Stas, you live in Latvia? My late and very dear friend Alex Auseklis was a Latvian American. So sad to have lost him too young.
What is the wine world like in Latvia? What access do you have to wines, and generally from where in the world?
Just teasing you dude! Love the Lamy wines …
Of course, and it was always all good.
I think the similarity between PYCM and Lamy would be that they are wineries on the forefront of making excellent wines out of what were historically the middle and lower tier of white Burg appellations, like St. Aubin, Santenay, and Rully.
It would be interesting to have a blind tasting including some PYCM and Lamy “lesser” appellation whites with some relatively more reasonably-priced village and 1er cru Chassange, Puligny and Meursault. Not only to compare quality, but styles.
Of course, the price of PYCM and Lamy are rising closer to (but not quite yet to) those types of levels, but I’d be curious how they stack up to, say, your $60-100 type whites from the prestigious appellations.
I might have to file that away for a blind tasting at some point.
Hi Chris!
Yes, you are absolutely right. I am based out of Latvia.
Sorry to hear about Alex ((
As for the wine scene in Latvia, it is somewhat developed. Country is very small and that is the major drawback. There are wine enthusiasts, but this community is very very small. Officially there are 1.9mln people living in LV. Riga is the capital and major city has about 0.8mln. Latvia still has this Soviet after-effect economically speaking. That all together definitely has its impact.
Nevertheless, acting European Sommelier Champion is from Latvia. His name is Raimonds Tomsons. He is #3 in the World Sommelier ranking. We have a healthy density of fine dining restaurants per capita in Riga which helps a lot. We have a number of world class wine bars with amazing wine lists. All wine geeks know each other and meet regularly, but since the community is so small, the spectrum of wine events is limited.
Champagne is by far the most developed wine style in Latvia. Mostly thanks to Riga Wine & Champagne festival organised by wine enthusiast twice a year. That is a copycat of La Paulée and La Fête du Champagne. Winemakers, chefs de caves, wine journalists, top somms, MWs come to Riga for these events to celebrate and taste great fine wines. Grower champagnes are very well represented in Riga. You can find many great names in wine lists and vinotheques.
Wine trade represents many well-known brands in Latvia. The only downside is that most of the wines are very young as the second hand market is undeveloped. Wine trade is highly regulated by the state. Btw, thanks to COVID-19 alcohol was finally allowed to be sold online and delivered. Which was not the case ever before. The proximity to other EU wine developed countries helps a lot. So one can order wines online and have them delivered at the door.
I am a wine collector myself. I am the founder of a few wine appreciation communities (wine clubs). And I am also the founder of Bubbles Academy International edcuational project:
Bubbles Academy empowers students with all the necessary skills and provides the knowledge to appreciate champagne in full. We give it a hedonistic spin to make the learning experience enjoyable and memorable.
-
Keynote speakers and world class champagne experts deliver masterclasses.
-
Thoroughly selected tasting list including ‘once in a lifetime’ rarities.
- Pre- and after parties in the best champagne bars and gourmet dinners in Michelin star level restaurants.
Ultimate source for champagne education and bubbly inspiration.
Hope I have answered your question.
That’s awesome. Really fun to get a glimpse into the wine world in different parts of the world. Rock on.
Nice article Stas. Coincidentally Jasper Morris just hosted an excellent zoom tasting (in assoc with 67 Pall Mall) on burgundy white 1er’s he loves. One of the wines/ producers he focused on was Olivier, as I believe they are friends. He spoke about what they are doing with picking & planting.
I find Jasper absolutely fascinating to listen to. If anyone is interested the link is on his Instagram page.
Jasper Morris MW is great and among the best experts on Burgundy. He really favours Hubert Lamy wines for obvious reason - they are just great.
Great read, Stas! Also, just followed you on IG…
Thank you! And great to be connected on Instagram as well. Cheers!