The piles of compost at Domaine Gauby do not generate the same press coverage that Michel Rolland  receives, but they should. In our celebrity culture socialites, chefs, and winemakers have become the new stars. Its too bad because acting used to be a craft, chefs most important job is to find great ingredients and the best winemakers grow their own grapes. It is not about winemaking, it is about winegrowing. My spell check recognizes winemaking but not winegrowing! The best wines are made in the vineyards. Farmers (yes grapes are farmed) painstakingly raise great tasting grapes by carefully tending their vines and the earth. Once harvested they let the flavors of the grapes shine by leaving them alone as much as possible. Wine is a product of the earth, not the laboratory. 

Wine is about the story, the experience, the people. It is not about the wine. If you are living, breathing, participating in life and even sharing it, wine is about enhancing experiences. Wine is a great companion to food, love, sex, sorrow and everything in between. Jeff Lefevere of Good Grape tells a  great story illustrating these notions. Reminds me of the time that Sarah and I had dinner with Ann Marie and Marc Tempe in Alsace.

We only knew them for a few hours and then we were at a birthday celebration with their French and Belgian friends. The short explanation is that my wife is very charming, even in, or should I say especially in, French. I ended up cooking (the extent of my charm). An amazing night. Some outstanding wines. And the bottle of 2001 "Mambourg" Riesling in my cellar stands a chance to be the best bottle I’ve ever had when I finally open it. A glance at my tasting notes reminds me it is great, but the memories of the night with Ann Marie and Marc will make it truly outstanding. 

Working with family-owned businesses is a laudable goal. It is something I personally try and do not only in business, but in my everyday shopping too. Whether it is an independent butcher shop like Moccia’s, a shoe store, or a restaurant, I feel better about supporting family run operations. Not only do I get to meet the people who are truly passionate about their craft, I get better quality than mass production can offer.

So when I read about a wine importer that "is a family-owned business working almost exclusively with family-owned wineries," I definitely wanted to check out their wines. Much to my dismay, I discovered that it is not WYSIWYG! This importer does indeed represent some great wineries, but yellowtail? Sure the Australian wine giant is family-owned, but if that is your only standard, then maybe you should book your next vacation to a family run paradise.

Okay, so maybe I am exaggerating a little, but I’ll leave you with Paul’s (of Champion Wine fame) thoughts on the matter…"Wine is just like any other cultural product. It’s an agricultural product, crafted by human beings. Like food or art or music, wine can say something about where it came from, how it was made, who made it. There is a wine mainstream, there is a wine underground. A product like Yellowtail is even more insidious than Starbucks or the GAP, because folks don’t understand the difference between the factories that pump out millions of gallons of wine, versus a small independent producer, growing their own grapes and making their own wine." 

I have been working to get Farmstead Wines into business for a couple of years now.  Guy Kawasaki  has helped me focus, work through the tenth version of a plan, and ultimately open for business. Without Guy and my dear friends Renato Fenocchio and Milva Giacone, Farmstead Wines would not exist. When I met Renato and Milva it was only a matter of days before we knew that we had to bring wines like theirs to North America. As a chef, I have always tried to work with and support local farmers. My grandfather was the first in his family to work outside of the family farm. He still had a garden that was nearly an acre, and I worked with him as soon as I could walk. I grew up cooking with my grandmother. In some way, planting seeds with my Papa Bill and peeling beets for Grandma Judy’s borscht have brought Farmstead Wines to life. It is the beauty of people who are in tune with the land, with the Earth, that inspire Farmstead Wines. They are family farmers who make wine the only way they know how- in unison with nature, handcrafted and delicious. These are wines they serve to their families and friends.
My wife, Sarah, and I were eating artisan salami and cheese at a picnic table in an Italian town square. Since it was late June and stonefruits were at their seasonal peak, fresh peaches were served for dessert. Some people cut them into pieces, some ate them out of hand, some soaked them in their red wine before eating. But everyone peeled them first. Not just washed off, as many North Americans do religiously, but each and every person peeled their peach before eating. When we wondered aloud why they did not eat the skin, the answer was simple-“We don’t know who grew it.” Buying wine with the Farmstead Wines sticker means you do not have to peel your peach. We know who grew the fruit, how it was handled, and ultimately what has gone into the bottle. So you don’t have to worry about what you are sharing with your friends and family. You simply have to enjoy the ripe, delicious flavors.

Yes, organic wines and viticulture are growing in popularity, but all too often to be used merely as a marketing tool. The best wineries have always utilized sustainable agriculture/viticulture. Farmstead Wines works with the farmers who could care less about an overpriced marketing scheme that requires lots of expensive bureaucratic hoop jumping. They are busy working in the vineyards and in the cellar, actually making great organically farmed wine. I’m sure there are exceptions, but when is the last time you tasted a wine labeled organic and didn’t feel a sense of surprise if it was actually good?