Mar

Drink Jura now and forever!

Throw a bunch of sommeliers, chefs, foragers and winemakers in a 40-person bus for a weekend and you’re bound to have a pretty incredible time.

When forager Stéphane Meyer a.k.a. “Le Druide” popped his head through Frenchie a couple of weeks ago and asked me if I wanted to haul ass down to the Jura to taste some wine, forage some leaves, eat some good cheese and taste a 150 year old Vin Jaune, the answer was unequivocally yes.

Next question: how many could I bring along? Greg and wife Marie (who recently integrated Frenchie’s team as his highly efficient partner in the creation of Frenchie to Go) joined the fun as well as another newbie: Caroline Loiseleux (great friend and ex-sommelier at Itinéraires). We all made our Saturday-morning grasse matinée sacrifice to head down to Gare de Lyon, discover Jura and spend some time with our peers.

To name a few, there was all of Terroir d’Avenir’s crew, sous-chef of Sergent Recruteur Daniel Baratier and girlfriend Charlotte Arnaud who heads up the floor at l’Arpège. Astrance’s Pascal Barbot and longtime sommelier Alexandre Jean (we call him Réjean) were game as well. We shared our TGV seats with La Dernière Goutte’s Juan Sanchez and one of his Semilla chefs.

Once in Dole, after a 30-minute drive, we hit up the cellars of François Rousset and started to taste. Vintages flew by as François calmly poured 1994 Vin Jaune (19 years of aging) and listened to our guesses. It was fresh and vivid, with bright flavors of passion fruit, lemon zest, nuts, figs and truffle. His wines are never heavy and atypical of what you’d expect of Jura Vin Jaune. Réjean comments, “These are the Vin Jaunes that make people who don’t like Vin Jaune love it!”. François’ father was a teacher but kept making wine on the side as his family had for a long time for their personal consumption. Then François took over and set up in 2007 in Nevy-sur-Seille right under Château-Chalon.

He is a very discreet man and is still very unknown. It is a shame because his wines are fantastic. His style is very pure and extremely drinkable. He remarks to me in one of our conversations when I ask him why he thinks his style is so atypical that “a paramount factor of wine quality in Jura is the cellar and its situation“. The yeasts that live in the cellars and are responsible for the veil of yeast on the vin jaune and allow it to carry on years with no topping up play a major part in the product obtained. The situation of the cellar and its ventilation, temperature difference and general humidity level is also a unique “terroir” factor to the final result.

Next stop, famille Serret’s beautiful home lies atop Château Chalon and was the stage of our Saturday lunch. The chefs start opening bags brought from Paris and get cooking. Creamy foie gras, pastrami, bacon, gambas and miso mayonnaise, juicy hot dogs, Yellow Landes chicken put sous vide with Spérule Odorante and then cooked over an improvised grill, homemade terrine, and the list goes on.

Surrounded by all these food and wine lovers, I couldn’t help but feel so thankful… and then the sun came out.

After downing a couple of bottles of Overnoy’s Poulsard 2011, some went for a walk through Château Chalon but I opted out for a well-needed afternoon nap in on of the Serret’s many rooms. I was dreaming of Comté, morrels and tender Landes chicken when I was awoken by a call from Greg informing me that they were tasting 150 year-old Vin Jaune from the Serret cellars and that he knew I’d be pissed if I didn’t get to. Good man!

Monsieur Serret had pried out of the vestige of his cellar a unique and incredible bottle pre-1860s that was identified as such because of the shape of the bottle.

As the sun went down, we tasted history in a glass. The colour was ochre with flecks of black (probably dead lees that were completely oxidized) and the nose held notes of dried apricot, lemongrass, figs and black truffle that quickly vanished. Even for the minutes its grace lasted, we tasted something that no one alive when it was bottled ever lived to try.

Sometimes humility comes in the form of a 62cl clavelin.

The trip ended with a day of work on Sunday and a flash-tasting of over 150 wines produced by 30 natural winemakers at Le Nez dans le Vert. As well as tasting wines, we took advantage of Olivier Grosjean’s presence to get a signed copy of his collaborative book “Tronches de Vin” that simply ROCKS!!!!

Breakdown of our tasting

Julien Labet is at the top of his game with the delicious Fleur de Savagnin 2011 and his Chardonnay En Billat 2011, both crisp, mineral with vivid acidity that are heading straight for our wine list at Frenchie.

Jean-François Ganevat still has nothing to sell but that’s old news. If you do manage to get some wine, Grusse en Billat 2012 was superior to Grands Teppes 2012 by a mile.

Jean-Pascal and Peggy Buronfosse (in Rotalier next to Fanfan) are getting better and better as the wines gain in minerality, acidity and overall complexity.

We spent some time fawning over Pascal Clairet‘s wines particularly his Fleur de Savagnin 2010 and his Chardonnay Les Corvées sous Curon 2010 both incredibly fresh, crisp and pretty wines.

We enjoyed Domaine de la Borde Julien Mareschal‘s wines particularly his Arbois Pupillin Chardonnay “Caillot” 2010 that was both deliciously salinic and very reasonably priced. The vines are on limestone soils exposed south with a 30% slope at 550 meters.

Another heartthrob was Domaine des Marnes Blanches‘ Géraud Fromont who makes delicious pure Côtes du Jura Chardonnay “En Lévrette” 2010 that is aged 18 months in oak vats and could easily pass for a Burgundy Chardonnay from the Côte de Beaune. It is on limestone soils sprinkled with Gryphaea which is a fossilized shell and adds a great deal of minerality to the wine. Think Chablis but oakier.

Let’s not forget dreadlocked hippy Étienne Thiébaud from Domaine des Cavarodes. His Arbois Savagnin Pressé 2011 is beautiful and slow to reach Paris but thankfully we are patient.

Even though Philippe Bornard is notorious for being a ladies man and I wouldn’t go home with him, his Arbois Pupillin Ploussard 2005 La Chamade was the bottle I wanted to wake up to.

Sep

My reconciliation with rosé

Forget plopping an ice cube in a cool glass of rosé to freshen it up, I was never really excited about the colour in general and least of all when it came to wine. I always thought “Why drink rosé when I can have a good white?”. But after my trip to Provence this weekend, all my a prioris have been properly shattered.

Allow me to explain.

After almost two years at Frenchie, I have come to notice that my wine-ordering is dictated by the weather: in summer I order more rosé, crisp whites or light reds and in winter, more tannic reds and richer whites. I also don’t think of stocking much rosé over fall and winter since it’s mostly a “summer thing”. As true as that is, I have recently tasted a 1993 rosé from Domaine de Terrebrune and the experience has left me dumbfounded. I never thought a rosé could carry such a striking minerality and tertiary aromas that would make for great pairings. It was, of course, not any rosé. Terrebrune was my favorite tasting in Bandol: the wines’ incredible minerality is due to a unique terroir ex-sommelier Georges Dellile discovered and fell in love with in 1963. He spent years restoring what is today 30ha of vines around Ollioules. These unique and rare soils are from the Trias era, are limestone-rich with a characteristic brown clay that inspired the name of the domaine. The vine roots plunge deep down in this singular terroir and convey to all the wines at Terrebrune an incredible minerality and finesse rare in Bandol wines.

The biggest selling point of my trip to Provence was definitely our boozy sunday lunch at Domaine du Gros Noré. To say that Alain Pascal and his incredibly energetic and lively daughter Fanny know how to host a group of wine-lovers would be the understatement of the century. Before his son Alain took over the domaine and started bottling his own wines, Honoré Pascal would send most of it to the coops. In honor of the man who tought him work well done and love of wine, Alain baptised his Domaine Gros Noré, a nickname his father acquired because of his imposing stature and big heart.

We arrived at Alain’s after a great tasting at Domaine Tempier that put Bandol on the map. Kermit Lynch, who had helped organized our tastings at the various domaines, informed us that we were expected at noon at Gros Noré’s for a quick tasting and then welcome to join them for a typical provençal déjeuner du dimanche. What I had not realized was that this lunch was going to forever bind me to Provence in an irremediable way. After Alain walked us through his various cuvées and had us taste the delicious brut de cuve grape juice (not yet fermenting) that would be next year’s Rosé, he asked if I wanted to taste the 2011 Rosé now or just have it with food. Kermit suggested we just get on with it and go out in the sun. Indeed, trying that rosé in the dark cellar would have been a shame now that I think back. It was a moment wine. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t objective, it means that I was about to drink that wine in a setting it deserved to be in and fit so perfectly.

Alain had set up a fire right on the ground in the middle of the vines. On it was a deliciously smelling pan of rosemary adorned sizzling mussels (the sound will make your hungry) cooking only in their juices. The smell was intoxicating and the sun was shining. I took a swig of that rosé and, in that moment, it was the best wine I’d ever had. As I looked around at all the hearty people drinking the same wine as me, I knew they must also feel this.

Among the bottles, there was a delicious Meursault Perrières 2001 by Roulot but I actually preferred the Gros Noré Rosé and that says a lot… I realized then and there, you can taste and judge all you want, but imagination is also part of experiencing wine and using it more while tasting is a dimension I had not yet understood so fully.

The famous Violet

While we were waiting for the mussels to cook, Alain brought out violets. The rock-like, ugly but delicious crustaceans are actually dubbed “water figs” and taste like oysters but are in texture, closer to mussels. The violets were incredible and as we all huddled around, licking our fingers, sucking out their tender flesh, I was glad to have that rosé nearby to wash down the delectable sea taste. The mussels came next and were set directly on the table after the violet’s carcasses were discarded. We plunged back in. Rosé glass tucked under my arm, salty juice running down my face and fingers working fast to pluck the perfumed mussels, this was hands-down the high point of the trip. Well… perhaps second to watching Fanny Pascal jump in the pool while taking a swig out of a bottle of rosé!

We then made our way to the set table where Alain brought over the lamb shoulders, cooked over rosemary branches freshly picked from his garden. This was provençal by excellence and watering it down with some Gros Noré 2000 was simply divine. The magnum of Clape’s Cornas 1995 also found a good place at the table.

The afternoon ended by the pool, cooling down when the sun became too harsh, sipping rosé and chatting with the group.

I could definitely get used to this!

Vive la Provence!

Jul

Who are you?

My first question and the one I continuously ask to anyone who tells me about their most recent great wine experience is this: who is the winemaker?

Who made the wine? Who tended the grapes and vines? Who made decisions that affected all the steps that led to the result in the glass I am pouring?

This person, overlooked too often in favour of the varietal, the appellation (AOC), the region, is, in fact, the true essence of any wine.

When I peer into a glass of wine whose producer I have never met nor heard of, I always try to imagine how they are. More often than not, the wine is a very accurate reflection of the person who deeply cared for it.

Among the many winemakers I have met and whose wines I love, I think firstly of Elisabetta Foradori and her 100% Teroldago Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT “Granato” 2002. The wine is 100% made with the indigenous Teroldago grape that is genetically related to Syrah and isn’t particularly easy and attractive in its youth. Rather, it is a wine that tends to be discreet on the nose, rather full and with firm tannin on the palate. But when vinified with love and aged patiently, it is a splendid and inspiring wine. The client for which I poured it a couple of nights ago is a fervent lover of discovery and always asks me to pick something he’s never had before. He described it as “classy and elegant, velvety and powerfully inspiring “. Without knowing it, he actually described Elisabetta. Everytime I have met this woman, it has been a blend of sheer pleasure, calm happiness and a strenght of character. Her estate, that lies in the Trentino Alto Adige, is farmed biodynamically and she has started experimenting with amphoraes.

WINE MADE FOR MEAT: I paired Elisabetta’s Granato with the duck breast, broccoli purée, zucchini and cherry dish at Frenchie.

Another notable winemaker that highly resembles his wines is Emmannuel Lassaigne. He makes bright, crisp, unique and tense wine in Montgueux, an area that is a little bit of a black sheep of Champagne. A little east of Troyes, Montgueux is isolated from the rest of the Champagne vineyard, but it is blessed with highly chalky soils ideal for Chardonnay. Manu welcomed me to his winery a lazy sunny Sunday afternoon and we tasted all his vins tranquilles straight from the cask. The wines were delicious: crisp, rich and mineral with bright notes of lemon, peach and honey. He is also experimenting aging his wines in cognac, vin jaune and burgundy casks to see what results the wine transpire. Like his wines, he is a multi-faceted man: he has a strong character, isn’t afraid to say what he thinks, but beneath is a wonderful, generous, hilarious and talented human being.

To say I love his wines as much as I love the person would be an understatement. We finished the tasting with a magnum of Colline Inspirée, a wine that I poured by the glass at Frenchie last year as he had yet to bottle it in 750ml. Now that he has, I am bound to order more.

THE WEDDING CHAMPAGNE: I picked Manu’s “La Colline Inspirée” as the Champagne to be served at chef Marchand’s wedding.

Of all the winemakers I have met, Valérie Guérin has struck me to be one of the most tenacious, smart and caring ones.

The wines are tense, smooth, concentrated and great. It was a friend and brilliant sommelier, Caroline Loiseleux, who introduced me to them. I was immediately smitten. Valérie’s Domaine des Mille Vignes is in the AOC of Fitou and Rivesaltes and its 12,5ha are farmed in “culture raisonnée” (interventions only when necessary. She produces all her wines with micro-yields (9 to 25hl/ha) on high density plantings. One goal is to maintain concentration so the wine can age well. My favorite wines she makes is her least pricey one: Vin de Pays de l’Aude “Chasse Filou” 2011 (100% Grenache Noir, vines 30 years old). With only a thousand or so bottles made per year, they litterally fly out of her cellars at the speed of light! The yields remain low and the work is as meticulous as her more pricey cuvées. It is a worthy and value-full discovery.

WINE BAR BEST-SELLER: ”Chasse-Filou” is one of Frenchie wine bar’s bestsellers and pairs great with the Speck from Alto Adige laced with old balsamic.

Mar

Bientôt dans une librairie gourmande…

Avoir eu pignon sur rue au-dessus du Frenchie, avec 22 mètres carrés à droite au deuxième étage, aucune lumière solaire et une micro-douche, ça aurait pu déprimer une optimiste comme moi.

Credit: Les Éditions Alternatives

Heureusement, l’an dernier, Greg travaillait sur son livre.

Vous savez… celui qui sort très bientôt?

Un de ces samedis, alors que je préparais le café matinal, je jette un coup d’oeil par la fenêtre et voilà Greg et Harry Cummins (ami complice et sous-chef du Frenchie) en pleine préparation d’une alléchante côte de boeuf d’Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec sur un BBQ en pleine rue du Nil.

Trois minutes plus tard et deux étages dévalés, nous sommes assis tous les trois autour de cette délicieuse pièce de viande accompagnée de la juteuse et puissante Barbera d’Alba “Cascina Francia” de Roberto Conterno 2008 sous l’objectif bienveillant de Djamel Dine Zitout, photographe extraordinaire.

Credit: Les Éditions Alternatives

À la demande de Greg et avec l’aide précieuse d‘Aurélien Massé, le sommelier qui dirige le bar à vins du Frenchie, nous avons tenté de penser à des accords qui pourraient accompagner chaque plat du livre. Tous les vins présentés sont des vins de vignerons en lesquels nous croyons et avec lesquels nous avons déjà travaillé au Frenchie. Ce sont bien sûr des lignes directrices pour encourager les lecteurs à sortir des sentiers battus autant avec la cuisine qu’avec les vins (ou bière, ou saké…).

Ce 22 mars, ce travail culminera avec la parution du premier livre de Greg: La Cuisine du Frenchie at home.

Vous le procurer? En nous rendant visite au Frenchie ou en le commandant ici:

=> placedeslibraires.fr
=> librairiedialogues.fr
=> chapitre.com
=> amazon.fr
=> fnac.com

Les nouvelles de la parution en anglais ici.

466 days ago Short URL

Uncategorized

accords/discovery/Frenchie/Gregory Marchand/La cuisine du Frenchie at home/librairie/livre/premier livre/sommelier/vignerons/vin

Feb

The miseducation of Laura Vidal

When I was at McGill, I had this vision of what waitressing was for me: a part time job while I procastinated through four years of studying Finance and Entrepreneurship.

I never thought that one day I’d end up feeling more passion for service than I could muster for even a second in Finance. I won’t be too hard on Entrepreneurship. It has proven to be useful again and again.

At Frenchie, clients often ask me: “So what do you study while you work here?”.

I explain to them that this is in fact my full-time job, that I used to be destined for great things, that I went to study, got a job and then I got bored.

Then I explain that after returning to restaurant service and learning more and more about wine, I decided that a good life was not in fact behind a desk, dealing with oversized egos and crashing financial markets.

Reactions usually differ but rarely stray from looks of admiration, approval, confusion, disapproval and embarrassement. This is always a very entertaining part of my night. It tells me a lot about the people I have in front of me.

It happened again yesterday and it got me thinking…

Do waiters/waitresses/sommeliers realize that they are “marchands de bonheur”?

Because, isn’t that what is required of us?

Sure, we suggest this or that course, we pair wines, we pull up the chair, we hang coats, we smile, we are quick and efficient and courteous.

But at the end of the day, we are there to make the clients happy.

I first learned this at Club Chasse et Pêche in Montreal with some of the most talented and incredible people I’ve ever had the luck to work with. They are acute observers of their patrons. They are good listeners. They make good judgement calls. They are empathetic, funny and unique.

All these things make me realize that in order to succeed in making clients happy, you need of a combination of degrees from psychology to education with evening theater classes. You also have to be equipped with a great deal of humility and patience.

From all walks of life, we should probably all try it once: get on a restaurant floor and try to make the clients happy.

If that isn’t the school of life, I don’t know what is…

503 days ago Short URL