Sips: Out to dinner in the south of France, where the wines (and the prices) are refreshing

Last night with friends, we had a nice meal at Restaurant La Grange in Bize Minervois in France’s Languedoc region. Almost all the wines on the list were from the list were from Minervois, so they didn’t have to travel more than a few miles from vineyard to table. Even so, I was struck by the prices. They were downright cheap. A very good bottle of rosé, Domaine Sainte Leocadie’s 2011 “Leukadios” Minervois, a blend of syrah and grenache, was just 13 euros, or about $16 or so. A red Minervois was 16 euros, or about $20. Remember, this is at a restaurant. Yes, I know that the wines are local and that the dollar is stronger than it’s been in years. But the good folks at Restaurant La Grange are doing something very right, it seems to me, by not marking up their wines excessively. At these prices, we were definitely going to order two bottles of wine and, beyond that, will keep the restaurant in mind for the next time we’re in the region. For me, wines are an essential part of a good meal, and it’s nice, for a change, to be in a place where they are reasonably priced. “Usually here you would double it,” one of our friends said of the markup from retail. “Most people know the prices of retail and would feel ripped off if they tripled it.” A good meal with some good-value wines left us with a feeling of goodwill. Perhaps from a little village in southern France there’s a small lesson for restaurants back home.

del.icio.us Tags: Laguedoc rosé,Languedoc wines,Minervois,Edward Deitch,Bize Minervois,Restaurant La Grange,Domaine Sainte Leocadie,Restaurant wines,French wines

Sips: Celebrity wines, for better or worse

Do celebrities make better wines? Would you be more likely to buy a wine if a celebrity were associated with it? I explore these questions in my column this week on MSNBC.com. The occasion is Drew Barrymore's debut in the wine business and the release of her first wine, a pinot grigio. How does it stack up? I put it to the (taste) test and take a look at some of the actors, athletes and other celebrities who have been bitten by the wine bug. Click here to read.

Swirls: A wine guide takes a leap and does away with scores and ratings

I’m just catching up with a newly released guide to Italian wines called “Slow Wine 2012: A Year in the Life of Italy’s Vineyards and Wines,” which marks the debut of an English-language edition of this reference. The guide, which covers 3,000 wines produced by 400 cellars, is notable for a number of reasons. Not only does it describe the people, vineyards and wines involved with each property, it also lists the use of fertilizers, plant protection and weed control practices, yeasts (native or selected), grape sources (estate or purchased) and whether a winery has organic or biodynamic certification.

Beyond this important information, the “Slow Wine” guide is notable for how it rates wines, which, with this edition, has fundamentally changed. “We have abandoned the very easy-to-understand, but ultimately trivializing, method of awarding points and sought to look beyond the glass,” the editors announce in the introduction. Obviously, they say, the wines reviewed are of excellent quality “but for us it is equally important to describe the vineyard and vinification methods used to create these top-flight products.

“And so,” they say, “we have opted for a new mode of communication – telling the story of the wine.” While this may not be revolutionary, it is refreshing not to see scores or stars or what have you alongside the wines listed. The concise, half-page narratives about each property are generally well-written and translated. Without ratings or scores, there won’t be much appeal here for those importers,wholesalers, retailers and consumers for whom a number is what matters most. But it’s good for those of us who appreciate the narrative of a wine and getting to know how and by whom it is made.

“What matters is wine’s soul,” the editors write. “That is why we have adopted new assessment criteria including respect for the environment, the countryside and territorial identify, relatively complicated issues that have demanded, and continue to demand, a quality leap from wine lovers, critics and producers.”

“Slow Wine” deserves a good deal of credit for elevating the wine conversation. Published by Slow Food Editore, $25.

del.icio.us Tags: Slow Wine 2012,Edward Deitch,Italian wines,Wine guides,Italian wine guides,Wine scores,Wine ratings,Slow Food Editore,Organic wines,Biodynamic wines

Swirls: China’s wine frenzy, Bill Foley’s growing wine empire, what sommeliers like to drink

SWIRL: The New York Times has an interesting piece today on the fast-growing French expat community in China, particularly Hong Kong, which, with its growing wealth and hunger for luxury goods, is drawing more and more wine and other entrepreneurs eager to bring their products to the Chinese market.

SWIRL: Speaking of China, Bloomberg reports that at least a dozen Chinese investors have recently bought wine estates in Bordeaux, mostly small and sometimes distressed  properties.

SWIRL: New York is planning to increase its wine presence in China. The Watertown Daily Times says hundreds of small New York wineries will have a better chance of getting exposure for their wines in China at a New York state wine outlet at the free trade zone in Shanghai. The aim will be to sell New York wines at Chinese chain stores, supermarkets and hotels.

SWIRL: In case you missed it, Jay McInerney’s weekend WSJ column on the increasing importance of sommeliers was notable for, among other things, pointing out that most sommeliers favor leaner, lower-alcohol wines because they match better with foods.

SWIRL: Bloomberg has a good read on the fast-expanding wine empire of Bill Foley, the former mortgage title executive who is buying up wineries in California and beyond.

del.icio.us Tags: China wine,French wines in China,Minneapolis Star Tribune,Bordeaux,Bordeaux estates sold to Chinese,New York wines,New York wines in China,Watertown Daily News,Jay McInerney Wall Street Journal,Bloomberg,Bloomberg Bill Foley,Bill Foley,Edward Deitch

Swirls: Bordeaux-crazed China not ready for Burgundy – yet

Hardly a day goes by without a headline about the frenzied wine market in Asia, particularly China. This week, Wine Enthusiast Magazine announced that it will produce a Mandarin edition for circulation to 100,000 “Chinese VIP consumers.” France’s Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters announced a 29 percent increase in shipments to Asia last year with a value of $3.3 billion. And in the city of Bordeaux, a négociant that specializes in Bordeaux sales to China and is staffed by seven Mandarin-speaking employees, opened a street-level shop to increase its visibility to the growing number of Chinese buyers coming to town, according to Decanter.com.

Indeed, the red-hot Chinese market for all levels of Bordeaux shows no sign of cooling. But what you hear almost nothing about is the Chinese and Burgundy. I had the chance to discuss this last week with Vincent Avenel, export manger of Domaine Faiveley, one of Burgundy’s biggest and best-known producers, at a dinner featuring some top new releases from Frederick Wildman and Sons, the New York importer that has been bring wines from the region to the United States since the 1930s. When I asked him whether the Chinese were taking to Burgundy the way they had to Bordeaux, his answer was quick and emphatic: “Not at all.”

In fact, China accounts for just 1.5 percent of Faiveley’s exports, Avenel told me. This surprised me as we tasted some top Burgundies, among them Faiveley’s 2009 Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru “Les Cazetiers” and Alain Burguet’s 2009 Chambertin Grand Cru “Clos de Beze.” Don’t wines like this qualify as the kind of luxury items the Chinese are embracing? What followed was a fascinating and candid conversation about money, taste, and sophistication.

For the Chinese at the moment, Avenel said, the hot wines are from Bordeaux and Australia because they are “bombs in a glass” and more easily understood and embraced than Burgundy. “We all started with Bordeaux,” he said, “because it’s the entry-level thing. The U.S. started with Bordeaux. The Japanese started with Bordeaux.” He said that Burgundy, on the other hand, “is never love at first sight. You need to build some maturity in terms of taste.”

He continued: “Burgundy is not about power. It’s about charm and secret things. You need to improve your ability to taste subtle things.” How long does it take? “It’s not something you get in just a couple of years,” he said. “I think it takes 10 to 15 years.” His conclusion: for all its newly minted wealth, China is simply not yet ready for Burgundy. “What we notice,” he said, “is that very often Burgundy is about old money and that Bordeaux is about nouveaux riches.”

(For some of my latest wine suggestions, go to my new weekly column on the Bites on Today blog at MSNBC.com)

del.icio.us Tags: Domaine Faiveley,Vincent Avenel Domaine Faiveley,Edward Deitch,Burgundy,Bordeaux,Wine sales to China,Alain Burguet,Frederick Wildman and Sons,Bordeaux sales to China,French wine sales to China,Asia wine market,Chinese wine market,Gevrey-Chambertin,Chambertin

Swirls: BYOB? A tale of 2 restaurants, including one that brushes off a well-known NY retailer on a special night out

A couple of weeks ago, I was delighted with a dinner at our neighborhood bistro, Café du Soleil, on New York’s Upper West Side. The reason? For one thing, it perfectly satisfied the carnivorous cravings of our family of four, including hangar steak and leg of lamb for the parents, a steak au poivre for the 12-year-old and a good old hamburger for the 16-year-old (all with some of New York’s best French fries). Beyond the food was the price of a high-end bottle of California cab -- $20. This was not some special wine offer but the very modest (by New York standards) corkage fee the restaurant charges, which permitted us to enjoy  Hawk and Horse’s excellent 2007 Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon, which retails for $65 and which I had received as a press sample. Clearly the owners want to bring in business, and with good food and an encouraging bring-your-own-wine policy, I look forward to our next dinner there.

For Jamie Wolff, a partner at New York’s Chambers Street Wines, it was a far different experience when he and some friends sat down at a restaurant on New Year’s Eve. Jamie began to relate the experience the other day when I stopped by the store (one of the country’s leading retailers of artisanal, small-production wines) and told him about a piece I had written about ridiculous wine markups. I asked Jamie to send me an email about his experience, and here is some of what he wrote:

Swirls: Restaurant wine follow-up – some perspective from a venerable New York establishment that does the right thing

Once a week or so, I make it a point to sneak out of my office for a quick lunch, which inevitably leads me on a 10-minute walk to the famed Oyster Bar & Restaurant at Grand Central Station. There, I almost always order one of New York’s great cheap meals – an overflowing bowl of New England clam chowder, which goes for $6.25 (a tomato-based Manhattan chowder is $5.75). The price includes a homemade roll and all the crackers you can eat. I never order wine at lunch, but yesterday I left with one of the Oyster Bar’s menus, which, on the reverse side of the large single page, features the  extensive wine list.

In light of my post last week that was critical of a downtown Manhattan restaurant that seemed to be marking up its wines exorbitantly even by New York standards and offering exactly two wines under $40, I wanted to refresh my memory about the Oyster Bar’s wines and their prices. A quick glance surprised me: not only does this New York institution, which is frequented by as many tourists as business people, offer reasonably priced wines, but it does so with a vengeance. On my way home last night on the subway, I actually counted the number of wines and then added up those priced under $40. Out of 183 full-sized bottles, both red and white, fully 46 of them were priced between $30 and $38. I’ll repeat it: one quarter of the wines were $38 or less.

Of the 46, 11 of these wines were sauvignon blancs --quintessential fish and shellfish wines with examples from Chile, Washington, the Loire Valley and Gascony in France, Spain’s Rueda, South Africa, Austria, Long Island and Sonoma.  Other under-$40 selections included a couple of sparkling wines, a few chardonnays and examples of  riesling, viognier, chenin blanc, pinot grigio, gewürztraminer, gruner veltliner, soave, orvieto, grillo and assorted other whites. Talk about a variety of reasonably priced wines! Though more limited, there were also a number of reds priced at between $32 and $38.

The point here is that many if not most diners would like to order wine, but at a price they they consider fair. Not only does the Oyster Bar offer dozens of reasonably priced wines, but the higher the price the less the markup seems to be, which conforms to a  favorable practice by some restaurants that a number or readers of last week’s story pointed to. The Oyster  Bar is a big restaurant and, with its volume, is clearly in a position to offer more relatively inexpensive wines. Smaller  restaurants should be offering reasonably priced wines in droves, especially in this persistently tough economy. I have no doubt that more patrons would order more wine, which would be good for everyone.

del.icio.us Tags: Edward Deitch,Restaurant wines,Restaurant wine prices,Oyster Bar & Restauarant,Wine lists,Restauarant wine markups,Wine markups

Swirls: The coming out of organic wine -- some things to keep in mind

Suddenly, it seems, the organic wine crowd is coming out of the woodwork. From growers to importers to supermarkets and other retailers, the wine world is seizing on “organic” as never before. Some growers, of course, have been making natural wines for years, including quite a few in France’s Loire Valley where most choose not to call attention to the fact, preferring to let the wines speak for themselves. And many of them do as wines of distinction. So the bar is high for wineries that trumpet the fact that they are producing organic wines or wines made from organic grapes (I’ll explain the difference in just a minute). My guess is that the market is ready to embrace the organic wine movement more broadly, but the wines will have to demonstrate that they have character, passing the same critical (and consumer) taste tests that non-organic wines must endure.

One that does is Cirelli’s 2010 Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, a delightful and refreshing non-oaked white made from organic trebbiano grapes in the Abruzzo region of southern Italy. A group of friends really liked this $14 wine when we served it at a holiday dinner party a couple of weeks ago, and my only regret is that I didn’t buy three or four bottles of it from Chambers Street Wines here in New York, which, speaking of natural and organic and biodynamic wines, has pioneered the trend among retailers for some years now. With stone fruit, pear, herb and citrus notes, Cirelli’s trebbiano is enhanced by an underlying minerality and was excellent with cheeses and other appetizers. Alcohol is a modest and welcome 12.5 percent. (A Zev Rovine Selection, imported by Fruit of the Vine, Long Island City, New York.)

Few wines in this country are labeled “USDA Organic.” That’s because under Department of Agriculture rules, organic wines cannot contain added sulfites, which are used in varying degrees by the vast majority of wineries as a preservative (and which some people say gives them headaches). If a wine is made from organically grown grapes but has sulfites added, the label can only say that it is made from organic grapes, as with the Cirelli wine.

Before the other day, I couldn’t recall the last time I received a wine with the USDA Organic designation. The bottle was from Italy, La Cantina Pizzolato’s 2010 Organic Cabernet Sauvignon NSA, from the Piave appellation in the Veneto region. NSA refers to “no sulfites added,” and the labeling on this wine makes the point that it contains “naturally occurring sulfites.”

I didn’t quite know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. It's a light cabernet with an almost unheard of alcohol level of 12 percent (most New World cabs are in the 13.5-15 percent range). It has good varietal character with red fruit and blueberry notes and a subtle herbal touch. Made without oak, it reminded me more of Beaujolais than Bordeaux and was stylistically as far away from California cab as you can get. Delicate and refreshing and a bargain at a suggested price of $11. Try it slightly chilled with chicken, pork and veal.

The wine was sent to me by Natural Merchants, an importer of organic and biodynamic wines in Grants Pass, Oregon. Interestingly, I received a press release the other day from Whole Foods Market announcing the fact that it was the only national retailer to carry NSA wines from Italy and Spain, including the cabernet and others from Pizzolato, which it described as “Italy’s top-selling organic winery.” Organic and NSA, it seems, are about to go mainstream.

Remembering Joe Dressner

The world of wine lost one of its real originals this weekend when Joe Dressner, the New York-based importer, died after a three-year battle with brain cancer. Joe was a leading proponent of  natural winemaking and defined his business by bringing in wines from producers, mainly from France and Italy, who didn’t overly manipulate their wines and who usually followed organic or biodynamic methods. Joe believed in honesty in winemaking and honesty in the wine business. I was struck, not long ago, by a thread on  Twitter in which he took on someone in the business he perceived as not being transparent. Joe was outspoken and could be direct, although he never made me feel uncomfortable in a number of conversations and meetings we had over the years. Joe was passionate. He was interesting, and so are his wines, which, for me, is the best thing a wine can be. Opulent fruit was far less important to him than a expression of place and vintage that give soul to a wine.

I think I was introduced to Joe’s wines many years ago by David Lillie, now a proprietor of Chambers Street Wines in New York. I called David this afternoon for a thought or two about his close friend. “He was extremely faithful with his friendships and very loyal to people,” David recalled. As for his evolution in wine, “Joe just started to realize what kind of wine he liked. And that was accelerated by our trips to the Loire Valley and Beaujolais.” It was in those regions that both men came to appreciate the wines of such producers as Jean-Paul Brun and Marc Olivier, among others, who emphasized good work in the vineyard, non-intervention, reliance on wild yeasts for fermentation and organic growing. “Joe realized that those were the wines he enjoyed the most and those were the people he enjoyed the most.” I remember running into Joe at a large tasting in the Loire Valley last year and then, a few days later, at Charles de Gaulle where he was waiting for the flight back to New York with his wife and business partner, Denyse Louie. He looked okay and seemed to be fighting the good fight against his cancer. But he was more interested in how I had been and what I was up to. That’s the kind of guy Joe Dressner was.

Technorati Tags: Joe Dressner,David Lillie,Denyse Louis,Edward Deitch,Chambers Street Wines,Louis/Dressner Selections.

Swirls: Wine alcohol levels, China's domestic wine growth, Italy overtakes France

The issue of alcohol levels in wine is getting a great deal of attention these days, much of it focused on California, where the high-alcohol wine “bubble” seems to be deflating a bit. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I generally prefer wines with more modest alcohol levels. Yes, I realize that is something of a blanket statement, but I usually find wines in the 13- 14-percent alcohol range a bit easier to drink than those at 14.5 percent or higher.  Dave McIntyre in the Washington Post has a good, balanced discussion of this.

Fascinating story on the growth of wine in China, not just the increasing appetite among wealthy Chinese for top Bordeaux and other “status” wine imports, but the explosion of China’s domestic wine industry, which has gone from 30,000 bottles three decades ago to six million bottles today, surpassing Australia’s production. Read the full story on Australia's ABC.

And in case you missed it, Italy has surpassed France to become the world’s biggest wine producer, according to data released by the European Commission. Italy churned out 4.96 liters of wine last year, compared with 4.62 billion liters for France. Spain is in third place and the U.S. is fourth. Read more here.

Swirls: Dear Wine Writer (Or How Not to Invite a Journalist to Your Event)

Here is the kind of invitation I loathe. It begins innocuously enough: “It’s going to be 98 degrees in NYC tomorrow! The perfect night to try our new Rosé and Sauvignon Blanc.” It’s even okay in paragraph two: “Please join us in celebrating the release of our two new wines Parlay Rosé of Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc at the Art Directors Club in New York City tomorrow Thursday, June 9th at 6:30 pm.”

But then comes the disturbing line: “If you would be interested in posting about Parlay Wine or this event on your site we would be happy to provide you with a complimentary ticket to the event.” I don’t know the folks at Parlay Wine – never heard of them until I received this invitation and read on their Web site that they are based in Brooklyn and put their label on a small line of California wines.

The first thing for them to know is that I don’t “post” about events in isolation. I occasionally write about events in the context of wines that I think are noteworthy. Second, there is no way for me to know if I’d be interested in writing about the company or its wines until I taste them. Third, I never, ever make deals with wine companies or their representatives to write about their wines in exchange for “complimentary” tickets to events or samples or anything else. And fourth, I rarely attend events – dinners, lunches, new-release parties – on behalf of individual wine companies. (Think about it for a minute. What if I don’t like your wines and we’re sitting across from each other at lunch. Kind of awkward, wouldn’t you say?) I do, however, attend events sponsored by wine regions, which typically feature a range of wines from a number of producers.

So, how can you make me interested? If you’re Parlay Wine, for example, first tell me a little bit about your company, including your business model (what’s a Brooklyn company doing selling California wines?). Let me know that you’re holding an event that I might find interesting, showcasing your new releases, and that this would be an opportunity for me to taste them. Above all, avoid the word “if,” as in “if you would be interested in posting ... we would be happy to provide you with a complimentary ticket to the event.” For journalists, it is a dirty word, suggesting that coverage can be bought. Lastly, take a look at my site, and you’ll get a sense of the mix of content I am interested in and the tone I take. In just a few minutes, you’ll realize that a ticket to your event in exchange for a post is not something I would care to be involved in.

Swirls: A modest proposal on writing about clients, samples and other wine-industry connections

As you may have noticed in this space in recent months, I am all about disclosure, disclosure and more disclosure when it comes to any connections I have with the wine industry (samples, press trips, speaking engagements) and believe it is incumbent on anyone claiming to be a credible wine reporter or reviewer to do so. As I’ve learned over several decades in journalism, mostly with national news organizations, integrity is just about everything, and I’ve tried to follow that principle in almost a decade of writing about wine.  If you’ve just tasted a “killer sauvignon blanc” and the winery is your client, I want to know that fact. Loved a rosé that you received as a press sample? Let me know that you acquired the wine that way. While most of us in the wine world know how the business works – it is driven largely by public relations and marketing – I’m not sure that the average wine lover who comes across this blog or that Twitter account knows enough to read between the lines and, as a result, may be caught off guard and influenced by conflicted information. By disclosing these relationships, you are telegraphing to your readers that you care about these principles, that you respect their right to know about your connections, and that you have a  sophisticated and  professional view of these things (I believe that those in the wine industry will have greater respect for you as well).

I was reminded about this issue the the other day by an item I came across on Twitter. John Gillespie, who runs an online research company called Wine Opinions and represents wine clients in their marketing efforts, posted the following Tweet:

@WineOpinions John Gillespie

I never work for people whose wines I don't love, but I'm going to attach "#client" to every tasting note I offer on a client wine.

Gillespie is not the first to disclose a client connection on Twitter, but he is the first I have seen to do so in such a clear and direct way. With a single word, he is removing any ambiguity about his relationship with a wine. Ultimately, his followers will have to decide whether they “love” the wines he promotes as much as he does, but at least now they’ll have little doubt about where he’s coming from when he mentions them. This idea is so simple, taking just seven of 140 characters in a Tweet, that it should become standard practice for those who Tweet about their clients. Similarly, another seven-character tag -- #sample – should be used by wine journalists and critics when they write about wines sent to them as samples (this blog discloses that fact at the end of every post about wines received for review). So, from now on, when you see “#sample” at the end of a Tweet on @VinDeitch, you’ll know that this is how I obtained the wine. There is, after all, no downside to disclosure. What are your thoughts on this issue? Comments welcomed.

Technorati Tags: Wine and social media,Wine and Twitter,Wine marketing,Wine news,Wine and disclosure,Edward Deitch,John Gillespie Wine Opinions,Edward Deitch Twitter,Vint-ed.com,Wine samples

Swirls: NY supermarket wine sales, wine & weight loss, a 13-year-old rosé

SWIRL: Legislation aimed at changing how wine is sold here in New York is once again making its way through the Legislature in Albany. On one hand, it seems lawmakers may finally be heading toward the right balance when it comes to permitting grocery  stores to sell wine, while also giving liquor stores more flexibility in what they can sell and to whom. The Times Union has a good editorial on this today. At the same time, Dr. Vino.com has an interesting item on another New York bill that would curtail the ability of restaurants to purchase interesting older vintages from collectors and other sources, bypassing wine distributors.

SWIRL: If you’re trying to lose weight, are eating less but just don’t see much of a change, it could be those two or three glasses of wine you’re drinking. A survey of 2,000 people in Britain found that fewer than one third had an idea how many calories there are in a standard glass of wine (134). Read more about it in Scotsman.com and Marie Claire.

SWIRL: As we head into high season for rosé with lots of 2010 releases, most of them to be drunk within the next few months, Jeremy Parzen highlights one of the world’s ultimate rosés in the Houston Press -- R. López de Heredia 1998 Viña Tondonia Rosado Gran Reserva. Yes, a 13-year-old rosé that, like most wines from this great Rioja producer, is aged for years in barrels before release. They are singular wines, providing a unique tasting experience.

Technorati Tags: Wine sales in New York supermarkets,Grocery store wine sales,New York Legislature wine,Times Union wine,Dr. Vino.com,Restaurant wines,Wine and weight loss,Scotsman.com,Marie Claire,Rosé,Jeremy Parzen,Houston Press,R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Rosado Gran Reserva,Edward Deitch,Wine and health

Winemakers try to carve out a new image for France’s vast Languedoc

NARBONNE, France – Just about everywhere I’ve gone in the last three days here in Languedoc, winemakers lament how this vast region in southern France has suffered for decades from its image as a bastion of quantity over quality wines. They say it parenthetically, however, because there seems to be a great deal of momentum these days for repairing that image – about getting the word out that some first-class wines are being made here. Languedoc is, in fact, the world’s largest wine-producing region, with more than one third of its production shipped abroad. While the U.S. market is growing, it accounts for only five percent of exports, behind China and Canada, both at eight percent. “In the U.S., we have no real image,” said Jérôme Villaret, managing director of the CIVL, the region’s trade organization. Beyond, perhaps, the most broad and basic Languedoc AOC appellation, the wines are largely unrecognizable to most casual American wine drinkers. Ask them about Corbières, Faugéres or Limoux; about Pic Saint-Loup, Picpoul-de-Pinet or Saint-Chinian, and they  will draw a blank. As one agent doing business in the region told me, this would be like asking the average Frenchman to understand the difference between Napa and Sonoma.

And yet, as I am finding in my travels here, there are some superb and original wines being made by passionate, smart and creative winemakers producing authentic terroir wines, many of them under $20. One need only pay a visit, for example, to Claude Jourdan’s Domaine Félines Jourdan overlooking the oyster farms on a vast saltwater lake to realize that her fresh, briny and deliciously fruity Picpoul-de-Pinet can (and should) give Muscadet a run for its money for fish and shellfish. Or spend  some time with Regis Valentin at Château de Lancyre in Pic-Saint-Loup to see what he does with the white roussanne and marsanne varieties and with a range of reds based on syrah, grenache and other grapes. Or taste and talk with  Pierre Bories, right, at Château les Ollieux Romanis in the Boutenac area of Corbières, or Charles-Walter Pacaud at Domaine La Croix Chaptal in the Terraces du Larzac, to see how they are giving new direction and distinction to carignan, a traditional red variety that, in the right hands, produces wines of finesse and elegance.

These are just a few of the winemakers who have impressed me, many of them growing grapes organically in Languedoc, which, with its dry climate, is producing almost a third of its grapes this way and leads in organic production in France. Today, I’m off to Saint-Chinian and Minervois in search of what I hope will be more revelations in this vast and largely undiscovered land.

Technorati Tags: Languedoc wines,Languedoc AOC,Corbieres,Faugeres,Limoux,Pic-Saint-Loup,Picpoul-de-Pinet,Saint-Chinian,Claude Jourdan,Felines Jourdan,Regis Valentin,Chateau de Lancyre,Pierre Bories,Chateau les Ollieux Romanis,Boutenac,Corbieres-Boutenac,Charles-Walter Pacaud,Domaine La Croix Chaptal,Terraces du Larzac,Minervois

On a brilliant afternoon in France’s Languedoc, a wine tasting like no other

I joined more than a thousand people in the Languedoc region of southern France yesterday afternoon at what must be one of the world’s ultimate walk-around wine tastings. Instead of being confined to a room, we hiked our way on a brilliantly sunny and windy day up and down the parched, gravelly trails of La Clape, a a sub-zone of the large Coteaux du Languedoc appellation not more than a couple of miles or so from the Mediterranean Sea. The area is known as  a “garrigue,” a landscape of low scrubland on limestone soils,  small slopes and plateaus. At this time of year it is already overgrown with wild herbs, including rosemary,  thyme and juniper, as well as almond trees and fennel plants that practically trip you as you make your way up and down the dusty paths. All around these trails are vineyards, still light green, their grapes just beginning to form. A few months from now they will  yield the fruit that defines this place -- grenache, mourvèdre, syrah, carignan and cinsault among the reds and rosés; grenache blanc, bourboulenc, roussanne, among others, for the whites.

In our three-and-a-half mile hike, there were six stops to be made, featuring six courses of food and anywhere from four to eight wines to be sampled at each. The dishes included a gazpacho of artichoke and fennel, a “marmalade” of eggplant and anchovies, a scallop and crayfish duo,  a “parmentier” of duck confit and, of course, a little chèvre to round things out. At least 25 wines were served -- white, pink and red -- ranging from the rustic to the refined, and I will describe some of my favorites here in coming days. But for now, have a look at some of the photographs I took at this unique and memorable event.

View Full Album

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Swirls: Bringing your mistress to a Hong Kong wine auction; ‘90+ Cellars’; dentist offers beer and wine

SWIRL: There’s a good read on the red-hot fine wine market in Hong Kong from the BBC’s Chris Hogg, who notes that many auction bidders are now from the the mainland and are buying up a lot of the best vintages. “One of them appeared to have brought his mistress,” the story notes. “She was tiny and looked rather bored.” Charles Curtis, who was head of North American wine sales for Christie’s and now does the same for the auction house in Hong Kong, provides good perspective on where the market is headed.

SWIRL: As you know, I have never scored wines, preferring a narrative-approach to why I think a wine is worth drinking. But that’s  just me. The business, however, continues to be score- obsessed, and one incarnation I just read about on CNBC.com  takes the form of a new brand called “90+Cellars.” The company buys surplus wines from around the world, puts its own label on them and offers them at discounted prices. Not just any old wines, but wines that “must have a pedigree of 90 or higher ratings, best buy or gold medal accolades from a respected wine authority or publication,” according to the 90+Cellars Web site. The precise sources of the wine are not revealed.

SWIRL: And for those who dread a visit to the dentist, Dr. Clint Herzog, a practitioner in Fort Worth offers a novel way to make his patients more relaxed by offering them beer and wine in the waiting room,  giving new relevance to the expression, “feeling no pain.” Watch the KXAS video here.

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Latest top wine Tweets, from the serious to the hilarious

I feel just a tad like that New York TV sportscaster whose “Spanning the World” segments used to show the highlights (and low lights) of the sports world. But as I devote more time and attention to Twitter, with its vibrant wine community, some Tweets clearly stand out, whether for their substance or refreshing lack of it. Herewith, offered raw and without comment in what I hope will become a regular feature in this space, a few that struck me as I scrolled back through today’s Tweets: 

 

@islewine Ray Isle

Congrats to @belinda_nyc & everyone at The Modern for winning James Beard Award for best wine service!! #jbfa

 

@ablegrape Doug Cook

Interesting. Twitter suggested I follow Pampers. Do they know something I don't?

 

@SlateWine SlateWine

Bernard Madoff’s wine collection to be auctioned. Wonder if he had anything from Ponzi Vineyards. http://bit.ly/izWxKE

 

@WineTravel Wink Lorch

The nonsense Grand Cru Languedoc proposal as elucidated by @JancisRobinson http://t.co/Adf4mcn - great estates matter so much more than GCs.

 

@JamesSuckling James Suckling

Mouth is still raw from a number of overextracted, overalcoholic 2008 CA Cabs...ouch.

 

@DebraMeiburgMW Debra Meiburg MW

Judging in So. Africa: Spider in glass #12; Snake in tasting rm #A; fab silver & gold medals in SB flight #1 #omtws

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Swirls: Thoughts on wine alcohol levels and disclosing them

The issue of alcohol levels in wines has received new attention in recent weeks after the San Francisco Chronicle announced that it would include alcohol percentages in its reviews. This is a positive development, though the Chronicle is not unique in the  practice. I, for one, have included alcohol levels in most of my reviews -- for MSNBC.com over many years and, more lately,    for this blog. Every time I pick up a bottle of wine, whether in a store or from a box of press samples I have received, the alcohol level is one of the first things I look at. Sometimes it is nicely visible, usually on the back label. But often it is printed in extremely small type in a lower corner of the front label, sometimes even requiring a magnifying glass (or my children’s eyes) to make it out. Are these wineries trying to hide something?

But why look for this number and disclose it in reviews in the first place? For one thing, the alcohol level, even with a permitted margin of error, is the best indicator for consumers of the style of wine they are about buy or drink (beyond a knowledge of specific regions and appellations, which many consumers don’t have). The higher the alcohol the longer the grapes spent hanging on the vine and accumulating  sugar, which is converted into alcohol during fermentation. Thus, so-called “big” wines have higher alcohol levels, often in the range of 14.5 to 15 percent or more. These include many California reds and some chardonnays. By contrast, wines we would consider “light” are typically in the 12 to 13 percent range and include such wines as the white Muscadet and red Beaujolais from France. It’s important to note that lower alcohol levels don’t necessarily mean that you’ll be drinking wines without character. Both Muscadet and Beaujolais, for example, can show wonderfully expressive and concentrated fruit.

Alcohol levels, of course, have increased substantially over the years, driven up by warming trends and, perhaps more importantly (and disturbingly), by a perception among some winemakers that certain critics have a preference for bigger and bolder wines. (I looked at a prized bottle in my collection recently, a Bordeaux from the famed 1982 vintage, and was reminded that alcohol levels in the region back in those days were a mere 12 percent!)  The problem with some big-fruit, high-alcohol wines is that they have been zapped of their natural acidity. They lack balance. There are exceptions, of course, and I have enjoyed some very big, very powerful wines from time to time. But I can’t tell you how many flabby reds and whites I taste every year – big, bold wines, many from California, that are hotly alcoholic and are chore to drink. For me, this is not what enjoying wine is about. The good news is that some winemakers seem to be getting the message that not everyone wants to drink wines in this style.

It is, of course, a matter of preference, but I, for one, will continue to scrutinize the labels in search of learner, less alcoholic, more elegant bottles that, in general, I find to be more refreshing and better partners with food. By the way, soon after the Chronicle said it would disclose alcohol levels, Decanter magazine announced a similar policy. What do you think? Let me know your thoughts on alcohol levels in wines and disclosing them on labels.

Technorati Tags: Alcohol levels in wine,Wine alcohol levels,Wine and food,Wine attitudes,San Francisco Chronicle wine alcohol levels,Edward Deitch,Disclosing wine alcohol levels,High-alcohol wines

Royal Wedding menu revealed, Champagne confirmed

Just in: details of the Royal Wedding lunchtime reception menu and at least a bit of information about the wines -- confirmation of Pol Roger Brut NV as the Champagne, but still no details of the other wines.

From the official Royal Wedding Web site:

Guests will be served a selection of canapés, including:

• Cornish Crab Salad on Lemon Blini

• Pressed Duck Terrine with Fruit Chutney

• Roulade of Goats Cheese with Caramelised Walnuts

• Assortment of Palmiers and Cheese Straws

• Scottish Smoked Salmon Rose on Beetroot Blini

• Miniature Watercress and Asparagus Tart

• Poached Asparagus spears with Hollandaise Sauce for Dipping

• Quails Eggs with Celery Salt

•  Scottish Langoustines with Lemon Mayonnaise Pressed Confit of Pork Belly with Crayfish and Crackling

• Wild Mushroom and Celeriac Chausson

• Bubble and Squeak with Confit Shoulder of Lamb

• Grain Mustard and honey-glazed Chipolatas

• Smoked Haddock Fishcake with Pea Guacamole

• Miniature Yorkshire Pudding with Roast Fillet of Beef and Horseradish Mousse

•  Gateau Opera

• Blood Orange Pate de Fruit

• Raspberry Financier

• Rhubarb Crème Brulee Tartlet

• Passion Fruit Praline

• White Chocolate Ganache Truffle

• Milk Chocolate Praline with Nuts

• Dark Chocolate Ganache Truffle

Guests will be served Pol Roger NV Brut Réserve Champagne with a selection of other soft and alcoholic drinks.

Some of today’s top Tweets about wine

Here’s something different I’m trying out – a short collection of some of the more interesting wine items I’ve come across today on Twitter, ranging from the clever to the informative to the entertaining (but not the blatantly commercial).

@WineOpinions John Gillespie

Breaking - wine kills oral bacteria on contact: http://bit.ly/ii9ifQ - Which is why I gargle with Albarino in the morning

 

@TishWine W. R. Tish

Suckling Strikes Again! Or, How Not to Write a Wine Article: http://t.co/IBswBYR // Youch!

 

@LouiseHurren Louise Hurren

via @winecurmudgeon survey to find answers to Qs like how do #wine bloggers make money? http://bit.ly/l4Gmay #socialmedia

 

@fakewinereviews Fake Wine Reviews

Notes of pencil lead, coffee, Tums®, restraining order, binder clips ... and I've run out of things on my desk. #lazy

 

@ablegrape Doug Cook

Here's why you, a winery (or any website) owner, shouldn't let your domain name expire: This *was* Calon-Ségur: http://www.calon-segur.com/

 

Let’s leave it at that for now. Comments, suggestions welcome.

 

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