"...throughout history, wine-making, like cheese-making, has been about exploiting a partnership between the raw material and a particular microflora. Squeaky-clean wine-making claims to enhance the nuances of difference between vineyard sites; I think this is wrong and that we need local micro-organisms to transmit and accentuate the differences in the grape juice in order to bring them above the threshold of detection."-Patrick Matthews, The Wild Bunch: Great Wines from Small Producers
The Cuvée Buster
It was only several months ago that Louis/Dressner Selections introduced the prestigious Cuvée Buster Denomination. Nothing had prepared us for the press attention, public interest and marketing frenzy that would follow. The first Cuvée Buster appeared in Sancerre, but is now spreading to the Touraine and Saumur-Champigny. Other Busters are in the works. Despite its popularity, the origins of The Cuvée Buster remain obscure to many who have followed this phenomenon.
Buster is an actual dog (see picture above), part pitbull and part Welsh Cardigan Corgi (not to be confused with the Pembroke Corgi, the official dog of the British Royal family). Buster was adopted at the North Shore Animal League in suburban New York on April 28th, 1997 by Denyse Louis, Joe Dressner, their children (Jules and Alyce Dressner) and Buster's godfather Kevin McKenna.
Ms. Louis, Mr. Dressner and Mr. McKenna are parenthetically the principal owners of Louis/Dressner Selections. Jules and Alyce Dressner have no legal interest in the business (being underage and only moderately interested in wine with the exceptions of the Cerdon du Bugey and Quinta do Infantado Ports) but are the children of the aforementioned Denyse Louis and Joe Dressner.
On Friday, June 13th 1997, Buster boarded an Air France flight to Paris, securely held in a cage. Accompanying the dog were Denyse Louis and her children who were uncaged and seated in the economy section of the plane on their way to Lyon. Only 15 minutes prior to the flight's scheduled departure at 11:00 pm, an announcement was made summoning Ms. Louis to the front of the plane. Inexplicably, Buster had been placed (securely in his cage) into the plane's cargo section but had somehow broken loose and was running free on the runways of John F. Kennedy Airport.
Four days of tension and emotion ensued before the dog was finally retrieved by police patrols actively scouring the airport. The New York media (television, radio and newspapers (with the notable and scandalous exception of The New York Times)) had regular reports throughout the crisis, culminating in the televised joyful reunion of Buster with his Grandparents Sam and Irene Dressner (neither of whom are in the wine trade) at a police lounge at JFK airport. As Buster's entire adopted family was already in France (with the exception of his Godfather, Kevin McKenna, who was actively aiding the police search in New York), a special Air France booking was made for Buster to be reunited with his loving family. Happily, that trip went without incident, as Buster rejoined his family at their home in the Mâconnais region of France.
So Why The Cuvée Buster?
We at Louis/Dressner Selections have had enough of all the Cuvées Prestige, Cuvées Spéciales, Cuvée Réserve, Cuvées du Grand-Père, Cuvées de la Vieille Mémée, Cuvées Vieilles Vignes, Cuvées Très Vieilles Vignes, Cuvées Vignes Hors d'Age, etc. What does it all mean?
But Buster is a true rarity (see picture above). Only the rare convergence of exceptional winemaking, a great harvest, old vines and an unmatched sense of terroir qualify a wine for this denomination. As with the dog himself (see picture above), a Cuvée Buster is available in only small quantities: limited to no more than 600 bottles. The Cuvée is intrinsically conjunctural – one year's Cuvée Buster may not have sufficient material to qualify in the subsequent vintage. The Buster Jury, consisting of Denyse Louis, Joe Dressner & Kevin McKenna, are dedicated to the most exacting standards and will never allow the use of this denomination to be abused for commercial purposes. Lastly, a Buster Wine is not necessarily an expensive one: it could be a Muscadet, a Mâcon or a Richebourg. But more importantly, it is a vineyard and a winemaker pushed to the extreme to make a wine that transcends their regular production, no matter how wonderful that regular production might be.
Currently Circulating Cuvées Buster
Given the limited quantity of the various Cuvées Buster, it is difficult to talk about availability. The Busters are extremely allocated and consumer demand will never be satisfied.
The first Buster release was a Sancerre Chavignol Blanc from Domaine Thomas-Labaille. This Buster came from one barrel (dating from the 1989 vintage) containing Sancerre from the very best parcel of the Monts Damnés vineyard in Chavignol. The Buster Jury asked for this barrel to be bottled by hand, direct from the barrel without filtration, and all told 23 cases were made. M. Jean-Paul Labaille, the vigneron, liked the wine so much he insisted on keeping two cases for his personal consumption. Three cases were kept for the personal consumption of Louis/Dressner Selections. All told 18 cases were shipped and sold in the American market.
The wine has an incredible intensity, is unchaptalized and is at over 14 degrees of alcohol, but has a remarkable balance and length. This is a Sancerre that would be best cellared, for five to 10 years, to follow its development. Or drink it now….it's your Buster, not ours. Suggested retail price was $25.00, but, unfortunately, it was widely discounted in the New York area.
Two new Busters are in the process of being shipped to America. The first is the Domaine Filliatreau Vieilles Vignes Clos Candi Cuvée Buster 1997. This bottling is from barrel-fermented old vine Cabernet Franc that was unfiltered and unfined. The wine's finish goes on forever and the fruit is long, pure and luscious. This estate is more known for fruity, tank-fermented, ready to drink wines and the release of this Buster is their successful attempt to compete with some of the great names of the Champigny at making world-class wine. Suggested retail price is $25.00.
The last is the Clos Roche Blanche Cuvée Buster Sauvignon Blanc 1998. This organic estate picked a portion of its crop extremely late and the wine reached an unheard of ripeness of 13.8 degrees alcohol. Yields in this parcel were tiny and the wine (steel-fermented) still has a certain amount of residual sugar. There is a great richness and roundness to this wine, transcending the appellation. Suggested retail price is $15.47.
Buster's Future
We continue to be on the lookout for more Busters. There are two major problems in expanding the Buster Denomination: finding rare cuvées that qualify, and finding vignerons that are willing to have a picture of a dog on their bottle. The latter problem is exacerbated by the proliferation of automated labeling machines throughout the French vineyards. In the past, vintages were indicated on neck labels, allowing the vigneron to keep the same basic label every year. But most of the new machines do not handle neck labels and increasingly the vintage is put on the main label. As Buster is a neck label, the addition of the Buster label is a time-consuming, aggravating and expensive process. But given the consumer demand, we are confident that Buster will remain an important part of the French viticultural landscape despite these obstacles.
A Word of Thanks
Of course it is impossible to thank all the people involved in the conceptualization and development of Buster in the little time remaining here. First of all, no wine would have been possible without the vignerons involved: Jean-Paul Labaille, Frédrik Filliatreau, Catherine Roussel and Didier Barrouillet. And of course, we would be remiss in not mentioning Gérard Fourignon of Etiquettes Fourignon in Villefranche, France, whose graphic design and printing of the Cuvée Buster neck label was an inspiration to all of us involved in this project from its inception. And the helpful staff of volunteers at the North Shore Animal League, without whose aid we would never have found Buster in the first place. Lastly, Robert Callahan, Jeff Connell and Steve Mosher played a crucial and unforgettable role in the selection of the very first Buster at Domaine Thomas-Labaille in February of 1998. Debra Kletter, who accompanied Buster on his successful transatlantic journey from New York to France, and whose photo of Buster was the base image used by Gérard Fourignon (see above). And we can't forget David Lillie, Guido Battipaglia and the entire creative team at Garnet Wines.
And lastly, we have to thank you out there, the people who drink wine and have made this industry what it is today. Without you there would never have been a Cuvée Buster.
©1999 Louis/Dressner Selections
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