NEWS OUR DOMAINE

Heading out

2.3.2009

I’m on an airplane as I write this, heading to France to visit the vineyards of some of our new estates, mostly the selections of Jenny and Francois, our new natural wine importers. I always go on these trips with a smidgeon of trepidation. They sound fun and romantic when I tell friends and acquaintances what I do, but in reality they are grueling exercises; long, cramped airplane ride, cold, long days, unfamiliar food, and uncomfortable beds. I know it could be worse (I could be selling copiers), but it is anything but a five star experience.

But I’m not telling this story to show what a selfless guy I am, or to look for sympathy (I know all of you back home staring at your computer screens in funky Portland Oregon are not going to feel sorry for a guy that travels to France or Italy for a living), and certainly not to brag about what a fabulous job I have. Rather, I want to clarify (both for myself and you) why we (all of the Domaine Selections team at one time or another) spend the money and the time to go on these trips.

Over the years we’ve developed a tremendous amount of knowledge, not just of the various regions we visit, but of details of the various estates we represent; the way a particular vigneron prunes his vineyard, how it differs from his neighbors and why, why he plows between the rows, the soil composition of his terroir, the steps he takes to ensure a perfect harvest in less than ideal weather conditions, the condition of his cellar, the equipment he employs to bring out the essence of his produce. 

I remember visiting Catherine Rousseau at Clos Roche Blanche and learning about how they vinify their Sauvignon Blanc with dry ice (CO2) to create an anaerobic environment in the vats. You can only learn about these details when you stand with the vigneron, watch what he does and ask questions directly.  It’s the kind of information you can’t get from a website, however useful they may be. Nor can you get it from a winery rep or an importer, no matter how knowledgeable they may be.

You can’t glean it from simply tasting the wine divorced from the work that goes into making it, even though the pleasure in that glass is the reason we do the work we do. You can only truly understand the details of why the wine is what it is when you pour it in your glass, when you use your own curiosity and intelligence in the presence of the people that pour their lives into their work.

This is the value we hope to bring to the Oregon market through our trips around the world or in our own back yard, and it is what makes this team of sales representatives at Domaine Selections so valuable to you; they’ve walked these vineyards, asked the insightful questions, become friends with the extraordinarily talented vignerons we’re honored to work with, broke bread in their homes or the small, unheralded restaurants that are the true glory of European cuisine, and gotten to know them in their element, as a part of their terroir so to speak. Because there is no terroir without the intelligence and hard work of the people who work the land they love so much.

So what should you drink as I traipse around the Loire? Whatever you want, of course! But if you’d like a small sampling of what I’m diving headfirst into, try a glass of these gems:

2006 Amateus Bobinet Saumur-Champigny, dense, complex old vine Cabernet Franc aged in older small wood, sweet dark berries married to herbs and earth, rich and warming.

2007 Plouzeau Chinon Rive Gauche, the opposite of the Bobinet, youthful, bright and open, fully flavored but with red fruits married to the herbs, much more happy –go-lucky.

2007 Aubuisierres Vouvray Cuvee Silex, bone dry but filled with the ripe and juicy flavors of stone fruits (peaches, nectarines, apricots) resting on a bed of minerals and acidity.

2006 Crochet Sancerre, steel and minerals overlaying melons and figs, with a lemon/lime-like finish that doesn’t quit.

Salut!

Don Heistuman
don@domaineselections.com

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