Our company began 12 years ago with Jenny and François’s dream to share their passion of a style of wines they fell in love with while living in France. That passion has spread gradually over the years with thanks in no small part to other importers like Joe Dressner, and today there are a whole host of natural wine lovers: customers, sommeliers, wine store owners, and an ever-growing list of importers, who love these wines as much as we do. With all the attention Natural Wines are getting in the media lately, we thought it would be fun to do a series where people talk about all the things they love about these wines.
Follow the whole series:
Part 1: Joe Campanale of Anfora
Part 2: Levi Dalton
Part 3: Pascaline Lepeltier of Rouge Tomate
Part 4: Fifi of the Ten Bells
Today we have an interview with Ben Wood, one of the wine buyers at 67 Wine on the upper west side, and one of those most responsible for its brilliant natural wine selection. Ben has helped build an incredibly avid following of natural wines in this upper west side institution. When we do tastings at 67, we are always amazed by the customers’ knowledge of our wines. Many of them are familiar with them for several vintages going back, and have become real natural wine fans. But Ben doesn’t only champion natural wines, he is also an accomplished Jazz guitarist. For information on his gigs, follow him on twitter at @7stringben. Check out what Ben likes about Natural Wine:
Our company began 12 years ago with Jenny and François’s dream to share their passion of a style of wines they fell in love with while living in France. That passion has spread gradually over the years with thanks in no small part to other importers like Joe Dressner, and today there are a whole host of natural wine lovers: customers, sommeliers, wine store owners, and an ever-growing list of importers, who love these wines as much as we do. With all the attention Natural Wines are getting in the media lately, we thought it would be fun to do a series where people talk about all the things they love about these wines.
In Part 1, we sat with Joe Campanale of Anfora. In Part 2, we had an interview with Levi Dalton, and in Part 3 we talked to Pascaline Lepeltier of Rouge Tomate.
For today’s installment, we sat down with Fifi of The Ten Bells wine bar, in the lower east side. I sat down for an interview with Fifi about a year and half ago, where you can read all about him and the wine bar. The Ten Bells is one of our favorite spots, and when our winemakers are in town, it’s their favorite spot too. Fifi is originally from Burgundy, and he infused Ten Bells with a classic French bar à vins feel, from the simple chalkboard wine list, to the glass jars filled with delicious potted meats. If you’ve been there before, you know it’s very dark, and therfore our camera struggled a bit with the low light. If you haven’t been there, what’s wrong with you!? Check out what Fifi had to say in this rare glimpse of him on film:
Our company began 12 years ago with Jenny and François’s dream to share their passion of a style of wines they fell in love with while living in France. That passion has spread gradually over the years with thanks in no small part to other importers like Joe Dressner, and today there are a whole host of natural wine lovers: customers, sommeliers, wine store owners, and an ever-growing list of importers, who love these wines as much as we do. With all the attention Natural Wines are getting in the media lately, we thought it would be fun to do a series where people talk about all the things they love about these wines.
In Part 1, we sat with Joe Campanale of Anfora. In Part 2, we had an interview with Levi Dalton.
Today, we have a talk with Pascaline Lepeltier, sommelière at Rouge Tomate. For those avid readers of our blog (you know who you are), you may remember the extensive interview I did with her a while back. In short, Pascaline is one of the biggest champions of natural wines working in restaurants in this country today. We’ve done several wine dinners with her and let’s just say that her pairings are magical. She is always coming up with ways to match wine where what’s in the glass doesn’t just complement the food, it makes both taste better. Sometimes these pairings break all the rules and are so counter-intuitive we just have to scratch our heads at Pascaline’s genius. She has built up quite a fan base, and we are all fans too! Check out what Pascaline had to say about why she likes natural wine:
We are very excited to announce the latest addition to our portfolio- Montebruno Wine Co in Oregon! We taste a lot of domestic wines these days, and were pleasantly surprised to taste these wines a few months ago and to discover the purity of fruit unsullied by the taste of oak. From the first sniff and sip, you can tell Montebruno is an unusual project. I sat down on the telephone for a chat with Joe Pedicini, the man behind these wines, to get a sense of his philosophies and background.
Joe grew up in New Jersey, and like many Italian families, his had been making their own wine for generations. His family originally came from Foglianise in Campania, and Joe describes their lifestyle there: ”Totally self-sufficient in almost a permaculture way. Growing and bottling wine was part of the cycle, along with curing pork from their own hog, canning tomatoes they grew, and hunting for mushrooms. They came to America and tried to find ways to recreate as much as possible the life they had back home.”
Joe learned a great deal about making wine from his grandmother Angela, who taught him traditional methods, passed down by word of mouth from her ancestors. Angela said there was a correct time to do everything in the winemaking process, including when to rack and bottle, often according to the phases of the moon. Angela never studied or even heard of Rudolph Steiner, but these “biodynamic” influences were the norm when you go back a couple generations in Europe, and she was following these traditions of her forbearers. He remembers her repeating the mantra, aspetta mancanza (wait for the waning moon), whenever they were trying to decide whether or not to intervene with the winemaking process.
Joe, with his grandmother, Angela.
His grandmother also never used any sulfur to make her wine. The wine didn’t have to survive shipping; it was a simple product for family and close friends. It was this familial style of wine that Joe sought when he started making wine in 2003 in Oregon. In tribute to his grandmother, Joe gave the winery his her maiden name: Montebruno. Joe explained to me that his development as a winemaker has been to pull further and further back from intervention every year, whether it’s racking one less time, or not stirring the lees, he always keeps in mind his grandmother’s patient ways in making the wine. Joe would eventually like to try making a wine with no sulfur added at all (he currently adds very little) and we can’t wait to try that!
Joe has developed several relationships with Organic and Biodynamic growers from whom he purchases his grapes. He is proud to say that these vineyards not only treat the land well, but that they also stand out in their good treatment of the workers who pick the grapes and tend the vines. He told me that they are well-taken care of, and have been working the vines for many years. The Montebruno wines are truly nurtured with care from start to finish, and are an excellent tribute to Angela. Look for them from your sales rep if you’re in the trade, or on the shelf very soon at your neighborhood New York wine store!
Our company began 12 years ago with Jenny and François’s dream to share their passion of a style of wines they fell in love with while living in France. That passion has spread gradually over the years with thanks in no small part to other importers like Joe Dressner, and today there are a whole host of natural wine lovers: customers, sommeliers, wine store owners, and an ever-growing list of importers, who love these wines as much as we do. With all the attention Natural Wines are getting in the media lately, we thought it would be fun to do a series where people talk about all the things they love about these wines.
In Part 1, we sat with Joe Campanale of Anfora. Today, for part 2, we have an interview with Levi Dalton, one of New York’s most beloved sommeliers. If you haven’t had the pleasure of being served by Levi, you’re really missing out. Not only is he incredibly knowledgable about the kind of wines we love, he is absolutely hysterically funny as well. We have fond memories of an impromptu holiday dinner the whole J&F team had when Levi was working at the now closed Alto. Levi was completely in his element. At one point I remember him pouring us champagne out of a double magnum, one-handed, without looking at the glass, cracking jokes at the same time, without spilling a drop. Actually I think he was pouring behind his back and also happened to be juggling some flaming torches with his free hand. These days you can catch Levi (if you’re lucky) at one of the many Daniel Boulud restaurants. We sat with him at Boulud Sud for this quick interview, in which Levi has some thoughts about natural wines, and winemakers, that made even us think about them in a way we hadn’t before. Check out what he had to say, and also don’t miss his hilarious blog, So You Want to be a Sommelier?
Our company began 12 years ago with Jenny and François’s dream to share their passion of a style of wines they fell in love with while living in France. That passion has spread gradually over the years with thanks in no small part to other importers like Joe Dressner, and today there are a whole host of natural wine lovers: customers, sommeliers, wine store owners, and an ever-growing list of importers, who love these wines as much as we do. With all the attention Natural Wines are getting in the media lately, we thought it would be fun to do a series where people talk about all the things they love about these wines.
For our first entry in the series, we sat down for a talk with Joe Campanale. Joe has become a legend in a short period of time. He co-owns Dell’anima and L’Artusi, two very successful Italian restaurants in the West Village, as well as Anfora, one of the hippest wine bars in the city. The list at Anfora focuses heavily on winemakers, dedicating a full page to a biography of each. Anfora hosts special “Producer Nights” every Tuesday that feature all of one winemakers wines at very reasonable prices by the glass. Joe also looks great on camera, and he’s appeared on Top Chef and the Rachel Ray show, so he’s probably the most famous person we know who likes Natural Wine! Check out what Joe had to say in this video:
Today the New York wine industry is afire with discussion about an “At Rest” provision of the 2012 New York State alcoholic beverage control act. The two largest corporate distributors of wine and spirits are lobbying for this change in the hopes of destroying all the competition they face from small to mid-size importers and distributors like Jenny & François Selections. The provision would require all wine sold in New York State to come from warehouses located in New York State. Our wines are currently warehoused in New Jersey, as are all the wines of all but these two large distributors. If this provision were approved, we’re at a loss for how we would be able to do business at all. In fact one wonders how the network of smaller retailers, restaurants, and bars, would be able to stay afloat were they only able to sell the mass market industrial wines sold by those two massive corporations.
We’re extremely blessed in New York City to have such an amazing array of small production, artisanal wines to choose from. This is a direct result of the huge number of small importers like our company, and would not be possible without the affordable warehousing available in New Jersey. The large distributors pushing this agenda are threatened by their loss of market share, and are attempting to fight back by lobbying the state to effectively destroy their competition. Please don’t allow them to get away with this, please contact your senator to let them know how you feel about this.
The issue was brought to our attention by Eliot at Verity Wines, who had the following to say about the issue:
“Imagine a landscape with only the two largest wholesalers remaining to work with. Selections would become painfully limited. Prices would most certainly rise. Service would plummet. Their pro-“at rest” argument (union warehouse jobs and revenue) is simply a veiled attempt by this wholesaler to destroy all of the fine wine wholesale competition, because most of your valued New York wholesalers would undoubtedly be forced to close their doors. We have contacted our State Senators to tell them that we oppose “at rest” in either legislation or budget language. We urge you to do the same before FRIDAY, MARCH 9th. Please contact your Senator to tell them you oppose “at rest.” The procedure is quick and simple. Please just click on the link: http://www.nysenate.gov/senators. Type in your address and zip code under “FIND MY SENATOR” and hit submit. Fill out the online form with your information (ignoring the drop down box), type “At Rest” in the Subject Line and either craft your own statement or feel free to copy and paste the paragraph below. We thank you for your time, your attention, and most of all your support.”
Dear Senator,
It has come to our attention that one large wine & spirit wholesaler is lobbying you to include “at rest” in the 2012 budget. They are claiming “at rest” will create revenue for the State. But, as a licensed, small business that buys from many wine distributors, I do not agree that it would create revenue. Instead, I believe that “At rest” would result in hundreds of closed businesses, including both wholesalers and retailers, and at least a thousand unemployed New Yorkers. As such the State would lose hundreds of millions in taxable revenues from passing this bill. The volume of wine sold in the State (and the accompanying beverage excise tax revenue) would severely decrease. Consumer selection would be limited and the price of wine would escalate with the costs inevitably passed on to the consumer. Moreover, the ancillary effects of the resultant higher unemployment, lower sales and income tax revenues collected, would further exacerbate the current economic position of the state, not improve it. With the above in mind, we urge you NOT to vote for “at rest” either in legislation or in the budget language.
Thank You
Update: There’s also a petition you can sign here.
This is Paul, hiding mysteriously among his vines.
We are very excited to announce our latest discovery and addition to our portfolio: Deep Creek Cellars from Maryland. Yes, that’s right, we said Maryland! Jenny blind-tasted the staff recently on the wine and we all guessed the wine was French, a bright and fresh carbonic “vin de soif” (wine-for-thirst) style wine. Some thought it was from Beaujolais, others thought the strong backbone of earth placed it as one of the wines François made from his own vines in Burgundy that we will get in to New York sometime this year. We were shocked to discover the wine was from the East Coast of the US. There is quite clearly nothing else like this wine from this part of the world.
I sat down on the phone with winemaker Paul Roberts recently to discuss how he came to produce this wonderful wine. Paul explained to me that he wanted to make wine from organically grown grapes primarily to protect his own health as well as that of his customers. He would have been the person using an air sprayer and hazmat suit to spray the chemicals on the vines, and he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. He also believes that trace amounts are bound to make their way into the wine, and he doesn’t see how that can be healthy.
Having said that, Paul explained to me that working organically on the East Coast presents its own very special and unique challenges. There are five diseases that can affect vines in this region, which Paul said as far as he knows is unique in the winemaking regions of the world. Two of these diseases, downy and powdery mildew, are quite common and combatted around the world with the use of copper and sulfate sprays (perfectly accepted sprays in organic viticulture). But while the other three -phomopsis, anthracnose, and black rot- are not unheard of in other regions, if they become established during a high-moisture Eastern summer they can devastate an entire vintage of grapes. Two of the three diseases are completely unhindered by organic sprays and preparations. Paul explained to me the black rot is a type of fungus that forms on the leaves and grapes, and once it appears, it can spread like wildfire throughout the entire vineyard. Once this happens, the entire vintage will surely be lost.
Paul does grow some European Vitis Vinifera, but considering these challenges, he prefers Frontenac, a hybrid grape variety bred to be very disease resistant. He explained that the lineage of this grape is quite complex, but involves the crossing of several American varieties and an unheralded Vinifera. Paul found through trial and error over 10 years that a traditional fermentation of Frontenac produces a wine far too acidic to drink. After many failures in making a drinkable wine, a few years ago he did some research and discovered that the last-ditch effort of French winemakers in such a bind was to make a nouveau style wine using carbonic maceration. He was delighted to discover that the carbonic style made the acidity very pleasant and the fermentation took place easily and quickly with native yeasts. This produced the beautiful wine we tasted.
Paul doesn’t make much of this wine, just four barrels worth. If you’re in the trade or press, he will be at our portfolio tasting coming up on February 15th as part of Winemakers’ Week, pouring samples of the wine so you can taste it for yourself. If you’re not in the trade, don’t worry, you won’t have to wait long as we expect this wine to quickly make it to the shelf at the shockingly low $15 dollar price point.
We are very excited to have just added a last minute special winemaker dinner to the schedule for Natural Winemakers’ Week 2012, at The Farm on Adderley, in Ditmas Park:
Sunday, February 12th, 8pm, 4 courses with winemaker Alain Rochard from Loup Blanc in the Languedoc, $65. Email thefarmonadderleyevents@gmail.com for reservations.
Chef Tom Kearney is a rare breed: he’s a chef who not only knows how to showcase the best of high quality fresh ingredients but is also an expert in wine. Tom took a year off from cooking a while back just to work in a wine store and immerse himself in that world. The results is that the pairings he puts together for a winemaker dinner are some of the most phenomenal and creative we’ve ever tasted. Tom and his partner have created a place that is really part of the community, and designed the menu to be “sustainable,” in the sense that they wanted people to be able to eat there 3-4 times per week and still feel good about themselves. Around 80% of the menu is sourced locally, and the menu changes regularly to reflect what’s in season. To go along with that, the Farm’s wine list is also one of the most naturally focused restaurant lists in the city, so it’s really one of our favorite places to eat! We sat down with Tom recently and he riffed on natural wines, how he thinks about matching them with food, and more:
Now that all the grapes are picked and fermenting, or in some cases, have finished fermenting, the winemakers have some time to write us with reports on the 2011 vintage. The first of our 2011 vintage reports comes from Emmanuel Guillot-Broux in Macon. Domaine Guillot-Broux has always been an organic winery. Unlike many vineyards that began using chemicals in the 50′s and 60′s, they stubbornly refused to change their ways. Fortunately for me, Emmanuel was a sommelier in London for many years and speaks English beautifully, saving me the hard work of translating his thoughts about the 2011 vintage:
2011 was a peculiar and difficult year. The year started with a dry spring and summer with not a single drop of water from March to the 15 of July. The result was we moved the harvest ahead 3 weeks. June started perfectly with no mildew or oedium and a very good rhythm for the work in the vinyard. In July we were really worried and concerned about the lack of rain, and the vines were at the limit. After the traditionnal 14th of July celebration, we started to have rain and far too much until the end of August. The result of that weather was all the grasses started to grow very quickly. Normally August is a quiet time for us in the vineyard, but this year we had to cut the grass. During the spring we have to plow because the vines are growing so the grass need to be removed, but in August usually everything is in place and the grass has no effect on the production. The more it rains the more the grass grows, which is usually helpful, because it helps dry the soil. The only negative side effect which needs to be watched is the grass needs to be cut as soon as possible because long grasses can retain the humidity and create some rot on the grapes.
We harvested the 5th of september, and because of the dry spring the skins were very firm and resisted more than normal. Because of the rain, we had a low level of alcohol, which we like, but also we had a lot of work to do the “triage” [selection] in the vineyard, which is another good reason to harvest by hand.
We were all very happy with the result in the wine. The red has a lot of color, very soft tannins, and is very fruity and amazingly ready to drink young. I love these kinds of vintages because they really show the amazing work of the team in the vineyard and that makes a big difference with all the mechanised and chemical-filled wines of the region. Don’t miss the wines in the spring, they will be delicious! For the white, we just needed to be patient for the alcohol to go up and then we harvested. They will be less complex than 2010 (which was an amazing vintage) but will still be a good classic vintage with nice acidity.
Check out some photos at the 2011 Guillot-Broux Harvest Photo Gallery!
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