Debbie Miller Nelson's Trip to France, Part 14

All of our managers and wine staff travel at least once a year to a wine-growing region somewhere throughout the world. Traveling is one of the many aspects of UWS that sets us apart from other wine shops. We know that by meeting the winemakers, walking the vineyards and tasting new wine from the barrel, we can see first-hand the passion that goes into each bottle. We can then convey this commitment to quality to our customers. Rather than having you just looking at a label and a score, we believe it is our responsibility to bring you closer to how the wine was made and the people who made it. We'll be sharing their trip reports with you here on the Blog.

In June 2011, Debbie Miller Nelson, Wine Manager, had the privilege of traveling to France and immersing herself in French food, culture, and most importantly, wine!

Off to Paris! This is it! Our last full day in France. We leave bright and early Sunday morning for home. It was exciting. It was exhilarating. Except it rained all day. John, our host has parents who have an apartment in France so he suggested we go to the market, get lunch and go up to the apartment.

The market was HUGE. If you have ever been to the Union Square Farmers' Market in New York City, multiply that by 30. In this market, there are cheese vendors, vegetable vendors, vendors making whole rotisserie chickens, vendors selling foie gras and pate, etc. It was enough to make your head spin. Everyone was assigned an item to purchase and we split up, purchased, met back up and headed to the apartment for our feast.


Outside the apartment on the balcony, I saw the Eiffel Tower. Ok, I can say that I saw it. Good enough!


We all ate a great meal with John’s parents, a retired surgeon and a retired scientist, took turns napping, sang to 80s music and drank until dinner. During the afternoon, one of the Sommeliers opened a bottle of Champagne and sent the cork flying over the balcony.

As we headed to dinner, it finally stopped raining and we walked to the restaurant while John pointed out some landmarks. The same Sommelier mentioned earlier knew the Sommelier at a restaurant named Il Vino that had an interesting theme to it.


Either you could pick your meal and the Sommelier would pair wines or you could pick the wines and the chef would pair the food. Or, you can just do the whole thing blind. And, we did!

It is here that I achieved victory. I bested the current best Sommelier in the US by guessing the Barbaresco that no one else could. Happy dance!

One of John’s friends joined us and she arranged to go to a private, members only club for dancing after dinner. The crazy Americans set the stage for a fun night of Moet Champagne toasts and clubbing. Only the aforementioned Sommelier, me and John with his friend went out and boy, did the others miss a good time! We left the club at 2am and arrived at our hotel near the airport around 3:30. A few hours of sleep and then off to the airport to get back to reality.

As you can see, this was a who’s who of Burgundy and it was the single most exciting trip I’ve ever been on. If you see me in the store, I’ll be happy to tell you more about my trip and pick out a great selection of wine from this adventure for you to enjoy at home. Viva la France!

Deb’s Spotlight

Since Champagne was a common demoninator among all the Burgundy producers, I wanted to highlight a wonderful Champagne from Pol Roger.

Pol Roger Extra Cuvee de Reserve NV
This is one of the best Champagnes for the buck. Try this Champagne with sushi or Thai food or even to kick back with on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Dry, zesty, tangy and citrusy, this wine is even fun to drink! Champagne is not just for special occasions anymore and this one is too tasty to wait for! Enjoy it today!

Debbie Miller Nelson's Trip to France, Part 13

All of our managers and wine staff travel at least once a year to a wine-growing region somewhere throughout the world. Traveling is one of the many aspects of UWS that sets us apart from other wine shops. We know that by meeting the winemakers, walking the vineyards and tasting new wine from the barrel, we can see first-hand the passion that goes into each bottle. We can then convey this commitment to quality to our customers. Rather than having you just looking at a label and a score, we believe it is our responsibility to bring you closer to how the wine was made and the people who made it. We'll be sharing their trip reports with you here on the Blog.

In June 2011, Debbie Miller Nelson, Wine Manager, had the privilege of traveling to France and immersing herself in French food, culture, and most importantly, wine!

After leaving Domaine Faiveley, we drive to Chablis while I take a much needed nap for most of the 4 hour trip.

Upon arriving in the quaint hamlet of Chablis, we check into our hotel Hostellerie des Clos (that has no ac – yikes!) we head over to Christian Moreau’s winery down the street. We meet Christian himself and his son Fabian. I should mention that I did get a bottle of Grand Cru Valmur in my room that made it back home safely. Yay me!

The Moreaus own 11.5 hectares of vineyards. Christian said that Chablis is NOT Burgundy. It is the golden gate! They gave us a tour of the vines in the rain but I don’t think anyone really cared about getting a little wet. As we talked about the vines, we stood at the top of the hill overlooking the town of Chablis.


It’s interesting to note how close a forest of pine trees is to the vines as that flavor profile really stands out in their wines. I grabbed Fabian’s ear about the US misconceptions of Chablis thanks to California jug and box wine bearing the wines and how we can change that. He said, look, Chablis is a village in France making Chardonnay. That’s it. Well, ok, then!



We head back to the winery to sit at a table in the main part of the winery to taste samples.


During the tasting I notice that Christian has the most pimped out phone with the most apps I’ve ever seen. He took pictures and videos of US. Oh yeah, he’s on Facebook and he even has a device in the vineyards that calls him when the humidity or temperature is in a danger zone. How can I get a vineyard to call me? As we were tasting one wine, I wrote in my notes that this wine had more finesse. Then Christian said, this wine has more finesse.


I said, “I just wrote that down!” He high-fived me! This guy rocks. Although he claims to be officially retired, Fabian now runs the operation, but Fabian says his dad still annoys him, er, I mean, is involved in the operation.

We have dinner at the hotel and Christian and Fabian join us. Christian told us his history over cocktails He left France at an early age because he had no direction and didn’t want to work for his father in the vineyards. He lived in Canada where he met his wife. He refused many times to go back, but finally did to run the operation. He was a bit of a wild child and still quite sassy today.

Dinner consisted of Magnums -6 of them all compliments of the Moreaus.


After dinner, Christian invited us back to his house, walking distance to hang out in his personal wine cellar. How could we refuse?


He cracked open vintage Chablis for us and we all sat together enjoying his wine.



Remember when I said the French love California wine? Opus One here, too!


When he kicked us out around 2am, he gave us the leftover wine and we all went singing and dancing down the street back to the hotel. We drank the leftovers of the vintage and the magnums until the wee hours of the morning. Life is good!

Tomorrow we head to Paris for our last day!

Deb’s Spotlight
Christian Moreau Chablis 2009
This Chardonnay from Moreau is classic to the core - clean, crisp, great minerality and some zesty acidity with loads of citrus aromas and flavors. Drink straight on a hot day or while cracking crabs.

Also Available:
Christian Moreau Vaudesir Grand Cru Chablis 2008 $66.99
Christian Moreau Les Clos Grand Cru Chablis 2009 $67.49

Fork and Gobble It: Crab Chronicles - "Live Crabs!"

I've sung the praises of the seafood department at Hmart in Edison many times. Their live fish section is something you rarely see and they usually have a large bin of very lively blue crabs for sale by the pound. This has caught my eye more than once and last week I picked up a few pounds (they usually run about 5 – 6 to the pound) to turn into dinner. Steamed crabs for dinner requires serious devotion, blues have a lot of flavor, a lot of shell to work through, and not a lot of meat for all that work. I decided to take a different tack and turn all that flavor into a tomato sauce for pasta. This still would be a lot of work but my return would be much greater for the effort.

I got the crabs home and started to work cleaning them.


This requires removing the "apron" from the bottom shell of the crab, pulling off the top shell, pulling out the feathery lungs from either side of the interior, and removing the mouth, face, and stomach from the little critter, all while it's still alive. A well placed grip on the back of the shell keeps your fingers out of reach of those claws and then it's quick and nimble work to get it done without being pinched. Cut the remaining body into two halves and they are good to go. It is possible to buy the crabs already cleaned and frozen, but I find the freshness is just not the same.

From here it is simply a matter of building a tomato sauce over the sauteed crab bodies. For 1 ½ pounds of crab use the following recipe:

-1 ½ pounds of cleaned blue crabs
-8 cloves of garlic peeled and sliced
-1 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-2 Tbsp Kosher or sea salt
-¾ Tbsp crushed red pepper

In a pot 8qts or larger, heat the olive oil and saute the garlic, red pepper, and salt, until the garlic colors golden. Add in the crabs and saute over high heat until they have turned bright red.


Once the crabs have turned red and are fully cooked through add:

-1 cup dry red wine

Bring the liquid to a boil and keep it there for a minute to cook off the alcohol.

Add:
-4 ~ 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes plus one full can of water.

Bring this to a simmer and keep it there for about 90 minutes. This will allow extraction of flavor from the shells and meat inside the crabs. This sauce has a very intense flavor derived from those shells and unlike the crab cakes in my previous story, can stand up to stronger flavors like tomato, pepper, basil, etc..


At this point I remove the crab bodies with tongs, (reserve them if you like) get a pot of salted water going and cook the pasta of my choice. Reserve a little of the pasta water during the final minutes of cooking. It will get added back to the sauce to give it body. Put the drained pasta into a sufficiently large saute pan and add an appropriate amount of sauce. I like to undercook my pasta by a couple of minutes in the water and finish that cooking in the sauce so the pasta picks up more flavor from the sauce.

For example, if the specified cooking time is 8 minutes, I cook the pasta in the boiling water for 6 minutes, reserve pasta water before draining, and finish those 2 minutes cooking the pasta in the sauce thinned with a little water. At this point I would add:

-½ cup of fresh basil leaves torn into large shreds
-1 -2 ounces of good Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-8 ounces of jumbo lump Crab meat (optional)

I didn't add the lump crab this time, but served the cooked crab bodies on the side to pick on and suck on as they still have a lot of flavor.

Traditionally grated cheese would not be added here as seafood and dairy aren't usually mixed in Italian cooking, but I say do as you wish.


Since this is a tomato/crab based dish, my wine choice would be something both acidic and medium bodied. I went with a 2008 Rex Hill Willamette Valley Pinot Noir from Oregon. The bright cherry/red currant flavors and spice met very well with this dish. 2008 was an excellent vintage for Willamette Valley and this versatile wine deserves a hearty recommendation.

The yield on this recipe makes more sauce than you need for one meal and it freezes very well so that the effort exerted once can provide several great meals afterwards. Although I'll probably regret making this comment........ That is nothing to be crabby about. (Ugggh!)

Debbie Miller Nelson's Trip to France, Part 12

All of our managers and wine staff travel at least once a year to a wine-growing region somewhere throughout the world. Traveling is one of the many aspects of UWS that sets us apart from other wine shops. We know that by meeting the winemakers, walking the vineyards and tasting new wine from the barrel, we can see first-hand the passion that goes into each bottle. We can then convey this commitment to quality to our customers. Rather than having you just looking at a label and a score, we believe it is our responsibility to bring you closer to how the wine was made and the people who made it. We'll be sharing their trip reports with you here on the Blog.

In June 2011, Debbie Miller Nelson, Wine Manager, had the privilege of traveling to France and immersing herself in French food, culture, and most importantly, wine!


Domaine Faiveley is a huge operation that started in 1825. This was the only place we visited that had a modern office not run by family and not connected to a home.

We were met by Vincent Avenel, the Export Director. He gave us the cellar tour and operations tour.


Along the way, I even saw a wrapped pallet of wine that was heading to northern NJ!

Domaine Failveley is one of the largest land owners in Burgundy and one of the biggest companies. During the tour, we saw a state of the art grape crushing machine. When we asked Vincent why they had that, he said, “because we can.” That’s money talking!


We are led to a modern tasting room, not in a cellar, not cold and damp and we even get to sit down. They even provided us a tasting sheet! What luxury!


Here we meet the youngest CEO in Burgundy, Erwan Faiveley.


Erwanis a Columbia MBA business graduate, has GQ good looks and is one of the largest land owners in all of Burgundy (120 hectares across 100 different appellations). Quite the good catch! He should probably be in Wine Spectator’s next issue of Burgundy’s most available bachelors if that issue is ever made! Erwan has started what they call the next generation of wines – a new approach starting with 2007 to make their wines softer and more approachable.

The men in my group were amused that every office workedrwas female, about a dozen in all and they even have a female oenologist. Gotta love the French men! They have 50 employees in all and 8 monoples (vineyards in areas that no one else owns).

After the tasting, we walk through a maze of cellars where the back vintages are.


There is a reason why both Vincent and Erwan escort us – one up front and one in the back. Did I mention I have my back pack and those wines would fit nicely in them? We walk for what seems like 30 minutes through endless hallways and underground cellars until we finally enter into a beautiful, cellar room for lunch where Erwan regales us about stories of his family and of course, NYC comes up as Erwan has lived there during college.


We say goodbye to Erwan and Burgundy, pile into the van and head to Chablis.

Deb’s Spotlight
Domaine Faiveley Mercurey 2007
A perfumed nose of raisin, stewed fruit, cherry and strawberry. The 2007 vintage marks the current owner, Erwan Faiveley's first vintage as CEO and a move to make the wines softer. He has succeeded. The wine is elegant with cola flavors and a much softer vintage. Enjoy with a roast pork with green beans.

Also Available:
Domaine Faiveley Pinot Noir 2007 BC $14.99
Domaine Faiveley Chardonnay 2008 BC $14.99
Domaine Faiveley Gevrey-Chambertin 2009 $53.99
Domaine Faiveley Gevrey-Chambertin 2005 BC $49.99

Debbie Miller Nelson's Trip to France, Part 11

All of our managers and wine staff travel at least once a year to a wine-growing region somewhere throughout the world. Traveling is one of the many aspects of UWS that sets us apart from other wine shops. We know that by meeting the winemakers, walking the vineyards and tasting new wine from the barrel, we can see first-hand the passion that goes into each bottle. We can then convey this commitment to quality to our customers. Rather than having you just looking at a label and a score, we believe it is our responsibility to bring you closer to how the wine was made and the people who made it. We'll be sharing their trip reports with you here on the Blog.

In June 2011, Debbie Miller Nelson, Wine Manager, had the privilege of traveling to France and immersing herself in French food, culture, and most importantly, wine!

After leaving Alain and his puppy, we drove back to Vosnee-Romanee to meet John-Nicolas Meo at Meo-Camuzet. John-Nicolas was at our dinner the previous night, but he was not at my table and I was really excited about this tasting as I am a big fan of his wines. There is no tour. We move straight to the cellar to start tasting. It is here that my travel companion does the unthinkable –she breaks an empty glass in the cellar. If looks could kill – John-Nicolas gave one.


As we tasted 2009 barrel samples, John-Nicolas gave us his philosophy about the youth of France. That they have no ambition, no drive, no focus on their future, but take it day by day. He brought this up as he gestured towards some of his staff. He must have been having a bad day. None-the-less, his wines are amazing, exciting and I’ll definitely look forward to their release.


He cheered up for the picture.


Our last stop of this intense day was in upper Vosnee-Romanee was with Sylvain Cathiard. Sylvain recently upgraded all of his equipment to modern everything. He saw how much our group was interested and appreciated it and he warmed right up to us.


He even built a new state-of the art cellar where we tasted 2010 samples.



At the end of our tasting, we thanked him. But it was Sylvain, who wanted to thank us. He choked up and shed a few tears as he explained (in French) how exciting and humbling it was for him to see his wines on a NYC wine list or in a US retail store and see how much other people really enjoyed his wines. It was very emotional for him to tell us this and touching and humbling for us – a nice way to end a really intense day of tasting. For Americans who say that the French do not like Americans, they have never met anyone from Burgundy. They opened their homes, their wines and their hearts to us – perfect American strangers who shared a love for wine.

Dinner is at the home of importer Becky Wasserman and her English husband Russell Hone in Bouilland. They love to throw dinner parties judging by the 300 empty bottles on their front lawn including some DRC large formats.



There were about 15 people there for dinner including Alain Burguet, my 2nd boyfriend in France. He told our host John that I needed to sit next to him to so he could “chat me up.” Ah, those French!


Dinner was a huge buffet of pork, salad, potato salad, greens, cheese and an English pudding. I learned that I liked chinato from Italy and a good French style potato salad. Alain asked me to tell my customers about our love affair. So, now you know!


Life is good!

Next stop is our last day in Burgundy before driving to Chablis!

Available at Joe Canal’s:
Meo-Camuzet Marsannay Rouge 2008 $40.99/bottle
Meo-Camuzet Clos Vougeot 2004 BC$139.99
Meo-Camuzet Nuits St George Murger 2004 $106.99
Meo-Camuzet Nuits St George Les Perrieres 2005 BC $117.99
Meo-Camuzet Chambolle Musigny 2004 BC $52.94
Cathiard Bourgogno Rouge 2006 $39.99
Cathiard Romanee St Vivant 2006 BC $479.99
Cathiard Vosnee Romanee Les Suchots 2006 BC $164.99

Fork and Gobble It: Minimalism

I promise to stop writing and raving about my favorite summer foods after Labor Day. Until then....

Crab cakes are certainly one of the best summertime foods in the whole world (for me at least). They are also one of the worst. Order crab cakes in your average restaurant and what do you get? Chances are it will be loaded with as much breadcrumb and vegetable and who knows what else as it is crab meat. Some of the versions I've had were so poorly executed, it seemed a sin to even call them crab cakes. If you think about it, crab cakes are really about the crab meat. Crab meat has a delicate flavor and although it can be complimented by many things, it's not hard to overwhelm it or mask it by getting overly complicated or cluttering up a recipe. I decided that the only way to really get to the heart of the matter and make a top notch crab cake was to do it myself.

I start with a good quality crab meat. Yes I do resort to canned, there are good brands out there. I look for Jumbo Lump and prefer crabs sourced from the U.S. or Mexico to Thailand or the Philippines. Costco puts out a good quality product or if you're really looking to go top shelf you can buy from these guys:
http://www.aircrabusa.com/crabmeat.aspx
I'll even use Phillips in a pinch. It is sourced from Thailand or the Philippines, but the quality is very good.

The recipe below is about minimalism. There is just enough work to season the crab and bind it. Give them a light coating of bread for a crust and cook them up.

Minimalist Crab Cakes
-1lb. good quality jumbo lump crab meat (picked over for shell fragments)
-3 scallions green and whites very thinly sliced
-3 TBSP Hellman's (yeah, I know, but it's good)
-1/2 tsp ancho chile powder
-3/4 cup panko flakes

Combine the first four ingedients, mixing lightly so as not to break up the lovely lumps of crabmeat. Check the seasoning. I did not require salt because the mayo was sufficiently salty. Carefully shape the mixture into patties (I made bigger ones yielding 4 from the pound of meat) and bread with the panko. Saute' over medium heat in olive oil or butter.


I will typically accompany this with another of my summertime faves, corn salsa. With all the fresh corn I've been buying and cooking there are usually a few ears left over. This straight forward salsa works really well with the crab cakes or shrimp or burger or sausage or...

Fresh Corn and Tomato Salsa
-1/2 red (bermuda) onion diced small
-4 cooked ears worth of sweet corn kernels
-6 ripe plum tomatoes seeded and diced
-1/4 cup of basil chiffenade (about 12 leaves)
-1/8 cup of cilantro chiffenade (large pinch of whole leaves)
-6 scallions green and whites sliced thin
-juice of 1 lime
-1 1/2 small green habanero chiles, seeded and very finely diced (about 1 Tbsp)
-salt and black pepper to taste
-3oz EVO (extra virgin olive oil)


Mix it all together. I try not to break up the corn too much. Re-check for S&P and EVO.


This is the perfect counterpoint to the crab cakes because here is where complexity works. Sweet corn and onions, the fleshiness of the ripe tomato, the heat of the chilies, and the unique flavor of the cilantro, all harmonize to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Wine pairing here offers many opportunities. Personally, I like something that makes you think sweet but really isn't. An Austrian Riesling like the Fred Loimer Riesling Kamptal would be a superb choice. Crisp and fruity at the same time it packs enough acid and mineral flavors to make your mouth think "sweet." I would also be happy with a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand such as Yealands Marlboro with its bright happy citrus flavors and zingy acidity.

Overall this approach to crab cakes is not as labor intensive as some of the other recipes I've seen but delivers a better product for what is left out. I would guess that putting in "extenders" such as diced peppers and breadcrumbs lowers cost and is the reasoning behind why it is difficult to find a minimalist crab cake on a the average restaurant menu. Me? I just couldn't settle for more.

Muscadet- A Great Value White Wine

It has taken me eight plus years to come to this conclusion: Muscadet may be the best value white wine there is. Many will disagree. There are plenty of delicious reasonably price Sauvignon Blancs coming from New Zealand and a bounty of fresh clean Spanish and Portuguese whites available that sell for unbelievably low prices. But there is something special about Muscadet that separates it from other inexpensive high quality white wines.

Good Muscadets have terrific aging potential and are very interesting, complex and delicious. I love raw oysters. The best and most memorable of my wine instructors swore by Muscadet with raw oysters. He said "there is no better pairing, the brininess of the oysters and the refreshing acidity and mineral notes in the wine complimented each other perfectly." I have always enjoyed Chablis with my oysters but it was now time to test out his advice.

I did a little research and chose a bottle of Chateau Chasseloir Comte Leloup de Chasseloir Muscadet Sur Lie 2007. I thought what most people think of when looking at a $15 bottle of white wine that is four years old. Is this wine going to be good or is it too old? My question was answered with the first sip as a smile spread across my face. Not only was the wine good, it tasted brand new with refreshing notes of mineral, apple and pear.

Since this awakening experience last fall I’ve been trying all Muscadet I can get my hands on. The majority of them are under $20 a bottle. The less expensive offerings are dry, crisp and clean. They are very easy to drink and are great pairing with oysters, Dungeness crab legs and mussels in white sauce. The more serious wines, the ones that opened my eyes, are richer with an almost oily texture, great mineral notes of chalk and sea-salt. These wines also exhibit a prominent fruit component of pear, apple and white peach. To experience these wines for yourself pickup a few bottles of Chasseloir Comte Leloup Muscadet Sur Lie 2007 in our bottle club for $12.79 or Domaine de la Pepiere Muscadet de Sevre Clos des Briords 2010 $16.99.

Drink one of these now and forget about the other bottles until next summer or the following one, and prepare to be delighted. These are two of the best wines produced in the region. How often do you find a wine that is among the best of its region and it’s under $20? Almost never! Stock up now.

Debbie Miller Nelson's Trip to France, Part 10

All of our managers and wine staff travel at least once a year to a wine-growing region somewhere throughout the world. Traveling is one of the many aspects of UWS that sets us apart from other wine shops. We know that by meeting the winemakers, walking the vineyards and tasting new wine from the barrel, we can see first-hand the passion that goes into each bottle. We can then convey this commitment to quality to our customers. Rather than having you just looking at a label and a score, we believe it is our responsibility to bring you closer to how the wine was made and the people who made it. We'll be sharing their trip reports with you here on the Blog.

In June 2011, Debbie Miller Nelson, Wine Manager, had the privilege of traveling to France and immersing herself in French food, culture, and most importantly, wine!

We drove to mid-Gevrey to meet Alain Burguet and his live-in girlfriend Domenique. Alain speaks no English, but again, he was able to communicate with us very well through gestures and inflexion (as well as a lot of flirting). Of course we have a translator, but you never get the whole translation.


Alain takes us to the cellar to taste 2010 barrel samples and then join Alain & Domenique in their home for some Champagne before lunch.


We also meet their new 2 month old puppy who has taken a liking to me. He played with me for at least an hour!


Since I don’t speak French, I pointed to the dog, then my knapsack and nodded at Alain. I was denied.

We moved into their dining room where Domenique made us a wonderful lunch of roast chicken, salad, greens and more chocolate mouse. Yum! We also enjoyed some mystery wine. It was so old and unmarked, even Alain didn’t know what it was.


By the way, the French love American wine. Just look at that empty bottle of Opus One on the ledge behind Alain!

We leave Alain, but will see him later for dinner.


Next stop Meo-Camuzet!

Available at Joe Canal’s:
Domaine Burguet Chambolle Musigny Les Chardannes 2005 BC $64.94
Domaine Burguet Gevrey-Chambertin Justice 2005 BC $65.94
Domaine Burguet Chambertin Clos de Beze 2006 BC $246.99

Debbie Miller Nelson's Trip to France, Part 9

All of our managers and wine staff travel at least once a year to a wine-growing region somewhere throughout the world. Traveling is one of the many aspects of UWS that sets us apart from other wine shops. We know that by meeting the winemakers, walking the vineyards and tasting new wine from the barrel, we can see first-hand the passion that goes into each bottle. We can then convey this commitment to quality to our customers. Rather than having you just looking at a label and a score, we believe it is our responsibility to bring you closer to how the wine was made and the people who made it. We'll be sharing their trip reports with you here on the Blog.

In June 2011, Debbie Miller Nelson, Wine Manager, had the privilege of traveling to France and immersing herself in French food, culture, and most importantly, wine!


After leaving Domaine Lamarche, we drove to Gevrey-Chambertin to see Dominique Gallois, my dining companion from the night before.

But, first an aside. While driving through the vineyards, we pass the vineyards of Le Tache. It is here that one of the most prestigious, rare and collected producers have some vineyards. Domaine Romanee-Conti or DRC as it is commonly referred to made me very excited! The cross behind me is the famous cross that marks this vineyard site. I am privileged to be able to offer these wines to my clients when they do arrive. Sorry, none available now!


Now back to Domique Gallois. We chatted about dogs the other night at dinner and I learned that he had just lost one of his dogs and acquired a new puppy. I got to meet them both. By this point in the trip, I was feeling a little homesick missing my two mutts, but this was nothing a few cute dogs to pet couldn’t cure. Domenique’s puppy kept trying to follow us down into the cellar, but he was obedient at last when Domenique scolded him to return back upstairs and he waited at the top of the stairs for us to finish.

It is here that I realize what everyone has been talking about – production in 2010 is down 20-40%. Domenique’s cellar was not even half full.



I thought to myself, “this is all there is?” We tried to taste 2010 barrel samples but there was a lot of CO2 in the air and this made it tough to taste. One barrel was stacked high and hard to get to, so with Domenique’s permission, John, my trip host climbed up top to get the thief into the barrel and pull a sample.




A Kodak moment! Domenique’s style is more concentrated than Nichole Lemarche’s. His 09’s are quite muscular and age-worthy.

Next Stop Alain Burguet’s house!
Available at Joe Canal’s:
Domaine Gallois Gevrey-Chambertin Les Combes Aux Moines 2009 $81.99/bottle