Monday, October 20, 2008

Charlottesville, Virginie

Didier Simon received us in Charlottesville, a town of 40,000 inhabitants and a little corner of heaven in the state of Virginia. This beautiful town, with its forest, hilly landscapes and very “British” nature is very dynamic. Its university and intelligentsia have encouraged a wine culture and good way of life.

Wine stores are profitable Aladdin’s caves. All my friends’ wines are sold here and some of my wines, in addition to the ones sold by Didier, are already present: Cambon la Pelouse, Rollan de By, La Vieille Cure, Les Grands Maréchaux, Lalande Borie, Ducru Beaucaillou, Fleur de Boüard as well as Chapelle Ségur, la cuvée Viva, Tour de Guiet, Peyfol, Fombrauge with Fleur Cardinale, Clément Pichon, Sabines, Bad Boy and even Flor de Pingus, tenuta de Trinoro ! Lots and lots of choice. And I don’t mention the various beers.

We visited Tastings and had a good time with the owner, he looks like an artist and has a great sense of humor, and enjoyed a delicious crab cake. We then drove to Richmond to participate to a wine tasting organized by Emerson. It was very well attended, and properly organized by this beautiful and large store. Their customers had the opportunity to taste Blanc de Valandraud N° 2 2006, Lalande Couturier 2005, Fonguillon l’Enclos 2005, Bad Boy 2005, which I often autographed, the 3 de Valandraud 2003 and Clément Pichon 2001. The involvement of the owner made this tasting one of the best I participated in the USA in a long time.
A good number of Francophiles attended including Bob Talcott, the stylish and sparkling, boss of Can Can brasserie where Fleur Mongiron 2005 is already served by the glass. Thank you for globalization and Guy who bought this wine which I saw in this corner of Virginia.

We had dinner at our friend’s home then went to bed early after spending a good day talking and visiting retailers which expressed the personalities of their owners. The impersonal atmosphere of our hotel is depressing despite being correct.

A final thought: If every distributors I work with did the same job Didier on Bad Boy, I would need to produce 100 times more!

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