I'll Drink to That: Chisa Bize of Domaine Simon Bize et Fils

Episode 441 of I’ll Drink to That! was released recently, and features Chisa Bize, who looks after Domaine Simon Bize et Fils in the Burgundy village of Savigny-les-Beaune.

Chisa Bize has a life with multiple chapters. In one, she is living in Tokyo, near her family and her childhood home, while working in a bank. In the next there is a chance meeting with a traveling Burgundian looking for currency exchange. An invite for the harvest period is proffered, and Chisa decides to take a chance on an adventure: she quits her job, and heads to Savigny-les-Beaune without further future plans in mind. At the beginning the welcome is kind, but the place is lonely, and she is unsure what will happen. A marriage and a baby boy soon join the picture, and Chisa is no longer lonely, or in the possession of much free time. While these whirlwind changes might be the crux of most stories, for Chisa they are just the beginning, and a series of unexpected turns then places her in charge of a historical wine domaine. Her development as a vintner and as a caretaker of key vineyard sites in Savigny takes up a large part of the discussion of this interview, and anyone listening who thought that they would never under any circumstance make wine themselves might listen to this episode and find more than one surprise.

Listen to the stream above, or check it out on Apple Podcasts, on Stitcher, Google Play Music or check it out on YouTube.

IDTT is now also available on Spotify. Listen to this episode on Spotify.

I’ll Drink to That is the world’s most listened-to wine podcast, hosted by Levi Dalton. Levi has had a long career working as a sommelier in some of the most distinguished and acclaimed dining rooms in America. He has served wine to guests of Restaurant Daniel, Masa, and Alto, all in Manhattan. Levi has also contributed articles on wine themes to publications such as The Art of Eating, Wine & Spirits magazine, Bon Appetit online, and Eater NY. Check out his pictures on Instagram and follow him on Twitter: @leviopenswine

from I’ll Drink to That: Chisa Bize of Domaine Simon Bize et Fils

from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2DtgNXX
via IFTTT

Vinography Images: Early Winter

Early Winter
PAUILLAC, FRANCE: A cold winter dawn breaks to illuminates sleeping old vines and skeletal trees at Chateau Mouton Rothschild in Pauillac, a town in the Medoc region of Bordeaux. Mouton as it is affectionately known was not originally part of the First Growth designation in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification. Thanks to the advocacy efforts of its owner Baron Philippe de Rothschild, the estate managed something of a coup, and was elevated to First Growth in 1973, the only estate to have been so included in the modern era. Mouton is best known for its labels that have changed each vintage since 1945, and always feature the work of one of the world’s most famous artists.

INSTRUCTIONS:
Download this image by right-clicking on the image and selecting “save link as” or “save target as” and then select the desired location on your computer to save the image. Mac users can also just click the image to open the full size view and drag that to their desktops.

To set the image as your desktop wallpaper, Mac users should follow these instructions, while PC users should follow these.

BUY THE BOOK:
This image is from a series of photographs captured by Andy Katz in the process of shooting his most recent work The Club of Nine, a visual exploration and celebration of Bordeaux’s top Chateaux. The book is available for $60 on Andy’s web site.

PRINTS:
If you are interested in owning an archive quality, limited edition print of this image please contact Andy directly.

ABOUT VINOGRAPHY IMAGES:
Vinography regularly features images by photographer Andy Katz for readers’ personal use as desktop backgrounds or screen savers. We hope you enjoy them. Please respect the copyright on these images. These images are not to be reposted on any web site or blog without the express permission of the photographer.

from Vinography Images: Early Winter

from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2mXd2kl
via IFTTT

Wine News: What I'm Reading the Week of 1/14/17

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the wine stories that I find of interest on the web. I post them to my magazine on on Flipboard, but for those of you who aren’t Flipboard inclined, here’s everything I’ve strained out of the wine-related muck for the week.

Going 10 Rounds with Eric Renaud
Helluva list to manage.

After the fires, the road back to Napa and Sonoma counties
The slow road to recovery.

Karl Kaiser, cofounder of Inniskillin wines, remembered
Canada loses a pioneer.

An Interruptionist Seeks To Change U.S. Wine Distribution
An interesting business idea. Let’s see if it actually works!

Incredible collection of wine hidden in a top secret cave hidden beneath a rock face somewhere in Europe is tipped to sell for £1million at auction
Right out of a Bond movie….

Sommelier Roundtable: Your Predictions for 2018
The Spectator rounds up some prognostications.

There’s nothing wrong with being a little sweet on wine
People say they don’t like sweet wine, but they’re usually lying to themselves.

Mountain View Wine Thief Set To Age 3 Years In Prison
Lock him up! Lock him up!

Russian man rams armored personnel carrier into shop, steals wine
When you’re really, really thirsty and all you have is a spare Russian tank…

Sommelier writes her way through wine country
A nice profile of Kelli White

The Simple Life
Robert Camuto on the Marche

Thomas fire, California’s largest on record, finally 100 percent contained
Only now, folks. After a month. That’s how huge it was.

The Relationship Between Sensory Characteristics and Emotion in Consumer Wine Preferences
I smell bacon fat and I cry.

This Ex-Banker Has Wall Street-Sized Ambitions as a Wine Critic
A profile of Galloni

Fighting In Washington On Track To Harm California’s Wine Industry
Labor is going to make or break California wine.

Are anti-cork sentiments softening in New Zealand and Australia?
Jamie Goode sees more corks down under.

Silicon Valley Bank wine business forecast warns of slowing sales growth
But not a reversal.

Why Napa is Shifting Fast From Blended Wines to Single Vineyard Expressions
By blended, they mean from multiple sites, rather than multiple grapes.

Three Takeaways from the Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates – 2017 Review
What the data say….

Bernard Magrez Attacked in His Home
Robbery gone wrong

Tax Changes Hit Wine’s Alcohol Levels
A lousy side effect of the new tax law: less transparency.

Anson: The women who shaped Bordeaux
Let’s hear it for the girls!

Q&A with a pinot pioneer: Calera’s Josh Jensen reflects on changes
Laurie talks with Josh.

Wine’s Most Inspiring People 2018: Defender of the Consumer Palate and Your Right to Choose
A profile of Tim Hanni

Champagne Gives Thanks for a Vintage Crop
Another decent year in Champagne.

The ’90s Magazine That Courted Wine’s Early Counterculture
Zach Sussman finds out about WineX

Wine’s Most Inspiring People 2018: Grapegrower, Innovator, and Always One Step Ahead
A profile of David Parrish

Wine’s Most Inspiring People 2018: Wine Business Educator and Influencer
A profile of Ray Johnson

Wine’s Most Inspiring People 2018: Crafting Wine and Legacy in Washington
A profile of Chris Upchurch

Wine’s Most Inspiring People 2018: A Pillar of Oregon’s Wine Tourism Industry
A profile of Wayne Bailey

Wine’s Most Inspiring People 2018: Pioneer and Champion of Hillside Grapegrowing
A profile of Stu Smith

Fires burned the legacy of California’s historic ‘wine king.’ This winery wants to rebuild it.
A fascinating piece of history.

Boozy wish list for 2018: More screw caps, less wax
Esther Mobley isn’t asking for so much…

from Wine News: What I’m Reading the Week of 1/14/17

from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2DyBdMN
via IFTTT

Get Set, Go!

Biodynamic consultant Andrew Beedy and Troon winemaker Steve Hall on the spot selected for our compost program.

This is the spot that will become the most important place of the vineyard. We’ve chosen the spot for the compost piles.

There is a day that dreams, plans and goals become a reality. On your mark, get set, go! As we crossed the starting line this week, we were firmly aware that we were starting a marathon, not a dash. This week we took our first steps to converting Troon Vineyard to organic and biodynamic agriculture. We have our eye on 2020 to achieve our first organic and biodynamic certification, but that will not be the finish line. In agriculture, there is no finish line.

We had already taken some steps forward as we had received our L.I.V.E. and Salmon Safe sustainable certifications, but we have now committed to biodynamics as our vision for the future of Troon. Our first big step was to secure the services of Andrew Beedy ([http://ift.tt/2B0Bky3]). Andrew’s speciality is designing a complete plan that looks at your property as a whole, not just as a vineyard. Andrew has spent his entire life immersed in biodynamics as he was born on a biodynamic dairy farm in Pennsylvania. He attended a Steiner elementary school that was attached to a biodynamic farm. As a teenager, he worked on an organic farm in England. After university, he moved to California, where he worked with his mentor, the famed biodynamic consultant Alan York, who also was the biodynamic consultant for our neighbor, Cowhorn Winery, here in the Applegate Valley. Today, Andrew’s clients span the entire nation coast-to-coast.

After walking for hours with Andrew through our vineyards and our entire farm property, you can feel your perceptions began to change as you start to look at your farm as a whole rather than as simple blocks of vineyards. This extends beyond our property lines as you understand that the Applegate Valley itself is included in a whole farm, holistic plan for farming.

With conventional agriculture you identify problems and then apply various applications. Many, many of these applications are nasty indeed. While they may solve one problem, the collateral damage they cause slowly, but surely kills your soils. Soil is the plant’s foundation, and dead soils cannot produce great wines. When you farm biodynamically you eschew these chemicals, which means you have to deal with the threats to your plants before they appear. In other words, biodynamics is all about prevention. A healthy plant can better resist diseases and pests than one living in dead soils relying on chemical fixes to deal with each and every problem.

Our new compost piles will be the heart and soul of the vineyard as this is how we will be bringing our soils back to life. One way I like to explain biodynamics is that it is organic agriculture with probiotics. It is the bacteria and fungi surrounding a plants roots that allow it to take nutrition from the soil. Conventional agriculture destroys this natural system. The power of biodynamics is that it brings the microbiome of your farm back to life, which brings your soils and plants back to life.

I will be chronicling the process of bringing Troon’s soils back to life here on this blog. Over the next weeks, we are evaluating our soils and the microbiome of our vineyards, and we will be carefully monitoring and documenting the changes in our soils and vines as we practice biodynamic farming over the next years. It is a story I am very excited to be sharing. It is a process that will change our farm, our vines, our wines and us.

It will be a steep learning curve. Could anything be more exciting?

Here is a link to the Demeter Biodynamic Farm Standard for certification.

from Get Set, Go!

from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2r1c6j8
via IFTTT

Napa Luxe

What is the defining characteristic of a wine region? The answer depends on who you ask, of course, but typical responses often range among the many distinctive aspects of the wine world: geology, topography, oenology, or even culture. The Mosel has its steep slate soils, Châteauneuf-du-Pape has its distinctive blend of 14 grapes, Chile’s Maule Valley has its twisted old vines of País and Carignan. And what of California’s Napa Valley? Beyond an affinity for Cabernet Sauvignon, an argument could convincingly be made that Napa has become known simply for luxury.

Perhaps this is why the recent news that Colgin Wine Cellars had sold a 60% interest to the luxury-goods giant Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton was met with an inaudible shrug after the initial volley of press releases and news briefs. Colgin, owned by Ann Colgin and her financier husband Joe Wender, is a tiny producer perched on top of Napa’s Pritchard Hill (as seen above) whose roughly 4,000 cases each year sell to mailing-list customers for upwards of $500 per bottle.

With this purchase, LVMH adds Colgin to its already impressive list of wine properties that include Newton Vineyards in Napa (which it acquired in 2001), as well as Krug, Moët and Dom Pérignon champagnes, substantial portions of Chx Cheval Blanc and d’Yquem, and Bodega Numanthia among others.

LVMH is not the first luxury house to buy into Napa. St Supery winery was purchased in 2015 by the owners of Chanel, who also own Chx Canon and Rauzan-Ségla in Bordeaux.

In many ways, for an already premium wine region, such purchases represent Napa’s apotheosis. Short of the inexorably rising prices commanded by the region’s wines, there exist few, if any, rungs on the ladder of fame beyond this kind of acquisition. This latest purchase joins a bevy of other high-profile buyouts this year by industry giants such as Gallo and Constellation Brands and French businessman François Pinault’s Artémis Group.

Read the rest of the story on JancisRobinson.Com.

This article is my monthly column at JancisRobinson.Com, Alder on America, and is available only to subscribers of her web site. If you’re not familiar with the site, I urge you to give it a try. It’s only £8.50 a month or £85 per year ($11/mo or $111 a year for you Americans) and well worth the cost, especially considering you basically get free, searchable access to the Oxford Companion to Wine ($65) and the World Atlas of Wine ($50) as part of the subscription costs. Click here to sign up.

from Napa Luxe

from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2FvxCQd
via IFTTT

Vinography Images: Gravelly

Gravelly
MARGAUX, FRANCE: Skies flecked with white clouds hang above clay soils flecked with gravel at Chateau Margaux. Margaux is one of four original Premier Grand Cru classé wines according to the famous 1855 Bordeaux Classification. The estate is located in the commune of Margaux on the left bank of the Garonne estuary in the Médoc region, in the department of Gironde.

INSTRUCTIONS:
Download this image by right-clicking on the image and selecting “save link as” or “save target as” and then select the desired location on your computer to save the image. Mac users can also just click the image to open the full size view and drag that to their desktops.

To set the image as your desktop wallpaper, Mac users should follow these instructions, while PC users should follow these.

BUY THE BOOK:
This image is from a series of photographs captured by Andy Katz in the process of shooting his most recent work The Club of Nine, a visual exploration and celebration of Bordeaux’s top Chateaux. The book is available for $60 on Andy’s web site.

PRINTS:
If you are interested in owning an archive quality, limited edition print of this image please contact Andy directly.

ABOUT VINOGRAPHY IMAGES:
Vinography regularly features images by photographer Andy Katz for readers’ personal use as desktop backgrounds or screen savers. We hope you enjoy them. Please respect the copyright on these images. These images are not to be reposted on any web site or blog without the express permission of the photographer.

from Vinography Images: Gravelly

from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2EFlA5R
via IFTTT

Wine News: What I'm Reading the Week of December 31, 2017

Welcome to my weekly roundup of the wine stories that I find of interest on the web. I post them to my magazine on on Flipboard, but for those of you who aren’t Flipboard inclined, here’s everything I’ve strained out of the wine-related muck for the week.

Women and the Wine Industry
Karen MacNeil FTW.

Do Celebrity Wines Sell?
Yes, but if you want to learn more, read this.

Embrace the Wine Critic — They Matter
Tom Wark follows up on Jamie Goode’s article.

The Mystery of the Missing Wine Faults
Oliver Styles wonders why tasting notes don’t include wet band-aid.

The When and Why of Amontillado
And the crowd goes… silent?

Jefford on Monday: Wineism – towards a political philosophy of wine
I’ll vote for that platform.

The Hidden (Affordable!) Gems of Burgundy
Food and Wine recommends…

Terroir Alert! Champagne Is Expanding and Tempers Are Popping
More bubbly.

If You Do Anything in 2018
Matt Kramer recommends you drink this… book.

SF Chronicle’s Winemaker of the Year
I heartily applaud this one.

Winemakers to watch
The SF Chronicle picks this year are great

The Devastator: Phylloxera Vastatrix & The Remaking of the World of Wine
Kelli White on one of the natural forces that has changed the wine world.

Will Natural Wine Make It in the Mainstream?
Nice conversation, but it ended before it really got going.

Getting to Know Cava’s New Category
Amanda Barnes pauses in her journey to explore Cava.

China Gets Its Wine On
The excitement is palpable

How to Make the Most of a Trip to Wine Country
Simplistic advice, but a good start.

The Future of Oregon Wine: It Ain’t Pinot
I tend to agree.

7 Wine Resolutions for a Better 2018
Not so much resolutions as “don’t make my mistakes.”

9 resolutions to take you deeper into wine in 2018
Generally good advice.

Prominent New York Wine Merchant and Sommelier Dies Suddenly
Tragic loss.

17 Wine Resolutions for 2017 from Top Sommeliers
A few good ones in here.

To Oak or Not to Oak; Exploring the Wonders of Chablis
A primer.

Somms Spill on Nights from Hell
Oh Saber Bomb.

These 12 wines are the best bargains of 2017: They’re cheap without tasting like it
Dave McIntyre recommends.

Powering Forward
A great profile of an amazing guy.

L.A. wine pros share a few Champagne and sparkling wine picks for New Year’s Eve
OK, so a but late for NYE, but enjoy anyway.

from Wine News: What I’m Reading the Week of December 31, 2017

from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2qf5RaZ
via IFTTT