It’s a Dusi
Janell Dusi and the Dusi Blues
A few weeks ago I was delighted to receive 2 cases of Janell’s 2007 Dusi Zinfandel. I sent out a reminder to a few customers who had shown interest in the wine and had bought it in the past and then it was gone. Two cases in one morning and I figured that would be it until next vintage. Which would have been a shame considering how good her ’07 was. And even at the wine-head visitors are limited to only 1 bottle and they now pay $42 for the pleasure. But before I share with you the really good news let me give you a little history about Dusi Vineyard. 
It all began back in the 1920′s when Sylvester and Caterina Dusi emmigrated to the US and specifically to the Paso Robles region. Over the years Sylvester became a prominent businessman and was involved in numerous local businesses including the purchase of a vineyard. Back then buying a vineyard was the equivalent of buying yourself a ticket to bankruptcy. But Sylvester was a farmer at heart and his three sons were born, raised and worked at Dusi Winery. Dante, one of the three is grandfather to Janell and it was he who taught her how to grow vines and make wine the Italian way. But even though it was in her blood it still took her a while to appreciate what life had given her. She studied at UC Davis and then went walkabout, exploring Australia, South East and Central Asia. The more she travelled the more she realised that her love was back home, in the vineyards that her great-grandfather had planted. The Dusi vineyards have become historic – Turley makes a Dusi Zinfandel, so too does Ridge, in fact almost all of the vineyard is designated to some of the greatest zinfandel producers in California. Janell doesn’t have priority over the vines, these other wineries take precedent. But as a testimony to how good the vineyard really is, the share of vines that she harvests produce, in my opinion, the greatest expression of Dusi Vineyard. Possibly because she is a woman, born and raised alongside the vines, but her zinfandel is unlike all other macho and mustachioed zins. This is a wine that begs you to drink the entire bottle. It’s also a wine that will happily collect dust in your cellar and delight you in 8-12 years. Her zinfandel is as good as any I have tasted, and she’s only been making it for three harvests!
So here’s the good news – I just bought the last 10 cases of 2007 Dusi Zinfandel. Your really can’t buy it at the winery and outside of a few stores in California the only other place I found it was in Omaha, NE ! I am going to keep the price the same as it was when we first received our very first shipment – $32.00 and $28.8 per bottle for a case. This is a wine that you may well want to share with friends and family at Thanksgiving. Whilst it is a big wine it has such a feminine touch – sweet black fruit, stewed berry compote, touch of vanilla seed and the aromatics of Poilane’s Bakery in Paris (Lionel Poilane’s bakery is one of the 7 Wonders of the World). It will pair with turkey because pretty much anything over and above water is a good pairing for the great white shark of the Thanksgiving table; but more than that it will pair up with all the lovely roasted vegetables, rich stuffing, pecan pies and cheeses! Damn I wish Thanksgiving would hurry up and arrive!
Anyway – if the last two cases are anything to go by, these ten will soon disappear – so as always, if you have an interest let me know ASAP.
The Dutch Tulip Bulb Bubble – is it relevant now?
Back in 1593 someone brought into Holland a little bulb from Turkey called a Tulip. Since it had travelled quite a distance and was not indigenous to Holland it began life as quite a pricey little bauble. It’s novelty caught on and made it quite sought after. Then it got a virus – non-fatal and actually quite attractive. The tulips contracted a virus called ‘mosaic’ which altered their colors by creating flames of brighter, primary colors, to shoot out from the stamen and along the petal. This was wondrous and a deathly quiet descended over the flat land of Holland. Until everyone realised that this made their tulips even more valuable and then began a cacophony of buying and selling tulips that had rarer and rarer ‘flames’. Such was the demand that people began trading their homes, their land, even their lives, for a few little bulbs. Of course, the smart money began selling their bulbs and soon a domino effect took over and when it was all over the government, which had attempted to stop the selling by honoring purchase contracts at 10% of face value, went bust as did almost every Dutch citizen who had decided to plant a tulip garden.
There are similarities even in the wine business. Last Saturday Morrell & Company hosted a Fine Wine Auction dominated by great Chateaux from Yquem and Mouton to Petrus and Rieussec. Bids were not that frequent and many of the wines sold for less than estimate or at the bid side of estimate. Restaurateurs weren’t gobbling up the expensive stuff and quite a few wines didn’t even manage a bid. We aren’t in a wine bubble at the moment, but I do think that the serious wine connoisseur is looking at value and the price level for value is coming down. The Russians and the Chinese bought up most of the 2009 Bordeaux 1st growths, but that’s where the new money is. I would be very cautious about buying heavily into these en-primeurs at this juncture. I suspect that prices will fall quite sharply in the new year and those that seek out excellent wine at moderate prices will be happy enough buying more wine for less than buying one mega wine for more – ’tis the season when one needs to think about value and quality ratio – and if the tulip bulb bubble didn’t worry you, did you know that Mexico just floated a 100 year bond, due 2110 with a yield of 6.1%. If that isn’t indicative of an interest rate bubble I don’t know what is.
Wines such as Dusi Zinfandel offer you the greatness of a Turley wine without the price tag and it allows you to buy more nectar than you could before. Moral of this story? You can’t drink tulips but you can drink zins.
Billecart Arrives – Christmas comes early in Rye, NY.
I was just upstairs tasting some Brunello’s and the Billecart champagne came in from the cold. Very exciting! It’s been a long time since I bought Billecart, either personally or for the store. As I mentioned in a blog a few weeks ago Billecart salmon decided to do away with their previous importer – a character that would make even Charles Dickens weep, and they moved their business to a specialist importer here in New York. We have worked with this company almost since day one and so you can imagine I was delighted. But even with our friendship he did have to curtail my initial enthusiasm and this morning I received about 50% of my wish list. Trust me, any amount would have been gratefully accepted. With prior requests this leaves me with roughly 3 cases of the Billecart Brut Reserve, 1 1/2 cases Billecart Rose and only 2 cases of the Billecart Blanc de Blanc. My understanding is that more Billecart may come into New York in November but I can’t guarantee that, so if you are interested in purchasing any please let me know as soon as possible – this will sell out immediately.
Wine of the Month Club
The wines for the October Wine of the Month Club finally arrived yesterday – those of you who live out of State we will ship to you this morning. For all local Club Members the wines will be available this afternoon and as promised, we will be pouring each of them on Saturday. The theme for this month was Stunt Men – those less expensive wines that stand in for their Holywood Stars – a petit Sancerre, a petit Amarone, a second label from Lynch Bages and a wine from the Minnervois that doubles as a Chateauneuf du Papes.
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