18. March 2008 by Sebastien Gavillet.

Deluca hosted a lecture of famed wine writer George M. Taber, author of “Judgment of Paris”.

George M. Taber’s new book, “To Cork or Not to Cork” focuses on the dilemma about cork problems in the wine industry. The author discusses what alternatives there are to remedy this problem, if any.

The truth is that there is no perfect cork as George stated so unequivocally or there would be no cork taint in today’s wine.

The book presents different enclosure methods other than cork, the pros and cons associated with them and talks about the polemic that surrounds the various options. I have not read this book yet so I will not comment further until I have.

My two cents on why Australian wines are the worlds most corked?  It is not the long journey from Portugal to Australia, in my opinion, as South American wines do not suffer from this issue. I think it is that Australian customs fumigates all incoming containers containing “wood” based products and that the problem is probably related to the fumigation process. Did I hit the nail on the head with my theory?

 Cheers!

Posted in News & Media | Print | No Comments »

18. March 2008 by Sebastien Gavillet.

Deluca Liquor & Wine hosted a lecture of famed wine writer George M. Taber, author of “Judgment of Paris”, about the 1976 tasting which put Californian wines on the map.

George was there to present his new book, “To Cork or not to Cork”, which focuses on the dilemma about cork problems the wine industry has encountered and what alternatives there are to remedy to this problem.  But first he took Q&A on “Judgment of Paris”.  For your information, I do own this book. For those who do not know about the Paris Tasting in 1976, it is considered the pivotal point for the new world wines and the wake up call for the old world.  In a nut shell, Californian wines where voted better than French wines in a blind tasting by French wine experts. You can imagine the outcome when the results were revealed. The judges gasped, whispers broke out and all you could here was “ce n’est pas possible!”
Now not to take the defense of the French wines, I do have a few objections to how the vintages were selected for the Burgundy White Wines.  1973 was one of the worst vintages for Burgundy in the last 40 years or so. That is a fact.  Where as 1973 was a fairly decent year for California. For those of you who have read my previous article on blind tasting and how I like horizontal tasting for the same AOC/AVA, in this situation, it would have been a little harder to do. As California and Burgundy are not in the same region, what might be considered a good year in California might not be considered a good year in Burgundy.  As for the red wines selected for the tasting, the quality of the vintages used was much fairer.
In conclusion, I am grateful for this tasting as it forces winemakers from around the world to be more diligent and not to give up trying to constantly make a better wine. That is why today we can enjoy as George so well said “the golden age of wines”.

Posted in News & Media | Print | No Comments »

17. March 2008 by Sebastien Gavillet.

Chardonnay from the world over was the theme and the tasting was hosted by Jeff Wyatt, owner of the hip, off-the-strip restaurant Marché Bacchus.
Surrounded by thousands of wine bottles, the setting could not have been more fitting for a tasting.  We took refuge at the kitchen bar where Wille of Aureole, the event’s Maitre de Ceremonie ordered the first wine poured.Once all wines were poured and accounted for, we had visited Sonoma County, Chablis (Burgundy), Casablanca Valley (Chile), Macon (Burgundy), Treiso (Italy), Austria and finally we finished the evening with a Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru (Burgundy).
It was not a simple blind tasting. I do not remember having to focus so hard on aromas to be able to place wines in a regional context. Things got tough at times, especially when we tasted a chardonnay from Austria, which was one of the evening’s most interesting and challenging wines. I personally never had a Chardonnay from Austria. The straw golden wine with an brilliant, almost oily texture of medium plus viscosity, presented aromas of mango, guava and passion fruit and a hint of sulphur on the nose (not in a faulty context) and balanced flavors of oak, vanilla, lees and furfural. Typical acidic characteristic of cold climate wine (medium plus acidity), this Prager had a nice complexity and pleasant lingering finish. If it wasn’t a Chardonnay tasting, I would have placed it as a Riesling blend due to the noticeable mineral (flint) content, acidity and tropical fruit aromas. Needless to say that I was not able to place it to Austria. A great buy if you can find it or keep it in mind next time you dine at Areole.
What to find out more about the other wines, just email me. I took full notes on most of the wines tasted and will be glad to provide them to you.
The next event on Tuesday evening, March 25^th, at midnight, and the location has not yet been selected. The theme is ANY French red excluding, Burgundy, Bordeaux and Rhone valley wine! This ought to be an interesting tasting and for those attending, surprise us!

Until next time, Cheers!

Posted in Wine Tastings | Print | No Comments »

4. March 2008 by Sebastien Gavillet.

There is a distinct difference yet all too often confusing at times.  Even the most famed wine critics sometimes misinterpret these two.

 Aromas in wine come from 3 different categories:

Primary, which is the varietal aromas (from the grape type itself), secondary, which is the aromas which develop during the pre-fermentation and fermentation process (also called vinous) and finally the tertiary aromas which develop during the post fermentation process and maturing of the wine (in oak and/or bottle aging).

So the primary and secondary types of aromas qualify in the aromas class and the tertiary aromas are the aromas that classify for use as bouquet.

Bouquet is the smell and characteristic of wine, created during the post fermentation process and in the wine bottle itself.  Aldehydes and esters are formed during the oxidation of the fruit acids and alcohol in the bottle.  A bouquet takes time, actually years to develop.  A matured good wine will have a complex bouquet.  I have here listed a few aromas which are only developed during this process.  The following classify as bouquet aromas: prune, mushroom, truffle, cedar*, liquorice*, leather, toast*, roasted almond, roasted hazelnut, caramel, coffee, dark chocolate and smoke* to name a few.  For more information about aromas, please see the works of Jean Lenoir and his must have world renowned Le Nez du Vin kits.

A diligent wine critic will usually not use the word bouquet on young immature wines, unless it is of an exceptional vintage and has already started to show its bouquet prematurely.

 *typical aromas which develop when the wine was aged in new oak barrels prior to bottling.

Cheers!

Posted in Tips & FAQs | Print | No Comments »