french wine a day

Millésime

My collection of 1967 before the party...

Dear wine lovers,

Last week, I had the chance to celebrate my 40th birthday with 5 bottles of "millésime" 1967 (don't worry, I got some help for that). I thought I would take advantage of this special tasting to tell you more about the meaning of vintage.

The vintage is the year of the grape harvest and, in France, it should represent at least 95% of of the volume.

Even if it takes 365 days for a vine to produce grapes (and this is actually even more complex since old vines don't actually react the same way as young ones), the last days before the harvest time are the ones that condition the quality of the future wine. Depending on the way the "vigneron" has worked all year long and mostly the yields produced, the grapes can react very differently from one parcel to its neighbor on similar weather conditions.

Of course, the vintage will reflect the big image of a region area (Loire, Champagne, Languedoc...) but please keep in mind that you can't judge a wine just by its vintage as many magazine and mark people which pretend to know everything about all the wines in the world want to impose us. 2002 was very wet in the South Rhône but I know some producers that made some much better 2002 than 2003 which vintage was initially told to be outstanding in the south because it was hot, but which also created lots of fermentation issues since a lot of grapes suffered from hydric stress. On the other hand, 2003 has been "banned" in the Loire because it was too hot but the vineyards which have old vines with deep roots did not suffer from drought and actually made their best vintage ever.

I was born in 1967 which was "supposed" to be a "bad" vintage... Well, even if the Médoc and Canon Fronsac (two wines from the Bordeaux area) I had were not good, the Châteauneuf-du-Pape was quite interesting, the Alsace Muscat was great and I have no words to describe the Sauternes...which actually located...in Bordeaux !

So please, don't be fooled by those people who want to sell wine with just scores. A wine, I mean not an industrial product, deserves more respect than an unflavored mark vintage...

---

That was the last edition so for the last time : "Cheers" to french wine a day !

I had a lot of fun writing about wine and sharing my passion with you. For those who want to follow my venture with Rouge-Bleu, I will now be posting about my work in the vines and in the cellars.

Jean-Marc Espinasse

PS : If you don't want to be part of the Rouge-Bleu listing, please email me.

Taille

A giddy Gaul pruning vines

Dear wine lovers,

Yesterday was my very first day as a new "vigneron" and at this time period, the main task to do is "la taille*".

A vine is a plant which could actually become a tree if you don't prune it. Every year, it produces a lot of wood and gets more rooted (if you don't irrigate it). When all the leaves have disappeared and when the first mornings frosts happen, it is time to prune.

This operation is very important because it will determine the future production. Depending on how many holders you have or keep and how many "eyes**" you will leave on the "sarment", you can determine the number of clusters you will have which conditions the future wine quality.

As you will see here, we have decided to prune very short in order to have 5-6 grape clusters per vine which is the only way to produce a beautiful terroir wine.

Cheers,
Jean-Marc

Any comments, edits are very welcome at [email protected]

PODCASTS :
Listen to this whole edition in French (allow some delay depending on your speed internet connection)
Listen to this whole edition in English (allow some delay depending on your speed internet connection)

This book will give you more info about pruning your roses, bushes...and who knows, maybe your future vineyard !

*Listen to "la taille"

** eyes : yeux in French - singular : oeil

See a small video (1,2 GB) of this giddy "vigneron" pruning his vines

Beaujolais Nouveau

Dear wine lovers,

Before re-running last year's Beaujolais Nouveau edition with some updates regarding the taste of 2006 vintage, here's the latest about our vineyard project :

Well, guess what I learned yesterday from the French administration ? You can't get a construction permit to build a cellar in an agricultural zone if you are not already considered as a farmer.... Great way to encourage projects from "city people" like me who want to become farmer ! Well, I will find a way to get this status changed soon but this anecdote shows you that France still has to re-consider a lot a things to encourage qualitative wine projects, which are actually the only ones that can resist globalization.

In the meantime, I am now shopping for tanks, tractors... and all vine - cellar materials. I will have lots of funny stories for you next week.

For now,here is the edition...

As you might already have heard about, "Le Beaujolais nouveau* est arrivé".

For those of you who would like to understand better why this event is now famous all over the world, here is my contribution :

Beaujolais wine is made out of Gamay which produces a light fruity red wine, not tannic since its maceration is short and its alcohol level is low so that it is ready to be drunk young. This fact has always pleased the vineyards and negociants because they do not have to carry a lot of stock. For a long time, the launch of new wines was restricted in France and Beaujolais wines were shipped thought the Saône River bringing them to the town of Lyon. That's actually why Beaujolais is jokingly referred to as the third River crossing this town, after Saône and Rhône.

Eventually, under the pressure of their promotion entity, these wines were allowed to be put on the market by November 15th and this was always the case until 1985 (besides 1977 where it was postponed to the 25th because of a late maturity). In 1985, this date was then turned into a bigger event and, for logistic purposes, it was agreed that it would be the third Thursday of November.

Beaujolais nouveau is now a big negociant business. I guess you all know the "star" brand (initials GD) about which I won't talk further since it does need publicity and because I don't appreciate its trust trade methods. Because of all this negociant's predominance, the quality and image have been damaged but in response to this, you can now find some small producers that elaborate a traditional Beaujolais nouveau without adding yeast or too much sugar**. Look for "unfiltered" or "propriétaire - récoltant" (owner - grower) on the labels and avoid "mis en bouteilles par" which means that it is not an Estate wine.

I personally like the wines from Domaine du Tracot where Jean-Paul Dubost perpetuates the quality family traditions, Château de Pizay, Domaine des Terres Dorées with the enigmatic Jean-Paul Brun, Domaines Piron or Château des Jacques, an Estate wine that belongs to the famous Louis Jadot brand.

As a wine "professional", I had the chance to already taste the Beaujolais Nouveau 2006 and my feeling is that it is OK... Fruity, of course, but lacks density compared to the very weel matured 2005 . Some will tell you that it has some hints of blackcurrant and blackberry but this is just pure marketing. So enjoy it today but be reasonable if you have to drive because the police might also tell you that it has a prune*** taste !

Happy Thanksgiving,

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse

Any comments, edits are very welcome at [email protected]

*Listen to "Beaujolais nouveau"

This "Cafe Beaujolais" book from the Chef of this famous restaurant has nothing to do with Beaujolais but has great cooking recipes :

**Sugar = Sucre

***In French, a "prune" is a familiar word for a traffic ticket or a fine

See Beaujolais area on a French wine map (use enlarge icon to see it better)

Vignoble

Old Grenache grape in our future vineyard

Dear wine lovers,

I have the huge pleasure to announce that your "servitor" might put into actions his words regarding the wines he tries to describe in this blog.

Two months ago, we found a "vignoble*" with 21 acres of vines in the beautiful rocky terroir and village of Sainte Cécile Les Vignes, near Cairanne, the Majestic Mont-Ventoux and the beautiful Dentelles de Montmirail where Gigondas and Vaqueyras wines are produced.
**The grapes are mostly "King Grenache" in great shape despite their age (55) which, as you know, is always a plus in a quality perspective. There is also some 35 years old Carignan, a grape that gives awesome results when harvested on low yields, and some young Syrah. In addition, I will be renting another 7 acres of Mourvèdre and Grenache to vinify a total of 28 acres (10 hectares)**.

Most of the vines are located in Côtes du Rhône AOC and a small lot has been "banned" into Vin de Pays even if the general opinion tells that it produces better grapes. In fact, this area is not AOC because it used to be a river millions of years ago. But now, there is a lot of pebbles and the soil is not rich at all. That is one of these exceptions that confirm the rules of AOC...

Since the grapes were brought to the coop, a cellar has to be built and the race against administration has started. I need to be able to vinify the 2007 harvest in order to meet with the financial forecast and even if this will be in 10 months, it is not 100% sure to have this cellar built, especially after I told the administration that I wanted to use solar panels to produce my own energy. As you see, the fight against trying to preserve our planet is not that easy, even with the best intentions in the world.

Ideally, I would like to elaborate a wine that resembles to the ones I describe in this column :
- Working organically as much as possible (we call it reasonable fight) in order to have the soil live, harvesting grapes that are at full maturity, which means to have a perfect sanitary state in the vines. Since I plan to leave 4-5 grapes per vine for a 30-35 Hl per hectare (about 1,5 tons per acre), the grapes will be aerated and with better concentration, which permits to take this risk to harvest at full maturity even in the difficult years where rain can interact.
- Being very natural in the cellars using concrete tanks which will recieve the whole cluster (no de-steming). This will produce more tannins but with some great aging potential. In order to express the diversity of the terroir, I want to vinify in small tanks and there might be a short aging in used "demi-muid" barrels (600 L instead of the clasical 225 L).

That's about all I can tell you for now. We should start pruning the vines soon and, of course, you will get updates on what's going on in Sainte Cécile Les Vignes.

In the meantime, and if we want to make this dream come true, we need to sell our house and any help for that will be much appreciated. Please contact me if you or someone you know is in the market for a villa in Provence.

Special Cheers,
Jean-Marc Espinasse

Any comments, edits are very welcome at [email protected]

PODCASTS :
Listen to this whole edition in English (allow some delay depending on your speed internet connection)

Our "vignoble" is located in the Rhône. Learn about about this area with these two books :

            

*Listen to Vignoble

See where our vines are located on a French wine map

**Les cépages sont principalement le "Grenache Roi" en pleine forme malgrès leur age (55 ans) ce qui, comme vous savez; est toujours un plus dans une perspective qualitative. Il y a aussi des Carignan de 35 ans, un cépage qui donne des résultats étonnants lorsqu'il est vendangé sur de petits rendements, et quelques jeunes Syrah. En plus, j'aurai un fermage de 2,5 hectar de Mourvèdre et de Grenache pour vinifier un total de 10 hectares.**

Vino Italiano

My collection of Italian wines.
Note that 1967 Gaja Barbaresco that I will surely open next year for my 40th birthday...

PODCASTS :
Listen to this whole edition in French (allow some delay depending on your speed internet connection)
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Dear wine lovers,

Even if my knowledge in this country is very low and even if I still have not digested the world soccer final, I have to confess my sincere admiration for Italian wines.

Of course and surely because they are in the same wine category of my dear babies from Châteauneuf-du-Pape (small terroir, powerful, long history.. ), Barolo and Barbaresco located in Piemonte have been the first Italian wines to awake my senses. Then, I have expended my interest to Tuscany, especially after I had the chance to drink a Sassicaia.

More rencently, my friend Chris from Portland who distributes there fine Italian wines has opened my eyes to those beautiful wines coming from the North East and especially the white wines like those aromatic Traminers made in Trentino mountains located by the Austrian border.

*Of course, the list is much bigger but so far and besides some very nice wines coming from Sicilia and Liguria, that's about it for my knowledge*...

Last week-end, I had the chance to visit the Liguria area near the French border. Planted on these steep terraces linking the Mediterranean to the Alps, the Vermentino (also named Rolle in France) was harvested.

In the beautiful village of Ceriana, restaurant owners use to make their own wine with a small piece of land belonging inside the family circle. When we met Dario and its typical car,we helped him carry the grapes to his small cellar and were rewarded by this priceless home cooked mealoffered by Esmeralda**. During this "festino", Dario opened a fruity sparkling red from Barbera and Croatina grapes he made last year and a Chianti much less rustic than these Sangiovese wines I had before.

Another highlight of this trip was this outstanding Enoteca Consani wine bar in Ventimiglia where people from all ages and all origin get together to share a glass of wine. The wine list is impresive and they always come with those so delicious antipasti.

Besides its great wines, Italy definitely has this asset of welcoming people, even the ones they cruelly defeated a few weeks before at the world soccer cup...

Cheers,
Jean-Marc Espinasse

Any comments, edits are very welcome at [email protected]

PODCASTS :
Listen to this whole edition in French (allow some delay depending on your speed internet connection)
Listen to this whole edition in English (allow some delay depending on your speed internet connection)

Like me, learn more on Italian Wines with this beautiful book :

*Bien sur, la liste est plus grande et malgrès de jolis vins de Sicile et de Ligurie, c'est à peu près tout de ma connaissance**.

**Esmeralda's Pomodoro Basil Spaghetti recipe :
Ingredients for 6 people :
2 pounds of fresh ripe tomatoes
Italian olive oil
1 chopped onion
Garlic
Chopped fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pounds of Spaghetti
Parmesan cheese
Basil leaves
Preparation :
Wash, peel and chop tomatoes, discarding seeds.
Heat oil in a moderately deep pan, add onion & garlic and saute until onion is limp.  Discard garlic and add tomatoes, chopped basil and salt & pepper.
Simmer for about 20 minutes over moderate heat. While sauce is simmering, bring a large pot of water to boil.
Add salt to taste and add spaghetti. Boil until spaghetti is "al dente," aprox 8 to 10 minutes.
Drain spaghetti, toss with the sauce and the grated Parmesan cheese.

Great wines from Northern California

Châteauneuf-du-Pape ? Côte Rotie ? No, Healdsburg !

PODCASTS :
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Dear wine lovers,

To verify my great interest for red Zinfandel, I recently had the chance to visit with 3 different wineries that produce Zinfandel in Northern California.

*On June 24th, I left San Francisco on a sunny day to reach Napa. From there, there is a small road taking you up to Redwood where vines are planted in the small family estate of Hendry* :

Mike Hendry was waiting for me for a very interesting tour. The notion of terroir is deeply rooted here and Mike is always trying to fit the right grapes to the right areas, grafting vines with new varieties if necessary. Irrigation is monitored at its lowest and old vines are producing low yields upon a sustainable vine maintainance.The tasting of the whole range is very nice. Fruit, elegance are the key words there. Of course, I was completely delighted with the two red Zinfandels, especially "block 28" which is marvelous even with a 15,8% alcohol which is very well balanced with texture and acidity.

From there, I joined the "famous" Estate of Ravenswood near Sonoma. Of course, I know it is now part of the big constellation group but I had the chance to have a personalized treatment and we only focused on single Zinfandel vineyards plus 2005 barrel tasting. I really enjoyed the 2003 Belloni. From the barrels, Big River and Cooke were great but the best was at the very end when we tasted an open bottle of 1995 from Old Hill which was very complex (reminding me an old Mourvèdre) and still very fresh.

Continuing north up to Healdsburg via Santa Rosa, the landscape begins to be more and more sloped and there begins the great fun for a guy who loves terroir. For the first time, I began to see non irrigated vines, some of them (probably Zinfandel) being more than 100 years old. Arriving at Ridge Lytton Springs vineyards, I was welcomed by Gerald Stone who works there and right away I was astonished by the beauty of the landscapes which reminded me of the dear Chateauneuf du Pape, Banyuls or even Côte Rotie. No more irrigation there, steep slopes and old vines everywhere.
Barrel tasting and cellar tasting were all awesome at Ridge. Ponzo, Buchignani (including this superb 100% Carignane), Lytton Springs, York Creek, Independence School, Geyserville, Monte Bello or even this Syrah blended with 10% of Viognier....all was just great. Too bad I could not get more bottles on the airplane because, and I insist, this winery is just doing a fantastic job. The new building construction, ecologically made with straw and solar panels tells you the spirit of these wines and of such a respectful wise man, Paul Draper, who I would be more than honored to meet someday.

Then Victoria, Gerald and Loren invited me for a fantastic dinner at their house and we had the chance to taste, besides Ridge, the wines from Rochioli where Victoria works and whose vines are also located in Healdsburg. This superb 2002 Sauvignon Blanc had just evolved to nutty and honey hints with still a nice acidity. Then we had a 2000 Pinot Noir with this beautiful barbeque salmon recipe, which now enables me to tell you that there is at least one Pinot Noir in California that has the same elegance as the ones in Oregon, New Zealand or Burgundy.

At this point, and even if I surely have not tasted all the wines from Healdsburg, I am totally convinced that a great terroir is there and, here is the most important part, people understand it. All the guys I met there were so nice and were very close to my way of considering the wines. A good example is this memorable chat with Ross, the sommelier at Ravenous (who also participates in making this beautiful Pax rose wine, probably the best American rose I had with Unti), a great place to eat or with Pedro who runs the wine shop in this small charming town.
And this very French-rooted guy who currently export French wines to the US and who writes to you now, tells himself that he could live in Healdsburg, among the leafy slopes, and promote these great American wines without selling his soul to devil.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse

Any comments, edits are very welcome at [email protected]

PODCASTS :
Listen to this whole edition in French (allow some delay depending on your speed internet connection)
Listen to this whole edition in English (allow some delay depending on your speed internet connection)

A good book about the very US grappe variety :

See the California vineyards I have visited on a map

*Le 24 Juin, j'ai quitté San Francisico sous le soleil pour rejoindre Napa. De là, il y a une petite route qui vous amène à Redwood où sont plantées les vignes du petit domaine familial de Hendry*.

Sécateur

                      Jackie, "Harvest Queen" 2005                         

Dear wine lovers,

This special edition is on the wine-harvest which our family attended last week-end in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. A chronological photo album can be seen at the end of this edition and lots of videos (1 MB average - 30 seconds download per video) are available throughout this column so that you might get a sense of the ambiance of a harvest day. Enjoy !

An organized grapepicker has plastic gloves to prevent sticky hands and cuts. A good "sécateur"* is helpful for an easy cutting. This year was pretty simple since the quality was very good and there was no sorting to do with grapes. We just needed to be careful not to miss any grapes and not to snack on any of them, as they are a rare raw material there (Ok Maxime ?) Download vendanges_2005_4.wmv.

When the bucket** is full and nobody has come to empty it, you are allowed to shout : "Seau". Then buckets are put in big crates Download vendanges_2005_6.avi which will eventually be thrown into the crusher that leads to the tank Download vendanges_2005_1.wmv.

Picking grapes for two days is not so tiring and there is always the fun lunch and dinner breaks to look forward to. Lunch starts with the traditional pastis aperitif followed by barbequed sausages Download vendanges_2005_2.wmv. We drink rosé, white and light red but you have to wait for the dinner to get the Châteauneuf du Pape that will match perfectly with your Cassoulet. At the end of the meal, Jean-Claude comes with a crown made from a twisted vine to announce the "harvest queen". This year my little girl, Jackie, was unanimously elected as she worked very hard all day long Download vendanges_2005_3.wmv.

Jackie had, in fact, two celebrations (the second being her 8th birthday). For this special occasion, she was permitted to drink a small glass of Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1997 from Domaine du Banneret (sorry the website is only in French at this point), our family's vineyard where we had so much fun last week-end.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse

Any comments, edits are very welcome at [email protected]

*Listen to "Sécateur" : Download Secateur.mp3

**Bucket = Seau

See the chronological photo album of a harvest day in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Véraison

Dear wine lovers,

Véraison* (Download Veraison.jpg) is the technical word used to indicate the color change of the grape berries. In the olden days, before science helped to determine the right time to harvest**, people would count 40 days after véraison to pick the grapes. Also, it is said that the first one who would bring back to the village such a berry would get a kiss from the girl of his choice. Truth is that véraison happens most of the time in early August and that at this time period farmers have given all the care to the grapes and that it is now time for a rest before harvest arrives. So it is possible that the feast notion indicates the end of the hard work in the vines under the hot summer sun.

In Chateauneuf-du-Pape, véraison is an annual event that takes place the first week-end of August. A lot of medieval shows (Download mj_chateauneuf.jpg) involving the Pope are being played in the narrow streets (Download cellar_door_cnp.jpg) of this beautiful village. This year's feast brought together many more wine producers than usual, maybe because those vineyards that used to say that they had nothing to sell had actually some forgotten stocks... The problem is that those people who are not used to being in direct contact with the final buyer gave a very bad image of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Touring the stands, I met with two "big names" who let me taste white 2002 that were almost undrinkable and when I asked them what they have in stock, they would answer that actually they have 2003 but they won't let the public taste it because they were afraid that people would taste it too much and, I guess, they wanted to use their remaining bad 2002... Too bad, not only will they miss sales with this approach but they will damage their image and that of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Besides this setback, I actually had the chance to taste some very good wines. At this time the "great" 2003 have been released and even if it is said that it is a good vintage, don't always give away your soul to "God" Robert P.***. 2003 was hot but not that easy since a lot of grapes stopped maturing under the burning heat. I also tasted some pretty good 2002 that was supposed to be so bad by the same Robert...

Here are the vineyards I liked :

- Domaine Berthet-Rayne red 2003. Fruity, elegant with some liquorice

- Château Grand Tinel white 2003. Already very floral and some much more to expect

- Domaine de l'Arnesque red 2001. Evolved to tobacco and leather flavors and with a lot potential to give in the future.

- And obviously our family's Domaine du Banneret (Download Tasting.avi - heavy file which needs high speed connexion and will take you about 1 mn to download but it really worth the wait) red 2003 and even 2002 with its unique complexity given by the 13 grapes blended and all the devotion we put into it.

See you next year for véraison in Chateaneuf-du-Pape !

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse

Any comments, edits are very welcome at [email protected]

*Listen to "Véraison" : Download Veraison.mp3   

**Harvest = Vendange

***The famous American lawyer who found out that judging wine was much more profitable

To see Chateauneuf-du-Pape area on a French wine map (use enlarge icon to see it better) :  Download chateauneuf_du_pape.jpg