25

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.

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18

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. 

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22

Apr

Enter: Agapé Substance

Let’s be clear, there is nothing like it in the city right now and with reason: David Toutain and Laurent Lapaire are the gastronomical darlings of Paris.

There was so much talk around why Agapé Substance didn’t get the star(s) they seemed so predestined to receive in February just before the controversial red guide hit bookstores.

Did they deserve what they didn’t get? Who will ever know? More importantly, who cares? As I learned, stars don’t insure a stellar experience… Agapé Substance should definitely not feel cold-shouldered… They have no star to envy when all their clients leave the place with so many in their eyes.

The food is as precise as ever, the service dance is mastered, smiles everywhere, the bathroom has a warming seat and oscillating jets to massage your derrière, the bar stools are plush albeit reserved for those with no back problems, the iPad wine list is ecological. The selection is naturally oriented: Philippe Valette, Philippe Pacalet, Gianfranco Manca, Le Coste, Anselme Selosse, Emmannuel Lassaigne. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to drink Gianfranco Manca’s Sardinian wine especially since they are virtually impossible to find and I had never tried the listed cuvée: Kussas Intrendu a Manu ‘eretta, 100% Cannonau (Grenache). The wine took a moment to open up but after half an hour in a carafe and a cool-down, it was splendid.

Agapé Substance is essentially a cooking lab where the patrons are lab rats and Toutain is the mad (super-talented) scientist. The knowledgeable waitstaff make their way around twenty or so happy and willing victims that crowd the tiny space. They pour clear and perfumed potatoe skin consommé out of test tubes onto perfectly tender gnocchi and seared foie gras. They place in front of you a sea urchin topped with a decadent coffee foam that tickles the tongue and enchants the senses. A Toutain classic that is one of the most poetic and genuine odes to mushrooms that has yet to hit my palate: his pieds bleus poêlé and chestnut crumble.

I will not list every bite I had because there were over twenty, but I will say this: rarely have I eaten so well and felt perfectly full and satisfied at the exit.

Notable is the return to the restaurant scene of Sofian Aït-Bouda who used to be the sommelier at Restaurant Spring. Considerably softened up and knowledgeable as ever, the wine pairings were spot on.

Some have said that Toutain‘s style is intellectual. I disagree. I think it is the perfect blend of a genuine emotional intelligence and refined technical ability.

The result is incredibly touching and the risk-taking is inspiring. A force to be reckoned with.

Agapé Substance

66 rue Mazarine 75006

Tel: 01 43 29 33 83

http://www.agapesubstance.com/

Open Tuesday to Saturday for Lunch and Dinner


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09

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.

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05

Mar

Léngué: les jeux sont faits

“Léngué est une fleur sauvage qui pousse dans les rizières” m’informe la femme du chef Katsutoshi Kondo, ancien de L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon.

Le Léngué est un des premiers Izakayas à Paris et un équivalent du bar à vins français, du pub anglais ou du bar à tapas espagnol. On y va pour boire un coup (de saké, de bière, de vin) après le travail pour se décontracter ou  y passer la soirée entière autour d’un assortiment varié de petits plats alliant simplicité et précision.

Kondo a plus d’une corde à son arc: formation de chef et de  sommelier, il se promène en salle et salue les clients souvent installés confortablement devant des grands crus de Bourgogne et de Bordeaux à prix tout petit.

Attablé devant un Meursault de Coche-Dury, Shinichi Sato, chef du Passage 53, semble un habitué des lieux.

Rien de surprenant quand on jette un coup d’oeil à cette audacieuse carte des vins qui vante les grands noms de Bourgogne comme Coche-Dury, Roulot, Dauvissat, Raveneau, Lafon, Rousseau, Domaine de la Romanée Conti sans compter de vieux Bordeaux habituellement nichés dans les étoilés dont Léoville Las Cases, Pichon Baron, Pichon Comtesse, Pontet-Canet et tous des millésimes entre 1954 et 2002! Ça nous fait reprendre espoir de boire un bon vieux Bordeaux d’avant l’ère de la standardisation du goût.

Grâce à la formule “Dernière Bouteille” qui est garnie de choix incroyables provenant directement de la collection personnelle de Kondo, pourquoi ne pas s’offir une bouteille d’Aligoté 2009 de Coche-Dury à 88EUR ou bien goûter le Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Cazetier 2006 de Rousseau à 165EUR? Si c’est une occasion spéciale, on vide la tirelire et on se paye La Tâche 1974 à 1274EUR ou on ne s’emporte qu’un peu avec Pontet-Canet 1989 à 120EUR…

Seul bémol: si l’une des bouteilles présente du bouchon ou autre défaut, vous perdez le pari, le plaisir et votre sourire.

La salle est chaleureuse et garnie de poutres, le service en tong est particulièrement attentionné, compétent et mignon.

À goûter absolument au menu: le saumon grillé, California rolls, les boulettes de poulet, tofu à la japonaise, gyoza aux légumes, poulpe au wasabi.

Mais attention… le dessert glace est un peu banal et si vous êtes fan de vins naturels, vous ne trouverez pas ici votre bonheur.

Restaurant Léngué

31 rue de la Parcheminerie 75005

+33(0)1 46 33 75 10

Ouvert le dimanche


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31

Jan

Gardez le nez sur terre

Encore une fois, cette année, fin janvier, il était temps d’organiser ma visite en Loire pour assister au trois salons des vins “naturels”: la Dive Bouteille au magique et frais Château de Brézé, le salon Renaissance des Appellations au Grenier Saint-Jean à Angers et le nouveau petit Salon des Pénitentes  à Angers.

N’ayant que trois jours à peine pour goûter des centaines de vins, je me suis armée des outils essentiels pour survivre cette fin de semaine: un sourire, du renfort, une brosse à dent neuve souplesse moyenne, une grande bouteille d’eau, un carnet, deux stylos, mon iPhone et mon Leica III.

Les dégustations furent intéressantes et je m’efforçais de goûter les vins que je ne connaissais pas. Ayant fait le salon l’année précédente, je me surprenais à ne pas reconnaître beaucoup des vignerons présents… Parfois je l’oublie, mais mon attrait initial pour le vin était principalement lié à sa nature de puits sans fond. Je me sentais toujours sur les marches de la découverte.

Et puis, le seul mot qui devait venir à mon esprit s’y est remis bien à l’aise: l’humilité.

“L’humilité est la première caractéristique du sommelier” nous informe mon professeur de sommellerie, Donjean Léandri, dès le premier cours.

Cet homme est son synonyme même, et vous pouvez rajouter à cela, la douceur, la gentillesse et le partage. Il fait prendre son sens à l’expression anglaise “Practise what you preach“.

Kermit Lynch a aussi une vision intéressante de la dégustation du vin. Il y a quelques mois, nous dégustions à Chablis et après avoir tournoyé son verre deux fois, il y met le nez et dit: ” What does this wine have to say?” (Qu’est-ce-que ce vin a à dire?). Voilà une belle façon de garder le nez dans le verre au lieu de le tourner vers le haut.

Depuis, c’est un travail sur soi-même que j’effectue pour rester le nez sur terre.

Mes amies s’y connaissent peu en vin. C’est-à-dire que quand je commence à leur déblatérer mes descriptifs et mes adjectifs et mes connaissances, elles me répondent souvent “Du moment que c’est bon et que c’est pas trop cher…“.

Je me rappelle donc ceci: nous ne sommes que les messagers. Certes, nous avons des goûts et des appréciations particulières (comme tout le monde), mais nous nous devons, et nous le devons à nos clients, de considérer leur palais aussi. Pas tout le monde n’apprécie le vin tendu, acide et minéral comme moi. Certains préféreront sans doute un vin boisé, charpenté, rond et beurré. Et il faut essayer de leur donner.

Je réalise de plus en plus à quel point Patrick Saint-Vincent avait raison… Il a mis en place un système de présentation de carte des vins ou le nom du vigneron était le premier à se retrouver sur la ligne.

J’aime vraiment ce symbole d’humilité, de respect et aussi cette concrétisation de l’importance du vigneron au-delà de l’appellation, du cépage et de la région.

Cela va sans dire que pas tout le monde ne connaitra les milliers de producteurs des milliers de régions viticoles mondiales! C’est pourquoi le sommelier, se doit, en toute humilité, faire de son mieux pour lui, tenter de les connaître. Et connaître ces vignerons qui, humblement, mettent tous leurs efforts, leur temps et leur passion à élaborer un jus de raisin fermenté qui saura faire sourire des milliers d’autres.

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