If you are like me you may trust some book imprints, record labels and varied tastemakers when making new picks.
The same thing applies in my case regarding wine. I trust the palate of a number of importers and distributors.
The process can be gradual. You buy one wine, then two, then more bearing the same label. You enjoy it and a connection is established.
This happened to me in the past year with Becky Wasserman Selection. I contacted them in January to see if they had any tasting scheduled in the New York area this spring.
Even though I was an unknown quantity to them Becky was kind enough to put me in touch with her son Peter, their 'Head of Antimarketing and Sales Prevention'.
Looking for an update, I e-mailed Peter a week ago and funny enough he happened to be spending the day in New Jersey.
He invited me to meet him at lunchtime.
I took him up on his offer which also gave me a chance to practice my French.
Peter has lived in France since he was about 3 years old and I guess has spent more of his lifetime in my native country than me.
Good wine and good food run in his blood.
After a quick bite, I followed Peter to local shop Wine Ventures for a quick tasting of 6 of his wines, all from Burgundy.
On the bubbly side, from Bouzy, the Camille Savès Carte Blanche Brut NV (75% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay) has my vote for its elegance and staying power.
Quick note:
"The grapes are sourced from 100% estate-grown fruit; 60% comes from two
vintages, and 40% from reserve wines. The Pinot Noir fruit comes from
Bouzy, Ambonnay and Tours-sur-Marne Grand Crus.
The Chardonnay comes
from Tauxières Premier Cru."
From the same house (should we put Camille Savès in the Grower champagnes category?) we also tried the Rosé Brut NV.
In the mix:
"A blend of 60% Chardonnay & 28% Pinot Noir from two vintages in
Bouzy Grand Cru, this rosé gets its color from the addition of 12%
Bouzy Rouge."
The Savès family is no newcomer, they got started in 1894.
Then we tackled two whites, Pouilly-Fuisse to be precise by the Bret Brothers of La Soufrandiere.
We started with "Le Clos Reyssié" 2006 which the dynamic duo feels is "the most famous terroir in the village of Chaintré
(one of the four villages producing Pouilly-Fuissé).
They selected a 60
year old plot in the lower part of the East slope of the Clos, on
rather deep soil on a vein of very hard limestone."
Even though this full fleshed, rich chardonnay satisfied me, I still preferred their Climat "En Carementrant" 2006 from south facing vineyards in Vergisson.
Note that "the altitude (a high 350 metres or 1150 ft) and the orientation of "En Carementrant" make this great terroir one of the best in appellation Pouilly-Fuissé. The 40 to 55 year-old South-facing vines are right under the majestic cliff of "la Roche de Vergisson" and east of "la Roche de Solutre".
I could not quite put my finger on why "En Carementrant" had my preference until I realized it was because of its minerality.
We finished our Tour de Bourgogne with 2 reds.
Peter and Becky started an experiment in 2006 with Le Jardin de Charlotte, an assemblage of wines from north and south Burgundy made following their instinct and inspiration put together with the help of Anonymous, a famous winemaker.
I have to admit that I liked the 2007 vintage (which we sampled that day) even more than 2006.
I found it solid, richer. Peter attributed that to more black fruits in this edition. The 5% of Gevrey Chambertain should not be neglected.
What a good pinot noir should be and for only around $18.
Second Red and last on our list was the 2006 Lignier-Michelot, Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles-Vignes which if I could describe in one word 'Impressive'.
In case you wondered no snails were served.
Related: 'Le Jardin de Charlotte', A Standout Pinot Noir, You know Burgundy
and From Handball to Wine Crazy: Mas du Fadan Rouge (not a Rhone Ranger)
Recent Comments