Our Dearest old vines can have a rest now as their 2011 vintage is behind. Let's talk about what they have beautifuly produced now.
NB : This beautiful picture was taken by my lovely wife Kristi. Check out her new book here.

Dear Friends,

2011 is about to close but this is more than a year that is over. Those 5 first years of hard work, hope, pain, joy, fear, excitement have finally permitted us to give birth to a range of wines that reflects our terroir and wine mentality. Let's review them

Dentelle Rosé :
Our Rosé is the outcome of the style I like for such a wine which should be fresh and fruity. When we crushed our first grapes in 2007, it was not at all in my mind to make some rosé. As a Provence raised guy, I was a bit shy to make the rosé I like in the Southern Rhone. Our first rosé finally came out in 2008 as this cool vintage allowed to compensate with the general lack of natural acidity. From then, I have been "hunting" for more acidity and I found the recepie with early harvest combined with direct press which permits to maintain acidity high and alcohol low. Its name (Dentelle) is a play on words as we are facing Dentelles de Montmirail and as "Dentelle", which means lace in English is a good way to describe this smooth and light wine made from Grenache and Carignan.

Dentelle red :
In the same spirit of the rosé, this red is made to be a refreshing wine. Carignan has this natural ability to bring freshness and Grenache will bring the body of the wine. This wine can be drunk young, on the fruit side and even a bit cool. With a bit of aging, it turns into more minerality with some spices and gamy flavors. Vintages after vintages, I tend to reduce the maceration time in order to make a lighter wine, which fits well in the spirit of the "Dentelle". In 2011, I have reduced from 2 weeks to 10 days the maceration time and I might even try myself with a "nouveau" tank next year, apart from the regular wine.

Mistral red :
Just a couple days before the start of our first harvest in 07, a strong Mistral wind blew all night and eventually made a lot of very mature clusters fall on the ground. Well, this eventually decided on the official picking start, a bit earlier and by collecting fallen grapes but it was a clear message from Mother Nature. The full body, rich and powerful wine made from these very old vines was eventually named after this famous wind which describes quite well the wine and which is so important to our terroir.
This wine is also the best ambassador of what we produce, in volume (50%) and in spirit since it is elaborated with our very old Grenache vines. 

Lunatique red :
Farming also permits to discover terroir and all its hidden treasures. Inside our 20 acres, there is a small area located on an old river bed where all the vines are planted on pebbles. No wonder why the people who planted them 60 years ago have used Grenache as the it is the very best grape for this kind of hot soil which reflects sun and heat to the vines. On this gorgeous day of end of September 2009, the whole harvest team was ready for 1/2 of work to complete harvest. Those grapes were supposed to fill the Mistral tank. But, on a "moody" decision, I decided to process those grapes separately which meant that we have to move some grapes in fermentation (which can be very dangerous) to get an empty tank. This "Lunatique" decision gave the name to the wine.

Behind the scene... We should always have in mind that terroir and age of the vines are the best ingredients to make good wine.

"Voila", these are all the wine stories for the moment... In 2013, we should harvest some white grapes from vines planted in 2009. I have a few ideas on names but of course, if you have some, they are welcome.

Merry Christmas to all of you, wishing you for the occasion a wonderful 2012 vintage to come.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc
Domaine Rouge-Bleu

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Les vendanges 2011 sont terminées ! - harvest 2011 is over !

Dear Friends,

Well, believe it or not, we have crushed our fifth harvest. This one was quite special and ended after a long a unique farming season.

After a very warm spring where we thought we would harvest in August (and for that reason, we hardly did not take vacation), temperatures went back to early Spring ones in July, stopping the grapes in their maturation process. Eventually, early birds like Syrah which are usually in advance came to maturity a bit in advance and the latest maturity ones like Carignan and Grenache were picked a bit later than usual.

Collin (who is a wonderful chef) has found one of those precious white grapes (Roussanne) which come into our Mistral blend

This means 6 weeks of harvest mood and even if we did not pick every day, that constant pressure regarding weather, check on maturity has been a bit nerve racking.

During harvest, we also had to cope with a series of mechanical issues (flat tire, press engine dead and a couple of other unexpected events) and this has also participated to make this harvest quite a long one.

Flat tire on the very first day of harvest...

Weather has been hot and, for the first time, we have harvested by night and also, for the fun of watching a beautiful Rouge-Bleu sunrise above Mont Ventoux.

Finally, our best reward to all our efforts and even if those grapes have been harvested during the longest and hottest work day was when we have harvest the most beautiful (80 years old !) Grenache ever in 5 years and I can say now that there will be a Lunatique wine made in 2011. Here are, thanks to Deb, a couple pictures of that memorable afternoon (click to enlarge)

Actually, besides Lunatique, all our 2011 tanks look great at this point. And even if we worked hard, we still have fun times like this memorable "crush bikini danse"

So, let's say "Hi 5" for celebrating the end of this 2011 harvest, no doubt that we will clap with our own two hands before we even realise it....

Cheers,

Jean-Marc
Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Dear Friends,

Before we start this edition, I wanted to share good news with you. After the 90 points received last month by our Mistral red 90, the same Wine Spectator rated our Lunatique red 09 with 91 points. Here is the list of the awrads received in a 3 years time.

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Carignan berries growing...

As 2011 harvest gets closer and closer, especially with this very warm farming season, "la dernière ligne droite" has started.

With my son Maxime, we have plowed for the last time our white baby vines, hoping for anothe couple shower which should allow them to survive their second summer.

I have used my tractor to do the same to our old vines, trying not to hurt them as they become very weak with their old age... It is alwyas so painful to "kill" and old vine using our tools.

Mistral is now blowing which helps us getting rid of the Mildew naturally as it dries the fungus. We will need to spray a last time in a couple weeks in order to protect our grapes which will turn color at the same time. 

Last week, I have attended a tasting event near Bordeaux and meanwhile "Vinexpo", the biggesto professional wine fair. I met with a lot of very nice people and may have found some new distributors in Japan and in Australia... Let's hope this side of the planet opens to our wines too.

Another 2-3 weeks of busy work here and then, it will be time to relax a bit. We don't go anywhere this year and will savor the beauty of our region...while thinking of this early 2011 vintage and hoping it will be nice to us... I still can't beleive we will crush our 5th harvest !

Enjoy your summer vacation,

Our baby grapes are starting to flower...which means thet the rosé harvest (we do our rosé from young vines) should start in a 100 days !

Dear Friends,

While our "Spring" could actually be considered as a cool Sumer, our vines keep growing like crazy.

And even if they won't happen before less than a 100 days (an old school way to countdown harvest point when flowering happens), it is already time for us to think about harvest organisation. Our team is almost complete and, in case you would be interested in this unique experience, there is one seat left.

So far, vines are quite healthy and have some fruits, at least a bit more than last year, even if ours don't usually give much. Our efforts are concentrated on our baby vines which, like babies, need a lot of care.

Plowing the future big "Chardons" before it becomes to late...

I also started to take note of all that needs to be fixed for the harvest. Last year, our press machine broke and even if we now have a second used one, it would be wise to fix the broken one, just in case... We are also building a shelter just in case we would have to press under the rain (we have been very lucky so far) and I am shopping for a new old trailer to bring back our grapes from the flieds to the cellar.

At last, and that is very important, I have ordered the bulf beer for our Dear harvesters. At Domaine Roiuge-Bleu, it takes a lot of beer to make wine.

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On another subject, I will be in Belgium (where we sold a lot of wines this year) soon to pour them. If you happen to be around, don't hesitate to join me :

 
Wearing my sales "hat" (even if I don't have any on me) visiting Lake Park Bistro, one of wonderful dinner events I participated to last month while visiting the States.

Dear Friends,

March is over and this month has been flying... Before my yearly US pilgrimage, I had to finish pruning, start plowing which constitute my farming hat. In the cellars, and with winemaker hat, I had to move the wines which had finished their malo-lactic fermentation and prepare our second bottling od Dentelle and Mistral red 09 which we will actually bottle next week.

During, these 2 intense traveling throughout the States, I wore my sales hat to meet with retailers, restaurant owners, distributors and all the guys who finally buy our wines to drink them. To do so, I had to wear my logistic hat as I planned this crazy trip with 12 stops in 15 days.

Back home now, it is time to wear my administrative-secretary hat as it was time to file for taxes and do many bureaucratic paper works. A couple days after, I wore my delivery man hat to some professional accounts in Marseille where I go once a month and group all orders to make one trip.

Vincent, Julien and Sébastien who helped me plow and hoe our young vines

Last week, I started with my farming hat as I needed to work our baby vines who need some care as weeks can easely suffocate them. With the priceless help of friends and their tools, we plowed the soil in between the vines and finished manualy hoeing.Then wore by deliver and sales hats as I drove all the way to Verona for a wonderul natural wine event with 40 cases of wine in my car to deliver on the way many accounts.

The machine takes most of the dirt (with the weeds) and the human finesh the work closest to the baby vines.

Time now to plan my next bottling. For this, I need to wear another time my logistic hat as I need to plan that the truck can be there on the right day (we always bottle on fruit days) but also that the empty bottles, corks, labels, caps and enough hands will be there. I also need to make sure I have enough room in my lilliputian cellars to store those bottles which need to store in accordance to when the wines should be picked. 

Farmer, winemaker, sales, administration, secretary, management, deliver, ligisticks...are all the hats I have for running this small operation. If I surely don't get bored, I have to say that sometimes I feel a bit overwelmed. But when that happens, I am very fortunate that friends and family offer their precious help.

One of the many ladybugs found in the vines. Hope this brings good Karma for this 2011 vintage

And thanks to your wonderful support, our wines (which have now all docked to the US) will soon find their final homes. They are all quite delish so don't hesitate to check with our local distributors, retailers... clicking on this link. And if you don't find any near you, email me at jean-marc@rouge-bleu.com an we will find a way to ship our babies to you.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc
Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Getting ready for another workday at the vineyard. This beautiful "Rouge-Bleu" sunrise helps us getting all the energy needed to run this small operation.

Dear Friends,

While Winter is slowing fading away and Nature will soon re-take its rights...
Last year, you may remember that we planted some grapes on a block and by lack of time and appropriate tools and because we obviously don't spray weed killers, we got "invaded" with "Chardons". Those have actually because big bushes and will not permit us to plow the ground. So, in order to get ready for the new season and, also, save those baby vines from this competition, the only way to get rid of them was to pull them one by one and burn them. Thanks to my "Marseillos-Belgiums" friends Olivier and Eric and with the help of my brother Jacques and his friend Michel, we have initiated this hard job.

This done was finally done with another team of nice Moroccan people who helped me finish the work which we celebrated by this big "joy" thistle fire  

In between those two pulling weeds WE, I had the pleasure to ear that our Mistral red 09 got rewarded with a Gold Medal at the paris Wine-Agricultural fair, probably the most respected wine French competition. This is our second Gold Medal in 3 vintages along with a Silver and  Bronze and this has probably smoothed down the back pain and surely given us the will to continue working on our organic and natural spirit commitment.

I hope to celebrate this new reward with you as I am now getting ready for my US wine tour. I would like to apologize for all the people I won't be visiting and where I actually can't go as I need to focus on where we currently have distribution and as I have 2 weeks to visit with 12 places...
My itinerary is now definitely set. Please have a lot at it (clicking here or on the map below) and meet with me if you are around. I am bringing a couple of surprises with me (including the "gold medal" one) I look forward to sharing a glass with you.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc
Domaine Rouge-Bleu 

2011 Spring US tour. Click on the map for details and mark your calendars !
 

Dear Friends,

Even if we are right in the middle of winter and that our "Dear" Mistral wind has been blowing for the past 2 weeks (Grrrrrrrrrrrr), I can already feel Spring...
The first reason is that my yearly US pilgrimage is now set and that before i know it, I will be there for 2 intense weeks of meetings, bringing wonderful memories and, when I am back home, it will be officially Spring.

The other reason is that we have bottled our rosé 2010 and when Mistral gives us a break and we open a bottle on the patio, the wonderful fruit smell projects us into these warm Spring days that we are all looking forward to.

 So, I really look forward to meeting you soon. Please have a look at this page and mark your calendars. I can't wait to pour you our 09 reds and I will make sure to bring a couple bottles of Lunatique with me...to celabrate Spring, where nature comes back to life !

Cheers,

Jean-Marc
Domaine Rouge-Bleu 

PS :

 - Before my departure, I will be pouring our wines with many talented young winemakers (we have named our group "Nouvelle Lune") at Domaine Viret on March 4th from 6 PM. If you are interested in joingning us, don't hesitate to sign up using the info on the flyer.

- And while I am in the US, our friend and so talented writer Robert Camuto will also be there (but on the opposite coast). Please have a look at his events clicking here and don't wait another minute to get his book on Sicilian wines, which has inspired me to make wine there.

Our 2009 baby is now bottled. Check out below who will be the next one

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year !

Ours finished where I had the most enjoyable time during 2010 : in Sicily. Actually, and this is a "scoop", I also made wine in Sicily last year. Not in August but in October as the Etna grapes take time to mature due to high elevation. While I was in Sicily last summer, I fell in love with the Etna wines and a local winemaker, Ciro Biondi, has offered to help me source some Nerello Mascalese from old vineyards. That's how Rosso-Azzurro was born. When we went there to celebrate New Years Eve, we also sampled and babysat our last new baby which is now aging in barrels.

Your servitor tasting Rosso-Azzuro

If 2010 was the birth of this new Etna wine, 2009 was the one of our Lunatique reserve, made from "Pure Grenache" planted "on the rocks". Like Rosso-Azzurro, this is a very small production and only 100 cases will be bottled. And this wine is now a reality as we bottled it last week. It needs some time to rest after the bottling and I will present it to our distributor when I come in the Spring for my traditional US visits.

Our very old Grenache planted "on the rocks". Quite a lunar soil, but the name Lunatique has more explanations... More about this in the next edition

The dates of my annual US "pilgrimage" are set (see picture and itinerary below) so if you plan to meet, please note your agenda. I will update this schedule when I get information about those events (tasting in wine shops, wine dinners) and you will be posted soon.
For the moment, here is the detail :

March 7th : New York City
Marth 8th : Washington DC
March 9th : Asheville NC
March 10th : Milwaukee
March 11th : Minneapolis - Saint Paul
March 12th : Iowa City
March 14th : Houston
March 15th : Los Angeles
March 16th : Bay Area
March 17th - 18th : Portland OR
March 19th : Seattle

Spring 2011 itinerary. Hoping to see you in one of those places

2010 rosé with screw caps

At last, I wanted to let you know that our rosé 2010 is bottled. The new thing is that we have decided to use screw caps as it is more ecological and, most of all, permits to keep all the freshness of the wine. Most of our importers are bringing it so you will be able to appreciate it when the first beautiful days come.

To finish with and to answer a few recent comments, even if this page is in English and even if we mostly sell our wines to the US, our wines are also available in Europe and in France ! We just started to work with 2 retail shops in Belgium and we can ship in France, in case you would like to try our wines.

Thanks for your support,

Cheers,

Jean-Marc
Domaine Rouge-Bleu 

Dear Friends,

This time, I won't be long...But this video will explain you how pressing grapes work at Domaine Rouge-Bleu.

Time for some rest now...

Cheers,

Jean-Marc
Domaine Rouge-Bleu 

Dear Friends,

For our 4th harvest, I have changed a bit our "routine" with NEW habits. And I have surely been helped by Angels (probably you, Dear supporters) who have tuned it to be a very successful and LUCKY vintage.

Our routine has been a little changed this year. The first NEW thing was to offer our Dear pickers beer on tab. And, boy, this Alp Mirco-Brewry of "Alphand" was really, like his ski founder, World Champion Class. The secong NEW thing was that, for the frist time, the US team was the biggest in numbers. And it was actually even more bigger when NEW 83 years old Lou showed up to help harvest (his very first one) vines that are almost his age. Lou was a bit younger when the Pink Floyd played that song and music has been a NEW addition to bring the good spirit while harvesting. In order to also relax, we also took some Yoga with Sara and the last NEW addition this year has been the "official" harvest diploma that all our Dear pickers got in reward to their efforts.

  

But this vintage has not been so easy despite its defintive quality. Even if the big LUCK was to get almost 2 weeks with rains, the odds could had been quite problematical...True is that, after having picked the rosé, we had some welcoming rains which have permitted to compensate for the very dry summer and bring a bit more juice to our berries. On the pure mecanical side, we had 3 minor ones with our old machines falling apart but even if at 3 occasions, the harvest in our trailer could have ended on the road, we managed by chance to save them and I even saved my soul one time... And just fater we brought back our last grapes to the cellars, some heavy rains and even some hail came from the sky but soon after the LUCKY awesome rainbow showed up as amessge to tell us that Angels were with us their years.

But harvest is actually not finished for me as I have decided, after my crush on Etna to go back there...and make some wines next week with my friend Ciro Biondi. Harvest there happen to be in October which permits me to do both. While there, I will meet with my Friend Robert Camuto who will be back to the US to sign his great book on the West Coast. If you are around, you are invited to meet him. Here is the link for his coming events.

And on my side, I have been also a bit under the "light" recently as I was invited to a TV show that you can watch (in French) via this link (note that depending on computers, the media player does not work). And we were also very happy to see our Mistral red 2008 rewarded with one star in the very respected Guide Hachette des Vins.

Our Dear Vines are now resting after having delivered their babies which are still fermenting in our very aromatic cellars. They will then get into some deserved sleeping before waking up in next Spring. It will then be time to consider another NEW vintage, hopefully as LUCKY as this one.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc
Domaine Rouge-Bleu 

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Last update...
As I said earlier (when I wrote it last week), I was supposed to continue my harvest marathon in...Sicily. But, during our harvest, I managed to loose both my ID and Passport and, this time, I was not LUCKY enough to pass the security with my driving license. I am now back at the farm, managing my Sicilian harvest "online" with my Ciro who has been so kind to understand my situation. Please join your spirits to mine for this Sicilian harvest on which you will be posted, of course...and here is the first video of the grapes.

PS : All harvest videos can be watched by login to my Youtube channel (jmespinasse). Photo Album will put added as I receive them. For now, you can watch Elizabeth's super pro ones. 

Magnificent Etna Volcano around where our holidays took place.

2000 Kms away from our farm and after a whole overnight drive, we finally arrived at 4 AM in Villa San Giovanni to take the first morning ferry to Messina which we could already distinguish from the freeway, all lighted.

During the short cruise, we saw the beautiful sunrise to this so desired Sicilian island we have all been looking forward to visiting.

As it was a little early to check in our renting place, we stopped on the way for coffee. The odds made us stop in Taormina, probably the most beautiful place of Sicily.

After a ristretto, we called our hosts at "La Gardenia" and they kindly offered to arrive early and even greeted us with a beautiful breakfast prepared by Larry. We had not arrived for more than a day and we already felt home.

Our place is located of the foothills of Mount Etna, in a village logically named Piedimonte Etneo. It is overlooking the Mediterranean on the South and the splendid Etna Volcano on the North. 

Our first day was logically dedicated to the beach, which is our N°1 priority during these holidays, where we have relaxed and played beach rackets. On the way, back, we shopped and got some BBQ meat which we enjoyed with some rosé I brought back from the farm…

At "La Gardenia", Larry told us about a special lunch with English speaking from various horizons and this is what we did on Sunday, after a quick beach bath. This restaurant treated us with endless "antipastis", all better than the one before and some local refreshed bulk red which I also enjoyed. Just in case, I had brought a bottle of Mistral red 08 which, at my grand honor, seemed to have pleased the group. One of the ladies here told me that she owns a small vineyard…and inquiring, I realized that she actually leases it to a famous winemaker, Frank Cornalissen whose wine I tried a few months ago in Minneapolis and who I had just contacted before leaving for a tasting visit. Small world… An other lady from this party, Lorrie, invited us for a tasting event on Friday with a local « bar tender » who organizes Etna tasting…This was actually going to be another wine event as, before leaving, I had already set 4 meetings with local winemakers, thanks to the precious help of my friend Robert Camuto who just published a remarkable book on Sicilian Wines (Palmento) that I strongly recommend. Besides Frank Cornalissen who I had contacted through our common MN importer Joe, I had set meetings with Albert Aiello Graci, Ciro Biondi and Alice Pappalardo who all who produce fine and elegant Etna wines. 

After this wonderful lunch, we went to have a look at one of the historical monument, actually dating from 2000 years ago and which is still…alive : A Chestnut tree ! History, culture are in the air in Sicily.

On Monday, we went back to Taormina, on a nice beach with a small island at a swimming distance where divers enjoy the magnificence of the big blue. We stayed at a tipical «Lido» which comes with mattress and a nice lunch. It was now time fro me to start enjoying my first white local white, made by a newcomer : Doricum made from Catarratto grapes. This 2009 was quite floral, with a bit lack of acidity for my palate but very well made. It paired very well with my Eggplant pasta.

But before that very relaxing time, my wife and I have stopped in the morning to this closed farm surrounded by vines, Etna and Mediterranean since the gate was surprisingly open and as it seemed to have some activity going on…

I met with the farmer who was burning wine shoots on the 360 ° Terrace and managed to get a phone number. Finally, after two missed visits, we met with the owner who took us for what we are, tourists. The beautiful but going to ruins house with the 8 acres of land (only 1 Ha with vines) was offered but at a not a negotiating starting point…but the dream was nice.

Beautiful vineyard "for sale" near our place

 The day after, we decided to explore the magnificence of Etna Mountain. We first left the kids to a park and visited Milo, a small town on the slopes of South Etna. From there, I realized that there was a very old traditional vineyard (Barone di Villagrande) to visit and we decided to pay a visit. The place is absolutely gorgeous with vine steep slopes, a cellar with tradition (old Chestnut barrels) mixed with modern stainless tanks and we had the honor to be greeted by the owner of the place who took time to pour all  beautiful wines, especially the regular Etna red and their passito. Since there was a reception group going on, I asked if it was possible to eat there, which we did and enjoyed it very much.

That same day, I had set a meeting with Alberto Aiello Graci, a Young man who decided to sort the family's vineyard to only keep the interesting ones, in other words, the old vines and the one planted on High Altitude slopes. Alberto took me to this unreachable parcel niched at 1000 Meters, mostly planted with Nerello Mascalese but also, as always with old vines, a bunch of other varietals :

The tasting of his wines was on the same quality level even if it was hard to really tell as we only tried the 09 wines. But I could tell that there is potential here. Then, Alberto took me for a drink and I followed him in a bar where no one, except the local people would go for good wines. I quickly noticed some empty bottles displayed which to told me that the owner know his stuff…Well, guess what, that was the famous guy I was going to meet on Friday. And then, a man with his small 1 year old baby shows up…and I realized that this man is Frank Cornalissen who I was also supposed to meet later during my Sicilian trip…When it is meant to be, it is meant to be; The rest of the evening is history but I can already tell you that we tried some very good wines, mostly natural as it is Sandro’s orientation. And when I found a « Mémé » 2003 (a wine made a couple Kms from our farm), I could not resist sharing this with those local farmers who actually knew this vineyard better than I do !

Sandro Dibella in his wine bar

When I came back home, I had some very good feelings in mind. This Island has all I like, from Sea to Mountains with vines and great «terroir » in Southern Europe and, to make it so special, millennium of history. It was quite late then and I saw the moon, so bright and lighted by the billions of stars on an August evening. With my camera, I managed to take this picture which will forever engrave that special day.

I thought I had already experienced the highlight of our trip when, the day after, we went to Isola Bella beach, featured in all the brochures. Thank God, we arrived there not too late and got a front beach space. This area is a natural park reserve and the water was so clear that I must have spent most of the time snorkling in this huge aquarium.

On that evening, Ciro Biondi has invited us to visit his vineyard, old "Palmento", cellar and for a memorable dinner in his kitchen garden situated in the middle of his vines planted on an old volcano crater and overlooking the Mediterranean...  Ciro makes very elegant wines, with both freshness and beautiful texture. He is totally dedicated to his vineyard that he got from his family and re-structured. No need to say that this dinner was also a great one but at this point, "great" now seems to be quite normal since all we see, do, are awesome.

5 days have already passed since we arrived and I am already sure of one thing. I like the wines and there is potential to make beautiful wines in Etna. I actually have the same feeling as when we started our venture at Rouge-Bleu. Potential is here but to reach this, you have to work the right way. Of course, I am already tempted to start a venture with a local Producer who Works well and I decided to meet with Ciro another time to discuss this. 

Our visit here is with our kids and since they saw some signs for "Etna Land", a water park, we decided to go for it. It was not the most exciting day of our trip but we did have fun. On t way back, I cooked some fish on the BBQ and with some dead of vines found in the previous visited vineyard who, as I use to day, give us another last pleasure with the unique smoke taste they bring to the food.

The natural slides of the day after were much more authentic. As Mediterranean and Mountain seem not enough to fulfill our eyes with beautiful, this island also has canyons and we did enjoy the purity and Freshness of the Alcantara river. Before that, we went to visit the beautiful village of Castiglione di Sicilia.  When we came back, we had just enough time to  get ready for this so expected tasting with Sandro Dibella. Actually, Sandro had decided to open the doors of his new place as, the one I went was a bit small and not fitted for his growing popularity.  Sandro is actually educating people with his wine passion and gets more and more adepts to his natural wine selections. That evening was another fantastic one, meeting with people from so many different horizons and trying incredible wines. Sandro, who is also making his wine (sorry no picture since no label on his wine) was probably my preferred one even if I did enjoy one made by…a French-Italian venture, a guy who actually imports natural wines in London. Eclecticity is the key word in this island.

The area we stay is blessed with nice beaches but mostly with pebbles. Since Syracusa is also know for its white sand beaches, we decided to driver a bit (1 ½ hours to visit this area of the Island). No more Etna influence here and not so much vines since the land looks quite rich. Mostly fruit trees are grown there. As we were expected the beach was white sandy and the water so clear. We had a nice relaxing day, found a decent restaurant where the « sommelier » was actually a real one and he poured me this regular Etna white and for the first time, a red coming from another appellation. I could immediately tell about the little more concentration of this wine coming from some richer soils even if I did enjoy the little acidity. Then, we went to Syracuse and visited some great monuments and the beautiful old port.

A week has passed and we are back at the same restaurant in Saint Alfio offering dozens of antipastis, all different from last week but filling our stomach for the whole day. This time, I spent most of my time talking with Brandon, a US ex navy retired guy who also fell in love with Sicily and their marvelous wines. Brandon seems to really know the good people here and I look forward to going to his place where he has invited over next time we pass by Milo which is also where we met with Barone di Villagrande. Small island…

Sunrise from our bed room window. Can you see the moon ?

Next day and another beautiful one. It was high time for us that we discover the beauty of the Mountain. We took the North drive and parked the car as High as we could. On the way, we saw some lava from passed eruptions, and this, mixed with forest pine trees. What incredible aromas you get there, just a few minutes away from the sea. After some good pasta meal, my Daughter and I took a digestive horse ride on the forest trees at 5,000 feet and then a great siesta Under giant mountain trees with a view on…Etna.

Another morning, another red-blue sky with sunrise on the Calabrian Mountains that face us. Time to catch up with the big blue where we have not been for 2 days now. Resting day at the beach before my last vineyard visit scheduled with Alice and Rosario at Val Cerase. There again, I hear some similar stories with vineyards belonging to the family but without real real commitment behind before Alice decides to embrace the project and creates her own cellar place. Old vines planted on terrace is the base of her vineyard planted on the North slopes of Etna. Nerello Mascalese is predominant with as often, some other Co-planted varietals which bring little in volume but a lot in aromas. Rosario and Alice take us (Gianmarco and the other «Gianmarco») for a tour in the vineyards planted on terrace. We also take a look at the old Palmento and say « Hi » to "Michelangelo the donkey" before we head back to the cellars for an unforgettable tasting.

Under the pure light of the beautiful Sunset, Rosario and Alice open 2 white and a « rosé » which can be compared to a light red but this « relativo » rosé fits well its name and is actually very nice. To compete with such nice wines, Mozzarella, bread and sausages are also part of the feast. Then come the two reds. Ii had heard about the famous 2006 vintage but it was the first time I got to try them. The « regular » Etna was already quite well Evolved, with lots of elegance. But how to describe the other, coming from the oldest vines and vinified in an 1,000 liters oak cast. Just a beautiful wine, actually still a bit Young a the first sip but which opened up nicely with time…And as it was dark and after a memorable basketball game with Rosario and my son max, we finally header back home :

On this day, Kristi and I decided to go visit a few local villages to get impregnated with local life. We drove up to Calatabiano and walked around the city. After lots of picturesque pictures, we sit down in the bar, order « gelato » and I read the local newspaper. I could not understand all I read but could relate on past things we day see…fires, fireworks and fight against littering which is unfortunately a deep issue here.

Back home, I decide to do a bit of exercise with a 9 wholes golf walk. I play very poorly but what I like most with golf is the beauty of the crossed landscapes. Etna, again, is our major scenic view and Under the mountain trees of this mount, I spend another few hours of true pleasure.

Today, we were supposed to head back to Syracuse and spend the whole day in a turtle natural reserve but I thought that since we WILL come back here, I would rather not drive 4 hours and enjoy the local beach. We then headed early in Isola Bella which is indeed an incredible place. This time, I snorkeled even more than in our first visit there and I swan all around the island. This natural reserve is a real live aquarium, with clear crystal water. Then, we crossed Taormina to drive up to … Taormina was already crowded when we drove the rough this village but what to say when we came back for a memorable dinner with our friends Stef and Ciro Biondi. We had to leave the car far away and it took us almost one hour to reach Osteria Nero d’Avolla, a place highly recommended by Robert and which kept all its promises. We took the fish menu and enjoyed a very nice white, already turning into minerality and which could easily resist the comparison with a Meursault and then enjoyed Ciro’s 2008 and our Mistral. Awesome place, great people, delicious food and wine…what you ask more on vacation ?

Isola Bella beach in Taormina

Our last day in Piedimonte consisted in visit the North-Coast part of our area. In the morning, we took a 45 mns drive to reach, a long gravel beach with clear water. After a nice picnic, we drove up to  Savoca, another perched village with long historical backgrounds. Kristi and I visited the XII century church and some other architectural monuments and it was time to come back home. Ciro had invited me to visit a couple vineyards more or less on sale… Not that we can afford this but I was just curious…The one who really struck me was a 3 Ha old vines planted on some kind on amphitheater, surrounded by oak trees and, their middle planted with lots of fruit trees. Also and planted in the vineyard, there are lots of wild plants which, when you press then in your hands, are expressing wild fennel aromas that would surely find this in your glass; This place is owned by 3-4 brother and sisters and is official on sale but since they don’t agree on the price, it can remain like this for a long time. The news of the day is that it could be possible to buy some grapes…OK, no more on this but you can imagine that this has not fallen inside a deaf ear…

After this, I header back to Sandro’s bar for my last night wine event in Etna. There, I saw most of the people I had met during my last 2 weeks and surely enjoyed some new local wines I had not tried before. I was almost ready to leave when Fillip and Trente who started Terre di Trente vineyard a few years ago and who had just returned from vacation. Well, I could not resist to their invitation and when, at 1 AM, I got a text message to my family, I knew it was time to go. In the meantime, I enjoyed their wines, listen to their Etna’s crush and continued to feel so good about this place.

Fillip and Trente, like Franck are « foreigners » who fell in love with Sicily; Their dedication to make wine is endless and they contribute, like deep rooted winemakers, to lift Etna wines to the level it should be. At this point, what is sure is that your servitor will do all he can to bring his little stone to this, by any means, at least on the US market where I have a miniscule interaction.

Cefalu's Cathedral

Time to leave and come back to the farm where harvest is shaping. Our last stop before Palermo is Cefalu after having crossed the Island and visited this beautiful place where Normans built a spectacular Cathedral in the XII century. In the little roads of the city, I find a tee shirt shop where it is possible to sow something. A Crush on Etna (expression found by my lovely wife and talented writer) written in red on a blue tee-shirt is quite meaningful and I decide to go for it.

Our boat leaves, I see my island fade away. I can cry but I am happy to have Fallen in Love and I know for sure that I will back sooner or later.

Your servitor writting his Etna's adventures with his new tee shirt

-----

Despite it's rich History where this island has been invaded many times by eclectic civilizations throughout the millenniums, leaving behind incredible pieces of Art and architectural Monuments, Sicily's Etna region has really impressed me with the general quality of its wines.

Terroir, as always, explains everything: Soils are mainly made from poor lava rocks and sand, with enough underground water to permit the vines to survive on those slopes. High altitude plantation on Etna's Volcano allows large temperature differences during the maturation season and develops natural acidity. And, of course, the indigenous varietals like Nerello Mascalese have adapted over the Centuries to express the best of their grapes, especially when vines are old which is thankfully still very common there. Finally, Etna Volcano blows parsimonious amounts of sulfur, also found inside the ground, which naturally protects the vines from disease and allows a very small amount of it during wine making.

But in my understanding, terroir has also a big human face and there again, Etna has a treasured one. Talking with many farmers and producers, I have realized how much they Love their fields which have been transmitted from generations and how big are their expectations for the wines they produce. And even if they are aware of their potential, people are very humble as they might recall their History where they have always been under domination and have surely never been able to take anything for granted.

This human dimension combined with terroir potential explains the high quality of the wines. I was surely not expecting to enjoy such an elegant "Burgundy style" elaborated at the Corner of Southern Europe and Middle East.

If Paradise exists, it is most probably not far from there.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc
Domaine Rouge-Bleu 

"Binage" hoeing around baby vine.

Dear Friends,

As I mentioned many times, our old vines are our current treasure and we need to maintain them alive as long as possible. Therefore, if old vines don't really need much care, our baby vines (4 years Grenache and 1 year white myriad) do need attention...

As our farming philosophy is to develop live, underground and on the ground, we have, as a result, many weeds. Those weeds don't really compete with our old vines who are deeply rooted down but can compete with our babies... So, once a year, when all weeds have germinated, we have to pull out those weeds at a feet circle round the baby vine. Doing, this, we make sure weeds will not kill the baby vine but we still leave some in order to tell a message to the young vine saying : Go develop your roots since you have competition around.
Watch this video which will explain this better :

This year and after our third attempt, we have finally managed to keep our bees. Our bee hive is doing well and we are so happy to have them contribute to move pollen around us and participate to our yeast melting pot :

Also, I would like to thank all the people who have taken the time to come visit. Special thanks to Lew and Scott for their reports which you can read  here and watch on this very professional video :

Many of you have asked why we named our vineyard "Domaine Rouge-Bleu". Part of the answer is in the following video and it will also be a way to celebrate our National Holiday :
 

Our 09 reds will be released after the coming harvest. Dentelle first which should be available for the Holidays, Mistral then which is still a bit young but currently smoothing down in our used barrels...and Lunatique which will have to age another year and which, I can tell you, should be amazing.
In the meantime, our 08 reds drink very nicely now with this typical 08 acidity which allows to drink them cool...and this helps in this very very ot summer. All our importers have the 08 in stock now so thank you for supporting our wines and contacting them by clicking on this link.
And for French deliveries, you are more than welcome to order directly through this form.

Well, we have another last spray of mixed sulfur, copper and tea herbs to perform and then it will be time to take some days off...When we come back from Sicily (where I plan to taste some wines of course), it will be time to check on our harvest tools...I can't believe we will soon crush our 4th harvest !

Enjoy the summer,

Cheers,

Jean-Marc
Domaine Rouge-Bleu 

Vision of horror...

 Dear Friends,

Following my last post on farming debate (thank you BTW for all your comments) I don't mean to continue the controversy but as I see more and more old vines being pulled out... I can't help but express my anger.

This huge frustration is not targeted at vine farmers, who are only taking advantage of this suicidal system, but mainly to people who elaborate those "restructuration" plans, even if it is true that the leaders of big coops (who are often linked to politics) are surely behind this "incentive".

Let me be more specific. If you have an old vine parcel producing low yields, the governement will give you 13 000 Euros per Hectare (2,5 Acres) to pull out vines and then replant.

Of course, you need to use a company to do so and you also need to have the dead vines burned outside whereas the same dead vines could have been used to heat a house or just to cook with them which gives so many great aromas to the food.

You also need to re-plant the new vines on wires, which permits them to be harvested with a machine. This, combined with young vines, will certainly not compete with the great potential of old vines and the wines eventually produced might be good but they will surely be in the "volume" category. In this competitive market, volume wines don't sell well and it is likely that people who plant vines now with the help of the government (I mean with the help of our money !) will also ask in a few years even more help to get rid of wines that are not profitable.

On the other hand, people like us who try to preserve our biggest treasure (old vines), which permit our country to distinguish itself and keep its image of fine wines producers, get nothing... I think it is a night and day treatment, don't you ?
 

Old vines around "Genêts". Great yeasts and flavors to come in the future wines

On a more "colourful" note, I would like to congratulate my Dear Uncle from Domaine du Banneret for his recent award of 92 points on the Wine Spectator. My cherished cousin Audrey has just started a blog (In French) telling you what is going on there. You should go and pay a visit to here.

At last, I would like to express my gratitude to all the organisers of the first Grenache Symposium event which took place last week-end in le Crestet, near Mont-Ventoux. Besides the great conferences and the share of Grenache knowledge, it is always nice to try many good wines from other committed producers. And it was not very surprising to see that most of them treasure...their old vines.

Happy summer to all and don't hesitate to come visit if you are traveling near us.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Domaine Rouge-Bleu 

PS : All comments are always welcome, as always.

Our Dear weeds, vector of Life 

Dear Friends,

As Spring has definitely installed itself (even if right now rain and cold weather are back), it is amazing how vegetation sprouts everywhere. And all the snow accumulated + a wet winter have really pushed mother nature to produce a lot of plants.

In many surrounding vineyards, the way to "destroy" this vegetation is to use "mr roundup". This poison is so easy to use + it brings such natural fall colors (orange) in the vines...I am surely joking here as I think this is so bad so work this way and here is why :
- This herb poison is obviously still in the fields after it has played it killing role. And the fields, instead of getting compost from those herbs, get nothing. No bugs also which could transport yeasts from flowers to grapes, yeasts which would eventually ferment and express unique aromas.
- Using poison means no worms underneath the soil and no life underground which then gets pourer and pourer since those worms play their role in the compost process and the natural amendment of the soil.

Mr roundup piece of art... Picture taken by Kristi
 

Most probably, the outcome of this is that people who work this way have to buy industrial yeasts (as they often use heavy anti fungus treatments which also kill natural yeast) which will definitely stop any terroir flavor  in the winemaking to the benefit of these "yummy" artificial flavors. They will also have to feed their vines more than what should be done.
Of course, this farming method will produce more grapes than people working the old way but this hight yields also means weaker plant towards potential fungus and heavier anti-fungus products.

In other words, I am assimilating this way of farming as putting the vines under perfusion and totally dependent whereas vines have in their own genes the ability to struggle to find the nutriments they need to produce good grapes. This, by developing their root system which are as many potential food captors which bring back the complexity and the minerality of the terroir into your glass. That's how this newbbie farmer sees things and the result of 3 vintages tell me to continue working in the mentality.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Domaine Rouge-Bleu 

PS : Of course, this is only my opinion and I don't mean to say I am right on the subject.
All your comments are very welcome here, let's keep the debate going on.

Celebrating 4060 new vines divided in 13 different white grape varietals. I like this number !

Dear Friends,

As I am just back from 2 wonderful weeks visiting the US, my return to the farm came with other festivities. But before detailing what happened here, I would like to thank all of you who have come to the many tasting events, wine dinners and who have supported our wines. Thanks also to all of you who have made my trip easier and, boy, I kind of needed some hands as the itinerary was very tight. And, of course, thank you to all our Importers, Distributors Reps, Retail Stores, Chefs, Waiters... who have worked hard to make this tour a success.

On the road, I met with Susan and Kendall who drove 5 hours from Chicago to attend our Iowa City wine dinner ! Susan is "artisan" making the most delicious chocolates with a unique hint of spices. She is offering them fresh.
Order them at http://www.cacaocuvee.com. If you don't like them (which would be very unlikely), I will send you a bottle of wine !

Celebrating our first wine dinner US with friends at Blue Farm Hill in NYC

My return home started with the celebration of 4060 new babies in the family. With two hard working guys, we have planting our last empty parcel which had been prepared for 3 years for this with diffrent crops which have amended the soil. Originally, we were supposed to plant 8 grape varieties mostly from our area (Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne, Bourboulenc, Viognier, Clairette Blanche, Clairette rosée and Vermentino) but since we missed some babies, I asked my friend Lilian who provides those plants to complete with another 5 "strangers" which are Sauvignon, Gros Manseng, Muscal Petit Grain, Chardonnay and Chenin.
See the following video (listening to the great song) which will give you an idea of how we plant vines :

Those plants have already been blessed with two heavy rains which complete their plantation with the best conditions and you are welcome to send all your positive thoughts to all those Rouge-Bleu family members.
 

- I came back just a few days after spring, which celebrates life back in the fields. Thankfully, our winter has been very cold and the vines have not bloomed yet...which gives me a little time to finish pruning. And look what I found in the vines, which really shows that Spring is there and which hopefully brings good Karma :
 
Lady Bug on a pruned vine
 

- Just before I left for the US, I heard that our Dentelle red 09 was awarded with a Bronze Award at the Paris Agricultural Fair. Well, this is not "Gold" (like last year) but since we got the Silver two years ago, we now have received the 3 metals in 3 years...Not too bad for a start.

Silver in 2008, Gold in 2009 and Bronze in 2010. "Le compte est bon"
 

- Lastly and talking about 3 years, we have also celebrated 3 years here which also corresponds to my birthday. I can't believe that time has gone so fast and how much we have completed, even if I don't take anything for granted.

3 years...that's the time our new baby vines need to produce their first harvested fruits as we will green harvest the ones before in order to force the vine to concentrate on making roots and wood. For now, it looks that we will have to wait an eternity to enjoy the first bottles of this new wine but If I look backwards, I am sure time will go very fast.

Thank you all for your wishes messages and all your support

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Ladybug on a future grape, spreading out its good Karma to the coming vintage (picture taken in Spring 2007)

Dear Friends,

This coming Sunday, I will cross the Atlantic for a surely memorable visit throughout the US with many tasting and other fun wine events. It will be a true pleasure to meet with you around a glass of wine.

Before I go, it is already time for us to think about the farming new season which will bloom when I return.

Today, I placed orders for copper and sulfur which I spray along with infused nettle, horsetail and wicker . Tomorrow, I plan to spray some biodynamic horn manure on the soil to develop microbial life when nature wakes up in the Spring. And Saturday, I will finish pruning...

Talking about this coming vintage, we have 2 seats to offer for pickers. In a few words, we provide food and board and we harvest 10 days, including 1 session with my Uncle's in Chateauneuf du Pape. We work 8 hours per day and have 3 dinner parties at the vineyard.

If you are interested in this unique physical and spiritual experience (which requires being in good health, and not having back issues), you are welcome to email me to eventually join the crew and participate to this vintage with your own signature.

 
Celebrating the end of harvest after 10 days of hard (and fun too) work

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Domaine Rouge-Bleu

A freezing week at Domaine Rouge-Bleu... 

Dear Friends,

This week, I had the chance to train a future and talented (I sense) winemaker. His name is Alexis and he already has some good roots with his family already involved in a great vineyard that I have the chance to distribute to the US markets : Mas de Martin in Languedoc.

We started to prune and, as the so freezing Mistral started to blow, we did some soil works, putting the granules we spread the week before into the ground along with all the dead weeds, amending the soil for this coming vintage.

Then, I could use two more strong arms to barrel rack our 4 units of Lunatique 2009 which were still on their lies.

We put the 4 barrels together in a tank, washed the barrels and put back the blended barrels into the 4 originals, without the lies. Hopefully, I have kept some wine to fill the barrels which already give away 1 liter per month to Rouge-Bleu Angels. We call it "La Part des Anges" which means that it is the share the Angels get to drink.

Our tasting events in the US are almost all set. All dates are confirmed and the ones where no event appear will be posted soon at this same. Please mark your calendar and/or forward this link to your friends who would like to join us :

  With the hope to see you then.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Fish organic granules ready to be spread

Dear Friends,

Snow has now slowly turned into "gold" water which has gently drained our soils. Before life starts to resume, it is once in a while important to amend the ground. Of course, this has to be made carefully in order to respect its balances and the main purpose of this is develop microbial life underneath the soil in order to make our vine roots happy. For this, I will use 3 ways : Horse manure, fish organic compost and the biodynamic 500.

      
    Your servitor dynamising 500             Horse manure provided by Jackie's horse club
 
 As incredible as it can be for Monsanto fans, developing life is better than killing it, especially when you want to produce grapes and wines that reflect their "terroir".

Later, it will be time to plow in order to bring oxygen to the soil which will permit this life development...

  

In between, I will be spending two weeks all around the States, pouring our wines and meeting with our dear readers. The following page is regularly updated with the events definitely set and where you are very welcome to attend. What is also totally set are the dates so even if there is no event yet where you are, you can already mark the date on your calendar.
I have many things to tell you and some exciting news to unveil so I look forward to seeing you.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc
Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Our neighbors, Delhome Family bravely pruning on a feet of snow

Dear Friends,

Many of you who have seen the beautiful snow pictures that wy wife posted on her blog asked me whether all this amount of snow could damage our dear vines.

Not only it will not damage but it is a real blessing. With this snow covering the vines, they will definitely hibernate and get all the rest they need to wake up in good shape and the latest possible, which could also avoid frost issues.

These cold temperature should also naturally take care of some remaining fungus (oïdium, mildiou) sometimes remaining from last vintage.

At last, this amount of snow will melt slowly and will gently drain our soils which needs to get some reserves for a potential hot summer.

Those landscapes are also so beautiful with rare scenes that we won't probably see before long. 2010 Vintages definitely starts great...Let's hope the odds will continue to bless us.

Regarding my Spring US visit, my itineray is now set and here are the dates :

03/08 : New York City
03/09 : Washington DC area
03/10 : Houston. Wine tasting and wine dinner with French Country Wines. Contact and info : Tim.
03/11 : Houston - Minneapolis. In transit (time for a little rest)
03/12 : Minneapolis-Saint Paul
03/13 : Minneapolis-Saint Paul
03/14 : Iowa City
03/15 : Seattle
03/16 : Portland. Wine dinner at Nedd Ludd restaurant. Contact and info : Darryl.
03/17 : Portland
03/18 : San Francisco
03/19 : Los Angeles
03/20 : Los Angeles

Details of all events (wine tasting, wine dinners) should come soon and I do hope to see you then.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc
Domaine Rouge-Bleu

105 years old baby Zinfandel in No CA

Dear Friends,

Those who have followed me while I was blogging at French Wine A Day might recall those 2 posts I did in 2005 and especially in June 2006 after my visit in the No CA wine country. At that time, I had been so impressed by the quality of the wines, and especially coming from old Zinfandel vines, that I had seriously considered moving there...But a few months later, Rouge-Bleu vines came to me and started our great wine venture. 

Well... last Holidays, I had the chance to come back to this area and visit with many wonderful and so welcoming producers such as :
Joseph Swan, Pellegrini, Wind Gap, Unti, Mauritson, Carlisle and Dashe.Tasting and sharing the knowledge for this real endogenous CA grape (Zinfandel since we can now assume that it has muted) has been a true pleasure and has reminded me that Europe is definitely not the only place able to produce fine - elegant wines. And walking inside this block of 105 years old vines made me felt like I was almost...home :

Well, we are now back in Provence with our dear old babies for another exiting vintage venture. We will start pruning the vines soon and bottle in two weeks the 2009 rosé which is already to drink and quite expressive in aromas.

Next March (03/08 to 03/22), I will be back to the US for many visits and fun tasting. I will be working soon with event dates and will let you know as they are set.

A bit of "business" now : Most of our importers have now brought the Dentelle red 2008. It is fresh and spicy style, a bit lighter than the 2007 and should do very well with light meats and curries. if you would like to get some, don't hesitate to drop an email to our importers to see where is the nearest retailer in your State. And if they don't answer you, don't hesitate to let me know, I will be happy to do the follow up.
Talking about distribution, I just found out with pleasure that a very nice Portland OR restaurant (Serratto) is pouring Rouge-Bleu and Banneret (my Uncle's from Chateauneuf du Pape) as "Flight of the month". The little kid Dentelle red 08 gets to play in the same courtyard as its big brother from Chateauneuf du Pape and that is a true honor.

At last, it is now time for me to wish you our best for 2010

Cheers,

Jean-Marc
Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Click to enlarge... 

Dear Friends,

2009 is about to be gone and before we know it, 2010 will be there. Not only the year but the vintage since our dear vines will slowly wake up soon to elaborate this coming crush.

And 2009 has been a great year for us. First, our vintage which is definitely now the best among the 3 we had. The rosé will be bottled January 14th and it is just beautiful, with a lot of white fresh fruits aromas like peach. The red Dentelle will be bottle in the Spring. it has both fresh and depth. Mistral 09 needs more time to affine but has the same identity with already complex aromas. At last, "Lunatique" (the new "little" one), will age two years total in old barrels and it already evolves quite well.

2009 has also been a very rewarding year as our vineyard received a Gold Medal in the very respected Paris Wine Fair, a 91 points on Wine Spectator and many other nice reviews that you can list here. And just recently, we have seen that Domaine Rouge-Bleu has been recommended by the Rhone editor of Wine Spectator among the best Southern Rhone wines...I don't know if we deserve it but we will take it and at least we worked hard...

And, finally, 2009 has been the first year you, our dear readers, have been  able to taste and support all our range of wines. Thank you so much for all your kind and positive messages, you have no idea how rewarding this is for us. Please don't hesitate to leave a comment on our wines, it is always nice and learning to have all your feedbacks.

On another subject, Kristi, our kids and I will be in Phoenix 12/26 to present her new book and pour our wines. Don't hesitate to join us at Vincent's Farmers Market

   &   

 Last month, I was not in the desert but in the nordic countries to visit Steen, our Danish ambassador (The Wine Company) for a memorable wine dinner with also my friends Jens and Soren (who has the best Chateauneuf-du-Pape informative website you can think of). If you have friends or family there, I strongly recommend to pay Steen a visit (physically or virtually), he does have some very good wines.

At last, I will be touring the US next Spring (03/08 - 03/21) and will keep you posted about the events organized. Besides the regular stops, the new destinations are DC, NC and IA.

To 2010 now...and there might be some very exciting news soon to come !

Where is my wine ?

Cheers,

Jean-Marc
Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Dear friends,

Kristin and I will be in the States for Christmas and would like to invite those who live nearby Phoenix AZ to join us for a book signing - wine tasting which will take place December 26th from 9 AM to 1 PM at :

Vincent's farmers market, 3930 East Camelback Phoenix, Arizona 85018

Kristin will have some books to sign (you are welcome to bring yours if you already have it) and I will have some wines to try : Domaine Rouge-Bleu of course and the great Chateauneuf du Pape from my Uncle's : Domaine du Banneret.

If you plan to come, please let us know at jean-marc@rouge-bleu.com

For those who unfortunately won't be able to attend this event, I wanted to tell you that our wines are now more and more distributed around the US. If you plan to buy some for Thanksgiving (the Dentelle red 08 should be perfect with the turkey), here is the link on where to find our wines with all our importers listed and, sometimes, some retailers. Don't hesitate to contact our importers to ask them to locate you the nearest retailer. And if you don't get an answer, please let me know.

For those who have a French delivery address, click here to order directly from us

All our wines have now finished their fermentations (alcolhic + malo-lactic). They are aging in our porous tanks, allowing then a slight and welcome oxydation. They are all very beautiful, especially the rosé which will be bottled early 2010;

Regarding special "cuvée" (3 barrels eventually), I have finally decided to name it "Cuvée Lunatique" as it was decided to do it in at the last minute (probably thanks to a good mood feeling) and since we farm our vines with biodynamie principles where the moon has its role. Thanks a lot for all your contributions in that matter.

Also, we have bottled the Mistral red 2008 and this wine has a "reshaped" label :

 

I won't probably write before the Holidays, so I send you all my best wishes for the end of 2009 and, by anticipation, a great 2010 "vintage".

We look forward to your visit in the desert.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Our very last grapes harvested : Grenache on the rocks !

Dear Friends,

 
Your servitor harvesting very old Grenache vines

Dear Friends,

It took us 4 days of hard work in a still very hot environment to harvest the grapes that are now producing our rosé 09.

We had to start quite early this year since sugar content was starting to become quite elevated and because acidity (which is a key point for me) was declining. The result is, so far, quite yummy...

Here are 4 videos that will show you some pictures of this (note that the dates showed are obviously not the right ones and that they don't play in the right chronological order)

We are now resting our backs before resuming for the grapes which will produce our reds 09. If sugar is there, our grapes need to finalize the "phenolic maturity" which takes into consideration the level of maturity of the anthocyanins and the tannins of the grape, and more specifically all elements found in the skin.

So far, our grapes are as beautiful and healthy as can be. Keep sending positive thought for nice weather.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

 
Carignan grapes under the heavy Provence Sun

Dear friends,

"Canicule" is here and our grapes have already reached high sugar levels. Vintages follow years after years and certainly don't look alike and that's why we love wine.

It has been a while since I have not updated this blog and I thought I would thank all the other bloggers who have talked about us :

Reign of Terroir : My very first interview...

Newpi : Organic shops in IA with passionate and very nice guys

K&L wine stores in CA : Note that the last two answers are not mine (and I certainly don't agree with those answers even if I respect them)...Also, please also visit this page from K&L and this is where you can buy online our Mistral

Critics Choice Vacation: A great blog to book your future trip. Susan who is our son's godmather and who is also responsible for our vineyard name, has written many times on us. To see her posts, click on Travel log and scroll down left hand side to France (on the CATEGORIES section) and then scroll down to Sainte Cécile les Vignes.

Musing from Red Bell Farm : Just beautiful and so romantic

John Livingstone: A very respected English writer and wine lover

Chateauneuf.dk : The best informative site on Châteauneuf made by Soren, a Danish wine passionate.
And for our Danish readers, here is a post from Jens. To see what he has to tell about Rouge-Bleu, scroll down half the page.

French Country Wines : From our Texas good friends and wine importer

Diary of 1 : The very first blog article made of us

Essence de Provence : By our good friends Beth and Lisa who organise great lavender picture tours in Provence every year

Binny's : Wine stores around Chicago area

Blog d'Isabelle : A good friend from our village of Sainte Cécile les Vignes. You will have to read this in French (a good practise for those of you who want to learn our language)

Tribeza : About a wine tour organised by our good friend and wine importer in Houston, Phyllis and Tim

Jon's Wine Diary : Look at February 2008

Music and Markets : We are at the bottom of the article

VintageGardenGa l: We are at the bottom of the article

And of course, the one of my lovely wife Kristin who regularly talks about our ventures at Domaine Rouge-Bleu.

If I have forgotten one web article or if you have any suggestion, please let me know and I will update this post.

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Early September, I make a special edition on the rosé (with lots of pictures and videos so don't miss it) since we will harvest in two times this year with a 10 days break between the rosé harvest (which need to happen soon before acidity drops) and with red harvest where we will look for the best possible maturity.

Back to the cellars now where I need to make room to welcome those grapes...

Cheers,

Jean-Marc - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

10 PM, a beautiful sunset on Mont Ventoux and Dentelles de Montmirail
Day is still not over... 

Dear friends,

2 years ago, I remember writing a post named "the longest week". Well, two years after and at the same time period where days are the longest of the year, they are still quite filled.

Here is, for example, the schedule of my day on June 18 :

- Went to bed at 1 AM after having spent the evening with a group of local winemakers and discuss about potential events we could organize in Sainte Cécile les Vignes, our village

- Woke up at 5 30 AM to spray copper and sulfur until noon. Just finished to clean the tractor when some friends showed up for tasting some wine and eventually had lunch with us

- Spent the first part of the afternoon sorting papers, paying bills and the second half calling some accounts to maintain the relationship and remind them to pay their bills too !

- Getting ready by 6 PM to go to Chateauneuf du Pape, not without making a little detour to visit some accounts, deliver some wines and stop at our oenologue to give him some tank samples of our Mistral red 2008 (which ages quite nicely, so far).

- Helped my Uncle at Domaine du Banneret to prepare an order which will cross the Atlantic next week. Then met some Danish importers for a memorable dinner at Mere Germaine which ended at 1 AM at my Uncle's personal cellar, with some old Chateauneuf du Pape marc.

- Arrived home at 2 AM and crawled into bed !

And guess what : Even if this schedule looks quite exhausting, it gives me a lot of joy which, in fact, gives the strength to overcome fatigue.

And, of course, all your support is also fueling me.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

 
Your "blue-blue" servitor, after having sprayed copper and sulfur on a Mistral day...

Dear wine lovers,

Mid May to Mid June is probably the most difficult time period for the vine farming. It is when they are growing the most and it is when they can easily catch fungus diseases like Mildiou and Oidium. Fortunately for us, this first half has been, so far, quite dry with even a lot of Mistral which, as we say here, naturally "sulfate pour nous". And even if this famous strong wind broke a few new vine shoots (which are green and long now and too soft to resist the wind), it actually did a natural green harvest which I would definitely have preferred to avoid in our 75 years old Grenache which produce such a low yield...but as we also say in France "On ne peut pas avoir le beurre et l'argent du beurre" (you can't have your cake and eat it too). 

This time period is also when we need to be careful with grape-worm and where we need to monitor weeds at a reasonable level before it is too dry to plowing the ground.

 
Grappe-worm : Can you see the worm ?

This means that it does not leave much time to the rest even if we found some to bottle the first half of our Dentelle red 08  and the last (snif) tank of Mistral red 07...Hoping to find those incredible flavors in a future vintage. Indeed, I quite like the Dentelle 08 as it truly and faithfully reflects its vintage, with less depth but some very nice spices. Last night, I have enjoyed it with a chicken curry and I have to admit that it was good.

Summer is almost there and if you are traveling in our area, don't hesiatate to pay us a visit (with a prior notive please by email or by phone at +33 6 15 10 52 01). We will be here most of the time.

At last, we may have two seats for harvest this year, which should take place the second half of September. I know some of you had expressed interest in this venture and if it is still the case, don't hesitate to contact me for more details.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

 
Your servitor, plowing the soil

Dear wine lovers,

As the 2009 vintage is now in sight, it is now time to work those vines and give them the maximum chance to produce a great grape.

At Rouge-Bleu, we believe that feeding the vines is a total nonsense since it is a way to tell the roots : "Don't work finding the food in the deep parts of the underground but go feed yourself with the rich food displayed on the soil surface I am giving you for free"...which is totally against their nature and which will prevent them to develop their root system (the best way for vines to produce great grapes). That's why, I always wait late until I plow the soil full of various Spring herbs, in order to recuperate a little bit of nutrition which will slowly decompose and amend the soil with the minimum carbons a vine needs to survive.

And pretty soon, it will be time to spray against the fungus (Mildiou-Oidium). Here again, at Rouge-Bleu, we like to prevent rather than heal. And we do it with only contacts products (Cooper-Sulfur melted with nettle, horsetail and wicker tea herbs) which don't get into the heart of imune system and eventually destroys it, leaving it very weak a subject to catch the disease.

All this will take a lot of time...and the good news is that I am going to have more time since I no longer really need to developing the sales. Our rosé is sold out and our Red Mistral is virtually gone too after the good reviews we just had. When I say it is sold out, it means that I have no more to offer for our professional network (I have kept a little stock for our visitors) but these guys do have or will have some soon (a few containers are on the Ocean).

Talking about distribution, I have the pleasure to announce you 3 new ambassadors in the US :
- Williams Corner in VA and around DC
- WorldWide Cellars Imports in MN and soon in other Midwest States
- Wine Adventures in IA and IL
And 2 in Europe :
- Two Rivers Wine Company in UK
- The Wine Company in Denmark

All the contacts of our distributors, retailers, restaurants... can be found here.

And if you live in France and would like to place your order directly to us, here is above the form :

Happy Spring to all of you. If you will be traveling in our area, please have in mind that our cellars are always open with a previous appointment.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc - Domaine Rouge-Bleu
 

In MN, on my very last "Spring" 2009 wine tour visit.

Dear wine lovers,

For the last 15 years, I have been used to tour the US in order to promote wines from other vineyards. This time, I was so blessed to include Rouge-Bleu wines in the tour.

And another blessing arrived just by coincidence a week before I took off : Our Mistral red which already had been awarded by a Gold Medal in the Paris Agricultural Fair received a 91 points on the Wine Spectator !

Of course, this has brought even more excitement to this tour. Thank you to all of you who have joined the 14 wine events (tasting, lunch, dinner) and thank you so much for having supported our wines. Please find here pictures of the photo album and here is also a part of the signing sheet.

As those awards come very rapidly to us, I would like to express that I don't take them for granted. True is th at we have started our wine venture with an outstanding 2007 vintage, weather conditions that we have been able to magnify with our biodinamic farming, our very old vines and our traditional winemaking with concrete tanks.
We have worked as much to continue this quality level with the 2008, a cooler vintage which has already expressed its potential with our very fresh and elegant rosé (heavy file - takes a while to open). As for the 2008 reds, they need a little time to smooth down but will surely have the "good spirit" and a lot of character.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse
Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Dear wine lovers,

I had not scheduled this edition but since I just received some big news, I wanted share them with you before my US trip :
Our "Mistral" red wine won the gold medal at the famous Paris Agricultural Fair, last week.

Last year, when our "Dentelle" red got the Silver, many of you kindly told us that we would win the Gold on day so thank you for your positive helpful thoughts.

Many other thanks for all of you who have been supporting our wines. As a reminder, if you would like to know where to find them, here is the link.

I hope to see you soon in one of the US cities I will be visiting.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse
Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Pruned old Carignan black vine. In a few weeks, it will be all green !
Picture taken by my lovely wife.

Dear wine lovers,

As days get longer and longer each new day, vines sense that it will soon be time to wake up. That's why we still want cold temperatures which continue the give the vines a "winter signal" in order to avoid a too soon sprout which could generate frost issues but also because we have not finished pruning...

An we now need to rush since I am going to be quite busy in the next coming week. Besides one week off with the family in the mountains, I will attend a famous wine fair in Avignon mid March (Découvertes en Vallée du Rhône) and will take off March 22nd for a large US wine tour.

If you are near New-York, Tampa, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Saint-Paul/Minneapolis, I do hope to meet in one of the tastings we organize. Also, don't hesitate to forward this link to people you know in those areas, those events are open.

Our wines have now digested their January bottling. The 2008 Dentelle Rosé should be showing its best potential for the coming Spring. Our 2007 Red Mistral is now expressing his best and just got a very nice review inside La Revue du Vin de France. As for our red 2007 Dentelle, we are now sold out and expect to bottle the 2008 vintage when I come back from my US visits.

And when I do so, I expect to see our Dear vines much greener and the promise of a beautiful 2009 vintage. Time flies...

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse
Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Pruning, under a spring sky, our 57 years old Carignan planted "on the rocks"

Dear wine lovers,

Even if we have had, so far, a pretty cold winter, I can already see its end...

The first reason is that our rosé is now bottled. Tasting it, I remind me those first warm days of the year that we use to celebrate with a glass of rosé wine.

The second reason is that I have now planned a US trip...which will in fact start the very first day of this coming Spring. My itinerary will be NYC, Tampa, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Minneapolis. Please visit this page which will be regularly updated for details and please let me know if you plan to join me for any of the tasting events where you are of course more than welcome.

But before Spring arrives, I need to continue pruning our 20 000 vines... This new wine tour, this rosé and the hope to share it with you soon give me the will to go on and do the job, besides the still very cold temperatures.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse
Domaine Rouge-Bleu

 
                    75 years old Grenache

Red, White...and now Rosé !
Domaine Rouge-Bleu wishes you a colorful 2009 vintage !

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Dear wine lovers,

What a year...Actually I should say, what another year ! After our first blessed harvest in 2007 which also corresponded to our move here and to a bunch of renovation in our 400 years old farm, 2008 was mostly dedicated to distribution. And starting from nothing, it is quite a challenge, even for a guy who has been distributing French Wines to the US for 15 years.

First, the label...Remember the contest in October 2007...Well even if the label had had quite some success, it looks like some people did not like it and we have decided to test another one on our Rosé 2008 which is lighter and more modern. This label is printed now but your feedback will always be appreciated. Then, finding the right bottles, corks, caps, empty cases...the right guys for the bottling, the right guys for the compost....

And here we are now, 2 years after from day to day I did my first pruning. Time had flown but in another way, I also feel that it has been an eternity...
And 2008 has been a good year for our sales. Our Dentelle red 2007 is almost sold out, the Mistral red 2007 is having a very good reception, so far. The list of our professional ambassadors where you can find our wines is growing and so don't hesitate to visit it and forward it, most of them can ship and hopefully you will find one near you. Thank You for your support. And if you have a delivery address in France, you can now download our order formand even get some Champagne and some wines from my Uncle (Chateauneuf-du-Pape).

We have a few more days to go in 2008 and in Provence, we say "Bon bout d'an" 'happy en of years). Talking about Provence, 2009 will have a Provence touch with this rosé that I try to make in its very pale and fresh style. And as I am going to be traveling to the US in March-April with some bottle, I hope to share a glass with you then (you will be posted soon on the places I organize tastings). Otherwise, you are always very welcome to come here, of course.

Cheers,
Jean-Marc - Domaine Rouge-Bleu 

Mr Delhomme drinking our 2008 rosé.

Dear wine lovers,

Having been raised in Provence, rosé has always had a special place in my wine culture. When we found this beautiful piece of land in the Rhône, I initially told myself that I would only do red wines since that's the best potential here.

And our very hot mature 2007 vintage was not appropriate for light fresh rosé that I like and have enjoyed while living near the Mediterranean. When I have started to distribute Dentelle and Mistral, people have asked about rosé which, eventually put the idea in my head to produce a small tank in 2008, just for fun.

And since 2008 had been quite cool, acidities and maturities were in fact perfect to produce a rosé without too much alcohol and natural freshness. When we finished harvesting for this small tank, I realized that our grapes were not mature enough to produce the best possible reds so I decided to continue making some rosé fill a big tank.

Like a Provence people and also because the market demands this, I was afraid to make a rosé with too much color so I decided to make a direct press (in opposition to "saignée") in order to reduce the color given by the skins grapes. And if the pressed juices were very pale, the color went quite dark during the fermentation which was normal (dixit my oenologue) but which made worry.

But the outcome is just great. Pale pink color, fresh but lots of red fruits, especially Granada fruits.

By the end of November, I will have fined it and I plan to bottle it before Christmas. That way, we will spend the winter with this spring-summer wine which will help us pass this cold period dreaming about the next coming sunny season...

Cheers,
Jean-Marc - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Dentelle 2007 has been awarded... Let's hope it will continue in 2008

Dear wine lovers,

2 weeks of harvest have gone and all our grapes are now inside our tanks. Pictures of this memorable time will be posted soon in a few albums.

This vintage has been quite different from the hot and windy one in 2007. A cool Spring-Summer, some rains in the beginning of September have delayed the maturity. Then, the winemaker has to make a decision : Either taking the risk of getting more rains and having rot development on the grapes or picking some grapes in a good sanitary state a little early. And as our harvest team was here and ready, it has helped me to opt for the second option.

But the very main reason why I took this decision is because I had decided to make some rosé this year. The high acidity, the good sanitary state of the grapes the reasonable alcohol potential are in fact the perfect conditions to produce this wine. And from a guy coming from Provence, rosé is a must !

Eventually, it looks like our red tanks are fermenting nicely. As I always say, wine is balance and I am sure we will find the right one to produce a Dentelle and a Mistral in 2008.

And as a conclusion, I would like to say that I am in fact very happy that the 2008 vintage does not look like 2007. We are wine lovers because we know that each year will be a different story of a book that has just begun.

Cheers,
Jean-Marc - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

PS : Our Mistral 2007 has been bottled and some palets have been already shipped. You can check where to find our wines here. As for the Dentelle 2007, I have the huge pleasure to announce you that it has been listed in the famous Guide Hachette des Vins 2009 (after already having rewarded by a Silver in the Paris Agricultural fair).

"Tagged" tank (by our friends who came to visit us) emptied to blend the Mistral 2007 and to be ready to receive the 2008 grapes

Dear wine lovers,

We are now done with spraying copper (Mildiou is at last no longer endangering) and our vines have turned color ("véraison"). It is now time to measure (thanks Steve for the refractometer) their sugar and acidity evolution which often look like the following graph on its very simple version. Guess when it is time to harvest then ?

It is time to now make sure our harvest equipments are in good shape and re-organize the cellars to make room for this very special operations.

Just before the harvest, we will also bottle our "Mistral" 2007 blend mainly elaborated from our oldest Grenache vines and which a 1/3 of it has been aging in old barrels for 10 months. Since this wine is a blending of 3 tanks and 15 barrels and since we are just bottling a 1/3 of it, we had to take from them in each proportion and then refill all the tanks. For this, I had the great help of my Son Maxime.

Mistral 2007 will be the core (2/3) and probably the most qualitative part of our production, having in mind that Dentelle 2007 is also a beautiful wine with a very distintive character brought by the Carignan.

Dentelle in fact has a nice success as expressed by the numerous comments that you can read here. Don't hesitate to leave one if you have tried it. And if you would like to try it, we now have it available in many US cities and most of our retailers can ship.

We are bottling the Mistral now because it is ready to be drunk, it will actually be perfect for the coming Holidays. And we are also bottling it because we need space in the tanks to vinify the new coming grapes.

Al last, another way to prepare for 6 weeks for 7 days a week intense job is to rest. That's why I have taken some vacation and I am now rested and ready for this big event. Please wish us good fortune with the weather. The last two weeks and the 2 weeks harvest probably count for 2/3 of the harvest quality.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

PS : Many thanks to Soren and Ken who have made published on their blogs some great info on us.

Dear friends,

Kristin and I will attend a wine fair which will take place in London at the Barbican Exhibition Centre from Nov 21st to Nov 23rd. Kristin will be happy to sign her book and Jean-Marc will pour his wines which can also be purchased at the fair.

If you would like to receive free entrance tickets, please email your mailing address and we will be happy to send them to you.

Also, don't hesitate to email this link to your friends, family, relatives, wine lovers... who would appreciate to receive some free tickets.

We look forward to meeting you.

Cheers,

Kristin and Jean-Marc

Kuala Lumpur...

Dear wine lovers,

Our vines have, so far, resisted to the high Mildiou pressure and since the Mistral and Sun are back, they give me a little break to try to find new markets.

My initial plan was to distribute most of our production to the USA but the unfortunate combinasion of a weak dollar and a slowdown of the economy have discouraged some importers to bring new lines in their portfolio.

I have then started to develop the French market with Paris, Marseille and local places. Recently, I have also explored new spots and we just received an order from Malaisia. I also shipped some samples to Brazil, Japan and Australia and took some good contacts in Denmark and Belgium.

Of course, I would idealy like to sell most of our production in the US but those "unfortunate" economic evenments have obliged us to look for new horizons and eventually not put all our egges in the same basket.

And while I was exploring new markets, I had the pleasure to hear from some great guys in CA who told us that they will start importing Rouge-Bleu. Let's hope that the guys from WA (who orally said yes) and AZ where I am still strugling to find the right guy (any help here ?) will soon join our NY, TX and OR ambasadors which can be contacted here. are 3

For those of who have already tried our wines and would like to leave a comment, your are welcome to click here.

And for those who would like to order, here 3 ways to do it :
1 - Northwest area : Email Darryl (our wines should make it there by mid August)
2 - Southwest area : Email Tim (our wines are in stock and available)
3 - Eastcoast area : Order online here (our wines are in stock and available)

Thanks a lot for your support !

Cheers,

Jean-Marc - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

A spot of mildiou burned by copper. Can you see it ?

Dear wine lovers,

After the heavy rains in May and early June, heat is back here. Since the soils are still humid and that the Mistral is not here to dry, we now have the worst conditions for getting mildiou, a fungus that can affect the leafs and eventually the grapes.

To cope with this potential loss of precious grapes (They are rare here since our vines are old and yields already very low), it is necessary to prevent rather than trying to heal. I have started spraying copper 6 weeks ago when there was no mildiou and, even if we do have some spots in our vines, I think we have limited the contamination. I also believe that our old deep rooted vines, evolving in a living soil not destroyed by des-herbants and chemicals, permit the grapes to be healthy and more resistant to the fungus. Also, the fact that I only spray contact copper and tea herbs (which will just stay outside the vine) and not systemic chemical products which actually get inside, will not disturb the immune system of the vine and will permit it to fight better this bad enemy. The battle is still not won so all your positive thoughts will be welcome.

Last Saturday, we have bottled the second part of Dentelle which will now rest for a few weeks before it is shipped (as the wines need some time to rest after such an operation). If you had a chance to try it, don't hesitate to leave a comment here. This same link will give you the feedbacks of our friends who tried it, in case you would be interested in what they think.

And if you would like to order some, we can use this link.

If you are traveling in France this summer, here are the places where you should find our wines, besides our cellars where you will always be welcome, of course.

Thanks for your support !

Cheers,

Jean-Marc

Planting wooden posts to attach our baby wines planted last year. Some are already very productive (what I have in my hand is 8 future grapes) but it is necessary to eliminate the fruits in order to let the baby vines use its energy on developing wood and roots.

Good news : You can now order online our wines at by clicking here

Dear wine lovers,

With the vines growing like crazy, our wines to sell, all the administration in this tax period season and all what's coming next, I have to acknowledged you that I feel quite overwhelmed.

Just to give you an example, last week, my brother and I have planted 2 000 wooden posts to attach our baby vines that the wind could damage. While doing this, we have pulled out by hand weeds that are in between those babies (in order to both give them food with weed's decomposition and prevent that those weeds take too much humidity from the soil which could kill the baby vine) and eliminated the fruits coming from those young vines. After this project, I did a sulfur spray, scratched the soil to remove the weeds of our old vines (with the tractor this time)... And the week before, we have planted another 1 000 baby vines with the help of Elsebeth Steve and Jacques to replace some dead vines in an existing parcel. In the meantime, I had to invoice the wines delivered (some by myself) report to customs about our stock (this has to be done every month), make sure we will have some empty bottles and corks for the coming bottling...
Hopefully, I have the great help of my brother Jacques and this is very special to be able to share my passion with him.

The good news is that I am still standing up and that our wines have made it to some very nice spots like La Mirande in Avignon, Domaine des Andéols in the heart of Lubéron or the famous natural wine store Le Ver Volé in Paris. Please keep in mind this list and don't hesitate to contact Tim who is our importer and good friend in Houston who can ship our wines to some US destinations

At last, please apologize if this edition has mistakes. As you understood here, I am quite pressed with time but wanted to keep you posted.

Thanks for all your support and all your kind encouragements messages. they are all quite appreciated.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Future Carignan grapes in sight for our Dentelle 2008

Dear wine lovers,

On our way back from New York, our dear vines had just started to bloom. After 5 expected heavy rains and they are now really growing fast and our future grapes which will give birth to the 2008 vintage are already here.

Before that, I had just finished to scratch the soil which permitted a better draining and elimination of the first load of weeds which are now composting inside the soil, permitting the microbian life to develop and making our vine roots happy. And it looks like not only the roots are happy in our little vineyard (image a little blurry but it is actually a good thing as I don't want to want to get in trouble)... And it looks like some ladybugs even enjoy a little glass of rosé to celebrate spring !

Back to serious things, scratching the soil is now done by a tractor but our ancestors used to do it with a horse like a friend of mine, Helen Durand from Domaine du Trapadis in Rasteau (available in Oregon BTW), still does in his oldest vines. This method might sound "medieval" but when you think about it, not only you don't burn gas as we all do with our tractors but the horse also contributes to develop this precious macrobian life with their natural "dejections". 

As our vines still give us a small break before it is time to really care about their sanitary state, we continue the promotion of the 2007 Dentelle. After the US West Coat last February, we have organized tastings in Marseilles, Paris and New York City.

Last week, I had the pleasure to receive a very nice order from the famous Brasserie La Mère Germaine in Châteauneuf du Pape where our wine will be poured by the glass.

And since our wines are now listed in wine stores and restaurant, I have decided to mention the places where they can be found.

Also, if you had a chance to taste our wines, you are welcome to leave a comment here.

At last, if you have a delivery address in France and would like to receive a direct offer from us, please email me here.

Thanks a lot for your support and don't hesitate to pay us a visit if you are near our area in the coming weeks.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Our very first shipment going to Houston.

Dear wine lovers,

I know it has been a while (too long) and I feel bad but believe me, I am quite overwhelmed.
After returning from our US visits, we have bottled 7 000 bottles in one day and store them in our small cellar. The first orders arrived and already 2 pallets are their now on their way to New York and Houston (if you live in the Soutwest you can contact Tim to order our wines).

In France, we have done another tasting event in Marseille at our Friend's wine store (Le Vin Sobre) and got lots of success. The greatest news of the week also came from Marseille as one of the very best restaurant "Les Trois Forts" (see the wonderful view at Kristin's blog) has put on their wine list the Dentelle. For a native from Marseille, this is the best reward I could get.

We are just about to leave to drive to Paris and then fly to NYC where two more events are awaiting us and we are very excited.

Then, on the return, our vines should have started to bloom. Pruning is over, including our baby vines were we food lots of ladybugs (two here actually making future ones before we took the picture) while taking out by hands all the weeds around them, vines shoots are crushed and I have almost scratched everywhere.

As you can see, we are keeping busy. In fact, farming grapes on 25 acres and selling the wine might be too much for one person. I hang on but I will surely need some help before I loose too much weight.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Dear wine lovers,

After the West Coast, Kristin and I will be traveling in Paris and in New York city this coming April.

Here are the dates and places where we will be thrilled to meet with you :

- April 10th in Paris : Juvéniles Wine Bar from 5 to 8 PM
Book signing and Wine tasting of Domaine Rouge-Bleu + Domaine du Banneret (our Uncle's vineyard in Châteauneuf-du-Pape).
Juvéniles Wine Bar. 47, Rue Richelieu, 75001 Paris - Tel : 01 42 97 46 49
RSVP here      

- April 15th in New York City : Crawford Doyle Booksellers from 4 to 6 PM
Book signing only
Crawford Doyle Booksellers, 1 082 Madison Avenue (between 81th and 82nd Street)
RSVP here

- April 16th in New York City : Union Square and Spirits from 6 to 8 PM
Book signing and wine tasting of Domaine Rouge-Bleu
Union Square Wines & Spirits, 140 Fourth Avenue
RSVP here      

Don't hesitate to forward this page to your francophile and-or wine lovers relatives who live nearby Paris and-or New York cities. We will be more than happy to meet with them too.

Kristin and I are really looking forward to meeting with you !

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Regarding the vineyard...

The pictures of our first bottling (sorry, not in the right order) are available at http://a-la-recherche-du-vin.typepad.com/photos/first_bottling/

And even a video at http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=vtTEF0z_-Q4

Vegetation has two weeks avdance and I am late pruning...Hopefully days are getting longer and longer.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

With Joanne in the Houston wine dinner at the great Brasserie Max and Julie

Dear wine lovers,

"Merci" might be an easy way but it is the right word to thank all of you who came to visit us during our February US events. Kristi and I have been so touched by your kindness and I have been so proud to pour our wines for the first time.

We are back to our dear vines and wines which have evolved with warm (not to say hot) weather. Vine is in tears, which means I don't have much time to finish pruning and our "living" wines are also evolving. Babies ladybugs are here (can you find it here ?) and just before we left, we have put some green compost in our old vines. As for the wines, the Dentelle cuvée will be bottled next week, on a fruit day and raising moon which are the best conditions on the lunar calendar to bottle wine.

And, by the way and even if we know well how relative this is, I wanted to tell you that our Dentelle just got a "silver" reward at the National Agricultural fair of Paris.

Here are the photos and an article of our tour. We will be back in April in NYC and surely at more places in the near future.

Seattle at Abraxus book store article + pictures
Seattle at French American Chamber of Commerce + other pictures
Portland at Cork wine store and Diana and Neil's wine dinner pictures
San Francisco at Palio d'Asti pictures
Los Angeles at Wine House pictures
Phoenix at Vincent farmer's market pictures
Phoenix at Heidi and Doug Stiteler pictures
Houston at Brasserie Max and Julie pictures 

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

PS : As I am just about to send this post, I just receive an email from Jennifer in OR with who I have been emailing. Her post on Rouge-Bleu is so revealing and so true that I can't help mentioning it to you here. "Merci" Jennifer

Beaten egg whites

Dear wine lovers,

Our "Dentelle" Cuvée is scheduled to be bottled on March 11th, a fruit and raising moon day on the calendar moon, which gives the best conditions to bottle a wine on its fruit and freshness side.

Before this crucial step, it is important to continue clarifying this wine it without too much filtration (which kills all the natural sediments, so important in our natural wine). For that purpose, we have first divided our big 100 Hl tank into two of 50 Hl, aerating it in order to open it, take off the carbonic gas which is naturally produced during the fermentation while adding some organic white eggs. In effect, the albumin contained in the white eggs will accelerate, affine the wine and, leaving its very essential components.

Of course, these white eggs will not be part of the bottled wine since it will eventually deposit at the bottom of the tank which is not used.

This is an ancestral process which enables to respect as much as possible the wine. We will now leave it for 5 weeks and, when we return from our US trip, our wine will be ready to be bottled.

Watch all the steps of this process here.

In the meantime, Kristin and I are really looking forward to meeting you on the places we have organized events. Thanks to all of you who have already responded saying that they would come.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

PS : Our good friends and wine importers in Houston are offering a week in Provence with touring vineyards (including Domaine Rouge-Bleu), visiting typical villages or cooking with a local Chef. For more info, don't hesitate to email Tim at tms@frenchcountrywines.com on behalf of me.

Dear friends,

Kristin and I have the pleasure to announce to you that we will be visiting this February 2008 the following US towns to present our Rouge-Bleu wines and meet with our dear readers in :
Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Houston.

Seattle : February 12th 2008 - Meet with us either :

- From 2 to 4 PM at Abraxus Books book store located :
5711 24th Avenue NW
Seattle, WA 98107
Phone          (206) 297-6777       

- From 5 30 to 7 30 PM for a wine tasting-book signing organized by the French-American Chamber of Commerce of Pacific Northwest which is sold out now.


Portland : February 13 th 2008 - Meet us at Cork wine shop from 5 to 7 PM :
2901 NE Alberta Street
Portland, OR 97211
Phone :          (503) 281-2675       


San Francisco : February 14 th 2008 - Meet us at Palio d'Asti restaurant from 2 to 4 PM :
640 Sacramento Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone          (415) 395-9800       


Los Angeles : February 15th 2008 - Meet us at Wine House wine store from noon to 4 PM :
2311 Cotner Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Phone          (800) 626-9463       


Phoenix : February 16th 2008 - Meet us at Vincent's Saturday farmer's market from 9 AM to 1 PM :
3930 East Camelback Road
Phoenix, AZ 85018
Phone :          (602) 224-0225       


Houston : February 21th 2008 - Meet Jean-Marc (sorry, Kristin can't make it to this event)at Brasserie Max & Julie for a wine dinner scheduled from 7 to 9 PM :
4315 Montrose Blvd
Houston, TX 77006
Phone :          (713) 524-0070       
Tickets for this wine dinner are available through Texas our wine importer and very good friends French Country Wines. Please email Tim to secure your seats.
By the way, if you are looking for a great week in Provence with touring vineyards, visiting typical villages or cooking with a local Chef, email Tim since he is organizing a tour next April (19-26).

At last, Kristin and I will be in New York City this April 2008 (14th to 17th) and we will post you more details soon about the events we shall organize.

We do hope to have a chance to meet with you then. In the meantime, make a note in your calendar and don't hesitate to tell your francophile relatives to these events.

Apart from the events where tickets are requested, an email to let us know your visit in one of these meetings would be very much appreciated in order to manage as best as possible the logistic.

Cheers and Happy New Year,

Kristin and Jean-Marc Espinasse - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

PS : See the video of the very first bottling of our samples of Domaine Rouge-Bleu Dentelle. Sorry it is a little dark but, after all and hopefully, we did it in a cellar !

Thick wine lies at the end of "soutirage"

Dear wine lovers,

When a tank has completely finished its malolactic fermentation, it is time to separate the wine from its lies (lies [LEEZ] are the thick deposit resulting from both decantation and fermentation.

To do so, we will use a pump which is first hooked on the highest van level of the tank. Then, we will let the wines fall by gravity inside a case and we will pump the wine until it becomes thicker. Time then to put the lies in some small containers since it is an obligation to bring them to the distillery.

Then, the big cleaning starts inside the tank and again in the cellars since, as you can imagine, lies stain a lot.

The finest lies (the ones which come first from the tank at "soutirage") are also very good to cook with. My Aunt Marie-Françoise uses them to make one of her culinary specialties which is the Provençal "Daube" marinated with fine wine lies :

Ingredients for 4 people :
2 teaspoons of olive oil
10 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (2-pound) chuck roast, boneless, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
2 cups of fine red wine lies
2 cups of chopped carrots
1 1/2 cups of chopped onions
1/2 cup of beef broth
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme
A bit of ground cloves
1 (14.5-ounce) of can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 leaf of bay
3 cups of cooked pasta

Preparation
Preheat oven to 300°F.
Heat olive oil in oven over low heat. Add garlic to pan; cook for 5 minutes until soft. Remove garlic from pan and put it aside. Turn up the heat. Add beef to pan and brown it. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoons of pepper. Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add wine lies to pan, and bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add garlic, beef, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, carrot, and next 8 ingredients (through bay leaf) to pan; bring to a boil.
Cover and bake at 300° for 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Take out bay leaf. Serve over pasta. Garnish with fresh thyme

If you are interested in doing this recipe and you don't have a way to get some fine wine lies, you can always use an old bottle of wine that you will reduce with flour.

Here are all my greetings for a beautiful Christmas Season and a happy New Year with, I am sure, some great wines to celebrate.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Charles, one of our "Copains" who helped us so much during the harvest

Dear wine lovers,

In order to respond to the question about "how to get our wines", I am honored to offer you the opportunity to join our "Copains" Wine Society.

This offer includes the following benefits : A one day Rhone wine tour with your servitor (me), tee shirts signed by the whole family, exclusive pictures and videos of Domaine Rouge-Bleu life (which won’t be available at the regular blog), and even the possibility of opting for 6 bottles of my Uncle's Châteauneuf du Pape wines.

So, here is the offer Word or PDF document. Feel free to contact me by email or by phone (+33 6 15 10 52 01) if you need additional information. If you want to create your own "Copains" group in order to split the membership, you are welcome to do this, just indicate to me the number of people in the group so that each of them receives a tee shirt.

Not much happening nowadays at Domaine Rouge-Bleu. We still have a few leaves on the vines which gives me a good pretext for postponing pruning. In fact, I am waiting for some strong frost to start as disease can develop in the woods when you prune with mild temperatures.

I actually spend most of the time trying to find the best companies for the printing our labels (which are now finished in terms of creation - see the final version of Dentelle and Mistral), bottles, corks...
Also, I am putting together a US West Coast wine tasting / book signing tour with Kristin in order to meet with all our "Copains" around a glass of wine next February :
02/12 : Seattle
02/13 : Portland
02/14 : San Francisco
02/15 : Los Angeles
02/16 : Phoenix
I will also be in Houston for a wine dinner on 02/21 and we will of course keep you posted on all those events.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

PS : This proposal is addressed to our US readers. For other destinations, please email me and hopefully we can work this out. I will also put together an offer for France soon.

One of our old Grenache vines planted "on the rocks" on a typical sunset Mistral day. These grapes participated in our Mistral "cuvée"

Dear wine lovers,

All our tanks have now finished both their fermentations (alcoholic and malolactic). The four filled tanks we have express their "terroir" identity with, of course the grape variety's influence. What is interesting here is that depending on "terroir" and with the same grape variety, the wines express themselves very differently.

What we have thought before harvest has come true. Our Carignan, harvested at low yields, gave a very smooth and fruity tank. The Grenache, if they were planted "on the rocks" or on sandy limestone soils, give either red fruits or roasted hints. And Syrah has given us its typical blackcurrant aromas. The small amount of Mourvèdre and Roussane bring complexity and freshness.

And a common point of all our tanks is that, besides good levels of alcohol, we have been able to reach high acidity levels (around 3,8) which not only permit the wines to balance alcohol and not feel it but also to insure a promising aging. That is the result of very low yields and organic farming where vines have given their best to produce vines with two major components which are sugar and acidity

Enough talk for now, let's put these words into You Tube video

And here are the details of what you have just seen :

- Domaine Rouge-Bleu "Dentelle" red 2007. This "cuvée" is mainly made from Carignan (63%) and with a Grenache blending (27%). This wine is "on the fruit side" : Fresh, smooth and elegant are the words to characterize it and it will be available in April 2008.

- Domaine Rouge-Bleu "Mistral". This special "cuvée" is mainly made from our 55-year-old Grenache (68%) with a blending of Syrah (17%), Mourvèdre (9%), Carignan (4%) and Roussane (2%). 15% of this blending is now aging in old barrels. It is powerful with complex notes, evolving from black fruits (figs, blackberries) to cacao and roasting hints. We will bottle it before the 2008 harvest in order to release it at its best for the 2008 Holiday Season.

At last, regarding our label and since no one has been largely approved (many congrats by the way to Ryan who won the poll), I have finally decided to follow my heart, listening to many comments I received. With Florent, our graphic designer, we have been able to modernize and bring out this old Carignan grape vine which represents so well our terroir and the spirit of our wines made from old vines. We are not 100% done so all comments are always welcome, we can always make it better.

Please accept all my thanks for your participation (label submission, vote) to this big brainstorming.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse - Domaine Rouge-Bleu

Scratching ("Griffonner") the soil on a beautiful fall day

Dear wine lovers,

Our current Indian summer has permitted our vines to keep on accumulating sun energy since not all the leaves haven't fallen on the ground, showing us their beautiful colors which change from each variety.

Before life stops for a few months, it is still time to stimulate life and think about the future :
- Stimulating the underground microbian life, which is one of the reasons I follow the biodaynamy concepts, can be done now by scratching the soil. This way, oxygen aerate it and permits to compost dead leaves. I also use a special preparation MT 500 (mainly made from cow ...) to ameliorate this organic decomposition.
- Replacing the dead vines by news ones. Even if the baby vine will be planted next spring, it is now time to make the future holes so that the hopefully winter rain (which we now need so much) will create water reserve for the future planted vine.

When I am done with these tasks, I will have completed a full year of vine care. I am almost impatient to start pruning just to have this great accomplishment feeling.

Cheers,

Jean-Marc Espinasse - Domaine Rouge-Bleu