December 3rd 2008

One year ago today our absentminded and feckless leader, Devlon, was admitted to St. Mary's regional hospital for corrective heart surgery. Wherefore he asked to issue a brief statement. This breaks with our code so we put it to a vote. Just as our president elect was fond of doing while in the Senate, Devlon voted "Present." 

151 voted yea. 

150 voted nay.

The statement issues forth. Let it be know that the opinions expressed are neither supported or condoned by Cépage Selections, LLC.

"We usually leave all communiques to our press advisor in Budapest but I couldn't turn down the perfect opportunity to strum on your heartstrings and guilt you into a sympathetic purchase of organic European wines. Please write your generous order on cigarette paper,  roll it, place it in a tube and attach it to a Homing pigeon's leg. 

At one year, I'm thankful for the skilled and steady hands of Doctor Rakesh Pai, for all those that kept me caring and laughing (if you received a text or email from me today saying "Thanks.", it's you), for the absurd burlesque that is this world, for the authentic and delicate wines of Marc Ollivier and Didier and Catherine Roussel, for the many people that say our wines are too dry or too unusual, for putting my faith in what is tangible such as family and friends (if you received a text or email from me today saying "Thanks.", it's you) and not the supernatural, for bikes and treadmills, for no longer having holes in my heart, for pictures snapped at random, for arugula mixed with bacon, for the professor in college that compared my writing to Virginia Woolf, for the literary agent that said my writing was rubbish, for the person that told me she loved Chardonnay but hated Chablis, for Cabernet Franc and Gamay, for my suppliers who saw me through the almost zero sales mouth of last December and the subsequent hardest year of my life, for the subtle rhythms of Cummings and Elliot and Nabokov et al etc... for all that have told me they loved me, for the whole LDM crew, for the chance to wake up this morning and look at something and someone beautiful, for bright planets and steam that rises off of teacups, for all our customers that have the will to hand sell wines, for various and sundry songs, for text messages at once private or peculiar or very very funny, for mothers fathers brothers aunts uncles et al etc..., for good restaurants with real wine lists, for having all my fingers and functional tear ducts, for obese Pomeranians, for fluctuating currencies and (to paraphrase Beckett or maybe it was Charlie Wilson) for having another chance not to fuck up the endgame." 

Devlon Moore

Happy Birthday Boo!

In a couple of hours the brilliant Laurel Cook turns 27 years of age. Laurel is based in London, but runs our advertising department and keeps the minutes from our daily meetings (we are truly a global conglomerate and much like Citigroup too big to fail). Laurel is a trusted advisor with a keen business mind. More importantly, she is also a loyal friend and the world does not bequeath many of those. We hope the 26th of November brings Laurel as much joy as a hot bowl of baked beans does our spiritual advisor above.

Talking in Bed

Lately, we've been updating our sales book, and in order to keep our sanity we've used the downtime to reread some of our old college favorites. Philip Larkin has been especially appealing. We're surprised we lost track of the old Brit, but perhaps years of excess in the french hipster wine scene have dulled our memories. Larkin is known for such works as "This be the Verse" and "Church Going" but his true masterpiece is a small poem called "Talking in Bed." We suggest our rabid readership commit it to memory. You will be better for it. Just don't drink it away.

Late last night we were speculating about Mr. Larkin's wine tastes. Boringly, we settled on claret and port but not in a stuffy Michael Broadbent kind of way. If Larkin wasn't 23 years in the grave we would send him a bottle each of Moulin-Pey-Labrie and Quinta do Infantado with a small note: "Wines at once true and kind."

Ty Martin Joins The Crew

Reno's most sought after job opening has been filled by the guileless Ty Martin (photo above), former manager of Jungle Vino. Ty liked to buy large amounts of wine from us at Jungle Vino and when he expressed interest in moving to the next level, selling large amounts of wine for us, we were ecstatic. Our sales book is a challenging one and it needs talented wine people, just like Ty, to sell it; people who understand that the wine world is far bigger than California. We know that our loyal customer base will be tremendously pleased with the opacity of Ty's tireless and aggressive sales pitches. We are so happy to have another person to force large amounts of work on for very little pay. We know that when we're old, with skinny fingers and swollen livers, we will look upon this hiring as the beginning of our domination of Northern Nevada's prepubescent wine scene.

The Pine Cone Ball November 17th

We are incredibly pleased to be a part of this year's Pine Cone Ball. This is an annual event put on by Nevada Econet and its fearless leader, the brilliant and beautiful Lauren Siegel (pictured above with some other random blonde haired person that we believe to be a woman). The Pine Cone ball awards those that have gone out of their way to help sustain and improve the natural environment of the Truckee Meadows. Undoubtedly the who's who of Reno's cognoscenti and environmental lobby will be there, mixed in with a few hipsters, and we have pledged to donate enough organic wine to get and keep everybody drunk and festive. We hope all our loyal readers will show up and help make this year's event a smashing success. After all, Nevada is now a blue state so it is our civic duty to support all things natural, environment and wine. We will be pouring the wines of two French luminaries, Christian Chaussard and André Chatenoud. Both are heavily entrenched in France's natural wine movement. Tickets are only $50.00 per person. Please come out on November 17th and support us, your community, and one of Reno's best and most worthy non-profits. 

The Devil Came On Horseback

Above is the poster of a critically important and breathtakingly honest documentary about the genocide in Darfur. We entreat all our fifteen readers to watch this film. At the end of the film there is a list of ways to get involved. First and foremost, you can write your elected officials expressing your concern about Darfur and the hundreds of thousands of innocent Africans being slaughtered by Islamic militias such as the Janjaweed. Anything will help, including posting on a worthless little wine blog. 

A Brief Window Into The Glamours Life Of Wine

We just returned from Louis/Dressner's annual portfolio tasting. It was a glamours tasting full of glamours wine distributors from all over the country. Here is our glamours itinerary in a poorly written and slipshod stream of consciousness: 

Red eye flight from Oakland to JFK no sleep even with the help of Valium meet the great Vulgur Little Monkey at JFK spilt an expensive cab taste and spit wine for four hours rave about the sparkling wines of Ca de Noci and Donati Camillo plus primitivo in anfora eat drink eat drink go to hotel can't brush teeth because gums hurt so bad from wine shower sleep in shower meet old friends and associates for more wine and great dinner at Marlow and Sons full Cépage stamp of approval realize that we've slept one hour in two days fire down some espresso along with some other substances get sentimental as Kevin Mckenna talks about 20 years of LDM laugh hard as Joe Dressner talks about 20 years laugh hysterically as Eric Texier talks about drinking Mollydooker go to Ten Bells full Cépage stamp of approval drink until Polaner reps start falling off chairs and fights almost break out go to Blue Ribbon Bar punch the great Ken Rosoti in the stomach drink campari and commence sending texts to everyone we know intermixed with drunken nostalgia and courting go to wrong hotel find right hotel laugh rambunctiously with VLM trusted advisor and dear friend sleep for 5 hours laugh rambunctiously as VLM instigator of debauchery and mortal enemy misses plane take flight home emergency landing in Denver miss connection in Oakland stay in Oakland hotel dark scary smells of mold arrive home amongst throngs of fans cloaked in glamour.

 

Matt Marcewicz in The Wine Spectator

That's right, Reno's own Matt Marcewicz of Washoe Wine Company is in the current issue of America's third favorite lifestyle magazine. The picture is of Jeremy Seysses (winemaker of the absurdly overpriced Domaine Dujac) as he talks to a young rogue in his cellar. The rogue's face is turned from the camera but one can recognize that unruly pate anywhere. For reference we have included a picture of Matt in his youth; he is undoubtedly happier in the cellars of J. Seysses. 

We are currently trying to organize a picture signing at Washoe Wine and have offered to pour the wine in our book that is most like Dujac: Domaine de Reuilly Rouge. Matt is yet to return our call. No doubt the flood of publicity has overwhelmed him and Washoe Wine is doing record sales.

Religulous

Cépage's whole sick crew will be attending a Monday matinee of Bill Maher's "Religulous" at the Riverside. We invite all our good customers to join us (not so good customers will be immediately attacked and thrown in the River), as we will have a stash of natural wine, and Riedel's line of plastic cups, to enjoy during the show. What better way to celebrate reason and rationale than with natural wine? Please contact our reticent and reluctant leader, Devlon, for more details. 646-509-0900.

Street Vibrations

Once again it's time for that lively fall fair know as Street Vibrations. Cépage welcomes the often burly participants and their belligerently loud motorcycles to Reno, though it does make it nearly impossible to deliver downtown, but that's pulling hairs. We believe that in no time Fat Daddyz, a biker Valhalla of sorts, will place an order for vast quantities of Domaine de Belliviere's Rouge Gorge. You see the biker mentality, its yearn for the open road and disdain for the shackle, is quite conducive to the subtle and challenging charms of Pineau d'Anis. Yesterday we sent our best schnook over to Fat D's with the sales pitch (you can't miss the grotto of greatness for there is a big sign right across the street pointing to it). Unfortunately, something went terrible wrong and our man on the ground was shanked with his own corkscrew. However, he returned to the office, though pale and still bleeding, positive that they had taken to the wine. We cleaned the wound with a dose of Cappallano Chinato and cauterized it with a smouldering cork. The above picture is all we have on the attackers. The little guy on the left was particularly violent.

Introducing Cépage Financial Solutions

With the financial markets in turmoil and the government running around bailing out everybody that made multiple dumb decisions we offer this unsolicited financial advice: sell stocks and buy wine. What will appreciate more in our new socialistic system than wine of the people? We are talking about inexpensive wines (25.00 and under) that are made by farmers without manipulation. Since the world is turning socialist (down with big business, up with big government), and no one will want to buy wines made by uber-wealthy oligarchies (down with big Cabernet, up with big Gamay), we predict the value of our wines, made by farmers with socialist leanings, to skyrocket. In the vein of your previous money manager, who now has large crescent moon sweat rings on his Ermenegildo Zegna suit shirt, let us put together a properly diversified new portfolio for you, all available and heavily discounted at Washoe Wine. 

12 bottles of La Biancara Masieri Rosso 2006

12 bottles of Franco Noussan Cuve de la Cote 2006

12 bottles of Sansonniere Anjou Blanc La Lune 2006

12 bottles of A et MQuenard Mondeusse VV 2006

12 bottles of Occhipiniti Frappato 2005

12 bottles of Tue-Boeuf Cheverny Rouge 2007

12 bottles of Chignard Fleurie "Les Moriers" 2006

12 bottles of d'Anguera Finca L'Argata 2004

6 bottles of Maestro Sierra Oloroso

Stock these wines away in a cool slightly humid place, like the corner of your garage or under your water heater, and watch your money double/triple and quadruple. Also advised is to keep your current equity portfolio and use these wines to numb the pain until its value starts to rise again, but in today's climate who the hell cares about doing sensible things!

A Moment Of Silence

I like to have a lot of fun with this blog, but the sign of a fool is one who can't recognize moments where sorrow and seriousness are required. So please permit me to change the substance and style of this blog for one particular post. I was informed of Didier Dagueneau's death on the 19th by e-mail while on the beach in Cabo San Lucas.  At first I wondered how he could have died. He was relatively young. It turns out he died, even more tragically, by plane crash. I'll leave the eulogizing to the people that knew Didier, in particular Joe Dressner's beautifully written piece.  Unfortunately, I never had the chance to meet Dider but I admired him from afar, both the man and his wines... After I digested the news I remembered the last time I had one of Didier's wines. It was just barely a month ago and it was a bottle of Pur Sang 2003 at Sezmu that Larry had pulled from his private cellar. I drank it with Imperial Lounge's own Ryan Gold. Earlier that day my girlfriend and I had split up and I was deeply depressed. Needless to say she was a person that I loved dearly and had now lost. That evening, Didier's wine (and the company) gave me a small reprieve from loss, a small sampling of happiness. So sadly, it is now he that is lost.   

Pop Philosophy

People need mechanisms to cope with life.

Religion is a coping mechanism.

Wine is a coping mechanism.

Therefore, wine is religion.

*This blog will more than likely lay dormant for a few days because we're off to Cabo San Lucas until Sunday. Since we are glamours wine distributors we get to take these glamours trips and do comparative tastings of tequila and beer that never end glamorously. 

Blood Of The Stones

We are very pleased to represent part of Kermit Lynch's portfolio and especially his estate in Vacqueyras, Sang des Cailloux. We got the 2006 in a few months ago and have been letting it sit in the cellar since then. We recently tried one and were overjoyed with the results. The 2005 was big and kind of sloppy of which can easily happen to Grenache in hot weather. The 2006, however, reminds us of the 2001 in that it has more delicate and subtle fruit and is lighter in body. We feel that Sang (and many other wines) is at its best when nature gives less scorching sun. Washoe Wine currently carries both the 2005 and 2006 and a wonderful experiment would be to try them next to one another. Why not throw a tri-tip on the barbecue and go after it?   

In a Sentimental Mood

Besides full blown drunks and schnooks we consider ourselves crackpot business men which is why we read The Wall Street Journal in the morning, while waiting for the phone to ring. However, we couldn't help but notice the dire amount of destruction inked to today's pages, bombings of people and businesses, conglomerates alike, lost dogs and loves, stolen cars and pensions, flooded out houses and parks plus tax cheats and newly filed unemployment reports. A wonderful Pakistani poet once wrote: "This world of ours bleeds/With more pains than just the pain of love;" 

It's easy to bleed with this world, figuratively and literally. Occasionally we hope some bleeding soul might take a bottle of ours and share it with people he or she loves, under many sentimental gazes and grasps. That, after all, is the greatest thing about wine. The fact that it can bring people together and keep them caught in moments of contentment and happiness. We might also recommend the music of Andrew Bird or the poetry of E.E. Cummings, mixed with a slightly chilled bottle of Clos Roche Blanche.

Whole Wines

Since Whole Foods opened up in late June they have become our second best customer. We'd like to dedicate this love sonnet of sorts to John Mackey's brain child. Not only is the big company competently run and easy to work with but they also pay their bills on time! Their regional wine buyers are top notch and understand that the wine world is far larger than California. This local Whole Foods, in little Reno, Nevada, carries such wine luminaries as Franco Noussan, Cascina Tavijn, Francois Cazin, Terres Dorees, Gachot-Monot, Bernard Baudry, Domaine Fontsainte, Thierry Puzelat, Montesecondo, Luberri, Uriondo etc... Please, all 16 readers of this blog, while you're purchasing grass fed beef, stroll over to the wine section and ask for Peggy or Michael, two of the coolest wine salespeople in all of Northern Nevada. Tell them we sent you and that you're in search of real wine. Let us know you did this and we'll throw you a parade downtown, with rose petals and a marching band. Once you are punch drunk on plaudits we'll take you to that high end gallery of gastronomy know as Brickies Tavern for a burger and a beer.

Dard & Ribo

Rene Jean Dard and Francios Ribo must be incredibly pleased to know that their wines are avaiable in the one hipster wine bar in Reno, just as in Paris and New York. The somewhat reclusive and cantankerous duo make lovely Rhone Valley wines, Syrah for red, Marsanne/Roussanne for white. This message is to inform our non-hipster customers that we still have small quantities of Dard & Ribo wines available. Here is what we have:

Hermitage 2004: only a few bottles

St-Joesph Rouge 2005 and 2006

St-Joesph Blanc 2006

Crozes-Hermitage Rouge 2005 and 2006

Please call, text or send telegram for pricing. We can tell you that they are cheaper than Chave, both Jean-Louis and Yann. 

Also please let us know if when drinking these wines you have uncontrollable urge to listen to the music of Devendra Banhart. It always happens to us. Perhaps it's because we could see either Monsieur saying to someone like Philippe Guigal: "I've watched you cakewalk to the immaculate conception for far too long." In French of course.

Do Ferreiro Albarino

Here at Cépage we have decided to burn our neo-Luddite cards and embrace technology by adding pictures when we can. So here we give you the glamours label of Gerardo Mendez's equally glamours wine. Gerardo is one of the greatest farmers in our book. He has five hectares (made up of eight parcels worked organically) in the Rias Baixas in Spain, specifically the Salnes Valley sub zone. He ferments each parcel separately, in stainless steel with native yeast, and then blends before bottling. The final product is an Albarino of weight, depth and incredible minerality. There is no other Albarino in this constricted market place that can compare. Taste Do Ferreiro next to the competition before you accuse us of hyperbole. In fact, show up at our global headquarters on Plumas street with these two Albarinos: Morgadio and Burgans. We'll supply the Do Ferreiro and the grilled calamari. If you don't instantly taste the difference and buy vast quantities of Do Ferreiro, our security team will quickly water board you with the remaining Albarino abominations and ship you off to Pyramid Lake where we have camp set up for dissenters. 

A Cool Dip Into The Metaphysical

Tonight at close we were left contemplating the great Robert Hass line: "All the new thinking is about loss." It's a line we often return to but can't always figure out why; of course that never stops us from soliciting a guess. Have you ever felt as though you are on the precipice of everything you want only to suffer one intrusion or last minute depletion, everything you could ever want in a person, a wine, a business, a life etc... What is left then, the shrug of the shoulders, the vulgar dismissive and the inevitable yoke of going on? 

Here at Cépage we firmly believe that Jean-Paul Brun of Terres Dorees makes some the greatest wines in the world, in particular an utterly endearing Rosé. Yet, on its own, say without a plate of carnitas or a loved one and the warm spring sun, something seems to go missing, between the thought and the expression so to speak. Sadly, this seems to happen so much in life.

A good friend of ours, thankfully somewhat of a romantic, recently told us that he'd finally met a common ground girl, yet, predictably, she was tied to another. However, he was determined not to let it go to nameless dust. If we were to relate that to wine, and we relate everything to wine, we might say it's like the first time you have a wine and all the pieces fit: tasteweightdepthatmospherepersonfood... 

And that's talking about hope.

Louis/Dressner

There is a lovely article on Joe Dressner, his wonderful wife Denyse Louis and their incorrigible dog Buster (whose likeness graces the rear bumper of our delivery truck) at Wine Terriors. Wine Terriors is wonderful blog written by a savvy Frenchmen named Bertrand Celce. You can find a link just to the right of this post. The so-called world of "natural wine" or "real wine" has been getting a lot of publicity lately. It started with Wine and Spirits, then Imbibe and now Wine Terriors. While we don't necessarily like to see our growers bunched under one banner or catch phrase we are still awfully pleased with the publicity. Very soon we expect the world, from hockey mom to pompous commentator, to ransack our global headquarters on Plumas street and loot our stash of Puzelat and Breton.

"Blindfold yourself with some suitable object."

Here at Cépage we are not just all about wine. We are deadpan supporters of the arts. In fact, most of us are failed and frustrated artists ourselves, musicians, writers, painters and statisticians. Unfortunately, many years of wine drinking have diminished our creative talents to a single firefly in the woods, and left us as consumers only. Whereby, bloodthirsty readers, here is something for your consumption: a small early seventies book by W.S. Merwin called The Miner's Pale Children. It is a collection of prose poetry and shows Merwin at the top of his craft and the top of the genre. In particular is a piece call "Make This Simple Test." Do read it. We feel it is Cépage's call to arms, along with some various Camus quotes, and one of the reasons we sell delicious but deliberately esoteric wines like Domaine Mazel from the Ardeche. 

Las Vegas

Cépage's leadership decided to take Labor Day Weekend in the City of Sin. While we don't accept the doctrine of sin we understand its concept and see how it can contextually apply to Las Vegas. The trip's dossier was mostly to escape life's slings and arrows of which, sadly, there have been a few lately, but we also wanted to check out the wine scene which we envisioned would be a dry dirty desert of Bordeaux, Burgundy and California Cult Wine. Happily the scene seems to have evolved past that terrible and tawdry trinity to include, but not be limited to, the irresistible champagnes of Anselme Selosse. Here is an incomplete list of what was consumed followed by their appropriate scores on our 1 point scale.

Selosse Substance .09 points

Selosse Initial .06 points

Edmond Vatan Sancerre 2004 .04 points

Chave Hermitage 1994 .08 points

Dalle Valle Maya 2001 .06 points

Beaucastel 1994 .08 points

There were many other great wines, but most importantly nothing could compare to the company, the inordinate amount of time spent laughing, and the planning of our hostile takeover of Southern Wine and Spirits.

Many Thanks

Lulou's restaurant, Reno's long time beacon of light, has been pouring four of our wines by the glass: Chotard Sancerre, Mouthes Le Bihan's 'Pie Colette' and 'Viellefont' and Montesecondo Rosso. They have just about depleted our stock on two Sancerre producers and continue to move an incredible volume. We are forever grateful, as selling real wine is hard in this town.  Please go, sit at the bar and have glass with some food. Here is an ordering guide.

Order the Sancerre if,

     1. You are a young lady just getting into wine.

     2. Old lady just getting into Martinis.

     3. Seasoned wine store owner (sex irrelevant).

Order the 'Pie Colette' if,

     1. You are a hipster that rides a fixed-gear and shops at second hand stores, which is most of our employees. (An aside, by this time next year our entire sales force will be bike only. Please don't complain if your sample is hot because, just as Speaker Pelosi opined, we are busy saving the world.)

Order the 'Viellefont' if,

     1. You are a middle aged man and use to scour the Bordeaux market looking for values but became discouraged after Parker and Rolland turned it into Mother Russia.

     2. You are an older man, employed by a law firm, and have a taste for caustic jello, also known as high end California Cabernet. You might be disappointed but this is America, land of the optimistic, home of the second chance.

Order Montesecondo if,

     1. You want to have a wine that will blend seamlessly with your meal, allowing you and your guests to talk about important things like sea turtles, religious shysterism  and barbarism in Africa (sex irrelevant).

This Just In

Cépage is considering a large tasting on December 3rd at The Lincoln Lounge. All of Reno's wine cognoscenti will attend, giving us a guest list of eight! Out of town wine luminaries will only be permitted after a thorough background check.

Radikon

Stanko Radikon's wines have arrived at Washoe Wine Company. They have tiny quantities of Ribolla Gialla, Oslavje and Jakot all from the 03 vintage. It is truly incredible that these wines are available in our little desert hamlet. Buy them. Drink them. Write and beg us for more. Thank You. 

Maupertuis

Loyal readers of this blog will recall our recent obituary to Peyra. However, we wrote too soon, as Peyra lives on in the wines of Jean Maupertuis. Over the last two days we've been drinking Mr. Maupertuis' wine 'La Guillaume.' To start, it's 10.5 % and the most beautiful color possible in a wine. After blowing off some brett it started to truly dance, cranberry fruits and lively acidity. On day two the wine was more vibrant and alluring. It had us all cartwheeling and somersaulting, save one failed attempt at a back flip off a case stack of Denegenot destine for the VLM. Thank you Mr. Maupertuis. We hope the Paris wine bars don't get to you, and the floozies that frequent them, and you keep your wines stable.

Wines That Lettie Teague Will Hate

We recently received small amounts of wine from the house of Rene Mosse. Mr Mosse is one of the premiere growers in Anjou. He is not a young hipster and he doesn't make unstable hipster wine. He is a man of many moons with a big white beard and a slight paunch. He makes stable authentic anjou wine that is reasonably priced. If you would like to purchase the 2006 Boire Rouge or Petillant Moussamouettes please contact us by telegraph. 

California Cru

Valued Customers, the new release of Walter Hansel Winery is now in stock. We find these wines to be the pinnacle of California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. In honor of our Mafioso influenced counterparts Southern Wine and Spirits, you must buy Sauvignon Blanc to get Chardonnay and you must buy Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay to get Pinot Noir. 

Also newly arrived are the Cab Francs of Pierre Breton, Beaujolais from Descombes, brown wine from Radikon (but it's the best brown wine), some wonderful new natural Frizzante from two Italian producers, natural Port from Quinta do Infantado, a new Costieres des Nimes producer named Terre des Chardons and a bunch of other wines that none of you will like. If you wish to taste please mail a handwritten request to our global headquarters on Plumas Street, and please include a purchase history.

Caviste Extrodinare!

We are here finishing our last bottle of "Mouvaise Herbe" by the exultant but now defunct Domaine de Peyra, purchased on a recent trip to San Francisco's great wine shop/bar Terrior. It is a sad moment. Some of our best times have encompassed these wines, from an introduction at Cendrillon, to 360 (the great, but also defunct, Red Hook restaurant) to a gulp-fest at Terrior earlier this year with the VLM.  

If you don't know Terrior it is worth a trip the next time you are in SF. It is a wine store that specializes in Natural Wine and they have some stellar names such as Peyra, Radikon and Cousin-Leduc. In fact they label themselves the country's first Natural Wine Store. While the three proprietors should be applauded for "fighting the good fight" they are far from the country's first Natural Wine Store. Believe it or not, vicious readers, but Reno has a store with an equal if not better selection of Natural Wines than Terrior. Of course I'm talking about Washoe Wine Company. While they don't have Peyra, nobody does anymore, they do have Jean Maupertius' wines (one of Peyra's three mavericks) plus the likes of, Tue-Boeuf, Puzelat, Brignot, Lapierre, Foillard, Maule, Pepe, Roagna, Breton, Dard Ribo, Sansonniere, Mosse, Larmandier-Bernier etc... This is all here in Reno, Nevada! The absolute best of the best from France, Italy and Spain, and it's all thanks to a few passionate guys. Please, please, please, generous readers, go and support this store. It is a true gem in the wine world. Walk in and tell them you want a mixed case of Natural Wine. You won't spend a ton of money and you might get something that will change your wine drinking life. 

Cépage's Daily Declaration

In the Summer time all the cool kids drink Txakolina or Muscadet.

San Franciso

We spent a few days last week in San Francisco. With us were Ravi Anne, Justin Owen, and Ryan Gold, the owners of reno hot spots: Imperial Lounge and Lincoln Lounge. We drank a lot wines imported by Louis/Dressner, especially at the restaurant Nopa, which has the full Cépage stamp of approval. As you know, we represent Louis/Dressner here in Northern Nevada. Imperial Lounge and Lincoln Lounge carry some of their wines. You, should go to these establishments and drink these wines. Why? Because you would be supporting great local business and the wines just plain taste better than others. 

The New American

We must apologize for our long absence. We fully understand if you, our gentle readers, feel bitter, bewildered and betrayed by our mysterious silence. In order to make good we have decided to pour free samples of Ameztoi Txakolina Rubentis down at the bus depot from 9 to 9:15 pm. We are here for you, the few but sturdy citizens of Reno that represent "The New American," meaning those that watch Soccer, ride bikes and drink natural wine. Happy Birthday All.

Lincoln Lounge Tonight

The Lincoln Lounge is the new brain child of Cépage's good friends Ryan, Justin and Ravi. Many of you are already familiar with their first place The Imperial Lounge. Lincoln is more laid back and happens to be one of the coolest places one will ever see inside. It is important to note that these three guys are doing more to deepen the cultural scene of our town than anybody else. They have a natural inclination towards big city culture having grown up in Chicago, plus they are three of the nicest and most down to earth guys one will ever meet. For this website's purposes it is also important to note that they great supporters of Cépage and their wine lists are two of the most interesting lists in town. Stop by and have a glass of JP Brun's sparkling gamay! Congrats boys!!

One Is Not Half Two

Ernest Hemingway on the subject of war in his novel A Farewell to Arms: "Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage or hallow were obscene besides the concrete names of villages, the numbers of roads, the names of rivers, the numbers of regiments and the dates." We at Cépage feel the same way about wine, life and the people we work with and love. For instance, to grade a wine numerically seems partially obscene after you get to know (and understand) the farmer. But everybody in wine has already heard such an argument and we are not here to rehash it. What brought us to this polemic is the sad news that one of Cépage's most valuable employees is possibly moving on. Her contribution to this company has been invaluable and her worth is impossible to describe with abstract words. All that can be said is that sometimes the world calls people to different places and what's left behind is the subtle and often incomplete happiness that we were one stop on the journey. My darling, we shall keep the Cazin cold for you with a note inscribed: ILYTM.

Beaujolais Bistro

We are very pleased to have Beaujolais Bistro buying vast amounts of wine. Currently they are carrying the likes of Walter Hansel pinot noir, Tempier Rose, Mas Saint-Jospeh etc... If you want traditional french food in Reno this is the only game in town. Please head down for lunch or dinner, drink some real wine (they have 2005 Marcel Lapierre on the list*), and support Bill. Beaujolais Bistro, and a couple other places, are Reno's only true restaurant culture. Let's all do our best to keep them successful! 

*If you truly want to experience the splendors of Gamay you have to try this wine. I worn you, Cépage and its ilk will drink it all up very soon. In fact we might just order every bottle tonight and then dance on the tables.

Vittorio's Skyline Cafe hearts Emmanuelle Houllion

Vittorio Rossi, owner and namesake, of Vittorio's Skyline Cafe now features Emmanuelle Houillon's crazy chardonnay from the Arbois in the Jura. It's a furry no sulphur bomb that is totally unique. We got a total of three cases and never planned on selling it (except of course to Washoe Wine who moved a few bottles, all of which were returned); we were just going to drink them all ourselves. Then the irrepressible Vittorio asked about chardonnay from the Jura! He bought five bottles. That probably makes Vittorio's Skyline Cafe a top ten account for Houllion chardonnay.  

Lutte Raisonnée

Yesterday we had the chance to sample two wines from Mollydooker, an Australian estate that has created a stir in the wine industry. The wines were not to our preference. The important thing to note here is that our judgment of Mollydooker is simply a subjective opinion. It's not a diatribe on style or craft. Too often, and very unfortunately, the wine world is polarized into two camps, the old world and the new world. The old world camp looks at Mollydooker as a manipulated milkshake, a cocktail that tastes nothing of a grape. The new world camp looks at Mollydooker as an exemplar of fruit and fullness, a wine that truly pushes the limits. What people fail to notice is that Mollydooker is the extreme of the new world camp (hyper-manipulation) just as Radikon and Gravner are the extremes of the old world camp (no manipulation). There are moderates in the wine world, people without pure theory and agenda, people who are not jingoistic. The old world camp says that all new world wines taste the same and mask terrior, yet they fail to notice that many old world wines done under semi-carbonic maceration and without sulfur also tend to taste the same. Here at Cépage we sell wine that we like to drink and have with food. Those tend to be European wines, wines that are lighter in color, weight and fruit, be we also sell some California wines that are darker and richer and unmistakably Californian. That is what we're concerned with: authenticity of place and not dogmatic theory. We feel that all our wines are distinct of their place and enjoyable to drink on their own or with food. We also know that our winemakers are conscious of their land and the land around them, meaning they are trying to create living ecosystems instead of drowning the soil in chemicals. We're not saying that organic or sustainable viticulture make 'hands down' better wine, we're just saying that it's better for the environment. Just because most of the wines in our book come from the old world and are grown organically doesn't mean we're fully of that camp. We're just selling wine we like tho drink from farmers we respect. As in wine, and just about everything else in the world, the most prevalent color is gray and few things are black and white.

This Just In

Whispering Vine is blowing through record amounts of Texier Cotes-du-Rhone. This can be interpreted two ways, either there is a God or we have more than one reader! Not to mention, Whispering Vine just picked up Michel Tete's 2005 Julienas. This is monumental Gamay from a great Cru. If its not drinking like burgundy in eight to ten years you, our pacifist readers, can storm and ransack our global headquarters on Plumas Street.

Eric Texier

Eric's 2005 Cote-Rotie was open a week before we got around to tasting it again. It was on the table with the cork in it and about 2/3 full. The wine showed no sign of oxidation. It was delicate with aromas of red fruits and very light hints of bacon. The acid was still jumping. This is Cote-Rotie at its best, never as animal or wild as Cornas or St. Joseph, nor should it ever be. Cote-Rotie is the Burgundy of the Rhone valley and nobody exemplifies this more than Eric, with all of his wines! They slowly unravel in the glass and are absolute pleasures to drink. Plus he's a hell of a nice guy that's doing great work in old vineyard areas like Chusclan and Brézeme! 

Here is what we have in stock:

2004 Cotes du Rhone (limited) -These are grenache/mourvedre blends

2005 Cotes du Rhone 

2004 Cotes du Rhone Brézeme (limited) -syrah

2005 Cotes du Rhone Brézeme

2005 Cotes du Rhone Chusclan grenache/syrah

2005 Cote-Rotie (limited)

2005 Chateauneuf-du-Pape Rouge (limited)

2006 O Pale (limited)- viognier 

This Just In

Sezmu Restaurant is blowing through record amounts of Francious Cazin's Cour-Cheverny! Reno is on to Romorantin!

Blowout Weekend

VLM, a friend of Cépage and purveyor of Robert Denogent's wines, was in town this past weekend. There were many wines to be had and we couldn't help but rank the top fifteen because everything is best in groups of fifteen. 

1. Domaine de la Pepiere Muscadet 2005 (2 bottles)

2. Bernard Baudry Chinon La Croix Boissée 2004    

3. Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto 1996

4. Domain de la Pepiere Granite de Clisson 2005  

5. Domain Fourrier Les Gruenchers 2001

6. Clos Rougeard Les Poyeux 1999

7. Wiengut Prager Riesling Bodenstein 2004 (purchased at Sezmu) 

8. Valentini Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2000 

9. Harmand Geoffroy Lavaux Saint Jacques 2002

10. Bernard Baudry Chinon Domaine 2004

11. Albert Boxler Brand Riesling 2001

12. Clos Roche Blanche "Pif" 2004

13. Oddero Vigna Rionda 1996

14. Ghislaine Barthod Les Fuées 2002

15. Clos de Goisses 1996 

Some brief interconnected comments:

Pepiere is for sale, from this company, for eight dollars. Buy it. Baudry makes the everything of cab franc. The great poet ee cummings said "i don't know what it is about you that opens and closes" he should have been talking about nebbiolo, Giacosa opened, Oddero closed. Marc Olivier is a God! Fourrier's wines have different colors. Rougeard is a great enigma, sublime yet blocky. We should drink more Austrian wines. We'll probably never see another bottle of Valentini MdA. This one was interesting but very much a moving target, like a cherry bomb floating in the ocean. Geoffroy is a serious producer for old men with harry nostrils, wearing vests. It's not for hipsters. No one drinks Alsatian riesling, including us. Clos Roche Blanche, buy it. Barthod is a piece of iron, iron on a building not in a garden. Clos de Goisses is the Fois Gois of champagne: pure fat with the texture of a slug. Not listed were countless bottles of Hudelot-Noellat, and though we had our best bottle (Beaumont 2004), we still don't see the it of the it in these wines. In closing: Buy Pepiere. And vote for Kusinch.

Jungle Vino Picks Up Two Wines!

We are very happy to say that Jungle Vino has joined the revolution. They now offer Domaine de Cadette Bougoune Blanc and Clos Roche Blanche "Pif." These are two of the better values in our book.

Cadette is in the Vézelay appellation of Burgundy but its soils are like that of Chablis, Kimmeridgian clay. Jean Montanet, a good friend of Bernard Raveneau, works his vineyards orgaincally, hand harvests, uses only indigenous yeast and old barrels. This is chardonnay in its purest form. 

Clos Roche Blanche is, perhaps, the producer we're most proud to work with and support. It's an estate in the Touraine (loire valley) run by two of most passionate and kind people you will ever meet: Didier Barrouillet and Catherine Roussel. They've worked orgaincally since the mid-ninties and their vineyards are incredible, surrouned by forest therefore allowing a distinct and complete ecosystem to develop. They are like no other. Many vignoron talk of their vineyards as ecosystems but Clos Roche Blanche has truly achieved it! "Pif" is a blend of cabernet franc and cot and is a true terrior wine, warm, earthy and fragrant.

Please go down to Jungle Vino and try these wines. Support them for selling wines that are made by farmers who care about keeping their products, and the world around them, as authentic as possible.