A Red and Rosé. A Rooster and a Donkey.
Sometimes things don't go as planned. But thankfully, there are no bad days in the wine business.
A few weeks ago I hopped in our Peugeot Partner and made the lovely drive across the Indre-et-Loire northbound toward Le Mans, and into the department of the Sarthe. The plan was to meet Claire Lelais and taste her lineup of newly available wines. It was a Saturday morning, traffic was sparse, spring was in the air, colza fields were starting to bloom, and the Loire landscape was awaking from winter in varying shades of green. It was a verdant, lovely, peaceful drive.
And then I pulled into the the Lelais parking lot to find a tour bus. Claire was inside pouring wine for customers, loading up orders, and flitting around doing 5 tasks at once like Ricochet Rabbit. She was simultaneously giving tours of their fantastic troglodyte cave, answering the phone, giving directions, and making reservations at the local restaurant. Amidst it all she set me up with a glass, a small plate of sausage and cheese, and gave me a look that said, "You're a pro. You know what to do," and also, "please...I just wanted a normal day."
Thankfully I had arrived at 11:45, and as is classically French, the place went from cacophony to crickets about 25 minutes later with the chaos presumably transferred to a local restaurant for lunch. When Claire finally found me, dutifully munching the charcuturie and filling my notebook with tasting notes, she plopped down and dropped this on me, "Je saute du coq a'lâne, Dan." I looked up confused, wondering why she was referring to a rooster and a donkey. Was a farm visit coming next?
Instead, I had learned a neat French expression--to jump from the rooster to the donkey--a way of saying that there is no routine for the moment, we're just switching from one thing to another, with no apparent connection between the things. I love it. In speech, I think this would be called a non sequitur. In small business, it's thought of as wearing too many hats.
In a way though, there IS a connection between all those things. They were being done in service of running a dynamic, ever-changing wine business. In fact, I found the moment to be perfectly reflective of what it takes to get through a busy Saturday, jumping around being a jack-of-all-trades, and finally taking a moment at the end to sit and enjoy a glass of wine with someone.
I went to Lelais looking for Jasnieres--some youthful, bracing, electric Chenin Blanc (more on that in a few weeks). But what I found instead was a red and a rosé that perfectly filled up the back of my fourgeonette. I typed up a quick note to Sebastien while I ate lunch later that read like this, "Buy as much white as you can, but please take 5 cases each of the red and the rosé. I'll sell them for you, and if I can't, I'll buy them all myself."
And finally, that's what brings me to these two gems…
Domaine Lelais
Côteaux du Loir Les Quatre Épices 2024
This is maybe the most delicious and interesting Loire red wine I've had in years. Based in the local red grape Pineau d'Aunis, it is pure aromatic fireworks with crunchy red cranberries leading the way. But as the name suggests (the Four Spices), the 80% Pineau is joined by equal parts of Cabernet Franc, Gamay, and Côt (Malbec) to round out the blend. It is a bottle built for everything--to take a sip while cooking, a cool aperitif on a warm day, or to enjoy a glass of red that is lighter in color, but perfumed to the max and equally mouthwatering. How this bottle is under $20 blows my mind.
Domaine Lelais
Côteaux du Loir Poivre Rose 2025
Claire keeps the spice mill thing going here with a wine appropriately referring to pink peppercorns. It is the exact same base as the wine above, but in pink wine form. We almost didn't try this wine, but I had remembered a rosé from years past and asked about it. She giggled and suggested that their production is reserved for the big groups of tours buses, and they sold 100% of their production out the front door. Somehow though, Sebastien compelled her to sell us some, and five cases of this juicy, high-toned, hamburger helper of a rosé are on their way to us now. Make it cold and serve it up with anything you want this summer.