Breaking Traditions

Happy New Year, cher Audience!
We hope the holidays were good to you; on our side, we are glad they are over.

That said, we think in order to maintain some semblance of regularity here we must ignore chronological order and be more spontaneous. N’inquiétez pas, don’t fret. We promise not to miss a bottle!!! But you know, in reality, it is not so easy to make a habit, and find the time, to write regularly. Our 2008 resolution – to be better about maintaining this chronicle.

So let’s discuss food and wine pairings. It seems the new trend in New York is to put ne porte quelle, which-ever, wine with a plate of food, all in the fashion of ‘breaking tradition.’ Well we are all about breaking tradition, but there are reasons to drink certain wines with certain foods. Elegant, thin wines will not stand up to heavy sauces, to vinegar and citrus, and certain cheeses also can overwhelm less sturdy wines.

Traditionally, easy rules are lighter to darker – except with concern to dessert wines; younger to older; and, with French wines, northern to southern – again with the exception of desserts. Some of the more experienced among the Audience will see one grave fault with these rules: if you drink all those young, light, fluffy wines first, you have, at best, numbed your taste buds, and, at worst, drunk too much to taste anything before arriving at the better wines of the meal.

There are ways to break tradition gracefully, however. We think back to a meal eaten in a restaurant prior to the holidays (and prior to this blog). Three of us at dinner and our second bottle of wine was a 2003 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Domaine Pierre Usseglio et Fils. This is a fascinating bottle. We would suggest rushing right out and buying some of this domain’s production, but be prepared. If you can find it, it may likely carry a high price. The last auction where it was seen for sale, the bottles were over 150 Euros.

It was the waiter who encouraged us to try it, describing it as capturing the best of the appellation, but with a special quality because the maker is a bit of a wild one who seeks to impart a different aspect to his wines than other producers in the area. We, in our lovely French, asked if this was a 'garage wine' and without missing a beat, the waiter, replying in French, said, no that it could not be called a 'garage wine' because the domain was too established and produced too much wine.

Don’t you love that? Leaving California, only in France can one have an informative discussion with a waiter about garage wine, and in a foreign language!

Well, like we said, the wine was amazing and we did rush home and buy some (the next day) on eBay France, luckily not for 150 Euros a bottle. But Domaine Usseglio was not the reason for this rececitive. No, no, we were discussing breaking tradition with wine. So, back to the restaurant and the next wine. We asked the waiter for counsel, something to follow this big, chewy Châteauneuf-du-Pape and without breaking the bank… not a simple request. Finally, with a bit of thought, he suggested a red 2005 Marsannay, saying that following such a complex wine with something not as complex would make the second taste like water; following it with a young tannic wine filled with fruit would be a completely different taste and refreshing. Despite violating the rules, he was correct – tradition well broken!

We wish to close with a note or two on Marsannay. It is a delightful wine that is actually the most recent of the appellations in Burgundy, receiving its AOC in 1987 (and who said wine-making in France was a static art; with organic lunar farming agricultural life has never been more dynamic!). Marsannay vineyards are in the Côte de Nuits, and they produce, in addition to red and white wine, a very nice rosé. Even the Prince Consort, a difficult consumer when it comes to rosé, appreciates it.

The community of Marsannay has put up an informative web site. You can find the English version at:
http://www.marsannay.com/avco/index_uk.html
Here they advise aging red Marsannay five to ten years. We have not had the opportunity to drink it with such age, but white Marsannay aged a few years can be bought in my local supermarket. Don’t you just love France!?!?

Drink up, dear Audience; we’ve more to taste…