Castor Membership August 2022: A Tribute to My Favorite Wine Broker and Sangiovese Squabble
Vineyards and hills of the Minervois appellation, Languedoc, France.
“A Tribute to My Favorite Wine Broker”
Domaine des Tourels, Unoaked Chardonnay, IGP Pays d’Oc, France 2018
Wine brokers are a tricky piece in the journey of a wine from its creator to your table; they aren’t grapegrowers, landowners, or winemakers who work their land and craft a wine in their cellars, nor are they importers who invest heavily in the finished product from the wineries and also are responsible for shipping, taxes, governement licensing and registration, etc. Brokers, it could be said, are sort of the event planners of the wine industry (apologies in advance, event planners): someone who, while certainly a potential help in “discovering” wineries and making the connection between producer and importer/wholesaler, really doesn’t need to be there. So in 2018, when I arrived one day at the office of my import sales job to find my boss, Vinifrance owner Olivier Daubresse, discussing finding a new wine broker in the south of France, I have to admit I received the news with a little bit of skepticism and a healthy dose of judgment. Olivier had always traveled to France twice a year in the 20-year history of his company and was adept at finding new producers to introduce to our DC/VA clientele; what did he need a broker for? Was he starting to coast? More importantly, did he at least think of asking me if I would move to France and undertake this (in my mind, at least) cushy position of just showing up at wineries and convincing them that I could get their product sold but not actually doing the selling or the buying? Well, all of my huff and bluster was for naught, for when I asked Olivier condescendingly, “So, who is this genius broker you’ve found?”, he smiled and answered: “My mom.”
VInifrance Imports owner Olivier Daubresse and his mother Monique.
I first met Monique Daubresse while traveling to Burgundy with Olivier in 2011. She had a quiet grace and distinguished air about her; her dress and appearance were never flashy, but she always looked composed; traveling with her in our group for a few days on that trip I began to wonder if this woman was ever flustered. I always enjoyed talking to her, both for her kindness and deceptively fun sense of humor as well as the fact that her French diction was flawless and allowed me to keep up with her in conversation. A few years after I left the restaurant business and began working with Olivier, Monique moved from her home in the north of France to a small village in the Languedoc called Tourouzelle. A picturesque little town of only 300 or so inhabitants, Tourouzelle sits on a promontory in the Minervois region of the Languedoc; the village’s ochre houses offer views of the Mont de Minervois mountain range, and a drive in the other direction to the Mediterranean can be made in under an hour. Even for mother and son, Olivier and Monique had a special connection-they spoke on a daily basis and when he traveled to France to visit his producers Olivier would always work in a visit to Tourouzelle to see his mother at her small, comfortable home and help her establish her garden (the village’s name means “all of the poppies” in the Languedoc dialect). It was on one of these visits that Monique casually mentioned having met a young man in town that owned vineyards; in Minervois, time seems to stand still, and even now one can visit a vigneron with a glass growler or jug and draw off some wine to take home. As Olivier sipped on a glass of red that his mother had poured him, thinking it tasted much better than any simple “vin de table”, Monique suggested he go see this young man and taste his wines. Olivier asked her what the name of the domaine was, and she told him: Domaine des Tourels. Never having heard of it, Olivier admitted to me later that he assumed if he didn’t know the winery by this point it wasn’t worth knowing, but at his mother’s insistence he went the next day to meet this young man she had found so pleasant, Domaine des Tourels proprietor Sebastien Sabatier.
Sixth-generation proprietor/winemaker Sebastien Sabatier in his family’s vineyards.
Domaine de Tourels is comprised of 25 different parcels of vines that are disseminated throughout the surrounding area, for a total of 30 hectares under vine. Sebastien Sabatier proves to be an earnest gentlemen with a passion for farming his vineyards and a gentle heart; he has done extensive work to analyze his soils and plant varieties that work best on each patch of land. With a total production of less than 15,000 cases (that is spread across several different cuvees), Sebastien Sabatier works vineyards that come in two fairly distinct groups: red-soiled, elevated parcels that are more clay-based and that are chiefly used with Syrah, Carignan, and Grenache, and a stretch of plains along the river Aude whose fertile ground of calcareous limestone is ideal for Sebastien’s excellent examples of Viognier, Muscat, and also Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. These last two grape varieties, interlopers from other regions of France, caught Olivier’s eye (or palate, more accurately): the Sauvignon Blanc refreshing and crisp with a minimum of “green” underripe herbs and fruit, and the Chardonnay, produced without any oak in the tradition of the South of France, brought a tantalizing mix of melon and apple, uncommonly advanced mineral notes, and a vivacious texture that had the wine tasting like a slightly more supple Chablis village offering. Chardonnay is not a permitted variety for appellation status in Minervois, and so while all the fruit comes from Domaine des Tourel’s estate vineyards, the wine is declassified to the regional Pays d’Doc, which in a fun quirk of French Wine Law both enhances the quality of Sebastien’s spectrum of wines on offer (most regional wines are not as site-specfic and quality driven as Tourels) and lowers the price he can charge for it. When Olivier returns from his trip with samples from the winery and we receive the importer price sheet from Sebastien, we are blown away by the value of his wines; Olivier telephones Monique there in the office to congratulate her on her first “commission”, and she teases me to keep the “finder’s fee” checks coming. After I left Vinifrance in 2021, I kept in touch with Olivier and would ask how his mother, now 80, was getting along. He would tell me about her daily walks in her tiny village, her burgeoning garden, and her being asked out on dates by older French men. Sadly, her little slice of Languedoc paradise didn’t last; Monique passed away this spring. Her legacy as matriarch of her family is, of course, much more than these paragraphs can entail, but I’ll always remember her for introducing us to the wines of Sebastien Sabatier and Domaine des Tourels, and for the reminder that mothers do, indeed, know best-D.
Domaine des Tourels Unoaked Chardonnay, IGP Pays d’Oc 2018
Country of Origin: France
Places and People: Domaine des Tourels is located in the village of Tourouzelle (“all the poppies”), in the Minervois AOP in Languedoc, France. A small village of less than 500 people, it was the home of Vinifrance Imports owner Olivier Daubresse’s mother, Monique, and it was she who introduced Olivier and consequently the DC/Northern Virginia market to these amazing wines. Founded in 1885, the domaine has seen five generations of the Sabatier family, including current owner/vigneron, Sebastien Sabatier.
Soil: Limestone-calcaire.
Grape Varieties: 100% Chardonnay.
Winemaking: Organic viticulture, with a temperature-controlled fermentation done in stainless steel tanks.
Aging: 8-10 months in stainless steel.
Flavors and Foods: A fantastic exploration on what you get when you take a grape that everyone knows and grow it in a place where no one expects it. The Domaine des Tourels Chardonnay checks a lot of boxes that Chard drinkers will recognize (honeydew melon fruit, yellow apple, supple mouthfeel) and filters those traits through the spectrum of Minervois (garrigue, fresh sage, a little juicy lime, and a higher level of ripeness). The lack of oak barrels means that the wine’s freshness isn’t being dulled by a chorus of woodsy, baking spice flavors, and so we’re reminded that Chardonnay can have natural acidity if you simply let it. There’s no doubt that with its non-fruit notes of sea salt, stony rock, and fresh herbs that the Tourels Chardonnay is a product of its environment, yet the acidity and racy texture leave it drinking like a sort of Mediterranean Chablis. Accordingly, the Tourels pairs nicely with shellfish and raw oysters, and main course regional seafood (branzino butterflied with lemon, garlic, and mushrooms sauteed in butter) also is a winning match.
Service and Cellar: The 2018 vintage in France was extremely strong, known for a long growing season and fairly perfect ripening conditions. The Tourels Chardonnay is taking advantage of that and enjoying a beautiful drinking window right now; I bought it for you to enjoy now and for the next year. Recommended serving temperature of 48-52 degrees F-too cold and you will lose the yellow apple and roundness of the mouthfeel.
An autumnal scene in the vineyards of Drei Dona, Emilia-Romagna.
“Sangiovese Squabble”
Drei Dona Emilia-Romagna Sangiovese “Notturno”, Italy 2018
Sangiovese is a study in contrasts; it calls to mind images of tart, insipid glug served in wicker-basketed bottles alongside rarified bottlings of “Super Tuscan” wine that cost more than your Prada bag. But where does this ancient and long-chronicled varietal’s story actually begin and, more importantly to scores of Italians, where? Sangiovese’s origins, be it Tuscan, Romagnan, or Southern Italian (recent DNA profiling has claimed it to be derived from two varietals in the Calabria region) are also compounded and confounded by a myriad of clonal mutations of the grape (Brunello, Prugnolo Gentile, etc.), and in the entire world of wine perhaps no other variety expresses itself so differently in the various climates and soils in which it is grown. You can put a Burgundy pinot noir and a Sonoma Coast offering in front of a seasoned taster and they’ll be able to get the grape, but a Tuscan hilltop Rosso di Montalcino next to a coastally derived Morellino di Scansano? These wines, both made from clones of Sangiovese, taste like they’re from different planets. Over the hills from Montalcino and Chianti to the northeast, there’s a little wine secret that not many people (especially Tuscans) will admit to: the true home of the famous Sangiovese grape lies not in the Tuscan hill-towns but in the rolling slopes of Emilia-Romagna, where it has been produced since Etruscan times. At least, that’s what the people of Romagna will tell you. So, although there’s some friendly (ish) regional debate as to the origin of Sangiovese, no one can deny the examples of Sangiovese from Emilia-Romagna are at once recognizable to Chianti lovers (tart or sour fruit, high acid for a red wine, savory notes of blood, iron, and meat), and yet show off a darker black cherry element and heightened sense of herbal aromatics all their own.
A view form the winery’s patio, complete with sculptures rendered as part of the Drei Dona family’s “Arte Vigne” project.
When I started putting my thoughts together last year for what would become Gemini Wine Company, I started thinking about what parts of the wine trade I loved the most, and how I could create a business that let me stay focused on the things I wanted to prioritize. Although other varieties and styles of wine have meant a great deal to me, if I’m really being honest, I’m not sure that any grape variety has been so much a part of my ENTIRE life in wine as Sangiovese. I sold Super-Tuscans to well-to-do-athletes and entertainers when I was 19 years old and guzzled Chianti in Tuscan town squares at strange hours of the night because Italy’s World Cup squad was in South Korea. Sangiovese is all-encompassing; a thin-skinned grape varietal like pinot noir, yet with tannin structure that can outdo some Bordeaux examples. Acidity that is profoundly helpful with the grape’s aging potential balanced with an array of savory qualities that leave you aching for a plate of meat. As I was doing some research last fall, I kept trying (and loving) a few wines from a small producer in the ancient Romagnan hills: Drei Dona. Delving deeper into the estate and family itself made me even more excited: owned by the Drei Dona family for over 100 years, the winery’s farmhouse “La Palazza” was built on a piece of land that houses a 15th century watchtower constructed by female ruler Caterina Sforza. In the latter half of the twentieth century the farm’s viticultural practices and ambition where radically enhanced by the new standards of Claudo Drei Dona and his son Enrico. The family’s passion for horse-breeding results in a built-in system of fertilization for the vineyards. Bottle glass has been lightened to minimize the impact of shipping, and cardboard is sourced from recycled or certified forests. Drei Dona has been practicing organic viticulture since 1992 and since 2010 has been “off the grid” due to a system of solar panels; today Drei Dona is certified by Magis for their organic/sustainable practices. Culture and art do not escape the family’s attentiveness to detail, either: their Arte Vigne program is a residency at the winery given on an annual basis to an artist or sculptor, who after walking the vineyards creates a work that will remain on the property and gradually turn this thin slice of rolling hills in the Romagnan countryside into its own cultural ecosystem. Having lauded their entire operation at this point, I suppose it’s just a bonus that the wines are this delicious; the infatuation that I developed upon my introduction to Drei Dona has since developed into a full-blown romance, from their library vintages of Cabernet and Sangiovese to bottlings that are absolute knockouts for approachable prices. Which leads me back to that most Italian of grape varieties, Sangiovese, and the wine named (like all of Drei Dona’s cuvees) after one of the family’s horses, Notturno.
Emilia-Romagna is a hyphenated region that in reality should not be. The northern area of Emilia is a trove of anonymous table wines and that quintessential sparkling Italian red bistro quaffer, Lambrusco. Romagna, on the other hand, stretches from Ravenna to the border of Tuscany in the west, and to the Adriatic in the east. Grape varieties and styles abound but the real star is the local clone of our grape in question, Sangiovese di Romagna. The grapes for Drei Dona’s Notturno are cultivated on the estate in Romagna’s Predappio subzone (named for the village that sits just southwest of the larger town, Forli, where Drei Dona is located). Sangiovese here is given a lower-lying position and cooler overall climate than its Tuscan counterpart, with corresponding later ripening and later harvest (into the final week of September in the case of Notturno). The result is a distinctly Romagnan Sangiovese, with a dark-scented nose full of visceral savory notes that return on the palate. The presence of an herbaceous character also distinguishes the Drei Dona from Tuscany. All of the Drei Dona wines are aged in larger oak casks and typically held back before release, and the Notturno is no exception-the 2018 vintage is the current release and in fact has just arrived. Drinking a glass, one is struck by the fact that so much of what we in the US know about Sangiovese is driven by Tuscany, but this dense, brooding wine is an entirely different animal, one that takes the term “entry level” and turns it on its head. Do I still love the tart red cherry and bloody steak element of Tuscan Sangiovese? Of course. Will my Romagnan romance continue with the wines of the family Drei Dona? Undoubtedly. Squabble, er, solved-D.
Drei Dona “Notturno” Sangiovese 2018
Country of Origin: Italy
Places and People: Drei Dona has been owned by the eponymous family since the turn of the 20th century. Located north and east of the Appenine mountain range from Tuscany, between the villages of Forli and Castrocarro, the 27 hectares of vineyards on the property enjoy a due south exposure (ideal in this area for the late-ripening Sangiovese) and are farmed organically at 500 feet above sea level. At a total production level of just over 10,000 cases for all wines, each cuvee coming from the Drei Dona cellars is limited: the Notturno’s output is just under 700 cases, which makes the wine both an approachable treat and one that feels like a little secret only we are privy to. The grapes for the Notturno are mainly from the family’s youthful vines.
Soil: Clay and Silt with about 10-13% sandy soils also.
Grape Varieties: 100% Sangiovese.
Winemaking: The grapes for the Notturno are hand-harvested in small boxes before a fermentation in both stainless steel and concrete tank is conducted. Temperature controls are made throughout, and malolactic fermentation is done in stainless steel before aging.
Aging: The Notturno is aged for an average of 8 months in 500-liter French oak casks (predominantly second year so as not to impart any overt flavors from the wood).
Flavors and Foods: The Notturno is mind-blowing in that it evokes comparisons to Tuscan Sangiovese (particularly for me to the high-elevation Chianti subzone of Rufina), but truly stands on its own as unique to Emilia-Romagna. Eschewing the lighter, orange-rimmed color of Chianti, the Drei Dona is violet and nearly opaque, impressive for the thin-skinned grape. An expressive nose begins with inky, dark cherries and expands to characteristic Sangiovese elements of iron and fresh, savory beef. On the palate, the red cherry of Tuscan Sangiovese is here more black cherry, while the sanguine, red meat-driven elements of Brunello and Chianti are replaced here by forest floor, eucalyptus, fresh thyme, shitake mushroom, and truffle. As the wine opens, the tartness of the cherry fruit comes around to remind you that you’re still drinking Sangiovese, but the inky density remains. Tannin structure is present but mitigated, and the texture is still soft and inviting, viscous but not chewy, meaning the Notturno can travel a few different courses with pairings. Gently grilled rib steak (or preferably pan-seared) with a dark sauce of red wine and aromatic herbs like thyme and rosemary is the easy suggestion, with braised mushrooms and truffle oil fantastic accompaniments. Above all, though, the sheer complexity of this wine and its array of descriptors make me want for a simple plate of charcuterie (prosciutto di Parma, bresaola, fennel or red wine sausage), an excellent bread, and a long conversation with a great friend.
Service and Cellar: The Drei Dona Notturno 2018 is drinking well now and will be at peak for another 2-3 years. Red cellar temperature of 58-62 degrees will ensure the viscosity of the wine does not become drying.