Michel Rolland in Napa Valley

January 29, 2008

Hello Everyone,

Last night we had our sushi dinner with Michel Rolland in St. Helena at Go Fish Restaurant. It was Rudy and my first time there. Chris who joined us had previously been there for a company party. Michel told us that he is a frequent visitor of Cindy Pawlcyn's Go Fish Restaurant whenever he is in the Napa Valley.

For starters, we ordered some edamame and calamari. We didn't realize that this time of year the restaurant doesn't make fried calamari, which is what we were expecting. It was more of a bean soup. We tried it anyway.

For dinner, we all decided to share several kinds of sushi. We ordered 5 different kinds. It ended up being just the right amount of food for 4. With our meal we enjoyed a chilled bottle of 2006 Darioush Signature Viognier. It paired perfectly! We also had 1 bottle of still Figi water and 1 bottle of bubbly Pellegrino water.

After dinner, I urged the guys to have a little dessert. We shared 2 orders of chocolate cake to pair with my last bottle of 2004 Darioush Signature Merlot. This too was a great match.

Our meal was great and our time with Michel was most enjoyable. Again, we found Michel to be a very interesting man who also has a good sense of humor. It was both entertaining and enriching to hear his stories of how he once lived and worked when he was young and not yet famous.

We also learned that Michel's favorite place of business is the Napa Valley. He explained that his clients here are very organized and ready to go. He finds that it makes his job much easier when there is such order. He also commented on the fact that whenever there is something still needed, it is taken care of quite promptly.

Michel's favorite place to visit for fun is Argentina. He and his family own a winery in Argentina. He loves being there during the harvest season because of all the celebration that occurs. He told us about all of the beauty pageants that go on during this same time in celebration of the harvest. Michel wanted us to of course realize that he has much love for his home country of France too. He is very proud of their wine regions. Michel told us that he was actually born in Pomerol. Great Terroir!

Michel just celebrated his 60th birthday this past December, but he does not plan to retire anytime soon. He absolutely loves his work. Who wouldn't? He gets to travel all over the world, sample magnificent wines, and try exemplary food. This is all in a days work, but non-stop throughout the year practically everyday. He did realize that he does not get much time to himself for relaxation, but it is all still worth it to him. Matter of fact, he told us he does not get a small break until June. So he will be non-stop traveling working for his worldwide clientele until then.

We were actually surprised to learn that Michel had never been to Australia. He also stated that he has not spent much time in Sonoma. He use to work for Simi Winery in Healdsburg, but that was really his only connection with Sonoma.

We just wanted to let everyone know that our little sushi party did pan out after all.

Best wishes to all,

Marisol

Holiday Greetings to All & Best Wishes for An Exciting New Year!

January 2, 2008

Greetings to all…

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and I wish everyone a bountiful new year. Embrace all the love, care, and concern all your friends and family have for you. They are your support system and they are the ones who will help you to succeed, following our dreams in life. Keep a smile with a positive attitude and you will always have joyfulness in life.

Attached with this email are a few more pictures from our last interviews in France.
If anyone has any questions about any of the pictures I have sent, please feel free to ask me about them.

Rudy is in the process of updating the Merlove website www.merlove.com in these next couple of weeks. So keep tuned in! There will be plenty more pictures and video clips to look at.

For those that don’t know… we did make it to the Left Bank for a day and toured/tasted 3 producers (listed below) in that area. Very different, indeed! Different terroir, vines lower to the ground, Cabernet based. It was quite interesting to compare.

We also got stuck in France one extra day because of a strike at the airport. I suppose Paris isn’t the worst city to be stuck in. We were tired because we had been up since 3am, so we slept most of the day and that evening we decided to take a train ride to the Eiffel Tower. I was very excited because I didn’t expect for us to have time to see it this trip. It was absolutely beautiful at night, lit up with its golden lights and then every so often there would be a glimmering display of glitzy lights flashing on and off. We went to the way top and saw the city all lit up. Next time we’ll have to go during the day, which I’m sure is another experience all together.

We had an absolutely amazing trip, but it’s also great to be back. Home is where the heart is, but it is also important to have adventure that makes us happy and grow in life.
Our kitty Eliza is very happy we’re back too. She is constantly giving us kisses & every night she snuggles right in between us. What a bratty catty!


Some of my new favorite wine producers include:

Right Bank
Chateau de Valandraud
Chateau Croix de Labrie
Chateau Gracia
Chateau La Tertre Roteboeuf

Left Bank
Chateau Beau Rivage


& Of course (as expected) these wines were amazing too:

Right Bank
Petrus
Chateau Ausone
Chateau Cheval Blanc

Left Bank
Chateau Latour
Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande


Again Happy New Year 2008 to everyone!

Best as always,

Marisol

3rd Round of French Merlove Pictures

December 15, 2007

Salutations everyone!

I thought I would try to send at least one or two more batches of pictures before we come back home to the states this Thursday. Everyday on forward is basically a race to the finish line for us. We have so many things packed in. More interviews, lunches, dinners, etc. I'm thinking we're just going to have to come back. Maybe in the Spring or Summertime. Oh darn! ;-)

So we did end up going to Petrus, Chateau Cheval Blanc, & Chateau Ausone. Unfortunately, it is against Petrus's policy to have any filming or pictures taken inside their facility, but we did have audio. We do have pictures out front, which I've sent a couple. We were offered the '06 Petrus for tasting. Chateau Cheval Blanc & Chateau Ausone were very gracious to let us film. We tried the '04 Cheval Blanc & the '04 of their 2nd label. Chateau Ausone gave us a sample of their '06. I loved the caves where Ausone ages its wine in. I have a couple books they gave us, so I can show you detail later.

We also were lucky to visit Francois Mitjavile of Chateau Tertre Roteboeuf. Thank you Steve for the recommendation. Unfortunately, he did not remember you by name but did mention he was getting very forgetful in his older years. He said he might remember your face if he saw it. He and his wife prepared a wonderful 4 hour French lunch (which we've learned is pretty standard). Francois also led us all around his property during our filming. This was a great experience, by far one of our best interviews.

Another interesting interview was with a man named Pierre Chariol. He owns Chateau de Lescours. He has been by far our most colorful character. I can tell more later. He's also a very passionate man, which made for a wonderful interview. Not to mention his property. Of course, absolutely amazing. He wants to cook dinner for Rudy's birthday if we can make it. Pierre also introduced us to his nephew Franc who owns a new Chateau. We are going to try and visit him on Monday for lunch sandwiched in between 2 other interviews.

I'm not sure if I mentioned who our interpreter has been, but for those that are curious his name is Jason South. He has been an absolute wonder with all the places he's taken us and connections he's helped us with. If ever anyone needs a tour guide in St. Emilion, he's the man. Jason actually runs his own tour company which works with high-end clientele. We were lucky to have him offer us his time, but I do suppose it helps him too (through promotion). He is a Kiwi and has lived in St. Emilion for about 10 years. He has a French wife and two young children. His son is named Cisco, just like my dad and brother. Funny thing is that Jason's son Cisco loves Spiderman & so does my dad. My dad even has some old Spiderman comic books that he originally only paid 25 cents each.

There's been a lot of strange coincidences, maybe some even ironic. Even with our new French friend named Elisa & our cat named Eliza. Helped us to remember her and miss her more. Other things too, but I won't babble on about such things.

Also, we've had all kinds of great luck. Sometimes just being at the right place at the right time! One example of this would be just last night we decide to go out for drinks after a long day and by chance we were able to meet Michel Gracia (another famous garage wine producer). He agreed to having us interview him on Monday. He also wanted us to interview one of his friends, and of course try some of their wine. We will be having dinner with them Monday evening and I'm sure it will go until the wee hours of the morning. Just last night we were out to about 3am with him and his friend.

Many, many connections and friends we have made. Its both sad and exciting to soon come back home. And again we have plenty of stories to tell. We haven't even come home & we can't wait 'till our next visit.

See everyone very soon,

Marisol

P.S. Have fun tonight D-Crew!

More Pictures From France

December 10, 2007

Greetings Everyone!

I wanted to send a few more pictures for all to view. Enjoy!

We had a great interview with Jean-Luc Thunevin, owner of Chateau Valandraud and several other labels. He was the 1st garage wine producer in St. Emilion. He only started about 10 years ago. He and his wife graciously invited us into their home for lunch, which was simply amazing. Before they showed us their small facility operations we got introduced to their most important member of the family "Fifi" who is a rooster. It is this rooster that Jean-Luc claims his luck in such fine Merlot based wines. During lunch of course they shared several bottles of their Merlot based wines with us. After lunch Jean-Luc's wife Murielle took us to their new beautiful Chateau and showed us around. It's not quite complete with accommodation renovations, but she did invite us to stay there next time we're in France. Awesome! The view alone is to die for & they make outstanding wines, regardless of not having the Premier Grand Cru title. The price range and tastings they are rated in will tell you they are right up there side by side with them in wine quality. Murielle also gave us a demonstration of her pruning techniques and explained that it wasn't the same for every vine and year to year it could change. It is like she has a personal relationship with each individual vine as if they were children and needed to be directed on the right path as they age.

Later on that same day, actually for dinner we had another interview. This time it was all attention on Michel Rolland. We were lucky that he even had set some time aside for us. He's a very busy man, always on the move. They next day he was leaving for South Africa. I loved his tie. It appropriately had airplanes flying through the clouds. He was a very nice, down to earth man. He had great humor & at the end of the meal he was even nice enough to pay the tab. He also let us know that he would be in the Napa Valley in January & that he wanted to meet up with us again in our home area. He thought it would be nice to have a sushi party at Go-Fish. So, Rachna you'll be on that right? J/K :-) I guess you could say the interview went well if he still wants to hang with us. We're excited!

The other night our new French friend Elisa invited us to the restaurant where she works for an evening of music in their cellar. It was featuring a very interesting French cover band. They were even nice enough to humor us with several American music covers. I bought their cd for the memory of a fun, quirky night.

Last night we went to the Libourne Cinema Theater and watched the only showing of an English speaking film, I'm not there. It was pretty good. Very artistic & I probably most liked it because it was about the guru Bob Dylan. I love him. Later on in the week we might hop on train to the city of Bordeaux to watch another film. There are more options there. We'll see though, our last week is pretty full of interviews. The weather hasn't been very good either and this always puts a damper on filming. Definitely makes it more difficult, unless we are located inside. Please send us some good thoughts for good weather. Right now it is very windy (it's whistling), but at least its not raining.

P.S. Darioush Crew-->don't forget to send me some pictures from the Holiday Party.

Best wishes to everyone,
Marisol

Merlove Pictures in France

December 4, 2007

Hello Everyone,

Here are a few pictures to tide everyone by. I hope you enjoy them. Being here in St. Emilion has definitely been a blast into the past. It's a wonderful adventure. The people we have met have all been very friendly and accommodating. It's very much appreciated that we at least make a small effort at saying a few French words or phrases.

We've been eating more pizza than I would have expected. There seem to be pizza shops everywhere & all thin crust. We actually ate pizza in a cave the other day. The restaurant was built in a cave. Interesting! Of course, we've had plenty of baguettes and other french treats such as crepes, croissants, quiche, macaroons, etc. I still need to try their foie gras, maybe tomorrow or the next day.

The other night we went bowling with an Englishman named Oliver who owns a mill here in France. He introduced us to 2 French folks, Elisa & Claude who joined us. I was absolutely terrible. Lots of gutter balls, but it was still fun. Everyone else was pretty good. I think the last time I went bowling I was probably 7 or 8 years old.

We've been making lots of great connections. We have a local tour guide named Jason South who will be taking us around next week to some of the great Chateaux in the area, including Chateau Cheval Blanc & Chateau Ausone. Later this week we will interview Michel Rolland. We also have a couple garage wine producers we will be interviewing. And on 12/12 we will actually be interviewing Jean-Claude Berrouet at Petrus. Lots of exciting footage up and coming for our project.

I hope everyone is doing well.

Sincerely,

Marisol

Merlove in France

December 2, 2007

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to let everyone know that Rudy, his friend Chris, & I are having a great time in Bordeaux. Lots of interesting characters, great food and unbelievable wine. We are staying and doing most of our filming in St. Emilion, but also some in Pomerol. I don't have any pictures quite yet to send because I lost my camera bag which had about 500 pictures on one memory card. I have another memory card, but basically have to start all over. Also, its not easy for us to send emails. We were supposed to have internet access available at the gite we are staying at, but service is not working so we have to go to the Web Bar in downtown St. Emilion. Problem is that it is not always open. I'll try to send pictures within the next week. I hope everyone is doing well and has a great time at the Christmas party. We will be in spirit with you, just as I assume you all are with us. I can't even begin to describe the beauty of this prehistoric village.

See you later.

Best wishes,

Marisol