That's : Daniel Brunier of LE VIEUX TELEGRAPHE, Chateauneuf-Du-Pape, too ...
This was a wonderful and serendipitous meeting for me of Daniel Brunier, one of the two brothers that own together the LE VIEUX TELEGRAPHE, ROQUETE, LES PALLIERES ( all from France's southern Rhone, Chateauneuf-Du-Pape region ) and MASAYA ( Lebanon ) wineries. I must say that I was ill-informed for this meeting and this luncheon at Proof and I only have myself to blame to to congratulate. I had not put all of this together before and so when I showed up it all started to unfold, piece-meal and make me fully aware of the depth and richness of wines before me that Daniel and Frederic make/help make. I could have done my research about all of this and for that I may only blame myself. However, I also like being surprised and blown away and amazed and challenged and teased as well as pleased. All of this occurred for me and I am glad that I was in some senses unprepared. In other senses it was the best possible scenario for me as if I was looking at a white virgin canvas and thinking what and how I would paint it / and with what?
These first two pictures above and below are taken at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) where I manage the wine department. I took pictures of the quick blue-pen portrait sketches that I did of Daniel at the luncheon along with the four poems that I had written before. I also pulled up the image of Daniel that I took in the front of Proof restaurant just after meeting as I waited for more quarters to feed my meter outside on this beautiful, warmer, sunnier with lovely baby blue skies above mid day in Washington D.C.
Thank you Eric Platt of Washington Wholesalers for inviting me. I appreciate that. I wish that I had had sufficient funds to have done the in-store wine-tasting with Daniel on Thursday evening ( the night before this luncheon ) but I did not and I also was off early last night. Oh well, as I told you Daniel at lunch I hope to be able to do it next time you visit. This was both my loss as well as that of our customers as I am sure that they would have enjoyed meeting you and tasting these five excellent wines of yours : one white Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2008 as well as four reds : the 2007, 2005 and 2006 and including the " L'Accent de ROQUETE " 2006 : all from ROQUETE. You have both power and elegance and real typicity of soil and true expression of the vines and the grapes and their struggles to endure/thrive and finally produce and arrive at one's table and one's glass before bathing one's palate and soaking delightfully one's senses.
It's always nice when you really have no idea what awaits you and so that almost everything that happens is fresh. I like very much trying to attain and keep this fresh prospective and I feel that I had it here at noon at Proof. I had my trusty Kodak Easy Share CX 4200 camera with me and I was ready pretty much for everything : including doing some quick portrait sketches of Daniel if time permitted. Luckily for me it did while we were sampling the five wines and listening to Daniel speak about each of them.
As you can see I like to take pictures almost as if they will tell the story for me of what transpired here at this luncheon of ours hosted by Washington Wholesalers. Pictured above is what you see when you enter Proof : so many great wines, so little time!
The hostess I had already met as she had just a few minutes ago instructed me that I could get some quarters for the meter at the bar. Of course that is where I found Eric Platt, Daniel Brunier and Andrew Myers the sommelier at Cityzen restaurant here in Washington D.C. @ 1330 Maryland Avenue, S.W., 20024. I have never been there and look forward to dining there I hope sometime in the near future.
Andrew was of course the first to arrive followed by Xavier that works with Eric Platt at Washington Wholesalers and then followed by sommelier Moez Ben Achour of Marcel's ( 2401 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. 20037 ). Both Xavier and Moez showed up after we were seated at our table.
It was interesting to meet you Daniel. As I originally walked into the restaurant and up to the bar you were standing and you approached me and our eyes met. I did not know you, of course and my eyes immediately saw Eric Platt that I spoke to immediately. He got up from the bar facing Andrew and said " hello " and introduced me first to Andrew ( asking us quickly if we had ever met ? ) and then to Daniel. I had a hunch that that man was indeed Daniel and I was right. After the quick introductions I asked for some change to feed the meters and once I got it I saw my chance to take a picture or two of Daniel before I might forget later. I wanted both a full-body photo as well as a close-up of his face. I think it's important to have both as later if I do not have them I always wish that I had.
I see that I have forgotten to post the full-length body shot of Daniel here and so I will add it above later. Here, though we are seated and everything is beginning to happen as Amy our waitress starts to bring us all the glasses that we might need or want and Daniel begins to answer some of Andrew's questions about the availability of half bottles and older vintages, even larger formats I believe. I begin myself to scope-out the space and the angles that I might use in my photos of this luncheon and of Daniel. I like capturing the fluidity of motion and gesture and the sweep and the " speaking with " of one's hands as well as with one's mouth. It all paints interesting parts of the story. I loved the small gold, shiny round mirrors on the wall and especially this one above Daniel's head.
When Amy brought us this bottle of sparkling water with the word Proof stenciled onto it I wanted to use it in a picture with Daniel. It could represent the liveliness and excitement of the moment as well as the celebratory nature of this moment and luncheon? These thoughts flitted quickly through my mind as I moved the bottle in front of Daniel.
I really got more into the moment as I got closer to the bottle and had Daniel behind the bottle of sparkling water. I wanted the bubbles to appear closer and bigger here. I also manged to get Daniel framed by the two gold round mirrors and it's fun to see that in them, too there are some fun reflections. This, of course is the artist coming out in me and i was really getting into the moment as the wines had not yet been poured.
At one point Daniel did ask us how we liked to have the wines served? He wanted to know if we wanted to taste everything before the food arrived? We had not yet had a chance to even look at the menu and this was good. We were relaxing and taking our time. Andrew was talking about Citizen and what he liked to sell there as well as about some of the customers and the stories he had to share of nights there. He spoke about the holidays at the restaurant and especially about " Mother's Day ". It was fun to speak some in French to Daniel and to listen to Andrew as well. It's always nice to hear about some of the successful local restaurants.
Funny, I had come with some questions for Daniel like : " What was the 2009 vendange like? How are things now in France? " and : " What's happening now, anything new? " I did not get a chance to ask you Daniel, I am sorry to say. It would have been good to talk to you one-on-one and perhaps that will happen the next times. As it was the moment was quite intimate and yet there were six of us finally at the table. Eric spoke a lot with Andrew, I spoke a fair amount with you and Xavier and Moez spoke a lot. Occasionally we all spoke as a group and sometimes it was Moez, Daniel and me speaking in French: sometimes it was either Eric speaking to Daniel or Xavier speaking to him ; even Moez spoke to him. Other times it was me asking either Andrew or Moez a question. The dynamics bounced back and forth and all around like a ping-pong ball. There was never a dull moment.
Here above is a picture that I took while my Kodak Easy Share camera was still working. I wanted to get some shots of Daniel behind his wines and in my wine glass as is my signature. I like taking pictures like this. I think that the picture is quite revealing and I am happy for that as it also shows the lovely golden color of this 2008 Chateauneuf-Du-Pape which I liked quite a bit ;especially as it opened nicely in my glass, slowly and over a period of long minutes. I was in no rush so this was only a pleasant surprise to me each and every time that I raised the glass to my lips and sipped it. All the while I was enjoying speaking French with you Daniel and interested to see what responses my speech would elicit from you?
I like to document the moment as you can see from the picture below. That's important to me , too.
Of the 2008 DOMAINE LA ROQUETE Chateauneuf-Du-Pape I wrote " : It's like alovely young lady that has not had children yet ". I said this in French, of course. It was so fresh and bright and elegant. I loved it with time. Daniel said that it was a blend of 30% Clairette, 30% Grenache, 30% Roussane and 10% Bourboulenc. He went on later to say that the Clairette and the Bourboulenc add the honey in the wine. He also said that the wine spoke of organic things and herbs. He went on to add : " Fruity, it's a flower wine. You can really taste the wine ". It was nice to hear him describe these wines.
Andrew added that he thought that this 30% of Clairette was a lot of it for a white Chateauneuf-Du-Pape. He also admitted, saying he was sorry to Daniel that he did not like white Chateauneuf-Du-Pape. This was elicited from me when I asked him if he liked the white? I then asked about Condrieu and Viognier? He said that he did not like those either and that he thought that they were a mistake. He also said that he did not sell much of these white Rhones because he did not care for them and he had to care for something before he recommended them.
It was educational for me to listen to him speak about his experiences as a sommelier and his likes and dislikes. I learned something from this.
I have more to say but I will add that shortly. In the meantime I will post this as it is so far and finish it tomorrow, Monday, January 18th, 2010. If you read this tonight enjoy this first-part and come again tomorrow evening for the conclusion to this lovely luncheon with Daniel Brunier ...
It's a brighter, warmer day with some nice sunshine, too on Monday, January 18th, 2010 : Martin Luther King's Day here at 12:40 PM in northern Virginia. I took our dog for a walk earlier and heard first in the woods by our house all the squawking up above in the trees before I saw the black crows as a group chasing and trying to make the white hawk fly away ...
Eric Platt works for the Pinnacle House here that sells some really excellent wines as well as champagne : Veuve Clicquot/ Moet / Chandon / Green Point / Chalone / Sagelands / Canoe Ridge / Monsanto / Felluga / Moon Mountain and many more. We have used some of all of these over the last ten years at Cleveland Park while I have been the wine-buyer and manager of the wine department. They are like old friends and we have had many of the owners and winemakers come and visit us and taste with our customers.
Since I do not sell points and scores and what I term artificial hype about the wines I turn to the owners / winemakers and those responsible for the wines for inspiration and support in selling their wines the old-fashioned way : hard work and attention to details and taste and things that really matter like introducing them to our customers, opening their wines and having them as well as us pour them to see how our customers respond to them? Hopefully well. Often the customers walk away with several of the wines : signed, too by either the winemaker or the owner or both depending whom is there in the store at the time.
For example if the wife of the winemaker is there I ask her to sign the bottles as well. It helps complete the bigger picture for me. It's hard work but it is also really fun and rewarding, too.
Here Eric is pouring some of one of the red Chateauneuf-Du-Papes for Andrew.
I liked all the wines this luncheon. Daniel started by pouring us the 2007 LA ROQUETE Chateauneuf-Du-Pape red and it was amazingly-drinkable and enjoyable now : forward, bright, rich and ripe and rounded and smooth : balanced and not alcoholic and too much of anything : just-right with everything in it's right place and right proportions. Wow, how amazing for a young, precocious wine with such a great future ahead of itself! I loved it and kept thinking about when it might close back down on itself? When would it reopen? When it ultimately/intimately/thoroughly reveal more of the charms hidden within that only time and experience -life - can bring to it? These are some of those questions that I enjoy the most as one has to divine and extrapolate and search and dig and go deeper into the pith and the substance and the why's and the where's, the how-come's?!? ... and the reasons that help explain the essence and the relationship of the wine/how it came to be? How it relates/related to it's environment? How true is it a reflection?/ an example of the forces of Nature and man and vine, roots and eventual grapes that resulted from a collaborative effort to finally bring to our table here and our palates these tastes and flavor sensations?
Here Eric is pouring a glass for me. I cut the vintage off but it's red. Of the 2005 LA ROQUETE red I wrote : " Very smooth, very elegant, silky, soft, touch of dusty dry : like silk a bit out of focus. " It's a blend of about 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 10% Mourvedre. I told Daniel in French that it's like a French woman who's embrace you are in ...
The LA ROQUETE 2006 I wrote : " Bit less-refined, bit bolder : 15.5% alcohol that you may feel but certainly do not taste. More rustic, less-polished yet lovely - but needs food ". I liked the balance in all of these wines. That's what impressed me as much as anything.
Of the " L'Accent De ROQUETE " 2006 Daniel said : " Le marriage, L'Accent c'est sur le Grenache et les cailloux " This was at 1:15 PM that he spoke these words.
I wrote : " With this so forward - so fresh - so lively, so incredible. Fruit toasty berry-cherry - dark - like a lagoon on an evening bathed in moonlight ". I could taste the earth and the spices at first in a bit of a dusty-dry grip and grit and like something a bit less-developed and polished. And then it all started to become lusher and riper and fuller on the palate. Over my tongue I began to have the liquid ride seamlessly on it as if it were a person surfing expertly with my tongue acting as the surf board. I was beginning to enjoy the ride myself as it continued to open and expand and intrigue me. I did not get all of it at once : it held back some and slowly and in parts began to reveal more of it's core of ripeness and concentration of spices and the earth's absorbsion of the sun's heat mingled together in fruit and warmth and grapes' fullest flesh and flair and mystique. Wow, this was a real pleasure and I know I was only partially picking up on it as our conversation bounced back here amongst us like in a virtual and stimulating " surround sound ". There was perhaps too much going on as I tried valiantly to just taste the wine and absorb as much of it as possible into every nerve, nook and crevice and fiber and sense of my being.
Daniel was really getting into this, too. You can see it in his facial expressions as well as gestures of his hands. I only captured the tamer expressions because as he had earlier - seconds' ago - opened his hands as if to embrace a larger space around him - you could see and fell the passion in his words and the fire and the flame in his eyes as he acted here more as a vessel through which thought and feelings pass to best express and convey that which was core to the experience of his LA ROQUETE reds and white ...
I like capturing Daniel behind his wines and here I have him behind one of the reds. I wish that my camera had been working better here. I could have taken more pictures and had more to choose from. As it was these pictures are still interesting and help to capture some of the lovely color and the warmth and the flame inside them that could not and would not be silenced by the dim-lighting inside of Proof here. I also love the reflections off all the wine glasses on the table. It's also interesting to see all that is reflected and caught in and on the surfaces of the wine glasses from hands and lights and anything close by ... I just never know. It's best to enlarge the pictures on your screen so that you may see them better and enjoy all that is there and not always so evident without another look, two or three or more ...
Just like these wines and these pictures : you always have to go back for more - another taste, another look. That's how these pictures like these with the wines swirling around madly/wildly in the glass reflect perfectly the actual tastes in the wines : it's not a " once " thing, you have to constantly follow along, taste repeatedly and take " the whole ride ", from start to finish. You can't be in a rush. Daniel and Frederic have worked too hard to bring you a full orchestra of tastes and flavors and other sensations that like a three-ringed circus or a movie shown on a big screen like the Dupont movie house across Connecticut Avenue N.W. where our store is : you need to be committed for the entirety of the whole experience. It's one that takes time and you must come ready to experience and to be caught off your guard : to be played with/teased. dismayed, dropped on, messed with, cajoled and told amazing stories, to hear new melodies and hear new and made-up words as well as every liquid taste sensation in the Oxford dictionary of tastes and sensations if one existed ...
This is some of the most serious fun business that you will ever become entangled in and I recommend that you come without perceptions and pre-conceived conceptions. Let it all wash/spill/splash/lash-dash/caress/cry and scream and shout as well as coo and whisper into-upon and onto all your senses. Invite them all to participate : see the color, smell the wines in their glasses, hold your breath once you take a whiff. Pause, relax, let yourselves be " carried " along where you are the witness and the rider but not the one in control or calling the shots.
Look at the color red - ruby, bright, rich, warmths of reds and energies of Grenache grapes mostly, wonders of Syrahs and accents and dotted " i's " and crossed " t's " here to prime your virgin white canvas- your palate - before this liquid red LA ROQUETE Chateauneuf-Du-Pape drenches and soaks completely into each and every space and surface hidden or seen of your tongue and mouth : the scene, your scene, the shared scene of action and life and fun and frivolity and wonder and incredulousness that any one of these four red Chateauneuf-Du-Papes are more than capable of eliciting/entertaining ...
Here Daniel is checking the wine out : tasting it for his own personal connection to it for size, fit and feel. Did it do it for you Daniel? I believe so.
Here is a nice picture of both of Daniel and Eric. We are well-into this really superb luncheon here and I think that the stage has been set admirably and now as we enjoy the wines and each others company we are ready for our meals to arrive. In between Daniel and Eric seated behind them is what appeared to me at the time as a lovely blond diner. I mentioned this to Daniel : I said that many of us that see this picture will also pick up on here and enjoy that she is there, too. That's the artist's eye in me : always searching for another beautiful female to include in my pictures.
Here is the sparkling water and our hostess, too, seating some customers off to my left. I like to show the space that we are in as well as continue to flesh-out our environment as it all helps to tell more of a complete story.
I got this picture of Xavier pouring some wine for Moez that was the last to arrive. Lots of textures and colors and reflections on and off the table to absorb here. The time might also be visible here in Xavier's watch? I'll have to enlarge the picture later to see if I can tell the time?
As I have said I like to show the beautiful colors of the wines that we drink. There is nor better way to do that than off a white background. With the wines and other info here printed on the white paper it also makes for some interesting distortions and forms as both the typed as well as my hand-writing get some play. And , of course, the label LA ROQUETE is right there, too. I love that : the wine outside the bottle from which it came : what a novel and yet beautiful and striking concept?!?
At one point Daniel mentioned that how much more the " L'Accent de ROQUETE " 2006 would reveal with some time in a decanter, Seeing none and having just meet the sommelier of Proof that Andrew knew so well as they had grown up together I thought to ask for one?
I'm sure I upset Andrew for a second as I interrupted him as he spoke or listened to Eric. I aksed him to ask the sommelier of Proof for a decanter and he did so shortly. The decanter came and he joked with Eric and Daniel as he poured from the bottle into the decanter. He smiled as he said that this was the first time that he had ever done this. We all liked that : fun.
Anyway, after the wine had been in the decanter for awhile it sure did open it up and reveal so much more of the solid, lush, ripe, inviting and warm core of the wine. Wow, this was remarkable in all of what it was offering here? How could any of us absorb all of this here at the end of this special luncheon? I was having fun trying but also realizing that it was a bit futile, too.
I would have liked to take the decanter to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits with me to enjoy later with our customers and with Chris Barker.
There is more to say but I think I will include that a bit later this week. We did speak of other vineyards there in the region and asked Daniel his connection if any to them? He responded of course and this got us off on Monsieur Michel Gonnet and his Chateauneuf-Du-Pape ( we currently have his excellent " notre passion " 2007 red Cotes Du Rhone Villages in the store ) and Daniel saying that they were cousins? Did I hear that correctly?
WE also got into talking about Bobby Kacher and the yearly tour ( this year 2009 being the first that they did not do one ) with the regulars that always come. Someone said that one of the regular gentleman was almost now like the mascot of the whole trip ...
All this has made me think of what Daniel's brother Frederic is like? I hope I get a chance to meet, speak and drink some wines with him sometime. I owe him some quick portrait sketches now.
On Saturday evening old customers of ours that moved up north to New York came back to visit. It was a great reunion and we tasted and talked and laughed and then I let them browse what we had on our shelves.
As they came up to the register I saw that they had in their hands a bottle of the 2007 LE VIEUX TELEGRAPHE Chateauneuf-Du-Pape and I said that I had just had lunch with you Daniel the day before. After they bought your bottle I told them to come to the office so that I could show them these pictures and the poems and portrait sketches that I have of the luncheon. That was both fun and timely. I also mentioned that they might rather keep your bottle to enjoy in the future Daniel. What do you think might be the perfect year to open that bottle of the 2007?
Anyway merci Daniel, Eric et Xavier pour notre dejeuner superbe icic chez Proof. J'ai bien aimer les moments que nous avons passe ici ensemble. Ca m'a plu enormement, vraiment ...
On my price list pictured in the first photos I asked you to write something for me as a souvenir of this our first meeting. You wrote Daniel : " To Anthony, it was a great " rencontre " ". Je suis d'accord avec toi Daniel et a la prochaine fois ... et Bonne Annee a toi et a votre famille et a Frederic aussi ... TONY
PS : Nothing like the last image here being of Daniel seen through the wine glass filled with one of his excellent LA ROQUETE red Chateauneuf-Du-Papes. Was it the 2005/2006/2007 ? Or was it the last and very special " L'Accent de ROQUETE " 2006? Does it really matter ? It was great, whichever ...
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