Louis Dressner Selections Blog http://louisdressner.com/ Thu, 17 May 2012 8:01:29 GMT Jules Dressner http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/5/15/121/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/5/15/121/ Tue, 15 May 2012 26:35:46 GMT

PART 1: COSTE PIANE

PART 2: COSTADILÁ

PART 3: VINI VERI, VILLA FAVORITA AND VINITALY

PART 4: NUSSERHOF

PART 5: RADOAR

We'd gotten some bad news during lunch at Nusserhof. Our early afternoon flight from Verona to Catana had been cancelled, and the only alternative was an 8:30 A.M flight. From Venice... No one wanted to lose an entire day in Sicily so the group was ok with it, but it meant waking up at 5:30 am and an hour and a half drive to the airport.

On an aside: you know a plane is old when there's still ashtrays on each arm rest...

After a quick, restless flight, we were officially in Sicily! With tiny eyes, everyone grabbed their rental cars and we drove to Randazzo. After checking into our hotel, we were greeted by Alfio from I Vigneri. We arrived just around lunch, and he took us to the incredibly named San Giorgio e il Drago. During the meal, Alfio opened up some Vinudilice rosé. It comes from a parcel called Vigna Bosco.

It's a red and white field blend composed mostly of Alicante, with a tiny bit of mystery white and a bunch random reds (i.e: they're not sure what the grapes are), all interplanted together. The soil is ash, the elevation is 1300 meters and the vines are a 100+ years old. We also had the Etna Rosso, also from 100 year old vines. Both are vinified with native yeasts and minimal sulfur, added only at bottling. Both are very good and paired excellently with the local pastas and rabbit served at lunch.

At some point during the meal, Alfio informed us that Salvo wouldn't be able to join us because of an unexpected medical operation, and that he and Maurizio Pagano (I Vigneri's head honcho) would host us instead. It was nothing serious, but Salvo did have to stay in the hospital for a few days so we didn't get to see him...

After eating, we set off to see the first of many vineyard sights.



A quick walk up the path leads to more terraced vines and Mount Etna looming in the background.





Once we'd made it up top, we were greeted by the incredible Maurizio Pagano.



This guy is a serious character: his conviction and passion for viticulture, at least in his way of vocalizing it, is unparalleled. On a prior visit, he apparently told Arianna Occhipinti (who had tagged along with Jeff Vierra and was translating), something like:

"We give him (Salvo) the gold, he makes the wine."



At this point, if you're not familiar with the association Salvo Foti founded 12 years ago, you may be asking yourself, what exactly is I Vigneri?

The renaissance of Etna wines over the last decade can be largely, if not entirely attributed to Salvo Foti and the team he put together in 2000. Salvo was born in Etna, and has always had a love affair with the wines of his region. He is also famous oenologist, and makes the wine for a lot of people in the area. I Vigneri is the culmination of Salvo's desire to promote an environmentally sound agriculture with a simultaneous return to traditional farming. Taken from the association's official website:

"The "Maestranza dei Vigneri" ("Winegrowers Guild") was established in Catania in 1435. This important association of vine cultivators working in the Etna region was the foundation stone for professionalism in wine growing and production.
After 500 years, I Vigneri is today the name of a company of winegrowers and producers operating around Etna and in eastern Sicily. The proprietors are vine experts like Salvo Foti (www.salvofoti.it) and a group of local growers from the Etna region.

I Vigneri is the culmination of more than 30 years experience in Eastern Sicily, of historic, social and technical research aimed at achieving "excellence" in wine growing and producing. We have sought to use non-invasive methods and systems, to respect local traditions and our own ancient grape varieties as far as possible, and to avoid the damage that over-reaching ambition and egoism can cause. Our work ethic lies in the pleasure of work well done, without frenzy, in harmony above all with ourselves, and with all that surrounds us: environment, nature, the volcano Etna, which is so much a part of us. I Vigneri is also a holistic system of grape growing and wine production which respects our environment."

The deal is this: if you want Salvo Foti to make your wine, the I Vigneri team have to be the ones taking care of the vines. This means immediately shifting to organic viticulture practices, eliminating any mechanical labor, hand harvesting and a focus on lower yields. The vines must also be trained in albarello, which Salvo believes is the only way to express Etna's terroir. Maurizio leads the pack, and all in all 35 vignaoli are responsable for day to day maintenance of A LOT of vines. These guys have been in the vineyards their whole lives, so they know what they're doing. What's great is that this also offers them job security they might not otherwise have, all while encouraging locals to take pride in traditional agriculture.

Everyone involved is extremely proud, and they show it by always being adorned in I Vigneri gear (see Maurizio's photo above, and the great pics from their 2011 harvest). When you see the red gear with an albarello vine somewhere on it, you know who's taking care of business...

At the first parcel we visited, the guys had just planted some very young vines.





All vines, especially when they are very young and the roots haven't really sunk into the ground, have to stay on stakes because the ash soils are so loose that they could easily be ripped out during routine plowing and soil work.

On the same site, we visited the beautiful palmento where the Etna Rosso is made.



The fruit is brought up a flight of stairs to the top of the edifice where the grapes are foot trodden. The juice then trickles down into concrete vats below to begin fermentation. I once again direct you to the 2011 harvest pics, which (un-chronologically) document this process. We also checked out the attached -and very abandoned- barrel room.



There was actually still wine in that thing, and it stunk!

After visiting another site, we took a quick rest before dinner, which took place at I Vigneri's club house. Ok, it's not really a club house, but it's a little space in downtown Randazzo where you can buy the wines, the two books Salvo has written about wine, as well as his novel. Yes: Salvo Foti wrote a novel. We had the "Vinujancu" as an aperitif: this white wine comes from a small parcel at 1200 meters altitude; the grape is Carricante, and indigenous varietal. The wine is un-sulfured.

Maurizio was there, and he was almost a different person. Casually dressed in jeans and sneakers, his stern persona from earlier was gone; he was all smiles and told funny stories the whole night. He did however keep reiterating how great all the the wines were throughout the meal...

Upstairs, a big table was set up for us and we got to taste a bunch of I Vigneri wines that Salvo makes but we don't import. To be clear, we only import Salvo's line of wines. I asked Kevin why, and he explained that many of them were inoculated and/or more copious in sulfur. I was surprised to hear this, since I naively assumed that because Salvo was so insistent that the vines be worked organically, he'd also be diligent on spontaneous fermentation. Kevin replied:

"You have to choose your battles. Salvo has chosen to focus his energy on agriculture and the environment, and in doing so he's cleaned up a lot of Etna's vineyards. With his own line, we're on the same page philosophically. But he still makes the wine his clients want him to make for them. Spontaneous fermentation and low sulfur is a risk many are not willing to take."

The next day, we woke up bright and early to check out even more vineyards, starting with the Vigna Bosco.



We got to meet Ciccio the mule!



I Vigneri does as much soil work with mules as they can. It's a lot of hard work for both man and beast, and Maurizio told us that the last one couldn't handle it: his heart exploded on the job! Maurizio punctuated this story by doing "the meh".



It was pretty hilarious. I'm pretty sure that if he was a New Yorker, he would accompanied the gesture with: "Whaddaya gonna do?". Fortunately, Ciccio is a great worker and Maurizio likes him a lot.



But he'll still ride him if he's not doing a good job.



Alfio told Ciccio he WAS doing a good job, and not to worry about Maurizio always bossing him around.



We then visited another new site, where a mystery white was being grown ("ask Salvo what it is!")





Before we knew it, it was lunch time so we went back to San Giorgio e il Drago because Alfio said we weren't going to find better. Nobody complained.

Next up: our visit to Fattorie Romeo del Castello!
]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/5/12/120/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/5/12/120/ Sat, 12 May 2012 25:54:27 GMT

SATURDAY MAY 19th: PARTNERS IN HEALTH BENEFIT AT ARLEQUIN WINE MERCHANT FROM 2 TO 5 PM!

Saturday, May 19th will be my last day as a California resident, as I'm moving back to New York City to be closer to my family and Louis/Dressner headquarters.

In commemoration of my time spent here and the people that shaped those experiences, Louis/Dressner Selections, Farm Wine Imports and Arlequin Wine Merchant will be hosting a tasting/drinking from 2 to 5 pm. It will be in honor and memory of my father, Joe Dressner: I will be there, pouring 9 wines that embody the Louis/Dressner philosophy of getting together, telling funny stories, having a laugh over some great bottles and giving a big cheers to life. It will also be an occasion to raise funds for Partners in Health's Haiti division.

PIH a non profit association that has been working closely with Haiti since 1987; my father found them after doing some research following the devastating 2010 earthquakes; impressed by their prior, current and future commitment to a country still immeasurably damaged physically, economically and politically, Joe wanted to help. Since 2010, charitable events have been organized all over the U.S by Louis/Dressner Selections to raise funds and awareness for Haiti.

It has been an honor for me to be involved in many of these events, as they really meant a lot to my father, who in the last years of his life became increasingly inclined to involve himself in charitable work. Many people proposed donating to cancer research, but Joe wanted to support a larger, selfless cause:

"Enormous sums of money are being thrown at the diseases that touch the wealthy and the advanced industrial world. Science has not come up with a cure for cancer or a cure for the common cold. But the resources are there and will be used because everyone is motivated to eradicate sniffles, brain cancer and breast cancer."

So let's drink some good wine and raise some money for Haiti!

This will officially be going on from 2-5 pm, but you are strongly encouraged to hang out as long as you like. Arlequin is located on 384 Hayes street in San Francisco, California.

Hope to see you there,

Jules.]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/5/8/119/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/5/8/119/ Tue, 08 May 2012 24:00:57 GMT

PART 1: COSTE PIANE

PART 2: COSTADILÁ

PART 3: VINI VERI, VILLA FAVORITA AND VINITALY

PART 4: NUSSERHOF

After our great visit at Nusserhof, we it was time to drive way high into the mountains to the commune of Feldthurns.



This is where Norbert Blasbichler runs the Radoar farm.



While our visit obviously centered around visiting the vines and tasting in the cellar, it's important to note that wine isn't what keeps the farm running: Norbert makes a living principally off growing Golden Delicious apples, which represent the majority of his production. He also raises cows, grows many other fruits, walnuts, cereals and of course grapes. There have been vines on the property for 200 years, but Norbert's passion for wine inspired him to take things further by independently bottling and producing terroir and varietal specific cuvées.

The farm was started in 1300, and Norbert is the 15th generation of his family to work this land. Radoar comes from a local dialect, and means "big round field" (which explains the logo). Norbert took over in 1997, and immediately converted the entire farm to organic agriculture (certified by Bioland).

After a quick hello, we set off to the vines.



That's Norbert in the center, next to Kevin and Shawn.

The main parcel is about 1.5 km from the farm, and 900m in elevation!





On this parcel, Norbert grows young Kerner vines (1 to 25 years old), 45 year old Pinot Noir and 35 year old Zweigelt.



Zweigelt is the most widely planted red grape in Austria, but very rare in Italy; Norbert actually owns the biggest plot in the entire country. It's actually a funny story: it was planted by Norbert's father by accident! He'd ordered Portugeiser but the nursery sent him the wrong clone. By the time he'd realized the mistake, it was too late...



In total, Norbert owns 2.5 hectares of vines, 80% in white and 20% in red.

We then drove back to the farm to taste some wines. One of Norbert's cats was just hanging out in the loose fissures of the old farm house.



The cellar is right by the cow's stable.



It was tasting time!



Norbert made his first wine in 1999. For the whites, everything is direct pressed then fermented in stainless steel. For the the Etza cuvée, he does two passes, more or less a week apart. We got to taste the 2011 results from both: the later pass is, unsurprisingly, richer and fatter with less acidity, so the blend creates a nice balance. Norbert also makes a sweeter Kerner with intentional residual sugar called Radoy; The 2010 I tasted at Villa Favorita had 35 grams of R.S and was at about 7% alcohol. The reds are fermented in stainless steel then aged 22 months in barrel.

At some point during the tasting, someone asked Norbert if his kids had any interest in taking over the farm. He said that at the moment, the answer is a definite no!

"But it's ok! They are young, and they need to find their own path in life. It wasn't obvious for me at first either, but I truly found my passion here. And you never know what will happen. If you had told me 15 years ago that a group of Americans from New York and San Francisco would come all the way up here to taste my wines, I wouldn't have believed you!"

Norbert also makes an amazing cider, peach and pear schnaps, grappa, apple and walnut spirits... He basically makes booze with everything he grows! Our group ended up buying a ton of it to drink on the trip and/or bring back home. Before leaving, we got to check out the beautiful, old distiller.



Next up: our mega tour of Sicily, including visits with Salvo Foti, Chiara Vigo, Arianna Occhipinti and the De Bartoli brothers!]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/5/2/118/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/5/2/118/ Wed, 02 May 2012 25:13:59 GMT

It's May, and that means that in a few short weeks I will be returning to Detroit for my annual pilgrimage to the Movement Festival. One place I will be spending a lot of time will be MotorCity Wine. Located in the heart of downtown Detroit, this little place is run by Mark Szymanski and David-Armin Parcells.



I got to know David last year in San Francisco when he was visiting with his wife Melissa. A month or so later, we did a Louis/Dressner tasting at MCW that was a lot of fun. The place is incredibly inviting, looking more like a wine adorned living room than an actual bar/shop. The addition of live music and dj talent really brings everything together for a one of a kind experience. I like David and I like Motor City Wine, so I decided to do a little interview with him.



Tell us about yourself and how you got into wine.

I was born in Montreal but raised mostly in Toronto with a family that really appreciated good food and consisted almost entirely of classical musicians (from Both parents to stepfather to all my uncles and aunts and even some cousins). Always traveling with them was a great experience and from an early age I had an eager palate. At the age of 21 I got a job at a 4 star hotel in room service. The Maitre'D there took a liking to me and asked me to attend his weekly staff wine classes. From that point on, I knew I loved everything about wine and wanted to be in the business. After a few years as a fine dining server, I got a job with Whole Foods Market as a wine and beer buyer. My experience at Whole Foods had taught me about the business of retailing and after 10 years, I left to manage a newly opening gourmet market in Midtown Detroit. That market was unfortunately underfunded and ill fated, but my subsequent unemployment was actually the kick in the pants I needed to start my own business.


Tell us about MCW. Its history, how it operates, etc...

I called my friend Mark Szymanski,(whom I had hired as wine buyer at Whole Foods) to talk about opening a wine shop with me in Detroit proper. After a year and a half of only holding small wine tastings once a month to build our "brand", we opened our doors full time in July 2010. Starting out, we had only wanted a retail wine shop with a focus on what we coined "value boutique" wines. Both Mark and I like to seek out interesting wines that represent a good value, while trying to support smaller organic, biodynamic and "natural" producers whenever possible.

Our inventory of approx 130 SKU's (at least 80% of which is $20 or under retail) rotates frequently to keep things fresh for us as well as our customers. We soon developed into a full wine bar as well as a shop, with all of our inventory available for a nominal $5 corkage fee on top of our retail price. We also have a selection of approx 20 wines available by the glass and those change almost weekly as well. In addition we serve Michigan craft beers and a selection of cheeses and charcuterie that we source locally whenever possible. A relaxed and unpretentious vibe invites customers to grab a bottle and chill with us.

You guys almost always have music going on at the bar. Was that the idea from the very start, and what kind of musicians and DJ's do you book? Do they drink and like the wine?

Actually, Mark and I met through music, not wine. We were both producing electronic music as well as dj'ing & we were big jazz heads as well. The music wasn't in the plan at all in the beginning, but we had so many musical connections between us that it seemed a natural progression to have dj's as well as live music. Detroit is blessed with some of the best musicians in the world, and we consider ourselves lucky to have some of them play for us on a regular basis. We have mostly local trios and quartets playing funky jazz/rock fusion. Some lean more towards jazz, some lean more towards funk and soul. As far as DJ's go, on Thursdays we have a different DJ every week to host our "Jazz Vinyl Club" where they play all sorts of jazz records. Frequently on Saturdays we will have a more house/disco/techno slanted event that will feature dj's from Detroit and around the world. Our space is quite intimate and sounds great for any kind of show and the musicians, dj's, and customers really appreciate that. Bottom line for us is that we have to listen to it so we may as well book some stuff we like.

Many of them do indeed drink wine. In fact that is how I met producer and dj Carl Craig. He shopped at one of the Whole Foods I worked at, and we have been friends ever since. In fact MotorCity Wine put together a private label sparkling wine made in Michigan by sparkling wine producer Larry Mawby to commemorate 20 years of his record label, Planet E.


What's it like having international, superstar djs play records in your tiny little wine bar?

He (Carl Craig) and some of the other big names that have come through normally play for hundreds if not thousands of people so it is a completely different experience for that kind of DJ to play in a laid back loft wine bar with a capacity of 60 surrounded by friends, family and wine. They just get to let loose and have some fun.

How do you feel about real/natural/terroir/whatever you want to call it wine in Detroit?

At the moment it seems that there are only a few of us carrying that torch in the Detroit area, but thankfully we few are in a position to get people to try them and to maybe educate them. Most people have no idea or thought about the commercialization/industrialization/manipulation of wine until we make mention of it. Sure, most people have heard of that "organic stuff", but few have concept of that even. Some will continue on obliviously, but some have certainly been turned on.

What are you drinking these days that you're particularly into?

Domaine de Roally Viré-Clessé. Just can't get enough of this one. Les Hérétiques is a staple in my house. I never seem to tire of it. The Jean Paul Brun 2010 Beaujolais Villages is super bright and fun yet has a lovely dark side that keeps it on my mind.



MotorCity Wine:
608 Woodward Ave. 2nd Floor
Detroit, MI 48226
313-483-7283
Open Mon & Tues 12-7:30pm, Wed - Sat 12-1am, closed Sunday]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/4/30/117/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/4/30/117/ Mon, 30 Apr 2012 28:24:51 GMT

PART 1: COSTE PIANE

PART 2: COSTADILÁ

PART 3: VINI VERI, VILLA FAVORITA AND VINITALY

PRE-NUSSERHOF ANECTDOTE: VinItaly was over, and it was time to hit the road again. For the last 4 days, our groups had been split into different hotels, and the plan was to freshen up and meet at I TIGLI in San Bonifacio to celebrate having successfully tasted hundreds of wines in 3 days over some pizzas. And more wine. And beer. This sounded like a great way to wrap up our taste-a-thon, but unfortunately only a handful of us would make it to dinner.

If you ever plan on going to VinItaly, you need to use the "I'm going to leave approximately an hour before the event is over so I don't get caught up in the parking lot/traffic rush at the end" technique popularized in the United States by sports fans who drive and don't live in New York City or San Francisco. It took us 30 minutes to get out of the parking lot we were in, which would probably have been much worst if Jeff Vierra hadn't cut-off a huge, traffic stopping tour bus at the very last second. Shawn and Lauren, who had left the ViViT stand 45 minutes before us, ended up being stuck in the underground parking lot for 2 hours. By the time they escaped, they were already almost an hour late for dinner (which was an hour drive away) and had to politely bow out. Yet this was nothing compared to what happened to Kevin's car.

Kevin's group had left the earliest, and though they got out of their parking lot with relative ease, they still got stuck in gridlock traffic. At one point, a wrong turn meant they needed to backtrack. Kevin pulled into an empty parking lot to get the group going in the opposite direction, and what happened next has to be one of most precious examples of bad timing in human history. Almost immediately after they'd pulled in, the front gate started to close!



It turns out the lot was part of an office building, and the last employee must have left mere moments before Kevin pulled in. There was no one left in the building, and no way to open the gate. The car was trapped! Kevin climbed over the gate to get help; he eventually found a policemen who told him that there was nothing he could do, and that they'd have to come get the car in the morning. Everyone eventually climbed the gates and took cabs back to their hotels. No one got into any trouble, and the car was safely retrieved in the morning.

Jeff Vierra, Robert Brownsen, Ian Becker and I ended up being the only ones making it to I TIGLI, where we ordered five pizzas. They are very hearty, and the waitress looked at us like we were crazy, asking us multiple times if we were sure we wanted that many. We also bumped into Tom Lubbe, met Tom and Arianna Occhipinti's Swedish importer, Niklas Jakobson, and hung out with a bunch of the staff from Les Caves de Pyrene, a group of British importers that do a great job. We ate all the pizzas.

The next day it was time to visit Elda and Heindrich Mayr at Nusserhof!



NOTE: Elda talked about how social media annoys her to no end and how she still likes living in a world of semi-privacy, so to honor her right to not to be flaunted all over the internet (a choice I respect and agree with), there will be no pictures of her in this post. Back to the post...

The Nusserhof estate is a post-modern anomaly of urbanization. The original 2.5 hectares of vines are located right off the highway, in the center of Bolzano, the capitol Tyrol.



In the background, you can see many of the modern buildings that completely surround the Mayr's farm (most of which were built in the 70's). Before World War 2, the city was much smaller (more like the size of a town), and the area's warm climate favored a traditional agricultural economy of nuts, fruits, grapes and wine. After the war, a train station was built, making access to the far removed mountain town a lot easier. This was the beginning of a complete transformation of Bolzano's landscape.



These photos are featured in the Mayr's tasting room. Both were taken from the same location: the one on the right shows Bolzano a few years after the war, and the one on the left depicts what the city looks like today. You may have to squint a little, but the big highway at the bottom of the left-hand picture is what the Mayr's live next to. As you can see, most of the green got replaced by concrete and, as Elda explained, by the late 70's, farm culture had been almost completely erased to accomodate the ever increasing amount of summer tourists.



This hasn't deterred Heinrich or Elda; they are the latest generation of their family to work this land, where the records date back to at least 1788. The name Nusserhof comes from the walnut trees that once lined the house on the river side. Not so long ago they were torn out to put in a municipal bike path. As the years have gone by, the urban environs of Bolzano have encroached the estate, with the city systematically making it harder and harder for the Mayrs to continue their farming. It is believed that the only reason the estate is still in existence is due to the fact that one of Heinriches relatives was an early opponent of the Nazi occupation and died as a Catholic martyr and conscientious objecter in a concentration camp.

After our history lesson, it was time for a quick tour of the vines.



The 2.5 hectares of vines are a mix of Blatterle, Lagrein and Teroldego, all on sandy soils with granite subsoil. All the vines are equipped with irrigation systems (the norm in this very hot region) but Heinrich uses them only in June/July and if necessary. For example, he only irrigated the Blaterle in 2011, and very little at that. The entire estate is certified organic by the German association Bioland.

We then checked out the cellar. Everything is fermented in stainless steel, aged 1 or 2 years in 500l barrels for the reds, then 1 or 2 years in bottle. Blaterle is all stainless, and Heinrich uses small, Burgundian barrels for the Tyroldego. The cellar is tiny so it was a quick visit; we stepped out and it was time to taste!



We started with the Blaterle: this grape in indigenous to the Bolzano plain, and was traditionally used to make must or sweet, partially fermented wine. Only 3 producers still grow it, and collectively this only represents 1,5 h! In fact, Heindrich is the biggest Blatterle producer in the world! Blatterle is actually spelled with two T's, but Heinrich made the intentional typo because up until 2011, you could not put the grape of the wine from his region. This is also the case with the Tyroldego (funny aside: the first Teroldego I ever tasted was the Tyroldego when I worked at Terroir in SF, so at first I thought Elisabetta Foradori was spelling it wrong). The law just changed, but Heinrich thinks he's going to keep the typo anyway.

After the grapes are de-stemmed, Heinrich does a 6 hour slow press, then ferments the wine in stainless steel. We tasted 2010, 2011 and 2002, which had evolved beautifully. We then tried Lagrein Rosé from 2010, 2011 (tank) and 2001. The wine had developed with age; it was rounder and more structured but hadn't lost any of its acidity.

Next was the Lagrein Rosso. Elda explained that traditionally, Lagrein (also an indigenous varietal) had always been used to make simple, easy rosé. For better or worst, the Bordeaux influence of the 70's/80's led a lot of local vignioli to start fermenting and aging Lagrein in barrique in hopes of creating structured red wine. So red Lagrein has only really existed for 25 years. Heinrich insists on fermenting it in stainless steel to create a lighter, more elegant wine. We tasted 09, 10 and the 1995!



Overall, the 2010's were the unanimous favorites, but the 09's were also great and 2011 shows a lot of promise. After all that tasting, it was time for some lunch, which was definitely one of the best meals of the trip. Because a picture speaks a thousand words:



Look at that slice of tongue! Not pictured: local bread and cheese dumplings called canederli.

Lunch ended with a walnut-centric dessert with a delicious walnut liqueur made by Heinrichs' 89 year old aunt. We still had some time left, so Heinrich proposed we visit the Elda vineyard.



This vineyard is also right off the highway.



The cuvée is named after Ms. Mayr herself, and the grape is Schiava. It's grown on Porphyry (an iron rich granite) and sand. Heinrich rents this parcel from the same 89 year old aunt who made the walnut liqueur, and she was actually there, hanging out in overalls and plowing the soil! Heinrich told her we'd drank her liqueur for dessert: with a big smile, she brought an imaginary glass to her mouth, made believe to drink, said something that I didn't understand (but that was definitely about drinking her walnut liqueur), and let out a content, hearty laugh. We all thanked her for her good job while she laughed and smiled at us the whole time. I can't blame her: being 89 and having a dozen Americans compliment you on the walnut liqueur they just tasted a half-hour ago is indeed a pretty funny scenario. My biggest regret of the trip is that no one took a photo of her; she was so old yet full of life, and it was an absolute pleasure to meet her.

Tune in for Part 5: Radoar!]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/4/27/116/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/4/27/116/ Fri, 27 Apr 2012 23:28:27 GMT

Last Tuesday night marked the end of an L.A institution, and I had the honor of being there. After six years of building a cult reputation for his restaurant's unrelenting dedication to our country's best produce, cheese and meats, as well as an always esoteric list of ever-changing natural wines from all over the world, Lou decided it was time to move on.

Over lunch at Beverly Soon Tofu Restaurant in Korea Town, Lou explained that his lease was up, and he had to choose between renewing it 5 more years or trying something new. He was at a point where he really wanted to work closer with wine, and after a lot of soul searching, Lou announced on his blog that he was selling the restaurant. The future? A retail space specializing in his "fanboy" taste in wines.


"L.A already has a million places where you can get get something from every region of every part of the world. I want to celebrate the unique; a shop with all the wines I want to drink."

I showed up on Tuesday night around 10:30, and the the place was packed with an all-star cast of the restaurant's regulars (including some celebrity who I recognized but couldn't put a name on). Everyone was table hopping to say hello to each other, cheering glasses over the great meals and times they'd shared. Lou got bear hugged and thanked profusely at least 20 times by patrons as they left. He kept a big smile on the whole time, and though I could tell he was very emotional from this last night at his namesake restaurant, it seemed like he was ready to turn the page.

I've had some incredible times at Lou's. It's where, over the course of a few great meals, I really got to know Silvio Messana, SaIa Radikon, Arianna Occhipinti, Louis-Benoit Desvignes and Pierre-Marie Luneau. It's where I ate elk for the first time. It's where I discovered that California has to have those goofy little urinals by law. It's also where I got to know Lou himself, perfectly at ease in his role of master of ceremonies every night. Lou is a close family friend who my father deeply respected and admired; he's done an incredible job promoting quality food and wine in Los Angeles, and the city is lucky to have him! I wish him the best in his future endeavors.

Good luck Lou!]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/4/24/115/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/4/24/115/ Tue, 24 Apr 2012 27:07:38 GMT

PART 1: COSTE PIANE

PART 2: COSTADILÀ

First person to correctly identify every grower we work with in that picture wins a Coste Piane apron!

Over the many years of Louis/Dressner's existence, we've developed a formula where these trips always revolve around a series of trade tastings. Italy 2012 was no different, so after a beautiful tour of Prosecco country, we drove off to Verona for a three day taste-a-thon.

Our first stop was Vini Veri in Cerea. Founded by the late Teobaldo Cappellano, this was the 9th edition of Vini Veri, where one can taste:

"...wines that are authentically unique, because theyere the final result of a natural philosophy of production, and of a precious work done in the vineyard with organic or biodynamic method, or simply without the use of synthetic chemistry, and into the cellar without any forced stabilizations."

Many of our growers were there, including Altura, Odilio Antoniotti, Campi di Fonterenza, Casa Coste Piane, Clai Bijele Zemjle, Čotar, Domaine Matassa, Fattorie Romeo del Castello, Massa Vechia and Luciano Saetti.

Stuff worth mentioning: Antonietti's 09's (which should just have been bottled), Fonterenza 09's and their new Pettirosso (glou-glou, stainless steel Sangiovese), The Cotar whites, the Massa Vecchia 10 white and Luciano Saetti's 11's. I had a lot of fun at the head of a small tasting group, practicing my horrible Italian with a lot of people I'd never met before. Between their English, my Italian and a lot of expressive hand gestures, I think I did ok.

The next day, it was off to the 12th edition of Villa Favorita, organized by Vinnatur. If you're not familiar with Angiolino Maule's organization and the work they do, check out the blog post I wrote about our visit to La Biancara back in November and refresh your memory with this video:



Villa Favorita takes place in a beautiful Villa called Favorita.



Of the Italians, we got to taste with Camillo Donati, Ca' de Noci, Cascina Tavijn, Giovanni Montisci, Elisabetta Foradori, La Biancara, Monte dall'Ora, Costadilà, Del Prete and Radoar (profiles for both these guys coming soon). Haut les Vins, which teamed up with Vinnatur 4 years ago, was also there in full force, so we got to taste with Eric Texier, Eric Nicolas, Evelyne de Jessey (check out her newly updated profile), Alexandre Bain and João Roseira.

Highlights: Bain's 2010 Pouilly Fumé, Biancara 2011's, Montischi Rosé, Tavijn 11's, and Eric Texier's Picpoul petillant naturel.

We also bumped into Alberto Tedeschi. He was just hanging out, but had some tank samples for us to taste at dinner.



We got a chance to check out the 2011 Bellaria, as a well as Alberto's first attempt at red wine, a Barbera/Merlot blend (don't think this will make it State side, he made very little). After a great dinner, it was time to mentally prepare for the most epicly important wine event of the unviverse:

VINITALY 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From the collective tales of Kevin McKenna, Jeff Vierra and Robert Brownsen, three grizzled veterans, Vinitaly sounded like a shit show: 600,000 people over three days, thousands of booths, millions of euros spent on marketing, guys in suits, scantily clad Prosecco girls, displays of raging public intoxication... It basically sounded like the wine industry at its worst. But let me tell you...



You'll never quite understand how big Vinitaly is until you visit (fact master extraordinaire Alex Finberg told me that if you were to put each booth side by side, it would span 2.5 miles!). Everything about it is over-produced, over-hyped and over-the-top. There is no shame. Do you you want to purchase Prosecco packaged in a gold bottle?



Done!

One stand had the entire Verona basketball team, including some American guys Ian Becker followed when they played in college, looking bored out of their minds (and obviously completely out of place), sitting around and sipping whatever brand pays for their uniforms. Complimentary foam mini-basketballs were available for those who tasted. Also, for some reason the Marche has officially made Dustin Hoffman their spokesperson.



Don't believe me?



I actually got really excited about this, and couldn't wait to meet Dustin in person, since I'm a huge fan of Rain Man. I was furious to find out he wasn't even there! What a rip! Needless to say I will be boycotting the Marche
for their false advertising.

But none of this could even come close to the Astoria 9.5 Pink Rosé stand.



You can't see it in that picture, but the girl in the picture is rubbing a dripping ice cube on her face. Girls in skin tight, pink and white spandex would wait outside to flirt with guys and encourage them to come visit the stand. There was a "bouncer" at the front working the velvet rope, and loud techno was blaring. The kicker: on the side of the stand, written in white on pink:

"I have a dream" MLK

Ian couldn't get a picture because the stand was too crowded. I will eternally regret this.

If you're wondering if we went to VinItaly solely to make fun of absurd stands, you're wrong! We totally had a legitimate reason to be there and it's called ViViT. Spearheaded by Silvio Messana, Elisabetta Foradori and Elena Pantaleoni of La Stoppa, here is the manifesto:

"Vivit is the exhibition this year at Vinitaly dedicated, for the first time, to natural wines from organic and biodynamic agriculture. Wines from organic and biodynamic agriculture are increasingly attracting the interest of consumers. This trend should by no means be underestimated, since society as a whole is requesting production methods ensuring low environmental impact. Vivit at Vin italy offeres producers and traders the chance to get to know each other better, over and above ideologies and in the name of fine wine. Vinitialy has asked the companies involved in ViVit to sign a very strict self certification document concerning the production methods applied in vineyard and in the wine cellar."

This is the first time a part of VinItaly has been organized by the producers themselves. It's also the first time different countries and regions have been grouped together by the way they farm, so it's kind of a big deal that were able to pull this off. All together, 100 vigniaoli from Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Croatia and Slovenia came together to show off their hard work. Stefano Belloti and Nicolas Joly helped with the organization, so there was a very strong Renaissance des Appelations presence. Of our producers, Montesecondo, Cascina degli Ulivi, Monte D'all Ora, Arianna Occhipinti, Costadilà, Cristiano Guttarolo, Alessandra Bera, Cantina Giardino, Elisabetta Foradori and Luciano Saetti were present (there was some overlap between this, Vini Veri and Villa Favorita). Silvio later told me that it was a huge success, with thousands of people visiting each day (I commend him for his hard work). VinItaly has agreed to redo ViVit next year in a bigger, more open space.

We didn't have too many stands to check out, but we did swing by Radikon. SaIa made us taste from black gobelets so we couldn't see the wine. The idea was to show that without seeing it, the experience is similar to drinking a red. We tasted something new, a 2000 "Riserva" that has aged 9 years in bottle and is only being released now (we're getting some in), and it was the best wine I tasted the entire trip. I also finally got to meet Stanko for the first time; he was really busy but we still got to talk for a few minutes about how much I looked like my dad and our upcoming visit to the estate in November.

We also swung by Sanguineto's stand to taste the 11 bianco (which will be bottled in July), the Rosso 10 (bottled in January) and the Nobile 09. Dora was wearing a blazer, which was awesome, and brought out wild boar and black and white spotted pig sausage for us to munch on while we tasted. Naturally she'd hunted the animals and made the sausages herself. The wines are fantastic.

On our way to the parking lot, my lace became undone. This had been happening constantly on the trip, and Ian told me I really needed to learn how to tie my laces correctly. Right when he said that we bumped into Sonia Torretta, who applied the powerful "double knot" technique on my shoes.



My laces haven't come undone since.

Stay tuned for Part 4, detailing our visit at Nusserhof!]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/4/22/114/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/4/22/114/ Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:01:34 GMT

"I instantly fell in love with this 3.2 hectare parcel, all bunched together in the middle of the woods, next to the river… The property also included 2 h of prairies and 3 h of woods, and in the spirit of working biodynamically, I knew this was a perfect place to start a polyculture. The vines support the woods, the woods supply the livestock, the livestock supplies the soil: everything works together, everything is coherent."

One of our youngest, brightest vigneronne gives the low down on her unique estate, why she was drawn to the Beaujolais and all types of other stuff. Check it out on the Julie Balagny profile.

Part 3 of Italy 2012 up in the next few days!]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/4/16/113/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/4/16/113/ Mon, 16 Apr 2012 24:15:25 GMT

PART 1: Coste Piane

After our great visit with Loris Follador at Coste Piane, we drove back to Conegliano. We had some time to kill, so naturally we decided to go to some local bar with a terrace about a block away. Note to all broke travelers: if you're really hungry but can't afford a nice meal, go to an Italian bar around 6pm. I ordered a beer and the waiter brought out chips. Robert Browson ordered a Spritz (which I mercifully made fun of him for) and they brought out a tray of prosciutto. Ian Becker ordered something else and they brought out 4 mini sandwiches. I was a bit perplexed as to why this bar would give us so much free food (didn't they know we had to eat dinner at 8?), but Robert explained that this practice is fairly common, that bars tend to give away all the old stuff they hadn't sold for lunch/dinner because it's better than throwing it away. We barely touched it.

We got back to the hotel and were immediately greeted by Ernesto Cattel, the brainchild of Costadilà.



He easily recognized us since we were the only obnoxious, loud Americans screaming down the streets in English.

For the most part, we here at Louis/Dressner haven't put up too much info on Costadilà (check out their meticulously detailed profile), so I'm glad that we can finally shed some light on what Ernesto has been doing since 2006 (the first wine was in 2007). The Costadilà project is the combined effort of Ernesto, Mauro Lorenzon (who owns the famous Osteria Mascareta in Venice), their oenologist Leonello (didn't catch his last name) and a few silent partners/investors; it's truly a labor of love, since all three currently have full time careers. The goal is to valorize and rejuvenate the rich agricultural traditions of Tarzo by reintroducing natural farming -however small the scale- to the region. The scope of the project goes well beyond wine, and emphasizes polyculture: the long term goal is to have vines, fruits, vegetables, cereals and livestock coexist on the same plots of land. They hope that by creating this example, they can create a model farm for the region, so other farmers who are trapped in monoculture can see the way out. Completing this cycle, the produce grown from Costadilà land is then used and sold in local businesses, such as Osteria la Muda where we had dinner.



Nestled in the little mountain village of Cison di Valmarino, Osteria la Muda is one of the oldest restaurants in Italy, dating back to the 1470! When the last owner decided to sell the space, Ernesto and 6 other partners didn't hesitate to remodel and keep this landmark alive. They are currently touching up the upstairs and planning to open an agriturismo. Also, the place is open till 1am almost every night.

The next morning, it was time to visit the first of many vineyard sites.



Our first stop was a completely isolated plot, only accessible by a single dirt road. Tucked away in the mountains, this little area has a rather interesting history: up until the early 70's vines had been grown here, but when the owner retired no one wanted them and the land became abandoned. It was then taken over by a German hippie commune. Then they left, and nothing really happened until Ernesto saw the terroir's potential and decided to replant vines two years ago. These vines are coming from 6 different clones, all in selection massale, and are a mix of the four traditional prosecco grapes (Glera, Prosecco, Bianchietta and Verdizo, but more on that later). The soil is composed of clay with a marn subsoil at 15-20 meters.



Ernesto is replanting the vines exactly where they were originally located in the 1970's.


Everything at Costadilà is farmed organically. Ernesto, who has never studied agriculture or oenology, explained how he came to this decision.



"Working organically and not manipulating nature is much more favorable in the long term. Chemical agriculture seems beneficial in the short term, because you get instant results. But those quicker, easier results have repercussions. For example, if you use a herbicide, on the short term you've solved your grass problem. But then the soils have less life and micro-diversity, so yields suffer. So you use a chemical fertilizer, and now your yield problem is solved. But then your soils are even weaker and the vines, now lacking a proper immune system, become prone to fungal illness and insects. So now you have to use pesticides and large quantities of sulfur to protect the vines. And even then, the vines become so overexploited and ill that they can only live for about 25 years before they need to be ripped out and replanted. It's a vicious cycle that traps the farmer in continuing to use chemicals if he wants to keep his business going."

The site is also host to this old house that Ernesto and the gang are in the process of converting to an agriturismo and attached osteria that would serve only Costadilà produce.



It's fully equipped with the coolest sun clock ever.



For those of you familiar with the Costadilà wines, you already know that each cuvée is named by the elevation of the site. We got to check out the "280" vineyard, and our final stop was the "450".



The "450" is a 3.5 hectare parcel that is completely isolated, featuring chalk soil. It's all glera grapes. If you've never heard of Glera, Bianchietta and Verdizo as grapes used for Prosecco, you're not alone. These grapes, along with the seminal Prosecco, used to be widespread in the area, often blended together to make the region's famous sparkling wine. But in an all too common scenario, farmers began to realize how much more prolific and high yielding the Prosecco grape was, so they began tearing out their remaining vines to replant the more productive varietal.

As far as the wines, they are fermented with native yeasts until completely dry, then bottled with must made from passito grapes they dry themselves in the attic of the farm for a secondary fermentation. No sulfur is used at any point in the vinification. The wines are crisp, fresh, expressive and each cuvée successfully expresses its terroir. Ernesto cites Loris of Coste Piane as a big inspiration for making a quality wine in a region that has succumbed to the pitfalls of industrialization.

"Loris is a sculptor! We just shape rocks!"

Tune in next time for the official recap of Vini Veri, Villa Favorita and, drumroll please, our wacky hijinks at the craziest place in the world, VINITALY!

]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/4/13/112/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/4/13/112/ Fri, 13 Apr 2012 22:59:58 GMT

Greetings everyone! It's already been 10 days since my return from Italy, and the trip is still fresh in my mind. Ian Becker, Shawn Mead and Lauren Feldman have given me access to their pictures of the trip, so I'm glad to say these recaps will be a little more colorful than those covering our recent trip to France. Let's begin!

Here at Louis/Dressner, we're dedicated to getting as much bang for our buck as we can from these trips, so the plan was to visit Loris Follador of Casa Coste Piane approximately five hours after landing in Venice. So after a 9 hour flight, we grabbed the rental cars and it was a two hour drive to the lovely town of Conegliano. After an hour nap, it was time to drive to the famous village of Valdobbiadene!



I was excited, because if there's one thing I drank the most in 2011 (and the first third of 2012), it's Coste Piane. It never fails me, and I drink it almost every opportunity I get. It's gotten so bad that I was recently pulled aside by our Self Consumption Director Eddie Wrinkerman (S.C.D), who told me that I needed to leave some for the customers.

The visit began with Loris heartily greeting us, then almost immediately sitting us down in his dining room to taste Prosecco and eat lunch.



Food was not part of the plan, and everyone had just eaten in the anticipation of the visit. Well, everyone except me, who had napped instead (cause I'm smart). So after a 2010 bottle for the aperitif, a true feast began, which started off with this pan seared salami on a bed of local Friar's Beard.



It was delicious. Another fun thing was the opportunity to try Loris' new Brichet cuvée.



Brichet is a single vineyard of 50+ year old vines just outside of the village. Loris rents them from an old guy who recently retired, and they've been worked organically for years. The soils are composed of sandy limestone with red earth. Brichet is just as easy to drink as the base cuvée, but a little more structured, with pronounced minerality.

Having the group sit down for a meal gave Loris the opportunity to give us some insight on the estate. Coste Piane was founded by his grandfather; in those days, all sparkling wine from the village was made completely dry, with a méthode traditionelle secondary fermentation in bottle. But at some point in Loris' lifetime, two major changes occured: people began to develop a taste for a much sweeter style of Prosecco, and cave cooperatives began dominating local production. Today, almost all Prosecco is chaptalized and carbonated in the chermat method.

By the time Loris took over the estate in the late 70's, things were taking a turn for the worst. Since most vigniaoli were selling their grapes to a coop, the more they had to sell the better, which led many to aim for the highest yields possible (Loris then explained that Prosecco vines are already incredibly high yielding, and that you really need to act responsibly if you want the juice to retain any complexity). And with the dominance of chemical agricultural practices that began post-war (which became the norm in the region in the late 70s early 80s), chemical fertilizers were incredibly popular to beef up yields. But Loris was unfazed: he's always worked the vineyards organically and made the wine naturally. When he started, only 3 producers in Valdobbiadene worked traditionally. Now there are about 20, which makes him happy.

After lunch it was time to check out the vines.







This is what the 60 year old vines look like:





We also checked out some incredibly beautiful 120 year old vines that are apparently still very productive:





While most have shifted to intensive monoculture, Loris continues to let grass, wild flowers and various root vegetables grow free. Free roaming chickens and ducks hang out in the vineyard.





Before swinging by the cellar to taste the 2011's, Loris had to play with his 3 month old puppy.





He was the softest dog I've ever petted in my life, and was adorably cute. The only scary thing was that he was teething and has these uber-sharp vampire dog teeth. He was chewing on everything he could (mostly Kevin's shoe and Ian's pant leg).

In the cellar, we got to taste the 2011's. As always, the wine is direct pressed, then racked to stainless steel and cold fermented until completely dry. The wine ferments in about 12 days then settles in tank for 4 months. A must (which is usually purchased) is then added to the wine and bottled immediately, where it referents in bottle. We tasted the 2011 before pre-must, and the wine was bright, intensely acidic and mineral, qualities that definitely carry over into the final product. Loris always bottles the wine right after Easter (so just a few days ago! Yay!), so that magic re-fermentation should be happening as we speak. We ended our visit by drinking two bottles of 2005 to see how the wine ages. It ages well.

Tune in for Part 2 of Perusing Prosecco, when we swing by Costadila!]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/4/10/109/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/4/10/109/ Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:26:45 GMT

"As far as indigenous yeasts, it was obvious. I'd seen it function all over the world and knew it wasn't a risk as long as the juice was pure. If the grapes are clean, if they are well selected at harvest, you get much more substance. Fermentations are longer and harder to execute, but that's the price to pay for complexity."

New interview up from Laurent "the Alsacian Sensation" Barth. Learn about his globe trotting winemaking adventures, taking the estate back from the cave cooperative and much more on his profile.]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/4/3/108/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/4/3/108/ Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:54:04 GMT

Back in January we did a tour of the South, and one of the stops was Atlanta, Georgia. After a long day of touring and eating Chick-Fil-A with Arianna Occhipinti, Luca Roagna and Sebastiano De Bartoli, our last stop was Le Caveau. This is really the first retailer in Atlanta to focus exclusively on small production, independently bottled wines of terroir, the vast majority of which are the result of native yeasts, hand harvesting, low yields, and organic or biodynamic farming. For jaded New Yorkers and San Franciscans this might seem like no big deal, but we have to remember that it's a big country out there and even five years ago a place like this might not have been able to open in a city like Atlanta. I like Eric and I like Le Caveau, so I did a little email interview with him to find out what the shop is all about.

Tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got into wine and your inspiration for opening the wine shop.

My name is Eric Brown, owner of Le Caveau Fine Wines in Atlanta, Georgia. I started collecting wine about 13 years ago shortly after a brief stint working at a new restaurant in Atlanta and that quickly grew into an obsession with wine. My wife and I started traveling to different wine regions all over the world and meeting with small, grower-producers in each region to try to get a feel for what made their terroir so special. Shortly after returning from France in the summer of 2010, my wife Carrie and I decided to open a retail shop in a old warehouse that had been renovated and subdivided in Chamblee (an up and coming area in North Atlanta) near our neighborhood. I had been working in technology as a computer engineer for a large international company, and was inspired when a friend left a similar career behind to go out west to pursue his dream of making wine… and my wife said I really needed to do something healthy with my obsession.



Tell us about Le Caveau. How long has it been open, what kind of wines do you sell, what kind of events do you do etc...

Le Caveau has been open since the end of May, 2011. Our specialty is Old World, terroir driven wines with a focus on Natural/Organic/Biodynamic producers from all over the world. Tasting and education are very important to us so we host tastings in the shop most Saturday afternoons, where we discuss all aspects of the wines we're showing with respect to terroir, winemaking, and historical perspective. We also host wine dinners in the shop where we bring in different Chefs from all over the city to pair food with our wines and we host dinners at restaurants around town as well.



How do you feel about the state of real/natural/terroir/whatever you want to call it in Atlanta and Georgia?

I think the farm to table/slow food movement in the restaurants here in Atlanta set the stage for Natural/Biodynamic/Organic wines in this market. Our customers really want to know where the wines they are drinking come from, so when we talk about non-interventionist winemaking, they appreciate how much care is taken with these wines. While the idea of natural wines might still be foreign to a lot of consumers in Atlanta, I feel like people have been really open to exploring them with us and after tasting the purity of the wines, really understand why these wines are ultimate expression of terroir.



What are you particularly into drinking these days?

For reds I have been drinking Sagrantino di Montefalco from Umbria, Lagrein and Teroldego from Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Poulsard and Trousseau along with the whites from the Jura. I am also infatuated with Cour-Cheverny and Savennières at the moment.



Le Caveau Fine Wines
5256 Peachtree Road Suite 102
Atlanta, GA 30341
770-837-0710
Hours: Tues - Sat. 11am -8pm
http://www.lecaveauwine.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LeCaveauWine
http://twitter.com/LeCaveauWine
]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/3/29/106/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/3/29/106/ Thu, 29 Mar 2012 8:26:40 GMT


Time constraints have made it really tough to write posts on our current trip in Italy, but the good news is that when they actually are up there will be pictures of the visits. In the meantime, I've added my recent interview with the lovely Chiara Vigo (who we visit today) to tide you over! Check it out on the Fattorie Romeo del Castello profile.]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/3/22/105/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/3/22/105/ Thu, 22 Mar 2012 24:51:44 GMT

We're in Italy. I'm going to write about it. Stay tuned for part 1: Pressure in Prosecco.]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/3/18/104/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/3/18/104/ Sun, 18 Mar 2012 20:12:07 GMT

"I wanted to see things through with my work in the vines: when you work with a cave, you give them the grapes and they make the wine however they see fit. I wanted to know what my soils were truly capable of. It's funny because the grapes they paid me the most for at the cave ended up being the grapes I like with the least!"

Check out our interview with one of the Languedoc's finest (and definite contender for best mustache/facial hair) over at the Mas des Chimères profile.]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/3/14/103/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/3/14/103/ Wed, 14 Mar 2012 8:13:32 GMT

If you go to louisdressner.com on your mobile device, you will now automatically be directed to our mobile site. Enjoy!]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/3/7/102/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/3/7/102/ Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:10:41 GMT

Back in January we did a tour of the South with Jean Paul Brun, Eric Texier, Arianna Occhipinti, Luca Roagna and Sebastiano De Bartoli. One of the biggest highlights was the tasting event at Green Goddess. Small groups started at Jean Paul's table, then navigated their way through the twists and turns of the tiny restaurant's crazy layout, visiting growers one by one. Throughout the tasting, the wait staff was offering up mini versions of chef Chris DeBarr's signature dishes, and when it was all over everyone got a full plate of suckling pig and collard greens (with a complimentary glass of Terres Dorées of course). I have to tip my hat to these guys because it was just a straight up party!



Chris is the owner, chef and wine buyer for the Green Goddess. One look at the menu and you know you're in for something special. The list is massive (keep scrolling it never ends): the restaurant barely seats 25 people and there are over two hundred wines! The focus is almost exclusively on small production, independent growers who work well. But the list is unique for more than its sheer size, with categories like "Killing me Softly" and "Wine Dungeon Treasures", as well as Chris' incredible notes for each wine, which actually manage to objectively teach you about the bottle you're drinking.



I like Chris and I like the Green Goddess, so I decided to interview him about the restaurant. The world needs more Chris DeBarrs. So many quotables...

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I'm a self-taught chef, Southern boy, storytellin' poet, and funky New Orleans has been home for nearly 20 years. I love my city so much, to the point that, as with wine, it's is the psychic terroir of my life. Everything begins & ends with New Orleans with me, so even though I am an adventurous, globe-trotting, and thirsty-to-learn person, I come at life with strong Nola filters. Which means I like to bring da party with me, have a good time, share what's in my heart & learn from my friends how they live & dream. Essentially, I am sympathetic with all committed terroir-istes who strongly represent their beautiful home on Earth as a singular experience, a love affair with the holy ground of terroir.

The federal levee failures in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina shook us all up. I lived through it my way, and was back cooking in New Orleans at The Delachaise before Halloween, 2005 (although I did take off that Halloween for a beautiful, wrenching, hard-won first little victory in a hard road back). My life since then has been epic, like some deranged soap opera, but I think my food is getting better and I love having my utterly awesome krewe at Green Goddess. They are young, hungry to excel, and we love bringing our swagger to the table!


Tell us a little bit about Green Goddess. The restaurant's history, its unique layout, the food you make,etc...

We have been here 3 years now. I signed the lease right around Mardi Gras, we opened a couple weeks after Jazzfest on May 19, 2009, heading into the teeth of a long, hot Nola summer and that year's fierce recession. At first, we didn't even have our liquor license until July...right before Tales of the Cocktail...and we never looked back!

The place is super dinky, all-electric kitchen that curls around a stairwell and elevator system for the apartments above. We are tiny, with barely 24 seats inside, but in good weather down here we use the enclosed sidewalk, which is a pedestrian-only alley where we live at 307 Exchange Place, New Orleans, zip: 70130. Basically, I have seen taco trucks with better kitchens than us, but we are bomb ass scientists who aim to destroy the perceptions of our severe kitchen limitations with relentless precision.

So far, it's working out pretty swell.

I have never been a fan of categorizing my food. I don't even like putting appetizers or main courses on my menu. It's all my cuisine, and we just want each plate to be both as focused and as bombastically delicious as can be. If pressed, or when feeling frisky, I will say I make psychedelic soul food with comfort in mind. We come from lots of global angles, but with a Crescent City flair.

We joke around a lot that we are pirates at Green Goddess. We are a real tight krewe, and we like to push ourselves to daring acts to make the food, the cocktails, and to support the wines we keep around. Philosophically speaking, being a pirate/chef means I like to fence the culinary contraband of pleasure & exotic ingredients to my guests. It amuses me that as one of the smallest restaurants, we nevertheless insist on mind-blowing, rare ingredients & pull it off.

For a tiny restaurant, you have a HUGE (and great) wine list. Can you explain your decision to feature so many wines from all over the world?

It's a love affair. I strongly believe that great food & great wine are, essentially, the meaning of life. But life has an amazing diversity, right? We are driven by the idea of site specific, artisanal, heritage ingredients & wines. We love defending unusual grapes that could be on the edge of extinction, or, as with the red grape Refosco, may only now be entering the global stage. I am so lucky to have enjoyed Giorgio Clai's "Crni" Refosco from Istria, Croatia from Louis/Dressner as my first Refosco! That is my "stranded on a desert isle" wine, and given my druthers and enough Clai Refosco, don't be in a hurry to find me....

We only buy wines we are passionate about, and luckily for all y'all, I am a man of gargantuan appetites!

From a business point of view, our commitment to this big list of natural winemakers shows an investment to the natural world, to celebrate our fellow band of small farms, small businesses, intimate connections to the world at large one handshake at a time. Our list is a bet that a greener future is the only way out to find sustainability and balance, but always the obvious fact remains: we buy great wines that go magically well with our food. Then with your palate as a guest, we dig trying to present that perfect wine for your tastes & experiences that pushes you forward in your love affair with wine!

For me, taking it next level is continued storytelling about wine in an ongoing video diary to discuss our food & our vast list of wines. I can see our wine encounters at initial tasting as a useful tool sometimes, but I really want to delve more into scripted territory based on the already notorious way I have written the wine list. For those who haven't heard my voice in the little asides, tales, & intrepid sleuthing on display in the 3 or 4 line prose haiku I write about every single wine on our epic list, check it out on the pdf from our website:

www.greengoddessnola.com

I have been one writing little son-of-a-gun, but we are working on some symbols and visual puns & memory aids that convey info hierographically. A few people remember my visual "sushi" cheese list from my Delachaise years, which had funny symbols so drunk people at a noisy bar could figure out what cheeses they wanted without reading, and then when I brought the platter out, I'd go over each cheese's salient qualities. I want to do something similar for our wine list, like incorporating my infamous sliding scale for white wines. I always say people usually will opt for "lean & crispy" whites, which is the low 1-4 side of the scale. I don't really believe that, as people enjoy richer whites which I call "Freddie Mercury's Fat-Bottomed Girls" and include varietals like Tocai Friulano, most Malvasia variations, Viognier, Gewürz, Grillo, Godello or Pinot Blanc, etc. I love the plush, dense aromatics of those big whites and the way they caress food, and so disarming people by getting a laugh from "Fat-Bottomed Girls" often results in piqued curiosity and a new wine, wherever you are leaning on the Freddie Mercury scale.

In the end, the vibe of New Orleans is one of opulence, carefully selected decadence, and a sense that nothing is forbidden. Our big ol' list sets Green Goddess apart as warriors for the truly serious pleasures of the table, and it elevates the perception of our our food from casual alfresco cafe to a dining destination by being able "to show & prove" that we can get all this wine & run our crazy little restaurant successfully.

You are a chef so obviously you love food, and you have a great wine list so you obviously love wine. This seems like a natural combination, but it always suprises me just how many chefs and restaurant owners don't care about wine at all. Can you explain why YOU care, and if you have any insight as to why some don't? Can a restaurant be great without great wine?

It depends on the joint. I'm a catholic drinker, meaning I can get behind great beers or hand-crafted cocktails on any night depending on the vibe, the company I'm keeping, or where & what we're eating. I don't usually drink much at lunch, unless it's a sprawling New Orleans party that starts early, and while I could think about great wines I might like with my favorite soul food, Vietnamese fare, great Chinese dishes, or old school poor boy, I'm not that dedicated to miss it when it's not there. Obviously, those meals are still GREAT.

One thing I think wine appreciation does for a chef is to bring a sense of balance to your cuisine. It's the interplay of contrasting tastes that give a dish complexity, and drinking wine with your own food will show you that dance of contrasts. A flabby, one note, or too aggressively seasoned dish will wear out its welcome with a great wine; the quiet conversation that wine & food always have going on between the plate and the glass raised to the lips will waver & falter if the food isn't pitched upon balanced flavors that let the Chef's ingredients shine. Great wine just doesn't lie, so when a chef hits a stride having great wine is the cook's best friend because when that dance of contrasts & balanced flavors gets going, everybody relaxes and the real pleasures of the table show up to let the good times roll.

Finally, as I said above in my paean to New Orleans and the links I feel with the terroir behind my beautiful city, there really isn't anything more sacred than caring for your special place on Earth, and to dig deep in the dirt to protect old vines has to be among the most meaningful enterprises we do as humans. Wine is a holy thing-- period! I think some people get so caught up in the game of profits, of restaurant real estate, of thinking about selling at the correct margins, that they lose that holy connection, or maybe they just haven't experienced truly great wine when it wasn't a commodity to be bought & sold.

I cannot imagine a great meal at Green Goddess without great wine but, unfortunately, that happens every night. I'm really only disappointed with water drinkers, but as long as you're enjoying the meal, I'm cool. I just hope that as people see what our list is now, which currently might seem like an audacious statement, they realize our pride & pleasure to be serious wine sleuths who adore unique, ballin', site specific wines made by real artists who are intimately tied to the Earth as good stewards for greatness. And someday soon, our list of natural treasures might become just a nice high standard for a basic, green, thoughtful wine list. After all, if I can get these wines, so can you. Unless you live in Pennsylvania or some other sad wine police state with stupid laws!

How do you feel about the state of real/natural/terroir/whatever the hell you want to call it wines in New Orleans?

It's probably behind the curve nationally, but because the city of New Orleans has such a strong sense of authenticity that we won't ever fall all over ourselves to be politically correct to market these wines as "organic" & "natural" as some righteous act. We like to drink a lot in New Orleans, so the wines have to compete somewhat in pricing, but the fact that so many of these winemakers do, in fact, make the best juice on the Planet will eventually bring New Orleanians to their knees. Repeated exposure to greatness always wins people over to the real thang.

What have you been drinking these days?

Actually I have been on a massive Beaujolais kick! As a chef, Beaujolais s such a friendly wine to share at the table with all kinds of food, and I find that my friends and guests @GG are truly shocked by the profound pleasures that great Beaujolais brings. For me, when we found some epic half bottles of 2001 Domaine du Granit Moulin-a-Vent, it ignited a burning flame for greatness from Beaujolais. We love young Damien Coquelet & revere the tasty diversity of wines from Jean-Paul Brun. I have some older Stephane Aviron, especially my favorite Morgon Côtes du Py & even stashed some Patrick Brunet Fleurie in NYC for an upcoming trip, from his old 1930 vines in the micro-terroir in Fleurie known as "Champagne." I love seeing the revival of beautiful Beaujolais; it warms the cockles of my proletariat heart. It's greater than you think, always affordable, and gives such pretty depth of flavor in any and all situations.

I also have been digging exotic bubbly, whether Nerello Mascalese from Mt. Etna in Sicily, bombastic Hungarian sparkling from Kiralyudvar (owned by Domaine Huet), Zweigelt Rosé from Austria, or Sparkling Moschofilero from Greece, exotic bubbly is so exciting & fun! I am actually waiting impatiently for the arrival of Jean-Paul Brun's terrific sparkling Beaujolais from you guys, so I can come full circle & enjoy both my obsessions in the same bottle! Yes...

The Green Goddess
307 Exchange Place
New Orleans, LA
70130
504-301-3347


Open for Lunch & Brunch every day, except Tuesday,from 11am – 3:30pm. No Lunch Service on Tuesday. Dinner is only on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: 6:00pm – 11pm. Last Dinner Seating at 11pm. We wonet give you the stinkeye if you come at 11pm. Honest!]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/3/5/101/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/3/5/101/ Mon, 05 Mar 2012 24:25:05 GMT

"That's what great about Gamay. You can make a very fruity wine, but you can also make something structured without it being being too opulent or high in alcohol. It's always accessible, without ever being excessive."

More Beaujolais interviews! Dig in on the Domaine Desvignes profile.
]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/3/2/99/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/3/2/99/ Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:55:26 GMT

"...in Roillette, our soils are 25% clay (as opposed to the rest of the A.O.C which is all granite). This clay is only found in a 50 hectare radius, and result is a more structured wine, somewhere between a "typical" Fleurie and a Moulin a Vent."

Find out who Roillette was and what the hell Greffe du Marquis means over on the Clos de la Roillette profile.



]]> http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/2/29/98/ http://louisdressner.com/date/2012/2/29/98/ Wed, 29 Feb 2012 21:10:22 GMT

The other day I updated the site with a new label from Luca Roagna called "Unione Nero di Wongraven", and posted a song from Sigurd Wongraven's band Satyricon. I know we live in a world where it's perfectly normal, if not expected, for wines to be named after celebrities; in fact, I just had a bottle of the 99 Wayne Gretzky Cabernet/Merlot blend from 2008 and it was superb. Still, it's not everyday that traditional Barolo producers collaborate with emblematic death-metal superstars, so here's the backstory straight from Roagna's official website:

"The Wongraven project is the result of a meeting between two mutual passions; between a musician with great enthusiasm for the world of wine and our familyes passion for music. Sigurd Wongraven, the prominent frontman of Satyricon, is one of the worlds greatest leaders in Black Metal. He is also a wine lover, having his own wine blog in a Norwegian newspaper, in addition to a weekly wine column.

He is currently taking an International diploma in enology and has visited vineyards and farmers in Italy, France, Germany and Lebanon. At the same time he is writing a book on traditional Piemontese wines and winemakers. Together we have spent hours in the vineyard, in the cellar and at concerts. Throughout the summer and autumn of 2010 we worked hard to give life to two unique wines called Wongraven. Unione Nero di Wongraven is Sigurd's selection from the Roagna vineyard Barolo Pira."

Studying enology and writing a book? I must say I'm impressed with Sigurd! Plus he obviously has great taste! Stay tuned for our next installment in this series:

Luca Roagna: Unplugged.]]>