Foire Aux Vins (wine promotions)

The Revue de Vins de France special issue for the “Foire aux Vins” (Wine promotion), tasted again 2006 and 2007 top Bordeaux.
They included :
La Dominique 2006 et 2007
La Commanderie de Mazeyres 2006
Prieurs de la Commanderie 2007

Also listed was a 2006 Dentelles cuvee from our Calvet-Thunevin vineyard (was it necessary). The comment and note is intended for amateurs looking for powerful wine and optimum ripeness: “warning, amateurs who like southern wine with a northern taste, stay clear”.

If this could bring some kind of consolation, Hervé Bizeul’s wines are treated with the same spirit, even if he got better notes.
…When I think that I teamed up with Jean-Roger and Marie Calvet to make wine which reflect the area, and not make Bordeaux, was I wrong?

Portrait

A few weeks ago we had the visit of the photographer Jon Wyand (wrote about it on this blog). Below, one of the portrait he made during his visit.

Meal at home

With 9 wine pros.

Meursault Perrières 2001 - 1er cru des comtes Lafon, delicious
Pape Clément blanc 2006 very good tasted blind in flights of 3.

2005 :
- 3 Marie 2005 Calvet Thunevin (definitely a great bottle)
- Lafleur Pomerol 2005 (?)
- Valandraud 2005 (was already very good)

1995 :
- Cheval Blanc 1995 (finesse, elegance)
- Valandraud 1995 (very young, a bit southern in style)
- Harlan 1995 (kudos for ripe Cabernet)
Quadratur de la Coume del Mas 2001 Banyuls (always good) and from Brazil – Cachaça, a powerful type of rhum…

Vive Brazil

By chance this is the year of France in Brazil and Casa do Porto organized a professional business trip.
We took a nice T.A.M. flight to Vitoria where our friends greeted us at the airport and drove us (me and Carlos) to our hotel to drop-off our luggage.
Following, we visited Vitoria’s boutique and restaurant and had a “gargantuan” dinner of grilled fish, lobster with a group of friends which ended late.

The next day, Sunday, we went with TV crew and a group of journalists to visit a farm where coffee is grown in biodynamic technique. The charismatic boss Enrique showed that there are a lot of similarities between is way of making a good coffee and ours of making good wine. The other days were dedicated to interviews, professional tasting and meal with our importer’s clients.

We met a lot of people in Vitoria, Belo Horizonte and especially Sao Paulo. Many articles were already published and I realized that this big and beautiful country has a quality distribution network.

It's hot!

Here is St Emilion, the temperature is around 35°C (95°F), in the shade!

And in SaoPaulo ?

Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing.

« Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing.»
These are the words pronounced by Jesus on the cross. I am becoming more sensitive to the idea of God, destiny, life and its limits!
However, this is not the reason why I decided to give this title to my last post before leaving for Brazil, but because of some close friends of mine who decided to suffer by drinking a few bad bottles simply to check an obvious fact. Giving notes, classification or comments doesn’t necessarily gives credibility to a journalist, or a media he, or she, writes for. The job of wine critic, as well as the producer, doesn’t need diplomas or talent to do it. It is actually the case for many jobs, and it is not only in the wine industry that this causes problems. As far as I am concerned, a few wine critics should urgently get their palate readjusted, at least for the minimum required (defects), by good teachers, some good wine professionals, winemakers, enologists, even colleagues. The Ability to Taste University Diploma (like Jean-Marc Quarin) or other forms of training would be useful and would allow a few critics to be not as bad and criticized, as long as they have a the basic qualities required, a palate in good condition and a working nose!

Not everyone has the talent of Parker, Bettane, Burtchy, Rolland or Dubourdieu, and many more, but whoever hires a bad journalist will end by losing all his clients and advertisers if they don’t impose a minimum requirement. I speak about taste, of course. However, it is not the only one raising questions, bad judgment, cultural or political a-priories, even racists ones can be even more serious.
My friends who wanted to taste a few bad wines did also drink a few good bottles and have a good, even very good meal.
I will list no names for the moment, even if I really want to. I will let you guess who I am thinking about.

Brazil

I am leaving for Brazil with Carlos via Air France.
We are going there to work, even if it hard to imagine to go to this country only to work. Last time I went with Murielle, we visited the beautiful falls of Iguaçu on the border of Brazil and Argentina, a natural beauty with a flavor of paradise.
It is our turn to work well and sell our wines as well as those of my friends so we can deserve to go there regularely.
We will be:
- in Vitoria August 15, 16, 17
- in Belo Horizonte on August 18
- in Sao Paulo on August 19 and 20

In the meantime, Murielle stays in Saint-Emilion, for she deosn’t want to fly, at least for the time being? She won’t get bored though as there are a lot to do in our properties, even in August.

Readings

Useful : The classification published on the blog of the Grand Jury Européen.

A message for François Mauss.
Could you please put aside a Rayas 2002 so we can drink it together with friends. I need to learn!

Realization?

There is no profits in lower priced wines. Producers lose money and this creates a issue for the entire national wine production.
Who wrote this? Our minister of Agriculture? the head of INAO ? Of the CIVB? No! It is a high ranking Australian official : Mr. David Lowe.
There, or here, we come to the same conclusions.

Stronger than VINOGUSTO ? Will they replace todays media ?

Snooth is the equivalent of Facebook for wine and was created in 2007. I heard about it only last August 6, 2009 ! In Château de Carles, where a few young guests, not interested in “old” styles of wine showed me the site on their Blackberries or i-pods or whatever sort of hand held device they used!
Wines reviewed are mainly for the American market. (with 600,000 visitors per month, it’s huge).

Why this name. Stronger than Vinogusto. Two days after, I met in my store, l’Essentiel, the creator of Vinogusto, Mr Marc Roisin (his name should have been Raisin (grape in French) !

I wasn’t paying attention to this site Vinogusto which claims to have 500,000 visitors, mainly Europeans, French, Belgium.