Recent Posts in Looking for Natural Wines

Galicia. Ribeira Sacra(Part 5). Hijacked
March 9, 2010
On Monday morning I, with the help of a local sommelier, headed out to see what I could see in Ribeira Sacra, about two hours from Santiago. Stunning. Steep. The hills have ghost vineyards underneath the brush. At one point before World War 11. the mountains were covered with terraces and now you can just feel the erosion. It's wet. The soil sags. And when you're talking about a potential 80 degree tilt to the land, disaster is around the corner. Even I began to think, perhaps it's time to retire this land. Of course you can't grown anything else on it. Vines can survive. It is not for wheat, not tomatoes nor potatoes. It is vineland. But I have to say I really was wondering if after centuries, as the Ribeira can claim wine back to Roman times, perhaps it's time to give the land and the farmer a break. I was happy to see this magical place, with rose quartz proudly strutting its prettiness in the vineyard. But ladies and gentlemen, I was hijacked. On the way up I asked my host, "Where are were going?" I admit, I asked because I was not trusting. He responded, "Where...

Galicia; Rias Baixas (Part 4)
March 6, 2010
What's left of a home winemaker's 200 year old caino vine. He was wearing Sunday shoes and was wary of the muddy ground. As he tried to stay Sunday Clean he told us, "Albarino was never made in oak, it was always made in chestnut," he told us. The man's wine was terribly underripe, nice old vines, but still making wine for quantity not quality. It put the region's vinous history in context. Maybe as he suggested, they needed octopus. Honorio and Todd then ferried me to Forja del Salnes. The wines there are made by Raul Perez, the most famous winemaker in the area and farmed by Rodrigo Mendez, otherwise known as Rodri. Importer and all round fabulous man, Jose Pastor met me there, having flown up from Valencia earlier that morning. I was glad to see his cheery face. The best part of this visit was when Rodri took us to see a very special vineyard he started to rent. We piled into three cars, (these winemakers seem to travel in packs) and twenty minutes later we were at La Signora's who had always made wine purely for home use. Rodri seems to be the Tegan Passalacqua...

Galicia; Rias Baixas (Part 3)
March 3, 2010
Pergola, is the traditional way of farming the albarino vines and when walking under old vines, with thick barks and long tentacles, I can't get the image out of my mind that I'm walking under the legs of tarantulas. Todd in the vines his friend Honorio farms for Veiga Serantes. I disappointed Honorio, he had beautiful hairy crabs for lunch, we moved on to the next step, Lagar de Pintos Located in Salnes, the family has been producing since 1887. Part of the Domaine is set up like a museum to show what it was like then, barrels of wine fermenting in the kitchen, that sort of thing. But Marta, an oatmeal colored girl,thin with large orbular eyes, blue and serious took us to taste the wines. She does quite a bit of cash cow wines, didn't taste them, so I can't comment, and then the Lagar de Pintos. Marta had been making wine, like Todd, since 2003. She doesn't yeast but she does feed the buggers, if the chemistry indicates the organisms needs a boost. She also cools the grapes down quite a bit to 3 degree c. for 36 hours, and then destems and presses. She fiddles with...

From Millesime Bio to Galicia! (Part 1)
February 27, 2010
When I was in MB, otherwise known as Millesime Bio, Frederik Kolderup, the energetic Norwegian wine importer, coffee fanatic who travels with his own grinder, and lover of the more nat'l the better, ordered me to check an American making albarino in Rias Biaxis. Hell, you know me, good 'ole skeptic. But it was Frederik, so I did. What I found was Albarino that wasn't: 1) sweet 2) tropical 3) sauvignon blancish 3) creamy. Not only that but the winemaker and part owner of Benito Santos--Todd Blomberg-- an American who fell in love with a Galician and has lived there for a decade--is working naturally, with a brain that keeps on ticking. He's intent on eliminating S02 usage. His method involved a butter churner. Blomberg only makes albarino and is working on single vineyards. Two elements that drew me to his wines were: a lovely bitterness and a fresh, attention grabbing acidity. You see, acidity is something that I've found lacking in albarino of late as trying to appeal to a mass palate, too many winemakers are deacidifying, capturing sweetness in the wine, and basically reconfiguring nature, reasons I stopped drinking the stuff. According to Todd, the Benito Santos vines...

Alice au Pays du vin naturel, par Le Monde
February 26, 2010


The Paris Book Party, 2/18
February 20, 2010
The day started with a lunch at Chez Casamir near the Gard du Nord. I was meeting with Jean Paul Gene, columnist with Le Monde magazine (out the last Friday in February). My publisher Jean Paul Rocher was joining, he was under the weather, with a cold. Never the less, the three of us knocked off two 2008s; Dard & Ribo Crozes blanc and Overnoy Plouss. Made the interview cheerier. Actually the interview was stimulating and it started with a joke ( I think.) "So, Alice, people might ask you if you've saved the world yet, but what we really want to know is if you've found love yet." I blushed, stammered and was relieved this was not captured on film. But I thought about that moment, as my spoon was in the vegetable soup, for days. I wasn't obsessing about the reality or my answer, but about the cultural differences between Americans and the French and I'm glad that love is still on their minds. The last question he asked was another that sat in my brain. 'You wrote that it is easier to have friends with different politics than different tastes about wine. Why?" I realized that wine...

Remise Flashback
February 16, 2010
Before the organic wine tasting in Montpelier, I was headed to La Remise, a tasting which had a reputation as one of those wild and wooly bad boy tastings with mostly were unhealthy advertisements for unsulfured wine. If that had once been true, the tasting has matured. But don't worry, it hasn't matured that much. When La Gramiere Amy and I arrived, people were milking sea rocks--otherwise known as slurping back those mammoth Utah Beach oysters. We scrounged like rodents and came across the worlds most delicious short and dense cookies. Then off to work. Herve Souhaut's 2009. 'nuf said. Truly gorgeous vintage for him. I don't need tastings notes. It doesn't matter. But all around, the wines have a lushness worthy of lushes and those who are amongst the 'anti-flavor elite.' Nothing artificial in these flavors for sure. Podere Le Boncie Chianti with freshness Azienda Panevino Dressner scarfed this one up ( I think more accurately Kevin McKenna). My first sip was that this was Anthony Wilson wine. And the winemaker gets extra cute score as well. Conversation of the day: Had with Andrea Calek, who showed up with a new hacked at haircut and a twinkle in his...

1999 Ploussard Perdu. (Lessons Learned)
February 7, 2010
I knew this would be a life changing trip. I'm not willing to spend another ten years in therapy so I have to take those lessons where I get them. Of those I am currently working on? 1) Take the Money and Run 2) Ask for what you need. 3) Be More Positive! 4) Lose the Guilt The Ploussard Perdu was a classic illustration of how and why I need to integrate these life pointers with speed. Not a moment to lose. The Overnoy was a mere 21 euro. That very night would have been my only chance to drink it. Bringing it to dinner at the Cousin's would be perfect. Digging into my euro stash I purchased, I would have bought two if they had taken Amex. I thought of it all the way up to the Cousin's house. Olivier welcomed up with some fresh, snappy Pet Nat. I presented the wine, wrapped in tissue. Olivier with pet chicken before dinner. That was the mistake. I presented it. It was a gift. In no way did I suggest a partager. I expected him to know. Now, you tell me, how many love affairs and marriages have fallen by the...

From 2 Anes to Toulouse
February 4, 2010
I should start at the beginning, but I need to tell you about something that happened in the middle. The punishing wind, the sweet asses, Millesime Bio and Domaine des 2 Anes behind us we Jenny, Francois (of the selections) and Kate, the lasagna maker and crack sales chick, took the road for the seven -hour drive up north. One hour into it, I saw the Toulouse signs. "Hey! Anthony said there was a great wine bar around here." I quickly scanned my old texts, and sure enough there it was, Le Temps des Vendange. Francois' iPhone GPS guided us through the most visually unusual French city I'd ever been. I'm used to Frenchly white and yellow and bone tinted cities. Limestone cities. Cement cities. But this one could have been Lowell, Massachussets, with its landscape of oxidized red-colored brick buildings. "All the same labels," Jenny whispered to me. At first blush, yes, but then under more careful scrutiny others popped from the shelves. Neither one of use had seen or or ............ and I was delighted to see ... ....a wine Jenny had pointed out to me at the La Remise tasting a few days back, from the barbated,...

La Remise; Cold and Sunny
January 22, 2010
I have no idea how these guys do it . Vignerons working on their feet pouring wines on a marathon, La Remise, Millesime Bio, then the Dive. Renaissance, Salon, night time carousing and more drinking and on top of that usually crawling into bed at 5am only to start again--and some are even older than me! Welcome to tasting season in France, and there are plenty of Italians and Spanish here as well. I stayed with Amy Lillard (after tasting her wines, visiting her vines, eating her cooking--full disclosure all of you ethic cops out there!) and she drove me. Great fun. Stay tuned there will be more on her, but let me tell you, her 2008 blend La Gramiere is elegant and delicious and love the dash of dry wild forest honey. We bought our glass for 5 euro and then we were off. Discoveries? Yes, amongst the same old faces, but welcome ones, Stefano Belotti, Alsseandra Bera, Arianna, etc.etc. the winemaker for La Stoppa had two orange wines, tannic! (Dinavolo)but clear and musical. Andrea Calek, sporting a new coiffure Amy took this one, and it's so funny I'm braving my battle with vanity. .. and looking very...

Chianti as Volnay- Wine Expo Speaks Out
January 10, 2010
This following worlds, and all of the following, was a cut and paste from Santa Monica's Wine Expo mailer.... I guess my book is still relevant. + Fighting Globalization in your Glass 'Once you guys succeed in making all wine taste the same, what will you do for a living?' That is the question we have been asking wholesale reps lately as we have been absolutely barraged by the forces of evil (well, severely misguided, focus group driven winemaking and marketing at least): One importer proudly presented us with a Parker Beatification Certificate pronouncing that one of his Chiantis 'could easily pass for a fine Premier Cru Volnay' (a particularly soft, velvety and UN-CHIANTI-like Burgundy) which we thought was like telling Vince Lombardi that his star linebacker would make a dandy ballerina. Then, adding insult to injury, another supplier came in with two samples alleged to be Cahors (a Southern French red made from Malbec and Tannat that has been famous since Chaucer's time for being BLACK, tarry, brambly and aggressive, just the thing to go with the local diet of confit of duck, fois gras, lamb cassoulet and such) that have been polluted with enough Merlot (?!?!) and a...

Malolactic Fermentation: Banned in Portugal
January 5, 2010
Don't expect a good piece of writing here. Day eight of being sick and the words get plugged up in the brain, yet, I wanted to start up a conversation. Last week I received this email from a reader in Portugal: 'At a guide of red wines, that were tested at a consumer magazine here, they detected that about half had not concluded the malolactic fermentation. That... they hinted... was done intentionally to meet some criteria (prevent too much acidity, or other things), so they admitted... for some reason... it was stopped. Being a consumer magazine, and not a wine magazine, that somehow wasnt seen as a "downer" to the wine." I have to admit I was surprised. The only red wine I know of with blocked malo is commercial nouveau being rushed to market. Word just in from Roberto in LA, that there is a refosco from Terrano del Carso done without ML. And, looking into it a little deeper, blocking malo in part or in full has been done to preserve freshness in hot climes. First some background about the issue of malo, even oversimplified. Historically, left on their own, (meaning without inoculations) in regions with real seasons,...

Contemplation on the Year in Wine
December 28, 2009
A few years ago in reaction to other 'wines of the year' I decided to strike back. I mean if the WS can do it why not me? Of course I couldn't compile 100 wines of the year. Maybe if I jumbled it all up with memorable moments, but 100 wines that I can swear by seem like a lot. Then I read their selections and out of a hundred, there are maybe five I'd drink, but I've gone over that territory before. But still, the wine of the year, the wine of the year? The most user friendly? The most delicious? (impossible) The wine I could go to every night of the year and could make me smile? Or was it, given the fact that once again it seems as if I've absolutely no future as a writer, the wine I can afford. Or is the wine I wish I could afford? Or was it the wine that made me laugh the hardest? Or was it the worst wine. You see the worst wine could as well be the wine of the year, why not if it was the most memorable. The worst wine. Now that's a concept. But...

Intermission: The Cold War and Natural Wine
December 12, 2009
Bert Celce has an excellent new post on a debate between the French Parker, Michel Bettane and one of the old guard vin naturel folk, Marcel Richaud. I've been struggling to understand the French recording but Celce did a lovely interpolation for us. Give it a read. Bettane has been quite vocal over the past few years about the dangers of natural winemaking. He denies the category and seems to fear it. You can read the L'express article for yourself. This is a deeply complex debate. Recently many wines made naturally and are true wines of terroir have been rejected from AOC status because judged atypical. They might not have the density or the intense artificial aromas of what is considered typical or standard. This has resulted in a slew of wines being bottled with VDP or VDT (or now called IGP) status instead of carrying the name of the town and region they are from. By opting to make wine outside of the 'standard,' these winemakers have spearheaded the debate and even a breakdown of the status quo. In other words, revolution. It's no surprise that the beginnings of natural wine as a movement is connected to soixante-huit....

Go Ask Alice Project: #8; Gifting Sparklers
December 11, 2009
Alice-for office gift for my staff about $25. That Cremant de jura? Of course, my editors get me for free, but since I was asked during this 'offering' I thought he qualified. The Jura we talked about was the Dom. de Montbourgeau Cremant. All chardonnay, extremely gorgeous, one hell of a bargain, and while I'm a slut for bubbles (organic & biodynamic mostly) from Champagne, this one takes no prisoners. Made by vigneron Nicole Deriaux, and this is her in her vineyard in the village of Etoile....

The Go Ask Alice Project Q:5 (wines for vegans)
December 10, 2009
#5- So my husband and I are vegans and we eat a lot of vegetable stews - with potatoes or butternut squash - can you recommend a red to go with that? Also, I am looking for a red just to sit and drink by the fire - something you want to sip that is very rich. kind of a special bottle, maybe one about $30.00 and one about 50.00 - is that too vague? And do you have a sparkling wine I can give as a gift that is under $15.00? I'm near chambers street wine - I can go there- thanks Susan I thought. She's compromised by lack of cheese, a thought that makes me as sad as a pig lover finding out I don't go near cracklin' but still, I'd say go a little older on the Chateauneufs. **Bosquet des Papes 2007 Chateauneuf-du-Pape Tradition $40.99 **Bosquet des Papes 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Tradition $33.99 Oddly enough the same profile will go with stews--at least tomato based ones. So any Rhone will do, but as you're not using cheese, maybe go with an earthier wine. **Coulaine 2006 Chinon Bonaventure I love it. Definitely needs food, and maybe...

Kant Would Have Something To Say/Vin Naturel & Suckling
November 4, 2009
I'm not sure opposites attract. Most of my friends seem to connect over similar palate, I mean my close friends 'get' the wines I love. Even my one friend who's a rabid right winger--extremely close, love her dearly--but when her sort were not drinking French, she shopped the Loire, We're animals and sniff out like-smelling creatures in friendship and in love. Or at least I do, maybe I'm peculiar that way. That said...... ...the Wine Spec Critic who lives on the property of a famed super Tuscan producer and I have a friend in common. Anthony is a fanatic about natural wines and presently on a European tour with Krall. For weeks he's been spreading seeds, as he says, converting the uninitiated to natural wines one at a time. (with a high success rate). In this missionary role, he was eager to see Suckling when they were both in the same city. After lunch at Terroir (London) the txts came in. Gramenon--Suckling's choice. Puzelat La Guerriere (cot & gamay) my choice. ++ It was love. Anthony said that Suckling loved the Gramenon and less convinced about the Puzelat. And seemed to like the Overnoy (post show) well enough. But more...

Chauvet, Neauport and Natural Wines
November 3, 2009
Eleven PM, Ten Bells, wondering where vigneron Thierry Puzelat was, oh, probably out there in Brooklyn getting a black eye or something, while I was drinking K, the gorgeous Marsanne from Dard et Ribo, which Guilhaume Gerard and Cory Cartwright graciously, generously, oiled me with. I didn't catch the vintage but would have to be 2008, though tasted more like the kick ass 2007, decanted. The night was just rolling, I was chatting, and Charnay-based, ever thinking vigneron Eric Texier ran over to me and urgently asked, 'What's the guys name!" Eric last year in France. Eric, give me a clue!' I asked. 'Neauport!' "Jacques!" Eric runs away to continue a conversation elsewhere in the moshpit. I run after Eric. 'You just can't invoke that name and run away," I complained, knocking back another gulp. And that's when he started on the trouble with the modern interpretation of Chauvet and sidekick Jacques Neauport. This is actually ground breaking news and I am hesitant to give it away for free. So, if you're a journalist or a blogger, and you want to use this information, you better give me credit or interview me, or I'll haunt you and your first born...

An Amphora Intermission: Beaujo to the rescue!
November 2, 2009
Needed to clear out some bottles. Charles Krug 2006 Merlot Heron Hill 2007 Blaufrankisch Mud House 2008 Pinot Noir (NZ, central otaga) No one comes to this site to see these wines slammed, so I won't. The only bottle I felt sorry for was the poor American Oak drenched Heron Hill. I believe in the Fingerlakes and want someone other than SIlver Thread and Wiemer to get it right. Come on guys! The terroir is there for the taking! Do something! So obviously something had to be done. Regnie Sans Souffre to the rescue. I've been a fan of the regular cuvee of this producer, one of the few Biodynamic in Beaujo, but this sans souffre, is certainly gorgeous. It's a poster child for non-sulfur winemaking, with that earthiness to counter the fresh blackberry. (Vines on the average of 40 years old) with a gimme another glass acidity. There's a little of that sulfur-free breathy loosie, goosie quality but, just enough to be charming not alarming. 15.99 at Chambers Street. Please leave me a few bottles....

Amphora/Anfora Wines
October 30, 2009
Amphora at Domaine Viret, a wine absent from the Levi Dalton/Convivo anfora tasting last night. I don't like to travel out of the shtettle, but for Levi Dalton ( a long drink of vitovska comes to mind), and the food at Convivio (how is it that this resto never disappoints?) When I found out he was giving encore to his spectacular Summer Orange tasting of wines made in amphora--I shouted, save me a seat. Amphora. Anfora The curvaceous containers are the hottest thing since the Nomblot egg. Like Biodynamics, winemakers are experimenting. Even Nicolas Joly is rumored to be experimenting, though, when I was last in his cellar in February, I saw no clues. There is some dude in Napa with amphora Do we know why these are so hot? Are they fad or fate? Why should clay be better than concrete, mere history? I was hoping this would provide some insight. Or at least open the debate. I've had a Josko Gravner or two I've liked. I kind of like Cos Pithos, which is also unsulfured, though I find his niece's wine, Arianna Occipinti's non-amphora wines, much more compelling and complex. I love the Georgian Kisi, but as...

Why The Jura Matters
October 25, 2009
The first time I had a wine from the Jura that I was aware of? It was about a decade ago at Acquavit. I was there for dinner and saw this wine....Puffeney Vin Jaune. I had no idea what to expect but I had heard buzz about the producer. I was in the mood for white, or what the hell, yellow. I ordered it. The sommelier, without raising an eyebrow, decorked, poured. I knew it wasn't bad but it certainly wasn't what I had in mind and it certainly wasn't a wine to have with dinner. Ronny and I suffered through the difficult, band-aid aromas and flavors, finally making it to the cheese course when we gave ourselves over to the pairing with relief. What the wine director was thinking, to put it on a list of white wines with no warning, was worthy of a wine felony. Then, I admit, it was late to the white grape I have come to love, savignin. I went direct to the reds, poulsard (called ploussard if you happen to come from the town of Pupillin) and trousseau captivated me. If you're a card carrier in the pineau d'aunis, gamay-and -proud- of -it...

Back To Jura: Bindernagel
October 20, 2009
Born in Bavaria, trained as an architecture in Toulouse, Ludwig Binderangel got the wine bug, attended the viticole in Beaune. Wanted land in Burgundy. Was attacked by sticker shock. Could afford the Jura, a wine region that looks like bone fragments, less than an hour away from Dijon. Found 1.5 hectares, a mere thimble full near Arlay.one town over from Etoile. He now commutes to Paris for the architecture that supports his Bindernagle Boondoggle, and placements of his wines in bar a vin and stores such as Vin Insolite near Oberkampf, andthere you go. He had never even tasted Jura beforehand. Get that? He had no idea how to differentiate a Trousseau from a Teapot. A Savignin from a Sauvignon. And instead of deciding he was going to make the wine he wanted to make, he went out to make the wine the land wanted to make. Can you imagine tasting an oxidative wine for the first time after working with burgundy chardonnay and saying, what the hell, let's make that? How can you not love this guy? Bindernagel in his vines. At one point he is going to go biodynamic, as he really believes in what he tastes from...

Sold! Racines. Paris. And Au Revoir to All of That
October 18, 2009
Last week I was at Verre Vole, the wine bar near the Canal St. Martin when my publisher, Jean Paul Rocher said, "PIerre Jancou sold Racines." The last to know, I thought. The last to know. Why when I emailed Pierre a few days ago to tell him I'd see him the next time I was in Paris did he not tell me this was my last chance? Ironically, the first time we met, he practically threw me out of his bar a vin, Le Cremerie. Somehow we overcame that blip and forged a connection. This morning Pierre sent an email around to some of his fans, admirers and friends to come and take a glass at Racines on the 22nd of October as he was headed to the Drome to his family. Bonjour a tous, finalement Racines sera vendu vendredi prochain et je vais aller vers de nouvelles aventures plus proche de ma famille dans la Drome. The last time I was in was with my friend Jeremy Parzen and his fiance, the lovely Tracie B While I complained about the sticker shock, that's because I live the life of a writer and not someone on salary. In reality,...

Pacalet, Life and First Look at his '08s....
October 6, 2009
After purchasing some train tickets at the Beaune Gare around the corner, I walked the short blocks to see Philippe Pacalet. He stood, in all of his curliness on the receiving bay, talking on his cell, looking very contented. I waved wildly to him, big grin on my face. "Life sends you on paths you don't and can't expect," he says to me, folding up his phone. I can't remember if he always greets me with a piece of life this way. I am not adverse. But I wasn't really into the early morning spiral down into my own nautilus. And so while we caught up, I found myself wondering if my life been too controlled? I can't remember when a life changing choice has been presented to me. Or have I had those life changing moments and just not seen there was a door in the room. Perhaps the door was a tree and I didn't see the knob, mistaking it for a knot? Have I been too myopic, or has that kind of adventure never dropped deus ex machina from the sky? But enough. I am now in the Jura, where the pendant-like pears are dripping in erotica...

Mr. O'vernoy de Pupillon, Jura
October 4, 2009
With his tanned legs, (my legs should look so good) his worn hiking boots M. Pierre Overnoy, ushered us into his long table, the meal for workers just having been cleaned up. Even though he said the Overnoys came from Ireland as O'vernoy, he seems to me to look more derivative of my distant cousin I.B. Singer. Overnoy refers to himself as a bachelor. ("The man governs, but the woman commands," he said laughing. Still scratching my head on that one.) No matter what he says it is with enthusiasm and a twinkle. Here is an innocence not lost. He was kind enough to talk slow enough to make understanding him rather easy, even for my rustique French. When I asked him about M. Chauvet his eyes lit up and proceeded to talk about wine and sulfur. Unfortunately JUST as he was getting to the juicy bits, my FLIP froze. We tasted two wines. 2007 Chardonnay: The aromas are leapingly vibrant. Taste chalky. Long finish and sparks the tongue with gentle caramel and salt water. 2000 Savagnin: Salty, water and brine. A turkey being brined. Apple cider threads. Life and alive. Delicate on the finish, as if its brakes had...

California Reconsidered: Part One
September 27, 2009
In August I headed to California to work on a story about Hank Beckmeyer I also visited some of my friend, Paige Poulos's clients. Which, yes, were out of my usual scope of visits but as she said, babe, play against type, "You never know what you'll learn," she said. She was right. One never knows and so I went. I talked. I kept an open mind. I had a mission. Could I find out something about the thing that so confuses me about the soul of California's wine? I had to find out. Meeting Sergio Traverso Straight off the plane I went to the most unusual place, Livermore, with its breezes, and stripes of green illustrating the parched formidable hills. I was eager to met with Sergio Traverso, the man who started Murrieta's well with California royal family, The Wentes, the folk responsible for the clone most associated with Cali-Chardonnay has brought the dapper and very elegant and thoughtful winemaker back to consult. I remember being impressed by Murrieta's Meritage back in 1990. It's changed since. But I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of magic Sergio brings with him. Sergio, who splits his time between his home country...

Mark Angeli, the bees go missing
September 22, 2009
What is it about those magical biodynamic properties? I don't really consider myself a believer but there is no doubt that those who feel this stuff deeply, like Mark Angeli, have vineyards that exude the spiritual. Mark Angeli's Ferme de la Sansonniere is such a place. I had the feeling I could curl up in the well plowed earth and stay there forever. Flowers scents spice the air, even in February. As we passed his beehives he told us of the decline in the population over the winter. "It's not because of a virus," he explained, "it's because of the cell towers. There's a new cell tower here, and ever since, our bee population has been cut in half." "The bees are lost," Mark Angeli said. This is not the first time I would hear this during my visit last February. Obviously I was reluctant to take out my cell phone during the visit. And I was likewise terribly self-conscious pulling out the Flip. His vineyards, many very densely planted, at over 4,000 vines per hectare, are bisected by the road. Up the hill, the wine is fierce, not as fierce as the south but pretty zippy, " I...

Favorite Wine Shops That Jive With Appellation Feiring?
May 25, 2009
Oh readers, in near and far flung territories! We don't all live in the Bay Area, Boston or New York. What about the foreign territories? What about Iowa, Montana, Florida, Nebraska, N. Carolina, Maine. What happens if you want to drink the wines you read about here but live there? What are favorite stores and why and please and thank you why would I love them too? and if you say Trader Joes you must tell me some terrific score that is adjunct free, or lose all credibility...

The Bees Of Mark Angeli Go Missing
February 2, 2009
What is it about those magical biodynamic properties. I don't really consider myself a believer but there is no doubt that those who feel this stuff deeply have vineyards that just seem spiritual. And Mark Angeli's Ferme de la Sansonniere is one of those examples. There's peace in the air. Flowers scents spice the air, even in February. As we passed his beehives he told us of the decline in the population over the winter. "It's not because of a virus," he explained, "it's because of the cell towers. There's a new cell tower here, and ever since, our bee population has been cut in half." This is not the first time I would hear this during my visit. Obviously I was reluctant to take out my cell phone during the visit. "The bees are lost," Mark Angeli said. His vineyards, many very densely planted, at over 40,000 vines per hectare, are bisected by the road. Up the hill, the wine is fierce, not as fierce as the south but pretty zippy, I want vineyards where the wind can go through them" Every time I meet this man I am struck by his resemblance to the square jawed Lawrence...