This weekend we received the highest of praise. Eric Texier, our teacher and mentor is in the midst of a
We (of course) started with the reds in the usual order – Vidmar, Vieilles Vignes and Carson. Then tasted the 2005 Grenache Rose and finally the Chardonnay. Eric commended their individuality and even better, the (unusual for CA/US) reductive aromas. And I have to say that as the evening wore on the Vieilles Vignes evolved into a truly lovely Syrah. But the best part came when he tasted the Chardonnay. If you read our blog often you know that we struggle with the Chardonnay b/c we are making Chardonnay from a very high quality (and expensive) vineyard and we are throwing caution and business sense to the wind and making a Chardonnay that we want to drink. It is definitely not for everyone and while we’ve begun to find a loyal following we have also heard our fair share of criticism. Eric didn’t even need to speak – his face said it all. But he did. I don’t want to brag (okay, I do) but I’ll sum it up with the fact that he took our Chard tonight to dinner with the other 15 or so French winemakers b/c he says they’ve had such a disappointing time tasting American Chard. And he suggested we sell the wine in
–Tracey