Finding True Joy In Reading Roy Cloud's Book : " To Burgundy And Back Again " / Especially " The Bear " Chapter Of Marc Tempe

I met Marc Tempe and his wife Anne-Marie a couple or three years ago was it when you brought them by Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits Roy? What a great visit that was. I feel the three of bonded pretty much immediately as I took pictures and tasted and we all exchanged stories. What a great yet brief moment that was in my life and yet I remember it quite vividly. At least I remember the smiles all around, the laughter, the glee and the mirth. As a result reading your chapter called " The Bear " about Marc and his wife, the land of Alsace, the converted cellars and antic and " new " attic and the cat's ( the one that is " special " ), their daughter and the love-sick boy, the child on his bike driving like a mad boy ... the Sylvaner debacle here in the Unites States at first ... well, it all comes so vividly alive to me and of course I am only quickly remembering snatches of all of this that I have just read as I type away like a madman myself. Thanks for all of this Roy, I am getting so much pleasure and joy from reading it this morning before I drive off to work in a few minutes.

I was involved with the Sylvaner debacle in my own little way : at least the ending of it as there were many, many cases that I bought and had shipped from California to our store here in Washington D.C. because they were available and available at such a great price that I could simply not refuse buying them. I will write more about that later today but will post this now " as is " because of my high level of joy and enthusiasm over this great book of yours Roy. I simply want to share more of it and I will soon. Cheers and stay-tuned, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn

I read a bit of " To Burgundy And Back Again " each night and I really do love it. The part about Marc Tempe making biodynamic wines really speaks to me now more than ever before. Roy talks about what is done today in his book, especially in the chapter " Chemical Changes " and I find this alarming and it's something that I have become more and more aware of with time. He talks about the cooperative that he and Joe visit after they leave Marc and Anne-Marie Tempe and this scares the shit out of me : troubles and depresses me and really makes me scratch my head and wonder how we have come to this today? I will perhaps discuss this more but now leave you with : " The place was a tank farm, a factory for wine production ". Gasp!

I have sold a whole lot of Tempe wine at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits over the years. Not so much recently and I will shortly change that. I will call Arielle Monaco my rep for Country Vintner and place an order with her today. I will also call you up Roy and ask you to come have dinner with us and talk about all of this if you have any time on your hands. My ulterior motive is also to get you to talk about your experiences at NYU as my son has applied there and wants to go there more than anywhere else at this point!

I loved hearing all about Marc Tempe and how closely he follows the years and the season's and his whole philosophy of how most everything has to happen first in the vineyard. Marc does a bit to help the vines along the way but it's all about Mother Nature and what happens and what he has to deal with as a result.

Roy writes : " He said that in a year such as 2001, nature gave him grapes lean with minerality: in 2002 she gave him grapes rich with botyrytis ; and in the torrid year of 2003, she gave him grapes fat with sugar. That's what she dealt and that's what he worked with. He didn't turn to the powders and potions available in modern cellars to make a consistent product ( make no mistake : There's a whole Pandora's box of tricks out there that is all too often abused in commercial winemaking ). So if someone did not like his wine from a given vintage for stylistic reasons, that was fine - so long as they understood what he had to work with and thus respected his effort ". I like this, I like it very much. Bravo Roy for putting this all in your book. It needs to be said over and over and over again. I am thrilled that you have stuck with Marc and Anne-Marie Tempe through thick and thin.

I will write more about the wines I bought from Roy Cloud and Marc Tempe. I bought what seems like boat loads of one of the vintages of the Sylvaner. It was a ridiculously inexpensive price and I gambled on it. When it was great is was super great : when it was off it was hard and difficult to explain and understand and yet there was always something there worthy to drink as it was very much alive and it's own being. It had character and oodles of personality even when it had lots of bruises and blemishes and places hard to explain. Oh well, for the price we charged for it at $6 a bottle I believe it was worth a gamble. I got lots of bottles returned, many more than usual. I was blamed for this , of course, being willing to sell what some deemed as marginal wine but I was thrilled to be able to offer something really special at a really special price when the bottle sang volumes and wove it's magic and crooned all it's sweet ditties and charm! It was organic, it was alive : it was magnificent at times and not so at others. So be it. I'm glad I did it. Some of you out there drank some of the greatest wine for the greatest value that you will ever drink as a result. Cheers and stay-tuned for more soon as I continue. TONY