Last night, during an excellent and intimate tasting at Arlequin Wine Merchant in San Francisco, I had the opportunity to meet legendary wine importer of Louis/Dressner Selections, Joe Dressner. Joe has a great blog about his day to day life, wine, and living with brain cancer called The Amazing Misadventures of Captain Tumor Man which I highly recommend checking out. His posts give you a real sense of his outlook and style of humour, assets clearly necessary to be able to start a blog a called “The Amazing Misadventures of Captain Tumor Man” after learning you have brain cancer.

The wines imported by Louis/Dressner follow a set of natural production principals and many have limited sulphur. A few of my favourites (I unfortunately didn’t write down the prices, so these are ballparks):

Domaine de la Pépière Clos des Briords, Cuvée Vieilles Vignes ‘08 Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie - I realize that’s a mouth full of French words, but just know that this is some very serious Muscadet made from 80 year old vines. Chalk and lime with racing mouth-puckering acidity. $25ish

Eric Texier ‘08 Côtes du Rhône Roussanne - This isn’t your California Roussanne - complex, dry, and lean. Stony with some herbaceous green bean characters. Side note: Eric Texier used to be a fucking nuclear physicist who quit his job and decided to make natural wine. $28ish?

Dard & Ribo ‘07 Saint Joseph - Most interesting St. Joseph I’ve tried. V. dry and some tannin - great mix of classic St Jo fruitiness with a spicy green character (ferny??) and cola. Very minimal sulphur…evident by a very light prickle. Love the complexity… still not sure how I feel about the fizz. $45ish

(Image borrowed from Bertrand Celce)

My favourite wine was a 2008 Loire Valley Gamay, made by Noëlla Morantin, the first vintage under her own label. She has purchased the grapes for this vintage, but from 2009 on she is using fruit that she has farmed from Clos Roche Blanche’s vineyards. As per usual, Bertrant Celce has an excellent post about Noëlla Morantin on Wine Terroirs. I bought a bottle from Alrequin for $25 to bring home and further explore.

Noëlla Morantin ‘08 Touraine Gamay “Mon Cher”
The Mon Cher is infatuating and seriously rivals any of my Beaujolais experiences to be one of the prettiest wines I’ve ever drank. It contains a surprisingly big intensity and is incredibly spicy with some herbaceous green characters glimpsing through, the longer it breathes the more delicate red fruits become visible. Essence of cinnamon hearts (but without the candiness), peppermint, strawberry and raspberry. This wine exudes vibrancy in every way and is truly a pleasure to drink. It was bottled with zero sulphur added.

Thanks to Ian and his crew at Arlequin for the tasting.

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