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2023 Harvest Reports Are In!
2023 Harvest Reports
<p>The 2023 vintage was certainly a mixed bag throughout Europe, particulaly in Italy where climactic hardships wrecked havoc troughout many regions. Whether is was a good or a bad year for the producers we represent, these harvest reports prove, as always, just how tireless and daunting their work is.</p>
<p>We are extremely fortunate to be able to represent this hard work year-in, year-out. So as we start our new year, let's give a big cheers to those who get the wine in our glasses! </p>
<p><a href="https://louisdressner.com/harvest-reports">You can go read all 31 2023 harvest reports here. </a></p>
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How to navigate the website.
<p><u><strong>Desktop vs Mobile:</strong></u></p>
<p>We know people use their phones a lot, so we've worked hard on ensuring the site functions well on mobile devices. Having said that, we recommend using a laptop/desktop to optimally peruse our content. </p>
<p><u><strong>Glossary:</strong></u></p>
<p>At its core, this has always been a website written for wine professionals *attempting* to glean information on the wines we import - and hopefully see a picture of the vigneron's dog. Since the jargon can be so technical, we've added an <glossary term="glossary" title="1427">interactive glossary</glossary> to the text for those unfamiliar with the baffllingly complex world of wine terminology. Even if you're a seasoned pro, you might learn a thing or two. And if you'd rather read the content without the glossary, simply head to the main menu bar and turn it off. </p>
<p> "<u><strong>Our Wines" Section: </strong></u></p>
<p>In the "Our Wines" section, we've offered a variety of filter categories for you to explore and discover all the cuvées we import. These filters can be combined together to narrow down results. If you hit a wall with no results, simply erase one of the filters or clear all filters. </p>
<p><u><strong>Technical Information For Each Wine:</strong></u></p>
<p>78% of the wines we import have extremely detailed technical information when clicked on, dare I say the most technical anywhere on the internet. Half of these are probably woefully outdated.</p>
<p><u><strong>Search:</strong></u></p>
<p>If you know what producer or wine you are searching for, the search should quickly autofill what you need. Go ahead, give it a whirl. You can also hit enter after searching and skup the autofill.</p>
<p><strong><u>Hyperlinks/PDFs:</u></strong></p>
<p>Every single piece of content on the website has its own hyperlink. This means you can easily share a specific producer page, article, wine or filter combination with anyone. You can also save or print out PDF's bt clicking the PDF icon.</p>
<p><u><strong>Copy/Paste:</strong></u></p>
<p>Due to the website's design, if you need to copy/paste anything, the glossary needs to be turned off for the text to paste correctly. We recommend using the PDF feature instead. </p>
<p>Also, if you are going to straight up use our writing verbatim, PLEASE credit us when doing so. Seems obvious but we see it happen all the time. </p>
<p><u><strong>A Shit-Ton of Written Content:</strong></u></p>
<p>The articles themselves can often be very long, and for this reason we developed a Propriety Pop Up System™ where you can easily scroll through various articles/wines and "pop out" to efficiently look at the rest of the content.</p>
<p>We've tried our best to pack as many dog pictures as possible in there, but the digital ink has been spilled: the cumulation of decades' worth of writings from Joe, Denyse, Kevin and Jules is here for you to read. A huge part of the work with this new website was to find better ways to condense and extract essential information you need without getting lost in all that BORING text. </p>
<p>We still think you should check it out. Don't worry, there are plenty of pictures. And you might even find the writing interesting. Or funny. Or both. </p>
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EXPLORE
Jean-Christophe Garnier Interview
<p><em><strong>This interview with Jean-Christophe Garnier took place over Zoom in September 2024.</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>What were you doing before becoming a vigneron?</strong></p>
<p>I’m from <glossary term="Brittany" title="197">Brittany</glossary> and first got into wine working as a <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Sommelier" title="969">sommelier</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> It was my career for about a decade. I eventually decided to open a wine bar with a friend, but before doing so I told him I wanted to take a year off to learn more about working in the vines. All of my wine education up until that point had come from books, so I wanted to experience things first-hand.</p>
<p>In 1998, I enrolled in a <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticultural</glossary> school not too far from <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary> and was lucky enough to find myself apprenticing with Mark Angeli at Ferme de la Sansonièrre. From the start, he was very supportive and insistant that I start my own <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> After finishing my program, I went back to restaurants for a bit but ultimately decided to come back here to start making wine myself. That was in 2002.</p>
<p>Mark helped me find 2.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> to launch my project. I then found a house in the village of <glossary term="Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay" title="983">Saint-Lambert-du-Lattay</glossary> for my family with an adjoining <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellar</glossary> for my wines. And from the strong <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticultural</glossary> community in the village, I was able to grow and develop the <glossary term="Estate" title="427">estate</glossary> to what it is today.</p>
<p><strong>Today, Anjou is arguably the most dynamic region in the Loire for newer producers just starting out. When you started it was a very different climate. What made you want to make wine in Anjou?</strong></p>
<p>First and foremost, <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary> is relatively close to <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Brittany" title="197">Brittany</glossary><span>!</span></span></span> And I’d been selling <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary> wines for quite a few years as a <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Sommelier" title="969">sommelier</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> There was also the strong support from Mark Angeli and what I suppose has become the first wave of forward-thinking <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> from that time (Mosse, Leroy, Baudoin…) There were also lots of cheap vines to recuperate and room to build out <glossary term="Cellar" title="254">cellars</glossary> as well.</p>
<p>Working with <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin</glossary> -a grape with incredible versatility- was also an exciting prospect. <glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary> is also a region where you have access to lots of different grapes, both red and white, as well as a fascinating variety of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroirs</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> And it’s close to <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Brittany" title="197">Brittany</glossary><span>!</span></span></span></p>
<p><strong>Did you make appellation wines in the beginning?</strong></p>
<p>Yes I did. At the time it was very rare for <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> to intentionally <glossary term="Declassification" title="383">de-classify</glossary> their wines.</p>
<p><strong>And what were those early wines?</strong></p>
<p>I started with 2.3 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary><span>:</span></span></span> 80 <glossary term="Are" title="1208">ares</glossary> of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Grolleau" title="513">Grolleau Gris</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> the rest in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin Blanc</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> From the beginning I made dry whites, but in a different style than today. At the time everyone picked in “<glossary term="pouri plein" title="1493">pourri-plein</glossary>”, where we’d intentionally seek some over-maturity in the grapes. This picking style makes for very interesting <glossary term="Aromatic" title="120">aromatics</glossary> in a wine’s youth, but is also prone to heavy <glossary term="Oxidation" title="754">oxydation</glossary> and not very beneficial for <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Aging" title="74">aging</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>This technique for <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin Blanc</glossary> is a style really pioneered by Mark Angeli around 1995. 2005 was the nail in the coffin for picking this way, as the years were getting violently solar and it was impossible to make stable wine with slightly <glossary term="Botrytis/Noble Rot" title="181">botrytised</glossary> grapes without using <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfites</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>I’ve never understood why people feel the need to systematically add <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">sulfur</glossary> to wine, so I started picking at optimal ripeness instead. Today, I’d even posit I look to pick at a slight under-maturity as to keep <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Acidity" title="71">acidity</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> But recently I’ve decided I want to go back to a slightly riper style. It means a bit more alcohol, but you get more complexity. I suppose it’s being in the middle of both extremes I’ve worked with in the past.</p>
<p><strong>You just brought up sulfites. Where does your conviction to not use S02 come from?</strong></p>
<p>As I mentioned earlier, all of my wine knowledge originally came from books. It was all about regions, grapes, <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroirs</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> etc… I had zero notions on how to actually make wine until I started doing it myself. <glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">Sulfur</glossary> seemed to be this very important and necessary additive in winemaking, and I never really understood why. So very quickly, I started not using any.</p>
<p><strong>So you weren’t already a proselytizer of sans souffre wines while working as a sommelier?</strong></p>
<p>I sold some but there were very few readily available when I worked in restaurants. I recall some <glossary term="Côtes du Rhône" title="372">Côtes du Rhône</glossary> producers… For us the focus was more on <glossary term="Artisinal" title="122">artisanal</glossary> production from small, independent <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p><strong>What were your first “aha” moments with wine?</strong></p>
<p>I worked in <glossary term="Banyuls" title="135">Banyuls</glossary> and <glossary term="Collioure" title="319">Collioure</glossary> for a little while. While there, I met some of the local <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> and also travelled in other parts of the <glossary term="Roussillon" title="880">Roussillon</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Languedoc" title="579">Languedoc</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> The <glossary term="Languedoc" title="579">Languedoc</glossary> in particular was going through a pretty exciting revolutionary period in the 1990’s. It was during that period that I really began to understand that good wine came from well farmed vines first and foremost. And this feeling was amplified when I did my apprenticeship in <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Anjou" title="105">Anjou</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> So yeah I’d say the <glossary term="Languedoc" title="579">Languedoc</glossary> and then the <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Loire Valley" title="602">Loire</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p><strong>We touched on your beginnings in Anjou. Can you run us through the evolution of the estate over the years?</strong></p>
<p>I started in 2002 with 2.5 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> In 2006 I got to 4.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> which grew to five <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> by 2008. Then in 2010, I met a young man who was ready to invest in vines but didn’t want to start as full-time <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vigneron</glossary> for a few years, so he needed someone to farm it in the interim. It was a <glossary term="Plot" title="1133">plot</glossary> of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Gamay" title="478">Gamay</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> <glossary term="Pineau d'Aunis" title="799">Pineau d’Aunis</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Cabernet Franc" title="216">Cabernet Franc</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> Up until then, I basically made all white wine, with the <glossary term="Grolleau" title="513">Grolleau</glossary> destined for sweet <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Rosé/Rosato" title="871">rosé</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>Fellow <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> told me that making red wine was a good opportunity; at the time in France, you’d sell three bottles of red for every bottle of white. But I still wasn’t convinced about making red wine: in fact it strayed from my original vision. In the end I rather enjoyed the experience, particularly with <glossary term="Gamay" title="478">Gamay</glossary> and <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Pineau d'Aunis" title="799">Pineau d’Aunis</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> I worked those vines from 2010 to 2020. The guy eventually decided not to become a <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vigneron</glossary> and sold the vines to a young upstart for the 2021 <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Harvest" title="521">harvest</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>Since I knew I wasn’t going to be able to use those vines anymore and had built a reputation for my reds, I’d been actively seeking out new <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcels</glossary> to buy. I was able to find a good amount of land, some bare, some where I had to rip out and replant. I’ve planted or replanted mostly <glossary term="Pineau d'Aunis" title="799">Pineau d’Aunis,</glossary> but also more <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin</glossary> in certain sectors. In 2017, I jumped to nine <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> then in 2021 I bought another <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> and currently find myself farming 10. But much of surface consists of very young vines as I had to rip out and replant a lot. Some are just really starting to produce. It’s been a huge amount of work.</p>
<p><strong>Are you certified organic?</strong></p>
<p>I’ve been <glossary term="Organic Certification" title="260">certified</glossary> <glossary term="Organic" title="746">organic</glossary> since the very beginning.</p>
<p><strong>Can you give us a breakdown of the grapes you farm?</strong></p>
<p>I farm six <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin Blanc</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> with an additional <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> of <glossary term="Chenin Blanc" title="281">Chenin</glossary> planted in vines too young to produce. Then there is one <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectare</glossary> of <glossary term="Cabernet Franc" title="216">Cabernet Franc</glossary> with a tiny bit of <glossary term="Cabernet Sauvignon" title="217">Cabernet Sauvignon</glossary> (which I plan to rip out and replant at some point). There is 0.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Grolleau" title="513">Grolleau Gris</glossary><span>, 0.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary></span></span></span><span class="zalup"><span> </span></span>of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Savagnin" title="922">Savagnin</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> 1.5 <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Pineau d'Aunis" title="799">Pineau d’Aunis</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> <glossary term="Grolleau" title="513">Grolleau</glossary> and <glossary term="Gamay" title="478">Gamay</glossary> are about two <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>Then there is the <glossary term="Négociant" title="729">négociant</glossary> project which comes from a nearby two <glossary term="Hectare" title="523">hectares</glossary> of red grapes planted on <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Loam" title="1291">loamy</glossary><span>-</span></span></span><glossary term="Clay" title="301">clay</glossary> soils.</p>
<p><strong>What about the evolution of the cuvées? Was the focus always on single vineyard wines?</strong></p>
<p>I’ve been doing <glossary term="Single Vineyard Bottling" title="959">single-parcel</glossary> wines from the beginning. For me it was pretty important. But over the years and when faced with difficult <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Vintage" title="1109">vintages</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> I’ve sometimes felt obliged to combine <glossary term="Parcel" title="760">parcels</glossary> together (ex: La Roche-Bézigon).</p>
<p>In 2005, I started making Bézigon. Then La Roche, then Les Tailles, which is the name of the <glossary term="Lieu-Dit" title="594">lieu-dit</glossary> where the <glossary term="Cabernet Franc" title="216">Cabernet</glossary> is planted. Then Rouchefert, and finally Justices and 13 Vents, the latter two planted in the neighboring village of Saint-Aubin-de-Luigné.</p>
<p><strong>Who were your first customers?</strong></p>
<p>Parisians! I participated in some of the very first <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Dive Bouteille" title="395">Dive Bouteilles</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> and that’s where I created my network of Paris <glossary term="Caviste" title="253">cavistes</glossary> and restaurants. There was already a lot of bistros serving these types of wines at the time.</p>
<p>My first importer was Japan. No surprise there!</p>
<p><strong>What inspired your labels?</strong></p>
<p>The snake is the Ouroboros, a famous symbol, one of the first symbols of civilization. It’s similar to the ying and the yang, the cycle of the seasons repeating themselves.</p>
<p><strong>When did you decide to stop making appellation wine?</strong></p>
<p>In 2006. I made <glossary term="Appellation" title="113">appellation</glossary> wines through 2005, but found it increasingly difficult having to justify my work to the the panels. Here I am attempting to express the most transparent expression of a grape from this specific place, but was getting challenged for too much alcohol, too much color, that I refused to <glossary term="Chaptalisation" title="270">chaptalize</glossary>… It felt so out of touch.</p>
<p>2006 was also the first year I’d gone 100% with no <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Sulfites" title="993">S02</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> and based on past experience I knew there was absolutely no point presenting my wines. Honestly, I am still vexed that the <glossary term="AOC" title="108">AOC</glossary> cares so little about people like me who prioritize farming and expressing <glossary term="Terroir" title="1026">terroir</glossary> to the best of their ability.</p>
<p><strong>Having been part of those early Dive Bouteilles, how do you feel about the state of our little world of wine in 2024?</strong></p>
<p>Overall I think we’ve seen some truly great progress in the last 20 or so years. I do however feel that the bubble has burst. What represented something new (of course nothing is ever truly new), an alternative path to <glossary term="Viticulture" title="1103">viticulture</glossary> and winemaking 20 years ago ended up not being just a little ripple, but a tidal wave in moving things forward.</p>
<p>Think about all the <glossary term="Cave Cooperative" title="252">cooperators</glossary> who broke away and started producing their own wines. The children of <glossary term="Vigneron/Vignaiolo" title="1089">vignerons</glossary> who took a complete 180 from past generations. The young people coming from totally unrelated fields to start wineries. It’s incredible! But this boom cycle had to end at some point. The sheer amount of events taking place around the <glossary term="Dive Bouteille" title="395">Dive Bouteille</glossary> this year proves to me that being visible and commercially viable is becoming increasingly difficult.</p>
<p><strong>It’s true. Five years ago, I felt there was this almost infinite, utopia-like energy going around. That consumers were so welcoming and excited for this type of philosophy, and that there was infinite room for things to keep evolving positively. It was beautiful and inspiring.</strong></p>
<p>I agree. But as we see now, it was relatively naif and there were some major missteps along the way. Many completely stopped caring about the quality of the wines themselves. In my early days, I made a lot of mistakes and learned from those; it was a given that there were certain things you just couldn’t bottle and sell. And that helped me get better.</p>
<p>In the past few years, you could really taste the lack of experience in some of these newer wineries. And of course that created tensions, as no one was really checking these producers. A lot of these wines weren’t sold on much merit other than being <span class="zalup"><span><glossary term="Natural WIne" title="708">natural</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p>
<p>But again, I think we come out of this richer. Because we explored and pushed those boundaries. So yes, the bubble has burst. But we’ve gained experience. Overall, more good wine is being made, and people are always going to want to drink good wine. It may just be impossible to taste or drink and sell them all!</p>
