Chateauneuf-du-Pape

My mother was a teacher. My wife is a teacher. My father is a teacher. My step-mother is a teacher. All of them have mentioned the “Ah ha!” moment students have, and list this as the reason they continue to participate in what is probably the earth’s most under-appreciated field of work.

I have had several of these “Ah ha” moments in my “wine life.”

• Four years ago I had a bottle of 1996 Araujo Estates, from the Napa Valley (With friends at a Super Bowl party, of all places) – Ah ha!


• A year prior, a dear friend brown-bagged a Chateau Lafite from 1978 on me. We drank it with hamburgers after too many beers, still – Ah Ha!


• On my honeymoon in Tuscany I drank Brunello di Montalcino in a castle with my amazing new wife -- Ah Ha!


• I swore I’d never pay $50 for a bottle of white wine, and then bought and drank a bottle by Didier Daganeau. I would have paid more. Lots more. Ah Ha!


• Yesterday, I visited Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Aaaaah Haaaaaaaa!!!!

In fact, probably the “Ah ha” to go to the top of the list

Chateauneuf-du-Pape (written as CDP from here on, as you can understand) is a wine appellation in the Rhone Valley, France. CDP is also a village. The appellation, although named for the village of CDP, truly exists around 5 small villages in Southern France – Chateauneuf-du Pape itself, Orange, Courthezon, Bedarredes, and Sorgues. There are 13 varietals planted and used in the appellation -- You can click on them to learn more (cool huh?) On the red side, Grenache Noir, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Picpoul Noir, Terret Noir, Counoise, Muscardin, Vaccarèse and Cinsaut are allowed. For whites the only choices are, Grenache Blanc, Picpoul Blanc, Picardan, Clairette, Roussanne and Bourboulenc. Typically, these wines are fruity, rather light in color, as far as reds go (unless you score a great one), and rather heavy on tannins. They are appealing, because of their balance of fruit, density, weight, extraction and acid. They pair well with all kinds of food. They are friendly, but usually need aging, because of the tannin content.

Yesterday, we arrived in the village of CDP at 7:00 pm. We would have dinner in the hotel, at 7:45. As I waited in my room, watching a futbol match, of course, as I’m quite the fan now, I got a knock at the door. Bernard, my guide on the trip (he makes wine for the winery I’m working with), alerted me that we’d had a change in plans. “Get ready, we’re going to Avignon.” A gentleman by the name of Didier, a local wine broker and winemaker, was taking us to dinner. Didier’s family has been in the Village for 6 generations. He is intimately familiar with the area, the wines, and the history. He also looks nearly identical to Don Johnson -- Not kidding.

Avignon is 10 km from CDP. It is a walled city, built to withstand attacks during the middle-ages. In the 14th century the Pope took his residence here, in a castle that, I can tell you first hand, is one of the most magnificent structures ever built. CDP is where the Pope made his Summer residence, as Chateauneuf-du-Pape literally means, "New Castle of the Pope." In fact, you can see the castle in Avignon from the summer castle in CDP (I did!). They used to send smoke signals to one another so that the Pope would know all was well in Avignon during his holiday just 10 km away (if only they'd had cellphones). The castle in CDP has not fared (faired?) as well over time. It was badly destoyed during the religious wars, and then further destroyed in 1944, when German troops set dynamite inside its walls. What you see in the picture is where their dynamite failed to detonate.

We had dinner in what, to this point, is the most impressive restaurant I’ve dined in. We drank a Chateau St. Jean, Chateauneuf-du-Pape from 1996. As my hero Dave Matthews put it: “My mind is blown.” Remy-Martins followed. And then bed – thank goodness.

Knocks came again at 8:00 am. Didier was back. “Get your things, we’re tasting in 10 minutes.” I shrugged, mainly from lack of coffee. “Come on man (French accent too), you’re in Chateauneuf – ha ha!” I’m still not sure he slept.

At 9:00 am I met a splendidly rustic looking Frenchman named Pascal Maurel. M.Maurel is the winemaker at a facility his family has owned for over 250 years. M.Maurel drives a dented white Fiat van. M.Maurel told us we had to wait to taste, because the only way to get to the cellar was through his Grandmother’s house, and she didn’t like to wake until 10:00. Lastly, M.Maurel has produced one or more wines that have scored 98 points, or better, from Robert Parker in each of the past 8 years. He had two 100 point wines in 2006 and two in 2005. In 2007 he made the number three wine in the world, and scored another 100. In 2005, he made the number two.

If we’re comparing winemaking to basketball, this guy is Michael Jordan…. Okay.. but if he’s not Jordan, he’s certainly Larry Bird.

First, we tasted the samples M.Maurel had for sale, that would possibly be purchased by the winery I’m working with. I won’t bore you. Suffice to say that I was told that 2008 is a “terrible vintage.” The wines were unforgettable. It gets better.

M.Maurel then looked at me, and in VERY broken English asked if I’d tasted his wines before. “No, unfortunately not,” was my response. He spoke French then, to Didier and Bernard. Didier looked at me then, and laughingly said, “You, Josh, are a very lucky man.” As it turns out M.Maurel had hosted a Wine Spectator tasting in the same tiny little room below his Grandmother’s bedroom that we now stood in, just the evening prior. He had the 2005, and two 2007 wines open. AAAAHHHH HAAAAAA!! You see where this is going?

Honestly, I can’t put into words everything these three wines had to offer. They were so rich, so concentrated, so fruit driven with raspberry, blackberry, blueberry (I love Grenache!) and yet so full of tobacco, tar, cigar box, new asphalt, dried meat and sweet, sweet oak. UNBELIEVABLE weight, with an oily mouth-coat and tannins that I’ve never experienced before – incredibly long, incredibly fine, and incredibly powerful.

Yeah. Like that.

We visited the vineyards after. The Rhone River has been important to France since before the time of record keeping. Over time, like all rivers tend to do, the Rhone moved around, swelling and changing course. The vineyards in this area are planted on land that used to be the bed of the Rhone River (I stole a rock for you Matt!). This is one of those things that you can’t believe until you see. We love to talk about “well drained soils” in the US – How’s this for well drained? You can imagine now, the power that these wines have. Every molecule of energy the vine can create goes into making the grapes sweet and concentrated.
Can you believe that picture??!! Click on it, and it will come up much larger -- you'll really get the idea.

We left CDP soon after. My most powerful and fulfilling experience thus far.

Hope everyone reading is doing well. I've been on the road all week this week, and have been thinking of everyone. I'm almost ready to come home. Almost.

Take care.

JB

Checking In

Hello Everyone!

I have just a few minutes here to talk, and wanted to let you know what I've been up to.

I spent the majority of the last two weeks on the road with one, or more, of the winemaking team. We have been visiting more Co-ops (you're all experts on how they fit into the scheme of things here now) and Chateau's to taste and discuss the wines, as well as make our first try at discussions of quality and get some notion of what the producers are expecting in terms of pay, vs. what the negotiants are willing and able to pay. Some of the conversations have been tense, and others have simply ended quickly with what appears to be a quick dismissal of our proposed spend. They've all been fun to watch -- kind of like the world's longest game of charades.

I have also been given two large projects to work on here. Exciting for me to be brought into the fold and asked to help out. The first is a huge oak trial. The staff is using many types of oak adjuvants (this means oak aside from the traditional barrel) but focusing mainly on oak chips. It is illegal to add chips during the fermentation, but legal post primary fermentation, prior to ML. Keep in mind that it's done anyway, everywhere. I started discussing other types of oak (staves, fans, etc) upon my arrival and the team was very receptive. I have created a large trial on four wines -- two base-level wines (red and white) and two AOC wines (one red and one white). I've also worked out some tannin trials -- there were doing no post-fermentation tannin adds, and I was quick to tell them of the success I've seen using this method to drive green tannins out of a wine, and replace them with riper tannins of my choosing. This, I feel, is a huge step forward for the wines here -- especially in a vintage like 2008, when many were forced to pick earlier than they would have liked, and the tannins never quite matured in the red grapes.

The second task is a bit of busy work, really. It focuses on the winery's desire to produce and import an "organic" wine into the US. I've been doing lots of research with the USDA, TTB and other French organizations to see what the requirements are for moving a wine certified as organic in France, into the US market while retaining the certification under US standards. They are different, as you can imagine -- for goodness sakes, we're talking about a place where bringing your dog into a restaurant and letting him roam about while you eat is totally common place. I had a dog jump on my lap and beg for bread at a cafe a few days ago. No joke. Anyhow, you can see how our definitions of appropriate food and beverage certifications may differ.

On a more personal note, Katie and I have done a bit more travelling. We had a long weekend this past one, (November 11th is Armistice Day, in case you didn't know -- we call it Veteran's Day, and apparently made the name change sometime in the 1950's. The day is really to commemorate the end of the first World War, but the US decided to make it a day to commemorate all the US soldiers -- and don't think the French aren't still upset, not that it bothers me). Anyhow, we left Bordeaux and drove to a tiny beach town called Saint Jean De Luz. It was great! A charming little place with a fantastic beach. We walked for hours, just checking it out. We had a few good meals there too. The view from our hotel room was amazing! From there we moved South, and drove into Spain.

We stopped in San Sabastian, another beach town. Now -- I gotta say, I relish the opportunity to visit France, BUT, if you ever get the chance, do not hesitate to throw France out the back-window and travel to Spain. SO MUCH FUN. The entire way of life there seemed so very different. In France, you walk on egg-shells about everything: Speech, manners, etc. In Spain, not so much. We stayed out till midnight eating tapas and drinking beer and sangria. Funny thing was, we were two out of thousands -- and it was Sunday night. Check out the kids playing soccer (futbol, right?) in the streets while their parents drink "vino clarito," that is rose to you and me. Awesome. And my Spanish got us around just fine. It was amazing. The man tending bar in the picture above was awesome. I was worried about speaking to him -- the first Spanish I'd had to speak. When Katie and I walked in the door he took one look at us and said, "Do you speak English?" We laughed, "YES we do!" He replied, "Ahh, you are very lucky, because I am only able to speak English to beautiful women!" Check out these tapas!

Fun.

Back to work following that. We're working on plans for a "release" of Beaujolais Nouveau today -- to include food and drink for all. If you're not aware, the "release" is a big deal here, as this wine is released on the 3rd Thursday of every year. It, strangely enough, is the perfect Thanksgiving wine! Young, ripe, and very drinkable. Perfect for helping you choke down dried out Turkey. I intend to have some this year with my chicken (we're going to celebrate as well, but Turkey is hard to find in France).

Miss you all.

JB

Ramblings of the French Wine Business

I am in the car now, on a long journey to Southern France. I will use the time to ramble on about a number of things. Also, being a work trip, I thought I should talk a little bit about wine business here, the systems in place for grape growing and wine making, and how those factor into my visit here.

The winery I am working for is large. They own their own estate (you’ve seen the chateau) and have a small vineyard there in which they grown and make their “chateau” wine from.

As you’ve noticed, I’m sure, I haven’t said the name of the winery (negotiant) or the chateau for which I am working. I won’t. The company I work for is not simple-minded when it comes discussions of proprietary matters in the public domain. Besides, all of you reading this know where I am, who I am working for, and the “mother company” I’m speaking of.

They also produce a massive amount of wines from all over France. These wines range from 3 euros to 25 euros in price. By far, the 3-6 euro segment is the largest. These wines are purchased, as wine, and then blended to produce the bottles needed for these price points. This makes the winery I work for a “negociant,” not a winery, in fact.

The French Cave Cooperative:

The French wine business is much different than its American counterpart. Few people buy grapes, as the economic structure here doesn’t make that choice pencil out. Instead, wineries purchase wine to make their blends, instead of purchasing and making wines themselves – unless of course we’re talking of the French “chateau,” in which all the grapes are grown, made and sold by the chateau. When you hear chateau, think “estate.” They are roughly the same idea.

During the 1930’s winegrowers throughout France realized that making wine independently was far too expensive. If they could find a way to pool their money, build a winery and share the expenses associated with wine production they could make a lot more money off their crop. Ha! The co-op was born. A cooperative is a winery owned, at least in part these days, by the winegrowers making their wine there. Think of it as a credit union, but for wine production. Quite literally every small village in France has one. Some are old and antiquated, and staffed with old-school winemakers with little regard for current techniques or research (see below), and others are full of peak technology and studious winemakers. Not kidding: the bad ones feel like you are in the dark, stinky bowels of an old steam ship mid-way across the Atlantic. I have been sure, more than once, that I would turn a corner to see soot covered men shoveling pomace into a fruit-fly covered pit in much the same way they must have shoveled coal into the furnace to make the engines turn. The bad is very, very bad. Likewise, I have also seen co-ops with serious money to invest, who have exceptionally clean cellars and fantastically current equipment.

The co-ops are, as I said, run by growers. In fact, each one has a president and governing staff elected by the winegrowers of the area. Among other things, this insures that the co-op continually acts in the best interest of the local grape farmers. These elected officials hire whatever staff necessary to make the wines – be that winemakers, cellar staff, record keeping staff, etc. The winegrowers of the local areas farm their grapes and have the wines made at the co-op. When the wines are made, the co-op sells them (via a broker – a whole ‘nother topic) to the negociants that need to purchase them. Obviously, the less the production costs and the more the purchase price, the happier the wine grower. The president is in the position to feel out the market each year, and offer wines based on current demand.

The other strange thing here is that the negociants and the co-ops do not have any contractual obligations to one another. The co-ops will make their wines and, simply by a hand-shake, agree to sell them to the negociants when the time comes. Likewise, the negociants agree to take them when the time is right. At this point, there is no discussion of price NOTE: This is the time of year we’re in right now. We’ve traveled around, checked on quality, but have no idea how much these growers will ask for their wines when it comes time to exchange money for wine. Obviously, a problem occurs when this hand-shake deal doesn’t materialize. Often the negociant (usually not the co-op) will decide that quality is not what was expected, and will walk away from the deal. Obviously, this leaves the co-op in a bad position as they are now forced to find a means to dispose of thousands of hectoliters of wine. Yes, hectoliters – we’re not in the US, remember?

So -- From a winemaker’s perspective, I must say this system sounds TERRIBLE for wine quality. With no face-to-face relationship with the growers it must be extremely difficult to discuss and certainly demand increased quality. The joke is that the grape growers really don’t care about ripeness and harvest timing because they all want to be picked out before hunting season starts. This “joke,” like most, is funny because it’s true. Also, like growers in the US, they would rather pick when the grapes are plump – less ripe -- (and therefore heavier) than when they are desiccated – more ripe. In what has been a good move, the co-ops have started ranking wines each year, and, based on both their tastings and demands of the negociants, giving bonuses to the wine growers who produce the highest quality fruit. This move has, according to the negotiants, increased quality tremendously.

I must say, that I had this very romantic vision of what the wine industy in france would be like. Certainly, the chateau’s, fifth-growths up, and even some below are something to see, and the quality is like I’ve never experienced in the US, even in Napa. In fact, I have had 5th growths here that rival the best that Northern California has to offer. But, make no mistake about it, wine is big-business here. With big-business comes the duty to make a product at a cheap price, and there is certainly plenty of that here too. It’s been a bit of a reality check, for sure.

There are pictures to follow, but I can’t get to them now.

Stay well.
JB

Le Chateau

As promised, I thought I’d chat a bit more about our “home base” in Bordeaux. The Chateau is a true, 17th century chateau. Today, it houses the wine company’s offices, the “company flat,” that Katie and I are staying in, as well as 12 other bedrooms, a full kitchen, and bar, a pool/game room and two massive wine cellars (I’ll get to these in a another post, but in the mean-time, can you say “first-growth magnum collection”? I knew you could). During the week guests visit and stay in the chateau’s 12 guest rooms. Usually these are large company groups, or rewarded sales staff from around the world that have excelled at the promotion of the French winery’s wines. There is NO ONE around on the weekends, save Monique, a lovely woman who lives on the property with her horse-size dog. Believe me, if you lived here alone, you’d have a huge dog too.

Oh – and “the hunters” also make their appearance on Saturday mornings. They have been enlisted to kill off the excess of wild boars that roam about at night, rooting around the chateau’s landscaping for consumables. Obviously, we have a sundown curfew, as to avoid being gored to death.



The flat (pictured at right), in all honesty, is extremely modest, despite its romantic appearance. Perhaps it’s our American life that makes me think so, but I was quite taken back when it was first shown to us. There is very little furniture, and an adequately, but not contemporarily stocked kitchen. We had some bug issues, and it’s quite cold, unless you close our bedroom door and blast the radiator – that’s right, the radiator. I shouldn’t complain though, as we have our own bathroom, toilet included (don’t ever underestimate that convenience in Europe), a nice place to sleep (beats my urine-stained-mattress, hostile based trip to Europe in college, hands down), and, when I’m not on the road traveling for work, my office is only steps away. Not bad. AND – we get six channels of French TV! You laugh, but you haven’t lived until you’ve watched Little House on the Prairie dubbed over in French.

Also, we have managed to really spend very little money on the trip, as we have become quite proficient at the local ATAC grocery store, and have made many of our own meals thus far. Nothing says “trip to the gastronomical center of the world,” like pasta and sauce from a jar, am I right? Don’t worry, when we have gone out, we’ve gone big. Dinner last night almost killed me. Apparently, in France, some genius thought it a good idea to not only serve an appetizer (called an entrée here) before the meal, but to also serve a sweet one before the dessert! In this case it was a small plate of fresh strawberry puree and local cakes. We had quite a time. The wine was a Vosne Romanee by Robert Sirugue, 1998. Absolutely at the peak of its game. Qui!

Next post will be the first tales of my travels with the winemaking staff here. Two very colorful Frenchmen, one who speaks perfect English, and one who speaks almost none. Both gentlemen have been fantastic to us thus far.

Stay well.
JB