Oh, New Year’s Resolutions! We never make them because we can never keep them. Dear Audience and loyal readers will remember our last post where we resolved to be better about maintaining this blog. It is sad; we started that post in early January and only managed to put it online on 22 January.
And now we are starting the second post of the same day. But with the holidays receding in the rear-view mirror, and therefore, with many meals to describe, we must get on with it! We also want to address something else before it slips out of our mind - a comment from you, dear Audience, from great friends. We don’t receive many comments; actually, officially, we receive no comments.
Unofficially, we did hear the Girlfriend make a verbal comment the other day, a positive one touting the blog which was appreciated but did not surprise; loyal readers will remember that her encouragement is partially ‘to blame’ for this exciting blog. We also know that another close friend has Eating/Drinking/Traveling registered on her personal page at www.netvibes.com. Aside from tracking changes in this blog, we are not sure what it can do for you. Maybe the Country Lady will comment (officially) and let us all know why netvibes.com is worthwhile.
But, back to the comment on which we wish to comment. Our great friends, Mr. Sausage and Spouse (Her Grottiness), generously took the time to read posting after posting on the blog between Christmas and New Years. Their reaction was that they found it interesting but hard to follow unless you know the specific wines involved, and continued with the comment that “they’re impossible to find here [New York City] so it’s not like you can follow along as a reader by trying the same wines.”
At first read that seems correct, but in reality many of the wines we drink and discuss are available when they are younger in New York, at least the appellations are if not the specific domains. When they are older, and are ready to drink in our humble opinion, these wines remain available but in more limited quantities and often at very high prices in the US. However, dear Audience, thanks to our sometimes enviable position straddling the Atlantic Ocean, we occasionally have some ideas where one can find certain of these wines at more interesting prices. So as not to bore with mundane details, interested parties are welcome to email us at alawrence@victory-partners.com.
It is completely understandable that great imported wine ‘of a certain age’ is not readily available (even if the 'ladies' who drink it are so!) at reasonable prices in the US unlike in the country of origin. First of all, America has a byzantine system of alcohol importation based on regulation by both the Feds and individual states. In NY, there are licensed importers and distributors servicing the retail alcohol sellers – stores, bars and restaurants. NY is also a state where only one importer is allowed to import a brand. ‘Anti-competitive’ is not the correct legal term; perhaps someone, dear Audience, can write in with the phrase I am seeking.
These licensed importers buy wine when it is released from the vineyards, in other words, ‘very young.’ Now there are some French producers we know who keep a majority of their production at the vineyard to age, but they tend to be smaller producers using very specialized importers to distribute their wine if they export at all. More typically, the importers ship the wines stateside in large quantities and sell it immediately to distributors who resell to retailers with NY State Liquor Licenses. Few, if any, of the importers or the distributors have temperature and humidity controlled warehouses suitable for ageing wine. Living as many of us do in dry, overheated NYC apartments, we certainly understand how difficult it can be to create the conditions needed to age ‘gracefully.’
Additional to the space and technical requirements, there are the economic requirements of ageing wine. The cost of real estate is obvious and not to be forgotten is the cost of electricity, construction and maintenance, but the largest cost may be that of inventory. Decent young vintages can be purchased in volume for $15 – 20 per bottle total cost into the harbor. When we purchase a case for $240 it makes sense to put it down for a few years, but when an importer is buying a thousand cases of one wine for $240,000, a thousand cases of another and two thousand of a third, the cost of inventory becomes overwhelming, especially when the business model is importation.
Luckily for those of us, dear Audience, living in Manhattan apartments so filled with chic bibelots that even a small version of the increasingly available wine refrigerators (they now sell them at Target!) cannot be shoehorned into the space, there does exist condition-controlled wine storage for a reasonable-ish price – think in the neighborhood of one dollar a bottle per month or less. A well-known such storage is located under the Chelsea Markets; another in Long Island City.
A quick summary of tidbits shared here: keep up with blog posts as you best can; wine is always available and often at reasonable prices; keep our email handy; and storage can be costly – drink faster!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
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…
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…
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