DINNER WITH A BORDEAUX CEO, LYNCH-BAGES
In a recent dinner organized by the K&L wine shop of San Francisco, I had the good fortune of sitting next to Jean Charles Cazes, CEO of Chateau Lynch-Bages, a Fifth Growth Bordeaux that enjoys cult status among some, in par with higher classified labels. The dinner featured three Bordeaux brands and was preceded by a tasting of their newest vintage, 2012, currently considered a lesser year. The other two were Chateau Figeac (St. Emillion) and Chaeau Leoville Barton (Saint-Julien). Cazes poured Lynch-Bages from his flagship property in Pauillac and Ormes Des Pez, a Cru Bourgois he owns in[...]
OPEN LETTER TO WINE THIEVES
Congratulations, you made it to the front pages. Breaking into the French Laundry, on Christmas Day of all times, was quite a coup, front page news.Maybe you didn't want that. Maybe you thought you would remain obscure as when you stole twenty-four bottles from Redd just down the street in Yountville, or from Fine Wine International, a San Francisco shop, in 2013. But the French Laundry is one of the best restaurants in the country, if not the world. How could you not have known it would land you notoriety?Seventy-six bottles of Romanee Conti and Screaming Eagle. Wow! Very sophisticated.Admittedly[...]
DOMESTIC MERLOT; TIME TO OVERCOME PREJUDICE
"I am not drinking any fucking Merlot."With that one line uttered by Miles, the Paul Giamatti character in the movie Sideways (2004) the domestic merlot market, until then thriving, collapsed. At the time I was already an Old World wine follower, puzzled by the popularity of merlot among hipsters. I wasn't too sad to see this varietal sink. Since then I have not drank any domestic merlot.Well, it's been more than a decade. Merlot remains in the basement for many, pinot noir, also mentioned in the same movie, nowadays the hip varietal since. So when one of my wine groups[...]
ADIEU ETOILE
An old friend just passed away. Etoile Restaurant in Yountville is no more. It was Domaine Chandon's elite restaurant for decades, a pioneer in Napa Valley fine dining when the area was still a rural backwater. I had various personal memories at Etoile, an early foray into Napa dining, a first date with my second wife, numerous commemorative visits thereafter.When the storied champagne house Moet et Chandon decided upon an American outpost, they went all out and included a fancy restaurant in its grounds, a rarity then with wineries, as it is now. Etoile opened in 1973. Initially under chef[...]
STUCK IN LODI AGAIN
I live within the Lodi appellation of California but rarely visit its wineries or drink its wines. Still, it is impossible to avoid news and trends in the appellation. I ran into Markus Niggli, winemaker for Borra vineyards, at a Christmas party, and asked him if he had observed any change in client tastes over a decade at his job. Markus, tall and handsome, still youthfully exuberant, was friendly and frank."Well," he said, "they are beginning to get used to acid."Markus has been making some very interesting, innovative wines, in particular a white blend of Kerner, Riesling and Bacchus varietals [...]
FROM SEXY BREASTS TO CONTENTED SIGHS; A PRIMER ON CHAMPAGNE
I thought I might end what's been the best year for my wine blog with a champagne edition as we prepare to celebrate the eve of the new year, the greatest occasion for the drink. Hopefully my readers will enjoy the little known tidbits below, as I did discovering them. Many thanks to my cousin Bienvenida Amir for her tip on the wonderful book by Tilar Mazzeo entitled The Widow Cliquot, a biography of the grande dame of champagne. It was also a good history of the bubbly.Everything about champagne, the light, delicate, crisp and bubbly wine screams sexy.It was[...]