A San Francisco Treat

Went up to the Bay Area for a quick trip and got to drink some truly special and delicious things. Thought I’d share! The photos…not the wine. That would be kind of difficult.

There’s nothing quite like opening a bottle of fantastic Champagne while eating a simple lunch. Just because you can.

Introducing Jacques Selosse and Substance– A Blanc de Blancs Champagne made from a solera started in 1986. The disgorgement on this particular bottle was 2009, so I’m guessing it was bottled in 2004 or 2003. Guilhaume Gerard sent me the following via Twitter, “I visited Anselme only once, but drank his wines more than anyone else in the States probably. The big idea is to get rid of all fruit, all vintage, and keep the essence of the vineyard.” That vineyard being two parcels in Avize.

 

We decanted this wine and kept coming back to it. It was wonderful. Just wonderful. There was a lees-y, oxidative, butterscotch richness but a brilliant seaside vibrancy as well. I could taste this the next morning as if I had just taken a sip. I won’t soon forget it.

Hard to follow that one up, but Foillard can handle the challenge.

The color of Foillard’s wines have been especially mesmerizing to me lately.  This little guy was a nice afternoon pick me up, perfect with a bit of a chill on it.

Chez Panisse, Berkeley. Dinner.

We brought this Vouette et Sorbée Saignée rosé or “pinot noir infusion” as they say on their website. Love that. If you want to know more about this biodynamic/dynamic producer, read Peter Liem’s detailed piece about the domaine.

Sexy.

Purchased off the restaurant wine list- my beloved Roagna and my favorite Roagna Barbaresco vineyard, Pajé. 1999. Consumed with some duck. Life was good.

As I like to do every time I drink an older wine- I’ll take a moment and think back to what my life was like when those grapes were being picked. In 1999, I graduated from high school, turned 18 and lived in Manhattan for the summer by myself. It was a magical time, full of dreams that could come true.

Top Dogs: Part 2



After lunch (with my new BFF Gaia Gaja) of the finest tajarin (aka heaven in a bowl) a lady could ever have, the Barbera 7 walked the 20 paces across the sun-splashed main piazza of Barbaresco to our next tasting. As the town’s ancient 11th century tower- the antica torre– loomed overhead, the main man approached. My eyes squinted from the rays of the too bright sun towards Produttori del Barbaresco‘s doors, where Aldo Vacca emerged.
vacca

Produttori is a cooperative of 54 farmers. Aldo is their wrangler. A farmer wrangler. No, a grape wrangler. Whatever it is he wrangles, he does it well. And in stripes. The cooperative was founded by the town priest in the 1950’s (see his lovely bespectacled mug in the bust above) and has become a well oiled machine under Aldo’s watch and winemaking skills (his former boss was, afterall, Mr. Gaja himself.) Farmers bring their best at harvest and receive a share in profits. The better the grapes, the bigger their share. Incentive. It works.

tartratastic

The tartrates that remain in the bottom of one of Produttori’s old cement vats.

maps

Aldo led us to the tasting room where all 9 single vineyard 2005 Barbarescos were awaiting us. Also in the room were photos of all of those vineyards. As we made our way through the wines, Aldo described each and every vineyard and the farmers that harvest there. It’s crazy how each wine tasted so differently from the one before it. The same grape. The same year. The same small production area of the same region.

He spoke about how the wines should show the potential of the land. He also said that the people, the farmers, the communities are just as much a part of the terroir as the earth. What a beautiful thing to say. And with that, we had to be on our way…much too soon for us all.

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Top Dogs: Part 1



The Barbera 7 did actually have some time off from all things barbera. While in arguably the best winemaking region in Italy, there were plenty of producers to visit. We just happened to be able to visit and taste with some of the best (in my humble opinion.) The pezzo grosso- the top dogs…

giorgio

Giorgio Lavagna, the enologist for Bruno Giacosa. What a guy. Cool, calm, collected. A guy that, for some reason, I feel would have a home outfitted in Armani Casa in shades of grey. I met Giorgio back in October and tasted completely different wines than this time around. It was amazing to be able to revisit him and the wine in a different context and with a much better understanding of the region than just 5 short months ago.

In the quiet early evening, the Giacosa tasting room in Neive was the eye of the storm. A place we sought refuge after days of intense tastings and polemical arguments on oak and the “true” barbera. Giorgio spoke of the Giacosa style-  which is no style at all. To let the land speak for itself. That all the work is done in the vineyard. A humble man clearly, but he’s right. His goal is for the wines to taste “clean and clear, showing the least amount of interference.” And that when tasting wine, the first things it must show is the grape variety and the terroir. What a novel idea.

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