Paris Wine Bars : Juvéniles

Juvéniles, rue de RichelieuYou don't need to be a wine geek to feel at home at Juveniles. Here is one of the earliest wine bars in Paris, a place where you go and will come back not only for the diverse wine list but also for the joyful company of its Scottish owner. Tim Johnston is indeed a Scot, and it is by the way ironic that the wine bar wave in Paris was initiated by a Brit and a Scot...
I shot this picture on the right a couple years ago, Tim Johnston was receiving Gilles Lapalus, the French winemaker of Sutton Grange Winery and we could all at Juvéniles taste his Australian wines.
Tim Johnston worked at Mark Williamson's (the Brit) Willis' Wine Bar from january 1981, the wine-bar concept as we know it today was new then paradoxally even though there was no shortage of wines and cavistes in Paris. Going to a bar for its clever selection of wines by the glass was something rare as strange as it seems.
Juveniles is by the way located very close from Willis Wine Bar which is around the corner on the rue des Petis Champs. It sits at 47 rue de Richelieu, a very central location near Palais Royal, the Louvre and the Grands Boulevards further north. Don't expect a terrasse, the sidewalk is very narrow in this street and even if it's not a large street it's an important one-way thoroughfare going from the rue Lafayette and the Grands Boulevards to the Louvre and the rue de Rivoli.

Juvéniles, the tables The room is not very large at Juvéniles, there are a bit more than a dozen small tables, so if you are a big party it may be wise to reserve. You can also come early like 7 pm, it's quiet then, you'll be among the first visitors and Tim will have more time to chat about the wines and other things. That's about the time I dropped there recently and there was only the three people at the table in the back on the right [pic on right], they're regulars and one of them is a Welshman who works near here. Other customers soon came in and the placed filled up quite fast.
I checked the wines-by-the-glass list, some 15 wines from France and a few from Italy, Australia and Lebanon (the wine list changes regularly). Glasses volumes are 12 cl and the rates are good for Paris, starting at 3 €. I flashed on the Chateau Musar on the list (a Chateau Musar ! my first one !), it was only 6,5 € and I wouldn't miss the chance. It's actually a "second vin" made from younger vines, but by reputation, a second wine from this estate couldn't be ordinary. Chateau Musar is a legend by itself. The Hochard family came to Lebanon from France in the 1400s' with the crusades and lived there ever since. The winery was started by Gaston Hochard in the 1930s' under the French mandate in Lebanon with export to France in mind. It makes wines which have reached a quasi cult-status among the wine connoisseurs. The winemaking style changed gradually since the start of the winery and Chateau Musar wines were already known 30 years ago for being exceptionnal. I heard several people say Musar wines were among the very best in the world. According to Gaston Hochard (the gradson of the other Gaston Hochard), the philosohy was to try to make wine in the most natural way possible without any additives and they still continue to that day. There's only about 15 wineries in the whole of Lebanon, and Chateau Musar's vineyards lay in the Bekaa valley at an altitude of 1000 meters. One side of the Bekaa valley (the north) is by the way also a stronghold of the islamist militia Hizbollah. Tim says that although the vineyards went unscathed from the fightings that took place years ago there, there has been a time during the civil war when the Hochars took a machine gun on the tractor to go to town...
This Chateau Musar "Musar Jeune" red 2007 is a blend of Cinsault, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. The label reads 13° in alcohol and the mouth agrees, that's very reasonnable for a hot country like Lebanon must be. This wine is so nice, beginning with the nose, and the tasting notes on the back label say it so well : intense flavours of cherries, blackcurrants, blueberries and violets finish on warm, spicy, savoury notes...And that is a second wine... This is intense and refined at the same time, and onctuously delicious, it was realy an experience up to my expectations. Tim says that until this second wine went out Chateau Musar was too expensive to have the wine in the shop. Plus, the one which is very well-known is a white which is quite oxydative, which he doesnt like, he considers that it's an intellectual wine, sort of, not a passion wine.Kaori (Issé restaurant) visiting TimTim is a lucky man, Kaori of Issé (the Japanese restaurant next door) visits him with a bowl of delicacies. Tim tells me that this restaurant has a Sake bar with an outstanding selection of Sakes. I'll take note of that... Before we explore further Juvéniles' own food and menu, let's see the other wines by the glass :
There are a few bubblies, a Prosecco Di Valdobidiane extra dry (28,5 € a bottle), an Australian Green Point Vintage Brut Rosé (8,4 € glass), Champagne Moutardier Brut Pu Meunier (9,5 €). The wines, red and whites are diverse and reasonnably priced, starting at 3 € and a couple of them peaking at 8,5 €. When I last visited, there was three whites : a Petaluma Clare Valley Riesling 2001, a Picpoul de Pinet 2008 Domaine Felines Jourdain and a Pouilly Fumé 2008 "les Cris" by Alain Cailbourdain. There was also a liquoreux, a Monbazillac 1996 Cuvée du Chateau Grande Maison, Terry Despres.
The reds were Coteaux du Lyonnais 2009 (Guillaume Clusel), Cahors 2007 Cèdre Héritage, Casamata 2008 IGT Toscana (Bibi Graetz), Cornas 2007 Empreintes (Durand-Durand), the Musar Jeune 2007 and a Beaujolais Primeur 2009 Cuvée Vieilles Vignes Domaine du Vissoux. There's a rosé too, the menu having a line in French saying : "in spite of the cold, a sip of rosé to boost the mood" : Côtes de Provence 2009 rosé Chateau de Roquefort "la Poule de Bédoule".
Tim is a Scot after all, so there a nice list of harder drinks, Apero'z, Muscats and Sherries from Spain and Australia and at last, the Hard Stuff chapter ("a wee dram afore yer go") which are Cognacs, Fines Champagne, whiskeys and whiskies (prices from 6 € to 11 e and a couple at 15 €), and even an intriguing Versinthe (5,5 €). Tim Johnston even bought his own cask for the 20th anniversary of Juvéniles : Compass Box Malt Whisky (natural cask strength 53,9°), 11 € a glass.
This list evolves permanently and Tim also adapts to the seasons, offering for example in winter wines that go well with the season and the food. And anyway he likes to see the wine list change regularly. Employees at Juvéniles are often Anglos, young expats who also play a role in the fact that the venue is casual and friendly. Tim doesn't hire regular sommeliers but prefers people who also have other passions in life.Tim Johnston, cavisteThis is the other side of Juvéniles : it's also a wine shop where you can choose among the 60 different wines (I guess they're not all displayed) and pay to go as you would do in your usual wine shop. To make things clear, the wines on the shelves have both prices displayed, the one to go, and the one to drink on the spot. An interesting thing to note is that Juveniles was originally a wine shop where you could eat some tapas on the side. Tim had worked several years with Mark Williamson at Willis' Wine Bar and in 1984 they created a wine dealership under the name of Great Grape Traders, a company that still exists to this day. He jokes about the long name because he says there's so much bureaucracy papers to fill in France, with each time the name of the company to write, that if he had better known he would have chosen a shorter name...So, they were selling wine in addition to the Willis bar, and they opened this Juvéniles shop in 1987, serving some tapas with wine. Then after a few years they felt that the French clientèle needed something more substantial to eat with wines and they changed the menu. In 1998 the two long-time associates separated and Tim took the wheel on Juvéniles and Great Grape Traders.Wines to goHere are a few wines and prices (to go and to drink here) : Toscanana Casamatta 2008 (Bibi Graetz) 11€ & 22 €, Musar Jeune 2007 Bekaa Valley, Lebanon 16,5 € & 32 €; Blanco de Tempranillo Tierra de Castilla 2008 12 € to go, Macon Villages 2008, L'Oeuvre de Peyraud 9 € to go, Montlouis sur Loire, Domaine Moyer Brut 9 €, Sauvignon Touraine 2009 Domaine des Corbillières 2009, Chateau de Roquefort, Côtes de Provence Les Mûres 2006 10,5 €, Chateau de Roquefort Côtes de Provence les Genêts 2009 (white) 9 €; Serras Del Priorat 2008 Clos Figueras 18 €; Heathcote Shiraz 2006 Greenstone Vineyard, Victoria(Australia) 24,5 €; Marcel Richaud L'Ebrescade 2007 Table Wine (Magnum) 56 €; Bandol Chateau Pradeaux 2003 26 €; Domaine Cluzel-Roch, Côte Rotie Les Grandes Places 2006 72 €; Domaine A. Caillebourdin Pouilly-Fumé Les Cris 2008 15 €.
Tim Johnston selects himself the wines, and there are also quite a few foreign wines there on the shelves. He likes the wines that are rich and neat, he says, adding that he likes the wine itself, not the wood. He says that the most important word in wine is balance, and he doesn't want to drink things that are high in alcohol with nothing behind. Asked if it's not too difficult to avoid these wines in the Rhone, he says that Marcel Richaud who makes wines at 14° or 15° still gets a balance that others don't have at 12°. Asked about tartaric-acid addings he says that it's like wood, if it's well done and discreet it's OK.The food : There is a large choice of dishes, the entrées and the main courses totalling 19 dishes if my math was right. Random extract (in French, sorry) : Soupe du jour 5,5 €, Tapenade d'Aubergines, tomates séchées & olives, toasts 7,5 €, Choriso à la plancha 7 e, Saumon mariné à l'aneth & pommes tièdes 11,5 €, Foie gras maison & salade-toasts 12,5 €, Fromage de chèvre rôti sur toasts & salade 10,5 €, Magret de canard rôti au miel & épices 16,5 €, MacSween's Haggis n'tatties (Scotland) 17 €, Véritables andouillettes de Troyes AAAAA "dréssées à la main" Albert Lemelle 18 €, and many other dishes. Also 5 different cheese plates and 5 desserts including Toni's Cheesecake (7,5 €). Juvéniles filling upLike for the wines-by-the-glass list, Tim changes regularly the list of the wine shop, replacing wines by other finds. Roughly, he says, it changes every 3 months, following also the season tastes like for the glasses. One thing to note, he says , is that since 1990 he doesn't sell any reds from Bordeaux or from Burgundy as he doesn't like Pinot Noir for example. He likes the Rhone wines, it started at the time he was living in Aix en Provence, before working at Willis. In the early years by the way, he says, Willis had the best selection of Rhone wines in the world... Since then the wine scene has changed and it's hard to compete with places for example like La Beaugravière in Mondragon (south of France) where they have an incredible cellar list including different older vintages of the same Rhone wines............Did you know that Juvéniles has its own cricket team ? You can see the cricket shirt on display on the wall [picture on left]. The players are expats living and working in Paris and they are quite good at it : last year they played 4 matches and lost only one, and in one of them they even beat Mick Jagger's cricket club. Mick Jagger lives in the Loire part of the year as you may know and set up a cricket team there too...
Also on the wall [picture on right], you can see many paintings, most of them been authored a friend of Tim. His daughter Caroline who is an artist also occasionally creates labels of Juvéniles' special cuvées. Yes, Tim Johnston makes his own cuvées from time to time, and in his previous life before 1984, he vinified for example at Chateau Montelena in Calistoga and Jordan Winery in Healdsburg. He also vinified in Margaret river in Australia, a region he considers the only one in Australia to make great Cabernets. Australia used to make in the past great blends of Cabernet-Shiraz, he says this blends fits perfectly with Australia's conditions. Speaking of Tim's ties with the wine trade, his ancestors were at Ducru-Beaucaillou a couple of centuries ago, and he says that there is a letter written by a Johnston from there saying that sadly because of a bad harvest in Tain L'Hermitage, this would affect downward Bordeaux's wines, which proves that at the time this blend was also made in Bordeaux [or that the Rhone wines were used to correct Bordeaux wines].Scottish bagpipes in ParisI must have lived a former life in the green misty mountains up there because I fall for Scottish bagpipes. We have a CD at home with celtic music from various regions including Britanny and Ireland, and I discovered long after listening it over and over that the three tracks that I liked the most are precisely the ones with Scottish bagpipes. They are the original, the only true bagpipes that I know, and if you put drums with them, you can conquer the world (ever listened to Kitchener's Army by Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia ?)...
Speaking of Tim Johnston's family ancestry, Tim says that he is the first one in his direct family tree since 300 years not to have been in the military or fought a war. He says that there was a split of the Johnston family several centuries ago following the civil war and part of the family left Scotland for Australia or for Ireland, the latter taking ground also in Bordeaux. The Johnston Negoce is still there today to prove it.Juvéniles47 rue de Richelieu75001 ParisMetro Palais Royal (line 1 & 7)Closed on sundays and mondays lunchtimephone 01 42 97 46 49juvenileswinebar [at] gmail [dot] com

Comments

[Lynn]

Great photos. We love Juveniles, but I've never thought of it as anything other than Willi's poor relation. You did a terrific job of making it look as inviting as it actually feels once you get there.

[Aaron]

This is a very sweet piece. I'm a big fan of Tim and Juveniles. I hope to go back soon.

[Château du Petit Thouars]

This is definitely a place that every wine lover visiting Paris should know about!

[Rajesh]

If I'm not wrong, Torbreck's Cuvee Juveniles was created for this bar...

[Margaux JOHNSTON]

I love this place and this man (Tim)...my Dad! Thank you for such a great description of both of them!
ps : those painting aren't by my sister's but a friend of tim's!

[Bertrand]

Yes, that's right, Rajesh, I remember that. Didn't taste it though.
Thank you Margaux ! And thank you for dropping in ! I edit the painting thing right away.

[petra, london]

the place is an institution and should be visited whenever possible. i have been going back since it opened in 1987 and it never fails to bring a smile to one's face. Enjoy.

[Peter Hendrixson]

Wonderful portrait of the place and the man! I had the privilege of working for Tim at Juve's in 1988, and have been back a couple of times since. I'm looking forward to seeing him and Steph in NYC this weekend. He is truly a unique human being, and they are two of my favorite people on the planet.

[Greg NYC]

I am looking foward to visiting in Feb 2011. :-)

[Rafael]

Visiting March 23-26. Hoping to find a Savignin. Do you bring it from Cotes de Jura?