Dan's Papers - July 4, 2008 - Meeting Thy (Wine) Maker

Wine Events Present Opportunities To Meet The Extraordinary People Behind The World's Greatest Wines

My view of wine is greatly influenced by passion, personality and place. I am lucky to receive invitations to some of the world's most renowned wine regions and many prestigious wine events, both great and small. Some of these are grand affairs, such as the Henriot 200th anniversary luncheon at the Modern, where I mingled with a large group of wine writers. Others are more intimate, like the small dinner with the owner and winemaker of Domaine de Montille in Volnay.

The people who are invited to these events are all wine professionals of some sort. Over the course of my career I have been involved in many sides of this diverse and expanding industry (wine buyer, wine educator, sommelier and wine writer), so I am often invited to wine events wearing different "hats." My observation is that wine writers in general get the real cushy invites (like the Henriot and Croft luncheons at the Modern), while the wine buyer/sommelier invites are much more work and pressure filled. Buyer events are more about sales than history, region and personalities (my favorite wine topics). At all these events there are many very strong personalities with opinions to match. There is also lots of knowledge, but often it takes a bit of archeological work to get to the real information that a winemaker or grower has to impart.

I often see many of the same people at these events, like Howard Goldberg, Long Island wine writer for The New York Times. Seeing him often at wine events gives me confidence when reading his articles. Howard always asks a question or two of the guest, and his questions are always phrased like he writes. In fact they often sound like a paragraph from one of his articles, and are always very articulate and amusing. Then there are those annoying questions that aren't really questions at all, like "Michel (as in Gros, one of Burgundy's top producers), how will your 2005 Clos Vougeot age in comparison to the spectacular 2000 I had last week?" OK, we get it. You own some of Michel Gros' older wines, and want everyone to know. Next question, please.

But what I love about these events is being able to learn things I couldn't find in a book or from other resources. I speak of the little nuances of the producer, vineyard or winemaking process. Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to talk with Christian Moueix while tasting some of his wines (no, not Petrus). Christian is hugely famous in the wine world, and his Chateau Petrus is one of the world's most sought after and expensive wines. With such an esteemed reputation one might think he could be a bit aloof. Not even close. He is charming and gentle. It was a great pleasure to meet him and learn something new.

What I learned from Christian involved my favorite underdog, Cabernet Franc. When he showed me where his newest Pomerol property (Chateau la Providence) is located, I noted that it bordered Certan, and the Certan properties use up to 30 percent Cabernet Franc in their Bordeaux. This began a discussion on the sad treatment of the grape in the vineyard. He explained that Cabernet Franc does not produce its best fruit till the vine is at least 15 years old (versus other Bordeaux grape varieties, most of which produce wine-quality grapes at about 7 years of age). He spoke of the impatience of most wine producers with Cab Franc. Given the economics of wine, very few producers are willing to wait the extra eight years till the vine is really mature. Christian loves the character of Cab Franc, so he just won't use it in his wines until it is of age. This requires him to find other outlets for the young-vine Cabernet Franc planted in all his properties - Petrus (5 percent of the vineyard planted to Cabernet Franc, none used in the wine), Trotanoy (10 percent), Lafleur-Petrus (10 percent), La Grave a Pomerol (10 percent), Hosanna (20 percent), Lagrange (5 percent), Latour a Pomerol (10 percent), Lafleur-Gazin (20 percent) and in St-Emilion, Magdelaine with 10 percent Cabernet Franc as well.

Another Cabernet Franc specialist, Bruwer Raats of Raats Family Wines in South Africa, told me how he prefers his Cab Franc vines in reflective soils, trained low to the ground so they get plenty of indirect sun in the warm South African summer.

A few weeks after talking terroir and vine age with Christian, I had the opportunity to talk with Joseph Henriot at the Henriot event about terroir. Joseph is a former president of Veuve-Cliquot. He left Cliquot more than a decade ago to focus on his family firm and began to purchase properties in Burgundy. Now, along with Henriot Champagne, he owns Domaine Bouchard Pere et Fils (in Cote d'Or), Domaine William Fevre (Chablis) and has just acquired Chateau Poncie in Flurie, Beaujolais. I asked Joseph what he looked for when determining new acquisitions. His reply was all about terroir: great sites, soils, and climates for the right grapes. And with the new Beaujolais property, Chateau Poncie, the Henriots plan to go slowly and learn the grape, region and terroir before making any drastic changes. The Henriot wine philosophy is slow and steady, with an eye towards long-term rewards, and this has been proven by their success with Bouchard in the last three vintages after owning the property since 1995.

Later at the same event another question was posed about Bordeaux, and Joseph's response was a bit controversial. He indicated that the Henriot Family would not look to Bordeaux for properties because he doesn't believe that the terroir of Bordeaux is that unique. He sited all the great Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines from other regions as examples and reminded us that he developed two properties 'Down Under' that have become standouts for Bordeaux grapes - Cape Mentelle in Margaret River, Australia, and Cloudy Bay in Marlborough, New Zealand (Sauvignon Blanc, but more Loire in style). I see his point, and have my own references that would agree or disagree, depending on how I look. Dominus, Selene, Diamond Creek, Forman, and Ridge Montebello would have me agree. But Lafite, Pontet Canet, Cheval Blanc and Petrus itself (some of the greats from Bordeaux) would have me disagree.

The most recent winemaker meeting was here in Bridgehampton with a dinner at Almond featuring the wines of the Montille family and Etienne Montille. Etienne is the winemaker for Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet, Domaine de Montille and DEux Montille, though he shares some of the winemaking responsibilities with his sister, Alix, who is in charge of the white wines at the Domaine and DEux Montille. I understand the reasoning of Alix overseeing the whites better now that I know she is married to Jean-Marc Roulot, who produces some of Meursault's finest wines for his family's estate, Domaine Guy Roulot.

As Burgundy is such a complicated patch-work of vineyards, history and generation upon generation of family relationships (both good and bad), it is always a great pleasure to hear some of the intimate details of the region first hand. Etienne regaled us with stories of carving up the Thomas Moillard Domaine with Jacque Seysses of Domaine Dujac and how he secured some Grand Cru sites in Corton and Clos Vougeot with that acquisition. I learned that Corton-Pougets, a Grand Cru site for Pinot Noir, can be grafted over to Chardonnay and become Corton-Charlemagne! The vineyards are right next to one another and share the same exposure, altitude and soil, so Etienne grafted his new vineyard over to Chardonnay and is now producing exceptional Corton-Charlemagne. But what about vine age? Didn't I already note how important that is earlier? The key to vine age is the roots, and when Pinot Noir is grafted over to Chardonnay the roots remain and the resulting vine assumes the age of the roots!

So after a 300 year history the Montille family now has a handful of Grand Cru vineyards to go along with their great Pommard and Volnay vineyards. Etienne also reflected on the state of the vineyards in Puligny-Montrachet versus those of Meursault, and indicated that the wines of Meursault were much more exciting than those of Puligny because the growers of Puligny have so much demand for their fruit due to the prestige of the name.

The next time you are shocked by the price of a wine, try to determine if the price is based on the reputation of a particular site (Puligny) or the hard work, passion and history of the people behind that wine.

I hope to have more stories about wine regions and families after my trip next month to Mendoza, Argentina, to learn the secrets of producing Malbec at high altitude.

Christopher Miller is the Senior Wine Writer for Dan's Papers "Wine Guides." Mr. Miller is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, an Advanced Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers, a wine consultant for Sherry-Lehmann and wine educator. He is also the Education Director for Long Island's Sommelier Wine Academy, and has held the position of saucier chef at Schweizerhof in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and that of sommelier at Manhattan's '21' Club. He is teaching a Captain's Course at the Ruvo Restaurants starting in September fall. Visit his website noblewines.com or email csm@hamptonswineclub.com