Unfortunately the wine ranking systems which are
widely in use don’t reflect the inherent qualities of the wine in question.
This is the case for both the 100 point US system and the 20 point system.
“Do you have any white wines by the glass?” I
asked, and ordered a Château Trians, a Coteaux Varois, from the region.
Christine Salsedo seemed somewhat surprised. “Most of the time people drink
red with cheese,” she said. “We’re French, so we definitely prefer red.”
Up to a third of wines sold under France's
regional appellation system might be from an entirely different region,
according to a French consumers' group.
Better known for its cider and sailors, the
region of Brittany can now lay claim to having its own wine following a
legal tussle with the French authorities.
In a bid to rival the Judgement of Paris
tastings, a group of wine tasters called the Grand Jury Européen is to hold
a tasting of Napa Valley and Bordeaux wines next week. François Mauss,
founder of the GJE, said he was 'not satisfied' by the celebratory 30th
anniversary tasting that took place in May this year.
A new country wine category for the south west
of France, Vin de Pays de l'Atlantique, will make its debut with the 2006
vintage. (Vin de Pays de l'Atlantique will cover the départements of
the Charente, Charente Maritime, Dordogne, Gironde and certain communes in
the Lot et Garonne.)
"French Chef Raymond Blanc has launched an
impassioned defence of French wine and accused its detractors of being
'ignorant' and 'unfair'. The Chef patron of the two-Michelin-starred
Oxfordshire restaurant and hotel Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons is 'fed up' of
the 'unfair attacks' on his native country and is taking it upon himself to
be an ambassador for the
French wine industry."
A cover story on kosher wine in one of the most
prominent French wine magazines is being seen as a sign of increasing
interest and support for kosher wine in France.
From
Publishers Weekly This comprehensive wine atlas leaves no centimeter of
terroir unexplored. After a thorough introduction to France, French
winemaking and the concept of terroir, Jefford (Wine Tastes Wine Styles)
gets to the heart of the matter with lengthy chapters on each of France's 14
regions. Each of these consists of an overview of the region and its
history, profiles of the area's major winemakers, a description of the land
and listings and descriptions of the local wineries. Some of the latter are
lengthy, while others are brief, but all include an address and phone
number, making this book useful as a guidebook as well. Jefford is
refreshingly opinionated: the Loire Valley is in the throes of a "long and
refined stone age," while Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace is the domain "most
emblematic of the New France as a whole." The effort here is encyclopedic,
but the writing rises above the usual dry discussion, comparing the quest to
understand Burgundy to doing crossword puzzles. Even the most matter-of-fact
information is presented with a certain flair: in a description of the Rhône
Valley, Jefford explains that the area's mistral wind is both destructive
and useful, in that it blows away "fugs and fungal diseases." Numerous maps
and photographs-including portraits of the winemakers profiled-and a full
list of vintages round out this entertaining addition to its field.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
An explosive new book on Bordeaux has been
pulled from the shelves after a lawsuit from the former head of Chateau
d’Yquem halted distribution.
Count Alexandre de Lur Saluces, who in
May this year was compulsorily retired by LVMH, the owners of the
illustrious Sauternes chateau, last week issued a lawsuit against the author
and publishers of
Noble Rot: A Bordeaux Wine Revolution to stop distribution of the book
in France.
Drinking ‘two or three’ glasses of wine is fine,
the French wine industry is telling drivers – in direct opposition to a
government campaign to reduce drinking and driving.
Using the proven Bellucci MethodTM, with
(Quietics)TM, readers learn the proper phonetic pronunciation of more than
15,000 wine names, terms, regions, and grape varieties in five different
languages- French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. With the help
of professional language teachers trained in the BellucciMethodTM, mastering
the difficult phonetics of the French Nasal n, the German umlaut, and the
Spanish rolling r has never been easier.
Both casual wine drinkers and more serious wine
connoisseurs often stumble over the correct pronunciation of various
international wine names. Now, even the most linguistically-challenged
person can quickly and painlessly reference the proper wine pronunciation
without having to learn international languages, and can concentrate on any
curriculum or conversation at hand.
Decanter contributor Michael Broadbent gives the
gift of wine – six bottles of 1989 Mouton-Rothschild – the top rating of
five stars. He describes its 'wonderful mouth-filling fruit, with fantastic
bouquet and flavour' and says 1989 was 'unquestionably a great vintage and
one which brought the decade to a resounding close'.
