Metro Wines Blog - Metro Wines Asheville
This was not a structured interview, just bits and pieces I picked up while Gustavo chatted with us and the dinner guests. Here we go:
Gustavo Gonzalez, Winemaker for Mira, dropped in @MetroWines today. Not to make this personal already but my favorite restaurant in this country is Bistro Jeanty in Yountville. Guess where the new Mira Winery will be built? Come on, just guess. Just south, I mean steps, south of the Bistro. How cool is that?
Christof Hopler was delightful! He shared the story of the winery and why their wines are so special. And indeed they are extraordinary.
Of course, we asked Christof about the rumor that Hopler provides wine to kingdom royalty as well as food royalty. Turns out it is all true. Hopler supplies Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver with his Gruner Veltliner and Dry Riesling (which BTW was DRY and very appealing). And, Hopler Gruner was on the table at a recent State Dinner hosted by Prince Charles of England! All ture.
We had lunch with Winemaker Francoise Antech (phonetically "on tesh") from Limoux last week and shamelessly asked a lot of questions. Francoise was both generous in her comments and candid.
We tasted two of her sparkling wines paired with family style dishes at Rhubarb. "The wines are made in the Methode Champenoise but with different grapes," Francoise says. "Mauzac is from Limoux."
WOW. What a night. Michele D'Aprix is not just a great winemaker but a natural comedienne! About 35 participants came out to welcome Michele. We learned. We laughed. We left knowing all about Bordeaux.
You know from previous posts that Michele was studying chemistry and bartending in Boston. I would not say that she is an accidental winemaker but there are some elements of chance in her story. She took that chemistry degree and what was becoming an interest in wine to University of California Davis.
Tonight is the night! Emmanuel Kemiji, Master Sommelier, WineMaker and Winery Owner, hosts a sold out wine pairing dinner at the acclaimed Vivian in Asheville! Emmanuel, on a very busy day, stopped by the shop a few hours ago to say hello to the staff. We shamelessly cornered him for a few minutes.
In our casual conversation with a very excited and a bit star struck staff (including me!), we asked to learn about this very accomplished person in the wine world. What we uncovered in nothing compared to what the dinner revealed about Emmanuel's travels down a long and vinous road to becoming a highly regarded winemaker.