Dr Vino's wine blog

The eyes of the wine world turn to Bordeaux this week as hundreds of critics and buyers descend on the region for “en primeur” week. The dark, inky, fiercely tannic wines of the 2006 vintage are rolled out to the thronging crowds, who get to smile at each other with purple teeth. Then they decide how much they like the current wines, for delivery in 2009. Opinions will roll out from critics and some of the prices at the top chateaux will not be set until as late as June.

Since I won’t be there this week, I dug through my notebook for a producer profile from my stop in St. Emilion in January.

I dropped by Chateau Corbin and met with Anabelle Cruse-Bardinet. The Grand Cru Classe property had been run by three generations of women in her family. But in 1999, Anabelle, now 39, and her husband Sebastien decided to purchase the property from her grandmother.

The big, stone chateau was in need of some TLC. They added a new roof and rehabbed two barrel rooms, one with an office overlooking the wines quietly aging. Now they live there full-time with their three kids under ten. It is a vital chateau, unlike many of the properties in the Medoc, the left bank, which are more museum-like.

However run down the main house was, the vineyard was in much better shape. She brought in Michel Rolland from neighboring Pomerol to have a look at the vineyard planted to merlot and cabernet franc and advise on grape maturity. But she makes the wine. Trained in enology at the University of Bordeaux, she makes the wine though and wants the wine to “reflect the vineyard first and the human hand second.”

She sells the wine at what she calls an “ultra-realistic” price in the system known as the place de Bordeaux. She sells it to about 30 brokers in Bordeaux who then sell it domestically and to importers from places like the US. In the past couple of years, she is selling all of her wine faster–it took one day a few years ago but the 2005 was sold out in one hour. The wines eventually make their way to the US market at the reasonable price of $25 -30 retail (find these wines).

These merlot-based wines are ones that would make Miles eat his words. Of the wines that I tasted at the chateau, the 2003 is an excellent price to quality ratio (find this wine). The dark purple wine has great St. Emilion character, with good balance between dark fruits, faint oak spice, and acidity from this vineyard that shows well in hot vintages. Not too extracted, not too high in perceptible alcohol, the wine has great character. The 2005 is even better, more concentrated and still wrapped in tannins at this stage and will require some bottle aging (find this wine). The 2002 is wonderfully drinkable–paired with grilled meats it would be a great match (find this wine). The 04 is very solid and I saw it for a reasonable $20 online, which makes it serious wine for a very reasonable price (find this wine).

We’ll check back with Anabelle soon to see how things went for her showing her 2006 wine at en primeur.

chateau-corbin.com

Meet the newest wine blogger! Her name is Mariann and she hails from Denmark! When she’s not blogging she is known as Mariann Fischer Boel, the Commissioner of Agriculture of the European Union. Check out her blog.

She’s just getting into blogging so she’s just learning the ropes. For example, she hasn’t learned yet that she doesn’t have to put her photo in EVERY posting. And she doesn’t have a blogroll and couldn’t hyperlink her way out of a conference room. But at least she has comments! And she blogs in the blogging lingua franca–English!

This woman, who carries the big stick of wine policy reform, has the cojones to go to regions that could be affected by her radical initiative to uproot vineyards, reduce subsidies and upgrade quality. She went to Sicily to pat on the back and taketh away (see the Bloomberg story on her trip). And she lived to blog the tale. Roll the tape from her blog:

We visited vineyards in the hills around Etna whose high quality red wines matured in oak barrels are finding ready markets all across Europe and further afield.

As we work towards major reforms in both fruit and vegetables and wine, I was really inspired by what I saw. European farmers really can do well if we give them the correct conditions to allow their entrepreneurial talents to flourish.

Of course, it would be wrong of me to pretend that everyone was happy. I had the impression that my speech in general went down well. But I did notice some mumbling in the audience when I moved to the subject of wine reform – and more specifically the proposals for grubbing-up and ending distillation.

I know this seems harsh, but we cannot continue spending half a billion euros disposing of unwanted wine. We need to spend the money on improving the quality and marketing the results. The winemakers I saw in Sicily showed what is achievable if you have an open mind and a good business sense.

MFB is pro-barrique! And also a little unsure of who she’s blogging for. Clearly it’s not her constituency–European farmers–since they get hit with the third person pronoun. Maybe European taxpayers? Maybe Brussels bureaucrats? But, hey, even if it amounts to little more than a pamphlet, at least she takes comments!

Five years ago, Randall Grahm staged a funeral for the cork. The great marketer and label designer behind Big House Red and Ca del Solo among other brands staged a processional for his last cork at Grand Central Station of all places. From then on, all of his wines have been bottled “en screw.”

Since enjoying wine is in many ways a race against time (and oxygen), how a bottle of wine gets sealed is of utmost importance. Corks have their detractors since they can introduce the noxious chemical TCA that makes wines “corked.” Further, the pieces of tree bark can lose their elasticity as they age letting in wine’s nemesis, oxygen.

Screwcaps, by contrast, can provide such a tight seal that no oxygen gets in and there is no problem with TCA. Many proponents of screwcaps (or Stelvin closures, if you must) might suggest that the only thing standing between them and domination of the wine world is consumer resistance since wines bottled “en screw” have typically been seen as more downmarket. And what would you do with your $100 corkscrew if you only had to twist the cap off?

Screwcaps appear to be so controversial with their partisans for and against, you might think it impossible to find a producer who goes both ways. Fortunately the Wine Media Guild was able to find several examples of the same wines bottled under both closures for the March tasting.

Michel Laroche attended the tasting as speaker to share his experiences as well as several of his wines bottled under both closures. Laroche is a fifth generation winemaker from Chablis who has run his family firm since 1967 and now also makes wine in the Languedoc, Chile and South Africa.

For Laroche the transition to screwcaps started in 2001 when an unacceptably large amount of his wine was sold unknowingly with TCA that came through corks. Placing the estimate at 10 percent of his production that year, he expressed frustration because he said that consumers never complained so he didn’t know if they thought that flawed wine was actually his style.

So in 2002 he took action. He set up an alternative bottling line and bottled three percent of his production under screwcaps. He bottled the same day and from the same vats. He brought four of his wines that run the gamut of his line for us to taste, with a bottle under each closure.

The difference was shocking. Read more…

Goat cheese is a sign of spring in France. When we had a few people over this past weekend, I was sure to have a nice chevre–even if there is still snow on the ground. Grrr…

One of our friends stated his dislike for goat cheese. Then when I brought out a Sancerre, two guys raised their eyebrows, “WHITE wine?!?” Skeptics all around!

We poured a Sancerre and the raised eyebrows lowered, intensely studying the aromas and color. Not half bad was the sentiment conveyed with a nod.

Then the goat cheese skeptic tried the cheese and washed it down with the Sancerre. And again. And again. He proclaimed it a great match!

So check out the 2005 Chavignol from Thomas-Labaille’s vineyard “les Monts Damnés” or “damned mountains” (about $20, find this wine. The name reminds me of the red “Hell’s mountain“). This name derives from the steepness of the vineyard’s slope of which compels the growers to hand harvest whether they want to or not. Since this is not the norm in Sancerre, the resulting wine has a beautiful blend of richness and crispness that can convince non-chevre eaters and even non-white wine drinkers of its virtues.

Got any favorite pairings with goat cheese? Hit the comments!

Related:
“Spring for Savennieres” [Dr. V]
“BREAKING: Sarkozy tastes Sancerre, promises wine reforms” [Dr. V]

No doubt stung by his Dr. Vino demotion to rural town council last week, Nicolas Sarkozy, Minister of the Interior and a leading candidate in the race for the French presidency, has now announced that he is in favor wine reform.

After the Revue du Vin de France reported that he does not like wine since he’s too busy (“you cannot reconcile alcohol with frenetic activity”), he got a raspberry from this web site.

But now that wine-lover Segolene Royal is gaining ground in the polls, Sarkozy is making nice with wine producers! The BBC reports that he actually tasted local wine while campaigning in Sancerre! No report on whether he looked “dour” as he did during a sherry tasting in Spain. (Be sure to send photos of him in Sancerre if you find them.)

Not only that, but he is now trying to curry favor with wine producers by intimating that he might remove tight restrictions on advertising wine in movie theaters and on TV that date from 1991. “Wine cannot be lumped together with tobacco or drugs”, Sarkozy told the local wine producers.

As if that weren’t enough to bring the downtrodden French winemakers to his side, he “promised to protect French wine producers, vowing to bar from the market imported wines which fail to match the domestic wines’ quality.” Whoa, Nico. While lifting the advertising restrictions is a good thing, who would be the Senior Minister for Wine Quality?

Still, this pandering to wine producers raises Sarkozy’s Dr. Vino rating to: member of the National Assembly.

Related:
“Sarkozy woos French wine makers” [BBC]
“Leaders and liters of wine: French presidential contenders 2007” [Dr. V]

UPDATE: Leave it to Bertrand, wine photographer extraordinaire, to tip us off to a photo of Sarkozy tossing back the Sancerre. People came from near and far to behold the busy man take time to sip some wine.

tags: wine | French wine | French elections

This is the first in a periodic series on leaders and the wines they drink.

France has presidential elections in April and May (two rounds, like the best bar stops). Just where do the candidates stand on the important issues? Forget such trivial details as policy positions. What are their views on our single issue–wine?! Fortunately the current issue of La Revue du Vin de France has done the heavy lifting for us. Roll it:

Nicolas Sarkozy: Currently ahead in the polling, this candidate of the center-right might like French wine? WRONG! “He believes you cannot reconcile alcohol with frenetic activity,” the magazine reports. And in a photo published by the magazine of a sherry tasting in Spain, Sarkozy is seen raising a glass dourly.
Dr. Vino appoints this candidate to: rural town council

Segolene Royal: While working as an adviser to late president Francois Mitterrand in the 1980s, the other leading candidate “learned that eating and drinking were the two pillars of the French art de vivre.” WHAT?! Now 54, why did it take her til the 1980s to work this out?
Dr. Vino appoints this candidate: Senator

Domique Voynet: The Green Party candidate may not have a shot at landing in the Elysee Palace, but apparently she is the clear choice for wine lovers! “She can list dozens of good wines from the Jura region and not only organic ones,” the magazine said. Well, good for her!
Dr. Vino appoints this candidate: President

Francois Bayrou: Though hardly known outside of France, Bayrou gets the most improved wine lover award. The magazine reports that “though he started late his first experience was a special one.” Bayrou has told friends that his first big wine binge cured his stammer. Wow. What ailment can red wine NOT cure?!?
Dr. Vino appoints this candidate: Minister of Health

José Bové: This anti-globalization activist and declared candidate is not included in the RVF piece. But he sure ain’t drinking Chilean wine. I’d put him down for a rustic red from the Languedoc.
Dr. Vino appoints this candidate: governor of a breakaway province

Jean-Marie Le Pen: The spoiler in 2002, Le Pen has not yet officially entered the race. You’d expect him to keep it national. But deep down, he has a secret affinity for California cabs…. nay, Algerian wine… or, maybe even…FUEHRERWEIN!
Dr. Vino appoints this candidate to: exile to Tangiers

Source: RVF via Yahoo (sadly RVF doesn’t see the importance of web content)

tags: wine | france | french elections

Rustic, is it good or bad for a wine?

Charlie, a participant in my last NYU class, cited it as the reason for his taking the class. He said that a friend had served him some wine recently and described the wine as rustic. Charlie had to find out what that meant.

I heard the word again yesterday at a tasting of wines from the Alto Adige region of Italy. One producer described lagrein, a grape variety, as rustic. So what is “rustic”?

I think of rustic mostly as a good thing. When discussing good value wines, I think of it as off-the-beaten-path varieties or regions that maybe have some quirks or rough edges but also have a certain undeniable charm, particularly in the face of a pasteurized, homogenized wine in an “international” style. One importer used the term “rustic authenticity” to underscore this difference. For varieties I think of connonau, aglianico, falanghina, pinot d’aunis, carignane, or moschofilero. For regions I think of Fitou, Cahors, Basilicata, Sardinia, or the Halkidiki among others. Few of these wines are meant for cellaring–they’re meant to be enjoyed soon, with a good meal.

I suppose if the term were applied to high end wines, such as Burgundies, it would be interpreted as a bad thing or a flaw. But in the context of good value, everyday drinking wines, it’s something to seek out even if it does mix in some clunkers with the charm.

What are your favorite “rustic” wines? Can a new world wine be rustic?

tags: wine | rustic

Michel Rolland, the controversial wine maker whose signature adorns over 100 wines around the world, has announced he will be stopping his consulting work to some 20 chateaus in Bordeaux. Rolland was placed on a low circle of the inferno in the 2005 documentary Rolland drops Bordeaux consultancies
decanter.com, February 8, 2007
By Adam Lechmere, and Panos Kakaviatos
“Michel Rolland has dropped some 20 consultancies – among them Chateau Kirwan – because of pressure of work.” Continue

Rolland leaves Chateau Kirwan under Mondovino cloud
decanter.com, January 29, 2007
By Panos Kakaviatos
“Celebrated flying winemaker Michel Rolland has left Chateau Kirwan, with the estate owners saying they are looking for higher quality.” Continue reading in cached version–original page is now mysteriously blank.

So was he pushed or did he jump?

Related: “Meeting Michel Rolland”
“Michel Rolland: the man, the myth, the legend“