I always look forward to two wine salons every year; one in the fall and the other in the spring, where I really enjoy seeing these wonderfully talented vintners who make gorgeous wines. So if you were wondering why I did not publish Friday , it was because for the last three days, I have been busy tasting some of the most interesting and divine wines from all over France.
Tasting does not mean drinking, as all it takes is a glass or two of wine, and your palate loses degrees of discrimination. I have learned to take mico sips, then pour out the wines offered, as you would never get through tasting all the wines you wanted to try!
These vignerons independants or independent vintners , are called that because they make wine from their own grapes that they grow on their terrains and also do everything else including marketing.
I would say the vast majority are family enterprises passed down through multiple generations, hoping that with each new generation, there will be children who will grow up wanting to take over the business. I have been going to some of them ever since I moved to Paris, long enough to see some of their children, finish oenology school and now actively involved in wine making, such as the Baur family.
If you were to have dinner with me, you would certainly be served some of their lovely wines, prefaced by their stories and a description of the wine served. Each of their wines is representative of their unique terroir and personalities.
When I open one of their wines; I know who made them and for me that makes drinking these wines all the more enjoyable. In some ways it is like having them at my dinner table too! I enjoy hearing all the news from their vineyards in so far as the harvest and or how the vines are coming along, but also catching up with events in the family.
You can be assured that every step in the wine making process has been personally overseen by them. All you have to do in look at their hands to see the personal relationship that they have with their vines. Pruning the vines is essential but very hard work and often there are visible scars on their skin.
One vintner laughed when he told me that he had to spend more time looking after his vines than his children. Everyday holds some degree of uncertainty for them, especially around the weather. A sudden late spring freeze can kill off thousands of grapes buds and flowers, and hail at anytime can destroy existing grape clusters in minutes, both of which are disasterous.
Regardless of mother nature, they have to make do with whatever grapes are left for the harvest and that is when their expert knowledge and experience comes into play in vinifying their wines. They have to be scientists, artisans vintners and farmers throughout the year.
So here are some of my favorite vintners that I religiously buy from, because I absolutely adore their wines in addition to their kind generous spirits.
First photo is of Stéphan Mesliand who is a fourth generation winemaker in the Loire Valley. His vineyards are just across the Loire river and the Chateau Amboise. His whites, be it chenic blancs or sauvignons are wonderful, and he makes an especially lovely perfumed and highly acclaimed red wine called La Besaudière. Stéphane is warm, friendly and always has an infectious smile, but this year even more so because he just became a proud papa to a beautiful baby girl in February.
Next is the very friendly and gracious Baur family carrying on several generations of wine making in Alsace, south of Strasbourg. Pictured is Armand Baur with one of his sons who was helping out since his other son Arnaud, who recently finished his oenology studies , was in Düsseldorf, Germany at another wine fair. His wife Brigitte, was doing one in Colmar. Incredible busy family!
Armand Baur was recently elected as Grand Master of the Wine Brotherhood of Alsace Saint Etienne. Their Rieslings, Pinot Blancs and Gewürztraminer are all impeccable, as well as their sparkling wines, called cremant de Alsace that I likewise adore! All of their wines are always winning a lot of medals and recognition that is well deserved.
Laure Margottin Fage of Domaine de Puilacher, seen with her father Edouard, is a young and pretty wine maker, who along with her mother makes some extraordinary chardonnays, reds and rosé wines from the south-west part of France in the Languedoc Roussillon, just west of Montpellier.
She is now the primary cave master who makes most of the decisions around the vinifcation of their wines. I find her feminine touch gives incredible various subtle nuances seen in her roses and her powerhouse and acclaimed chardonnays.
Gilles Bley, seen with Pauline, is a wine maker from one of the oldest renowned wine making regions of France; Cahor. The town is on the river Lot south of Rocamadour, which is one of my favorites places to be. Clos Siguier is the name of his domaine, which is also exported to the U.S, where it has gotten a lot of deserving praise there too!
The so-called black wines of Cahor were the favorite of French and English kings around the 1300 hundreds. These deeply ruby wines are gutsy full-bodied and powerfully aromatic due to the principle Malbec grapes that stains your lips purple. I love his Cahors, which are true jewels and astounding values. His rose which is 100% malbec is unusual and delicious. Gilles is always warm and welcoming and his wines reflect his sunny generous spirit.
Chateau Lalande-Labatut is in the Bordeaux region where Régis Falxa, seen with his friend Olivier, produces some really lovely, complex well made reds and a delicious white Entre Deux Mers that I love. Son of a winemaker, who expanded his father’s vineyards, he is very friendly and talkative with easy smiles. His award winning wines are big and powerfully aromatic. They are all outstanding values, which is very hard to find in Bordeaux these days!
A lot of these exceptional wines are not ready available except directly through their wine estates, so it is a wonderful advantage of having them come to Paris. All their wine domains are open for visitors and I can guarantee you will be welcomed with open hearts.
Stéphane Mesliand participates in a Promenade Gourmand each June, where several of his fellow Loire valley vintners put together a day of hiking through their vineyards. At each stop, you are offered delicious regional foods and of course their wines to drink. The walk starts with drinking the great sparkling wines of the Loire and then leads you high up in the vines with fantastic views of the river Loire and valley below. It is a multi course walking picnic that ends in much decadent frolic and craziness at the end.
I hope some of you who love and appreciate wine as much as I do get a chance to visit Paris during these incredible mind-blowing wine fairs in order to taste the rich and varied wines of France that are way too numerable to mention. Cheers!
Sounds deliciously fun!
You and your sweetheart would have loved it too!