kitchen and you know that the only thing you want to do is to cook like your family did.”

What is your general culinary philosophy?

Cook local products and respect those products. At L’Assiette Champenoise, all our products and ingredients are coming from local farmers. We love our region and we want our clientele to understand Champagne when they come to L’Assiette Champenoise. My last internship was at Manresa, Chef David Kinch’s restaurant in California. I learnt a lot there and I loved it because he was sharing the same philosophy. I remember going to the farmers market with Chef every day. One day, he brought me to see an old friend. We drove for about 2 hours to Los Gatos to visit a producer of citrus fruits. This 80 year old man was living on the top of a hill and had been growing citrus for 60 years. It was absolutely magical!

What methods do you implement to cut down on food waste at the restaurant?

First of all, there is an economic reality. You cannot spend, for example, 100 euros on a lamb if you only want to take the filets.. We cook everything! The filets are for the restaurant, the legs are for the staff meal, the bones will make a terrific sauce and we keep the lamb shoulders to make a hachi parmentier (shepherd's pie) with mashed carrots. We are also raising chickens in the garden of L’Assiette Champenoise and also have a compost site.

Do you see haute cuisine as something that can exist without animal products in the years to come?

I saw recently that Chef Daniel Humm is relaunching Eleven Madison Park as an all-vegan restaurant. I would say I am going to miss his honey roasted dry-aged duck… Personally, I think it is really important to build awareness and share information about where you source your products instead of just taking meat out of your menu. The famous butcher Alexandre Polmard has been providing meat to L’Assiette Champenoise for years. Papa loves that man and trusts him. Alexandre was the first one who built his own and private slaughterhouse so he could control everything. Additionally, I think people go to Michelin starred restaurants to eat products they cannot find anywhere else. I’m thinking about turbot, for example. It is really hard to find in a regular fish market and it is even harder to cook it.

Like your father, you love wine. What is your favorite wine?

As you know in France you start tasting wine when you are pretty young. I was 15 years old when my dad brought me to some wineries. I remember like it was yesterday when he said to me: “ Brice, Champagne is a word which is known internationally. You need to know your region and you need to know how we make Champagne!” This is how it started… I developed a big passion about Champagnes. There is such a huge diversity that I cannot tell you which one is my favorite. Last week I tasted Mont Benoit from Savart and Mont Benoit from Brochet and they were both so different.

Besides Champagnes, I recently had a very emotional experience with a Domaine de la Grange des Pères 1996…

Travel alert!
Americans will be able to travel to France with a proof of vaccination. It’s time to plan your trip to Champagne and have a fantastic culinary experience at L’Assiette Champenoise.

Interview has been translated and edited for clarity and length.

Each dish hides a story. This is the traditional lobster dish created by Brice’s grandfather.

What's Pressoir Drinking?

by Raj Vaidya
May 11, 2021

Domaine Simon Bize Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru Les Vergelesses

It has become a rare occasion to find so called ‘humble’ appellations from Burgundy with proper maturity. The great Volnays and Vosne-Romanées I’ve been lucky to taste are certainly held in higher regard than those from villages such as Marsannay or even Beaune, and therefore are more likely to have been held in collectors’ cellars till reaching maturity. But I find tremendous joy in tasting a wine with an equal depth of character, nuance and delicacy as these ‘grand’ appellations, although often without the weight or power of the same when mature.

This exceedingly pretty bottle was consumed at the end of a marathon service of 22 top notch collectable wines to a group of nearly 60 serious gourmands at an event in California last week. Amongst the wines poured, the 1985 Drouhin Bonnes Mares, 1988 Dujac Clos de la Roche, 2010 Lafon Montrachet and 1978 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle (from magnum!) were highlights. Yet while winding down after the fact, the charming and filigree texture and the earthy, mushroom laced aromas of this beautiful bottle from the Bize family totally knocked my socks off, and did not seem at discord in quality at all with the wines I’d tasted earlier in the evening.

1976 went on record as one of the warmest seasons that Burgundy has ever seen. But this Savigny-les-Beaune Premier Cru “Les Vergelesses” did not show the heat or alcohol of the vintage. Light on its feet, lacy in texture and with that beet-like sweetness giving the only indicator of the warmth of the harvest. Superb length on the palate. I can’t say I was still tasting it the next morning, but I certainly woke up thinking about it!

What to Read!

by Edouard Bourgeois

May 11, 2021

I was never the straight A student in school. Being told to study and learn specific topics often did not work with me. It was not due to a lack of interest in learning or laziness (maybe a little) but more because I had my own agenda. For example, I would sneakily be reading a book on the history of the blues in the Mississippi while in science class at age 12.

When I turned 18, I did not know what career path to choose and gave the hospitality industry a try, entering culinary school. It quickly became obvious that this decision proved to be the right one, especially when the topic of wine presented itself.

The reason why I am telling this story of mine is because I found in the subject of wine a meaningful outlet that allowed studying a large spectrum of topics. There is much more than just the trivia question of “what’s the grape variety of Cour Cheverny” (do you know?). Understanding wine means exploring the science of fermentation, the philosophy of so many inspiring producers, the geography of the different wine regions and among all of these subjects I would typically overlook in school, history.

In addition to travelling to wine regions, tasting wines, and meeting various wine producers, reading the right wine books can obviously provide an immense source of information. I recently discovered one of these volumes that I believe should be a reference for all wine afficionados and frankly any history lover. Its title is “Nine Centuries in the Heart of Burgundy” a publication centered on the fabulous story of the Cellier aux Moines, a Burgundy domaine that we are featuring in our live THIRST Class on Saturday May 22nd.

The book features in depth information on the long and eventful history of Burgundy, anecdotes and stunning pictures of the landscape of the region, rare antique maps and other fascinating elements.

News from the vineyard

By Eléonore Lafarge
May 5, 2021

A year worse than 2016

In Burgundy, the contrast between 2020 and 2021 in the vineyard is clear. Due to the frost at the beginning of April, the vineyards look very different this year. Even though May is here, the vineyards look as if winter just ended. Not many leaves are to be seen, compared to the previous years.

In the pictures below, we can see the Clos du Château des Ducs in Volnay on April 30th, 2020 and on May 1st, 2021.

Clos du Château des Ducs
April 30, 2020

Clos du Château des Ducs
May 1, 2021

The winemakers are still in their vineyards trying to estimate the percentage of loss. Seeing even one live bud is a sign of hope in this difficult year. In the picture below, Ludivine Griveau from Domaine des Hospices de Beaune is happy to see some healthy buds while on a tour of her vineyards in Pouilly-Fuissée.

The extent of the damage is not yet completely known. As the Chardonnay vineyards bud earlier than the Pinot Noir ones and correspondingly had more vulnerable buds, the Chardonnays seem to have been more affected by the frost. Indeed, in Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chablis, not a lot of buds survived.

François Labet, the president of the BIVB, Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne, estimates that at least 50% of buds were lost. As the vines keep growing, the winemakers will have a better idea of the damage. What makes 2021 worse than 2016 is that there were three nights of frost this year. Every winemaker in Burgundy was trying to purchase candles to warm up the vineyards but there were not enough for the third night, when the greatest damage occured.

Burgundy is not the only region that suffered from this historic frost; most of France’s vineyards did, as well as other agricultural areas, including apple and pear tree plantings.

Hommage to Laurent Vaillé

The world of wine lost a legendary vigneron last week - Laurent Vaillé of Domaine de la Grange des Pères passed away Friday, April 30 at the age of 57.

An intensely private and enigmatic man, Vaillé trained under renowned winemakers Gérard Chave in Hermitage, Jean-François Coche in Meursault, and Eloi Durrbach of Domaine Trevallon in Provence. Settling in the village of Aniane in the L’Hérault region of Languedoc in 1989, Vaillé built his domaine completely from scratch, using dynamite, bulldozers, and elbow grease to clear what he thought would be the best terroir on his land. He grafted cuttings from his mentors’ vineyards - Syrah, Marsanne, and Roussane from Chave and Cabernet Sauvignon from Trevallon. The resulting wines spoke for themselves. As intense and complex as their winemaker, the wines showed a depth and elegance that belied their ‘humble’ origin and developed a worldwide cult following.

The reputation of La Grange des Pères actually helped lead to the creation of a new appellation in the area, Terrasses du Larzac, but Vaillé, forever marching to the beat of his own drum, somewhat ironically continued to bottle his wines under the more humble “Vin de Pays de l’Hérault.” We all owe Laurent a debt for showing what a hardworking, visionary pioneer could accomplish in previously undiscovered terroirs.

Below is a tribute from Daniel, who was friends with Laurent for nearly 30 years:

RIP Laurent Vaillé. When I came to see you in 1993 and we spent 5 or 6 hours lunching on mom’s cooking, tasting your first vintage (1992) and drinking by the canal I knew we had a bond. We have worked together for almost 30 years. I have loved your wines, your mom’s cooking (moules Palavassiennes and wild boar caught with your tractor! ), your Coche collection and so much more! I/we will miss you dear Laurent.

What's Pressoir Cooking?

May 4, 2021
by Justine Puaud

From a food truck: one way to cook during the pandemic

We love France and sincerely miss sharing the cuisine of our dear friends and amazing chefs such as Michel Troisgros and his sons Leo and César in Ouches, Arnaud Lallement of L’Assiette Champenoise in Champagne and Gregory Stawowy and Yun Young of Le Suprême in Lyon. We look forward to getting back into the restaurants and pairing their incredible dishes with the wines we love. Before we can do that, let’s check out what’s happening in their kitchen right now.

As they have not been able to work in the kitchen of their restaurant, some chefs have decided to cook in a food truck. This is the case for the Troigros family, based in Ouches (near Roanne). César and Léo Troisgros, sons of famed Chef Michel Troisgros and grandsons of Chefs Jean & Pierre Troisgros, now cook in a food truck called "La Petite Cuisine". Having a mobile kitchen has always been a dream for them and with the current situation, their dream came true!

With a food truck, César and Léo have the opportunity to exercise their passion and express their creativity at a lower cost. À la carte: soups, fabulous desserts and street bread made every morning in the kitchens of the starred restaurant.

They are famous for the “pain de rue au saumon à l’oseille”. Delicious warm brioche breads are made by their chef, Konoka Miyazawa, along with the traditional family recipe of salmon with a sorrel sauce. It looks delicious! Check out a recipe from Pierre Franey and Craig Claiborne here.

Here are some tips for recreating the sorrel sauce at home:

• Choose salmon filets instead of salmon steak

• Use shallow plates

• Don't forget to add vermouth to the sauce

Stay tuned - it seems that Europe will reopen the borders for the Americans really soon. As a reminder, Pressoir.wine organizes bespoke itineraries to Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne, the Rhône Valley, the Loire, and beyond. Contact us for more information on planning your next wine trip.

BYO Recap - Popina, 4/26/21

Edouard’s comments

We were really happy to see some of you at Popina to share great Burgundies from Gevrey-Chambertin. The wines really showed well (only one was corked!) but a few of them really caught my attention. For example, I was really impressed with the Duroché Lavaut Saint Jacques 2017. A very seductive wine as I remember Max saying, or simply “delicious” to quote Daniel. I couldn’t agree more with them. It’s a reminder to me that 2017 is showing great now, even at the 1er cru level. The balance is impressive, with velvety tannins and just enough acidity to keep the wine agile and graceful. The fruit quality is evident and jumps out of the glass, suggesting juicy, sweet cherries.

Another bottle I forgot was so good was that Jadot 1997 Clos St Jacques! The vintage is a bit difficult to understand I find, with great heterogeneity among red Burgundies. Some may be a bit faded today but Jadot produced fantastic Pinot Noir that year that are singing these days.

I also was very pleased with both Bruno Clair 2010 and their resolute personalities. Structured for sure, they also offered a very interesting comparison of the 2 sites (Clos St Jacques and Cazetiers). The two vineyards may be neighbors but the Cazetiers, located a bit further from the Combe de Lavaux,was a touch more voluptuous while the Clos St Jacques still had that firmer structure on the palate.

Not mentioning the wines of Domaine Rousseau here is obviously impossible. So yes, of course the famous producer didn’t disappoint and we were lucky to taste three very different vintages. Starting with the concentrated 2012 which I thought could really benefit from another 5 years of bottle aging, at least. The 2011, so often marked by green flavors when made by other producers is more plump chez Rousseau and if that green asparagus profile still exists in the wine, I find that the palate offers more ripe fruit but more importantly an incredible volume with a rich texture. Finally, I was fortunate to revisit the legendary 1985 Clos St Jacques, a wine that I like to compare to the most exquisite symphony, with depth and incredible class. The very first impression was a touch “dirty” but the fruit quickly developed, blooming into a cocktail of violet, cassis, truffle and blackberries. Hard to understand why this wine is so great but as they say: “C’est la faute à Rousseau!”

Champagne Delamotte, Blanc de Blancs NV en magnum
Champagne Egly-Ouriet, Brut Grand Cru Millésime 1999 en magnum
Champagne Ulysse Collin, Les Pierrières
Domaine Leflaive, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières 1999
Domaine Bruno Clair, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Cazetiers 2010
Domaine Bruno Clair, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint Jacques 2010
Domaine des Varoilles, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 2010
Benjamin Leroux, Mazoyères-Chambertin Grand Cru 2012
Maison Louis Jadot, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint Jacques 2017
Maison Louis Jadot, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint Jacques 2010
Maison Louis Jadot, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux Saint Jacques 1997
Maison Louis Jadot, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint Jacques 1995
Domaine Faiveley, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Cazetiers 2009
Domaine Duroché, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaut-Saint-Jacques 2017
Domaine Duroché, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaut-Saint-Jacques 2018
Michel Magnien, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Cazetiers 2000
Domaine Joseph Roty, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 2007
Domaine Sylvie Esmonin, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint Jacques 1999
Domaine Dujac, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 2007
Domaine Dujac, Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru 1995
Jean Raphet, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux-Saint-Jacques 1988
Domaine René Leclerc, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux-Saint-Jacques 1983
Claude Dugat, Gevrey-Chambertin 2005
Maison Joseph Drouhin, Chambertin Grand Cru 1999
Domaine Fourrier, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Combe aux Moines 2013
Domaine Armand Rousseau, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint Jacques 2012
Domaine Armand Rousseau, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint Jacques 2011
Domaine Armand Rousseau, Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Saint Jacques 1985

What's Pressoir Drinking? Pierre Morey, Montrachet Grand Cru 1985

by Max Goldberg Liu
Wednesday April 28, 2021

I was treated to this remarkable wine last Friday at Grand Cru Selections’ company lunch.

Clearly, Pierre Morey did not make many magnums of Montrachet in 1985 - as you can see in the photo, he put a 75cl label on the magnum and wrote “2x” in pen, which indicates it was not worth a print run for magnum labels! Of course, this is informed by the history and context of this wine…

This was in fact made from Domaine des Comtes Lafon’s parcel of Montrachet, which was on a long-term lease to Pierre Morey up to the late 1980’s. Dominique Lafon had returned to the family estate and began to recover his family vineyards, which had been mostly leased out under his father René Lafon.

Montrachet is rarely a wine you see made in large quantities; this is especially true with the Lafon parcel which is just 0.32 hectares and typically produces low yields of 20-35 hectoliters per hectare.

Is it fair to say that Pierre Morey is one of the most underappreciated winemakers of the Côte de Beaune in the last 40 years? He had a remarkable history as the Regisseur (director) of Domaine Leflaive for many years, working closely with Anne-Claude Leflaive on the first conversions to biodynamics, in addition to making wine under his own label, both with the Lafon parcels, and his own. The wines are superb and long-lived.

This was a stunning Montrachet with a beautiful healthy bright gold color. It was fully mature, with aromas of golden pear, quince paste, crushed rocks, and a hint of white truffle. On the palate it presented the breadth and density that one expects from Montrachet, along with remarkably elegant acidity and structure. With length and persistence that was off-the-charts, I was still tasting it 5 minutes after the last sip! Just a remarkable wine and a reminder of the heights that Burgundy can sometimes achieve!

NEWS FROM THE VINEYARD

Eisele Vineyard comes alive for a new vintage…

After a trying year on many levels,

the vines awaken in Napa

by Raj Vaidya
Wednesday April 21, 2021

2020 was a trying year for most, but the vine growers and producers of the Napa Valley and much of California had it worse than many others on account of the devastating fires centered around harvest time. The Glass Fire which ravaged both mountain ranges and much of the valley floor in Napa threatened lives, burned down many people’s homes and severely damaged all fruit that was still on the vines with smoke taint, a flaw which is both difficult to identify when the musts and wines are young and nearly impossible to treat after the fact.

The winter season of 2020/2021 did not produce ample rainfall in Napa or the high Sierra mountains but nonetheless the producers I visited last week were optimistic for a strong season, assuming they have relief from more fires. The vines have just begun awakening, with bud break happening fairly early thanks to a warm spell in early April. A few nice things I came to note while visiting…

Historically Napa has not been an epicenter of organic or sustainable farming, but today more and more top estates are embracing the ethos. A lot more cover crops appear to be in use than during my last visit, and it’s become downright rare to see brown, dead earth in the overall landscape (a sign of herbicides.)

Many producers are moving towards dry farming, with less and less systemic drip irrigation in place, and where it is in place it is used very sparingly. A good sign for a state which has been in drought conditions for about 20 years.

And sad though it was, the fact that the fires were so widespread means that many of the hillsides of Napa are now safe from fires for the moment and the near future. These fires were devastating, but this part of California has long had instances of such phenomena naturally, with most of them starting during electrical storms. Typically a forest will regenerate over a period of 25 years, and even though dry grasses will appear every season, because there isn’t the huge mass of wood as a source to burn for the near future, the fires in Napa will be easier to contain and less impactful to the farming community in the years to come.

Something about the rebirth of spring naturally makes one feel positive about the future. This photo of the historic Eisele Vineyard (see my What’s Pressoir Drinking this week to learn more about this estate) shows the beginnings of bud break on a 30 year old vine of Cabernet Sauvignon in their ‘Grand Vin’ section of old vines. You can see that they have mowed the cover crops (so as to preserve water for the vines) but kept some cover amongst the rows to maintain a presence of fauna diversity. The irrigation lines you see are almost never used now, in fact they were only used last year during the fires to keep the ground cover wet so it did not burn. The winery needed almost all of their water reservoir to fight the fires coming down the mountain, so it’s a good thing the vines have been trained towards dry farming for some years. They have already done some debudding here on this vine, managing how the canopy will grow, but with rising numbers in average temperatures and warm days, they are debudding less than in the past, so as to keep more canopy to shade the grapes from the warm summer sun. Just the beginnings of signs of life, but they certainly put a smile on my face to match those of the vineyard workers who were showing me around last week!

What's Pressoir Drinking?

by Raj Vaidya
Tuesday April 21, 2021

I had the luck to visit with the team at Eisele Vineyard in Napa Valley last week, a very special site in the southern part of Calistoga. I’ve long been a fan, really getting to know the place during the previous ownership period when it was converted to biodynamic farming by the Araujo family. Prior to 1991, when the Araujos purchased the property from the Eisele family, the wines were made by a series of different producers, beginning in 1971 when Ridge Vineyards bottled it as a single vineyard designate for the first time, followed later in the 70’s by a series of vintages by Joseph Phelps Winery.

Today the vineyard is owned and managed by Artemis Domaines, Francois Pinault’s wine management company, which also owns and operates Château Grillet in the Northern Rhône, Domaines d’Eugenie and Clos de Tart in Burgundy, and the iconic Château Latour in Bordeaux. Needless to say, the current regime makes tremendous wines from this site, as they are known to do…

Eisele is unique in Napa for a number of reasons; it sits in a small nook, almost an amphitheater formation at the bottom of a canyon cutting into the hillsides of the Vaca Mountain range. A creek which divides the ‘Grand Vin’ section that has long been bottled as the vineyard designate from this site brings a variety of round, river stones down from the mountain, along with shale, volcanic basalt and gravel. Essentially, this amounts to ‘mountain terroir’ on the valley floor. In addition, the nook the property sits within opens up to the valley facing north and west, and is greatly influenced by the cooling breezes of the Pacific as they enter the valley north of Calistoga, allowing for the coolest nights in all of Napa, meaning greater acidity in the wines.

While the wines Eisele is producing today are spectacular, they are still (in their own words) at the beginning of their journey in expressing the terroir here. They are also clearly built to age, so I think it will be some years before the vintages they’ve produced start to show their true beauty. Luckily for me the winemaker, Hélène Mingot, and her husband, Estate Director Antoine Donnedieu, have been hard at work sourcing some older examples to continue to inform their palates and direction. During my visit, we sat for a meal and drank the first vintage bottled under the Phelps label…

Tremendous freshness was immediately apparent and quite impressive. Layers upon layers of classic Cabernet notes, eucalyptus, green peppercorn, pencil shavings and dried cassis dominated the nose and carried through on the palate, with more fresh fruit notes and even some plum, something I usually associate more with younger wines. The finish was intense and long. Not an overly powerful wine, rather subtle actually, but not one I’ll forget soon. I jump at all chances to drink Napa wines from the 70’s in general, but now I know that these well stored Eisele wines are truly spectacular and I’ll be keeping an eye out for them always…

NEWS FROM THE VINEYARD - a devastating frost hammers much of France

by Max Goldberg Liu
Wednesday April 14, 2021

It has been a rough couple of weeks for vignerons throughout France - not just in regions where frost is not uncommon like Champagne and Burgundy, but also in the Loire, Bordeaux, the Northern Rhône, and even parts of the Southern Rhône.

In Burgundy, the problem was exacerbated by the warm and sunny weather the previous week, which meant more advanced - and vulnerable - buds on the vines. Also, some growers even saw the more dangerous “gelée noir” or “Black Frost” that is different from the more common hoarfrost. Black frost is not technically frost at all, but rather a situation when it is so cold that the plant tissue itself freezes and dies (hence the black necrotic vegetation…). Indeed, it was so cold in many parts of Burgundy and elsewhere that the candles that growers had painstakingly stocked (there was a major shortage across the country) were sometimes completely ineffective in raising the temperatures in certain vineyards above freezing.

As the Côte de Beaune is usually a week or so more advanced than the Côte de Nuits, the damage seems to be greater there, but perhaps not by much.

It is still early to confirm the extent of the damage, and there is always hope that the vines will rebound with a secondary bud-break, although that will also mean a much more complicated growing season - frost-damaged vines often have a tough time with flowering and secondary buds are often more susceptible to funguses and other diseases.

Other winegrowing regions were not spared - Guillaume Clusel in Côte-Rôtie estimates 60% of his Côte-Rôtie vines’ buds are damaged, and 40% in the Coteaux du Lyonnais. In Sancerre, Franck Bailly of Domaine Bailly-Reverdy says that all the villages saw some frost and that he estimates that he lost at least 50% of his crop.

This is clearly the worst frost in recent memory - certainly worse than 2016, with many growers having to ask their parents to comb the distant past for a comparison. Apparently some older winemakers in Burgundy remember 1956 as one such year…

The situation in the Côte de Beaune and Chalonnaise is very grave. And I don’t know if it’s much better in the Côte de Nuits. In sum, it’s much worse than 2016.

- Jean Soubeyrand, Maison Olivier Leflaive

We have indeed been severely affected, particularly with the whites. We spent multiple nights in a row fighting with candles but they were only very slightly effective…

- Jacques Devauges, Domaine des Lambrays

Still, the vigneron spirit will triumph, and so many growers have responded with a positive attitude. They have gone through tough times before and emerged stronger.

This will be tough to get through, but rest assured that we will never give up and that we will do everything we can to make a GREAT but small 2021 vintage.

- Benjamin Leroux

Complicated years happen, but we will continue our work.

- Nathalie Tollot, Domaine Tollot-Beaut

These three freezing nights were indeed a violent ordeal. We fought, but the conditions were too extreme. Even if it is too early to make a realistic assessment, the losses can be quantified from 50 to 100% depending on the sector.

But the vine will endure… and life is beautiful!

- Aubert de Villaine, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti

La Paulée Selections - Behind the scenes...

LA PAULÉE SELECTIONS - BEHIND THE SCENES...

by Edouard Bourgeois

April 14, 2021

We are thrilled to announce the new edition of La Paulée Selections in partnership with our wine retailer Morrell and the participation of ”Food Siblings Kitchen”.

For this fourth offering of La Paulée Selections, we kept the idea that wine is meant to be enjoyed with great company but also with delicious food. As always, we started off by picking the wines. Here, we decided to highlight the beauty of terroirs, sometimes overlooked, but farmed and vinified by some of the most talented producers in Burgundy. This selection of three white Burgundies features a chiseled Chablis from Eleni et Edouard Vocoret to start, a more lush Chardonnay expression from Saint-Aubin made by Morey-Blanc and finally the “simple” Bourgogne appellation by Domaine Marquis d’Angerville. All these wines are a great showing and truly reflect their place of origin. Being all from the bountiful and expressive 2018 vintage, the tasting experience is defined by instant pleasure and drinkability.

What about the food? We thought it had to be focused on the freshness of these wines while embracing the enchanting spring season. We asked the young and dynamic siblings Candice Bourgeois (yes, my wife!) and her brother Paulie Valetutti to come up with the right dish. Chicken, creamy-crispy, finger-licking, delicious fingerling potatoes quickly turned out to be the dish, but the first element the paired chefs came up with was in fact the sauce, a recipe the siblings created while quarantined together last year. The green sauce is the perfect liaison between the chicken and all three wines.

Max Goldberg Liu was able to capture the footage that will accompany the La Paulée Selections offering.

Order your La Paulée Selections here. The number of packages is limited.

What's Pressoir Drinking?

Chateau Pichon Longueville-Comtesse de Lalande Pauillac 2005

A few years ago, I acquired a lot at an auction that consisted in a vertical of one of my favorite Bordeaux properties. Often referred to as “Pichon Comtesse”, this second growth on the 1855 ranking system, a classification I agree could use an update, always delivers. The lot I won included a few 2008s, offering excellent balance of tannins and fruit although a bit shy on the palate. A single bottle of 2003 was also part of it and displayed the expected stewy, plummy quality from such an exceptional vintage, remembered for its unusual heat waves in the country, sometimes producing raisiny grapes.

Last Saturday, though, I finally opened the more sought-after 2005 and the only bottle I won in this parcel. That was a reminder that I should drink more Bordeaux. The wine jumped out from the glass, a sign that it achieved a peak in its aging process. While I was decanting it, I could smell the generous aromas of the gorgeous Pauillac. On the nose and the palate, the explosive character was reaffirmed. Lots of irresistible sweet fruit, cigar box and spice mix, all delicately wrapped up in the most noble lacy texture.

As a Burgundy-focused drinker, I often shy away from opening a bottle of Bordeaux because tannins are not my best friends. But, just like the winegrower who harvests the fruit at the perfect maturity, opening a bottle that has reached its peak is a divine experience. Tannins soften up and leave just enough grip to make the wine textured, but not hard.

Bordeaux doesn’t have to be that serious!

News from the Vineyard

By Eléonore Lafarge
Wednesday April 7, 2021

This week Burgundy is lit up!

Our friends in Burgundy and Champagne are witnessing surrealist scenery at this moment.

With the high temperatures in March, the vines grew fast and we can see already the first leaves. Winemakers were convinced that spring was finally there. But Mother Nature wasn’t on their side as the temperature dropped a few days ago. Since last night, April 6, there is snow in Burgundy and Champagne, which is very unusual.

Leaf in Volnay vineyards, April 7, 2021

With temperatures as low as -3˚C (26˚F) at night, the risk of frost is very high. With climate change, this is becoming a recurrent problem, to fight frost almost every year in April. A few years ago, winemakers burnt straw to create a cloud all over the vineyards to protect the buds. On April 29, all the Côte de Beaune woke up at 4am, to go light the straw on fire. This was another surrealist view of Burgundy. In order to protect the environment, this practice is now illegal.

Fire straw in Volnay, April 29, 2017

Another solution is to buy special candles, place them in the vineyards you wish to protect, and light them up before the sunrise. This is what a majority of winemakers did this year in the Côte de Beaune and a few in the Côte de Nuits.

Social media is full of remarkable photos of candle-lit vineyards. The impressive and quite beautiful images belie the sinister vagaries of Mother Nature.

It is still too early to know the extent of the damage but there are sure to be some lost buds, unfortunately.

Candles in Volnay vineyards, April 6, 2021

What's Pressoir Cooking? Spring Lamb Chops, Potato Gratin & Asparagus

by Daniel Johnnes
Wednesday April 7, 2021

A spring meal for 2-3 people

Ingredients
New Zealand baby rack of lamb with 6-10 chops
2-3 sprigs Rosemary
Olive oil
Parsley, chopped
Chive, chopped
1 1/2 -2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, thinly sliced
1 c. whole milk
1/2 c. half + half
1/2 c. crème fraiche
Optional - nutmeg, onion, gruyere cheese, depending on how you like your gratin
Asparagus for 3
Balsamic vinegar

• Marinate lamb in olive oil with rosemary for a day or two.

• Preheat oven 375 degrees.

• Layer thinly sliced potatoes, with or without skin, in a circular fashion in a casserole. Every two layers add salt & pepper. If you like, add grated gruyere, onions or a touch of ground nutmeg. Pour milk, 1/2 & 1/2 and creme fraiche over, bake at 375 F for an hour or until nicely brown.

• Chop ends off asparagus and peel an inch or so from bottoms. Blanch in boiling water 5-8 minutes or till tender. If green asparagus, plunge into ice cold water to retain color. Drain and dress with olive oil and a touch of balsamic.

In a sauté pan, on medium-high heat, brown chops 3-4 minutes then put in 375 F oven 15 minutes. Take out, let rest another 15 minutes and slice chops apart.

Sprinkle chives and parsley over all.

Wine to match - so many choices! A Clos Rougeard? A Bordeaux? We had a Beaujolais Villages 2018 Bijou from Jules Metras and it fit the bill.

Un bijou pour le printemps. Santé !

What's Pressoir Drinking?

by Raj Vaidya
Tuesday April 5, 2021

Despite being lucky enough to be visiting some friends, family and wineries in California this month I found myself craving some old world wines. What can I say, I’m a creature of habit :).

Here are two standouts that I’ve been thinking back on for the last few days that I’d like to share with you…

This bottle came as a delightful surprise; a Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune from a young couple, Christian Knott and Morgane Seuillot in a small village in the Hautes-Côtes (high plains above the Côte de Beaune). I met Christian for the first time this past winter while working on content for La Paulée (he is the winemaker for Domaine Chandon de Briailles) and realized that I had tasted his wine first a couple of months back knowing little to nothing about them. I was over the moon to connect the dots, as this wine was truly scrumptious. This vineyard is about one hectare, sitting above the towns of Mavilly and Meloisey in the clay and sandstone soils of the Hautes-Côtes. Approximately 60 year old vines, worked organically with horses and no sulfur or additives used in the vineyard or winery, super pure and precise with the most charming fruit profile and tremendous acidity. Tart tiny red berry fruit dominates the palate but there is some excellent structure underlying also. This 2017 was picked late, the 1st of October, but remains super fresh and vibrant despite this thanks to the very cool site. A great discovery!

The second bottle that stood out was less of a surprise, but certainly a wine which punches above its weight and appellation (Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru, so not too shabby…).

The 1995 vintage tends to invoke high tannin austerity in my mind, but this bottle of Dujac from ‘95 was anything but austere, with layers of incense spice and tobacco notes, a very delicate palate with a silkiness that truly delighted all of us that shared the moment. Combottes is one of my favorite Premier Crus as it is entirely surrounded by Grand Cru vines, to the South and East are parcels of Clos de la Roche, to the west (downslope) is the Charmes-Chambertin and to the North sits Latricières-Chambertin. For some reason this parcel remained Premier Cru, and I can’t say it has the structure or profile of a Grand Cru. Rather, it is an overachieving Premier Cru which definitely has the finesse and length of a Grand Cru. Jacques Seysses was certainly known for nailing vintages which leaned towards austerity, his ‘88’s and 91’s for example are tremendous. This ‘95 was exactly in the same vein, and a perfectly stored example!

What's Pressoir Eating and Drinking?

By Justine Puaud & Edouard Bourgeois

We always have our little routine after each La Paulée festival. We meet in a casual restaurant, open fantastic bottles, share some laughs and relax. This year was special. Not only because La Paulée was virtual or because we were less hungover than we used to be after La Paulée’s after party but also because we haven’t hung out with the whole team since La Paulée 2020.

We all met in the private dining room upstairs at the Winner Cafe & Bakery in Brooklyn and had a delicious late lunch. Daniel Eddy, founder of Winner and former chef of Michelin-starred Rebelle, opened Winner right before the pandemic. It quickly became the new Park Slope spot. This place is known for its sourdough baguettes, roasted chickens and delicious doughnuts. They tend to sell out of most of the day’s bread by 3pm so don’t wait and come early.

I think we will all remember this lunch for the best roast chicken ever! Winner’s chickens are salted, smoked, spatchcocked, and roasted. The chicken’s fatty drippings are used to baste butterball potatoes, and are then reduced into a dark, malty-tasting jus. We all finished this dish by dipping bread into the delicious chicken jus…Check out the Winner Chicken Dinner here.

And then came the wines…with members of our La Paulée team living in different states, it was important to open serious bottles to properly celebrate being together after weeks of hard work! Early nostalgia of La Paulée Mondiale inspired us to open wines in connection to the different events of the last festival edition. Starting with mouth-watering, saline Chablis from the venerable Vincent Dauvissat and Raveneau brothers, their Forest 1995 and Montée de Tonnerre 1989, respectively, may not have been Grand Cru though they were the perfect kick start to this joyful meal. In time for the chicken, Daniel popped open two different bottles of Clos-St-Jacques. Rousseau’s version of the flamboyant 2009 offered animal, meaty notes and power while the signature cherry fruit of Fourrier’s 2005 stood out. To the recurrent question on the iconic Gevrey-Chambertin’s climat deserving Grand Cru status or not, I’m still unable to answer. I know it is certainly a vineyard able to provide an intense and singular drinking experience. The high quality of the wines produces there is undeniable.

We finally revisited the “ Les Amoureuses” thanks to a generous gift from Christophe Roumier himself, who gave us a bottle each of his 1983 and 1988. Some wines have the power to impose silence around the table, a phenomenon some call a religious experience. This famously sensual Premier Cru of Chambolle-Musigny is often described as “the iron hand in a velvet glove”, or “la force tranquille”, a reference so eloquently suggested by Frederic Mugnier. I could not agree more with these comments. The 1983 clearly showed a more advanced stage but didn’t lack to impress, offering tertiary notes of tobacco and damp earth. The 1988, on the other hand, was still fresh as a daisy, gushing with sweet fruit in a mesmerizing finish.