Said Location

Juneau has gotten a lot of snow in the past couple of days, even at sea level. Today has been a day of obligations that have kept me from getting out in it. Getting on my skis usually provides a means of clearing my head and making room for thoughts to flow around. Without that opportunity I decided to look in our basement cellar for some possible ideas. A bottle I have been holding on to provided a kernel of inspiration.

Bruno Michel Lieu Dits “Les Roses” Brut Champagne leapt out from the others because of the unique memories it has provided. I have tasted meat flavors in Rhone wines and New World Rhone style wines, but this was the first time that I ever tasted meaty flavors in a Champagne. This rosé of Pinot Meunier possesses a wild gaminess that is suitable for any wild food that you may be fortunate enough to have access to, be it fish, fowl, or land mammal. The color is dark for a brut rosé and grower produced by Bruno Michel in Pierry. “Les Roses” is the lieu dit, or said location, on which the grapes are grown. According to K&L Wine Merchants, the exclusive importer of Bruno Michel Champagnes, “Bruno Michel has been organic since 1999 and 5 of his 37.5 acres are farmed bio-dynamically.” I sought this wine out because of the Champagne feature page that is published in K&L’s monthly newsletter. If you don’t already get the newsletter, I would suggest that you visit their website and sign up to receive it. I find that there is always something interesting to glean from how the staff members relate their wines experiences. If you have the opportunity to try this wine, I think you will agree that it may likely be one of the most unique wines you have ever tasted and I believe this can be attributed to its specificity of place and that Bruno Michel is “sympathetic to not extinguishing the terroir,” according to the Champagne-de-Vigneron website.

This sense of specificity of place can also be applied to salmon of particular river origins and I have heard it said that river systems do indeed impart characteristics to the salmon that spawn in them that distinguish the salmon from those of other streams.

Mel