Wine Tasting, Vineyards, in France

Tasting Event : Vendée and Cotes du Rhone-Valréas

Mr Mourat holding the specially designed bottle The CIDD in Paris had another tasting event opened to the public may 25 , called "Tour de France des vignobles" (vineyards Tour de France) with several producers from different regions invited by Alain Segelle. Four wine makers were present to make their production known to an expert audience . Because of lack of space , I will say a few words about two of them : First , I discovered for the first time a Vendée wine . Vendée is the name of a french region and it is not well known for its wine . It is located in western France, lower than Britanny and south of Nantes. The Vendée region is famous for its resistance to the french revolution wich caused massive retaliation at the time on its population . Chateau Marie du Fou and its vineyards are located in Mareuil, between Laroche sur Yon and La Rochelle . I tasted their "Fiefs Vendéens", red AO-VDQS 2003 , made with Cabernet Franc , Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir (wich is a unique grape variety mixage-not seen anywhere else) . It is aged in Vendéan casks from the Mervent forest .The owners designed the bottle from a very old one they found while renovating the chateau ( very beautiful chateau , by the way) and wich dated (the bottle) from the 17 th century .Good wine with tanins present, wich should tone down with ageing some more years . This wine can be found at the "Puy du Fou", the vendéan historical theme park , famous in Vendée and France. The owner says it is a favorite of Philippe de Villiers, an active vendéan politician with national influence . I also tasted the production of a Coted du Rhone, Domaine des Grands Devers, presented by Louis Pascal Bouchard . [** click below for more content about this tasting**]

Wine Bar (And Store) : Lavinia

I was thinking for a long time to visit Lavinia. Lavinia is the Paris branch of a wine store group that had its debut in Spain, where it was started by two entrepreneurs from France (One of them worked for L'Oreal in Spain ), Thierry Servant and Pascal Chevrot. This group also bought the Caves Augé store. Lavinia is located at 3-5 Boulevard de la Madeleine (75001) in Paris, between la Madeleine and the Opera, and devotes 2 stories plus a basement in this prime location for french and foreign wines .A corner of the huge french wines department What is outstanding here is the choice, and not only of french wines, as about a third of the wines here are from the rest of the world ( 43 countries). That is new in France, as foreign wines are sadly often, either ignored, or given a smaller display shelf, than the one they deserve. This is a heavy-weight store : 500 square meters filled with many different wines, the most famous and praised of course, but also many of the lesser known ones . There is even a under-10-Euro selection. On the street level, you will find a wide choice of Champagnes and on the left, the foreign wines, beginning with portuguese , spanish and italian wines. The store manager, Yves Yannick Branchereau, comes from a family with roots in the world of wine.Haruko: She helps japanese (and other) customers make their choice

The basement is where you will find the french wines. Staff is helpul and fluent in foreign languages. They also hold wine degustations in the store sometimes, for wine(s) they select. The french wine in the basement are listed by wine region. And the choice is amazing, even if of course, limitative compared with reality. They also have the new generation of vintners. On the side of the basement , there is a special room for "Vins Fragiles", a tightly air-regulated room, where humidity and temperature ( 14 ° C) recreate the cellar conditions for the wine. This large "cellar" has a lot of different bottles, some are very prestigious, some are fragile wines vinified and bottled without the stabilizing sulfite, and needing very careful storage .

Paris Wine Bars : Caves Legrand

The horse-shoe shaped bar Yesterday we went to an old wine institution in Paris : Caves Legrand , located 1 rue de la Banque 75002 Paris, with an access too ( and a more pleasant one ) from the Galerie Vivienne . This "Galerie" is a covered passageway with shops and glass ceiling built in 1823 by the architect Francois Jean Delannoy with luxuries of this era, indoor decoration, lighting, floor mosaics, upscale shops , etc... There remains a few such galleries in Paris near the Opera district and these sort of early shopping arcades for the bourgeois of the time retained their charm and beauty. This is definitely one of the hidden gems of Paris that few tourists are aware of.View on the Galerie Vivienne entrance
The Galerie Vivienne access near Caves Legrand is at 4 rue des Petits Champs. The wine shop which was operated by several generations of Legrands is not owned any more by the Legrand family. It was bought in 2000 by Gerard Sibourd-Baudry and Christian de Chateauvieux who renovated the place while keeping its quality wines orientation. One of their best-inspired initiative was to add a wine bar section in the middle of the shop in 2001.View from the bar Entering from the Galerie Vivienne entrance, you walk into the wine bar, which is set in the middle of a large room stacked with bottles on the wall-shelves all around. The new owners added this 3-sided horseshoe counter in a way that it looks as if it had been there for decades. Stroll in the different parts of the shop (a few steps on the left lead to the rue de la Banque side of the shop, where other wines and the specialy foods are stocked) before sitting at the bar. There could be a bottle of wine there that you might want to drink at the bar (in spite of the cork fee).
At the bar, the sommelier can prepare fine and light foods to eat with the wine, also served at the counter or at one of the few tables nearby. There's a warmful and refined atmosphere at the same time, with the brass and the wood of the floor, the floor-to-ceiling shelves and ladders.
The wine shop itself has a wide range of wines and good champagnes. Also in another room, specialty foods like foie gras and candy are displayed, actually the shop at its origin was selling spices, tea and sweets, and the wines were added somewhere in the early 20th century. Speaking of the wine list at the bar, it changes regularly and the owners follow a different theme every month to highlight this or that wine region. And you can order any bottle chosen on the shelves with a 15 Euro cork fee added on the bottle.
Benedicte chose a Corsica white : Clos d'Alzeto 2003 . Vermentino . I chose a red from Argentina : Santa Ercilia 2001 . Malbec. produced at Alto Vale de Uco , Mendoza , Argentina . Old wine estate founded in 1937. nice nose. Warmful and spicy. A pleasure.
While not the cheapest wine bar for its glass prices, it is a good place to enjoy and discover wines, and at the same time impregnate yourself with the interior architecture of the Galerie Vivienne. By the way, on the other side of the Galerie, facing the wine shop, there is another Legrand store selling all kind of wine accessories and litterature.
Caves Legrand also organizes regularly wine education courses and theme tasting events (see website for the program).Caves Legrand1 rue de la Banque4 rue des Petits Champs (Galerie Vivienne)75002 ParisPhone 01 42 60 07 12Metro : Bourse (line 3)Open mon-sat 10-11am to 7-7:30pmcaves-legrand.com

Paris Wine Bars

Here are two wine bars in Paris we tried yesterday . First , we wanted to go to the "Franc Pinot" , a well known bar a vin located rue des deux ponts at Quai de Bourbon (Ile Saint Louis) , but it is closed on monday as it seems . So we headed for the other side of the Ile Saint Louis , at "L'Escale" , located rue des deux ponts at Quai d'Orleans . It is not as historic looking as the former , but offers a small selection of wines at the glass , with seating view over the Pont de la Tournelle (bridge) We took respectively a Regnie and a Croze hermitage . Prices were between 3.8 and 5 Euro .

Then we went to the Marais , in the "AOC Cafe" located Rue du Roi de Sicile and Rue du Bourg Tibourg . It is a lively spot with plenty of restaurants and cafes with terraces at the border of the gay district .It is facing the Place du Bourg Tibourg , with plenty of other places to sit and drink/eat ...This is more a place to enjoy the atmosphere than a real wine bar , but they have a small selection of wines by the glass and it is affordable (between 2.5 and 3.5 Euro if I remember) You can also eat .

Champagne Corks

The cork is very important for all the wines , but for Champagne , several important details differ . First , the cork in Champagne comes at the end of the ageing process , when other wines can still age with their definitive cork . Champagne wine stays years in the 11 °C cellars with a temporary cap ( not in cork ) . Then comes the riddling phase at the end of wich the dead yeast are frozen and extracted from the bottle ... Then , after injection of the "expedition liqueur" , also called dosage , a precious and very secret 1 cl , comes the real Champagne cork . This Champagne cork , before being forcefully inserted in the bottle , looks much like a regular wine cork , only it is much bigger . In the past , it was inserted manually with rudimentary lever tools . This operation needs to be powerful and precise : The new cork has a diameter of 31 mm and the inside diameter of the bottle neck is 17 mm ... A new cork has a very different shape than the well known used champagne cork [ see on the picture : the new cork on the top , and the used one, on wich you see the imprint of the bottle neck ] . This compressed cork , plus the capsule and muselet (wire) to keep it tight , are why high pressure don't expel both the wine and the cork ...

Mailly Champagne

The windmill in the middle of Mailly's vineyardsThe following afternoon , we went to Mailly Champagne , wwich is an old and prestigious "societe de production " , or cooperative , founded in 1929. Patrig Morvezen , commercial director , guided us through this visit and tasting experience.
The estate makes Champagne from a few dozens of hectares of vineyards. The picture above shows some of them, with the Moulin de Verzenay, the windmill overlooking the area.
Mr Morzeven gave us his time and passion for his (fantastic) Champagne wine . Mailly is the name of the village where "Mailly Champagne " is located . The M.C. yearly output is about 45 000 bottles , from 70 hectares (1 Ha = 2.47 acres) , on this village . They have a stock of about 1.8 million bottles . As it is compulsory for Champagne wines , grape harvest is hand made . They need 5 persons during 12 days to harvest one hectare . As the quality of the wine always depends of the grapes , a lot of attention is given to them . Only perfect condition . No leaves . Last year for the first time , due to the extreme weather conditions , harvest was in august . Never happened before.
After the grapes go through the press , the resulting juice goes in tanks where the alcoholic fermentation is controlled through temperature . It stays there till the following spring , when an addition of sugar (24 grams/liter) and yeast before bottling , will lead to the second fermentation , in the bottles this time , which will be tightly sealed by a temporary cap .

Champagne in Spring

We are back from two days in Champagne organized by Benedicte with mostly people attending the CIDD wine courses . [ Note (dec 2004) : The CIDD is not operating anymore , but those interested in Alain Segelle wine courses or wine tasting events can contact him at alainsegellewine@yahoo.fr or call him ( evening french time: 7pm-10.30 pm) at 33 (0)6 25 73 89 45 ]. A group of wine amateurs , professionals , men and women , very international atmosphere , with people from Canada , Japan and the UK also present . We set off for Reims in two cars , stayed a night in "chambres d'hotes" and had our schedules arranged to visit Champagne producers.
We began with Ruinart , the oldest Champagne maison . It is now part of the LVMH (Louis Vuitton ) group , since the 1970's . Ruinart is located in Reims ( 4 rue des crayieres , near other major Champagne names )
It sits on deep underground chalk quarries that were used at the beginning of Ruinart Champagne business . Originally in the textile industry , the Ruinart family reconverted in 1729 in the " vin qui mousse" ("sparkling wine") as it was called at the time . The elaboration of Champagne sparkling wine , wich was accidental the first time ,found its way to a larger audience . It was made possible by the may 25 1728 Royal Decree that allowed wines to be transported in bottles instead of casks only as before . As this "sparkling wine" can only be transported in bottles due to its elaboration process , it opened the door to commerce to far away places .
At the beginning , the Ruinart family used the bell shaped quarries that abound in the vicinity . Access was uneasy at the time , needing ropes & pulleys to bring down and up the wine . Some are 35 meters deep , like in this lower left picture . First sales were in 1730 , and also many bottles produced were gifts to textile business customers of the Ruinart family .
The young woman who toured us showed us several of the "crayieres" , the exploitation of wich began in the roman era , when the Romans founded a city in what was to become Reims , at a crossroad of their Empire . To reach the bottom , stairs were dug in the 19th century . Now of course they added elevators . Very impressive view in each of them . She said Ruinart has 24 of these bell shaped caves . Cool temperature all year round : 11° C . The chalk walls at this depth have a greasy touch as it is very humid . Complementary horizontal cellars and galleries were dug in 1825-1850 . This Champagne producer sells 2 to 2.5 millions bottles a year , wich is moderate compared to other big Champagne names in Reims .