Photo by Tom Loup
Les Huisman
Les Huisman
“It was one of the first times I tasted one of these wines with a customer. It was ten in the morning.”
The Wisconsin wine distributor and importer Les Huisman was tasting an Alpine wine with a customer of Block 34, the wine company Les was the owner and operator of.
“And the customer said, ‘Wow! This is a breakfast wine!’
“And I knew immediately what he meant by that. Not that I drink a lot of wine for breakfast, but that the wine was refreshing and bright, like when you take a bite of a nectarine and it’s not quite ripe — where it’s sweet and tart at the same time and really fresh and so alive. And that’s what I get from a lot of these wines, especially the whites. That streak of liveliness that runs through them. ‘Breakfast wine’ was that Aha! moment for me. Ever since then I've chased that sensation.”
And where exactly is the source of that sensation?
“For years I’ve been fascinated with the wines from a subregion of the Alps in France, Italy, and Switzerland, which I think of as a little Alpine triangle,” says Les, who is now an account representative for Vino Veritas, a leading Wisconsin fine wine importer and distributor. “I like high elevation wines from all over the world, but there’s something about this little pocket of Europe that I find especially fascinating. There’s something romantic about these vineyards growing way up in the mountains, higher than where you’d expected vines could grow. And there’s an approachability to these wines, but they can also be complex, and they always deliver pleasure. At the end of the day, you can always describe these wines as delicious.”
Les grew up near Lodi, Calif., near a lot of vineyards, but wine didn’t become a part of his life until he moved to Milwaukee to go to engineering school. “I didn’t grow up in a wine-drinking family. I didn’t grow up in a house that drank much at all. But I enjoyed cooking, and I really liked the idea of wine. It was part of the conviviality of a good meal.”
After graduating from college, Les devoted his working hours to the construction industry. But after hours, he was studying wine and tasting as many wines as possible, which led to his own wine business, Block 34, which is where Les found his way to these little Alpine triangle wines. “These wines are wines I know and love and have been working with for years,” reflects Les. “There's a vein of deliciousness that runs through them.”
Romain Chamiot
Apremont, Vin de Savoie Blanc
Winegrower: Romain Chamiot
Country: France
Region: Savoie
Appellation: Apremont, Vin de Savoie Blanc
Vintage: 2024
Grape: Jacquère
Alcohol: 11.5%
Approximate retail price: $20
U.S. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant
Wisconsin distributor: Vino Veritas
“Romain Chamiot’s Apremont Blanc is a good example of what I’m talking about with these wines,” says Les. “You can imagine standing in a mountain valley, with alpine grasses and wildflowers all around you, and you can imagine this wine being right at home there. This Apremont sums up why I like these wines.”
Pavese
Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle
Winegrower: Ermes Pavese
Country: Italy
Region: Valle d’Aosta
Appellation: Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle
Grape: Prié Blanc
Vintage: 2023
Alcohol: 12%
Approximate retail price: $40
U.S. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant
Wisconsin distributor: Vino Veritas
“Valle d’Aosta is the smallest wine region in Italy. It’s a mountain valley that runs down the Italian side of Mont Blanc, which the Italians call Monte Bianco. Halfway down the valley, you come to two neighboring villages, Morgex and La Salle, which is the highest altitude where vines can grow in the valley.” And at a pinnacle of deliciousness stands this Pavese Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle. It isn’t inexpensive, but it’s completely worth it. Les sums it up when he says, “I always lament not having more of it.”
Peillot
Bugey Mondeuse
Winegrower: Franck Peillot
Country: France
Region: Bugey
Appellation: Bugey Mondeuse
Grape: Mondeuse
Vintage: 2024
Alcohol: 11.5%
Approximate retail price: $20
U.S. Importer: Louis/Dressner Selections
Wisconsin distributor: Vino Veritas
“Even the red grapes from these regions have a lightness and freshness to them that comes from growing in cold climates and high elevations,” begins Les. “They still have that liveliness and that vein of deliciousness running through them, but there’s more variation with the reds. Some are more tannic, some are less tannic, some are lighter and fruitier, some have fuller bodies. This wine is reminiscent of Cru Beaujolais. It doesn’t quite have the fruitiness of Beaujolais, but it has enough of that natural structure.”
If you’d like to explore these wines, please ask for them at fine bottle shops, restaurants, and wine bars.
