I sit by the window

I said fate plays a game without a score,
and who needs fish if you've got caviar?
The triumph of the Gothic style would come to pass
and turn you on--no need for coke, or grass.
I sit by the window. Outside, an aspen.
When I loved, I loved deeply. It wasn't often.

....

Link: Part of I sit by the window, Joseph Brodsky

"Perfumes to evoke memories" (Canadian interview)

Warning:
may want to translate the perfume's name
before splashing on...

Much fun had last week when Mz Harris interviewed me for her great article published across Canada - Perfumes to evoke memories - about the trend for some perfumes to smell like a specific time, place or experience.

Something close to my heart and, I know from your lovely emails, for many other Wine Woman Song readers.

Here is my original post about the terrifying memory recall I had when trying on the perfume Secretions Magnifique in the perfume department of Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge. Yes, a strange experience.


Link: Perfumes to evoke memories article

cruel summer: Burgundy 08

"No decent Chablis this year? Time to rob some banks..."

Another cruel summer in Burgundy. Now it's gone.

If you see a lonely White Burgundy on the shelf from the 2005 vintage - snap it up.

The next best are 2006s.

They're not good, but they're not bad. Steer clear from the fat 2003s. If you remember, that's the heatwave year when not only the vines, but people, died.

Chablis needs its mineral, crystalline architecture of acid to get to its great heights. And that only happens when the fruit is not overripe and swollen by heat-loving sugar.

For those with moxie, pick these vineyards for 2006 Chablis - in a few years, once everyone realises the poor 2007 and 2008 vintages, you may need to rob banks to buy them:

Grand Cru

Les Vaudesirs
Les Grenouilles
Les Clos

Premier Cru

Les Montmains
La Montee-de-Tonnerre
Les Vaillons

R.I.P. Didier Dagueneau

A black hole in the wine world with the sudden death of the great Didier Dagueneau; he crashed his microlite in the Dordogne on Wednesday.

As Jancis Robinson initially posted, somehow it seems like a fitting way to go for such an adventurous person. Still, what a great loss.

As I wrote only a few weeks ago, he was one of the great eccentrics of the wine world...

R.I.P.


Link: Didier Dagueneau dies in Decanter Magazine
Link: Eccentric Winemaker Series, Pt 1: Didier Dagueneau, the wild man of Pouilly

shadow world

Sun Ra Arkestra "Shadow World" West Berlin


Link: A space odyssey via Astralis and Sun Ra

champagne and real pain

"Captains of industry, great generals, artists of genius, even politicians, are often just people who have discovered that alcohol can enable them to make economic, tactical, creative, or political decisions whose implications would paralyze a sober individual." – John More, in sub-TERRAIN

Finest example: Winston Churchill.

Pol Roger released Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill Pol Roger Vintage Champagne in 1984 to recognise Churchill's attachment to Pol Roger, who "insisted on enjoying the wine at the most dangerous and dark periods of wartime".

My observation is Pol Roger is not as well-known the LVMH (Moet, etc) champagnes; Vintage Pol Roger, even less so, but preferred by people who have drunk too much Veuve Clicquot in their life.


Link: Sir Winston Churchill and Pol Roger

Eccentric Winemaker series, Pt 4: Lalou Bize-Leroy, Burgundy

astrological principles guide the world's most illustrious winemaker, Lalou Bize-Leroy

"Wine is from a cosmic inspiration, it has the taste of the world matter." - Lalou Bize-Leroy

Lalou Bize-Leroy is the person behind some of the most expensive, sought-after, imitated and adored wines in the world.

Her Burgundies are breathtaking, ethereal and out-of-this world.

Yet she has to be one of the most idiosyncratic and eccentric winemakers on the planet. Lauded by her critics, shunned by her neighbours, loved by her buyers and collectors.

Controversially, Lalou manages her wine on horoscopes and phases of the moon - she is one of the first exponents of bio-dynamic management of wine based on a cosmic, Steiner philosophy.

Madame Bize Leroy doesn't just think big, she thinks cosmically big. And let's the rest of the world catch up.

You may not believe in it, you may not understand it, but she must be doing something right. You don't get a page of superlative praise from the world's biggest wine critics for no reason:

"the greatest domaines of Burgundy today must be those under the control of Lalou Bize. The sheer concentration, depth and intensity Lalou Bize manages to squeeze into her bottles is breathtaking" - Clive Coates

"Lalou Bize-Leroy stands alone at the top of Burgundy's quality hierarchy. Because she is a perfectionnist, and because she has had the courage to produce wines from low yield and bottle them naturally, without fining or filtration." - Robert Parker Jr

"Lalou seeks a degree of purity, allied to extraordinary concentration, that is almost unmatched by any other producer." - Matt Kramer

What you need to know

Name: Madame Lalou Bize Leroy

Winery: proprietor of Domaine d'Auvenay and Domaine Leroy, Vosne-Romanée, Burgundy, France

Interesting fact: Lalou was instrumental in developing the world's most sought after domaine, Domaine de la Romanee-Conti. That is, until she was booted out by her sister after a disagreement about marketing. Again, a family dispute in Burgundy changes the face of wine in the region (perhaps this is why it is so difficult to keep track, and understand, Burgundy).

Link: Domaine Leroy

This is England

One year in London to the day.

"Posh Dinosaur" (an advertisement on TV here) sums up my experience in the wine industry here quite neatly, thank you very much.

If you would be so kind as to watch it I'd be ever so pleased.

Splendid. Wonderful.

Much love, xjmd

Eccentric Winemaker series, Pt 3: Anne Gros, Burgundy

Now, you may think, why Anne Gros? She is certainly not as outlandish as the previous two winemakers I have featured in Wine, Woman and Song's Eccentric Winemaker series.

This is true. She is from a historic Burgundian family stretching back to the 1830s, making wines in the blue-blooded part of Burgundy, Vosne-Romanée.

Yet, there is something unique about Anne Gros. To be an eccentric you must dance to the beat of your own drum. Anne Gros is certainly doing something different, right under the noses of the the old guard.

In an extremely traditional area such as Burgundy, even the most imperceptible tremors and changes result in huge waves.

Just look at her label. It's modern - blue! - no fancy script or complex descriptions of proprietors over the vineyard name. It clearly states the region and the Domaine name. How different it looks compared to the traditional Burgundy bottles.

To the wine itself: her wines are lightly filtered; unfashionable at the moment. They are unashamedly feminine. Arguably, most wines from Burgundy are perfumed, but her wines are even more like an eau de parfum on the wrist evolving over a long, slow day.

Do I have to say it, yes, she is a woman. In a man's world. I know how it feels to be often the only woman in the wine industry. It's weird. By default, it is unusual in itself to be a grand winemaker in a male industry.

However, French wine's great ambassadors traditionally have been women. Just look at Veuve Clicquot (widow Clicquot) and Lalou Bize-Leroy. It's important, yet, I don't want to emphasise it too much; then again, I don't think it should be totally dismissed, either.

All in all, amongst the rows of traditional Burgundy on the shelf, her blue-labelled wines stand out. Modern, idiosyncratic wines that tell a story - not only of the changing face of Burgundy, but also, her very interesting story - her wine - unfolding in your glass.

What you need to know

Name: Anne Gros
Winery: Domaine Anne Gros
Where: Estate in Vosne-Romanée, Burgundy, France
Stand outs: Bourgogne under £20 is difficult to come by; her Bourgogne is one of the best value wines in this difficult price range.

Wines: Concoeur (Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, Rouge & Blanc); Vosne-Romanée Les Champs d'argent (Bourgogne, Rouge & Blanc), Les Glapigne (Bourgogne, Rouge & Blanc), Les Pasquiers (Bourgogne, Rouge & Blanc), Les Barreaux Le Richebourg Grand Cru; Flagey-Echezeaux, Echezeaux Grand Cru; Chambolle-Musigny, La Combe d'Orveau; Clos Vougeot, Le Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru.

Next post:

Pt 4: Lalou Bize Leroy, Burgundy

Previous posts:
Pt 2: Sparky Marquis and the Carnival of Love
Pt 1: Didier Dagueneau

Website: Domaine Anne Gros

Eccentric Winemaker series, Pt 1: Didier Dagueneau, the wild man of Pouilly

""You idiot" are Didier Dagueneau's first words to me....

I ask him why he chose Sauvignon Blanc to work with – "you don't even ask yourself the question," he says. "I had a few scores to settle with the family, so I decided to make wine, to make better wine than them. That was my first motivation. So I decided to make the best Sauvignon Blanc in the world. Not at all pretentious for someone who's been making wine for two years."
- Decanter magazine

You need strong opinions to break through traditions in the Loire, the classical heartland of France.

Known as the "Wild Man of Pouilly", Didier has been breaking conventions in the Loire for so long now it doesn't really matter what people say - he's now the benchmark for Sauvignon blanc around the world.

The Blanc Fume de Pouilly (above) is the entry level Sauvignon Blanc, followed by Pur Sang (label shown below) and then the benchmark for Sauvignon blanc (and you could argue, the Pouilly-fume region): Silex - named after the excellent slate soils.

The wine to covet? Asteroide; like it's namesake, it only comes around every so often. From a micro 10-vine plot on non-grafted vines, they are so fragile they need constant supervision and love.

If you can find these wines... lucky you; as you can imagine demand is high. And output is low. Not because Dagueneau is cynically playing the market and withholding wines, but because he is a total perfectionist. Slowly horse-tilling the vineyard so tractors don't compact the soil and hurt the vines... and the wine. And you imagine, in turn, his soul.


What you need to know

Name: Didier Dagueneau

From: Saint-Andelain, Pouilly-Fumé in the Loire, France.

Style of wine: dry white wine but using oak.

Entry level wines: En Chailloux, a blend from several vineyards and then, Buisson Menard

Superstar wines: both single vineyard wines and barrel fermented (unusual for Sauvignon blanc in most parts of the world) - Silex, and Pur Sang (french for thoroughbred; the vineyard is horse-tilled).

Strange fact: the front of the winery has a clock with a provocative gesture as the hands of the clock - a message to his neighbours and critics, perhaps? Excellent. Is he Mad man or genius?

Link: Eccentric Winemaker Series

Next link: Part 2: Sparky Marquis and the Carnival of Love