Wine Beneath The Palms

Europe may rename its wines; it could be war

     This may sound like inside baseball, but it may spur foodies and wine fans to start World War III. The European Common Market Organization is drawing up plans to replace current wine appellation systems with two standard Europe-wide denominations.
     It means, for example, that in Italy’s Piedmont region, what today are the Barolo, dolcetto and Barbera DOCs would be reduced to a single Barolo DOP.
     Wait’ll the French hear that they want to re-label Bordeaux. This is a war that even they could relish.

French warm up to American style

FRED'S WINE COLUMN

   It used to be that when France's respected Burgundy wine growers had an especially hot
year with ripe grapes and fat wines, they would refer to it as a "California harvest."

   They didn't mean it as a compliment. They saw California chardonnays and pinot noirs as
flabby "fruit bombs'' with little elegance and less ability to age.

   Then they discovered how popular California wines were -- part of a bigger, richer,
fruitier "international style'' that customers loved.

   Today, while no one will claim the French have come all the way over, they do speak
more respectfully of warm vintages. They make richer, fuller wines, sometimes topping out
at 13 percent alcohol instead of the typical 12.5 percent, with a bit more fruit and less
acid.

   The year 2005 was like that -- warm and dry, with an early harvest producing grapes with
thick skins for extra color and flavor and ripe flesh for more grape sugar. It reminded
growers a bit of 2003, one of the hottest, ripest vintages in years.

   Putting a fine point on it, Faiveley announced that 2005 matches its established house
style: "intense, powerful but lean, and built to last."

   Wine Spectator magazine loves the vintage, giving it a rating of 95 to 100 points.
‘‘The quality of the 2005 vintage for red Burgundy is stupendous," it wrote.

   Founded in 1825 in the heart of the Nuits-Saint-Georges district, Domaine Faiveley has
flourished under seven generations of Faiveleys, expanding into the Côte de Beaune and
Côte Chalonnaise. It's big for a Burgundy house, with 296 acres producing 80 percent of
its wines. (The balance are from long-term contracts with private growers.) It has two
wineries, one in Mercurey, one in Nuits-Saint-Georges.

   The wines give excellent value for their prices, which are pretty good compared to many
top Burgundies.

   Faiveley says its red wines go with pheasant, hare, duck and quail; its whites with
fish en papillote or vol-au-vent in puff pastry. This could be true. But when's the last
time you had that?

   I like its reds with grilled meats, roast chicken and hard cheeses. As for its whites --
one of the finest taste matches in the world is that all-American favorite, chicken pot
pie.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

   • 2005 Domaine Faiveley Nuits-Saint-Georges, (pinot noir) AOC: hint of oak, aromas of
black cherries and cloves; smooth and silky; long finish; $59.

   • 2005 Domaine Faiveley Montagny, "Domaine de la Croix Jacquelet," (chardonnay) AOC:
bright, lean and crisp, with pineapple and citrus flavors: $25.

RECOMMENDED

   • 2005 Domaine Faiveley Mercurey Premier Cru, "Clos des Myglands," (pinot noir) AOC:
aromas and flavors of tart cherries and anise; ripe tannins; rich and smooth; $40.

   • 2005 Domaine Faiveley Bourgogne Chardonnay, "Georges Faiveley," (chardonnay) AOC:
hint of oak; aromas and flavors of vanilla, white peaches and citrus; rich and soft; $20.

   • 2005 Domaine Faiveley Mercurey, "Clos Rochette," (chardonnay) AOC: rich, smooth and
ripe, with tart pineapple aromas and flavors; $30.

   • 2005 Domaine Faiveley Mercurey, "Domaine de la Criox Jacquelet," (pinot noir) AOC:
black cherries and pepper; ripe tannins; long finish; $23.

Feting Fay with price-cut bubblies

     “Woo hoo!” says Michael Bittel. “Fay missed South Florida with nothing more than some rain and wind! We think it’s time to celebrate!”

     So he’s cutting prices on a couple of really nice bubblies.

     · Nonvintage Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Premier Champagne, reg. $38, on sale for $23.

     · 1997 Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Champagne “Cuvee Palmes d’Or,’ regular $130, on sale at $85.

     Or you can stop by on Sat., Aug. 23, from noon to 4 p.m. and try some of Nicolas’s bubblies free.
     It’s at Sunset Corners Fine Wine & Spirits, 8701 Sunset Dr., Miami. 305-271-8492 or mbittel@sunsetcorners.com.

Hilary Swank to make wine movie

      Star alert! Oscar-winning actor Hilary Swank, left, has bought the rights to the book French Women Don’t Get Fat, and plans to film it as a romantic comedy.

      Written by a female exec from the Champagne house Veuve Clicquot, it’s about the “French Paradox” -- how the Gauls can eat their country’s fat-laden diet, drink red wine and stay slim and healthy.

Could it be the latest Sideways?

Book tells story behind Veuve Clicquot Champagne

     How serendipitous is this? Just as Hilary Swank buys the rights to the French Women Don’t Get Fat book (see item above), written by a female exec of the Champagne house Veuve Clicquot, here comes a book about the founder of that company.

       It’s called The Widow Clicquot: The History of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled it. The book stars Barbe–Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin (1777–1866) as the “veuve,” which is French for widow.

     After the death of her husband, whatshisname, she took over the winery and made it a success. He gets no credit at all.

 

News of the weird in wine

      Catching you up on obscure wine news:

     · Are you outraged to know that drug smugglers have been caught converting some vineyards in Washington State’s Yakima Valley to growing marijuana? Check out the comments at the end of the story. One apoplectic grape fan says they should get death by firing squad.

      (The picture here, by APF/Getty Images, is actually from a bust in Germany. I put it here only in case you don’t know what marijuana looks like. Yeah, right.)

     · Boisset, a major producer of French Beaujolais red wine, says it will release its Beaujolais Nouveau this year in plastic bottles. For marketing purposes, it will fly the stuff to the States in time for this year's Nov. 20 release date. And to save the planet, it wants to use bottles that weigh less, use less jet fuel.

     · The British crime writer Sir John Mortimer, who created the character Horace Rumpole, upon turning 85, says his secret to long life is a modest glass of modest champagne every morning. Also says he lacks enough teeth to eat food properly.

Broadbest bests Parker in taste-off

This has wine fans buzzing. Michael Broadbent, iconic longtime wine seller for the London auction house Christie’s, beat Robert Parker, left, super-influential American wine taster and author, in a London tasting.
The two tasted several wines and rated them. Then the public tasted them and rated them. Broadbent’s palate agreed more often with the public, says Decanter.com.

Will electronic tongue replace us wine writers?

     I knew I was getting obsolete, but this is ridiculous.
     A Barcelona microelectronics expert has invented an electronic “tongue” that can identify a ’74 pinot noir from Burgundy. It measures acid levels and phenolics and such and identifies the wine.
     So what are we wine writers for now?
     You could see it coming. Ten years ago Japanese scientists “reverse-engineered” a fine Bordeaux – breaking it into its chemical components, then rebuilding it into a Bordeaux again. The good thing about that experiment is that it failed -- miserably.
     And I’ll bet there’s one thing they can’t get a machine to do.
      Enjoy wine.
     I guess that can be our solace.
     What do you think, wine fans? Click on the “comments” icon below and tell me.

When France finally admired American wine

      I don’t know how Access Hollywood missed this – it’s certainly the talk of the wine world.

      In 1976, a Paris-based British wine retailer named Steven Spurrier staged a publicity stunt, setting up a blind-tasting between up-and-coming California chardonnays and the top chardonnays from France.
To the anguish of French pride, the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay from California beat them all.
     American wine lovers look back on the date as if it were the Fourth of July. It literally put America on the world wine map, and see how far we’ve come now.
     Now, two new happenings:
      A new movie, Bottle Shock, is coming out, loosely based on the 1976 tasting.  It stars Alan Rickman as Steven Spurrier. Viewers say it’s the next Sideways – the 2004 film in which Miles and Jack put California pinot noir on the map and did major damage to merlot.
     Just as the movie comes out, the news arrives that the famous Chateau Montelena has just been sold – to the Bordeaux wine estate Chateau Cos d’Estournel.
I’m not sure whether to be proud or sad about that. I guess the dollar is so weak that the French figure that if you can’t beat them, buy them.
     Fans, what do you think?
     Click on the “comments” icon below and tell us.

Some wine fans vow to resist screw-top bottles

Yesterday I asked readers' reactions (see item below) to news that even French winemakers may be turning to screw-top bottles -- even on their best wines -- to avoid the problem of cork taint that is ruining so many wines. Here’s a response:

Dear Fred,

I will never buy an expensive red wine in a screw-top bottle. Part of the enjoyment of wine is when the sommelier comes to your table and ceremoniously cuts away the capsule and, with that little pop, pulls the cork. If I’m going to pay those big restaurant markups, I want something for it.

Jane Brow, Hallandale

Dear Jane,

I feel your pain. I’ve heard that some sommeliers have been working on how to elegantly open screw-top bottles. It seems that, if you position your wrist and hand around the bottle just right, you can twist the bottle open so the click is heard and the bottle label is precisely facing the customer. And just before doing that, the sommelier tells the customer, “Now, just listen for the click of quality.”
Think you’d ever buy into that?
Fred

Question: Does anybody have suggestions for how to cope if screw-tops ever become ubiquitous? If so, click on the “comments” Icon below and tell us.