Mike and I have been selling the ALPHONSE MELLOT ( DOMAINE MOUSSIERE , Grands Vins de Sancerre , Loire valley, France ) before we met Alphonse. No, I take that back, Mike might have met Alphonse first at his winery in Sancerre first ) ; and then we began to sell these excellent, highly-extracted Sancerre reds, roses and whites. It doesn't really matter. I do remember Mike coming back with a head filled with stories and he loved meeting Alphonse ( still talks about the print that he was given by Alphonse and since had framed and hanging in his home ), Jo Pithon , and Daguenaut ( Didier? ). He smiles big and briefly each time he tells a story about either of these three men.
I first met Aphonse ( the father ) in our store at Cleveland Park Wines and Spirits. Importer, president Laurent Givry of Elite Imports brought him to the store to do a tasting in 2006. Laurent did not tell me that he also had a young Frenchman with him who's family also makes wines and which we sell. I cannot remember the young man's name now as I type but his family makes excellent Pouilly Fuisse and Saint Veran from Burgundy. We have both as I type this from home on Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 3:15 PM. I will do a separate blog soon about that but wanted to mention this as the young man will appear in these pictures I download later.
I also had a young lady Arya Campbell of LAUREL GLEN Winery ( Reds, Counterpoint Cabernet Sauvignon , Che Chilean red, etc - you can see Arya's earlier blog about her wines and the lovely postcard that she sent me ) come and taste wines along with Alphonse. I was hoping that he would not mind. He did not seem to mind one bit, neither did the other young burgundy Frenchman. We had a happy triangle here and my/our job was just to bring the customers to them and let them go from there. It's a pretty sure-fire way of making our customers have a special moment and with the principles themselves that are responsible for/ and behind the wines themselves.
I am excited to be including this long-overdue blog of Alphonse now because of our special September month 2008 on VIN DE PAYS French Wines ( Everything this time that qualifies except Vin de Pays D'Oc and the Languedoc - we did those last year. This is a way that we can share more of France's undiscovered treasures with our customers. Alphonse makes two Vin de Pay wines that he calls " Penetents " - a dry Chardonnay and a dry Pinot Noir. This Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 from 5:30-8:30 PM we will pour the Pinot Noir as well as about thirty others for our customers to enjoy and buy if they like at really great prices ( most of the wines will sell for under $15 a bottle ).
I am also excited to finally be writing about Alphonse and this first time that I met him in our store. He's charming, he's flattering, he's a gentleman, warm with a broad smile that disarms one immediately. He loves women and in turn they love him. He can really turn-on the charm. He's also an entertainer, a lover of the arts, drawing especially I gather. He's a people person and shines in their presence. He was great with our customers this night.
Alphonse poured his wines along with the help of Laurent Givry. Alphonse signed his bottles and put a lot of time and creativity into each bottle that he signed. These signed bottles thus became real works of art along with the wines' themselves. I wonder how many of those empty bottles were kept because he personalized them so much?!?
I think everyone had a great evening this night. It was a festive, small intimate party almost right there in the center of our store. We sold lots of wine, we ran out and had to order more immediately. That's okay, we had enough to satisfy most of our customers for that night.
At the end Alphonse posed with me and the instant-sketch that I made of him in black-and-white which I gave him as a gift to take home. It was fun, it was special, it meant a lot to me, too this evening. Sometimes we are all touched in ways that we don't anticipate and that go a bit deeper : this was one of those times for me. I made copies the next day of these pictures and gave them to Alphonse to take home. And even though I have not heard from him or seen him since I think he really enjoyed this evening as well.
A year later in 2007 at Laurent Givry's warehouse yearly-tasting ( with wine owners and winemakers ) I met his son Alphonse who is 38 years old and the actual winemaker. I tasted with him at the end and I was tired and so I do not remember the event especially. I thought there was oak in some of the current white Sancerre " La Moussiere " and Alphonse quickly corrected me saying that there was none. Oops, it is so rich and concentrated and I should have paid more attention while tasting and before speaking. He seemed serious and I'd like to meet him again under different, less-intense of a situation. I don't feel that I got any real sense of him at all and that saddens me as I like to get to know the people behind the wines. Maybe next time ...
Earlier this year ( March- April ? ) 2008 I got a chance to meet Alphonse the father's daughter when she came with a few of the other French and Spanish winemakers / owners to pour their wines in our store on a Friday evening. I've already blogged about her and that tasting in an earlier blog in May, 2008. She was charming and worked really hard pouring some of her wines ( one was the " Penetents " Pinot Noir. WE did not know she was coming. No one told us. We were expecting in her place the young son of Alsace's MADER winery to come instead. His flight was delayed. Alphonse's daughter was charming and poured both some of her wines as well as those of MADER. We sold some of both. It was a great tasting and I'd love to have her back sometime to pour only her family's wines.
Anyway, I've now met three Mellot's and that's good. It's the best treat of all for me and I love to share them with you all through our store and now through both our store emails and my blog : chatwine.blogspot.com. Cheers to you all thanks for all your help in making these tastings/meetings such a grand success. We all benefit and are enriched by them.
Currently in September 2008 we have a range of Alphonse's wines including the Generation XIX and what we are out of we can order. Just call Mike or me at 202-363-4265 and we will be happy to take care of you. We also have a range of the LAUREL GLEN wines in stock as well as both the young Frenchman's Pouilly Fuisse and Saint-Veran white burgundies. ALL of these wines are quality wines and we are very pleased to be able to offer them still to you today, two years after this wonderful evening with three really talented people.
Here are several pictures from this marvelous tasting with Alphonse, Arya and the young burgundy Frenchman back in 2006.
I am sorry that some of the pictures are a bit grainy and that some eyes are shut but I include them anyway for the great feeling of joy and " ambiance " - our own Cleveland Park " Wines & Spirits ( www.clevelandparkwine.com , 3423 Connecticut Avenue, NW. Washington D.C. 2008, 202-363-4265 ) terroir " if you will permit us!
Enjoy. TONY
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