Archive for 2009
Posted On December 18, 2009 at 6:30 pm in Paris Restaurants
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The Paris restaurant La Tour d’Argent recently auctioned off some of the 15,000 wines in its cellars. To give you an idea of the size of their cellars, the wine list weighs in at 17-and-a-half pounds and has over 400 pages. André Terrail, the owner, said they needed to make room for new wines. They may have also wanted to free up some cash for improvements in an effort to regain two of the Michelin stars they have lost since 1996.
Meet the Duck Presser
In addition to its cellar La Tour d’Argent is famous for its pressed duck. Here an entire duck carcuss organs and all is pressed with the juices mixed with marc de champagne and served in over the previously removed duck breasts. Pressed duck at the lunch service will run around 70 euros ($100) a person while their fixed menu dinner menus start at 160 euros ($230) a person.
I attended the sale held at the auction house Salons Hoche and I was surprised by some of the prices that the wines were selling for but then again, its a rare occasion when you can acquire bottles of perfect provenance from a prestigious restaurant. There is now a thriving market on eBay for empty wine bottles from prestigious chateaux that are then refilled with ordinary wine and then sold to unsuspecting customers.
Salons Hoche
Posted by Greg Roberts · Tags: Tour d'argent Wine Auction Paris · No Comments »
Posted On December 3, 2009 at 11:14 pm in Languedoc
I recently had a review for Domaine Combe Blanche ” La Chandeliere” 2004, on the popular wine blog site Wannabee Wine Wine Blog:
In the mouth I found black cherry, currants, leather, spice, tart red berries, spice, and pepper. I thought the wine had great acidity and nice tannins. I think I’d serve this with one of my lamb dishes as a substitute for a full on Syrah, just for something a bit different. See full article
Posted by Greg Roberts · Tags: france, Grenache, Languedoc, Minervois, Syrah, Wine · No Comments »
Posted On November 10, 2009 at 4:41 pm in Loire
One of the wine blogs I regularly read is Jim’s Loire. Written by Jim Budd, a photographer and contributor to Decanter magazine. His blog is an excellent resource for Loire wine producers and for visiting the Loire valley.
He reviewed the Domaine Bouchie-Chatellier and had this to say about 2006 “Premiere Millissime”: Much the most interesting of the three wines (admittedly the richer 2006 vintage not 2007) with richer, softer fruit, spice and complexity. This is a Pouilly-Fumé to drink with food and should age well over the next four or five years.
Jim’s Loire
Posted by Greg Roberts · Tags: Bouchie Chatellier, Jim's Loire, Loire, Wines · No Comments »
Posted On November 6, 2009 at 8:50 pm in Languedoc
The hard work in the vineyards that Stephanie Chanot and her team have done over the past four years is starting to show results. When Bernard Kohler bought the estate both the winemaking facilities and the vines had been neglected for years. The vines had not been properly pruned and many were over-productive. Thankfully, rather than pulling them out as was recommended they kept many of the old vine parcels including one 60 year old parcel of Mourvedre.
The summer heat continued well into September in the Languedoc. Despite the lack of rain yields were average this year. Grapes were perfectly healthy when harvesting began on August 28th. Due to the favorable weather and excellent quality of the grapes harvesting was able to continue to October 13th.
1792: The new cuvée:
Chateau Moyau has its origins from the Middle Ages. Legend has it that the original settlers were pirates whose leader answered to the name Moyau. Another story claims that Moyau is derived from the word marais or marsh. A 1792 map documents the presence of a village called Moyau then called Mautÿa in the Occitan language. Some of the buildings at Chateau Moyau date to this time.
1792 is a Grenache based cuvée: full-bodied, soft nose with notes of woody undergrowth, truffles and black fruits. Its starts with a freshness in the front of the mouth and releases fine complex aromas and powerful tannins
Posted by Greg Roberts · Tags: Languedoc, Moyau, Wines · No Comments »
Posted On October 23, 2009 at 1:08 pm in Paris Tastings
The Salon des Professionals du Vin at Pavillion Dauphine was held this past monday in Paris. It was a manageable sized tasting of 30-40 producers from every major winemaking region. The event is held principally to attract wine shop owners and restauranteurs in Paris area but there were also others like me looking for interesting new wines to bring into the US and other export markets.
Pavillon Dauphine near the Bois de Bologne in Paris
I ran into a colleague there who has imported wines into the US for 30 years and he explained that he has recently started exporting French wines to China. He spoke about the difficulty of with getting deals done with his counterparts which would be all but impossible without the help of his Chinese girlfriend. Hong Kong is fast becoming a center of fine wine auctions since it eliminated all duties and taxes on wine. Most of what he’s selling is the very cheap stuff to mainland China.
Big wine brands far and wide salivate about establishing a foothold in the worlds largest consumer market where wine consumption have grown 61% since 2003. Tastes lean toward red wines and wine drinking is seen as a sign of wealth on prosperity. France so far has done quite well accounting for 40% wine imports. A Bordeaux producer I recently spoke with was just signing a long-term contract to supply 30% of his production to a Chinese company. A friend of mine also knows a French wine agent based in China who has sold dozens of forty foot containers of inexpensive wine in China. Besides the fine wine collectors based in Hong Kong much of the current opportunity in China seems to be for the mass produced plonk.
It will be interesting to see how the market develops over time. Will it be dominated by big brands? Will Chinese consumers’ tastes evolve away from mass produced cheap wine? Will more independent importers and distributors of small production wines find a way to become established there?
Some Highlights from the tasting:
Le Domaine des Masques, Cuvée Essentiele, 2007, VdP Bouches du Rhone
Interesting blend of Syrah/Cabernet – good new world style with lots of fruit, grapes from cooler high elevation sites in southern Rhone.
Domaine des Roches, Cremant, Blanc de blancs 2008
100% chardonnay, 6 months bottle aging, dry, very good acidity, biscuity, lemon-lime flavors
Posted by Greg Roberts · Tags: china, france, tastings, Wines · No Comments »
Posted On October 19, 2009 at 6:27 pm in Paris Tastings
I had lunch last Friday at Le Baron Rouge which is well known to locals and tourists alike as an unpretentious place to enjoy a wide selection of wines paired with cheeses, dried sausage and in the winter months, raw oysters. Le Baron Rouge is one of the few remaining wine stores in Paris that sells in bulk. What’s interesting is that these are good quality wines – not the bulk plonk of the the old days. I purchased a good bottle of Morgon made from organically grown grapes that they sell for 6 euros a liter. They also have a great selection of bottled wines poured by the glass.
Seeing wine sold in bulk from one-liter demijohns reminded me of a visit years ago to a cooperative winery in the Bordeaux region. Mostly elderly locals would come in and fill up their containers for the week with bulk wine poured from a sort of modified gas pump device. Back when per capita wine consumption was at its height in the 1950′s wine was generously consumed with nearly every meal and both consumers and producers had little concern about wine quality. Today per capita consumption in France has declined by two-thirds to 50 liters per year. The French drink less but they drink better quality wine now mostly bought in bottles. But here you can relive the old days while enjoying some inexpensive but well made wines.
Le Baron Rouge
1, Rue Théophile Roussel
75012 Paris
01 43 43 14 32
Posted by Greg Roberts · Tags: Le baron rouge paris wine · No Comments »
Posted On October 14, 2009 at 4:35 pm in Burgundy
Recently, I spent some time with one of my producers, Jean-Pierre Charton in the village of Mercurey in Burgundy. I’ve visited many times so it was no surprise that he had come straight from the vineyards and his hands were covered in dirt and grime so we exchange greetings without a handshake. With about 20 acres of vines he and his son do all the vineyard work almost entirely on their own. There are few shortcuts available for tasks like correctly pruning the vines, limiting the number of buds on each branch and conducting green harvests. Charton and son Vincent who recently graduated from the Lycée Viticole in Beaune do this difficult work by hand.
In his cellars we tasted his 2008 wines including his Premier Cru, Clos de Roi Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Mercurey Vieilles Vignes and Bourgogne Pinot Noir from barrels, as well as the limited remains of the 2007 vintage in bottle. He’s rightfully very proud of his wines and enjoys tasting them as much as I do. Often he simply smiles and nods his head acknowledging that weather conditions and the hard work in the vineyards came together in the end to make a great wine.
Read a full profile of Domaine Jean-Pierre Charton here.
Jean-Pierre Charton, Mercury Vieilles Vignes 2006: This red is marked by its beautiful silky texture, a foil for the flavors of sweet cherry, spice, leather and a hint of truffle. Rich, this is softening nicely and begs for roast chicken, with a good firm finish. Drink now through 2014. Wine Spectator, 90 points
Posted by Greg Roberts · Tags: Burgundy, Charton, Mercurey · No Comments »
Posted On October 12, 2009 at 5:36 pm in Burgundy
We spent the afternoon of tasting with Jean-Francois Maestre of Domaine Michelot and Martin Prieur of Domaine Jacques Prieur. Martin Prieur joined us for the night’s festivities in Vosne-Romanée where we had rented a small farmhouse for the weekend.
An outdoor fireplace / grill was fired up and gathered in the enclosed courtyard to enjoy an impressive selection of wines to pair with our meal. We raided the cellars of our host who graciously provided a selection of vintage champagne along with Burgundies from throughout the Cote d’Or. We started with dried sausage them moved into grilled andouillette (tripe sausage) – something that I can’t bring myself to enjoy even grilled and even with strong mustard. It’s pungent smell and flavors are just too much. The entrée was Cote de beouf. A cheese course finished the dinner. The highlight of the evening was a 1998 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée- Saint-Vivant that was earthy, pungent …, fantastic.
Romanée-Saint-Vivant
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Posted On September 30, 2009 at 9:54 pm in Burgundy
A group of friends recently organized a weekend wine tasting trip to Burgundy. I would be the only foreigner among a group all of whom work in the wine business. I didn’t know where we would visit and taste but I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed.
After a leisurely lunch in Beaune after our three hour drive from Paris, we set out to visit some clients of our host. He works as a salesman for one of the major tonnellerie or barrel makers in Burgundy. As he explained, his job is very different from other suppliers of dry goods to the wine trade. He works more as a consultant by interpreting the winemakers style into a barrels that will best help then achieve their objectives.
All oak barrels are not created equal and most estates will test many barrels from different coopers to determine which best suits their wines. Differences in how the wood is pre-treated and aged, if the wood is either cut with a saw or split along the grain and how the inside of the barrel is heat treated all effect how the wine matures.
At Domaine Jacques Prieur in Meursault, we tasted through an exhaustive range of the wines coming from the same parcels but aged in barrels from different manufacturers. The differences sometimes were subtle and other times wines seemed to come from entirely different vineyards. It gave me new appreciation of the how difficult it is to master the delicate art of barrel aging to improve the wine without overpowering it.
Tasting in the cellars of Domaine Jacques Prieur, Meursault
Next: The Feast in Vosne-Romanée
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Posted On September 28, 2009 at 5:10 pm in Alsace, Paris Tastings
The trade group of promoting Alsace wines, CIVA, recently sponsored and excellent tasting at the Atelier Richelieu last week. Forty-five wines were blind tasted and selected in advance for presentation to trade professionals at the event. Chef David Van Laer created tasty food pairings from oysters, Alaska king crab, dried sausage and cheeses.
Overall many of the Crémants d’Alsace were a little too sweet form my taste. Although Pinot Blanc is the dominant grape in most Crémants d’Alsace, I tasted an excellent 100% Riesling crémant from Domaine André Dussourt. It’s aged 15 months ‘sur latte’ and combined tart apple with slightly, petrol-oily flavors and a dry finish.
The other standout was from Domaine Greser’s 2007 Riesling Grand Cru Kasteleberg which was dry, floral nose with tropical favors.
Observations:
Some producers are doing themselves no favors in export markets with very traditional wine labels that haven’t been updated since the 1950′s.
What’s the best technique for holding a wine glass, a small plate and using a fork while standing?
Best food pairing: Alaskan King Crab with grapefruit paired Domaine Henri Schoenheitz Riesling 2006
Fragrant (smelly) Munster was paired Gewurztraminer
Posted by Greg Roberts · Tags: Alsace, Riesling, Wines · No Comments »