Wine News (13)

Kateia Burrows and Teoranga Witehira, in Paris for New ZealandAll this took us by surprise, more than 60% of the french didn't really believe that France could beat New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup (and even more than that, as if some said we could win, it was more bravado than genuine faith...), but what happens happens, and the french, although far from home in Cardiff, defeated the dreaded All Blacks...But the New Zealanders are fair-play and the following days, you could see them keeping advertizing New Zealand, its people and natural wonders, in-and-near the giant Rugby Ball that was erected on the Champ de Mars near the Eiffel Tower and served as a mini theater to project a video about New Zealand. You can see on the pic above some of their staff adding banners on that ball that say "Congratulations France, see you in New Zealand in 2011", and the Maori dancers on the picture are part of a group that entertains strollers on the lawn of Champ de Mars. Kateia and Teoranga posed here for me with some Mud House wine that I'm eager to discover (I must concede that I left with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc 2006...).We really have to open up in France and get more familiar with New Zealand wines.

Every time we happen to be in Bandol, we never miss to stop at the "Maison des Vins du Bandol" where sommelier and Bandol-connoisseur Pascal Perrier offers to the visitors a free tasting of the wines (whites, rosés and reds) from 27 estates of Bandol. Really amazing Maison des Vins, with all these Bandol wines in one spot (you can even buy wine here), at easy reach and with generous pours...and for free! But the real heart of the place is Pascal, who knows really a lot about Bandol and the different estates (I learn new things each time). This time we had a tasting of a dozen rosés maybe, and the one that clearly stood out was this Chateau de Pibarnon Comte de Saint Victor 2006, a superbly aromatic (balsamic notes, menthol, sage) wine, (long) pleasure in the mouth, very beautiful. 50% Mourvèdre 50% Cinsault, no Grenache here. 16,5 Euro.
Pascal tipped us also about an amusing TV report from M6 channel on rosé in France (lots of rosé-hype), which begins with a story about a wines-for-women section in a supermarket : Video report on rosé wine in France.Who in France knows the Mosel wines from Germany and knows that this region has even artisan wines ? I didn't, and this tasting, organized by Mark Williamson (Willis' Wine Bar) at his Maceo restaurant along with Lars Carlberg (of Mosel Wine Merchant), helped me put on the map this region where Rieslings are central, but which to my surprise can make also very beautiful Pinots Noirs. The first table I went to, was Weingut Clement Busch's, an organic/biodynamic 10-hectare family estate for generations, I particularly liked the Rieslings there. I tasted other other nice dry Rieslings (Weingut Reinhard und Beate Knebel, Weingut Moritz Gogrewe) but the Pinots Noirs of Mosel made my day. Shortly :
__Weingut Markus Molitor, 2004 Brauneberger Klostergarten Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir). Very nice nose. Lighness and complexity. Super mouth. Classy. 40 Euro.
__Weingut Günther Steinmetz, 2004 Spätburgunder trocken (Pinot Noir). 6-hectare estate. Very beautiful nose and mouth. Low yields, no fertilizers. 6 Euro only, incredible...
__Weingut Später-Veit, 2002 Spätburgunder N°1 trocken (Pinot Noir). Unfiltered, unfined (a bit turbid). I love the nose, animal notes , mushrooms too. Nice mouth with some sort of saltiness. 15 Euro.Mark Williamson's page about the eventHow Wine-Culture Comes to Children...The debate surfaces every now and then : how best should we handle the wine culture in the family to introduce children to a reasonable, balanced behaviour regarding alcohol? Coleman Tyler recently evoqued the subject in drvino.com and posted a poll and a photo contest (sorry, I didn't take part, this one was shot at a wine shop, Caves Fillot). I read recently a very thoughtful article in the Wall Street Journal editorial page by Santon Peele, a specialist of the subject. In short, he says that not only a bit of wine now and then is not harmful for children, but that in the mediterranean countries where children are introduced early to the consumption of wine, it was found out that they were much less likely to get involved later in binge drinking.
Stanton Peele, an addiction specialist, has a page on his website giving several reasons why alcohol (an wine) is good for us. Lets remember his words : "a family that wines together, shines together..." The "un Gars, une Fille" Duo on Wine Tasting...Wine tasting have become a quasi-compulsory exercise in the wine-conscious societies of our Western Hemisphere, we all are supposed to act like critics, be dead-serious when fun and pleasure should come first. Who can say that he was never terrified to say the wrong thing about a particular wine at a tasting in front of an intimidating sommelier ? The french comic duo "Un Gars, Une fille", which features Alexandra Lamy and Jean Dujardin, adressed the issue in one of their mini films, and some of the sketches are fun, like the first one, when Alexandra and Jean begin to exchange positive notes and remarks...before the sommelier finally tastes the wine and discovers (spitting in disgust) that it's undrinkable because of cork taint....Gilles Lapalus and Tim JohnstonTim Johnston, the scottish owner of Juveniles' (a very serious wine bar in Paris on which I'll make a post one day), held a special tasting of the Sutton-Grange-Winery wines. Sutton Grange is an Australian estate where the 12-hectare vineyard is biodynamicly farmed. Vintner Philippe Jambon had tipped me about this tasting and I was happy to meet the winemaker Gilles Lapalus and taste his wines. He settled in Australia (Bendigo) after years as flying winemaker in different countries. We could taste 9 different wines (white, rosé, red) from 2003 to 2006 . Nice Fairbank Viognier 2006 (I love the "handpicked in mid-march" note, it seems so strange...). barrel fermented. Malo-ferm blocked like for rosés. richness in the mouth, lychees, tropical fruits. 18 Euro. The Viognier 2005 is more powerful and concentrated. I liked particularly the Fairbank Sangiovese 2005 (red), its very nice nose and pleasant mouth, that's a wine you drink with pleasure. 11 months in oak. 20 Euro. His Estate Syrah 2004 was outstanding. Made from the Ram's Horn Block, hand-picked late march, 18 months in casks, it filled beautifully the mouth and I kept its taste in my mouth for a long time after having left the bar. 28 Euro.Harvesters Wanted : Job Ads in a French NewspaperThis year like every year, the job market for vineyard workers was hot at harvest time. Le Bien Public, a newspaper from Burgundy has even special job pages at this time of the year, where several wineries group their ads, each ad with the estate's phone number. The vignerons do their best to attract the workers, some offering lodging and/or lunch, some free bus to commute to the vineyards, or an "atractive salary", some target the students. Some estate show their full name while others just say where they're located : on this page for example, Beaune, Meursault, Mercurey, Morey-Saint-Denis, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Fixin or Gevrey-Chambertin. Beyond the dream behind these names, it is a hard but rewarding work, and there are even middle-aged people who come back each year, not only for the money, but for the fun. So, for those of you who can legally work in France, the best is being around when these ads begin to show up (here it was august 25th). Some job offers can be found online, like here. You can also log on the state job-agency's website anpe.fr, then click on "candidat", then "consultez les offres", then on "code Rome", you type 41117 on the Code-Rome window and click on "lancez la recherche". Good luck...This locally-bought rosé was our favorite bag-in-box this summer. We usually need such volumes of rosé in summer that we favor the 5-liter bibs, as they are at the same time easy to fit in the fridge, and small enough so that we can drink them fast and try wines from different estates. We always buy them directly at the winery. This one comes from the Domaine de Garbelle, a 10-hectare family estate located near Garéoult, at the foot of the woody hills of the Loube in west-central Var (south of Brignoles), in Provence. This 5-liter bib costs 13,5 Euro at the winery. The wine (80% Cinsault, 15% Grenache 5% Syrah) had more character and a better balance in the mouth compared to several other rosé-bibs, and was a very good value for the price.

Comments

[jason Carey]

I am shocked that you are not familiar with Mosel wines. they are a hop skip and a jump from France.. anyways.. they are some of the greatest
wines in the world..

[punctum]

a propos your comment on Sutton Grange viognier. Do you mean leeches (sangsus) or lychees (asian fruit)? I've not yet eaten a leech but I have tasted Gilles Lapalus' viognier - a beautiful wine that's long, fresh and fruity. Leech? or lychee?
Sante!

[Bertrand]

Thank you Puctum, bad spelling indeeed, I correct that right away. I never tasted leeches but I doubt they would be appropriate to describe a wine aroma...