Valley View Wine Sales

We are on very strict allocation with Dethune and Bereche, and Brunot is the smallest Champagne House allowed by law, so we were looking for perhaps one or two new possible producers to add to our portfolio. Our first stop was in the Cote du Bar located far in the south of the Champagne area. For various reasons I will leave the name and details out until we make final decisions, but this was a remarkable area.as we were driving in from the direction Paris, the GPS told us to exit the motorway, and that we were close to the producer. We noted the lack of any signs of vineyards. Within 500 meters we were put on a “farm” road for about 10 Kilometers; still not sign of vineyards. After about 8 KM, we crested a small hill and entered a narrow valley lined with grape vines and small production Champagne houses. The wines from this house were very clean and austere, somewhat in the style of Bereche (OK, that is a personal opinion, and will get a lot of argument, but it is my opinion).

OK, not really funny, but VERY true. Rain, rain and more rain. 11 days in France from the Rhone to Burgundy to Cognac (yes Cognac, something new) to Champagne, and the weather is cold and wet. No walks in the vineyards, no outside meals, just cold and wet. The vines are about three weeks behind, no panic yet, but every winemaker is getting nervous.

I cannot believe it is over two weeks into this trip and today we saw the sun all day for the first time. The weather in Italy and France has been winter like. Cold, rain and twice, close by, snow! The vines are just starting to get leaves, and the vintners are starting to get very nervous. They are always concerned about something, but this is not a good start to the growing season. Last year the harvest was from 25% lower than normal to 70% below normal. This year is starting like last year…we will see what unfolds.
I had better start at the beginning and give you an insight to what we are experiencing.
Italy is wonderful as usual. All of our producers are doing great work, and experimenting with new projects.
Our first stop was Santa Lucia. Stefano and his Father welcomed us with new ideas, a bit of history and new wines.

I cannot believe it is over two weeks into this trip and today we saw the sun all day for the first time. The weather in Italy and France has been winter like. Cold, rain and twice, close by, snow! The vines are just starting to get leaves, and the vintners are starting to get very nervous. They are always concerned about something, but this is not a good start to the growing season. Last year the harvest was from 25% lower than normal to 70% below normal. This year is starting like last year…we will see what unfolds.
I had better start at the beginning and give you an insight to what we are experiencing.
Italy is wonderful as usual. All of our producers are doing great work, and experimenting with new projects.
Our first stop was Santa Lucia. Stefano and his Father welcomed us with new ideas, a bit of history and new wines.

What is to follow is meant to be a way for our friends, clients and people who are interested in wine to understand a little about our philosophy that wine is about food (most of the time), and the philosophy of our producers about growing and producing wine. That sounds a bit ponderous, it is not meant to. Wine is to be enjoyed, not to be debated to death. Wine is a very personal experience; each of us has their own palate and will not like the same wines as another person (including very famous experts). Your palate will change as you experience more wine; this is a good thing. The more you learn, the less you know, just like most things in life. You have a lifetime to work on this…that is not bad either.