News from the Vineyard

May 31, 2022

by Justine Puaud

The busy season in the vineyard has started

Do we really know the seasonal cycle of the vine?

In June, in Burgundy, it's the flowering period - grape berries are emerging. These flowers appear when the temperature approaches 20°C/68 °F, the clusters open up and exhale a light fragrance. The number of berries per cluster depends on this flowering. It's a delicate period that will have an impact on the quantity of harvest. Flowering can be strongly influenced by poor weather conditions.

Yesterday I visited winemaker Guillaume Lavollé of Domaine Génot-Boulanger in Meursault who confirmed “la fleur est sortie” (the flowering period has started). Grape berries are emerging almost everywhere in the appellations of whites and should be there everywhere by next week in the appellations of reds.

According to Guillaume, the weather has been pretty good for the vines. The 2022 harvest should be a good one. We usually say to count 100 days after the flowering season has begun until harvest time, but in reality it is hard to predict exactly the date of the harvest. As we have seen over the last few years, Mother Nature can be quite unpredictable. The dates of the harvest will depend on if June and July are going to be hot and sunny or if the summer is going to be sunny but with rainy days every week… 

Guillaume thinks he will start harvesting around August 25-28, which is about 1 month early compared to 2021 and a few days later compared to 2020. 

Right now, the focus of the month is on “the maintenance of the vine”. In the trellised vines, the winegrower "joins" the vines, that is to say, he binds the young branches against the iron wires. To contain the growth of the vine, which can quickly become bushy and invasive - which is detrimental to the proper ripening of the grapes -, the branches are also trimmed (or topping). With 22 hectares of vines, Guillaume Lavollée has 20 people working in the vineyard full time. It is a big team but it is completely necessary when you own vineyards in both Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune. Today, there is a big labor shortage in Burgundy and it is even more difficult to handle it when you have hot temperatures and see the vine growing really fast.

Guillaume recently renovated his cellar in the Château in Meursault. It is beautiful. We will be seeing him in October during our Burgundy trip that we are organizing with American Express. Email me (justine@pressoir.wine) if you want to learn more about this trip or if you want us to plan your next Burgundy trip!

Preparation for La Tablée 2022 - Visiting Winemakers in the Southern Rhone

by Jaime Dutton

May 31, 2022

After a few days in Burgundy biking with Daniel and Edouard for Bike to Care Bourgogne, Daniel and I headed down south past Lyon, following the Rhone River, and made our way to Orange. In preparation for La Tablée this November we went to go see many of our friends in the Southern Rhone and also connect with some exciting new names and producers that have not attended our event yet. As with all of our festivals, we want to showcase all the different faces of the region - not just the names we all know and love. We hope to give the opportunity to our attendees to make discoveries, taste the lesser known appellations or meet new faces that are emerging as great new producers in their region. The way to do this is to spend time with the winemakers and go and taste their wines.

The Southern Rhone is a huge area filled with so many wine producing regions and villages; on our next trip we will dedicate more time to tour around. But this visit was short, so we chose Orange and asked a number of producers to meet us for a poolside aperitif. Orange is a central location for the winemakers - just 15 minutes north of Chateauneuf de Pape, 20 mins west of Gigondas and Vacqueyras and a little further from places in Ardeche and Vinsobres, but we were fortunate that our winemaker friends were able to join us to say hello and share a glass together.

We were able to introduce La Tablée to many fantastic wine producers and meet new faces like Thibaud Chaume of Domaine Chaume-Arnaud in Vinsobres, Damien Vache of Domaine La Monardière in Vacqueyras, Marie Giraud of Domaine Giraud, Nicolas Boiron of Domaine Bousquet des Papes, Paul Paumel of Mourre de Tendre, Florence and Thomas of La Durbane, and Didier Negron of Roger Sabon in Chateauneuf de Pape.

Also to reconnect with old friends like Olivier Leriche at Domaine des Accoles and Helene Thibon , with her son Aurelien, of Mas de Libian, both from the Ardeche region. Other great supporters of La Tablée from Chateauneuf and many who we had not seen since La Tablée 2019 joined us, and it was a pleasure to reconnect and taste the wines of Victor Coulon from Domaine Beaurenard, Isabelle Sabon and her father Aimé from Domaine de la Janasse, Isabel Fernando from Domaine Saint Préfert, Baptiste Grangeon from Domaine Cristia, Emmanuel Lemoine from Chateau Beaucastel, and Sandrine and Thierry from Domaine Pierre Usséglio.

We look forward to welcoming many of these producers to New York in November to celebrate La Tablée, and introducing you to them and their wines .

The wonderful winemakers who joined us in Orange chez Chef Pierre and Annie Paumel.

Daniel opening all the great wines that were brought to taste.

What's Pressoir Drinking - Clerget Volnay 1er Cru Carelle sous la Chapelle 2015

May 26, 2022

by Raj Vaidya

I have been working with Chef Daniel Eddy of Winner Restaurant in Brooklyn on the menu for our upcoming ‘Volnay & Pommard’ dinner at his place, and since Chef Daniel celebrated his 39th birthday this past weekend I thought it would be appropriate to get together with him to celebrate and inspire his creative juices a bit with a nice bottle. This bottling from my friend and young superstar winemaker Thibault Clerget was the perfect elixir to get him excited and working on the menu.

The Carelle sous la Chapelle sits just north of the Champans vineyard on the gentle, lower slope of the premier crus of Volnay, just downhill from the village center. Thibault’s bottling is characteristically spicy and plum fruited, simultaneously rich and yet soft in tannin. This is, perhaps, a ‘Pommardian’ Volnay given that Thibault’s domaine lies in the village of Pommard, yet it had the distinctive velvety texture of the central area of Volnay. Very long finish and surprising freshness for a youthful 2015, some of which can come off a little heavy.

Hope to see you at the dinner on June 7th where we dig further into the two neighboring villages and get to taste the results of Chef Eddy’s inspiration…

What's Pressoir Cooking - Soupe au Pistou

The traditional Pistou Soup 

by Victoire Chabert
May 26, 2022

Today, I invite you to cook the real Soupe au Pistou to celebrate the beginning of summer. It is a great classic of traditional Provencale cuisine. It is a dish that we prepare all together and we enjoy it every year. An easy summer soup, with fresh summer vegetables delicious both hot and cold. 

Here is the ancestral and almost secret recipe...

Ingredients for 6 people (we usually make a larger quantity so we can freeze it, it will be just as good)  

600 grams (21 ounce) of white coco (white beans)

300 grams (10.5 ounces) of green beans

3 carrots

2 potatoes

2 zucchini

1 onion

2 tomatoes 

Tomato concentrate

2 cloves of garlic 

2 handfuls of small pasta like ‘coquillettes’

Herbs such as thyme and laurel

Salt and pepper

Grated or whole Parmesan cheese

For the Pistou sauce

6 cloves of garlic

80 mL (5.6 tbsp) olive oil

1 large bunch of basil

Salt and pepper

Instructions: 

1- Hull the beans, peel all the vegetables, rinse and dice them and set aside. (Do it with your family or friends, it will be less time consuming and more convivial!)

2- In a pot, brown the onions in a little olive oil and add the tomato paste.

3- Place your beans, your coco, your carrots, your tomatoes, your herbs and the minced garlic and fill it up with water. Add salt and pepper.  

4- Cover the pot and let it cook on low heat for about 45 minutes.

5- While everything is cooking, prepare the pistou with the garlic and basil in a blender and add the olive oil a little at a time to make it a creamy texture. I like to add a little grated Parmesan cheese to the Pistou sauce.

6- After 45 minutes of cooking the soup, add the potatoes and zucchini and a sprig of basil and simmer for another 20 minutes.

7- Put 1/3 of your Pistou in the pot and set it aside the rest for the finishing dressing. Also keep some of it to serve at the table.

8- 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the pasta and continue to cook. Don't hesitate to taste each vegetable of your soup regularly to check the cooking.

9- Serve the soup, add the Pistou and the Parmesan cheese and enjoy.

In terms of wine, Pistou soup calls for a Côte-de-Provence rosé such as a Bandol or Cassis but you can be tempted by other combinations such as a light dry white or an Italian red!

Top Vintages of Burgundy Dinner at Momofuku Ko

by Edouard Bourgeois

May 20, 2022

What a thrilling opportunity to be able to pick your favorite Burgundy vintages and compile them to match a Korean inspired menu. Last night proved to be successful and even if some wine pairings may have seemed daring, they were unanimously well received. Caviar and red Burgundy anyone?

We started off with a flight celebrating the clean and bright 2017 white  Burgundies. Burgundy was blessed with the 2017 harvest, especially for Chardonnay that flourished and gave a rather abundant harvest. Vignerons’ smiles grew even bigger the following year with even higher yields. It should be noted also that if low yields are typically synonymous with high quality for red wines, Chardonnay tends to produce better wines when yields are generous. A slight dilution won’t necessary hurt and might even preserve some freshness, especially in this new era of warmer years.

2017 flight of whites

Bouchard Père Fils Chevalier Montrachet Grand Cru 2017

Quite a way to kick things off! Powerful Grand Cru with still many years of graceful aging ahead. I even found the oak to be still pretty loud. But what a long finish. Note: This noble Grand Cru appellation is divided into four different terraces and Bouchard is lucky to own plots in each one of them, making for a great representation of this site in Puligny-Montrachet, adjacent to the ruler, Montrachet.

Domaine Ballot Millot Les Bouchères Meursault Premier Cru 2017

Absolutely superb bottle. Perfect balance and depth. Impressive and always a good reminder that I should drink more Ballot Millot. Is the producer still under the radar?

Domaine Génot Boulanger Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières 2017

Once again, Guillaume and Aude Lavollée delivered a pristine wine from this ultra-elegant Puligny. Exactly what one wishes a Folatières should taste like. Finesse all the way with discreet but solid minerality.

Time for the reds, and one of Ko’s signature dishes, a runny egg generously paired with Ossetra Caviar. Why did it work? The salinity of the caviar was a great match for the savory, mineral quality of these slightly “bloody-ironed” reds. Great experience.

2015 is one of these vintages that demanded patience but those who waited are now rewarded with great drinking pleasure. The reds did particularly well, and most professionals agree on the exceptional status of this vintage. Ideal growing conditions shaped this beautiful harvest, and most producers recall picking some of the most pristine fruits under the sun. And yes, the sun and the heat were certainly present during the growing season, but rain appeared just when needed. It should also be noted that no heat waves were recorded.

2015 Volnay flight

Domaine Clerget Carelle sous la Chapelle Volnay Premier Cru 2015

My kind of 2015. Savory and snappy with fine grained tannins and a dark fruit finish. Like a Volnay with a Gevrey accent. As the name indicates, Carelle sous la Chapelle is located just under the pretty Chapel but also just below the iconic Bousse d’Or made famous by Gérard Potel.

Domaine Nicolas Rossignol Volnay 1er Cru Chevret 2015

Here, Nico made a surprisingly high-toned wine from a vintage I wouldn’t particularly describe for its firm acidity. A good refresher before moving on to the Santenots…

Domaine des Comtes Lafon Volnay 1er Cru Santenots du Milieu 2015

Dominique Lafon’s pride for his 3.78 ha plot of Santenots where he insists is “du Milieu” is always palpable when you ask him about it. This unique climat is located in Meursault, yet it is allowed to be classified as Volnay when planted with Pinot Noir. The rich clay here typically brings a generous and powerful profile to its wines. I have a bottle of that wine in my cellar and last night was a reminder that I should wait for my three year old to be of age so I can drink it with him. Ten years from now seems right.

2009 Grands Crus

The mysterious rule of the 9’s where it seems that vintages ending in 9 are exceptional in Burgundy applied again with the 2009 vintage. A solar year for sure meant that some wines suffered from a lack of acidity, affecting the balance. But overall, the wines are plush, flamboyant and built on a solid tannic structure that will give them great aging potential.

Domaine de la Vougeraie Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2009 MAGNUM

I found a green note to be distracting, with a touch of astringence I can’t quite explain. Domaine de la Vougeraie owns two plots in this famous 50 ha Grand Cru, one by the road and the other by the Chateau de Clos Vougeot.

Domaine Faiveley Echezeaux Grand Cru 2009

I had high expectations here but I found the wine to be a bit reductive, with that typical matchstick aroma. Oxygen was needed to help the fruit come alive from behind the curtain.

Domaine Gerard Julien Fils Echezeaux Grand Cru 2009

I’m still learning from this domaine which has given me an image of making pretty rustic wines, reminding me of Alain Burguet’s in a way. However, that Echezeaux was rather pretty and I am guessing the warm, rich tones of the vintage probably helped wrapping the harsh earthy notes with a sweet layer of ripe fruit.

2005 Gevrey-Chambertin

It’s difficult to find anything wrong with 2005. Power and freshness go hand in hand to offer near perfect balance. While the weather offered beautiful sunshine for the pickers, an unfortunate episode of hail randomly reduced yields, sometimes dramatically such as in Chassagne-Montrachet, but also in Chambolle-Musigny where a storm bursted on May 1st.

Luckily, the village of Gevrey-Chambertin was saved from harsh conditions and the wines are sometimes described as “athletic”.

Domaine Bruno Clair Gevrey Chambertin Clos du Fonteny Monopole Premier Cru 2005 MAGNUM

At the foot of the celebrated Clos-Saint-Jacques, the Clos du Fonteny is entirely owned by well-established Domaine Bruno Clair (who also own a sizeable parcel of Clos Saint Jacques). It should be noted that this was served out of a magnum, which as we know ages slower than a 750 ml bottle. Pulling the cork felt like waking someone up from a sweet dream. With one eye closed, this Gevrey was not completely awake and it took some swirling to shake off some volatile acidity and express its grandeur. It even appeared to be a bit thin at first. An adjective I would not have imagined I would use for this wine.

Joseph Drouhin Chambertin Clos de Beze Grand Cru 2005

Massive showing here. One of the oldest Clos, Clos de Beze is typically quite authoritative, as Cyrielle Rousseau likes to describe it. Once again here, oxygen was a good ally and alcohol seemed pretty high.

Louis Jadot Gevrey Chambertin Clos St Jacques Premier Cru 2005

The ongoing argument of Clos-Saint-Jacques deserving the Grand Cru status was once again justified with this excellent bottling from Jadot, one of the 5 owners, whose plot runs from the top to the bottom of the vineyard, and located in the very middle of the Clos. Incredible length marrying rich, noble fruit with mineral undertones. Delightful way to end the dinner.

Pressoir.wine Direct Access: Two Verticals of Beaune Premier Cru from Domaine de Montille

We are pleased to share this exclusive offer of three-vintage vertical packs from  Domaine de Montille.

This historic domaine based in Volnay was founded in the early 18th Century and remains one of the premier properties in Burgundy, today under the charge of Etienne de Montille.  Etienne moved the farming over to organic and biodynamic farming starting in 1995, and has expanded the domaine holdings into the Côte de Nuits.  

The cuvées offered below are three-vintage vertical packs of each bottling, giving you an opportunity to discover how these wines age.  Two Beaune Premiers Crus of tremendous character, the Sizies and Grèves, offer tremendous value and immediate drinkability and are not to be missed.  Sizies represents the more approachable of the two, floral, delicate and pretty on the nose. Right in the center of the southern hill, mid-slope and very well situated with directly southern exposure, Gréves is more structured, spicy and lean with substantially more tannin.

Beaune 1er Cru Sizies 2005, 2017 & 2018 $235/pack

Beaune 1er Cru Grèves 2005, 2012 & 2017 $310/pack

Orders must be placed by Friday, May 20. Check/ACH preferred. Credit Card will add a surcharge.

Thanks, and as always, feel free to reach out directly with any questions.

Raj Vaidya
raj@lapaulee.com

Bike to Care en Bourgogne

by Daniel Johnnes

May 17, 2022

Last July, I was standing in the driveway outside Domaine Didier Fornerol in Corgoloin when I received a phone call from Pierre Henry Gagey, President of Maison Louis Jadot in Beaune.

He wanted to share an idea that he and his team had to help a struggling restaurant industry and wanted to know if I would be interested in helping.

Knowing Pierre Henry, I was sure it would be a well thought out and meaningful initiative, so I accepted on the spot without having the full story.

It was going to be called Bike to Care. The plan was to bike 200km over two days in Burgundy. He was calling for 5 countries to each have two teams. One team of chefs and the other sommeliers or wine industry professionals. My role was to captain a team of sommeliers for team USA. Our goal was to raise 20,000 euros.

First question: who are we raising money for? Turns out each team could choose its own recipient. It had to be US based so my client base would be able to get a tax benefit for their generosity.

We decided to raise money for The Roots Fund, an organization dedicated to giving opportunities to people of color in the wine field.

To help in this effort I asked a group of the most accomplished sommeliers I know: Larry Stone, Andre Mack, Richard Betts, Bobby Stuckey, Andy Chabot, Edouard Bourgeois and Jaime Dutton, who is not a sommelier by training but is our Executive Director and partner and has worked in the wine industry for 20+ years. Each one of them was presented with an opportunity early in their career. They each seized their chance and parlayed it into a fulfilling career. This is what we hoped to do by giving an opportunity to ‘scholars’ from The Roots Fund.

The ride started under blue skies and a warm breeze as we wondered along the plains and the canals of the Cote de Beaune. Mostly flat terrain with a few climbs and some real challenges as we moved back north through Santenay. 100km under the belt and energized for a second day riding with new friends from Denmark, England, France and Canada.

An added bonus was having my dear friend Dominique Lafon abandon the French team to ride along with us and give us little tips about the route and vineyards we were riding through.

The second day was as spectacular as the first, though the first 20 km tested our stamina as we climbed through the shaded hillsides of Savigny les Beaune and upwards on a 10% grade. Getting over the ridge allowed us to glide through the Cote de Nuits and back to Beaune for a nice chilled beer.

The evening ceremonies were at the storied Clos de Vougeot where we were greeted by the horn players. We were able to thank Pierre-Henry, who conceived of this wonderful collaboration, and to thank our fellow riders who provided good cheer and camaraderie along the route.

ReplyForward

What's Pressoir Drinking

May 4, 2022
by Justine Puaud

The Terroir of Seyssuel

Last weekend, I drove south to Ampuis for the weekend. I went for the first time to the Marché d’Ampuis. Over 65 wineries were there to represent the Northern Rhône appellations and opened 300 different wines from Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, Saint-Joseph, Cornas, Hermitage, Saint-Péray and Crozes-Hermitage. It was nice to see some familiar faces of La Tablée like Alexis and Michael Gerin, Guillaume Clusel, Nicolas Champagneux and Yves Gangloff. I also tried some wines I have never heard of before like the wines from Seyssuel.

The history and more precisely the renaissance of the terroir of Seyssuel starts with a group of wine grower friends - Pierre Gaillard, Yves Cuilleron et François Villard - who, each time they went up from Ampuis to Lyon, were intrigued by these fallow hillsides along the highway. They had the intuition that the fields could be beautiful terroirs. They were right. If we go back to the colonization of La Gaule, the Romans identified some beautiful terroirs on which they had planted vines. This tradition continued for many centuries. But unfortunately, as in many other regions, in 1883, phylloxera got the better of the few hundred hectares of vines and the vineyards were completely forgotten.

Pierre Gaillard, Yves Cuilleron and François Villard, young producers in Saint-Joseph and Côte-Rôtie at that time, decided to push their investigations further. They found traces of the disappeared vineyard in old writings, carried out soil analyses and ended up realizing the facts: they had got their hands on a very beautiful schist terroir, identical to that of the Côte Brune d'Ampuis in Côte-Rôtie, on the other side of the Rhône, facing south. This time, they were sure of it: this vineyard had to be revived. They created Les Vins de Vienne and planted 11 hectares of vines: 9.5 in Syrah and 1.5 in Viognier. The first grapes were harvested in 1998.

I heard about this great story while I was having a glass of the cuvée KĀMAKA from Domaine Graeme and Julie Bott at Les Epicurieux in Ampuis. We met Graeme at La Tablée in early January. He is a talented winemaker who moved from New Zealand to France to work for Stephane Ogier as his Chef de Cave. He then met Julie at Domaine Ogier and a few years later they started to make their own wines. KĀMAKA (meaning in Māori the rock) is produced on the exceptional terroir located in Seyssuel. A real wine made from rocks, all vines were planted by hand with the help of a metal bar in rough mica schist rocks. It is 100% Syrah.

This vineyard is in the process of obtaining a protected appellation of origin (AOP), it should integrate the family of Côtes du Rhône, then become a Cru. The application is being studied at the INAO…

News from the Vineyard; A discovery just north of Côte-Rôtie

by Raj Vaidya

May 9th, 2022

I shared some photographs and thoughts over the last couple of weeks pertaining to the farming practices in Côte-Rôtie, and one important reality that must be reckoned with there is that the vineyards which have been treated with chemical herbicides over the past decades will take some time to recover and rejuvenate. The fact is that vignerons like Clusel and Stephan who have farmed organically for many years are in the minority.

Whilst visiting I came across a young couple, Sophie Eymin and Kevin Tichoux, who began a small winery and vineyard in 2017, with vines in Côte-Rôtie which they have converted to organics. They told me that they have planted a vineyard in Sessyuel, a village just north of Ampuis, on the other side of the river but thanks to the meandering river path has the same aspect, facing due south with very steep slopes falling down from the hillsides over the Rhône. Sessyuel was planted to the vine in Roman times, and continued to make respected (if not sought after) wines up until phylloxera after which the area was abandoned. Sophie Eymin’s family traces their roots in Sessyuel back to this era, and her family used their property on the hillsides to raise sheep and llamas over several generations, an unlikely fate for historic vineyards but one which allowed these parcels of land to never be affected by herbicides or really any chemicals at all…

Sophie Eymin and Kevin Tichoux of the new Domaine Eymin-Tichoux in front of the vineyard they’ve planted on the site of an old llama pasture in Sessyuel.

So they set about planting their first hectare of vineyard since phylloxera. The work they’ve embarked upon is momentous; they had to clear the slopes completely overgrown below the vineyard in the pasture after the first planting to add more acreage, these are formerly terraced vineyards from Roman times and extremely steep.

Kevin stands beneath the slope they have planted to Syrah in Sessyuel. The wooded area to the left of the picture gives one an idea of how this parcel looked prior to being cleared, and they plan to continue clearing the property till they have planted the amphitheater which this parcel represents the eastern half of.

The vineyard was teeming with life. We could see the back side of the hill of Côte-Rôtie across the river and feel the crisp wind channeling through past the vines; this part of the Rhône is the narrowest valley in the vine growing areas of the north.

The Eymin-Tichoux Sessyuel vineyard overlooking the Rhône and the back side of Côte-Rôtie in the background.

The domaine makes two bottlings from Sessyuel, a small amount of Côte-Rôtie as well as a white Saint Joseph and red Crozes-Hermitage from purchased grapes. These are very young vines with the exception of the Côte-Rôtie which they were lucky enough to be able to buy thanks to a government grant set aside for young entrepreneurial farmers in the area. But already I found the wines to be delightful and full of promise. I have high hopes that we’ll be able to have them join us sometime down the road for La Tablée, so keep an eye out for them!

News from the Vineyard; Further exploration in Côte-Rôtie

A few specific reflections on farming in some of the most famed Syrah vineyards in the world…

by Raj Vaidya

May 2nd, 2022

Last week I made mention of how the steep, often terraced terrain of Côte-Rôtie has been a deterrent historically to farming the vines organically. The difficulty in turning and ploughing soil and the inability in most places to work with a tractor have caused the appellation to be quite inundated with herbicide residues over the past 6 decades.

But this is changing slowly, with vignerons like Jean-Michel Stephan and Guillaume Clusel (who follows in the tradition of his parents, Gilbert and Brigitte) leading the way. You saw a short video last week of Pierre Rostaing explaning how he combats erosion and adds compost by breaking up the plant matter from pruning and leaving it on the top soil through the winter. In Clusel’s case, the use of cover crops is more a part of their program, as evidenced in the pictures below.

The Viallière vineyard is a great illustration of how the cover crops have aided against erosion as noted by the steepness in the video below.

There is certainly a long way to go, and the total surface of vineyards which are certified organic within the appellation remains extremely small. Most of the vineyards remain brown and compacted all summer long.

Be sure to check in next week when I introduce a tiny new producer in Sessyuel, just north of Côte-Rôtie who has planted an organic vineyard for the first time in a century, in a place where wine has been made since the Roman era…

What's Pressoir Drinking - Unicorns or Lunch Wines...?

by Raj Vaidya
April 27, 2022

On Easter weekend in the Rhône Valley, I had the pleasure of lunching on a simple casse-croûte with a friendly vigneron who invited us to taste some local products with him. The spread included several patés: chicken liver, pork and truffle, foie gras and chestnuts, all locally produced, as well as some phenomenal spiced saucisson sec and some crusty, delicious local hearth bread. Of course a giant wood block entirely covered in local cheeses was naturally also on the table…

The kind winemaker opened a number of delicious bottles as we passed the lazy weekend afternoon; an excellent 2013 Blanc de Blancs from Pascal Agrapart, a crisp white from the Jura made of Savignin, and finally, a fairly weathered bottle from Saint-Joseph from the famed producer Raymond Trollat.

Trolllat is an infamous character, jolly and utterly unconcerned with pomp and circumstance. I’ve never had the luck of meeting him, but have heard amazing tales of corks pulled and parties had. His wines have always been charming to me, but in recent years the wines have been fetching very high prices in the auction and rare wine marketplaces, often exceeding a thousand dollars a bottle. Certainly they are quire rare, as Trollat ceased producing after the 2005 vintage upon retiring. But purely judging on the quality of the wines, I struggle with accepting the prices of these. So this occasion to taste an aged bottle in good condition was a treat, especially as it was sourced directly from the Trollat estate.

The wine was delicious, not the most complex example of Syrah by any means but still had lots of character and intensity on the palate. Dried black olives, rosemary and bell pepper spice, lot’s of gamey notes. Not a ton of fruit but a hint of sweetness that may well have come from chaptalization. Medium length on the palate, but certainly not short on intensity in the length. Yet this had the distinct feeling of what I like to call a ‘country wine’ or vin de pays in French, which is to say it was charming and not simple, yet not overtly complex or serious.

In the wine trade bottles like these are often referred to as ‘unicorn wines’, to invoke how rare they are. But from my perspective, this was more of a lunch wine, and it served its purpose marvelously.

Apero au Beaujolais Recap

by Edouard Bourgeois
April 29, 2022

Those who know me also know my profound love for the wines and the region of Beaujolais, where I was lucky to spend three weeks in September 2017, helping the fabulous team of Domaine Lapierre in Villié-Morgon. The Pressoir team and I were particularly enthusiastic about last night’s “Apéro au Beaujolais”, a perfect way to embrace spring. I was stunned by the diversity of styles among the fifteen wines we presented. I also really wanted to include a few bottles with some age, such as an excellent Fleurie from 2010 and a couple 2016 from top producers such as Foillard and les famous yet excellent Thillardon. Lastly, it was incredible to taste these wines over the course of the event and even after a good three hours of opening. None of them faded over time. In fact, quite the opposite happened as Max, Victoire and I revisited these beautiful Gamay (and one Chardonnay).

Below are a few of our notes. The wines are geographically listed from north to south and it was a quite a treat (and some effort!) to be able to present all ten crus, in addition to a Lantignié bottling and even a more rare Beaujolais Blanc.

Armand Heitz, Juliénas 2019

While typically bolder, Julienas made by Armand Heitz (in the Burgundian way) remains refined without losing its depth. The cru of Juliénas was named after Julius Ceasar and vines are grown on volcanic soils.

Domaine des Billards, Saint Amour 2020

Two distinctive styles can be found in Saint-Amour, making it difficult to describe the appellation in general terms. Some wines can be quite bold while other producers make a much lighter style Gamay. Domaine des Billards, a small five hectare property that ages its wines in cement and work on sandy soils, showed finesse and a rather light structure.

Domaine Thillardon, Chénas “Les Carrières” 2016

I couldn’t contain my enthusiasm for this wine. I believe it became many attendees’ favorite. This "clean natural wine", unfiltered, was the most cloudy of all and the expression “bouquet of flowers in a velvet basket” could not be more appropriate to describe it. Chénas, being the smallest cru, is not easy to come by. The very old granite that defines the land there also contain some silex which gives great tension and minerality.

Thibault Liger Belair, Moulin à Vent “La Roche” 2016

After Armand Heitz, another Burgundian producer from Nuits-st-Georges was represented here. Thibault’s “La Roche” climat is located at the top of the hill where the windmill (Moulin a Vent) is. Here, very old vines are grown. Fruits are 40% destemmed. I really liked this very well made, precise, clean and polished wine.

Domaine Coudert, Fleurie “Cuvée Christal” 2010  

Alain Coudert makes a rather atypical wine for the appellation here. Fleurie is considered to be pretty light on its feet, but the cuvée “Christal” comes from a pretty clay rich vineyard that borders the Moulin a Vent cru. The twelve years of bottle age only added to the wine’s brooding character and a touch of smoke could be sensed.

Domaine de Fa, Fleurie “Roche Guillon” 2019

Domaine de Fa showed a more classic and expected Fleurie style here. Domaine de Fa’s plot is at the highest altitude in the appellation on the steep slopes at the foot of the chapel of la Madone.

Domaine Chapel, Chiroubles 2020

The young and dynamic couple Michele Smith and David Chapel went from successful sommeliers in fine dining restaurants to meticulous winemakers in Beaujolais. They released their first vintage with the 2016 harvest with the help from the Lapierre family. Their Chiroubles plot is 2 hectares and they started producing it since 2018. At 400 meters altitude and planted in high density, it is the epitome of the Chiroubles appellation, the highest altitude cru with a peak at 1,500 feet, offering a long growing season and usually the last to be harvested. This is also a very labor-intensive vineyard where work by hand is the only option.

Domaine Foillard, Morgon “Eponym’ “ 2016

Jean and Agnes took over this domaine in 1980. Today, with 14 hectares, they belong to the top five producers of Beaujolais. The Eponym’ bottling comes from the Lieu Dit “Charmes” at the highest altitude in the appellation. 

Morgon is second largest appellation after Brouilly, and its six climats makes it one of the most famous crus. It is also known for its "rotten rocks" locally called gore (decomposed schist)

Domaine Lapierre, Morgon 2019

For the sake of comparison and to show the diversity Morgon has to offer, I wanted to show this excellent bottle from Lapierre. The late Marcel took over from his dad in 1973. He rapidly became a model in the region and was known for his generosity and commitment to working without synthetic chemicals, harvesting ripe so chaptalization could be avoided. His mentor was known to be scientist and winemaker Jules Chauvet. I am always impressed with the consistency and high quality of these Morgon, year after year. The wines are fleshy but not flashy and offer great aromatic complexity with multi layers and are simply delicious on any occasion.

Prunelle de Navacelle, Beaujolais Lantignié 2019

Lantignie is one of the 38 villages allowed in the Beaujolais Villages appellation. Neighbor of Villie-Morgon, Lanitgnie has been pushing to get its own appellation to become its own cru, the eleventh one. The land is quite pristine there and diverse too, with rolling hills, some flat lands and many underground streams.

Domaine Les Capréoles, Régnié “Diaclase” 2019

The Diaclase cuvée comes from the oldest vines of the domaine, grown on sandy soils. Regnié is the newest cru and home to many organic producers, such as Les Capréoles, who has been working in such a way since 2014. That particular wine showed some austerity at first and it took a couple hours to loosen up.

A. Pegaz, Brouilly 2019

Brouilly is the largest appellation and slightly warmer because of its southern location. Brouilly became very popular in the Parisian market in the 18th century and soon after, when the railway system developed. Brouilly offers a quite unique geological situation with blue volcanic rocks locally called “diorite”.

Domaine de la Voûte des Crozes, Côte de Brouilly 2019

Cote de Brouilly is for Brouilly what Hermitage is for Crozes Hermitage. Picture the hill with higher quality hillside vineyards surrounded by vines planted on the flat lands…

Cote de Brouilly typically boasts more mineral notes than Brouilly.

Winemaker Nicole Chanrion of Domaine de la Voûte des Crozes is nicknamed “the boss of the hill”.

Laura Lardy, Beaujolais Village Blanc Chardonnay 2019

There is no question Chardonnay performs better further north in the Cote d’Or, where limestone gives it its irresistible minerality. But if granite is Gamay’s best friend, Chardonnay can offer an interesting performance on that type of soil. Young Laura Lardy, who works organically since she took over in 2017, makes an excellent red wine but we wanted to present her Chardonnay, which she vinifies in neutral oak foudres of 600 liters.

Yvon Métras, Beaujolais “Deuxieme Mise” 2018  

We wanted to finish the lineup with the legendary Yvon Métras. Special thanks to Raj who shared this bottle from his own cellar. It is as difficult to visit Yvon as it is to find his wines. Now joined by his son Jules, Yvon started the domaine in 1988. Today, he still makes a very distinctive wine from the five hectares he tends like a garden. This Beaujolais showed the expected rusticity that characterized the producer. Not everyone loved this bottle, understandably so. I found it to be a quite intellectual experience that proved the wines of Beaujolais are not only the delicious thirst quenching juice we can think of.

News from the Vineyard; Exploring Côte-Rôtie

A few thoughts on some of the most famed Syrah vineyards in the world…

by Raj Vaidya

April 26th, 2022

I had the opportunity to visit the Northern Rhône Valley last week along with Daniel and our friend, sommelier Matthew Conway, and after the visit to taste a full range of verticals at Clusel-Roch (see Daniel’s post from the last newsletter) I decided I wanted to spend a little more time exploring the wines and the terroir here.

The first matter that strikes one as they arrive in Ampuis is how extreme the slope of the hill is. Often rising up to a gradient of as much as 40%, this creates the sun exposure (thanks to the Southern aspect) that gives the appellation its moniker of the ‘roasted slope’. The picture below gives you some sense of the steepness from the bottom of Guigal’s La Turque vineyard.

It struck me that such steep terrain has a huge impact on viticultural techniques. For example, when vignerons are ploughing their soil to increase aeration and remove weeds, they have to be connected by wire to a winch system at the top of their vineyard so that they don’t tumble down the hill. This also has to be work done by hand, as there is no way of driving a tractor up (or down) the hill safely. It is likely for this reason that many farmers in the appellation do not practice organic farming, and prefer instead to use herbicides to manage the weeds. This of course causes poorly aerated soils and contribute to erosion of the already meager topsoil. There are some producers who are working organically though, and many more in conversion, which is a promising sign. You can see how Pierre Rostaing is reintroducing organic matter in his extremely steep Côte Brune vineyard.

Another feature to farming in these steep parcels is the frequent use of terracing to make the work easier (i.e. making it easier to stand and work in the vines.) You see this a lot in the southern section of the appellation, as illustrated below in pictures of the Tupin area.

In the coming weeks I’ll share a couple of additional thoughts about the region so be sure to check in on the newsletter next week to gain some further insight on farming in Côte Rôtie!

What's Pressoir Drinking - Easter in Alsace

by Justine Puaud
Thursday, April 21, 2022

Easter in Alsace

Living in France, I have the opportunity to visit all the different wine regions I love through their wines but never visited before. The region of Alsace was on my top list to discover this year. It is only 2-3 hours from Burgundy and it is such a unique and beautiful region. We have a huge diversity of landscapes in France in such short distances. I really thought I was in a different country for the weekend even if I only drove 180 miles.

The Route des Vins (wine route) between Colmar and Strasbourg passes through a string of picturesque villages, exceptional landscapes and castles built in the 12th century.

Last Saturday, we visited Domaine Weinbach. This estate is located in Kaysersberg, in the Schlossberg’s hill, one of the oldest and very recognized Grand Crus in Alsace. Built by the Capucin monks in 1612, the vineyards are mentioned for the first time in the year 890!

After the death of Théo Faller in 1979, his wife Colette and her two daughters, Laurence and Catherine, built with passion - in the masculine world of wine - one of the most prestigious estates in Alsace. They formed one of the most famous female trios of the French vineyard.

Laurence had the power to breathe a new life into the estate in the 2000s. She was talented enough to refine and reveal an amazing style of their terroirs which places their wines at the top. She tragically passed away in 2014 followed by her mother Collette one year later. Catherine Faller is now managing the estate with her sons Eddy and Theo.

Domaine Weinbach owns an area of 30 ha, cultivates a majority of world-renowned Rieslings, as well as Sylvaner, Pinot and Gewurztraminer. Their Riesling "Schlossberg" had been the first Grand Cru classified in 1973, among the 51 Grands Crus of the region.

The Grand Cru Schlossberg benefits from exceptional natural conditions, granitic rock with shallow sandy soils, a southern orientation and a steep slope ensuring optimal sunshine. This granitic terroir gives Riesling finesse and elegance combined with a very pure fruitiness.

I was really impressed with the quality of the Pinot Noir. When you think about Alsace you always think about white wine, Riesling and Gewurztraminer, but they also make elegant Pinot Noir.

We tasted the Pinot Noir cuvées from the terroir of Schlossberg. In Alsace, wines made from the Pinot Noir grape variety are not authorized to be called Grand Cru - this designation being reserved only for white grape varieties called "noble" which are Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurtztraminer and Muscat. An INAO commission is in the process of changing this. The Covid situation has slowed down the ongoing process, and this should be in place as early as next year.

A milestone celebration at Maison Clusel-Roch

by Daniel Johnnes

April 21, 2022

I was in Cote Rôtie this past Saturday attending the the retirement party of Brigitte and Gilbert Clusel-Roch, winemakers I met in 1992.

After reading about this producer in Clive Coates’ The Vine and having just started my import business, I was dreaming of adding a famous appellation such as Cote Rôtie to my blossoming portfolio.

Upon finding a fax number for them (no internet back then), I asked for a visit. Upon arrival, we spent about an hour talking about New York, wine, my background and my interest in their region and then several more hours tasting the current vintage, 1990, and older vintages of both the Cuvée Classique and Les Grandes Places, which were the only two wines they made at the time from about 2.5 hectares of vines in the Côte Brune district. Their other holdings are in Viallière, planted in 1984, Le Plomb, Champon and Fongeant which were all blended into the Classique. When Viallière reached 25 years of age in 2009, they started bottling it under that named “Lieu Dit”.

Gilbert’s first vintage was 1980 after taking over from his father, René Clusel, who officially retired in 1987. Like much of the Northern Rhone, the 70’s and 80’s were tough times, with most of the producers owning small plots of land and dependent on their vegetable and fruit production to subsist. The larger part of their grape production went to Guigal or other large negociants.

Gilbert, however, was committed to making “real” wine. He inherited from his father and grandfather old vines planted with Serine which is the legacy variety or true Syrah before the more productive clones became popular. He did all the work by hand, was one of the first to work organically and was the first in the appellation to be certified organic in 2002.

With the arrival of Guillaume who is now officially in charge, the domaine has grown substantially. Today their are about 11 hectares, 3 bottlings of Côte Rôtie, a delicous Condrieu, plus a more recent project in the Cote Roannaise.

The wines have never been better, and Brigitte and Gilbert can relax and enjoy the fruits of their hard work knowing the next generation is taking the domaine to the next level!

What's Pressoir Cooking

April 11, 2022

by Justine Puaud

Pâté Lorrain

Pâté Lorrain is a French dish with marinated meat that is wrapped in puff pastry. In traditional French cuisine, the meat needs to be a mixture of pork and veal. The meat is sliced and marinated in a flavorful mixture of white wine, thyme, parsley, bay leaves, and shallots. It has to be completely enclosed in puff pastry before putting it in the oven. The dish is usually associated with Baccarat, a commune located in the Lorraine region, which, as you might have guessed, is the location of the celebrated Baccarat glassworks which can trace its existence back to 1764 when King Louis XV initiated its construction.

Ingredients

300 g of pork shoulder

300 g of veal

1 shallot

1/2 onion

1 bay leaf

3.5 oz or a small cup of white wine

1 tbsp. teaspoon of fine salt

600 g of puff pastry (it is really long and difficult to make puff pastry. I usually order it from the boulanger (the bakery)

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp. of milk for brushing on top

Instructions

1. The day before, chop the meat, cut the shallot and onion into medium pieces and put everything together in a salad bowl. Add the white wine, salt, bay leaf, mix well and reserve the preparation, covered, for 12 hours in the refrigerator.

2. The next day, roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle of 12 x 8” on each side and 2 mm or 1/4” thick. Drain the stuffing, remove the herbs and arrange it in a strip 4 inches wide by 8 inches long in the center of the rectangle of dough.

3. Fold the long sides of the dough over the stuffing, then fold the short sides. With the rest of the dough, make a rectangular pastry and place it on top of the pâté (blend the 2 doughs together by moistening them with water). Brush the pastry with beaten egg yolk and milk.

4. Leave the pâté for 20 to 30 minutes in the refrigerator so that the dough firms up in order to make a nice incision with a knife for decoration.

5. Bake the pate in a preheated oven at 350°F. Count about 55 minutes of cooking.

The best way to serve this French classic is warm or chilled, with a green salad on the side.

For the wine, I will recommend a Pinot Noir from Alsace - close to the Lorraine region.

Bon appétit!

Recap: Dinner featuring the wines of Domaine Michel Lafarge @ Anton's

by Edouard Bourgeois
Friday, April 15, 2022

Everyone gathered last night at the charming neighborhood restaurant Anton’s in Greenwich Village to indulge in creamy Cacio e Pepe and perfectly roasted heritage chicken, but the star of the show at the table was certainly in the glass of our happy guests.

Twelve wines from Domaine Michel Lafarge were poured, all Volnay except for one Beaune from the Clos des Aigrots, drinking excellently by the way from the 2017 harvest.

In addition to this Beaune, the first flight included a very interesting comparison of two renowned Volnay Climats, Clos des Chenes 2017 and Clos du Chateau des Ducs 2018. Although only one year apart, the two wines were quite different and expressed the expected bright fruit from 2017 while the richer vintage of 2018, combined with the warmer site and rich soil of Clos du Chateau des Ducs, showed more weight and an almost authoritative personality.

If on paper the second flight may not have seemed to be the most exciting, all twelve guests and I ended up being very pleasantly surprised with the so-called “vegetal” 2011 vintage. Both the Volnay Vendanges Selectionnées, a wine sourced from different parcels including Les Mitans, and the Caillerets 2011 displayed great class and elegance. The greenish, stemmy character of the vintage seemed to be more present in the Cailleret but the finish was quite beautiful. I noted a touch of volatile acidity in the Volnay Vendanges Selectionnées, a trait that I find neither rare or disturbing in the Lafarge wines. And finally, 2012 Cailleret. In 2020, a portion of it got replanted in an intriguing spiral shape after an idea from Frederic Lafarge. Today, his daughter Clothilde, who represents the 9th generation at the estate, runs the operations and particularly enjoys ploughing this unique site with her beloved horse named “Quille”. Cailleret 2012 was a bit shy on the nose and the palate a bit tight. Some more time is needed for this vintage that I have always found quite heterogeneous among producers and therefore difficult to qualify overall.

The third flight really brought a smile upon everyone’s faces. This highly anticipated 2002 horizontal of Cailleret, Clos du Chateau des Ducs and Clos des Chenes, was admirable. Once again, I found the Clos du Chateau des Ducs to be a touch raisiny and stewy. A characteristic that did soften up a bit with oxygen though. I also understand that the chicken proved to be the ideal companion for that flight. Although a touch of volatile acidity was felt, I really enjoyed the damp, earthy notes of the Caillerets which paired well with the morels. My favorite performer was certainly the Clos des Chenes where I found the balance to be nearly perfect. Just enough flesh and volume while the crunchy cherry-like fruit made you beg for more.

I am pretty sure everyone could hear the imaginary drum roll that preceded the last flight: a 1990 duo of Clos des Chenes and Clos du Chateau des Ducs followed by the grand finale: a pristine bottle of 1980 Clos des Chenes, hands down the wine of the night. The same cooked fruit, jammy prune profile showed in the Clos du Chateau des Ducs. But once again, it was not so much “in the way”of the wine. Once again, I really thought the Clos des Chenes won the medal. Reading my notes from last night, this is what words came rushing down my pen: Incredible, pure, very long, majestic. Yep, I really liked that wine!

Nothing makes me happier than finishing a wine dinner with the wine of the night. If this is certainly a goal, it is also quite ambitious since typically the older wine is supposed to be the most memorable, it can also easily be faded or too old. This was certainly not the case last night. Another large vintage of very variable quality as magazine “Decanter” qualifies it, 1980 is easily overlooked. I was lucky enough to taste several amazing red burgundies from that vintage that also happened to be Raj’s birthyear, hence my multiple, lucky opportunities to taste it.

News from the vineyard - Spring Frosts in Burgundy

April 6, 2022

By Victoire Chabert

Interview with Lucie Germain from Domaine Henri Germain & Fils, Meursault

Domaine Henri Germain et Fils began life in 1973 when Henri Germain – from the same family as Domaine Château de Chorey-les Beaune – decided to set up on his own estate. Henri’s son Jean-François Germain was joined in 2018 by his daughter Lucie who is now helping to run this small (8ha) domaine. Jean-François is married to Sophie, François Jobard's daughter and Antoine Jobard’s sister.  In the vineyards they follow as natural a system of viticulture as possible (organic). 75% of the domaine's production is white wine, and they are among the very best examples of White Burgundy. I conducted this interview with Lucie a few days after the frost of the night of April 3 to 4 which I wanted to learn more about.

1) Can you explain the effect of frost on the vineyard?

There are several types of frosts which occur in different seasons, but we will talk about the spring frost, which we have just experienced. We’re at a moment right now where the weather is getting warmer and the vine starts to grow. It is this rise in temperature that wakes up the sap in the roots, start to flow through the vine, and make them "cry" as we say. [when you see sap dripping from previously pruned parts of the vine]. And following that, the sap will make the buds come out. In these buds, there is water and it is the cells present in the buds that risk freezing when the temperature drops too much. 

The vine can freeze depending on the temperature but it also depends on the vegetative stage of the bud. In fact, the more the vine grows, the less it resists temperatures. For example, a bud that has just emerged with its protective layer can withstand temperatures down to -3 or -4 degrees Celsius (25 degrees F) . But if temperatures drop too low, then it is possible for the buds to freeze and significantly reduce the crop.  

At the moment, and fortunately, the vineyard is not very advanced. But note that it depends on the sector. Some of our vines are more advanced than others.

2) What are the techniques used  to avoid frost?

The first thing is to have a good agricultural sense. The thing to do is to know the so-called prophylactic methods. To make it simple, we will try to prune the vine as late as possible so that the vine will bud as late as possible -  because the more we wait, the more chance of good weather. And if the vine is in “cotton” [where the buds still have their protective covering that looks like cotton balls], it does not risk anything. 

At the domaine, we have 3 people for every 8 hectares. It is therefore difficult to prune everything in 15 days in February (even if it would be ideal). Pruning is one of the tasks that takes us the most time throughout the year in the vineyard. We try not to prune before mid-December. 

Then, you also have to control the grass. If there is too much grass between the rows, it will be in contact with the buds and there will be much more chance that the buds will freeze because there will be too much humidity. 

Finally, we can play with the pruning dates according to the vines’ location by pruning the most precocious vines last. For example, Meursault 1er Cru Poruzot, which is located on the hillside of Meursault, is often our earliest-developing vineyard and is therefore the one that is harvested first. It is important to have a good sense in the choice of pruning schedules according to the different parcels of the domaine. Basically, we want to prune the latest vines as early as possible and the earliest vines as late as possible.

In terms of direct protection measures, we can mention some of them: ridging, water spraying.. but we have bet on moving air with windmills as well as heating with candles and, for the first time, tarpaulins. 

We put candles in the early vines like Perrières and Meursault Village, as well as a wind turbine to aerate Meursault Charmes that we bought with several other wine growers. We also tried for the first time to put a winter cover on to test. But as the vines did not really freeze, we cannot make a comparison to know if it worked or not. 

Disadvantages: the candles are polluting and expensive (note minimum of 10 euros per candle) and we in Meursault have to cover between 300 and 600 hectares minimum; therefore it is a real investment. It would be necessary to find other solutions which pollute less but for the moment we don’t really have them. 

3) Is climate change the cause? 

Spring frosts are partly the consequence of climate change and extreme weather shifts: when it seems like winter is over and the weather gets nice (up to 20 degrees=68F), the vine will grow rapidly. This is also the case for fruit trees and flowers. The high temperatures make nature wake up and start to grow, but then in that vulnerable state, suddenly the temperature drops and we have these dangerous moments.

4) Finally, last week's freeze, more fear than harm? 

Yes, fortunately more fear than harm. We are quite early in the season and the vines are not very budded (again, it depends on the sector). The pinot noir grape variety for example is quite late as well as the rest of the reds which are generally very late. But for the vines on the hillsides which develop a little faster, it can be more constraining. But we are still early in the season and the vines have not grown as much and are therefore less at risk.

Even if it froze on Sunday morning and especially on Monday morning, we were lucky that the days before, the weather was rather nice and windy, so it allowed us to have rather dry conditions and not to freeze the buds. In previous years, freezing was often due to rain the day before or to wet soil, and the humidity went up on the vines and crystallized the buds, thus freezing them. 

In Meursault in any case, more fear than harm, but it is only the beginning of the spring season and the vines are just starting to grow - we are crossing our fingers that we don't have another frost episode. 

Last year, the frost was very present. The domaine lost more than 60% of our harvest, which is quite rare. The vineyard was more at risk because it was at a more advanced vegetative stage and it had snowed the days before to the extent of 2 or 3 cm (1.18 in) of snow. The magnification of the sun’s rays on the frosted vegetation burned the cells of the vine leaves of the young shoots which is what destroyed all the vines, especially those on the hillside and particularly the chardonnay. But for this year, we cross our fingers for beautiful days to come!

What's Pressoir Drinking?

April 6, 2022
by Daniel Johnnes

Dom Perignon 1955

Our very own Raj Vaidya came across a bottle of Dom Perignon 1955 and very considerately thought of bringing it to share with me in recognition and celebration of my birth year.

After several attempts to find the time and place to open it we finally brought it to Runner Up, the fantastic gem of a restaurant owned by Daniel Eddy in Brooklyn. Daniel has several exciting projects opening in Brooklyn this spring and summer so keep an eye out. He also happens to be baking the best bread in New York right now!

So we settled down at our high stool table and we handed the bottle to the waiter to open it. He apparently pulled the cork with no problem and poured an ounce or so into my glass, giving me the honors. The small sample had a deep golden color with a hint of orange and browning. As he filled the other glass, you could see it was quite deep tawny, suggesting the wine had passed its time.

The first nose suggested oxidation but not fully Sherry-like. I found hints of baked apple, spice, a touch of VA but not altogether off-putting as it’s color might have suggested.

The pleasant surprise came when tasting it. Often the color and aroma is a precursor to what to expect and the taste only confirms the clues offered by the visual and aromatic markers. This wine still had sweet, ripe, clean fruit, good balance and was much more youthful than expected. There was barely a hint of effervescence.

We kept going back to it and all at the table kept commenting, “hey, it’s pretty good”. It was tasty yet we rather quickly suggested moving on to the Dauvissat Chablis Grand Cru Preuses 2017. Brilliant, saline, soft, with a mineral backbone and even better after twenty minutes while the DP started to fade away.

Having gone to the gym that day, I felt compelled to say to Raj, “Thank you for the beautiful bottle but some ‘55’s are aging better than others” :)

Interview with Romain Derey of Domaine Derey Frères

Friday, April 1, 2022

by Justine Puaud

Interview with The Derey Brothers

As I live in Burgundy now, I decided to drive for the first time to Couchey and to visit the Derey family. Couchey is the neighbor of Marsannay, in the northern part of the Côte de Nuits. I met Romain Derey who is a member of the young next generation of winemakers in Burgundy. The family team also includes his parents and brothers Maxime & Pierre-Marie, and together they are building a strong reputation in the Marsannay appellation.

Left to right: Pierre-Marie, Maxime, Pierre, and Romain Derey

1 - Your family is known for being winemakers since 1670 - can you tell me more about your family and the history around your domaine?

You know, in 1670 you were not really a winemaker. You were a farmer, a winemaker, a restaurant owner. At that time, my ancestors were making bulk wine to sell at their restaurant. Their priority was to make a living and not necessarily to make a “good” wine. It was really in 1850, two hundred years later, that Claude Derey was the one who started to truly focus on viticulture in the village of Couchey, in the heart of what was called the Dijon vineyard.

Claude’s son Pierre Derey was in the Resistance during World War 2. He was unfortunately arrested by the Germans and sent to a concentration camp where he passed away a few years later, which was a tragedy for his two orphaned sons, Maurice and Albert (my grandfather), who then took over the domaine in the 1950’s. They had two completely different personalities which was a strength for the business but not necessarily easy on an interpersonal level.

In the 2000s, the estate took a step up with the transmission to my father Pierre, who was joined by my mother Suzanne a few years later. It took many years for my grandfather Albert to accept my mother, who is originally from Rottenburg, in the south-west of Germany, because of the experience of losing his own father to the Nazis. They had to hide their relationship for a few years before he finally accepted it.

2 - You joined your father in 2010. How did you manage the job partition between your two brothers, your dad and your mom? Was it easy?

My oldest brother Maxime is the first one who joined my dad. We all knew he was born to be a winemaker. We almost think he said the word “tractor” before the word “mommy”. He was so passionate about farming and the vineyard, and is the true winemaker between us three. The quality of our wines has been getting better and better since his arrival in 2010. My dad doesn’t always agree with him about his choices but he trusts him.

A few years later, after my studies in business, I decided to join the family estate. I remember seeing my dad in the living room asking me nervously “are you joining us or not?” He was so happy when I said yes… With my background, I decided to take care of sales and building relationships with importers and sales representatives in Europe and in the United States.

My youngest brother, Pierre-Marie, is an artist but is also one of the best tasters I know. It is so annoying to taste with him because he always find mistakes. It is never enough. He does all the communications and marketing but spends lot of time with the pickers during the harvest and with me and my brother during the vinification.

We work really well together. In fact, nearly all of us live together too… My brother and I live on the right side of the house, my mom and my dad on the left side, and my oldest brother lives next door…

3 - Did you make any changes in the vineyard and/or cellar since you took over with your brothers?

The three of us have definitely made changes in the vineyard and in the cellar. However, our goal is not to change the style and the identity of the Derey wines. Maxime decided to stop using the harvesting machine. We plow our vineyards and have entered the second year of our conversion to organic farming. We also decided to limit the filtration of the wine and have recently started to do whole cluster fermentation. Depending on the vintage, we do between 20% to 100% whole cluster.

Our dad was really in a mindset of “laissez-faire”. But he said one day to us “you can do what you want but please never leave the cellar, always taste and make good wines”. It took him so many years to make changes with his dad that he didn’t want to subject us to the same restrictions.

4 - What do you think about the 2021 vintage?

We did 100% whole clusters for this vintage. It was not an easy vintage and there were many potential pitfalls… but we stayed spontaneous, believed in our vision and are happy with the results. My dad said 2021 reminded him of the difficult vintages in the eighties. He said “you had been lucky to only have easy vintages so far”.

5- Last month you were with us at La Paulée de New York. What were your best memories?

It was such an honor and also a dream to experience La Paulée de New York. We just couldn’t believe that we were part of the line-up of amazing winemakers, next to Domaine Mugneret-Gibourg or Domaine du Comte Liger-Belair. We of course had the chance to taste fantastic wines like 2013 Montrachet of Domaine Ramonet, 1990 Vosne-Romanée les Beaux Monts of Leroy. But this Paulée was really about the people. We discovered so many winemakers who didn’t know, all the sommeliers were fantastic and the clients were so generous. I think my craziest memory was sitting next to Chef Léo Troisgros at Wu’s Wonton King on Sunday. You can only experience this kind of moment in New York!