Moore Brothers Blog

It's Only Human...

history David Moore

Fabrice Gasnier working the vines during veraison Hang around here long enough and you’ll hear lots of conversations about  wine in the “Old World,” and how they evolved. And even more stories about our winegrowers. Wines like those you’ll find here are very different from what you’d find in a typical liquor store. And the stories of small local cultures that existed before “France,” “Italy,” or “Germany” were countries as we know them today, explain why “Burgundy” is Burgundy, and “Barolo” is Barolo. Ours are stories that speak of the humanity of wine—whether as a function of human cultural evolution, or the hard, physical, human effort that goes into producing fine wine. Our winegrowers are a living part of this history. They work in a spirit of gratitude, refining and developing what previous generations created while preserving the land for future generations. For them, an attentive, sensitive style of stewardship is both a duty and a precondition for living s

Château de Monteberiot

winegrowers Greg Moore

Gilles Marsaudon and Marie-Hélène Leonard in their vines Marie-Hélène Leonard Was born and raised in Cognac, and grew up in the wine industry, eventually heading the sales department for one of Bordeaux's largest négociants. Gilles Marsaudon, owned a company specializing in trade show marketing to the Bordeaux wine trade. In 2002 the two purchased the old, run-down Château de Monteberiot in Côtes de Bourg. The reclamation of the vineyards and buildings has focused entirely on the vines and finished wine–no money has gone into "tasting rooms." The 17 acres of vines in production are planted to clay/limestone soils much like St. Emilion to the south. Approximately 75% is planted to Merlot, 22% to Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest to Cabernet Franc. In 2003 a small plot was also planted to Côt (Malbec). The vineyards are being retrained to lutte raisonée.

Corte Gardoni

winegrowers Greg Moore

Andrea, Gianni, and Mattia Piccoli The late, Gianni Piccoli was as stubborn as he was modest and self-effacing, with no interest in following the easy paths to guaranteed market share if they mean compromising his principles. He and his sons Mattia, Andrea, and Stefano simply made the best wine in Bardolino. Which is how they find the best customers. Corte Gardoni was established in 1980, when Gianni decided that his beautiful grapes–carefully farmed at low yields on the stony slopes of the moraine in Valeggio sul Mincio–would no longer be sold in bulk, to be blended anonymously in the vats of industrial wineries like Bolla and Folonari that still dominate Bardolino. Building a winery was a risky undertaking in a region that had such little prestige, but Gianni Piccoli never looked back. Today, under the direction of his son Mattia, Corte Gardoni supplies the finest Bardolino and Custoza to nearly every Michelin starred restaurant in Italy.

Life's Surprising Lessons...

wine David Moore

Paolo De Marchi and James Spinelli Paolo was exhausted. Following a huge turnout the night before in our New York store, a two-hour drive to my house to spend the night, a 9AM meeting and interview with Philadelphia's most influential food writer, then the all-day tasting; he was spent. He was telling me (on our way to pick up sushi for a quiet dinner at home; ( Fuji in Haddonfield in case you're interested) how old he was feeling, and how tired he was. And it got me thinking. I took a short detour down Tanner Street in Haddonfield and pulled up in front of Quaker Shoe Repair. I took Paolo with me into the little shop, and introduced him to the owner, James Spinelli (he keeps my cowboy boots in shape). Mr. Spinelli took an apprenticeship in shoemaking at age 11 when Calvin Coolidge was still President and was just turning 94–still working six or seven days a week as an artisan. I told Mr. Spinelli that Paolo was "feeling his years," and was tiring out. Mr. Spinelli lo

Marjorie & Stéphane Gallet

winegrowers Greg Moore

Marjorie and Stéphane Gallet in Montner These wines come from selected parcels grown in the stony, red clay soil of Rivesaltes, and are made at the Cave Cooperative de Rivsaltes under the direction of Stéphane and Marjorie Gallet of Roc des Anges. By helping the cooperative’s growers understand the benefits of sustainable farming, limited yields and harvesting before the grapes are over mature, the Gallets are hoping to raise the general quality of wine in their appellation. It’s demanding work, but the results are producing the finest wines ever made at the Cave Cooperative de Rivesaltes.

Giovanni Almondo

winegrowers Greg Moore

Domenico Almondo The Almondos have grown grapes in Roero for more than three centuries, but it was Domenico’s father, Giovanni Almondo, who was the first to bottle a tiny quantity of wine. The estate comprises six hectares of Arneis, the noble white variety of Piemonte; four hectares of Nebbiolo for the Roeros; one-and-a-half hectares of Barbera; and a tiny parcel of Brachetto, for the delicate, sweet sparkling red Mosto Parzialmente Fermentato “Fosso della Rosa.” With the day-to-day operations in the hands of Domenico, who is both an uncompromising perfectionist in the vineyard and an immensely talented winemaker, the estate is widely regarded as the top producer in Roero.

Fabrice Gasnier

winegrowers Greg Moore

Fabrice Gasnier in Chinon When we last saw Fabrice Gasnier at his beautiful home in Cravant-les-Coteaux, he had just completed a five-year transformation of his 24-hectare estate to biodynamics; the agricultural discipline based on a series of lectures by Rudolph Steiner titled The Spiritual Foundation for the Renewal of Agriculture. Steiner was an Austrian philosopher active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who is best known today as the founder of the Waldorf Schools. It would be easy to describe biodynamics as something like “Organic Plus,” but more than simple labor-intensive organic farming, biodynamics includes a strong belief in interdependence among the “forces” of Earth, Life, and Cosmos. “In the past,” Fabrice says, “we would have sprayed fungicide in the vineyard whenever we had cold, wet weather.” Scooping up a handful of clay-calcareous soil he smiles and says, “But I don't think that way anymore. Now when I see mildew in the vines, I see it as

A Note on Barolo

wine David Moore

A Salumeria's sign in Monforte It’s always an interesting question; “What’s the difference between this Barolo and THAT Barolo?” When talking about how “place” determines what the wine will be, the “geeks” among us like to talk about soils, altitude, and exposure - each giving something to the wine that can’t be reproduced in the next town over. But the one other aspect of “terroir” that’s often missed is “culture.” And differences in culture shape the viticolotore’s aesthetic just as much as soils. You can see this in looking at the two Barolo villages represented at Moore Brothers; Monforte and Serralunga. Monforte is a much larger town than Serralunga. It was one of the important centers of commerce in the area which became known as the “Barolo” zone. Quite broadly speaking, the inhabitants of this town were much “better off” than their counterparts in Serralunga. In Serralunga, the market for grapes was dominated by the large Fontanafredda winery, and most of the farmers s

Three Wine Company

winegrowers Greg Moore

>Matt Cline in the old vineyards of Oakley Along with Joel Peterson at Ravenswood in Sonoma, and Paul Draper at Ridge Vineyards in Santa Cruz, Matt Cline was one of the original champions of single-vineyard, old-vine Zinfandel. Before establishing Three Wine Company in 2006, Matt was a founding partner of Trinitas Cellars (which he sold in 2006), and had worked with his brother Fred at Cline Cellars. Along the way, he has quietly produced some of the most dramatic red wines ever made in California, mostly from grapes purchased under contract with third and fourth generation farmers of ancient parcels in Oakley and Lodi in Contra Costa County.

Château Brûlesécaille

winegrowers Greg Moore

Jacques Rodet No doubt Château Brûlesécaille, which was classified a Cru Bourgeois in 1868, would be better known today if the wine were sold on the Place de Bordeaux. But Jacques and Martine Rodet, who took charge of the family estate in 1974, prefer to sell their wine directly, in mutually rewarding personal relationships like the one that established Château Brûlesécaille at “Les Trois Marches” in Versailles more than thirty years ago, and the one I hope will continue long into the future. The 26-hectare estate lies on an elevated croupe of gravelly clay limestone overlooking the Dordogne in Tauriac, one of the most privileged locations in the Côtes de Bourg. Of special interest is that many of the vines are more than seventy years old, having escaped the ravages of the terrible freeze of February 1956, which destroyed nearly three fourths of the vines on the Right Bank. Stéphane Beuret, the brilliant enologist who also makes the wine at Château Larroque, supervises the winema