| 25 December 2009
The sun was warm, the skies clear and the vignerons mighty pleased. So was I, as a matter of fact. I was told to expect grey drizzle and many occasions to try out my umbrella. Luckily, I got nothing like it. With temps in 20 degree Celsius range, blue skies and spectacular autumn reds and golds in the vineyards, the last week in October 2009 in France’s Loire Valley was certainly not what I anticipated. Not what the winemakers anticipated either.
Some were saying they hadn’t seen anything like it in 40 years. Others, like Pierre-Jean Sauvion, Oenologue and “Façonneur de plasir” at Château du Cléray-Sauvion in the Muscadet AOC compare it to more recent vintages. “The vintage 2009 in Muscadet will look like the 2005, so you can imagine how happy the growers are after the low yields of 2007 and 2008. On top of that, the berries were in very good health so we can do a lot of skin contact. What was surprising was that the fermentation took forever – at least a month – which is quite unusual but results in great complexity in flavour.”
Further inland, the news is generally the same. In AOC Savennières, home of the world’s most complex expression of the Chenin Blanc variety, Evelyne de Pontbriand of Domaine du Closel and President of AOC Savennières notes that the great weather allowed for harvesting of the tries (repeated passes through the vineyards to select fruit in a state of optimum ripeness) in a fairly relaxed manner. “We noticed that the areas where we have experimented with biodynamic practices gave particularly fine grapes.” Red varieties – Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon – also ripened well and the wines are showing richness in both colour and aromas.
| 29 July 2009
It’s an unconditional Sangiovese surrender.”
— Doug Shafer, Shafer Vineyards, Napa, California
In the late 1980s, inspired by a trip through Tuscany and a taste of the now-legendary Tignanello, Doug Shafer and his father John decided to have a go at producing their own Sangiovese-dominated red wine from the vineyards they had planted in the early 1980s. In 2006, Doug and John wrapped one of the remaining bottles of their 2003 Firebreak Sangiovese in a white flag and sent it to Marchese Piero Antinori, the father of Tignanello. Having built a reputation for crafting some of California’s top Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah, the Shafers were simply not completely satisfied with the Sangiovese wine they had been crafting over thirteen vintages.
| 29 July 2009
Too often we look at Champagne not as a wine, but as an image. We pop the cork on New Year’s Eve, toast the bride and groom at the wedding reception, celebrate that special birthday or anniversary or spray it around the room after winning the Stanley Cup. It seems that most people match the bubble to an occasion and food is an afterthought ... if at all.
Even industry professionals disagree with respect to Champagne’s affinity for food. But those that do not believe in its ability to “mimic” a table wine are drinking inside the box. The king of sparkling wines is produced in a multitude of styles, weights and with a huge diversity of flavour profiles. This variety of styles allows for its versatility when pairing with food. And the bubbles don’t limit Champagne’s affinity for food, they enhance it by allowing the wine to match with certain dishes for which a regular table wine might not be suited.
What better way to confirm and study further Champagne’s marriage with food than going to the source? The historic town of Reims, with architectural wonders that miraculously survived the ravages of the world wars, is located in the heart of the Champagne region. Here we endeavoured to drink and eat with as much variety as possible ... and to determine how the locals do it. As it turns out, the fact that Champagne with food is a relatively new concept for the locals was the biggest revelation.
| 29 July 2009
In my decade of visiting VinItaly — one of the largest wine shows in the world — I have come to look forward to the meals as much as the wine. Dinners, street vendors, business meetings, regional showcases all incorporate food. And while the Italians are serious about quality and freshness, there is a delightful absence of pretence.
My penchant for grazing is more than satisfied over the course of numerous meetings. An assortment of antipasti, salami, cheese as well as regional munchies all casually appear to accompany the wines presented by each producer. Each year I arrive in anticipation of the addictive brisolone (a big crumbly cookie with nuts) that Daniela Bussola serves with Italy’s best Recioto della Valpolicella, produced by her husband Tommaso; and the sweets from the local Veronese bakery that Nicola Fabiano serves during our meeting, not allowing us to leave until we have cleared the plate; or the Parmiggiano-Reggiano, that tastes fresher than anything imports we get in Canada, served with the Proseccos of Ruggeri’s Paolo Bisol; the classic Sardinian thin crisp flatbread (carta da musica — “music paper”) at S. Maria la Palma; and the delectable accompaniments warmly pushed upon us (it doesn’t take a lot of arm twisting) by Iliana Brero to enjoy with the wines of her boyfriend Mauro Gallo who is too young to be producing wines this good. And this is just during the meetings.
| 29 July 2009
91 Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Le Corton Grand Cru 2006, Côte d’Or, Burgundy ($128)
This grand cru is somewhat closed on the palate right now, but it is full of potential, as there is a long finish and good weight. Medium- to full-bodied, it offers a fragrance of raspberry, plum, cocoa, herbs and flowers. Hold until 2010 and drink over the subsequent 8 years.
90 Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Cailles Premier Cru 2006, Côte d’Or, Burgundy ($126)
This dark-coloured Pinot is very refined, seducing with plum, cocoa, spice, dark-cherry and smoke flavours. It is nicely concentrated with great balance and length. Definitely a wine made for some duck breast. Drink over the next 5 to 7 years. 88 Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils Pommard Premier Cru 2006, Côte d’Or, Burgundy ($75) Deep ruby colour; this wine delivers a sexy nose of black cherry, plum and spice. Medium-bodied, very good length and some grip on the finish. Drink from 2009 to 2015.
| 19 May 2009
If Spain’s culinary history has taught us anything it’s that it is entirely possible to be famous, popular and very much misunderstood (yes, Angelina, there are others like you). You may be a household name. You may be the hottest thing in the country. But that doesn’t mean you won’t be stereotyped, pigeonholed and/or just plain bastardized. So it goes with Spain’s most famous wine, sherry, and its most fashionable food (at least in North America), tapas.
Even the driest abstainers have at least heard of sherry, and probably know that it’s a type of wine (or at least a type of devil drink). But outside the realm of the fairly well-tuned wino (or the Spanish, and maybe the Brits), sherry is a bit of a mystery. For most, it’s a sweet brownish drink that grannies drink/drank/drunk out of a dusty old decanter that has sat on the mantle since the dawn of time. Or it’s a substance of dubious composition typically consumed from a paper bag by those types who tend to line up at liquor stores every morning (a.k.a. the “breakfast club”). Nothing could be further from the truth. Okay, the statement “the economy has been doing just fine” or “things are hunky in the Middle East” might be further from the truth.
As for tapas, well, these “little dishes” have become very popular on these shores. However, much like all Champagne is sparkling wine but not all sparkling wine is Champagne, all tapas are “little dishes” but not all little dishes are tapas. A “slider” may be a little dish … but it ain’t a tapa.