Joe Dressner Honored

The other night, wine importer Joe Dressner was honored by a large group of his colleagues, clients, and friends. To be honored by the people who one actually works with - that is a very high honor. And it is well deserved in this case. Joe and his partners are creative and highly intelligent about the growers and producers they work with. Joe believes in wines that many people would dismiss as too hard to sell, too "weird," too esoteric. But they are fine and very fairly priced wines that in many cases inspire almost fanatical loyalty among their many fans, and they are here for us to enjoy because Joe and his partners staked everything on them.

As you already know if you follow Joe's blog or interact with him in the wine business, Joe is recovering from his second major brain surgery. As would be expected, he hasn't been gallivanting about town lately. It was great to see him the other night - everything is the same, I'm glad to report. Same sharp wit, same appreciation of good wine and food, same general attitude, same Joe. Mentally, anyway. I'm sure he feels like utter crap a lot of the time.

It was a great party. Lots of people turned up with interesting and fantastic bottles of Dressner wine. I'm talking about 1991 and 1992 (I think) Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet, several vintages of Clos Rougeard, including a phenomenal 1997 Saumur-Champigny Les Clos, 1997 and 2000 Thomas-Labaille Sancerre Cuvée Buster Les Monts Damnés, 2001 Houillon/Overnoy Savagnin, and more. Our gracious host made a vat of delicious mushroom and shrimp risotto. Some one recently back from Italy one brought a wonderful sausage. Some one else brought some lovely cheeses. Some one else smoked a wagyu brisket. Another guy wore a special shirt.

Thank you Joe, for the many years of work you've done to make it so that I can buy and share world class wines with my friends and family. I, and I'm sure all of my readers (except that woman at a tasting who you wouldn't allow to try the Ulysse Collin after she said the Larmandier-Bernier was too dry) wish you improved health and comfort in the coming years. We're glad that you're here with us!

More from the Dressner Tasting

More thoughts and notes from the recent Dressner Portfolio Tasting:

The 2007 Domaine de la Pépière Granite de Clisson is here. I thought it was very tasty, although somewhat reserved in its expression. To be fair, this is not a wine that I can understand at a big tasting. It will be more expensive than the 2005 was, about $23, and I will happily buy it.

I loved the "entry-level" 2008 Muscadets by Luneau Papin, particularly the 2008 Luneau-Papin Clos des Allées, about $15. This typically racy and stony wine showed a bit more concentration and richness than I am used to, but in a good way. Lower yields perhaps?

All of the Larmandier-Bernier Champagnes showed very well. The 2004 Vieille Vigne de Cramant Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs, about $100 was well balanced and delicious, but my favorite on this day was the Terre de Vertus Brut Nature Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru, about $80 (based on 2006, but not a vintage wine). I thought this wine was simply fantastic, with pretty floral aromas layered atop the salty rocks. I want it.

I liked François Pinon's 2008's even more than I did the 2007's at this early stage. The 2008 Vouvray Cuvée Tradition, about $21, was sweet but well balanced and with good acidity, and the 2008 Vouvray Silex, about $26, was an awesome wine, very pure, with beautiful fruit, great structure and balance.

I think that I prefer François Chidaine's Montlouis wines to his Vouvrays. I'd love to test this little theory with many bottles, some friends, and dinner, but so far, I think I like the Montlouis wines better. They just seem more complete to me. The 2007 Chidaine Montlouis Clos du Breuil, about $30, a sec, or dry wine, is herbal and complex with woolly fruit. The 2007 Chidaine Montlouis Clos Habert, about $30, a demi-sec, or off-dry, and always a favorite of mine, was ripe and restrained and exuberant and about fruit and mineral and wool and soil. I loved it.

I really liked both of the Clos du Tue-Boeuf Pinot Noirs from Cheverny. Thierry Puzelat makes a load of different wines under his own label and also under this one, and it can be hard to keep track of what's what, but that's all part of the fun. The 2008 Clos du Tue-Boeuf Cheverny Gravotte, about $24, is 100% Pinot Noir from 30 year old wines on chalky soil. It smells of dried roses and is bright and elegant on the palate, with a definite chalky feel. The 2008 Clos du Tue-Boeuf Cheverny Caillère, about $28, is also 100% Pinot Noir from vines of about the same age, but from clay soils. The wine is darker and richer, very earthy and animale. Both are delicious wines, and very expressive of their place.

Many of you already know the late Baldo Cappellano's wines. I had never had one until this tasting. I appreciated all of them, but there are two that simply blew me away. The 2004 Cappellano Barolo Pie Franco (from un-grafted vines), about $165, is too absurdly brilliant of a wine to try to describe for you. A truly complete wine of incredible clarity, this left me speechless. And I also loved Cappellano's Barolo Chinato, about $100. The Cappellano family apparently was one of the first to produce this drink, a maceration of wine, quinine bark, and spices. There were five Chinatos poured, including a Roagna Barolo Chinato,and the Cappellano version was playing a whole different game. Floral and spicy, completely harmonious, and with a lingering sweet spicy quinine essence, this is an utterly delicious drink.

Tales from the Dressner Portfolio Tasting

It was more like a festival - think Cannes, Burning Man, or Fashion Week, perhaps the G8 Summit. People came from all over the world to participate. Deals were struck, friends and enemies gained, and the powerful giant that is Louis/Dressner Selections showed the world that there is no such thing as a recession when it comes to the world of fine wine. At least two heads of state showed up - President Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada enjoyed light conversation while tasting through the Clos Roche Blanche wines. P-Diddy made an appearance, as did Martha Stewart. Wine bloggers, writers, and wine bulletin-board junkies from as far away as San Francisco, North Carolina, and Wall Street made the pilgrimage to this, the Mecca of industry tastings.

Dressner did cut a few corners this year, for example by refusing to hire staff for the tables and thereby forcing wine makers from small villages scattered throughout the Loire Valley to travel all the way to NYC to pour the wines themselves. Speaking of the insatiable drive to maximize profits, I heard all sorts of juicy rumors, including this blockbuster, which I have not yet confirmed but is good enough to share anyway: Louis/Dressner, in what can only be described as a corporate attack, is attempting to buy controlling shares in Savio Soares Selections and Jenny & François Selections, thereby consolidating his control over the natural wine selecting industry. As a consumer, I hope this rumor proves false, as although I admire and respect Joe Dressner, even he cannot be trusted to wield such power generously.

I had a great time seeing everyone and being part of the spectacle. I tasted a load of wine, including new vintages from familiar producers and a few things that were brand new to me. I won't bore you with notes on everything I tasted, but here are some of the things that stood out for me:

I love the Saumur-Champignys from Domaine Filliatreau. The entry-level cuvée (I've seen it called Saumur-Champigny Cuvée Printemps, Chateau Fouquet, and simply, Fouquet) is an excellent wine that delivers the same quality as Bernard Baudry's entry level wine Les Granges, but in a different style. Filliatreau's is a lighter wine that emphasizes juicy freshness and fruit. The nose on the 2007 Fouquet, about $17, is very floral and the palate has an appetizing meatiness - it is delicious wine. If forced to choose, I would buy the 2008 Chateau Fouquet, with its bright nose of red fruit and a clean, energetic, and ripe palate. This is not complicated wine, nor does it seem to be a good candidate for the cellar, but it is perfect in its simplicity. And at about $17, it's money well spent. A few bucks more buys the 2008 La Grande Vignolle, price unknown but probably about $20, a wine made from old vines in the huge Grande Vignolle vineyard. This wine drinks well young but also does well with some bottle age. I loved the 2005, not as much the 2006, never saw the 2007, and now we have the 2008. I thought it was great, with a mineral imbued darkly fruited nose, very clean, and a deeply fruited palate with grainy texture and firm tannins that will support more than a few years in the cellar.

In other Saumur-Champigny news, the 2005 Clos Rougeard wines were very impressive. I was worried that they would be inky black and impenetrable, but they weren't. The 2005 Le Clos was wide open and ready to go, crystal clear and with beautiful fruit. I loved the dried roses I was getting on the back of the nose, and the wine had such good depth and length. I would have a hard time keeping my hands off of this, if I owned any. But that's the problem - these wines get tougher and tougher to own every year. This wine is now about $65 here on the east coast. I'm not saying that it isn't worth the money, but it has definitely crossed into a different zone, price-wise. The 2005 Les Poyeux was more dense, darker, very rich, much earthier, and clearly needs lots of time. But it was also very beautiful, and at about $85, is probably worth the extra $20 if you are forced to pick one. Le Bourg was not shown. How I wish I was buying these wines 8 years ago when they cost something like $30 a piece!

I've had the 2007's from Bernard Baudry before, and I still think they're fantastic. The 2007 Cuvée Domaine is maybe the finest red wine that I know of at $18. 2007 Clos Guillot at about $30 is so graceful and elegant, but with such deep fruit. The vines are young but the wine feels wise and centered, and it has the tannins and intensity to age well. This was my first time tasting the 2007 Croix Boissée, about $35, and I liked it very much. It is deeply perfumed, and the palate is rich and complex. It confused me, though, how much I noticed the oxidative style of the wine - it hasn't been so clear to me in the past. Perhaps the 2007 shows it more pronouncedly, or perhaps I am getting better at noticing it. But the wood influence shows itself here, not in an oaky aroma or flavor, but in the way the oxidization that happens in barrels makes the wine stands apart from the others in the lineup. It is excellent wine, but I think I need to open a bottle at home and see what's what. I might be some one who now prefers Les Grézeaux, we'll have to see.

Okay, this post is too long already, so more Tales from the Dressner Portfolio Tasting will come soon.

A Special Bottle from Larmandier-Bernier

The other night my generous friend Adam came to dinner and brought with him a truly fantastic bottle of Champagne, Larmandier-Bernier's Brut Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs. Larmandier-Bernier is one of the best producers in the Côte des Blancs, making delicious wines of finesse and purity that can be thrilling in their clear expression of terroir. Any bottle by this producer is special, but some are more special than others.
The thing that made this particular bottle so special is that it was disgorged in June of 2005. This is before team Dressner began to import the wines, back when Pierre and Sophie Larmandier-Bernier were working with Terry Theise and Michael Skurnik. We're talking about four years of bottle age here, more than most of us give our non-vintage bottles. More than I do, anyway. There is no code etched onto the bottle (recent bottles have an etched on the glass that reveals base year and disgorgement date) so I cannot be certain about the base year, but I'm guessing 2002 grapes primarily, and bottled in 2003.
What happens to high quality non-vintage Champagne when you cellar it? There are some folks who will tell you that nothing happens, except that the wine loses freshness. Perhaps that is true regarding many generic Champagnes, but not with wines from producers like Larmandier-Bernier. This wine was just fantastic, with a captivating nose that showed a regal and mature character, but still with great vibrancy and freshness. And it got better over the hour it was open, its nose broadening and its mineral and nutty flavors really crystallizing. The mousse is really just a gentle buzz on the palate, with great depth of fruit and mineral, and a lovely savory note that Adam described as Hoisin. Absolutely finely integrated - a well oiled machine. Truly memorable and delicious wine, a wine that has me re-thinking what I want to do with Champagne in my own cellar.

Busted! Ethics go Down the Drain

In an effort to "get in front of the story," as they say in the spin business, I would rather you hear/see this from me, instead of reading it in the mainstream press. I did what I did, and I don't feel at all badly about it. I feel oddly liberated.

Soil Matters

At the Dressner tasting yesterday I experienced a shockingly clear example of the role that soil plays in shaping wine. Opening several wines at a time is the best way for a guy like me, who is in the middle of building his tasting memory, to get a good sense of the differences that soil can bring. Most of the wine I drink is at home with dinner, and we don't often open several wines just for the sake of comparison. When I win the lottery, we'll do so regularly, and this blog will be all the better for it.

That's why this experience at the Dressner tasting was so interesting for me. I've had François Pinon's wines before at home, and I've had them at tastings too, but they were just profound yesterday, really singing their own songs. These are two Vouvrays that could not be more different from one another, although the vineyards are within a couple of kilometers from each other and they were vinified in exactly the same way. The 2007 Vouvray Cuvée Tradition is from clay soils and the wine is rich and round with a ripe honeyed fruit character, expansive and broad. There is good acidity and structure, but this is a wine that is driven by voluptuous fruit, and it is clean and delicious.

The 2007 Vouvray Silex Noir is from soils of rocky black flint, and the wine is much leaner, with a racy mineral character that drives through the finish. There is lovely fruit here too, but it is of a more refined nature. It is also quite ripe, ripe enough so that there is a honeyed glow to the intense mineral mid-palate, but the essence of this wine to me is the cutting rocky minerality. It is a balanced and beautiful wine, and at about $24 retail, a terrific value in my opinion.

Both wines are technically demi-secs, or off-dry wines, with 18 grams of residual sugar in the Tradition and 17 in the Silex Noir (the limit is 9 grams in order to be labeled as a sec, or dry wine). But the Tradition feels and tastes like a demi-sec, whereas the Silex Noir feels and tastes like a dry wine that has a honeyed edge.

I asked François Pinon, who like almost all of the producers represented at this very fine tasting, was right there pouring and discussing his wines, how these two wines can be so completely different from one another. He said, simply, "If I describe these soils to you, I could be describing the wines. Silex is filled with sharp black rocks, and the other with deep soft clay."

And there you have it - in 2007, François Pinon has definitely figured out how to make the earth speak. And as an aside, although both are great wines, I preferred the Silex Noir, and Pinon says that his wines in 2007 will age gracefully for a long time. I think this one is a good candidate for my daughter's birth-year case.

Savio Soares, Alice Feiring, Il Buco, and 10 Wines

"I drank a few of your wines recently and I really like them. I want to try more of them - are you having a spring tasting?" I asked Ariel, Savio Soares' wine rep. "Not that I know of," she said, "but I have another idea. Let me get back to you."

And that is how I found myself on a recent Sunday evening, along with Alice Feiring, sitting with Savio Soares at Il Buco. Savio strongly feels that the best way to understand his wines is to enjoy them with friends over a meal, so he created this opportunity for Alice and me - a very lovely gesture. And because he used to be the General Manager of the restaurant and in charge of the wine program, we received what you might call special attention. Maybe this is every day stuff for you, but I have a 3 month old and a 2 year old and I don't get out much. And this is a recession - my work world is slowly shrinking. I don't get to do this very often - enjoy a lavish meal and 10 wines at one of the city's better restaurants. I had a blast.

"Don't assess on the first sip. Coat your palate with this wine, take your time, take another sip, and then you will understand the wine."- Savio Soares, as I sipped my Riesling.

That pretty much sums up Savio's attitude in general. Make time to smell the roses. Don't rush to judge a wine, because the good ones take time to unfold in the glass. And I think he has successfully knit this attitude into the fabric of his everyday life. He lives in Krefeld, Germany, his wife's hometown. He spends a lot of time with his son, now 7 years old (and he was the primary caregiver when his son was an infant and his wife had a "regular" day job). He travels frequently and greatly enjoys his work with a small group of wine makers, mostly in Germany, France, and Austria. He is a man who is perpetually smiling, and genuinely. He seems like he is truly at peace, and that, my friends, is a nice thing to be around.

And what of his wines? We drank 10 of them with our fantastic meal, and although I tried to take good notes, I was more interested in our conversation and company. So instead I will tell you a few things in general, and also share a few highlights. Savio works with small growers who take care for their environment and who make wine naturally - relying mostly on indigenous yeasts, minimal sulfur, minimal cellar manipulation, and light or no filtration. When I asked him how he chooses wines to import, Savio wrote in an email:

I like elegant wines: harmony, silkiness, acidic structure, aromatic finesse, all that I find very important. Personally I really like high levels of acid in my wine and find that this is one of the most important elements to bring elegance to a wine and the one that also makes drinking and enjoying wine, a fun thing to do. For the same reasons I like wines from cold climates, longer ripening seasons and also wines that are made in the traditional style of its region and reflects it. Above all, for me to import a wine, I must like and respect the winemaker and 99% of the winemakers I work with have no secretaries. Everything in regards to our collaboration is treated directly with the winemaker or his wife/husband. I only work with family-run wineries with an average size of 7 HA. These winemakers do care about the wine they produce and after sometime working and enjoying wines like these, one notices that these wines are imbued not just with traces of its region but also with the energy of care and respect that was dedicated to it in the vineyard and in the cellar.

Savio Soares' wines as a group are cut from the same cloth as Joe and Denyse Dressner's and Jenny & François'. They are "real" wines, wines that showcase purity of fruit and do as little as possible to mask the place they come from. They are energetic and lively, and they are meant to be enjoyed with food. They are competitively priced too, which is a nice thing.

One of my favorite dishes of the evening was the very first, bruschette topped with sea urchin, arugula, capers, and lemon. The ultra-clean briny sweetness of the little sea urchin half-moons played beautifully off the bitter arugula and the sour lemon. I would happily eat that dish every day for the next 5 months. And I thought the 2007 Ernst Clusserath Trittenheimer Apotheke Riesling Kabinett Trocken (about $30) was a great pairing. The round and rich nose of the wine belied its bone dry bitter fruit pit flavors. Like the sea urchin, the wine was clear as a bell.

The 2005 Reynald Héaulé Vin de Table L'Insoumis de Village, or 'Black Sheep of the Village' (about $30) is a serious country wine made by one of the new wave Loire Valley natural wine hipsters. This wine is Cabernet Franc, Pinot Meunier (yes, you read that right), and a third mystery grape which the producer will not reveal. This wine had a wild leafy peppery streak. Alice loved this one, and she was already quite familiar with the producer. It reminded me of Pineau D'Aunis, but richer, and it paired beautifully with the olive oil poached octopus with chick peas.

The 2006 Philippe Bornard Trousseau Le Ginglet Arbois Pupillin (about $25) was redolent of red berries and cinnamon. "Typical of wines made in the Jules Chauvet method," Alice said. I loved this wine, with it's wild intensity and it's leafy herbal character. It went beautifully with gnocchi, and not the typically dense dough balls that pass for gnocchi. These were feathery pillows of deliciousness, accompanied by Brussels sprouts and walnuts for a subtle flavor combination that really accentuated the texture and flavor of the gnocchi. I've seen these Bornard wines around a lot lately, and I want to try the Poulsard next - I've been really digging Poulsard lately.

The 2005 Wilfred Rousse Chinon Les Puys (about $20) was, to me, a classic. Ripe fruit (this is 05, after all) iron and salt, and eminently drinkable. It should retail at about $20 and it's a great new discovery in Chinon. It was delicious with our roast quail. As was the 2007 Avanti Popolo Les Temps des Cerises (about $25). This wine is a full bodied mouthful of old vine Carignan from the Languedoc, but is is also quite graceful, and the acidity keeps the wine feeling lively. This comes from vines high up on the hillsides, Savio explains, and the grapes are cooled by evening breezes.

Perhaps the most memorable wine for me was the final wine of the night, a sweet wine, a rosé of Pinot Noir. The 1994 Geschwister Ehrhard Rudesheimer Berg Rosenach Spätburgunder Beerenauslese (about $60 for 375 ml). This wine was luscious and primary in its beautiful fruit, with soaring and penetrating acidity. I've never had anything like it before, and it was just a fantastic experience to drink.

Right now Savio's wines are distributed only in New York and New Jersey, so if you're in the area, keep you eyes open for them. Hopefully they'll make it to the rest of the country soon.

Loire Chenin Blanc Wine Dinner

I'm in a really great wine group now, and great ones are hard to find, trust me. This is a great one because the people are intelligent, easy going, and excellent company. And because our wine tastes are quite diverse. And also because we came up with a nice system for running the group. We rotate as hosts and the host provides everything. All the wine, all of the food, everything. The host picks a theme and decides how to explore that theme.

I like this system because it allows the host lots of freedom but also gives them lots of responsibility when it's their turn. It's also an egalitarian system - the host who feels flush can select 2002 Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru wines as the theme. The host whose employer is requesting a 20 Billion dollar bailout from the Feds, and who is not feeling flush, can select Muscadets young and old as the theme. Although vastly different in necessary expenses, both themes are fantastic in the hands of our capable hosts.

We've had a great time so far but I haven't been writing about it because, frankly, who wants to invite someone for dinner knowing that the dinner and wine will be dissected in a forthcoming blog post? When I host, I'm allowed to write about it. Recently it was our turn to host wine group and I chose Loire Chenin Blancs as the theme. I looked through my "cellar" and decided to go with the following wines:

Sparkling
2004 François Pinon Vouvray Brut (Magnum)

Dry
2005 Huët Vouvray Sec Le Mont
2002 Domaine du Closel Savennières Clos du Papillon
2000 Clos Rougeard Saumur Brézé (by generous gift of Joe Dressner, just for this dinner)

Off-Dry
2005 François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Clos Habert
2002 François Pinon Vouvray Cuvée Tradition
1996 François Cazin Cour-Cheverny Cuvée Renaissance

Sweet
1998 Domaine des Baumard Quarts de Chaume

I went with roast striped bass with oyster mushrooms for the dry wines and a pheasant pâté plate of sorts, including a dollop of home made quince paste, for the off-dry wines. Pear and honey cake for dessert. It pretty much turned out okay.
This night for me was further proof for me that the Loire Valley offers truly profound white wines at reasonable prices. Overall, the wines showed fantastically well. The exceptions for me were the Pinon wines - the Brut was fine but the 2002 Vouvray Tradition was just no good. Other people liked it, so it's just my opinion, but I found the seaweed/dried mushroom umami aromas to be extremely off-putting. And the 2005 Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Clos Habert, one of my favorite demi-secs of the vintage, was in an awkward and closed phase on this night.

Here are some quick notes on the wines:

The Pinon Vouvray Brut was fine and lots of fun out of magnum, but objectively it just wasn't special wine. Other than Huët's, I have yet to be truly wowed by any Loire sparkling wine, I must say.

The dry wines were fantastic, each with its own distinct personality. The Huët ($26 in early 2007, decanted 3 hours ahead) was the most delicate of the three, and although it was lovely during the dinner, it was utterly gorgeous the next day. Makes sense - the dry wines need time to develop. The Closel wine ($24 a few years ago) was in my opinion at the peak of drinking. Perfectly mature at only 6 years old (odd for a Savennières, but whatever), it was full of waxy ripe fruit, herbal, honey, and mineral flavors. Beautiful stuff. And the Clos Rougeard (over $60), which I decanted almost 6 hours ahead of time, was incredibly deep, although even with the decant, painfully young and during the actual dinner, not all that approachable. It's funny because about a half hour after decanting it was pretty fantastic. It goes through phases I guess. I wish I had saved some for the next day.

The weakest flight was the off-dry wines, although the 1996 Cazin ($26) was, for me, the wine of the night. And this is an interloper, a wine made from the Romorantin grape, not a Chenin Blanc. So sue me. It was gorgeous and completely harmonious, really in a great place. Mature and regal nose of ripe fruit with some interesting petrol and earthy notes. The palate was perfectly balanced with great depth of fruit and a great vein of acidity, and there was real viscosity here - this is dense without being heavy, long without being ponderous, just elegant and deep wine. Although I am not a fan of the 2005, my commitment to cellaring my '02s and '04s is renewed.

The 1998 Baumard Quarts de Chaume ($39) showed very well too. Incredibly beautiful nose of ripe orchard fruit, dripping with mineral intensity, and so fresh and youthful. This wine has a long life ahead of it. On the palate it's a wash of apricot and herbal honey supported by crackling acidity, loads of minerals, and a finish that lingers and changes, becomes pleasingly bitter. This wine had a cleansing effect on the palate, so different from most of the dessert wines I come across.

Dressner Portfolio Tasting Notes

So after the hard and wonderful work of the Terry Theise Portfolio tasting, we rushed over to the east side for Louis/Dressner tasting. There was simply no way to taste everything, even if this were the only tasting of the day. There were 250 wines, and I don't know about you, but I can't thoughtfully taste more than about 50 wines in one session.

I had to narrow the field, and so very sadly, I decided to taste mostly the new vintages of old and familiar wines. The Italian wines - I didn't taste 'em. Wines of the Savoie - didn't taste 'em. Burgundy, Jura, and Muscadet...nope.

Did I taste anything, you might be wondering, or did I just mingle with the wine stars? Oh, I tasted, buddy, and some great wine at that. I went for the Bubbles, the Beaujolais, the Cab Franc, and the Chenin Blanc. I had an hour - that's all I had time for.

First, I have to tell you about the 20 year table. In honor of their 20th anniversary, the Dressner folk dug into the cellar and set out a load of wines from their inaugural vintage. How thoughtful is that? And what a great opportunity for those of us (like me) who haven't tasted many of these wines with bottle age. I missed some of these wines, much to my dismay. Breton's Bourgueil Perrières, Chateau d'Oupia Cuvée les Barons, Pepière Clos des Briords...gone. And the Clos Rougeard Le Bourg - corked (but even so the fruit was young and lovely). The 1988 Closel Savennières Clos du Papillon was complex and beautiful, and the Chidaine Montlouis Clos Habert and the Pinon Vouvray Moelleux were great too. And as far as I know, 1988 wasn't a particularly great vintage - just a normal working class year in the Loire Valley. I'm more determined than ever to let my bottles sleep in peace...

Bubbles first, and what bubbles! Larmandier-Bernier wines are so different from the wide open style of much of the Theise portfolio. These wines are not generous, they are cautious and they'll hold back on you. There is nothing similar in style in the Theise portfolio except maybe Gimonnet, and those wines, if I may say so, do not have comparable depth or focus. These are piercing wines of great definition, and they can seem like turtles, just their head visible underneath all of that shell.

The Blanc de Blancs was opened as I was standing there and needed time to come together. But this bottle of Terre de Vertus showed better than any other I've tasted - richly fragrant with broad mineral flavors and ripe fruit. A memorable wine, and well worth the price (about $75). The 2004 Vieille Vignes de Cramant was focused and lovely with floral notes, although quite closed. There was no Rosé de Saignée left, which is tragic, as I have never tasted this legend of a wine.

Right near the Bubbly table sat two unattended bottles of Dard et Ribo white wine, both from 2006, a Crozes-Hermitage Blanc and a Saint-Joseph Blanc. I've never tasted a Dard et Ribo wine but I'd heard very good things, and these were better than very good. Fresh and pure with beautiful fruit and floral aromas, and great texture - voluptuous without that viscosity that find distracting in white Rhone wines.

Next was Beaujolais. This is such an impressive aspect of the Dressner portfolio. We're talking about many of the finest producers - Desvignes, Descombes, Brun, Tête, and Roilette, all at the same table. The wines that I liked the most on this day were the 2007 Clos de la Roilette Fleurie for its grace and purity of fruit, and the 2006 Desvignes Morgon Côte du Py for its depth and brambly intensity. There were many other excellent wines, but these are the two that I wanted to take those home with me.

The 2006's from Chidaine are quite good, although if you're used to the 2005's they will seem light. The 2006's are probably typical and the 2005's are probably extra rich and intense. My favorite was the 2006 Clos Habert, a demi-sec wine that I also love in 2005. The 2007 Pinon Vouvray Cuvee Silex Noir is just a great wine too, and a very good value at about $25. It was the temperamental 2006 Anjou Blanc from Agnès et René Mosse that I liked best of the current Chenin Blancs, with rich fruit on top of a pool of minerals, and a great underlying streak of acidity. At about $23, this is another excellent value. Rich enough to drink with a hangar steak, relaxed enough to enjoy with a bowl of vegetable soup.

I took a brief Burgundy excursion at this point and tasted through the Philippe Pacalet wines. Pacalet has a cellar in Beaune proper and buys grapes from various growers, often tending the plots himself. His wines are made in the classic style, focusing on purity, grace, and expression of terroir (read - not overly extracted and dark). Although these are not among my favorite red Burgundies, tasting Pacalet's 2006's was as fine a lesson in terroir of the Côte de Nuits as I've ever had. The Nuits-St-Georges was earthy and had wild game on the nose. The Pommard was muscular and dense, almost a bit clunky. The Gevrey-Chambertin was also muscular but with higher toned fruit. The Chambolle-Musigny was silky and more elegant. The Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Perrieres (about $125) was in my opinion the finest of the lineup with great depth and intensity to compliment the ripe fruit and the firm structure. The Chambolle-Musigny was, as advertised, silky and more elegant.

And last for me were the great Loire reds, and what a way to end the day. I'm talking about Breton, Baudry, Raffault, Filliatreau, Clos Roches Blanches, and Clos Rougeard. I think the 2007 Baudry Les Granges is the best Les Granges since 2004. My first time tasting the 2006 Croix Boisée and I'm not sure where I stand. It had nice fruit, but it was so tannic and muddled that I couldn't decide whether or not I would buy it for myself. I need to taste this again. I was super impressed with how well the Raffault wines showed - all of them. The 2005 Chinon Les Picasses was ripe and expressive, but restrained and elegant too, and complex with herbal and earthy flavors. And under $25. The 2002 was a bit more awkward at this stage, but also shows elegance and balance to go along with the silky fruit. The 1990 was gone, but the 1989 was smooth and well balanced, and seemed quite youthful, nothing secondary about it.

All three Clos Rougeard wines were excellent - 2004 was an under appreciated year for red wine in the Loire, I think. Le Clos, the "entry level" wine, was ripe and delicious, and all elbows and knees right now. And by the way, this wine now costs about $60. Les Poyeux used to cost $50. These wines have become too expensive for most of us, sadly, as they represent some of the finest red Cabernet Franc wine from anywhere. Les Poyeux was delicious and oddly more accessible than Le Clos, and Le Bourg was your high school friend's huge but gentle older brother, more into math than football.

An amazing tasting that showcased the work that Louis/Dressner has done over the past 20 years to bring natural wines to the US. Next year if I am invited, I don't care if Barack Obama's white house tasting is the same day, I'm spending the day with Dressner.

2006 Beaujolais - Dressner's Tasting

Last month I wrote a little bit about my experiences with 2006 Beaujolais. This weekend I went to an amazing tasting - Joe Dressner poured a load of Beaujolais wines, some that he imports and some that he doesn't. My original post mentioned only the wines that I had at home with dinner, and I feel that there's no substitute for that environment when evaluating a wine. But tasting so many excellent wines next to each other while in the relaxed confines of Chambers Street Wines, while discussing them a bit with Joe...it was clear to me the wines that stood out, the wines that I MUST purchase and drink at home, and those that were merely delicious wines that I would enjoy drinking anytime. I'm serious - everything was really good. Beaujolais in the right hands is such a pleasure.

Here are the standouts, the wines that I MUST have again:

2006 Jean Foillard Morgon Côte de Py, $28. They decanted this at 1 PM after opening and discovering "a bad stench on the nose." It was about 4:15 PM when I had my first taste. There is no sulfur in this wine, this is all natural, and it can be an unpredictable experience opening this. I would never order it at a restaurant, for example. It might take too long to open up. Or it could be a sub-par bottle without being corked. This bottle though, at this time - utterly amazing. Such a luscious dark purple perfume, such spicy and energetic fruit, so light and lively, yet such depth to the flavors. Brilliant wine.

2006 Coudert Clos de la Roilette Fleurie Cuvée Tardive, $26. Always great wine, and this was no exception. The nose was intoxicating with violets and soil and ripe dark fruit. The palate was pretty tight, but very pure and with plenty of evidence of the deliciousness to come.

2005 Michel Tête Juliénas Cuvée Prestige, $28. A new shipment released by the importer, not a second lot or something. Gorgeous nose, full of flowers and spices. The palate is dense and full of ripe fruit. I'd drink this now, but I'd also be curious to see it in 5 years.

2006 Coudert Clos de la Roilette Fleurie, $22. Not as extravagant on the nose as the old vines Tardive, but lovely still, and far more approachable on the palate. I'd drink this now and hold onto the Tardive for a few years at least.

2006 Lapierre Morgon, $23. My first ever taste of a Lapierre wine, and I liked it a lot. Very pure and elegant, and quite delicious.

The other wines poured were great too, but the above wines were my favorites. Here are the others:

2006 Domaine du Vissoux Moulin-a-Vent "Les Trois Roches," $23. Tight and mineral, like a brick wall, but there are hints at the delicious fruit underneath.

2006 Terres Dorées Côte de Brouilly, $19. I like this wine every year. Some dried fruit on the nose, some cinnamon, lots of dark fruit. Very tasty.

2006 Descombes Chiroubles Vieille Vignes, $28. Very nice indeed, layered and rich.

2006 Descombes Régnié Vielle Vignes, $28. Very happy to taste this, as I loved the regular 06 Régnié. Clearly good wine, but wasn't as giving as some of the others at this moment.

2006 Michel Tête Juliénas, $20. Tasty indeed, but not as compelling as the Prestige.

2006 Desvignes Morgon Javernières, $24. This was showing very austere, difficult to penetrate. It was certainly nice, but I don't have the experience with this particular wine to understand where it is in its evolution.

And by the way, I had the 2006 Lapalu Brouilly Vieille Vignes, $25, with dinner the other night and it was fantastic. This is a natural wine imported by Jenny & Francois. From 80 year old vines, this is complex and delicious. Beautiful nose of dark fruit and flowers, great purity, ripe spicy fruit. This definitely belongs on the same team as the other Beaujolais tasted above.

More Dressner / Polaner Highlights - Reds

More notes from the great Polaner Spring Tasting, this time red wines from the Dressner producers.

Domaine Filliatreau, Saumur-Champigny - the 2005 Saumur-Champigny Grande-Vignolle was one of my favorite Loire Valley everyday reds, when it was around. I think there may be a few more bottles at Garnet in Manhattan, but I'm not sure. The 2006 isn't showing as well now, but then again, 06 was a much tougher year for growers. And it probably needs a bit more time in the bottle. The 2007 Saumur Chateau Foquet (separate estate, same wine maker) was quite nice, a wine made from certified organic vines just outside of the Saumur-Champigny appellation (thus the Saumur appellation) and it should be very reasonably priced. But the superstar in the portfolio on this day was the 2005 Saumur-Champigny Vieille Vignes. This wine was deep and complex on the nose with brilliant ripe fruit, and all sorts of earthy minerality lurking beneath the surface. This, to me, is a wine to go deep on, the first bottle to be enjoyed this year, and then spread them out over the next 8-10 years. And at what should be about $30 a bottle, it's a very fair price to pay for wine of this caliber.

Domaine Bernard Baudry, Chinon - if I could swap lives with another person for a year, it would be with Matthieu Baudry, son of Bernard. He is about my age with two kids and lives in a cute house in Chinon, and he makes wine at a celebrated estate in the gorgeous area of Cravant Les Coteaux near Chinon. Matthieu poured three wines, beginning with the 2006 Chinon les Granges, from 15 year old vines on gravel soils. This is the estate's easy drinking wine, always fruity and approachable when young. This version was very tasty. The bad dollar makes it no longer seem like such a bargain, but what can you do? Baudry's top wines, Les Grezeaux, Clos Guillot, and La Croix Boisée typically require a lot of time to unwind and display their pleasures, but 2006 seems to be different. The 2006 Clos Guillot was working right now, with plenty of dark fruit and earth. The 2006 La Croix Boisée was shockingly delicious too, completely drinkable right now and a wonderful wine. I've never found this cuvée so approachable at this young of an age. Matthieu agreed that it will not need as much time as in previous years, and offered the heavy rains before the harvest as a possible explanation. As always, Baudry's wines are worth exploring.

Domaine Catherine & Pierre Breton, Bourgueil - I will admit it, I've not spent so much time with these wines in the past couple of years, after feeling very ho-hum about wines like Trinch!, Les Galichets, and Beaumont in 02 and 03. I like the higher end wines, particularly the Chinon les Picasses, but I gravitate towards producers whose entire lineup excites me. I was quite pleased to find that although they didn't blow me away, I liked the entry level wines again. Particularly the Bourgueil 2007 Trinch!, with its lovely berry nose and raspy tannins. I cannot say, though, that Breton's wines excite me at the $20 and under price point the way other wines do, like Baudry or Hureau or Filliatreau, for example. The higher end wines though, these are very exciting. The 2005 Bourgueil Clos Sénéchal was captivating, with its translucent purple color and powerful deep dark nose. Although clearly this will improve with age, I would gladly drink it tonight with dinner. The 2004 Chinon les Picasses and the 2005 Bourgueil les Perrières were both dense wines, full of fruit and earth. The potential was evident, but they are both wines that I couldn't really experience at this tasting - they require more focus and time.

And now, onto some of the superstars of Beaujolais. I did a dumb thing - it was stupid of me to taste through the darker wines of Pierre Breton right before tasting all of the Beaujolais. How are you supposed to organize yourself at a tasting of this size, anyway?!? I need to spend more time with the program before tasting anything next time.

Jean-Paul Brun's wines were very good, as usual. Although some people loved his '05s for their complexity and ageability, I actually prefer his '06s on the whole. What I love about Beaujolais is its absolute drinkability - charming fresh fruit, nice acidity, a softness and lightness to the texture, with real interest in the flavor and aroma. The perfect food wine, when done well. Brun of Terres Dorées usually does this for me, although I'm not sure yet what I think about the '07s. I loved the 2007 Côte de Brouilly with its deeply pitched flavors and humming energy. But nothing else wowed me, although the 2007 Fleurie showed well too. Maybe 6 months in the bottle will do these wines some good. I didn't love the 2006 Beaujolais l'Ancien Vielle Vignes 6 months ago either, but when I drank it with dinner the other night we both LOVED it. I was also surprised to find a Pinot in this lineup, the 2006 Pinot Noir, and it was good!

Georges Descombes poured four of his wines, and all were quite good. The 2006 Régnié was just as I remembered, very lively and elegant fruit, and crackling with energy and acidity. The standout for me was the 2006 Brouilly Vieille Vignes, which had beautiful floral mouth aromas. Very long and intense. I still have trouble wrapping my head around $30 bottles of Beaujolais, but this is America, where the dollar is worthless and we eat $7 fast food meal combos with super-sized sodas.

Michel Tête's wines were both very good. The 2006 Juliénas had such a pretty nose, and the 2005 Juliénas Cuvée Préstige is just an excellent and beautiful wine, and you're crazy not to buy it if you see it. It was great last summer upon release, it was great at this tasting, and I bet it will be great for quite a long time. Domaine Desvignes Morgons were both exciting, buzzing with fruit and energy in a dark and brooding way. Although tasty, I would prefer to allow them to develop a bit in the bottle than to drink them now, particularly the 2006 Morgon Javernières, which Louis-Benoit Desvignes says is the wine to age. He says that the Côte du Py is usually better young, and I could see that in the 2006 Morgon Côte du Py, but it seemed like it could use 6 months too.

Wow - such a long post, again. I'll have to tell you about the red Burgundies next week.