The 2007 Vintage - I Still Like Les Chemins de Bassac

Isabelle and Remi met in Paris, where they taught history. In 1987, when Isabelle's family wanted to sell the property, the couple decided to take over the estate. The winery has been family-owned since the beginning of the 19th century. Today the Ducelliers organically farm 15 hectares. I met the couple in Paris in the winter of 2004. I was poking around a salon of independently owned French wine estates. To be honest I sought out Isabelle and Remi. Early in my wine selling life I fell into the habit of drinking their affordable red by the case load. In the intervening years their wines had gotten better, less oaky, more real. In Bordeaux we met again, this time at an organic trade show in the summer of 2007. The Ducelliers are people one naturally gravitates toward. They have a weathered, fit, attractive look of a couple that works outdoors on a sun-baked farm. I really liked them. They give off an aura of earnestness, have a good sense of humor, seem primarily concerned with wine and the how to correctly farm it. I think they enjoy drinking wine as well. Not everyone in the wine industry does. . . .

The Cotes de Thongue is a promising sub region of the Languedoc, close to the city of Beziers. As years pass, the current spirit of exploration of terroir, dedication to unprecedented high levels of quality and vigorous experimentation will erase the memory of this region as a source of inexpensive plonk. As AOCs are slowly carved out of the larger Coteaux du Languedoc, the Cotes de Thongue becomes a likely candidate for promotion from its current vin de pays status.

Viognier and Roussanne are the grapes harvested for Isa Blanc. Approximately 15,000 bottles of the wine are made each year, from low-yielding (40 hl/ha) vines. The wine is thirst-quenching, sunny, easy to enjoy. Isa is relatively light in texture for a southern French white, with acidity that is so correct for its weigh that you don’t much notice it. Not oily or heavy, certainly not sharp. I see this perfect balance is a sign the Ducelliers have a mastery of their craft.

Scratch Baking, Domaine Oudin Chablis

I think constantly about food and wine. Mostly about food, but inevitably when I arrive at the 2-3 things I really want to eat for lunch or dinner, wine ends up on the table. Funny coincidence.... I really like eating Phoebe Lawless' pies for lunch. I like to buy two, a savory one for a Saturday midday meal and a dessert pie of a mid-afternoon snack. I asked Phoebe to sample out pies at my new store on November 13th from 6-8, and surprisingly she said yes. Surprising because she's selling all the pies she can make as it is, so it's just extra work for her. Extra pie for me, and a chance to hear about piecraft from a master and wine pairing from a bozo for you. Contact 3 Cups for details.

Planning the Scratch thing got me thinking about the overall miserableness of most wine dinners. Long. Speeches. Awkward seating arrangements. Chefs and winemakers are not skilled orators. There are few exceptions. A feeling of being broke and injected with butterfat by the end of the meal. Phoebe is part one in my million-part quest to re-imagine learning about food and wine pairing. So step one is make it fun, not stuffy. You and I will talk to Phoebe and each other one on one, informally, like people with a shared passion, not teacher-student auteur-audience.

In remembering all the wine dinners I've been through, I thought of the Oudin family. Great wines, but the daughter was painfully shy in front of a room of people. Lesson learned. It was at a wine dinner in March that I hosted the father-and-daughter winemaking team from Domaine Oudin. What nice people! I felt lucky to meet a talented duo of winemakers whose obvious passion for their native terroir shows itself in the desire to share a deliciously different version of their region's wine with the world. Chablis with flavors that seem to come from a past era. Oudin's 2005 shows a light, clean, more delicate side of Chablis; a promising start for Jean-Claude's daughter. 2005 is a great year for her to take over the estate, a vintage laden with potential for greatness. Still, it's nice to notice the mark of a confident winemaking hand, so clearly in command in her inaugural vintage.

Les Serres is a hillside site with Jurassic marl and limestone soils, above the Oudin's home village of Clichée. It is close to the Preimer Cru of Valcupins, a vineyard where Jean-Claude also owns vines. The family plow their eight hectares of land to improve soil health and eliminate the need for herbicides. As a fan of natural, chemical-free farming methods, I am sad to note that in the first decade of the 21st century, few growers in Chablis plow. It's easier to spray.

Surprisingly, no oak is used in the vinification of this wine. It's not nearly as nervy as most stainless fermented and aged Chablis. Both Oudins believe in using as little sulfur as possible in their winemaking. They also stick to natural yeasts for fermentation, and are organic in the vineyard and the cellar. Domaine Oudin is an estate that shows the best of Chablis, reaching this standard through careful, natural farming and attention to regional winemaking tradition. They manage to be a top estate without a single Grand Cru vine, and with limited human and financial resources. I am happy to see a family winery succeed in this way. I hope we'll see the Oudins in North Carolina again, and will have the chance to talk more informally. Maybe we'll serve their wine with Phoebe's butter bean pies. . . .