user name:
password:



Don't have an account?
Register here to comment on this blog


rss feed

return to the main page...

The Next Big Thing: Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban

Eric Texier's done it again!

The guy who discovered Brézème is now working in Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban, a village on the opposite side of the Rhône from Brézème in the Ardeche.

There is some great vineyard work here and the vineyards are all in massale, worked organically for generations and brimming with syrah minerality and terroir. There is also two hectares of cinsault and this is no doubt the most northern exposition for that cépage.

I'm with a group of about 20 Americans today and we toured the vines and talked with the current ownership. Eric will soon be forming a close collaboration with them. The 2009s, the first wines vinified by Eric, were stunning today.

I'm tired and its late here. More on this area in the future.


- Joe Dressner 1-25-2010 3:45pm
I knew it was only a matter of time before Alban became a saint! Imagine how it must feel!!!!
Whaaa?
posted by Steve Edmunds 1-26-2010 2:22am
Cool Im excited to taste. Hook me up with some samples dude!
posted by jerkweed 1-28-2010 7:57am
Sounds amazing.
posted by Gadfly 1-30-2010 11:39am
Receive email notifications for new comments in this thread

Return to the main page
**

Joe Dressner - Captain Tumor Man!


Hi, I'm Joe Dressner the famous wine importer and I have brain cancer!

I already have a wine blog and frankly wine is such a luxury business that I hate to mix my cancer problems with my wine observations. I think it would be a general downer for the lifestyle crowd out there.

Furthermore, we in the wine trade always claim there are tremendous health benefits to drinking wine. I've already had cardiovascular bypass surgery over eight years ago and now I got a tumor aggressively rattling in my brain. My colleagues in the glamorous wine industry want me to keep it quiet.

So, I've started this wonderful new blog to discuss wine, brain tumors, my life and to give you hot tips on handling the cancer stricken around you. There will also be practical wine/radiation pairings when I start radiation therapy and chemotherapy next week.

Having brain cancer means I might both physically and intellectually decline. So, I will be using this blog as a venue to pursue petty vendettas against relatives, acquaintances and people in the wine trade.

I might also lose touch with reality and say things that are not true or are only half true. The important thing is to have fun and enjoy this rare and precious time in my life.

One of my pet vendettas is my cousin Dr. Barbara Hirsch. Dr. Barbara Hirsch is a very important Great Neck Endocrinologist, who was raised and nurtured by my parents. Dr. Hirsch waited until my father was near death and my mother was suffering from a rare neuromuscular disorder, to write them a seven page letter denouncing them for being horrible to her for the entirety of her life! Despite my concerns, Dr. Hirsch still refuses to apologize.

Last night, I drank a beautiful bottle of Bourgueil Clos Sénéchal 2005 from Pierre Breton. It was sublime and reminded me that I used to be healthy. Not only that, the vineyard used to be there before I existed. It exists independently of my having cancer and will continue to exist. You ought to buy some.

August 2009 Postscript: Not only does it exist independently of my cancer, it also exists independently of Louis/Dressner Selections. After 18 years, they have dumped us for Kermit Lynch. Oh well. At least I'm alive!