IN THIS ISSUE - The Feiring Line · 2016. 2. 11. · 2 THE FEIRING LINE . FEBRUARY 2016 Cantina Giardino 2014 IGT Bianco Where Campania, Italy Grape Fiano, Greco and Coda di Volpe

FEBRUARY 2016ISSUE NO.27

QUEEN BEE ALICE FEIRING | EXECUTIVE EDITOR CHRISTY FRANK | CONSULTING EDITOR PASCALINE LEPELTIER | DESIGN ON DESIGN

is being touted as the next cult. It had dissolved into the kind of salted caramel of a Coche-Dury, that is, if Coche had more life.

Even at lower price points, there’s plenty to choose at €31. Such as the moderately priced (€60) magnum of the 2013 Gone to Hail made by Pierre Beauger in the Auvergne. Named for the disastrous hail of the vintage, this wine was a <14% pinot gris. A stand-in for hard cider, but in the best possible way, full-bodied and full of life.

When we got to ordering the meal, there was attitude-free accommodation when Renee and I said the word that instills dread in a kitchen: “vegetarian.” Out came the creamy topinambour soup, capped with dancing slivers of mushroom. A plain plate of green beans that stunned

WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK

THE CLOWN BAR Right after the attacks, I was in a somber and nearly empty Paris. As it happened, so were a few friends.With a sense of duty, one of them made a reservation on a Sunday night and we headed to the previously impossible to book Le Clown Bar. Often cited as among the most abusive restaurants in Paris, sitting outside, under the heat lamps, we felt nothing but all manner of warmth. Around the corner from the Bataclan we puddled out to a table of ten. The food and wine and conversation commenced even as the ghost of the recent past never left us. In this way life was juxtaposed with death.

The list is priced a little high, but there are older vintages and rare bottles. The Domaine Valette 2002 Clos de Monsieur Noly (€112) showed why the domaine

. IN THIS ISSUE .

1WHERE TO EAT

AND DRINK

2MY WINE

RECOMMENDATIONS

1THE NOTION OF GREEN HARVEST

7NEW YORK CITY

NATURAL

8PIERRE FENALS:

BACK TO NATURE

THE NOTION OF GREEN HARVEST: RIGHT OR WRONG?

After the last TFL there were inquiries for a deeper explanation: Why is green harvest unpopular in the natural wine world? Here is not an answer, but an exploration. And it’s not simple.

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Gamey, fragrant, seared to a snap skin.

Green harvest means dropping the fruit before the grapes turn color.

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Cantina Giardino 2014 IGT BiancoWhere Campania, ItalyGrape Fiano, Greco and Coda di VolpeaG OrganicSO2 Noneprice $42 (liter)impOrter Louis/Dressner Selections

On the other hand, here’s a wine that is pure Campanian grapes, made in Campania. Here you go: a charming literfull of vin-de-soif-a-go-go. Even with skin contact this is a thirst quencher. It will scare the shit out of those who believe in flaws, but it will delight the others who can deal with a heightened volatility. Go through the gate. It’s cheap. Funkadelic with a little bit of citrus pith and lovely funk beneath the fruit.

La Clarine Farm 2014 FNAWhere Sierra Foothills, CaliforniaGrape Fiano and ArneisaG Sustainable SO2 Lowprice $25impOrter David Bowler Wine (East Coast)and Amy Atwood Selections (California)

Here’s an out-of-the-box California idea. From volcanic, loamy soils blend the fiano of Campania (at home on volcanic) and arneis of Piemont (more at home on limestone). It’s no wonder that the wine embodies conflict/tension. At first the FNA really did have a good relation to cider, you know that kind of volatility, but then with some air it developed all sorts of complexity, like a good-spirited peach juice grounded by fennel.

Ulibarri Artzaiak 2009 ArtzaiWhere Bizkaiko Txakolina, SpainGrape Hondarribi ZuriaG OrganicSO2 Lowishprice $30impOrter Selections de la Viña

Because I love aged Atlantic whites, like albariño and muscadet, I figured if I could find some txacoli, I’d be crazy about them as well. Turns out I was right. This followed the pattern, the brash becomes deeper, juicier, layered with seduction. Drink it up watch it go down, because it’s a super, saline treat from sand, slate and schist soils.

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Day Wines 2014 BabycheeksWhere OregonGrape Tannat and CôtaG OrganicSO2 Middlingprice $22impOrter David Bowler Wine

Cheerful! Here’s a mix of tannat and côt (malbec). It’s a red sunset of cheery, cherry, coppery, swiss chardy (I know, odd, huh?), luscious and has an appealing iron-like nerve. It truly is enjoyable. Those who object to blocking malo by adding sulfur should be aware, but if you’re not religious, just enjoy.

Rita & Rudolf Trossen 2014 SchieferblumWhere RieslingGrape Mosel, GermanyaG BiodynamicsSO2 Minimalprice $23impOrter Jenny & François Selections

Schieferblume means “Flower of the Slate” and is a blend of riesling vines of 37–60 years from blue and grey slate soils, four different vineyards. How have these people been working in biodynamics since 1978 and I had no idea who there were? Whole bunch fermentation, in stainless through 4–6 months, and yes, it went through malo and only 11% ABV. Under the name Purus, they make zero-sulfur-addition wines. A revelation.

Olivier Pithon 2014 Cuveé Lais BlancWhere Côtes Catalanes, France Grape Maccabeu, Grenache Gris & BlancaG OrganicSO2 Minimalprice $27impOrter Indie Wineries

Creamy in a roasted sweet root, light and frothy caramelized parsnip. Mystery and an element of flint. Accessible with a slight reductive edge that says, “Look at me!”

Vinca Minor 2014 Rosewood Vineyard Carignan Where Mendocino, CaliforniaGrape CarignanaG OrganicSO2 10ppmprice $40impOrter Jenny & François Selections

If only California would wake up to the carignan truth for their region. They should worship the grape. This wine is one reason why. 25% stem inclusion, iron edge, freshness but sun. Only 100 cases of it but this, my friends, is a wine.

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Montebruno 2013 Momtazi VineyardWhere Willamette Valley, OregonGrape Pinot NoiraG BiodynamicSO2 Lowprice $39impOrter Jenny & François Selections

Joseph Pedini lives in Brooklyn. He’s got a long commute to the vines in Oregon, but he is committed to the journey and ever since the beginning, committed to the right things. This was one of the finest Oregon pinot noirs I’ve had. Over the days the wine kept its grip and held my interest. 50% whole clusters. It is a mix of clones from three different blocks. What I first noted was its silkiness. Then its florality like a field of spring, and then that rhubarb, confit but with the best bitter edge.

Ben Haines 2012 Malakoff Vineyard SyrahWhere Pyrenees, Victoria, AustraliaGrape SyrahaG Practicing organicSO2 Middlingprice $50impOrter Little Peacock Imports

Ben Haines is a man without a vineyard—like so many—but trying to make do by seeking out great wines to borrow from. The Malakoff is rocky and rich in quartz, granite and ironstone, which sounds like a great way to start off your syrah. It is a glimpse into what the region can do. It has bones and olive, all the benchmark syrah boxes are ticked but with a little bit of Aussie accent.

Dirty & Rowdy Family Winery 2014 Familiar MourvèdreWhere California (north and south)Grape MourvèdreaG Organic, SustainableSO2 Lowishprice $38impOrter Jenny & François Selections (East Coast) and Amy Atwood Selections (California)

With a laugh, Hardy might tell you as a winemaker he’s “banking on the losers,” but this wine is no loser. Familiar is blended from five of the seven vineyards they source mourvèdre from. Cheerful, brightens your day, a touch of snark in the most friendly way, but always edged with razor sharp intelligence. 100% whole cluster, no temperature control. Fragrant, low on the tannin and easy on the glou with a good bit of muscle. This is approachable now and really drinkable.

Weingut Maria & Sepp Muster 2013 OpokWhere Styria, AustriaGrape Welschriesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Gelber Muskateller, MorillonaG BiodynamicSO2 10ppmprice $26impOrter Jenny & François Selections

I visited Sepp’s Southern Austrian vines five years back. They’re lush and vibrant. On that afternoon, I was a happy little girl in the mountains, instead of a morose one brought up in the suburbs. The wines were stunning as well, and now they’re in the States. Opok was so alive it jumped off the table. It has a good dose of orange from the skin contact; florality from the muskateller adds a wonderful counterpoint the rest. Glad we finally have these wines in the country.

Partida Creus 2014 CVWhere Massís de Bonastre (Baix Penedés), SpainGrape Cartoixá VermellaG BiodynamicSO2 Noneprice $30impOrter Selections de la Viña

Massimo Marchiori & Antonella Gerona work on clay and limestone, utilize fiberglass fermentation tanks and old vines of weird grapes. This one bottomed out at 10% ABV, a pink-skinned grape that gives a delicate pink-tinged wine that is so damned drinkable and perhaps the reason they are achieving cult status.

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Jean-Claude Rateau 2014 Bourgogne RougeWhere Burgundy, FranceGrape Pinot NoiraG BiodynamicSO2 Lowishprice $20impOrter Terrell Wines

In the fall this was shy and shrill. Now, six months later? It’s a testament to patience. For some reason this made me rethink everything I knew about burgundy. It’s a whisper of a wine, so please be prepared to listen closely.

Testalonga 2012 Testalonga Rossese di DolceacquaWhere Dolceacqua, Liguria, ItalyGrape RosseseaG OrganicSO2 Lowishprice $34impOrter Louis/Dressner Selections

Old school alert. From terraced, steep vineyards, this wine at forty years (thank you Giorgio De Maria) might be one of the most memorable I’ve had. The 2012 is much deeper than the last vintage, almost rusty, and so much like a crushed cherry vermouth rolled in iron, everything I want in an old-fashioned wine. Medium, warming and lively, with a touch of bitter on the finish. If I had another forty years in front of me, I’d buy a magnum. But I can drink it now too. (The 2013 will be easier to find. Forget vintage, just buy the damned thing if you see it.)

Beau Paysage La Montagne 2012 Beau Paysage MerlotWhere Tsugane Region, JapanGrape MerlotaG SustainableSO2 Noneprice ?impOrter None in the USA

We were at the end of the Le Clown evening when joined by Lulie, the caring “wine selector” of A.T. She had something she needed to show us. Japanese merlot, from west of Tokyo in the high altitude Yamanashi Prefecture. (Mount Fuji lies on the border of Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures). The wine is made by Eishi Okamoto, 2,600 feet above sea level. Alpine wine in the Pacific? Yes.

Wine writer Junko Nakahama told me that Okamoto introduced organic cultivation for his vineyards in 2008. But just before the 2011 harvest the plague named Bampu (in English that is late timing rot) attacked his vines. He felt he had to use a bit of synthetic fungicide, which was a painful setback. But this wine is utterly drinkable. The fruit on the nose was a bit primary. Plum. The texture was delicate with plenty of spice and herb. A delightful insight into Japan.

Montesecondo 2013 TinWhere Tuscany, ItalyGrape SangioveseaG BiodynamicSO2 Noneprice $54impOrter David Bowler Wine

Think that you have to press a wine off of skin quickly? Then think again. Silvio Messana poured the grapes into anfora and then left the wine on the skins for ten whole months. The result is sunny plum.

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Domaine Laguerre 2013 La PassageWhere Côtes du Roussillon, FranceGrape Carignan, Grenache Noir, Syrah (20%)aG OrganicSO2 Tiny at bottlingprice $14impOrter Fruit of the Vine

From 500 meters up, at the foot of the Pyrenees Mountains in the Rousillon AOC of southern France, comes a wine squarely in the inexpensive and (very, very) cheerful category. This outpaces its price tag. Almost simple except it lingers with freshness and elegance. It loves oxygen. Give it a decant. You can find it at Chambers Street, NYC.

Domaine Clos du Rouge Gorge 2013 Clos du Rouge GorgeWhere Côte Catalanes, FranceGrape CarignanaG BiodynamicSO2 Noneprice $32impOrter Camille Rivière Selection & Selection Massale (West Coast)

Are you in the Cyril Fhal fan club? Why not? On his gneiss soils, he makes wine of pleasure and that extra element of depth. But, while this wine went mousey on the second day, there’s no reason to not drink it all at once upon first pop.

Les Cailloux des Paradis 2011 Cuvée des EtourneuxWhere Soings en Solonge, Loire Valley, FranceGrape GamayaG OrganicSO2 Lowishprice $28impOrter Jenny & François Selections

Claude and his son Étienne work on limestone soils in the middle Loire. After a classic infusion-like fermentation (not carbonic), they give the wines a solid twenty-four months of aging in old barrels. The wines emerge ethereal. The 2011 has a touch of mouse on the finish; I suspect it will disappear and the earthy side of gamay, structure will keep its zing. Here is expert control while allowing wine freedom. Does that make any sense?

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Spaceship Vin Nature Lands in New York City

For decades the natural wine fair has avoided the United States. 2016 is when all of that changes.

The Big GlouThe dates are February 27th and 28th. Tickets on sale now. There will be around 50 different vigneron with a natural bent each day.

Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn 11am-4pm $25/day ($45/2-day ticket)

Vivent les Vins LibresOn that very same weekend, you get to go to the uber-friendly Les Vins Libres. Please check that website for the list of vignerons and surrounding events at June and Racines.

Sunday 2/28 at Racines. $15. Monday the vignerons will be pouring for the wine trade.

For the Love of WineMarch 6th at Ten Bells...the book launch for my new book.

Look for the announcement once Severine and I conjure the details.

RAWAnd think ahead to November!

That’s right! Mark your calendars for November 6th and 7th. That’s when Isabelle Légeron brings her intensely energetic RAW wine fair to Bushwick.

Book your flight and hotel room for the last weekend in February when the wine action is concentrated in New York City and Brooklyn with two wonderful overlapping tastings:

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Born in Dijon, he studied science and swerved into fashion. Moving on to Paris, despite the fact that his wife doesn’t drink, he became a serious amateur du vin. Lest you think he was just like any other business guy into wine collecting and tasting, hold that thought.

In 1985, he was at a Parisian puce, those wonderful outdoor flea markets where you can find anything from antique soap hooks to odd books. There, looking up at him on top of a pile of books was one by the big biodynamic daddy, Rudolf Steiner. “For no reason at all,” he said, “I bought it.”

He started to read. “I understood nothing,” he said, laughing. Not willing to be defeated, he kept pushing on. “As a scientist I needed to understand it. So, I went to Switzerland to study.”

He started to farm cows with his father-in-law. Way before biodynamic was a buzzword, he raised those bovines following Steiner.

In 2002, past 50 years of age, he said goodbye to all of that and with his wife sold off his Parisian life and returned to Burgundy to study enology. He knew what he wanted and worked with Trapet, Lapierre and finally with Emmanuel Giboulot. He started his own domaine in 2009, 2.5h in Maranges and in Haute Côtes de Beaune.

Today, he farms his own land, he buys some grapes and he also rents. As demonstrated with Steiner, fate often intervenes. A woman who he had been kind to remembered him and said, “Would you like to work my vines in Corton?” He smiles broadly at that good fortune to work with Grand Cru terroir he could not afford to otherwise. He pampers the land by working it with a horse. 30,000 bottles strong, whether his own grapes or négoce all are bottled under the négoce name, Maison.

And what of those named En Belles Lies? This refers back

PIERRE FENALS: BACK TO NATURE Burgundy has lost traction with those drinking naturally. Nevertheless, I never stopped visiting and loving it. This is where the notion of terroir flourished; it should not be forsaken. There are indeed fabulous people working there and because it’s so very pricey, they take even more risks by working against the popular notion. Many of their stories move me. One that I had been saving for you: Pierre Fenals. He is in Saint Aubin and his domaine, Maison En Belles Lies, is housed in a flat warehouse at the edge of town, just around the block from Julien Altabar and Dominique Derain.

Inside, oak fermenters were at salute, an anfora filled with the 2014 vintage was tucked away somewhere. I sat at a picnic table with the mustachioed farmer as he poured me his aligoté. I took a sip, not really knowing what to expect from this man who used to be a fashion marketer. It was brilliant. “How is it I hadn’t known about you?”

With a shrug, Pierre Fenals said, “Well, I don’t do shows,” referring to the multitude of wine tastings in France and around the world. You won’t see him at RAW or at Renaissance. Here is a man who would much rather stay in the vines. But in spite of himself, the word about the man and the wines is hitting the streets.

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to the mystical quality of the lees. “Something well known to the 17th-century monks,” he said.

And he exploits them. After fermentation, he dries the barrels and rubs them inside with the lees of the vintage. About eight months later, in July, he scrapes them clean. In August, he fills the vats with water. Just before harvest, he rubs the tanks down with hot marc which he then flames. Then into the vats the new grapes go. This is a technique he picked up when apprenticing in Beaujolais.

And the wines themselves? They were plump, they were on the fruit, always balanced with savory and very terroir transparent.

We headed off to his nearby vines as it started to rain. This was in June and they had just finished flowering. The smell of the flowers, a little like Dove soap, filled the air. He had pruned well, he explained that he doesn’t snip the vines and he doesn’t drop fruit. “It’s like an abortion to the vines,” he said. And violence is not his way. Fenals is a gentle man who had delayed getting back into nature for far too long. Pushing seventy, energetic, he had the shining beatific energy of a man who had found peace. “Every day I get up and I am happy.”

We should all be so lucky.

THE WINES Here are some of my favorites:

The reds are, of course, whole cluster. There’s no sulfur introduced at any point.

2013 ALIGOTÉ Low alcohol at 11%, the wine is lovely and lively with pear and apple, a wash of tart salinity.

2013 MONTHÉLIE Orange, spicy. Apricot. Warming.

2013 ALOXE-CORTON Delicate elegant ethereal. Spicy aromatic.

2013 CORTON LES PERRIERES Tannins more profound. Dust. Montmorency cherry. Spice from wood and the whole cluster. A much bigger wine and needs some time to calm down. x

with intense purity. Marvelous space-age crucifers in a slightly deconstructed cheese sauce made for an elegant take on a classic British dish. The buttered and carved pigeon, medieval and ridiculously juicy. I’ll take their word for it. Figure with wine about €80. But with the current exchange rate it seems like a bargain and money well spent.

Le Clown Bar 114 rue Amelot, 75011 Paris, France +33 1 43 55 87 35 Open Wednesday to Sunday Lunch 12PM–2:30PM, dinner 7PM–10:30PM

THE PUNCHDOWN Just re-opened is The Punchdown, one of California’s most beloved wine bars. When I stopped in to give D.C. and Lisa congratulations, I was not surprised to see the space packed and the vibe happy.

continued from page 1 “Where to Eat and Drink”

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The long bar is fashioned from old redwood barrels. A glass enclosed room, like an office, holds a little wine shop where one can purchase and drink in situ for a $15 charge. The wines at the bar (twenty-five selections) are offered by the taste, glass and bottle. Georgians are well-represented (and you can drink them from clay piala). Here, should you wish, is Didimi’s Krakhuna ($8/$14/$54). From Arbois? Domaine Villet (Cuvée Tradition), $8/$14/$53. There’s La Clarine Farm and Jean-Claude Rateau. They give helpful, precise descriptions such as tannin, oxidative, serious, qvevri, unicorn, weird. And get a look at these flights.

I like everything about the place, except that it’s not in New York City near me.

The Punchdown 1737 Broadway Oakland, CA 94612 510.788.7877 x

continued from page 1 “The Notion of Green Harvest”

Here’s a golden rule: Low yields and fine wines have a direct correlation. But how low is low enough? That is where it gets weird. I’ve been in vineyards were the winemaker is proud of their four clusters per plant, and I’ve been in some where sixteen is not unusual. I’ve had lovely wines at 18hl per hectare—and lovely ones at 60. Where is the sweet spot? And how do you get there?

One modern way is to drop the fruit. Cluster thin. Green harvest. Vendange en vert. Those are all ways of saying lop off grape bunches while they’re still green. The resulting reduction in the number of clusters is believed to intensify fruit flavor.

While sometimes this happens through acts of nature, such as hail, the benchmark technique was introduced in the late seventies and flourished in the age of Parker, when concentration and “gobs” ruled the tasting note. The practice has been embraced wherever New World techniques have become popular, from Piemonte, Italy to Rioja, Spain, and of course, California.

I asked Phil Coturri, head of the most prominent organic vineyard management company in the Golden State (and yes, Tony’s brother), for his take. He said that green harvest was part of his job, to create vineyard uniformity out of chaos, something he believes makes great wines.

Coturri explained that his every action from pruning onward is geared to flavor and balance and must take into account how many buds the vine can support with a balanced canopy. “But all can be changed by the weather pattern of the growing season,” he wrote. “I’m typing this while we are having our first wet winter in four years. Are my decisions going to be affected by El Niño? You bet.” (Remember, wet years give greater tartaric acid in the grapes, so some would look to balance that out by concentrating fruit sugar with fewer bunches per vine.)

However, what is benchmark for some is disdained by others. This is specially true in the natural farming world. Last year, Pierre Overnoy told TFL he didn’t like the process. Our beloved Catherine Roussel of the gone, but not forgotten, Clos Roche Blanche wrote to me, “Didier and I believe it’s become very in-fashion because it’s expensive.” She was speaking to the notion that green harvest is perceived as a luxury, because the owner can afford to waste fruit. She sided with Overnoy, finding it much better to anticipate the whole issue by correct pruning. “And then the plant will give the correct yield, that is if the climate cooperates.”

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Just like in vinification, the point is to avoid correction. Among the practices? Plant correctly at the desired density. Don’t fertilize more than necessary. Prune severely. Take all actions to do as little as possible to the vine once it starts to show vintage life. Because cutting fruit is irrevocable. It messes with the leaf to fruit ratio. Making the wrong move, dropping fruit, and then getting slammed by frost or hail or rot, could be devastating. Especially these days, one never knows what nature has in store, and so, the natural farmer will high wire it, stay on top of it and do one’s best. That may sound risky but then, one vigneron’s chaos is another’s Eden. x

More provocative words came from Burgundian Pierre Fenals (this month’s profile). I asked him about it and he said, “I believe it creates a hormonal phenomenon. The vine is stressed, because it’s like an abortion.”

I came across a good quote from an old interview with hotshot Burgundy producer Dominique Lafon. Lafon, noted for bringing the vignerons back into the vineyard in Burgundy in the 80s said, “When I hear people talk about green harvest, it makes me laugh. It’s so stupid to me—it’s just like saying to everybody that they have selected the wrong rootstock, the wrong clone, they have used too much fertilizer and that maybe they have the wrong pruning, so they have too much crop.”

He goes on to point out that if it came to pass that he felt the need to drop fruit, he would have to scrutinize his choices—perhaps he made a farming mistake earlier in that year.

The Feiring Line is published eight times a year at a $68 fee—the only independent newsletter specializing in honest viticulture and minimal intervention wines.

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–Alice

© 2016 The Feiring Line, Alice Feiring.