Moving shop

Ireland had a nice Summer. All things considered we were blessed by long hours of sunshine. But this is not the reason why I neglected the blog, it was because we moved once again.

The last time we had to move was in the first week of December and for over two weeks we had no telephone connection which means that we could not process credit card payments. But worse, it was in DECEMBER which for a wine merchant, is the best trading month. Needless to say that our December was somehow below par and it did not need an in depth analysis to find the reason why. The new premises were somewhat of a shock too as the insulation proved to be nonexistent and the Winter cold. In January we had a burst water pipe and temperatures as low as 2 C in the office. Now, I know that this is not great to store wine but it is even worse to sit at a computer and try to work. The only way out was to warm up in the steam room of the local hotel and then transfer the office to my private home. All this was not great for business either and I immediately started looking for an alternative. It was July when we finally found a place almost in the centre of Kilkenny.

I will not go through the whole move step by step suffice to say that this time the transfer of the phone line with broadband took two and a half months. 2 1/2 months. I am glad we have mobile phones and wireless broad bands these days for otherwise I would have been cut off from the rest of the world. But of course we could not process any credit card payments and were told that we could not keep our phone number even though we only moved a few roads closer to town. This is a country in a deep recession and it is still not possible to process moving requests faster. The only consolation is that finally things are in place and it looks like we will be ready for this Christmas season.

Trip to France

In February we decided to drive through France in May and visit some producers, collect information on last year's harvest and outlook for the new year while picking up some small quantities of wine. We hoped to escape the cold and wet of Ireland to have a beautiful Spring drive through the lush country side of the Loire Valley, Burgundy and Alsace.

We left Rosslare on a sunny Sunday evening, arriving in Cherbourg on Monday midday to a strong easterly wind, rain driven clouds and cold. There was no need to take out the shorts but instead a heavier top was required and the heating in our van. We travelled through Brittany in the rain and fog and it was only when we got to Ancenis on the banks of the Loire that we hit our first ray of luck; it was not the sun.

If you have ever travelled through France then you know that smaller towns and villages are not exactely teeming with life even before sunset and while we crawled through Ancenis looking for a hotel we spotted a Moroccan Restaurant that was open. After having found a hotel, checked in and consoled ourselves over the bad weather with a rather generous Pastis, we looked again for the said restaurant which was not far from the hotel. When you enter the Restaurant Toudaya it is like entering a tent as the walls and ceilings are covered with Moroccan tapestry, the atmosphere is warm and the smell exotic. The service was very observant, the food just delicious, the Moroccan red wine an excellent choice and the sweet mint tea very authentic. Should you ever travel through Ancenis take a break and have a meal at the Toudaya, 185, Bd. Leon Seche, you will not regret it.

France in the rain, fog and wind is basically not different to Ireland except that the roads are better. Having said that we did find some sunshine towards evening and before looking for a hotel in Macon we visited Cluny, that religious powerbase of medieval Europe. How things change! Hard to imagine today that this place was a hub of such religious influence.

Next day in the rain again we visited Isabelle Perraud in Vauxrenard. Driving through the steep hills of the Beaujolais we finally found Domaine des Cotes de la Moliere.

Bruno and Isabelle Perraud are one of very few organic producers in the Beaujolais. They are not just dedicated to organic: they produce natural wines which means they use the natural yeast and intervene as little as possible in the development of the wine; nor do they add any sulphites. Their Moulin a Vent 2009 is loaded with flavours of black cherries and the wine has great structure and depth. The Saint Veran 2008 is fresh, crisp with citrus aromas and a nice minerality at the end. Let anyone who claims that you can not produce decent natural wines taste their's and they have to admit that with hard work, dedication to details and meticulous cleanliness in the cellar one can produce not just decent, but great natural wines.

Since our last visit to the Alsace and the Domaine Zusslin, Marie gave birth to her second child last December and they built a new cellar. Both signs that they believe strongly in investing into the future. What strikes first when climbing down the stairs into the cellar is the pink stone floor made from slabs cut out of the Voges mountains. It radiates a feeling of warm and quiet energy.
They have been producing biodynamically for over 12 years and the new cellar is part of this development. The wine presses are above the cellar and the wine flows down into the cellar by gravity without mechanical intervention.
If you are ever driving through Orschwihr do stop, have a look and taste their beautiful wines.

A few thoughts on the recession

We are in the third year of the Recession here in Ireland and organic wine sales have taken a big hit. Certainly other wine sales have suffered as well and all sorts of reasons have been given. With respect to the organic wine trade we can point to a number of factors:

1) Price. The majority of our wines are priced between € 8.50 and € 15.00. But we are not in a position to sell at around € 5.00.

2) Outlets. 80% of all wines in Ireland are purchased at supermarkets. Supermarkets store very few organic wines and neither do off licences. So where can the interested shopper buy organic wines? Last year the government changed the law on how to get a wine retail licence. A shop interested in selling wine needs to get a court order, publication of intent in a local newspaper, present four sets of plans of the premises to the court and get the go ahead from the police. Furthermore, the fee was doubled from € 250.00 per year to € 500.00. Many health food shops which used to have a few organic wines have decided not to renew the licence as it is just too expensive. Others will not get a licence because it is too difficult and expensive. With these measures the government has achieved fewer outlets for alcohol. The question is: does the reduction of wine selling outlets reduce the incidence of binge drinking and other alcohol related problems? Or, is it just another means to concentrate sales in the hands of a few major supermarkets?

3) "Organic wines will be less favoured, partly due to growing scepticism about global warming." ShelfLife February 2010. I find this an interesting argument. Has the cold winter cast doubt on global warming? Do people who drink organic wine do so for environmental reasons? Do wine drinkers even think that the two, wine drinking and global warming, have anything to do with each other? In fact according to a survey carried out by Bord Bia on the attitude of Irish consumers towards organic products, environmental aspects did not rate highly in their decisions to buy organic. Taste, health and traceability were much more important to consumers. The question that poses itself then is why people drink less organic wine? I believe the reason is that when you can't see a product you won't buy it.

These are a few thoughts on the dwindleing sales side. However, the recession has had an influence also on the production side. Quite a number of small importers and traders have gone out of business. Others have formed stronger organisations by joining businesses. The increased buying power of fewer but stronger merchants coupled with the demand for cheaper wines puts many a small producer into great difficulties. For a family run business to react to these demands and survive is to produce more and keep costs down. That means more kilos of grapes per ha and lower quality. If the year is bad and quantity is low then this can push a producer to the brink. The effect is the same as with fewer outlets, there is a concentration of ever bigger producers which is to the detriment of diversity and quality.

One Dimensional Wine

The revolution in the wine industry did not start when grape growers used chemicals to protect healthy fruit against all sorts of natural enemies. Neither did it start when mineral fertiliser was used in place of cow manure; it started when wine was sold as a brand and not as the product of a vineyard.

Brand names such as Blue Nun, Black Tower and Mateus Rose were the beginnings of a development, which has increasingly seen the side-lining of estate wines. What significance does this have and what are the differences between the two types of wine? Very briefly, branded wine is a product manufactured in such a way to ensure it always tastes the same. An estate wine, on the other hand, is made from grapes actually grown on the estate and will show a difference due to the location of the vineyard, the weather conditions that prevailed in a certain year and even the wine maker.

The advantage of branded wine to the consumer is that the buyer can be certain that what he or she buys will taste the same every time they open a bottle. Brands such as Lindemans, Jacob’s Creek and Bend in the River build up their reputation by offering consistent quality at a low price. The way this is achieved is in the laboratory. The grapes are bought in and the product is manipulated until it tastes according to what the brand stands for. If you buy a bottle of Coke you expect Coke and not Pepsi.

On the other hand an estate wine is produced with the grapes grown in its vineyards; it expresses the character of the soil, the conditions of the weather and the grape varieties used. A Chablis tastes very different to a Chardonnay from a few miles further south in Burgundy, although they are both produced from the same grape. They could be manipulated in a laboratory to taste the same, but that is precisely the point: instead they show the character of their origin.

There is no denying that the risk to the wine buyer is bigger when buying an estate wine than a branded wine because the wine from an estate might not taste exactly the same as the last bottle you drank.

This leads us to an interesting question: does it matter to us, the wine drinker, to know where the grapes come from? Who harvested them? How were they grown and tended? Or is this merely unimportant information distracting from the end result - the wine you pour into your glass? Does the end justify the means, or is the journey the goal?

In fact this is a question that goes way beyond wine buying. We, the consumer, have to decide when we do our shopping whether to choose organic or conventional. Every time we buy organic and fair trade goods we make a conscious decision that it is not just the result that matters to us but the way things are produced. This attitude is not very popular at the moment. Convenience food, the cheaper the better is in; animal rights, environmental questions, even health aspects are all regarded as secondary considerations in this time of financial crisis. Let there be light again at the end of the tunnel and we will then again consider saving the world.

In this respect the fact that branded wine is pushing estate, and even more so organic and biodynamic, wines off the shelves is a reflection on the society we live in. Branded wine is cool and any other consideration is unimportant. It is one dimensional.

When I plead here for diversity and individuality in wine it is equally a plea for conscious consumption. We have had consumerism for the last number of years. Now it is time for consumer consciousness. It is time to ask questions about the origin of our food and drink.

Does double the licence fee double tax income?

It is this time of the year again - renewal of the licence. Now, I do not want to bore people with administrative details from the wine trade, however, this detail is yet another example how the drive for taxes and new income by the government can back fire and actually reduce state income.
Up to this year a wine off licence cost € 250.00 per year. This fee was doubled probably thinking that it will double the income from licences. But small outlets such as health food shops, farm shops and the like who kept a small selection of quality wines decided that the cost is too much for the turnover they made and will not renew their licence.
It is like with the increase of VAT by half a percent and the fifty cents per bottle in excise duty, wine is getting more and more expensive and people go North where they can buy wine much cheaper. It means less tax income at the end of the day and business going north and not remaining local. Money is leaving an already cash strapped economy. It pushes small businesses out and at the end of the day only big shops are left.
Does it at least reduce the problem with binge drinking and other socially unacceptable behaviour related to alcohol? Question: is wine the preferred drink to get really loaded? This increase is once again a shot from the hip and clearly missing its target!

Mackerels and Sancerre

It was one of those evenings we have been waiting for the whole Summer here in Ireland, beautiful blue sky and the sun just tipping the tops of the trees around the house in a last golden shine. I had bought some fresh mackerel at the market and was now preparing the four fish. After washing and drying it I rubbed Dijon mustard liberally onto the fleshy side before turning it in flour and then proceeded to fry it in butter. Beforehand I had prepared a tasty carrot, cucumber and green salad. A few minutes later, we sat down to this fantastic tasting dinner and opened a bottle of Sancerre Les Caillottes which we thought was just the perfect combination with the fish. Try it!

Our vacation was spent, mainly, in our van travelling from Ireland to Switzerland through France. The goal was to combine pleasure with a bit of work - where work would be the driving and pleasure the visit to different wine makers.

Our first stop was in Orschwihr, Alsace at the Domaine Valentin Zusslin, www.valentin-zusslin.com. Rain prevented a visit to the vineyards but certainly not to the cellar. Marie showed us the new cellar which will have more room for the aging of the wines and is situated just below the presses to allow the transfer of the most from the press to the vats by gravity. The idea is to streamline the process of winemaking from the vineyard to the bottle with as few interactions as possible. This means hand picking the grapes into small crates, a second examination of the grapes before crushing, pneumatic pressing and transfer to the vats for the fermentation. Generally, Zusslin's attitude is that wine does not improve when handled too often. There are still a few things that need to be done but everything will be ready for the new vinteage.

With all this care it is no wonder that the wines from Zusslin get better and better. With the experience and knowledge of three generations in the vineyards and cellar a lot of knowhow goes into the wines. Now having produced biodynamically for well over 10 years the rhythm of this way of prodcution is internalised not only in the vineyards and cellar but in dayly life.

The wines I personally like best are: Riesling Grand Cru "Pfingstberg" 2001, Riesling Clos Liebenberg 2002, Muscat Cuvee Marie 2001 and as an aperitif the Cremant d'Alsace made with Riesling and Auxerrois grapes. There are still a few more to discover, especially the late harvested ones, and I will approach those one by one as my palate is getting more educated.