Appellation Feiring http://WWW.alicefeiring.com/ What am I looking for in wine?

I'm looking for the Leon Trotskys, the Philip Roths, the Chaucers and the Edith Whartons of the wine world. I want my wines to tell a good story. I want them natural and most of all, like my dear friends, I want them to speak the truth even if we argue. With this messiah thing going on, I'm trying to swell the ranks of those who love the differences in each vintage, who abhor homogenization, who want wines that make them smile, think, laugh,and feel sexy. For better or worse, it seems as if I am a wine cop traversing the earth, writing and speaking my mind, drinking and recommending wines that are honest.

Please check in frequently for news of my latest travels, travel, wine tips and rants.

]]> en-us barolasbooks@aol.com Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:04 +0000 Wine, Mouthfeel and the Dilemma http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AppellationFeiring/~3/Mu8CedkHXeM/just_the_thing.html "I would like a smooth wine." I've overheard this request plenty of times. I've also heard a sommelier describe a wine in that manner, and my heart sinks. Since when did texture become a selling point? When did it become part of an enological additive, something decided before the grapes came in. When did it become something like cheesecake, where the 'mouthfeel' is almost its identity, much the way people will debate a knaidel, golfball or puchy (airy). Maybe I'm the one here with the Cubist face in a world of symmetry. True I'm the first to pounce on the crusty potato at the bottom of the pan, the person who runs to scrape out the mac and cheese browned bits. But I never rejected food on the basis of texture nor when I think of wine do I think of texture first. Like color, it is part of the wine, something to note, something that can give sensual pleasure and it ranges from silk velvet to wide wale corduroy and some sandpaper in between. And vive le difference! I would not expect the same texture in my Chateauneuf as my Vosne, would I? (Tell that to California pinot... http://WWW.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/misc/just_the_thing.html Kant Would Have Something To Say/Vin Naturel & Suckling http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AppellationFeiring/~3/xwEO8xjBxiM/post_11.html I'm not sure opposites attract. Most of my friends seem to connect over similar palate, I mean my close friends 'get' the wines I love. Even my one friend who's a rabid right winger--extremely close, love her dearly--but when her sort were not drinking French, she shopped the Loire, We're animals and sniff out like-smelling creatures in friendship and in love. Or at least I do, maybe I'm peculiar that way. That said...... ...the Wine Spec Critic who lives on the property of a famed super Tuscan producer and I have a friend in common. Anthony is a fanatic about natural wines and presently on a European tour with Krall. For weeks he's been spreading seeds, as he says, converting the uninitiated to natural wines one at a time. (with a high success rate). In this missionary role, he was eager to see Suckling when they were both in the same city. After lunch at Terroir (London) the txts came in. Gramenon--Suckling's choice. Puzelat La Guerriere (cot & gamay) my choice. ++ It was love. Anthony said that Suckling loved the Gramenon and less convinced about the Puzelat. And seemed to like the Overnoy (post show) well enough. But more... http://WWW.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/misc/post_11.html Chauvet, Neauport and Natural Wines http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AppellationFeiring/~3/bL1sCY5Wvpg/eric_texier_on.html Eleven PM, Ten Bells, wondering where vigneron Thierry Puzelat was, oh, probably out there in Brooklyn getting a black eye or something, while I was drinking K, the gorgeous Marsanne from Dard et Ribo, which Guilhaume Gerard and Cory Cartwright graciously, generously, oiled me with. I didn't catch the vintage but would have to be 2008, though tasted more like the kick ass 2007, decanted. The night was just rolling, I was chatting, and Charnay-based, ever thinking vigneron Eric Texier ran over to me and urgently asked, 'What's the guys name!" Eric last year in France. Eric, give me a clue!' I asked. 'Neauport!' "Jacques!" Eric runs away to continue a conversation elsewhere in the moshpit. I run after Eric. 'You just can't invoke that name and run away," I complained, knocking back another gulp. And that's when he started on the trouble with the modern interpretation of Chauvet and sidekick Jacques Neauport. This is actually ground breaking news and I am hesitant to give it away for free. So, if you're a journalist or a blogger, and you want to use this information, you better give me credit or interview me, or I'll haunt you and your first born... http://WWW.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/looking-for-natural-wines/eric_texier_on.html An Amphora Intermission: Beaujo to the rescue! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AppellationFeiring/~3/vmP409e_IkQ/an_amphora_inte.html Needed to clear out some bottles. Charles Krug 2006 Merlot Heron Hill 2007 Blaufrankisch Mud House 2008 Pinot Noir (NZ, central otaga) No one comes to this site to see these wines slammed, so I won't. The only bottle I felt sorry for was the poor American Oak drenched Heron Hill. I believe in the Fingerlakes and want someone other than SIlver Thread and Wiemer to get it right. Come on guys! The terroir is there for the taking! Do something! So obviously something had to be done. Regnie Sans Souffre to the rescue. I've been a fan of the regular cuvee of this producer, one of the few Biodynamic in Beaujo, but this sans souffre, is certainly gorgeous. It's a poster child for non-sulfur winemaking, with that earthiness to counter the fresh blackberry. (Vines on the average of 40 years old) with a gimme another glass acidity. There's a little of that sulfur-free breathy loosie, goosie quality but, just enough to be charming not alarming. 15.99 at Chambers Street. Please leave me a few bottles.... http://WWW.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/looking-for-natural-wines/an_amphora_inte.html Amphora/Anfora Wines http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AppellationFeiring/~3/YFm1O2CjHhk/amphora_wines.html Amphora at Domaine Viret, a wine absent from the Levi Dalton/Convivo anfora tasting last night. I don't like to travel out of the shtettle, but for Levi Dalton ( a long drink of vitovska comes to mind), and the food at Convivio (how is it that this resto never disappoints?) When I found out he was giving encore to his spectacular Summer Orange tasting of wines made in amphora--I shouted, save me a seat. Amphora. Anfora The curvaceous containers are the hottest thing since the Nomblot egg. Like Biodynamics, winemakers are experimenting. Even Nicolas Joly is rumored to be experimenting, though, when I was last in his cellar in February, I saw no clues. There is some dude in Napa with amphora Do we know why these are so hot? Are they fad or fate? Why should clay be better than concrete, mere history? I was hoping this would provide some insight. Or at least open the debate. I've had a Josko Gravner or two I've liked. I kind of like Cos Pithos, which is also unsulfured, though I find his niece's wine, Arianna Occipinti's non-amphora wines, much more compelling and complex. I love the Georgian Kisi, but as... http://WWW.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/looking-for-natural-wines/amphora_wines.html Why The Jura Matters http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AppellationFeiring/~3/iXyiAluGgyI/why_the_jura_ma.html The first time I had a wine from the Jura that I was aware of? It was about a decade ago at Acquavit. I was there for dinner and saw this wine....Puffeney Vin Jaune. I had no idea what to expect but I had heard buzz about the producer. I was in the mood for white, or what the hell, yellow. I ordered it. The sommelier, without raising an eyebrow, decorked, poured. I knew it wasn't bad but it certainly wasn't what I had in mind and it certainly wasn't a wine to have with dinner. Ronny and I suffered through the difficult, band-aid aromas and flavors, finally making it to the cheese course when we gave ourselves over to the pairing with relief. What the wine director was thinking, to put it on a list of white wines with no warning, was worthy of a wine felony. Then, I admit, it was late to the white grape I have come to love, savignin. I went direct to the reds, poulsard (called ploussard if you happen to come from the town of Pupillin) and trousseau captivated me. If you're a card carrier in the pineau d'aunis, gamay-and -proud- of -it... http://WWW.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/looking-for-natural-wines/why_the_jura_ma.html Back To Jura: Bindernagel http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AppellationFeiring/~3/L0uhsA7zmgA/back_to_jura_bi.html Born in Bavaria, trained as an architecture in Toulouse, Ludwig Binderangel got the wine bug, attended the viticole in Beaune. Wanted land in Burgundy. Was attacked by sticker shock. Could afford the Jura, a wine region that looks like bone fragments, less than an hour away from Dijon. Found 1.5 hectares, a mere thimble full near Arlay.one town over from Etoile. He now commutes to Paris for the architecture that supports his Bindernagle Boondoggle, and placements of his wines in bar a vin and stores such as Vin Insolite near Oberkampf, andthere you go. He had never even tasted Jura beforehand. Get that? He had no idea how to differentiate a Trousseau from a Teapot. A Savignin from a Sauvignon. And instead of deciding he was going to make the wine he wanted to make, he went out to make the wine the land wanted to make. Can you imagine tasting an oxidative wine for the first time after working with burgundy chardonnay and saying, what the hell, let's make that? How can you not love this guy? Bindernagel in his vines. At one point he is going to go biodynamic, as he really believes in what he tastes from... http://WWW.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/misc/back_to_jura_bi.html Sold! Racines. Paris. And Au Revoir to All of That http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AppellationFeiring/~3/acIu-qS0El4/racines_paris_a_2.html Last week I was at Verre Vole, the wine bar near the Canal St. Martin when my publisher, Jean Paul Rocher said, "PIerre Jancou sold Racines." The last to know, I thought. The last to know. Why when I emailed Pierre a few days ago to tell him I'd see him the next time I was in Paris did he not tell me this was my last chance? Ironically, the first time we met, he practically threw me out of his bar a vin, Le Cremerie. Somehow we overcame that blip and forged a connection. This morning Pierre sent an email around to some of his fans, admirers and friends to come and take a glass at Racines on the 22nd of October as he was headed to the Drome to his family. Bonjour a tous, finalement Racines sera vendu vendredi prochain et je vais aller vers de nouvelles aventures plus proche de ma famille dans la Drome. The last time I was in was with my friend Jeremy Parzen and his fiance, the lovely Tracie B While I complained about the sticker shock, that's because I live the life of a writer and not someone on salary. In reality,... http://WWW.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/travel/racines_paris_a_2.html My Jura Disclaimer http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AppellationFeiring/~3/M_dS5g36ryc/jura_and_the_wi.html I accepted a press trip to a region I was nosebleeding to visit. This is a confession worthy of the new 12-step meeting, AWA: Addicted to Writing Anonymous. With no magazines paying expenses, with no trust fund in my past or future, or juicy divorce settlement, there was also no room to be holier than thou so I said, yes, please and thank you. Here's the pickle. Many of the publications I write for forbid sponsored trips. I find them uncomfortable but paradoxically, as a freelancer, especially in these times, I find them useful... for research. For some background. But get a story out of it that is suitable for one of my publications...for me that is like draining a lake with a slotted spoon. No, a return trip is always necessary. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. The trip was five days and in order to squeeze everything I could out of the opportunity, I spent two, very happy weeks over in France and Switzerland. I loved being there and did not want to come back. I bounced around a lot and did not rent a car. Instead, I hopped around on an easy Rail Europe pass... http://WWW.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/travel/jura_and_the_wi.html Found the Jura Twinkle http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AppellationFeiring/~3/TDN9Ys9k5Zg/looking_for_the.html When I returned to the Jura, I found its beauty. I'm not sure why the exquisite rurality of the Jura escaped me when I came here last week with Russell Hone, maybe because we didn't actually climb up the best road to Chateau Chalone or find the correct windy roads in Poligny or Arlay, or Etoile? The Jura is rare. True are the fossils, the land is raffled with them. When have I seen cows strolling through vineyards, grazing as if nuzzling the earth? Last night, most memorable Bonard Chamonard Poulsard. 1990 Dugois Savignin. And after five days, the Puffeney Poulsard still ruled. More from the next stop. (more soon)... http://WWW.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/misc/looking_for_the.html Pacalet, Life and First Look at his '08s.... http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AppellationFeiring/~3/ZHHeaqfZu3g/pacalet_life_an.html After purchasing some train tickets at the Beaune Gare around the corner, I walked the short blocks to see Philippe Pacalet. He stood, in all of his curliness on the receiving bay, talking on his cell, looking very contented. I waved wildly to him, big grin on my face. "Life sends you on paths you don't and can't expect," he says to me, folding up his phone. I can't remember if he always greets me with a piece of life this way. I am not adverse. But I wasn't really into the early morning spiral down into my own nautilus. And so while we caught up, I found myself wondering if my life been too controlled? I can't remember when a life changing choice has been presented to me. Or have I had those life changing moments and just not seen there was a door in the room. Perhaps the door was a tree and I didn't see the knob, mistaking it for a knot? Have I been too myopic, or has that kind of adventure never dropped deus ex machina from the sky? But enough. I am now in the Jura, where the pendant-like pears are dripping in erotica... http://WWW.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/misc/pacalet_life_an.html Mr. O'vernoy de Pupillon, Jura http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AppellationFeiring/~3/1Q6xrpxfL7k/mr_overnoy.html With his tanned legs, (my legs should look so good) his worn hiking boots M. Pierre Overnoy, ushered us into his long table, the meal for workers just having been cleaned up. Even though he said the Overnoys came from Ireland as O'vernoy, he seems to me to look more derivative of my distant cousin I.B. Singer. Overnoy refers to himself as a bachelor. ("The man governs, but the woman commands," he said laughing. Still scratching my head on that one.) No matter what he says it is with enthusiasm and a twinkle. Here is an innocence not lost. He was kind enough to talk slow enough to make understanding him rather easy, even for my rustique French. When I asked him about M. Chauvet his eyes lit up and proceeded to talk about wine and sulfur. Unfortunately JUST as he was getting to the juicy bits, my FLIP froze. We tasted two wines. 2007 Chardonnay: The aromas are leapingly vibrant. Taste chalky. Long finish and sparks the tongue with gentle caramel and salt water. 2000 Savagnin: Salty, water and brine. A turkey being brined. Apple cider threads. Life and alive. Delicate on the finish, as if its brakes had... http://WWW.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/misc/mr_overnoy.html France So Far http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AppellationFeiring/~3/nD67MOnmK1w/post_10.html On plane, the three vials of CRB pineau d'aunis went down with the ambien. Arrival in Beaune, Russell fetched me at the train, and spirited me off to Bouilland, seven km above Savigny. The Queen Before the guests arrived, Becky and I did some dueling computering, I, sipping at something like a Gagnard C-M. Dinner was had with some honeymooners, cucumber soup and some vegetable thing in my honor while they snaffed down the lamb. 1989 Lafarge. For that moment, joyful. yum After honeymooners taxied back down to Beaune, I knocked back 10mg of Ambien and sent screwy texts to too many people. Got one email from a friend, "I will assume your phone is broken?" Another suggested I was drunk. Neither was true. The result, however, was being shamed off of the stuff, unless absolutely necessary Happy I did not email any editors or engage in Twittering. My iPhone did not sing me out of slumber. Russell wakes me up. He tended to my toast, coffee and we race to the Jura. The landscape. I am slightly disappointed. God knows what I had hoped for/ A jig, perhaps? Did I expect the soil to stand up and dance The... http://WWW.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/wine/post_10.html Airplane Wine http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AppellationFeiring/~3/tkGooBRQ5ds/airplane_wine_1.html Taking off an hour after the shofar. just packed up my mini-wine on board allotment. I just love these little vials, i get about 3oz of wine, just enough to wet the whistle with 2006 Clos Roche Blanche pineau d'aunis, chase it with a johnny walker black, take a sleep enhancer and wake up in CDG. I had wanted to follow up with California part two, but alas, we're in for a French/Swiss interlude.... http://WWW.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/wine/airplane_wine_1.html California Reconsidered: Part One http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AppellationFeiring/~3/op5umBIrxmk/california_reco_1.html In August I headed to California to work on a story about Hank Beckmeyer I also visited some of my friend, Paige Poulos's clients. Which, yes, were out of my usual scope of visits but as she said, babe, play against type, "You never know what you'll learn," she said. She was right. One never knows and so I went. I talked. I kept an open mind. I had a mission. Could I find out something about the thing that so confuses me about the soul of California's wine? I had to find out. Meeting Sergio Traverso Straight off the plane I went to the most unusual place, Livermore, with its breezes, and stripes of green illustrating the parched formidable hills. I was eager to met with Sergio Traverso, the man who started Murrieta's well with California royal family, The Wentes, the folk responsible for the clone most associated with Cali-Chardonnay has brought the dapper and very elegant and thoughtful winemaker back to consult. I remember being impressed by Murrieta's Meritage back in 1990. It's changed since. But I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of magic Sergio brings with him. Sergio, who splits his time between his home country... http://WWW.alicefeiring.com/feiringsquad/looking-for-natural-wines/california_reco_1.html