What a blast at the Pastoral Artisan Producers Festival

For those of you who attended the Annual Pastoral Artisan Producer's Festival at the French Market in the Ogilvie Center, I hope you had as much fun as we had. Francois-Xavier de Saint Exupery (from Chateau de Tiregand in Bergerac, France) and I, must have presented his wonderful red wine from the appellation of Pecharmant to over 500 attendees at the fair, and everyone was smiling. The energy flowing through the place (not to mention the wonderful aromas) was palpable. We poured wine, presented the wine, explained the Chateau de Tiregand, for over 4 hours, and rather than be exhausted, we were energized. \

What a blast! Thanks a million to the folks from Pastoral for throwing such a fun and educational event.

For those who missed it, there is always next year.  

Don't miss your chance to meet François-Xavier de Saint Exupéry

Hello again. In an earlier post (Tiregand Blog), I gave you a good description of the de Saint Exupéry family and their wines made at Château de Tiregand. Now, during the week beginning April 23rd,  you have a number of opportunities to meet François-Xavier de Saint Exupéry, taste his wines, and chat about them and the property, and anything else that is on your mind. There are two tasting events listed below, as well as a wine-pairing dinner at Kiki's Bistro. Of course, I will be there, the ever-toiling French wine importer, to add to the festivities. And don't forget the Pastoral Artisan Producers Festival on Saturday, April 28th from 11AM-3PM.

House of Glunz, 1206 N Wells Street, Chicago

April 25th 6:30-8PM

Chateau de Tiregand wine tasting with the winemaker

Have a chance to meet Francois-Xavier de Saint Exupery, the winemaker for Chateau de Tiregand. This family-owned property makes wine in the Pecharmant appellation of the Bergerac region, just about 40 miles east of Bordeaux. The region features the same grapes as used in Bordeaux wines, and represent great values. Francois-Xavier makes consistently great wines and is looking forward to sharing his passion with you. For those who have read the book "The Little Prince" this is the family of the author, Antoine de Saint Exupery.

There will be a charge of $10 for the tasting that can be applied to a purchase of $30 or more.

Kiki’s Bistro, 900 N Franklin Street, Chicago

April 26th 6:30PM

Chateau de Tiregand Wine Dinner with the winemaker

Have a chance to meet Francois-Xavier de Saint Exupery, the winemaker for Chateau de Tiregand. This family-owned property makes wine in the Pécharmant appellation of the Bergerac region, just about 40 miles east of Bordeaux. The region features the same grapes as used in Bordeaux wines, and represent great values. Francois-Xavier makes consistently great wines and is looking forward to sharing his passion with you. For those who have read the book "The Little Prince" this is the family of the author, Antoine de Saint Exupery. We will be tasting first his white wine made from Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, followed by a comparison of the 2005 and 2009 vintages of the Chateau Tiregand Red, and finally the 2007 vintage of the Chateau de Tiregand Grand Millésime, their premium red wine. These three wine flights will be matched by wonderful dishes prepared in the renowned kitchen of Kiki's Bistro. For the last wine, a Monbazillac, made by his neighbor Christian Roche, will be paired with dessert.

email to grapenewsimporting@gmail.com for details. Call Kiki's at 312-335-5454 for reservations.

Webster’s Wine Bar, 1480 W. Webster Ave, Chicago

 April 27th 5:30-7:30PM

Chateau de Tiregand Wine Tasting with the winemaker

Have a chance to meet Francois-Xavier de Saint Exupery, the winemaker for Chateau de Tiregand. This family-owned property makes wine in the Pécharmant appellation of the Bergerac region, just about 40 miles east of Bordeaux. The region features the same grapes as used in Bordeaux wines,

and represent great values. Francois-Xavier makes consistently great wines and is looking forward to sharing his passion with you. For those who have read the book "The Little Prince" this is the family of the author, Antoine de Saint Exupery. You can sample the rich and flavorful hand-crafted wines made at Chateau de Tiregand while learning about the family property and just how the wines are made from the man who makes the wines and manages the vineyards with loving care.

This is a free event and you will be able to purchase the wines shown through Webster's Wine Bar

 Email to grapenewsimporting@gmail.com for details or just show up. We look forward to seeing you there.

If you have recently begun following my blog, it merits repeating that my company, Grape News Importing, Ltd. is dedicated to sourcing wines from small French properties. For my readers, you will appreciate the photos attached.

We are all looking for authentic wines, wherever they come from. Many times it is very difficult to discern  if a wine is made by someone who owns his/her vineyards and makes their own wine with the respect for terroir and their personal style, and that which comes from larger production facilities but labeled to appear as authentic.

Well, I just finished a few days at a Paris Wine fair called the Salon of Independent Vignerons (winemakers). I have sourced many of my selections at this fair, that is actually open to the public. That's right, if you lived, or were simply vacationing in Paris, you could go to this fair, taste wines, and buy them while chatting with the person(s) who made them, and take them home that afternoon and enjoy them with dinner, or all by themselves. These folks are the real thing. You can talk vintages, terroir, and better taste through their entire range of wines, usually between 3-6 wines. From Alsace too Bordeaux, Burgundy to Rhone, Languedoc to Sancerre, Muscadet to Crozes-Hermitage to Champagne, they're all there. Here are a few photos of some of my producers:

First two photos, the producers of Chateau Mangot. The properties and personalities of the rest of the photos in order are as follows:

Francois Arnaud and Hubbie - Chateau Pomys St Estephe
Pierre Lieubeau and Me - Chateau de la Bourdiniere and La Fruitiere - Muscadet
Didier Vesselle and Me- Champagne Maurice Vesselle Grand Cru
Gerard Bouges - Chateau La Fon de Berger Haut Medoc
Jacques Rodet - Chateau Brulesecaille Cotes de Bourg
Jean-Marc Bernhard - Domaine Jean Marc Bernhard, Katzenthal, Alsace
Jerome Mathieu and Me - Domaine Mathieu - Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Martine Riviere and son Martial - Chateau Haut Chatain Lalande de Pomerol
One aisle of 24 at the wine fair.
Pascal and Marilynne Bodin - Chateau Granins Grand Poujeaux Moulis-en-Medoc

Chateau de Tiregand-Wines from Saint-Exupery

Welcome back! This next series of posts will focus on wines of the Southwest of France. This is a home of great values, and wines using the same grapes as found in Bordeaux. My first discovery from this region, long before I embarked on the wine road as an importer was Chateau de Tiregand. Their appellation is Pécharmant, one applied only to red wines on a long ridge just east of the city of Bergerac, and in fact, the appellation name translates to "charming hill".

I first had the chance to meet the winemaker, François-Xavier de Saint Exupéry in 1995 whilst pedaling through the region and came across Chateau de Tiregand. Knowing the wine, and then discovering the property, I was thrilled. Even on a French national holiday, he agreed to meet at the winery, and a wonderful friendship was forged, as well as a 16 year and ongoing business relationship.

What's more, the Saint Exupéry family is well-known in France as well as in the US. Need a hint? How about the book "The Little Prince"? That's right! The author Antoine de Saint Exupéry is François-Xavier's uncle! Antoine's face, as well as his creation, the Little Prince, appeared on the 50 franc note until the changeover to the euro.

Chateau de Tiregand is a family run property that produces both a white Bergerac wine from Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes, as well as two fabulous wines with the Pécharmant appellation, their flagship Pécharmant, and the premium cuvée, Grand Millésime. These wines are rich and savory, and age remarkably well.

You can have the chance to meet François-Xavier de Saint Exupéry in late April as he will be in Chicago participating in the Pastoral Artisan Producer Festival on Saturday April 28th from 11AM-3PM. Oh, and he speaks English so bring your questions.

You can also attend a wine dinner on the evening of Thursday, April 26th at Kiki's Bistro on 900 N. Franklin Street in Chicago (312-334-5454) where he will be featuring his three wines paired with dishes prepared by Kiki's wonderful kitchen. Follow me on Twitter  @grapenewsimport  to stay tuned to updates and other events where you can meet this charming winemaker.

Zero dosage Champagnes

Many champagne drinkers often puzzle over the "sweetness" ratings of champagnes, from Brut to Extra dry to Dry to Demi-sec, and how the increasing sweetness comes to be, with Brut being the driest of these four categories.

We need to go back to the champagne process where grapes are turned into wine, wines from certain parcels and certain grapes (Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunieur or Chardonnay) are blended (commonly from multiple vintages for Non-Vintage (NV) champagnes) to make the final blend or Cuvée. At this point, yeast, sugar and yeast nutrients are added to the wine, and the wine is put into it's final bottle for the carbonation process or champagne process (http://www.wineperspective.com/making_champagne.htm), called "la prise de mousse" in French. After the years of ageing, the remuage (riddling) and the disgorgement, the "dosage" is added to give us these sweetness gradations from Brut to Demi-Sec.

But what if we didn't add any sugar? Boy that would be a lip smacker! All that acidity and no sugar to balance it. Many think that without sugar, champagne would be undrinkable. Do you?  Think again.

If the grapes used are of an excellent quality, and they are of sufficient ripeness, the wine, and hence the champagne, could stand on its own. And many of the small producers, their champagnes more and more referred to as grower champagnes (I prefer Farmer Fizz myself) are doing just that. To add depth to their range of offerings, they are taking some of their best grapes and when the champagne is finished, add NO SUGAR when topping off the bottles with wine following the disgorgement, and so we have a ZERO DOSAGE champagne. There is always a small residual amount of sugar present, as the yeast cannot consume it all, especially when the sugars drop below 0.5grams/liter, but it is the fruit that shows through.

Wonderful champagnes like this are also known as "Brut Nature" or "Ultra Brut" but we are speakin' the same language. This is where the true quality of the terroir, grapes, and the talent of the winemaker comes through with just beautiful wines. I became so enamoured with these champagnes, that I added two to my portfolio in 2011; Brut Nature from Thierry Fluteau and Extra Brut from Michel Arnould et Fils. Ask for them at your local Chicago retailer.

I have had the pleasure of working with Benoit Marguet since early 1999 when he was just "taking the reins" of the family property. Since then I have had the pleasure of importing his champagnes, drinking his champagnes, and watching this young man develop his talents in making great champagnes. And always with the aim of improving the quality and finesse and producing the best wine possible from fruit that is grown using organic farming methods. This is a multi generation champagne house (see: history) that Benoit is taking in new directions with new blends and energizing the traditional cuvées (french for blends). Visit the Marguet website for an introduction to the property.

Most of the champagnes produced at Marguet Père et Fils are Grand Cru, meaning that all the grapes come from vineyards that are formally classified as having the best potential for producing the best fruit, hence "Grand Cru". I will focus on this property in a series of posts starting with this one, where I will introduce the entry level champagne of Marguet Père et Fils, the Blanc de Noirs. This offering replaces the original "Tradition" cuvée that was a blend of Pinot Noir (70%) and Chardonnay (30%). This was a lovely champagne, but not very different from the next in line, their Reserve champagne (that I will focus on in the next post), and so Benoit set his sights to revamp the Tradition, and created his Blanc de Noirs.

In a move rarely taken by a champagne house, Benoit chose to forgo Grand Cru status and use Pinot Meunier (25-30%) in the blend with Pinot Noir, as the Pinot Meunier grape is not permitted in Grand Cru champagnes. "I had the most remarkable source of Pinot Meunier, and felt that I could make an extraordinary champagne, rather than stay with the traditional style and maintain Grand Cru status for my entry level champagne" says Benoit Marguet.

Well, he is certainly right. This is a champagne that is packed with flavor, and can be served with a wide variety of foods as well as just by itself, and it has impressed everyone to whom I have served it. What's more, as I import the wine direct from Benoit, this wine comes in well under the price of comparable selections available on the market.

Look for it at Binny's for around $37, and bring in the new year.  Cheers!

Last post I introduced Thierry Fluteau. His champagnes are made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, sometimes one or the other (i.e. Blanc de Noirs or Blanc de Blancs respectively), sometimes as a blend of the two. As the vineyards are in the southern reaches of the Champagne region, the soils are composed of clay and hard calcerous limestone dating from the Jurassic period, unlike the northern and more familiar part of Champagne where the soils are very chalky. 

This gives his wines a very focused and powerful fruit that is well-balanced with acidity and go well with appetizers, hors d'oeuvres and light fare such as fish or chicken (though I am of the opinion that champagne goes well with just about anything). 

A number of his wines are available in the Chicago market in the price points from $31 to $37 and are perennial favorites at my champagne tastings. You can find them at many of the Binny's Depot locations.

Here is a list of his wines you can find here with a link to their page on my website:

Champagne Thierry Fluteau Brut Nature

Champagne Thierry Fluteau Brut Blanc de Noirs

Champagne Thierry Fluteau Brut Rosé

Champagne Thierry Fluteau 2006 Brut Blanc de Blancs

Please note that the vintages on the site pages don't always represent those available on the market.

Cheers!