K&L's David Driscoll pours Caol Ila and Highland Park at SF WhiskyFest

David Driscoll

K&L San Francisco's Jeff Jones holds down the fort.

K&L's David Driscoll with the Malt Advocate's guru John Hansell.

K&L's David Driscoll with the crew from Four Roses, his favorite producer of the event.

High West's David Perkins during his presentation....

To start, we all enjoyed a cocktail of the High West Rendezvous mixed with dry vermouth, apple cider, Benedictine, and a little rice wine vinegar.  Stunning and perfect considering the ingredients involved.  The real achievement, however, was how well the whiskey tasted with the food. The first course included crispy ocean trout with turnips, gnocchi, and caramelized onion dashi along side the Rendezvous rye.  The fish was tender and delicious and the sweetness of the onion really sang with the caramel notes in the whiskey.  When the 16 year old rye was served, we were treated to tamarind glazed sweetbreads with tart apple, cranberry beans, and horseradish.  I couldn't believe how well it really worked with the spicy and intense whiskey.  For the third and final pairing, we had foie gras terrine with huckleberry, caramel corn, cashew, and upland cress served with mini toasts.  Like Daniel said before we ate it, "It's like a fancy peanut butter and jelly sandwich."  It was heavenly with the 21 year old.  It was also my first time eating foie, which is embarrassing when you work at K&L (where it seems that at least one person is eating foie gras every week!).

It seemed like this was the place to be Wednesday night with tickets sold out long in advance.  The word must have been out, however, because mid-way through the night John Hansell and the Malt Advocate crew stopped by to say hello and have a drink.  I was so surprised and flattered that they came to give their support.  I can only hope that our next dinner coming up in a few weeks is as successful.  If you're interested in tasting some world class bourbons, learning a bit about how bourbon is made, as well as learning about mixology and cocktails, then you should join us November 4th in Redwood City when Bourbon & Branch founder Todd Smith hosts our next event at Martin's West Gastropub. Buy your tickets now, I'm sure this event will sell out quickly.

Here are some pictures from a very enjoyable evening.  I hope to see you all next we do this!

David Driscoll

We started the evening with a delicious magnum of Krug Champagne - toasty, rich and much more interesting than the 750ml - served with Kay’s famous Pesto Torte.

With Kay’s Butternut Squash Soup, we enjoyed a magnum of Didier Daguenau’s 2004 Pouilly Fume-Pur Sang. It showed great richness, and was a sharp, focused wine with citric and guava notes - a good match for the rich winter soup.

We then tasted two wines blind with a Duck Confit salad.  Pierre said the two Bordeaux wines (I always serve Bordeaux) were both from excellent vintages and guessed 1985 because of the sweetness.  The wines were the 1997 Haut-Bailly and the 1997 Pichon-Lalande. Both were absolutely fabulous with the Haut-Bailly showing mineral notes and elegance while the Pichon was a bit heavier and richer.  SO GOOD with the duck confit. 

At a break between courses, Mark poured a 2002 Echezeau, Jean Tardy that was just starting to evolve.

 With the barbecued steak I served a magnum of 1966 Chateau Siran. It started a bit funky and sharp, but evolved into a sweet, somewhat rustic, deilicious mature Bordeax - superb.

After dinner, Kay served some chevre, Comte and Camembert accompanied by two more wines tasted blind.  Pierre said of the first: imust be a fabulous year-  the wine is heavenly sweet and lush.  He guessed Pauillac from 1982. It was Pauillac from 1983, actually, Pichon-Lalande at that, and an almost-perfect wine.

May Eliane (the estate's former owner) and I always preferred the 1983 Pichon to the 1982, but the 1982 is otherworldly these days. The 1983 is only 99 points.

The second wine served was a knockout - a powerful, broody, rich, thick Bordeaux.  Pierre said surely 1982 and from North Medoc. He was close; it was 1982 Leoville-Las Cases, a wine that will go another 20 years.

A little cheesecake and berries were the perfect finish to the meal, especially with 1995 JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Long Gold Capsule Auslese.  7.5% alcohol and packed with fruit and spice, with a finish that went on for a minute.

Now, next week is diet week.

Clyde Beffa

David Driscoll

-Whiskey in the U.S. is defined as grain spirit that is distilled at less than 190 proof.     Anything distilled at higher than 190 proof is considered grain neutral spirit (GNS), which is without color, aroma, taste, or character. Vodka, for example, is GNS with water (and Cowdery does not shy away from taunting the vodka drinkers from rationalizing how something neutral can be better or worse than a contemporary).

- All U.S. distilleries use No. 2 grade corn, rye, and wheat to make their whiskey, so all this talk about “only the finest grains” is a bunch of fluff.  They all buy from the same suppliers.

- American whiskey has the entire mash, grains and all, go through the fermentation process unfiltered, unlike in Scotland and other countries where the filtered mash (called wort) consisting of only the sugary water goes into the still.   

- Good water is crucial to making good whiskey. The spring water in Kentucky and Tennessee is filtered through natural limestone, which adds calcium and removes salt, making it favorable to yeast come fermenting time. 

- What is sour mash? - Sour mash is made when slop (the already fermented and spent mash) is pumped back in with the unfermented mash giving it a sour taste. This is done to help keep the pH consistent to keep the whiskey uniform. It could be done differently now, but, as Cowdery states throughout the book, heritage and tradition reign supreme in whiskey making. 

- Yeast is very, very important. Not all yeast is the same. It is major contributor to the flavor of a whiskey, much like wine, and knowing how to cultivate and control it is an important job of a distiller. If you didn’t know that Beaujolais Nouveau tastes like banana because of commercial designer yeast, then you need to contact me about other reading materials. Yeast is crazy important. 

- In order to be called bourbon or rye, the spirit must come off the still at less than 160 proof.  All whiskey distilled between 160 and 190 goes into blended whiskey.  Flavor is inversely proportional to proof, so you want to keep it lower if you want the grain to come through.

- Bourbon and rye must be reduced with water to less than 125 proof and aged in new oak charred on the inside.  The red color of whiskey comes from this charred barrel. Whereas warm weather causes the whiskey to expand into the wood, the cool evening temperatures contracts it and the whiskey pulls out the color, tannins and flavor of the barrel.  The char from the wood helps to tame the negative congeners (the remaining flavors of the original distilled substance).

Speaking of congeners, Cowdery really makes clear what the art of distillation truly is: it lies in being able to retain the positive and good tasting congeners, while eliminating the other negative ones.  The goal of distilling, as Cowdery says, is making the beverage palatable either by making it neutral (as with vodka) or by using herbs, fruit, spices, barrel aging, etc.  Whiskey should retain the flavor of its original element, so knowing how to distill it properly and making it palatable is an art form. 

All this information comes from about four pages of the 250+ pages in this book.  Do yourself a favor and check it out.  Then you can come into the store and totally put me in check with your extreme knowledge.

David Driscoll

Sonja and Derek Kassebaum at North Shore Distillery.

Gin was king pre-Prohibition. It made (and still makes) all the best cocktails—from the Aviation to the classic Martini (the only real Martini).  Many of the best gins came from England and today many still do.  However, the American products to join the ranks over the last decade or so have been truly spectacular: Anchor Steam’s Junipero, Leopold Bros. Small Batch and Sarticious are a few that come to mind.  However, no arrival to our liquor shelf has been as exciting as the products of a small distillery in Chicago called North Shore; they may very well be the next great story in craft distilling.  Their No. 6 Gin is radiant, their Scandinavian-influenced Aquavit is wickedly smooth and their No. 11 Gin is so heavenly that it has converted me completely to an avid North Shore follower. Their small production, hands-on, adventurous and delicious spirits have my head spinning, both because of their quality and the fact that I can’t stop drinking them.

Hand-signing a North Shore bottle.Just how small does “small production” mean?  In the case of North Shore it means small batches of distinctive bottles made by two people: the husband and wife team of Derek and Sonja Kassebaum, plus one part time employee. Since they don’t make very much, I buy everything I can when it’s available.  Derek, who is trained as a chemical engineer, does all the distilling, and Sonja, a legally-trained consultant for start-up companies, now consults for and manages her own.  Before they teamed up to create their own line of craft spirits, Derek dabbled in brewing his own beer and making his own wine, but thought it would be exciting to actually try and make a living distilling spirits.  Sonja, always a cocktail nerd at heart, decided to leave the corporate world and lend a hand.  Four years later, they’re ready to conquer America’s lounges and retail stores, winning over tasting panels from coast to coast.

Just why are North Shore’s gins so freakin’ delicious?  The answer to that may lie in the design and functioning of their still, which Derek helped to create. While most stills are heated with steam, the North Shore still relies on a hot water bath, which allows for a far greater control over the temperature at which the spirit is distilled.  Being able to control the temperature means greater control over the resulting flavor, which at times seems too perfect to be true. Another reason could be that both the No. 6 and No. 11 are made by people who love and appreciate gin. The philosophy behind their gins is simple and smart: make something great and make sure it doesn’t taste like everything else.  In the case of North Shore’s gin production, different combinations of botanicals and herbs were used experimentally in different batches, which were then tasted and improved upon. The No. 6 is named so because it was the batch number of their best formula.  Batches one through five, as well as batches seven through whatever, were also created, sampled, poured for friends, and brought to blind tastings, but were not as beloved as batch number six. 

The still at North Shore Distillery.While the No. 6 was clean, focused, soft, and delicious, it was flavored with some non-traditional botanicals such as lavender.  Derek and Sonja were completely satisfied with the result, but they were also worried about the lack of traditional juniper flavor and wanted to make sure they had another ace up their sleeve for hardcore gin lovers.  The result was the No. 11, which is not named after its batch number, but rather after the famous Spinal Tap quote, “…this amp goes to 11.”  In this case, the juniper is turned up not to 10, but to 11, and it is ridiculously good.  I used to buy three or four different gins at a time because I liked their unique and specific qualities, but I am having a hard time drinking anything but the No. 11 right now.  The nose is so aromatic and the flavors are bold, but graceful. I guess I just don’t see the point of drinking anything less than the best, and believe me, the No. 11 is absolutely the best gin in production right now. 

The Scandinavian presence in the north Midwest led North Shore to also produce the underappreciated Aquavit—a neutral spirit flavored mainly with caraway seeds—but often containing small amounts of anise, fennel and coriander, among other spices.  Derek and Sonja had friends who would periodically travel to Scandinavia and return with a bottle to taste them with, and they thought, “We can make this.” The twist with the North Shore Aquavit is that, unlike most traditional Aquavit, it is aged briefly in small American oak barrels, which softens the alcohol and adds a faint richness to the flavor. The result is a highly aromatic, spicy, yet smooth after-dinner sipper that has been receiving rave reviews everywhere, and one that has been selling out at our Redwood City store without me having to say a word (the word is out!).    

Sonja Kassebaum is well aware that the cocktail revival is moving full steam ahead being such an avid fan herself. With her guidance, North Shore has smartly centered its production on pleasing both admirers of great spirits and lovers of great cocktails.  Someone who buys a bottle of North Shore No. 11 is going to make the martini of their life, let alone gin and tonic, while someone looking to create a classic Aviation, Martinez, or Corpse Reviver is going to be hard pressed to do better than with the No. 6.  The best bartenders want to pour their booze, the best retailers want to sell it, and people everywhere are dying to buy it—that’s the triple crown in the liquor business.  Aside from the economics, however, is the fact that Derek and Sonja love a good drink. They got into this business because they wanted to wake up in the morning and go do a job that they loved and believed in. The revival of American craft distillates owes its success to production that is, once again, a labor of love rather than a capitalistic grab at filling the void. More than 70 years after Prohibition gutted our industry, we have once again found our way towards making great spirits and great drinks, and it is because of passionate and knowledgeable producers like North Shore that we have done so.

David Driscoll

Gary Westby

What’s your position at K&L and how long have you been with the company?

I’m the Spirits buyer and Hollywood’s Loire/Alsace/Germany/Austria liaison, and I’ve been with K&L since February 2008.

 What did you do before you started working here?

I was buying spirits across town.  I also worked in events with caterers and party planners to provide full bar services for parties across LA. When K&L popped up out of nowhere I knew I had to get involved.  As a “mostly” native Angeleno, I’ve always felt that the ast side of Los Angeles was severely underserved in terms of wine choices.  In fact, all of Los Angeles has benefited for K&L’s presence here, and I’m grateful to be a part of it.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I spend most of my spare time walking my basset hound, Goober. We walk around Hollywood looking for new places to eat or new bars to keep. When I’m not scoping out restaurants, wine programs and cocktail lists, I’m testing my bar skills on my unwitting friends. I have to say that you can really tell who’s a true friend after your first cocktailian disaster.  If you’ve made a terrible drink (whether mistakenly or over-ambitiously), a true friend will never suck it down with a smile. Honest criticism is the key improvement.

What’s your favorite movie?

Time Bandits.

What was your “epiphany wine”—the bottle or glass that got you interested in wine? Is there a current wine that you consider the equivalent?

Wine has been part of my life since I was very young.  My Grandfather was an (amateur) winemaker and I used to spend summers outside of Geneva helping him tend his 1/2-acre of vines.  He instilled a great reverence for the vine; tasting his wine has always been an important memory.  My epiphany wine, however, was thanks to my former employer, an illustrious gentleman who thought nothing of opening something extremely rare if the right crowd was about. I reaped the benefits of one particularly extravagant tasting and got my lips around a glass of 1928 Cheval Blanc. I was floored. I understood, in theory, that great wines were essentially immortal, but experiencing the supernatural first hand changed my life.  Also, Port Ellen 29 year and 1985 DRC St. Vivant. Thanks Grandpa!

Describe your perfect meal (at a restaurant or prepared at home). What wine(s) would you pair with it?

My perfect meal has less to do with what’s being served than with who I am with, but if I am being put on the spot it would be dinner on the hill in Camogli, a small fishing village near Portofino.  They do an amazing whitefish carpaccio drizzled with amazing olive oil and a lemon twist.  This pairs perfectly with the mineral crispness of the regions Bosco or Vermentino varietals. Watching the sunset over the Mediterranean with a good friend is truly a transcendent experience.  Also, Chez Omar near Place de la Republique in Paris with a back vintage of Tempier Bandol Rouge—perfect couscous, perfect pave au poire, perfect restaurant. 

How do you think your palate’s changed over the years?

I don’t know if my palate has changed over the years, although in college I was able to drink Keystone Light, something that I’m physically unable to do now.  However, I think I’ve developed a more delineated sense of what I love to drink and why.  I think of myself as a very open-minded drinker, not discounting any bottle because of its varietal or appellation.  That being said, every region has its duds and its studs.  I tend to prefer winemaking that is genuine and thoughtful.  Overly-worked wines can taste like they came from a factory rather than the vineyard.  If you don’t have grapes that can speak for themselves than maybe you shouldn’t be letting them speak in the first place.

What do you like to drink?

Well… red, white, sparkling and dessert wine.  Also, beer and ciders of all sorts, Sherry, Porto (especially vintage), bourbon, rye, cognac, armagnac, tequila, mirabelle, quetsch, grappa, calvados, applejack, rum, absinthe, whisk(e)y of all sorts, mescal, liqueurs, eau di vie and fruit brandy.  But of course, the cocktail is king!

What words of advice do you have to offer people just getting into wine?

Never prejudge a wine based on what you know or think you know.  If I hear someone say they don’t like Merlot one more time…Château Petrus is Merlot, are you sure you don’t like Petrus?

If you could have dinner with any three people in history, who would you invite? What wine would you serve each of them?

Hardy Rodenstock, Jerry Thomas, Didier Dagueneau.  We’d have ’47 Cheval Blanc, ’27 Fonseca, and ’96 Krug respectively.

Michael Affatato of Ch. La Gatte in the vineyard.

Allow me to introduce myself; my name is Michael Affatato; I was born in December 1965 in Brooklyn (like most New Yorkers, then we’re dispatched throughout the state).

Not unlike many other Americans, I was not introduced to fine wine until well into my adult years. As rites of passage throughout my late teen and early twenties, I was a devout consumer of soft drinks and beer. Even though I have Italian heritage (second generation, from Calabria), I never had Italian wine at festivities, holidays, etcetera. In fact, I believe that – until I visited California – the only wine I’d ever seen prior was boxed pink wine. Gads!

Today I own an 18th century château and wine producing facility in Bordeaux along with my French wife, Hélène (whom I’d met when she was working at Château Latour in 1991), but I owe all of my wine appreciation and, in fact, “baptism,” to California.

I’m not a spiritual person but I did have an epiphany. The year was 1990 and I was on vacation, visiting my friend, the private chef Sal Petrolino, in San Francisco. At the time, I was working in advertising in New York City.

Sal took me up to what he called the “drunken loop,” visiting the wineries in Sonoma and Napa.

It didn’t take long, but, viewing the rolling hills, beautiful properties, and then tasting the wines, I quickly realized that I did not belong in advertising.

Funnily enough, that same night, back in San Fran I visited a wine shop. Lo and behold, what did I see, but a bottle of Long Island wine! Not possible, said I. Mais OUI, said the sales dude. Another signal from Bacchus to accentuate my epiphany?

Anyway, back to Long Island I went, and I quickly started visited the young Long Island wineries. Not crus classés standard, but at least I got a chance to taste wine in barrel and augment my interest even further.

Thanks to the various wine magazines readily available, I forged ahead. I joined a few tasting groups in Manhattan and started buying wines regularly, making my fair share of mistakes but discovering some gems and honing my palate along the way.

All the wine journalists spoke of Bordeaux wines as the reference point number one, so I decided to make my own trip to Bordeaux and contact the châteaux directly. My first trip there (or, more precisely, as I write this, “here”) was in 1991.

HélèneOne of these châteaux was Latour, where I met Hélène.

We hit it off, stayed in touch, and when I finally coerced her to come visit me in New York, I secured my interest and our couple life thanks to a full, cold bottle of Dom Pérignon 1985 which we finished only hours after she landed. Voilà, the couple was united.

Chloé was born in Brooklyn in 1996, the year before I had a career meltdown. In 1997, I asked Hélène to consider us moving to Bordeaux to find a way to further our wine careers, with the intention of returning to New York in a managerial position, preferably for a wine importing company.

Well, isn’t it funny how life takes you on different and unexpected paths?

Hélène got hired by Château Rauzan Segla and I, well, I couldn’t BUY an interview. Why? Poor French skills and a light résumé.

I went back to night school – Alliance Française – and in six months, along with the rest of the class, was up and running in French. Not fluent yet, mind you, but at least hireable.

Problem was, no one was hiring in Bordeaux. It took some networking to find an open door, and one was found for me at Maison Chapoutier, where I worked as Sales Manager for four years.

Great career, superb experience, however INSANE travel rhythm and not much of a personal life. Somehow, amidst this, Pauline was born in 2000, in Portes-les-Valence (Ardeche).

Just when I realized that I was seriously burning out, Hélène got wind of a “hint” that her Godmother, Claudine, might be turning over the family vineyard to her.

Sounds exciting, right? NOT. The parcel was small (1.4 hectare) and in serious disrepair, the victim of being leased out too many times over the years with no serious quality management or consistent long-term plans. Basically, it was an ugly jungle.

But that was enough to get us thinking about moving to Bordeaux and giving it a try.

Chateau La GatteUpon taking over this parcel – “Montalon” – we discovered a property just 500 meters down the hill called Château La Gatte, which dated back to 1646 but was a prostitution house from about 1900-1979, when the police finally shut it down. The elderly couple who was making wine there –and living a few miles away – let it go to us for a fair price. This was April 2004.

Here we are today, producing approximately 90,000 bottles per year and running a Bed and Breakfast on premises. (YES, we cleaned the rooms, don’t worry!)

One of the first things we set our minds to was exporting the wine.

Clyde Beffa Jr. from K&L already knew Hélène from his trips to Château Latour. So, we contacted him again, and, thanks to his visits here and various tastings, K&L is now carrying our entire range of wines.

I visited Clyde and his staff just a few weeks ago. I was staying at a friend’s house (remember Sal? He now lives in Escondido with his wife Laurie O'Brien, a pastry chef, and I visit him once a year) and flew up to SFO to taste Clyde’s staff on the new releases (the rosé and our white had just landed in the USA two days earlier, coincidentally).

Clyde then invited me and seven of his staff to a charming trattoria called ZUPA, a short walk from his San Francisco store.

They gave us the upstairs and Clyde got to work, decanting a magnum of 1986 Château Pichon-Lalande, a magnum of 1986 Haut-Bages-Liberal and a bottle of 1993 Mouton-Rothschild (bearing the TTB-prohibited young nude model label), not to mention the other wines his salespersons and buyers proudly shared.

What a blur! I decided to order one of my faves – skirt steak. It was wonderfully prepared and went perfectly with the aged clarets, my nod for number one being the Haut-Bages-Liberal, which showed that mouth-expansive, earthy, almost “charcoally” texture that pushes out on the sides of the tongue, lead by a bouquet that needed coaxing but finally showed classy fruit, layer upon layer of earth, spice, gentle eucalyptus, pipe tobacco and smoke. All of this being very subtle and classy, mind you; no single flavor upstaging the other.

The Mouton 1993 for me had one of the prettiest bouquets I’ve had the pleasure to discover, but was just a bit too “trebly” on the palate for me. I was completely alone on this one; everyone else was smitten by it.

Clyde saved his Baby – the Pichon-Lalande – for last. As to be expected, it was still an infant, given the vintage and the magnum format. Our palates were pretty well anaesthetized at this point, but as I write this I can still taste it. Frustratingly slow in opening up but once again testament to its fame: deep, rich fruit, leather, underbrush, truffle…seamless. It’s like music; when you listen to a great piece from Mozart, you know that you hear violin, oboe, flute, clarinet, but you can’t discern them individually. They make up the ensemble.

K&L's Clyde Beffa with a server at dinner in Escondido.Though I personally enjoyed the Haut-Bages-Liberal the most, the Pichon Lalande was the more serious of the two. Those of you who are lucky to own the 1986 of this – PATIENCE!

The rest of the evening was a blur of good laughs, handshakes, hugs and goodbyes.

LONG LIVE CLYDE BEFFA!

My California Wine Rush has graduated to another level!

by Michael Affatato, Aug 09

Chateau La Gatte

Bordeaux, France

Frédéric Mabileau in the vineyard.

How would you describe your winemaking philosophy?

Walking the thin line between erasing myself as much as possible from the process, being the least intrusive as possible while trying to conquer nature without violating it.

What wines or winemakers helped influence your philosophy?

All the great French domains, especially the ones working organically or biodynamic always were models for me. In the Loire Valley I learned a lot from people like the Foucault brothers (Clos Rougeard) in Saumur-Champigny, Marc Angeli (Ferme de la Sansonniere) or Nicolas Joly (Coulee de Serrant) in Savennières about the farming and the soil diversity of my vineyards.

How involved in grape-growing are you? Is there a particular vineyard site that wows you year after year?

I am a classic example of an Old World wine “vigneron,” this French word that does not have a direct translation in English but which means being a farmer AND a winemaker at the same time. Therefore I grow and harvest my own fruits and this part of my work is essential to me. I am everyday in my vineyards with my team, from the pruning to the harvesting season. It is so important to see the vine evolving, suffering and expressing itself throughout the different seasons.

I have always been impressed by the breathtaking slopes of Mosel, Rhône Valley or the Beaujolais, but on a more personal level I love a parcel that was planted 40 years ago by my grandfather: no dramatic slope although it is overlooking the appellation but I like going there to watch the sunset and receive some special vibes that make me feel like I am part of my family history.

How do you think your palate has evolved over the years? How do you think that’s influenced your wines?

I had the same evolution as any average person: At first I liked big, rich, opulent bottles. Today I favour wines with finesse, elegance, acidity, saltiness and find demonstrative wines boring. Naturally, I have been trying to produce wines with tension and finesse.

What kinds of food do you like to pair your wines with?

I have always loved Japanese cuisine and right now I like to pair it with my Cab Franc Rosé. On the red side, and to stay on Asian food pairing, Peking duck and Bourgueil is a nice bridge to build between two culinary worlds.

What changes are planned for coming vintages? Any new (top secret) varietals, blends or propriety wines on the horizon?

Actually quite a lot for my artisan standards: We will be harvesting for the first time this year a white Rouilleres bottling made from Chenin Blanc that I planted five years ago right next to my single vineyard of Cab Franc. Also, in few weeks we will bottle our top cuvée “Eclipse” which is made of our oldest Cab Franc (over 50 years old) and only produced in great vintages (2005 was the last vintage).  

Is there a style of wine that you think appeals to critics that might not represent your favorite style? How do you deal with it?

The reality is that many wines today are tailored to win awards, accolades and great scores and as a result tend to be uniform: big, rich, high alcohol, in your nose vanilla notes... But most of the time I don’t enjoy drinking them. This “trend” actually pushes me to go even further in the search of minerality in my wines.

What do you drink when you are not drinking your own wine?

Anything! French, non-French, natural wines with low sulphites, Syrah wherever it is coming from... I usually do not drink my own wine during lunch or dinner as I have all day opportunities to taste them and therefore I really try as much as possible to discover new producers or varietal when I am dining.

Do you collect wine? If so, what’s in your cellar?

Not really. But I do have some great Bordeaux and Rhône: Latour, Fieuzal, Pape Clément, Pichon Comtesse, Côte Rôtie from Cuilleron, Jamet and Cornas from Clape.

What do you see as some of the biggest challenges facing the wine industry today?

There are many: Make wines that are ethically correct and educate  customers about terroir-driven wines. A great challenge is for producers all around the world not to fall into mass-production, which often leads to pollution. I want to leave to my children a vineyard which is clean from pollutants and I hope we can all do the same globally and leave a planet free of any pollutants for future generations. If on top of that we can also explain that wine, when drunk moderately, is good for health we would have done a nice job!