Real Wine Attack 2008 to Hit America in Mid-April
Nearly 25 Vignerons and Vignaioli to Attack Chicago and New York in Mid-April
That's right.
Nearly 25 Vignerons and Vignaoli will be in Chicago and New York. There will be a trade tasting in Chicago on Monday, April 14th, a trade tasting in New York on Tuesday, April 15th and a series of consumer events for the rest of the week in New York.
The growers will include:
- Matthieu Baudry from Domaine Bernard Baudry in Chinon
- Pierre Breton from Catherine & Pierre Breton in Bourgueil
- Jean-Paul Brun from Terres Dorées in the Beaujolais
- Nathalie & Christian Chaussard from Domaine le Briseau in Jasnières
- Evelyne de Jessey from Domaine du Closel in Savennières
- Georges Descombes from Morgon
- Claude-Emmanuelle & Louis-Benoit Desvignes from Domaine Louis-Claude Desvignes in Morgon
- Fredrik Filliatreau from Domaine Filliatreau in Saumur-Champigny
- Grégoire Hubau from Château Moulin Pey-Labrie in Canon-Fronsac
- Olivier & Cécile Lemasson from Les Vins Contés in the Touraine
- Jean Manciat from the Mâconnais
- Marc Ollivier from Domaine de la Pépière in Muscadet
- Franck Peillot from Montagnieu in the Bugey
- François & Suzanne Pinon from Vouvray
- Thierry Puzelat from Clos du Tue-Boeuf
- Suzana & Sasa Radikon from Friuli
- Elie Renardat from Domaine Renardat-Fâche in the Bugey
- Luca Roagna from Barbaresco
- Catherine Roussel & Didier Barrouillet from Clos Roche Blanche in the Touraine
- Pascal & Annick Quénard from Chignin in the Savoie
- Michel & Françoise Tête form Juliénas
- Laurence & Eric Texier from the Rhône
- Gautier Thévenet from the Domaine de Roally in Clessé
- Jean-Paul Versino from Domaine Bois de Boursan in Châteauneuf-du-Pape
We'll have more details soon. Stay posted!
New Releases from Eric Texier
Brézème Rouge 2006, Côte Rôtie 2006 and Ô Pâle 2007 are Now Available
We just received the following news from Laurence and Eric Texier:
Greetings to all, dear customers, friends and passionate lovers of wine,
We can look forward to balance and finesse. A little old-fashioned, to be sure, but we never get tired of that.
We have taken advantage of the sudden cold spell in November to bottle our last 2005s and 2006s.
The Whites
Because the 2006s do not have the structure of the 2005s, we have decided to bottle them before a second winter in barrel.
This wine is more bewitching and easier than its predecessor, showing the pedigree of the Bussières terroir but with less potential for aging.
Of the 8 barrels, 5 have been bottled (the 3 others have been blended into the regular Mâcon).
Brézème Blanc VV Domaine de Pergault 2006 (bottling in July)
An important new release this year: for the first time, the two best barrels, 100% François Pouchoulin's old vines "roussette", have been bottled separately. It is a suprising, almost mysterious wine. A lot more minerality than the regular bottling and the extreme saltiness of the terroir comes out in an almost brutal fashion. We really think that the full potential of this rare wine will not begin to express itself for some time to come. But how much time? There will be 24 magnums and 536 bottles.
Opale 2007
Harvesting the Viognier grapes from Vernon to Condrieu to make Opale has never been easier than this year. No extravagant ripeness, no broiling sun, cool nights and a strong and constant Mistral. 11% potential alcohol (19 brix – 79 degrees Oeschele) – acidity at 9.5 g/l (tartaric).
Our Kondrieu Kabinett finished at 6.5 % alcohol! Record production of 1820 bottles.
The Reds
Saint Gervais Vieilles Vignes les Cadinières 2005
In such a sunny year as 2005, the higher altitude and particularly cool terroir of the Cadinières allowed us to harvest remarkably balanced Grenache, less austere than the 2004s yet with the same potential for aging and not a trace of over-ripeness.
No pigeage this year because of the small yields. 8 barrels – 60 magnums and 2120 bottles.
Its been a several years since we have bottled any Saint Joseph. The Brézème Pergault have surpassed our Saint-Joseph in both finesse and purity of expression. After several years of work on the vineyards at Serrières and Vernon (for Opale), the grapes have nothing in common with our earlier vintages. We are therefore very proud to present you with the results with the 2005 vintage. We can't wait to hear your reactions. Non-destemmed, non-crushed, lightly punched down. Aged for 24 months without sulphur in 2 demi-muids. – 60 magnums et 968 bottles.
Brézème 2006
The vintage has changed, but the wine, not really. The same ripe Syrah at 12% alcohol, which could have grown on the granitic soils of Beaujolais. Less and less destemming, less and less pigeage and shorter maceration.
In the spirit of the 2004 vintage, with cleaner and up front fruit. – 8890 bottles and 600 magnums coming. (reservations are recommended).
The 8 barrels of our old vines Petites Serines will be bottled en April 2008 under Domaine de Pergault. (We will do some magnums and other larger bottles as well as a small no-sulfur production upon request. Contact us if you are interested).
Côte Rôtie 2006
Less excessive than in 2005, this vintage is classic Côte Rôtie. The Verenay terroir has stood out this year, as in 2004, though a bit less austere. These wines will be very pleasant to drink young but will also one day develop that particular range of iodine and graphite aromatics so characteristic of schist. Non-destemmed, non-crushed, lightly punched down. 5 barrels – 1348 bottles and 60 magnums.
Coming this Spring: Châteauneuf l'Improbable 2005, Brézème Pergault Rouge 2006, Brézème Roussanne 2007, Viognier 2007 (ridiculous harvest), Condrieu Janrode 2007, Châteauneuf Blanc 2006 (we still have a little of our 2005, so charming right now).
All these new releases are available now. Now is a good time to let us know what you will want as we are stuck inside for the winter.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and we look forward to sharing these new wines with you in Charnay or elsewhere.
Laurence et Eric Texier
Italian Real Wine Attack
Begins January 14th!!
Veni, Vini, Vici 2008 will Span Seattle to Portland to New York to Boston to New Haven to North Carolina!
Meet and taste the wines of 7 natural winemakers from different regions of Italy.
They all work organically and/or biodynamically, they use little or no sulphur, use only natural yeasts, no enzymes, no rotofermentors, no fancy consultants and they make delicious wines.
These winemakers will be presenting new vintages of their extraordinary natural wines along with other Italian Wines from Louis/Dressner Selections.
Click here to read the rest of this post...
Heinrich Mayr at Weingut Nusserhof
Bolzano
November 14th
Last November I did a deep plowing of the soil for aeration and to break it up. Also to break up the roots on the surface. Because of this the vines were a lot calmer this year, not reacting to rain so strongly.
Due to a spring that was hot very early, the vines started the year precociously. The flowering was at the end of April. Also, the work of defoliation around the grape bunches was done in June. In this way the grapes were, from the beginning, exposed to the sun and moving air which allowed the grapes to grow better and to develop better tannins in the skin – an important thing in resisting attacks of odium, powdery mildew or gray rot. Until mid-June it was hot with little rain. This was followed by a period of variable weather, cool and rainy without creating any problems, Then at the end of August, there was new beautiful weather.
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Dard & Ribo Harvest Report
From René-Jean Dard, Mercurol, November 17th
We started harvesting on September 19th and finished on October 5th , only a couple of days later than usual.
The growing season was difficult, disease was rampant, but from early September through the end of picking, good weather saved the crop.
The grapes were healthy, so we did not need to do much sorting on the vines. Ripeness wasn't bad, maybe slightly lower in potential alcohol in Crozes , red and white: we didn't reach record highs this year, but everything was picked above 13 degrees potential. Our harvesting team was great.
Vinifications went quietly.
Yields were good for the whites, but in red we are 1/3 below a normal crop (we removed lots of grapes during the summer and have no regrets about doing it.)
This vintage doesn't resemble 2005 and 2006, which were highly structured, but it is still a little early to tell with certainty, there are many differences between the AOCs and their particular terroirs. On the whole, we are satisfied with the vintage.
Bernard Baudry Harvest Report
From Matthieu Baudry, Cravant-les-Coteaux, November 7th
April: sumptuous. Summer: rainy. September: happy Winemaker: overwhelmed. Winemaker: demoralized. Winemaker: reassured.
2007 could be summed up as a serialized story with multiple cliff hangers. Keep in mind that this is the year we decided to convert all our vineyards to organic viticulture, with an ambitious plan of using herbal treatments and of banning chemical products altogether.
The winter was mild, without frost. March and April were superb, with hot temperatures, dry weather and wines which started to bud 3 weeks ahead of schedule. Never seen before…. Blossoming started in the middle of May instead of during the first week of June, which is the normal time. At that point we were experiencing a best of all worlds kind of feeling.
Then May turned rainy and we had to do treatments at a hellish rate. From May 15th till the end of August, it rained every single week, and we had to be in the vines on our tractors at the same pace to contain the dreaded mildew. The first symptoms of the disease became visible in June and got worse in July. Despite our best and quickest efforts, many grapes got contaminated on our wettest terrains.
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Vito Perrini in Salento
Castellaneta
October 26th
The 2007 harvest is still on, but almost done, and perhaps is the best I have ever seen!
Every grape is perfectly healthy, with great flavor, uniform color throught the bunch, persistent perfume and lots of intensity...the 2007 will be a year for the records!
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Angiolino Maule
at La Biancara in Gambellara
Taken from his blog
Biancara, Vicenza
July 12th
I have finished the plowing and the thinning of grape bunches (where it needed to be done). For the leaves near the grapes, we'll wait until it cools at the end of August which seems will be early this year. It has not rained since the beginning of June and it is very hot. After 30 days of this hot wind and drought the vines have had enough. The plants have shut down and I am quite worried because this is an important moment for the vine. We need a bit of water or a change of temperature so the plants can start working again. I hope it changes; I fear another year like 2003.
August 22nd
After a summer not as hot (as expected) but dry we had a hailstorm that hit the highest hill. They were small but violent hailstones. We quickly did a treatment with magnesium silicate and already after a few days, the plants are healing themselves and, happy to say, so are we.
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Thierry Puzelat on 2007 Crop
From a Phone Conversation with Joe Dressner
I spoke with Thierry Puzelat today. He was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the crop at Clos du Tue Boeuf and at his négociant house, but bemoaned the small quantities. On the whole, they averaged a bit over 22 hectolitres/hectare in vineyards where 40 hectolitres/hectare would be a small harvest.
of Iroshi Matsui, a wine retailer in Osaka
Almost everyone I have spoken to in France the past two weeks has spoken about the small size of the 2007 harvest. This comes at a bad time for the American market. The dollar is very low, but European growers will be unable to make price concessions since they will have so little to sell and will be hurting from the small quantities available.
Joe Dressner
Salvo Foti at I Vigneri in Sicily
Randazzo
October 17th
Considerations on the 2007 Harvest
The climatic progression in eastern Sicily for 2007 was an anomaly, characterized by moderate rainfall levels in the fall-winter period that were prolonged through the normal season. Morever, in June, highly unusual in Sicily, there was abundant rainfall that allowed a particularly virulent outbreak of powdery mildew that in certain cases caused very significant damage to yields (from 15 to 40% less than in 2006). The rest of the summer was drought, without rain at all. This made the vines shut down and sped up the maturation.
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