Wine, Naturally

March 18, 2009 9:45 am

The last week in February was a great week for wine lovers. Particularly those interested in naturally produced, small production wines from France. Jenny & Francois Selections hosted Natural Winemakers Week, series of tastings, classes and wine dinners featuring the artisan wines and winemakers they represent in the their small and beautifully selected portfolio.

Natural wine is not a new concept by any stretch of the imagination; it is basically wine made in the old fashioned way. No chemical additions or crazy scientific process, no tweaking flavor for mass market appeal. These wines taste of true terroir, like the land where they were grown and like a real person made them.

Jenny & Francois Selections is an importing company started by a New Yorker and a Parisian. Jenny Lefcourt was working on her PhD in Paris when she decided to forgo Harvard for more oenological pursuits. Francois Ecot was playing jazz piano and restoring accordions before he decided to go to school for winemaking in Burgundy. In 2000 they formed Jenny & Francois Selections and since then they have been importing wonderful small production natural wine from all over France.

During Natural Winemakers Week I had the opportunity to attend a tasting at The Smith on the Lower East Side. Although there where several smaller tastings throughout the week this one featured Jenny & Francois' entire portfolio. It was a real treat; besides being able taste all of these amazing wines, I also met the winemakers. The winemakers themselves seemed well, natural and genuine, just like their wines. The tables were laid out with the prerequisite bottles and spit buckets; there were also photoalbums. Some albums had pictures of the beautiful vineyards that were interspersed with adorable photos of goats and donkeys that live on the farms. Other photo albums had pictures of the winemaker's families. There was something so wonderful about talking to these winemakers about their wines: a real sense of pride that you can only get from a real craftsman.

There were so many incredible wines at the tasting, some of my favorites where Christian Binner's Alsatian whites. He had some really beautiful Rieslings and a delicious Cremant d'Alsace. Another wonderful surprise was Jenny & Francois' bag in a box wine, a wonderful white Cotes du Rhone called From The Tank. It's big and rich with a slight sherry nose.

These natural wines are really something special and I encourage you to go and taste them for yourself. Here are a few places in the city that carry Jenny & Francois' wines.

Chambers Street Wines
148 Chambers St.
New York, NY 10007

Slope Cellars
436 7th Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11215

Astor Wines
399 Lafayette St.
New York, NY 10003

The Ten Bells
247 Broome St.
New York, NY 10002

Caroline Russock