A dear friend, David Hart, who owns Nashville Wine and Spirits in said Tennessee city, called out of the blue last week and put me on a plane to "the Athens of the South". They actually do have their own full size replica of the Acropolis with manditory Athena statue. When David calls, its bound to be challenging but I will always dive in because I don't want to miss out on something interesting. But I digress...
Are all of you still breathing after 2008? Take a bow. Even as weird as these economic times are, people are starting to appear more optimistic. I even had a Xmas party and puttered on my bathroom... hey, this is big news!
I've been thinking alot since my last post on Didier Dagueneau's death. I like the idea that, just before the vendage, he would be in an ultralight, high above the remote cliffs and deep gorges of France. That also seemed to be his philosophy with winemaking. The artists that I admire cut their own path through personal passion and commercial pressures.
I just heard of the tragic death today of Didier Dagueneau, the amazing French wine and mischief maker. I have enclosed a post from Joe Dressner's blog. Find a bottle of Didier's Pur Sang to experience in his honor:
We visited Didier Dagueneau this summer to taste the 2007s and the bottled 2006s.
Didier had recently renovated The Temple, an ancient chapel next to his home which had fallen into ruin. He had decided to turn the Temple into a cultural center and had mounted an exhibition of Jean-Marie Périer's photography for its inauguration this summer. Périer was the most famous French photographer of the 1960s and the Temple was filled with photos of celebrities from that epoch.
Didier took us on a tour and Denyse and I had to name each celebrity. Of course, even I know Claude François but only Denyse knew Dani, Sylvie Vartan and Sheila. I didn't recognize Françoise Hardy but I did recognize Jacques Dutronc. Dylan, the Rolling Stones and all the stars of the Anglophone world were easy enough for me.
You could see how proud and joyful Didier was of putting together such an art show. While we were in the Temple, Didier talked about how every year he organizes a lavish dinner called Les Anciens, where he invites all the older vignerons of the area for a great meal, old bottles and good times. Didier was a maverick and a rebel, but he had great respect and love for all these anciens, like Edmond Vatan and Claude Thomas, who had taught him his métier.
Didier Dagueneau died this morning, September 17th, in a small plane crash in the Cognac region. The wine world has lost a great vigneron and the world has lost one of the most original, charming and mischievous characters to ever grace a vineyard row.
Photo copyright Bertrand Celce
I am tired of being told what is good wine, good architecture, good form, blah blah blah... As much as I don't agree with Robert Parker's opinion that great wine is a thick, dark berry, high alcohol, micro-oxygenated, inky goop, I am more distressed that I bought into another expert telling me what the goal is. Luckily, I believe this hierarchy is crumbling.
Big Sur is consumed by a 80,000 acre blaze that threatens the most pristine landscape in California. The smoke plumes rise over the hill from where I'm working in a house on the Carmel wetlands, France has been inundated with rain and the US midwest has been pummelled with floods. I am hunkered down seeking solace with a nice albarino from Condes de Albarei and pondering... what's next?
Just a weird note to clue you in to some interesting websites/blogs/events on the horizon. Let's just call them weblovents. The Open Wine Consortium is a site for both industry and enthusiasts alike. I would like to attend their European Wine Bloggers Conference in Rioja, Spain this year. On to more wackier things...
OK...so the euro is $1.36 ... and we're not complaining about $3.95 gasoline in CA?? What a state of affairs. Would you rather support Exxon or be at the Tuesday market in Nyons buying fresh chevre and supporting the organic farmers of the Drôme? Enough guilt, it's time to stop and smell the lavander. Click on the photo above to view a slideshow (some browsers don't show this option so use Internet Explorer) of various properties or go to our Vacances webpage for details.
I have great friends who live in Britain or the US and have property in southern France. Much to their chagrin, they are only there a month or two per year and the rest of the time they open the house to guests. For us dharma bums and foie gras junkies, this is a much nicer solution to travelling abroad: eat at the village bistro, play petanque, drink rosé with the locals and tour around from a central location.
When my friends, Brent and Ellen Soper of Nashville, and I get together it is to shamelessly drink Claude Dugat's Gevrey Chambertin and enjoy Ellen's incredible cooking. They built a beautiful home hanging off a hillside in the wooded forest surrounding Music City. We originally met because I remodeled their kitchen, built a custom stainless steel cooking island and created a bay window in their modern home. At the end of the day, this was more about befriending people who were artists, lovers of food and great wine, travelers and all around sincere friends.
They both have traveled extensively but when I mentioned I was going to check on the ailing roof of a Provençal friend did Brent ply me with more pinot and secure two tickets to Paris. So, sooner than you can say foie gras, we are off the TGV in Avignon enjoying the fragrance of lavander in the air. I love my work!! Keep in mind that I'm not your normal tourist. The first thing I do is grab the rental Renault, stock up with wine at the nearest local joint (5 euros for a killer vin de pays) and leave the Autoroute. Since Brent loves architecture as much as I do, the sooner we get into the Provence countryside the better. Stone farmhouses, clay tile roofs, tiny streets and no SUV's... The best way to start the day is to find the local bistrot for lunch.
You know, so many Americans believe that all you have to do is buy some wicker patio chairs, serve Croque Monsieur and, voila, you have The French Experience in metro America. Thank God this fails miserably! I believe one has to blow up the TV, get off the couch and revisit history to taste the real deal. I fondly recall having dinner at a little one star in Beaune with André Gagey, the original winemaker and incredible spirit at Louis Jadot. He told stories of his life during WW2 while the Germans occupied his winery home and how the family concealed the cellars and bribed them with cigars and wine in order to survive. Shameless hussie that I am, I remember that he also brought along an awesome 1959 Volnay.
The same spirit of conversation and community is alive and well at the village bistrots between 11-1 any weekday where the locals discuss politics. Topics are usually: what are those insane americans doing now? are we losing our national culture to massive immigration and globalization? what is the brix level of the syrah? Three choices of entreés with vegies and a few pichets of red wine make for a perfect afternoon. One of my favorite restaurants is in the main plaza in Sablet.
My friend, Bobby Kacher of Kacher Selections of Washington, DC, first introduced me to this region when he suggested I stay with his vigneron client, Daniel Brusset of Cairanne. Daniel and his wife also have a shop on the square in Gigondas with a lovely, ancient apartment above. It was here that I finally realized that at whatever the cost, I needed to spend more time in France. Gigondas creates one of the world's great wines. The combination of garrique (the hillside herbs of rosemary and lavender), pepper spice and deep plum tannins blend so incredibly with the local garlic roasted lamb.
Luckily my clients love wine, travel and desire to get off the tourist route to settle into village life. My dear friend, Dr. Heidi Cretien has a small village house in Vinsobres located in the Drôme (north of Gigondas). Brent and I pointed our inebriated Renault into the vineyards of Vinsobres to nurse our Air France wounds with Côtes du Rhone. Heidi has her degree in art history and since her ex is Italian, she yearly takes their daughters to Florence and creates personal tours for clients through the incredible churches and art houses (if you want to join in, let me know). It seems her old village house was suffering from the usual symptoms of neglect (it was even hard to find a good contractor in the 15th. century!) so Brent and I balanced wine glass in hand to survey the damage. After peeling off half of the old clay roof tiles we saw that the previous carpenter had drilled holes in the roof in the futile attempt to let the roof breathe. All this did was let rain into the living room, not a good idea in any century.
As much as Americans love the image of life in Provence, the fact is that the villages are fading away; especially with their main economic card of French wine being devalued by global intrusion from Australia and California. The 9th. C churches are closed because the Catholic faith has dwindled and the young people are drawn away to the cities and the enticements of western culture. This leaves the local survival dependant on the Brits and Americans who are buying up and remodeling the old homes. On one level this is OK only because it keeps industry at bay, but on the other hand it creates a non-community with locals dependant on serving ex-pat, seasonal visitors and their foreign demands. When the village pâtisserie closes because no one buys fresh croissants at 7:00 AM, how does this change culture and where does this end?
This posting is merely meant to express my love of France, stir interest and create conversation. As a friend once said, "it is solved by walking". Please join me for a trip to Provence so we may experience and continue the conversation.
The photos linked here (click on the picture above) view the Vaucluse and Drôme départements and some of my favorite places:
Crestet: Incredible, panoramic 7th. C village hanging off the hillside just off D938
Séguret: Hilltop artist village, great walking, wonderful restaurants
Gigondas: Great wine, hike up Col du Cayron to view the Dentelles de Montmirail
Cairanne: Small, renowned wine village, buy Brusset and Domaine DeLubac!!!
Roussillon: Avoid the summer tourists but relish the orange cliffs and café terrasses
le Barroux: Beautiful castle, lunch on the patio at Les Geraniums
Vinsobres: Quiet medieval village in the heart of AOC wines and olives, village rental
Paradise: This is a secret place of mine that I won't reveal unless you want to join me there
RP
I seem to spend most of my time inhaling sawdust and building winecellars and less and less time stepping back and reflecting on the people I conspire with and admire. The combination of being fifth generation from a CA farming family and living in France in 1967 profoundly changed my life. I learned the connection between my personal past and the foreign past of life lived on family farms in France. I have walked into french kitchens in Madiran and literally stepped back to the 1800's with the copper pot of soupe over the fireplace and the fresh rabbit in the wood fired oven. This is the good news because I need to experience the earth/food chain connection in order to make the profound choices to qualify my food sources.
I am now far removed from my family farm of Holsteins and walnuts and have chosen to focus on the wine growing families. Since first being inspired by Kermit Lynch and Alice Waters in the 60's and hanging out with the great Washington DC importer Bobby Kacher on his raucous Burgundy adventures, I learned to admire the winemakers who choose to return to terroir. They are trying to create wine of deep character and grace, all the while having to compete with astronomical land prices and market whims.
As much as I love going to France every year: think global, act local. So why would you chose to grow Chard and Pinot high above the rocky fogline at Gualala Ranch in Sonoma County on the edge of the Pacific coast? Ehren Jordan of Failla Vineyards (along with Helen Turley's Marcassin, Peter Michael, Flowers and Hirsch) must love to give bankers endless nights of sleeplessness. You are not supposed to attempt winemaking in these conditions, but I guess some said that of the fools with straw baskets who traverse the steep, rocky hillsides of Condrieu and Cote Rotie in the northern Rhone.
After many years of living away from CA, my wife, Nancy, and I returned to northern California. Our friends, Bruce and Barbara Neyers, of Neyers Vineyards, offered us their guesthouse in St. Helena to ease our moving pains. Barbara was one of the founding chefs at Chez Panisse and, needless to say, creates seamless dining experiences. To me, Neyers creates one of the most delicate and elegant chardonnays around and the Hudson Ranch Syrah is also outstanding. I will always remember having the head winemaker of Zind-Humbrecht staying with us and sitting on our patio in the vineyards drinking bottles of his luminous Reislings.
Ehren Jordan was Neyer's winemaker (as Bruce has a very busy schedule as Kermit Lynch's partner and national sales director) and I would often see them out my office window walking in the vineyards. Ehren, who also was winemaker for Helen Turley, finally has his Failla Vineyards and it is incredible. They create a vionier from Alban Vineyards, a Russian River pinot and a syrah from Napa. They are also in the process of opening their 10 acre Silverado Trail facility. Buy all you can...
Nick Goldschmidt was head winemaker at Simi for 14 years before moving on to Allied Domecq and is now executive director for Beam Wine Estates which oversees Clos du Bois, Perrier-Jouet, Mumm and numerous estates in Portugal and Argentina. When I was building the corporate cellar for Clos du Bois, Nick was very kind to offer me the guest house on his vineyard outside of Healdsburg. He and his wife, Yolyn, are remodeling an old farmhouse on the banks of the Russian River. Aside from all the world traveling he does, they manage to create stunning cabernet from the Vyborny Vineyard near Geyserville and merlot at Goldschmidt Vineyards. Check them out...
Next on my tour is the undescribable Kenny Likitprakong of Banyan Wines and Hobo Wines. Here is a young surfer dude who has travelled the world and worked for the best wineries. He is currently working with Rick Moshin at Moshin Vineyards in Healdsburg and has panache and style that you need to follow.
Two more quick mentions:
Dutton Goldfield Vineyards...the Dutton Ranch chardonnay and Morelli lane Zin
Alban Vineyards...anything you can find!!
Alas, the Ramey Russian River chardonnay is starting to sink in my tired bones and I have to be up at 6:00 AM to start building with some beautiful Honduran mahogany I have found for a client's cellar in Carmel Valley. I will post pictures as the projects continue. Take care and support local agriculture and good wine.
RP
