Wine Tasting, Vineyards, in France

Caves Fillot & Valencay AOC

Just happened to discover a wine store that is a vivid reminder of the time wine was delivered horsedrawn in casks in and around Paris , and sold directly for consumption . This store was founded in 1894 by Charles-Pierre Fillot and Leon Fillot in Gentilly , just outside Paris near "Porte d'Italie" . It is still at the same address : 22 Avenue Raspail , Gentilly (ph 01 49 86 04 04) , easy to find on the Gentilly map (runs between the orange and the purple zone), you could even walk from "Porte d'Italie" , I think . At this time Gentilly had 4 wine dealers , as being just outside Paris exempted the dealers from the taxes levied on wine delivered directly from the wine regions to Paris . At the beginning , "Etablissements Fillot" bought large volumes of wine to have it aged in casks and delivered to cafes and restaurants in Paris . You still can see today the huge casks and the vats used at the beginning of the 20 th century . Today , Jacques Fillot still sells wine , though mainly in bottles . He has a very large selection of wines , including big names of different wine regions . He also operates a restaurant nearby : "Aux Foudres de Bacchus" ( ph: 0033 (0)1 46 63 77 30 ) But what made us come in the first place , was the tasting event "journees portes ouvertes" organized by Alain Segelle there to honour the newly gained AOC Appellation by the Valencay wines (last november). Valencay will organize festivities next september 4-5 to honour the event . Valencay wine is one of the Loire Valley wines . Valencay wine region is located just north of Valencay , and on the south bank of the Cher river . This is about 70 km east of Tours . The Valencay region is the first to have an AOC label for two products , the goat cheese and the wine . Valencay is famous for its chateau , a well preserved 16 th century chateau that was the home of Napoleon Bonaparte's minister Talleyrand . Talleyrand's furniture , paintings and personal belongings have been preseved , as the estate grounds and the gardens . Valencay can be reached by train from Paris (train change in Salbris) . ===Click below for more===

Caves Auge Tasting (Fifth)

Fifth edition of caves Augé tasting (116 Bd Haussmann, 8th arrondissement in Paris), on this saturday , june 19 th . Beaujolais is making this day . Today I will not take notes . Just the pleasure . Arrived alone on my motorcycle with an extra helmet , Benedicte joined me after her work . Another beautiful afternoon , I don't think they had a single rainy day since they started this . Isn't Beaujolais a festive wine ?

Beaujolais usually is not my favorite wine but it is associated with the "Beaujolais Nouveau" days in autumn and there is something festive in it . That was a good idea anyway to stage a Beaujolais tasting day in june, far from the Beaujolais Nouveau craze , and with selected producers like the ones they invited today .
As usual , the tasting takes place on the sidewalk along the store , between 11 am and 7 pm (lasted a little more ) . Each producer stays behind an empty cask with bottles and glasses , answers questions while pouring his wine .
Attentive Caves Auge staff takes away emptied glasses and brings clean ones . While the tasting takes place, it does'nt interfere with the store where customers still come and go , some foreign buyers join in the melee . As I arrive, someone from Caves Augé directs me on a producer , difficult sometimes to make your choice ...
I will taste and look and listen . B. soon arrives . Many people here know each other . There are producers happening to be in Paris , professionals of the dining & drinking industry , oenophiles , and simple amateurs like me .
This part of the Boulevard Haussmann is not the hustle bustle area with thousands of shoppers going to Galeries Lafayette and other stores . More quiet here and tasters who come here are people who know about wine , or Caves Auge customers , or other wine culture afficionados happy to get together and enjoy the thing .
Some are getting accustomed to the spitting bucket . Not me . Not that I drink all the wine I have in my glass , but I prefer to drop the extra wine in the bucket than spit . That is less sacrilege , or a more natural thing to do , it seems to me . That's probably the line between amateurs and professionals , I concede .

Dard & Ribo

link to the 2010 visit at Dard & RiboA glass of white RhoneNorthern Rhone
It has been 25 years that Rene Jean Dard and Francois Ribo work together . They are wine producers that have gathered over the years a cult following among wine passionates , in France and as far as Japan . They now work on a 7,5 hectares vineyard split on 7 villages. The chai is located near Mercurol (a short distance east of Tain l'Hermitage), close to the Autoroute A7 which connects Provence to septentrional France . They themselves live a few kilometers away. They work on 7 or 8 different terroirs with different soils.
They use two types of pruning, goblet and tie-up, depending of the slope and other terrain conditions.
Septentrional Cotes Du Rhone is the wine region where the vines need the most foliage , which in result needs the goblet pruning.A cask of "Saint Jo" Organic viticulture with something more. Their wines can be labelled "natural wines" , and as such need careful transportation. Our host points to the seriousness of their japanese customers who respect strictly the imperative of careful transportation at controlled temperature all the way to the wine store. Their relationship with the japanese public is a long story. This is a country where big names are important, but also where new innovative winemakers are singled out by some wine experts looking more for quality and authenticity than fame. And a growing number of japanese wine amateurs are daringly exploring in this direction.
One of the stories our guest likes to tell is also how this relationship began, when very long time ago , he saw a japanese young man travelling accross France on a bicycle, lost in the backroads near his house. He invited him to stay a while as he was having festivities with friends the following days. He says he is not sure to have treated him well during this first contact, they joked a lot etc, but his was the beginning of a long friendship: This young man later made his carrer in the restaurant world in Japan and rediscovered as such Dard & Ribo's wines...

Maison des Vins in Chateauneuf Du Pape

Initiated by Chateauneuf Du Pape Appellation wine producers , Vinadea , the "Maison des Vins" located in Chateauneuf Du Pape , has a selection of 90 Domaines whose bottles are available here . Acting as a showroom for the Chateauneuf Du Pape wines , it offers right in the village a huge selection of wines of great quality at the producers' price , same you would pay if you went directly at the property . And you can taste wines free of charge among a selection that changes regularly . The institution's goal is not making money selling wine , it is making the Chateauneuf Du Pape wines better known to the visitor , who can make his choice for a purchase , or just taste the wines to discover them . In one place you can reach different Chateauneuf Du Pape Domaines , wich is not always easy when you try to visit the actual Domaines . Some are understaffed to receive you , and also you have the different busy seasons where staff is streched to many tasks in the vineyards and the cellars .

The Chateauneuf Du Pape area is more geographically delimited than geologically : It lies on a plateau , but with 5 different soils underneath . On the picture on left , you can see the view from the village , on the Rhone far away .
One of the common characteristics of the vineyards' soil here is this incredible layer of rolled quartz pebbles , many orange or grapefruit sized , that cover the ground . You even wonder how something can grow on such big stones . It is said these stones store the heat at night in the ground . And of course the roots go very deep . These stones were shaped long ago in the Rhone river bed , or by the moving glaciers .
Chateauneuf du Pape was the first Appellation in France , thanks to Baron Leroy of Chateau Fortia , who saw new rules as a way to counter fraudulent practices and declining quality of wine in the region at the time . This was in 1923 . The new rules were : Minimum 12.5 ° alcohol , Hand harvest with selection on the spot , Restricted yields , And a list of grape varieties plus a delimited area ; At last , a tasting panel to check the wines . This was in 1923 and soon to follow was the "Appellation Controlée" system applied to other french wine regions .

View inside the "Maison des Vins"***Click below for more***

Chateauneuf du Pape : Domaine St Benoit

Domaine Saint Benoit was created in 1989 with the merging of three old family wine producers . It works on 26 hectares and also has a dealer activity , selling under its name wines selected among the best in the region , but out of the Chateauneuf du Pape Appellation .
They apply on their own Chateauneuf Du Pape production the strict rules of the Appellation . One of these rules is the separation in the vineyard itself , at harvest time , between the best matured grapes , due to make the Chateauneuf Du Pape wine , and the "rapé" , or lesser quality grapes , that will be used to make more ordinary wine . Here they strictly apply this practice , with the use of blue picking buckets for the best grapes , and red buckets for "rapé" . They even make a second selection among the blue buckets grapes to fine tune the first selection .
Maximum yield is 35 hectoliters/hectare .
Domaine Saint Benoit is one of the rare Chateauneuf Du Pape Domaines to effectively have the 13 different grape varieties . They are separately vinified and even more , some have separate vinification depending of the vines age .
They also work separatelythe press wine and the free run wine , called here "jus de goutte" .
1 . We tasted first Chateauneuf du Pape 2000 Domaine Saint Benoit Vieille vigne de Roussane . Vineyards on a very poor soil , called here "fersial" , as an abreviation of its composition (fer-si-al) .Very red soils . Low yield . At ambient temperature , fennel , lemon aromas . At colder temperature , honey aromas . Powerfull in mouth .100% Roussane variety . 13,5 °. 25,1 Euro . Vats used for this wine , no casks .

A grape at St Benoit . Look at the stones!

Alsace : Domaine Weinbach

Domaine Weinbach "Clos des Capucins" is located near Kaysersberg , wich lies at the mouth of a valley leading to Col (pass) du Bonhomme . The village itself is dominated both sides by the Vosges wooded hills . Weinbach means "wine stream" in the local german language , and this is the name of the stream going through the place . The Domaine Weinbach was in fact a monastery built in 1612 by capucines monks , who made wine on the original 5 hectares of the clos . Seized at the revolution , it was later sold by the authorities as "Bien National" to successive buyers , as it happened all over France for church belongings , and the grandfather of today's owners bought it in 1898 . The Domaine is managed by two sisters , since 1979 : Catherine and Laurence Faller . They have now 27 hectares , of wich the 5 hectares of the original Clos . Soil is generally sand and alluvium on a granitic bed rock . On the whole , 110-130 000 bottles yearly in the Domaine . Yields are limited by short pruning in winter . Organic viticulture for about 10 years , half is in Biodynamic rules . In front of the elegant former monastery , hundred of roses , along the building , and also in other parts of the garden . Catherine Faller receives us in an elegant and charming tasting room where you feel through the pictures and the furniture the history of the place . A beautiful wood stove like you found in mansions is there , in perfect shape . The owner then introduces us to a wide selection of her wines . Click below for more...

Alsace : Gerard Schueller

Domaine Gerard Schueller is a winery located in Husseren Les Chateaux, a few kilometers south-west of Colmar. Gerard and Bruno Schueller work on 7 hectares , of which more than one hectare in Pinot Noir ( 40 ares of Pinot Noir were bought in 1993 ) . Bruno Schueller follows on the whole the biodynamic rules, but the estate did not sign up for the formal membership and certification. The winemaker is very independant-minded and says the goal must remain central : to be free to make the wine you want . So, if it can be said that he works with "biodynamics" , he wants to stay free from strict frames, and keep the focus on elaborating his wine .
He does pruning and some topping of the vines . He considers topping (cutting some of the leaves and canes to limit competition between leaves and grapes) a trauma for the vines which brings disharmony in the plant-system and unnecessarily increases the volume as a reaction . So he prefers pruning (pruning is done in winter, and consists in cutting and shortening the vine's extremities), which results in smaller foliage volume, with the result that there is little need of topping later in the year .
The cellar in which Bruno Schueller speaks about his work and where we are going to taste is very cool , even cold , especially compared to the 30 ° C or so outside . This is the natural cool temperature of the place as he doesn't use any air-con .
So, now he takes some wine samples directly from the casks :

Click below for more ...

Alsace : André Kientzler

André Kientzler is a family business wich is making wine for 5 generations . It is located in Ribeauvillé (68150) , route de Bergheim ( On Bergheim road ) . Phone is 0033 (0)3 89 73 67 10 . The vineyards building is just outside Ribeauvillé . It was built 30 years ago amidst vineyards you can see all around . Previously they were in the middle of the village wich as said before, posed a lot of problems because of lack of space in historic farms , and because tourist life , with its hotels , restaurants and pedestrian zones , collide with the daily traffic of viticulture machines and trucks . The new setting offers views on the vineyards, on the village and inbetween , on the Carola plant : Ribeauvillé is not only well known for its wine , but it has water springs and its Carola bottled water is a favorite of alsacians . Carola was even a renowned thermal spring (between 1870 and 1918 , Ribeauvillé was renamed Rappoltsweiler under german rule and a lot of visitors went to "Carolabad" for the health benefits of the water) . On the picture at the top made in Ribeauvillé , you can see the vineyards afar , and a medieval fortress that dominates the place . Alsacian slopes offers many of such fortresses , most in ruins , that tell of unsecure times .
André Kientzler makes all alsacian grape varieties , except Pinot Noir . So , only white grape varieties in this Domaine. Last year was a special year with special weather conditions : Flower time came as early as the end of may , wich is unseen . To compare with 2004 , as of june 8 th , no flower had appeared yet . Usually , it is said that grape harvest comes 100 days after flowering .
Now lets taste . Kietzler's Pinots Blancs are said to be of great interest . So we will begin with them . Click below for the tasting list.

Alsace : Jean Baptiste Adam

Jean Baptiste Adam heads " Caves Jean Baptiste Adam" , a family business located in Ammerschwihr and whose roots go as far as 1614 . 14 generations over 400 years . A genealogical tree displayed in the tasting room shows the detail of the family history . JB Adam is also president of the " Syndicat Viticole d' Ammerschwihr" . The Domaine is spread on 15 hectares , on the village and its surroundings . Wide selection of wines .Grands Crus . And the Kaefferkopf wine , a specialty of Ammershwihr .Kaefferkopf appellation is to become the 51 st Grand Cru of Alsace . The vineyard is fragmented in about 100 "pieces de vignes" , or small vineyard lots , some of them having a surface as small as 4 , 5 or 8 ares . JB Adam also buys grapes from other vineyards around , to elaborate the wine himself . He of course selects what he buys for the quality of the grapes and of the terroir/soil . This adds some 60 hectares production to his own 15 ha . Some farming rules and strict conditions have to be respected by the seller so that the quality of the grapes are guaranteed . That is the task of the "Chef de culture" to follow up with the different sellers the correct implementation of the viticulture rules chosen by the Domaine . The Domaine , after 5 years of organic viticulture , joined the biodynamic viticulture rules , since the end of 2003 . On the Domaine's 15 ha first , then in the future on the sellers' vineyards . JB Adam also bought Domaine Kuentz-Bas , wich is managed separately . Jean Baptiste Adam studied in Burgundy and came back in Alsace in the 80's He shows us around the machines and the cellar .. Pressing is done by several pneumatic presses , slowly , beginning the pressure at 0,2 to finish at 1,8 . He appreciates pneumatic pressing as it allows high precision and _ if needed_ working on small volumes . The result can be sharply adjusted to what is looked for . Different conditions of the grapes ask for different pressings . He shows us the debourbage tanks where the deposit from the must is separated , then filtered to obtain a separate juice . This is a very alsacian practice .Impressive casks , some thoroughly restored The cellar is a very cool place with magnificient wooden foudres . Jean Baptiste Adam regularly restores some of them to be sure they will add another 100 years on their already long life span . Restoring a cask or a foudre is painstaking and costly . There is only one traditional craftsman ( in french we say "tonnelier") that does that in Alsace . And giving him such work is also part of helping Alsace wine cultural heritage . His name is Jean Baumert and he lives in Barr .

Alsace : Marcel Deiss ( Bergheim )

Link to the 2010 visit at Marcel Deiss Marie-Hélène Cristofaro The Domaine Marcel Deiss is located in Bergheim, near Ribeauvillé in Alsace. It is today managed by Jean Michel Deiss. The Deiss family settled in Bergheim in 1744 and made wine since that time. 27 hectares spread around Bergheim. Biodynamic viticulture since september 2003, after years of organic farming techniques.
Marie Helène Cristofaro, oenologist at M. Deiss, gives us a detailed account of the way the vineyards as well as the grapes are the focus of the attention to reach the best quality in the wine. Good grapes makes working on the wine easier. Light filtration. Relatively slow Fermentation : 3 to 6 months. No fertilizers. The must (juice) is low on nitrogen, and the only yeast used are the ones present in the grapes' skin, the indigenous yeast. That's why fermentation is slow, which in return brings rich aromas. Hand harvest. Yield is 25-30 hectoliters/hectare on "Grands Crus". On "Appellation communale" yield is 45-50 hectos/hectare. To get a high quality juice, pressing is intentionally slow, which is possible due to the high number of press machines here (relative to the size of the Domaine). Grape juices will ferment slowly (6 months for a "rich" wine) in big wooden foudres. Wine will be fed by its own lees; further "batonnage" will keep the lees in contact with the wine for a better exchange. Foudres in the cellar The cellar and surrounding lot we visit was bought by Domaine M. Deiss 10 years ago, allowing easier work with big storage capacity. Space is scarce in Alsace and many winegrowers have trouble working in the villages themselves, as modern machines and equipment need space, as pedestrian zones are not viticulture-friendly, and as real-estate prices skyrocket. The cellar is very cool and the contrast with outside where it is close to 30 ° C is striking. The wooden casks and the big foudres line up in the dim light.
Foudre bung Here, no tartaric acid is being added to the juice contrary to what is done in other places around. Marie Helène Cristofaro points that in the past, the wine spent commonly 20 years in tanks and casks on its lees before being bottled. This led to rich aromas in the wine. In the cellar, we can see alambic-shaped glass tubes at the top of the big vats. They allow the fermentation gas out, and the water in the tubes prevents the outside air from coming-in too freely. When fermentation is running high in all the wooden "foudres", it makes a distinctly audible waterpipe noise all accross the cellar.