Jacqueline Friedrich: The Wine Humanist

WINE BY PEOPLE, FOR PEOPLE

Welcome. Please regard this current version as a work-in-progress, not so much a website as a construction site. I’ll keep fiddling with it until I’m satisfied (more or less) with what I’ve written.
I've pushed all the original introductory text to the end of this page so that I can signal what's new and write some off-the-cuff bulletins up front.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS PAGE WILL ALWAYS TELL YOU IF THERE'S SOMETHING NEW ON THE SITE AND WHERE TO FIND IT.

May 1, 2008: In FrenchFeast, a very shaggy saga of a very long meal in a cave near Chinon, featuring Charles Joguet, seven vintages of Le Chene Vert, tete de veau, woodcock, eau de vie and a lot more.

April 24, 2008: Wine of the Week in Tasting Notes.

April  22, 2008: Good thoughts for Pierre Couly. I'm just back from doing errands in Chinon where I ran into Bertrand Couly, Pierre's son, at the bakery. Bertrand informed me that his father has been in a coma for the past two weeks. He is now hospitalized in Paris.

Many of you are aware that the Couly family has been involved in litigation regarding the separation of the Couly-Dutheil domaine. The stress has been particularly hard on Pierre and Bertrand, who have a minority share in the property.

Only a month ago I had dinner with Pierre, his wife, Colette, and a couple of mutual friends, at the Couly's home at L'Olive. It was the first time in a long time that Pierre had felt in sufficient good spirits to entertain. It was heartening to see him in fine, garrulous form and it was a lovely evening, full of laughter. But as the litigation took another turn, it hit Pierre hard. It's not for me to discuss the details of the family history but anyone has read Dickens (or who has had their own family misery) will understand.

I had planned to finally get around to posting more wine, food and FrenchFeast tales today but my thoughts keep turning to Pierre. I'm sure all of you who know Pierre, or who love Chinon wine, or simply love wine, will join me in my wishing Pierre a prompt and complete recovery.

April 14, 2008:In Out&About, a country inn with great food near Cahors.

April 13, 2008:  In Tasting Notes, Minervois and St. Chinian to drink with your cassoulet.

April 10, 2008: Foodie gossip: Dateline Paris: Rumor has it -- from well-placed sources, bien entendu -- that Eric Briffard, the chef at  Les Elysees du Vernet, will soon replace Philippe Legendre as chef at Georges V.

 

April 9, 2008: Frost damage in parts of the Loire. Much of the Muscadet region was hit but it's too early to tell how fatal the damage will prove to be.

April 4, 2008: I'm about to leave Paris for Cahors for the world's first Malbec conference. The pile of notes I aim to post grows relentlessly and Site Perestroika is taking longer than I hoped for one good reason: ibook slowdown. Friends who are Mac experts diagnose the problem as insufficient RAM. Rather than buy more RAM -- as well as WiFi hookups etc -- I figure that since I'm slated to be in the USA in June, I might as well be on the benefit-side of the weak dollar rather than being slaughtered by it, and buy a new MacBook. So look for speed once I recover from jetlag in June. (I will keep posting tasting notes and anecdotes but, please understand, the way my ibook is working (not), what should take 15 minutes takes 45 minutes.

April 2, 2008:Cassoulet in Carcassonne and La Poussines, a gem of a B&B 39 kms northeast, in Out&About.

March 29, 2008: In Tasting Notes two 2007 Savennieres and an update in the Jo Pithon saga.

 

March 20, 2008

A swell hotel and restaurant (with appellation controlee mussels) in Cancale in Out&About.

March 18, 2008

I've created a new page, Out&About. It will feature restaurant reviews and will include hotel, B&B, and shopping recommendations in the margin. For now, I've merely transferred reviews from FrenchFeast but I'll be adding posts in the days to come.

March 12, 2008

A note on the Whys & Wherefores of my most recent trip to Sicily: The trip was organized by Assovino, an association of some 30 Sicilian wine producers. Journalists from the world over were invited to spend four + days visiting wineries, attending conferences and tasting, tasting, tasting. I'll be writing more about the trip -- the tastings, the winery visits -- later.

March 4, 2008 : Please bear with me. My site has been and will be changing dramatically. Let
me explain. My site is supported by the Authors' Guild. Up until now
what I've been using and what you've been reading has been
Sitebuilder1. Our sites are now migrating to Sitebuilder2. I've had a lot of trouble making
the changes I wanted to make. And it should take me a good month to get it
all together. If I'm lucky.

The confusion resulting from all of the above -- combined with tasting trips -- is the
reason I haven't posted anything since February 24th -- like the
tasting and meal chez moi with Francois Pinon (Vouvray) and Abel Osario da
Castro (Nau Freres/
Bourgueil) and my trip to my local distiller to bring him a sample of my fermented fruit juice. (No off-color double entendres, please!) All in good time!

February 21, 2008 : Truffle meals in Touraine in FrenchFeast.

February 18, 2008: A reader makes a good point in Mail&Events.

February 14, 2008: And another letter responding to the Decanter article.

February 12, 2008 : Update on the Jo Pithon news. Unfortunately I didn't see the Pithons at the Salon but I did discover another aspect to the story -- one involving Stephane Derenoncourt. It turns out that the Pithon's backer, Philippe Fournier, also bought Chateau Chamboureau in Savennieres. He has hired Stephane to consult on the wines. I met with Stephane at the Salon and he was very excited about this new venture. He's never worked with white wines before -- partly, he says, because no interesting projects presented themselves. But he loves the Loire and chenin blanc; indeed, he places Loire chenins alongside Alsace rieslings and chardonnays from Burgundy as the greatest expressions of white grapes.
Chamboureau has gone organic and a new cellar is being built. The parcels are being restructured, vines will be t-grated, replacing inferior versions of chenin with the finest examples from the domaine.
Stephane is looking for purity and identity. The grapes will be picked when just turning yellow, by tri ;wines will almost always be totally dry and malo will be blocked, if possible.
Among Chamboureau's holdings is parcel (slightly under 4 hectares) of the cru La Roche-aux-Moines. Derenoncourt feels, rightly, that this cru can produce much finer wines that it has done.
The 2007, brut de barrique, certainly demonstrated a giant step in the right direction. It was ethereal, deeply mineral, crystalline, with accents of orange and lemon zests as well as herbal tea. It was elegant and racy. Excellent. The regular Chamboreau bottling, also brut, was almost as fine, very wordly and textured.
Exciting developments are in store here.

February 10, 2008:letters from David Schildknecht and Jim Budd reacting to my Decanter post follows the letter in question. (Makes more sense that way.) See below.

February 9, 2008: Two timely letters in Mail&Events.

February 8, 2008:Go Know. Or, Huh? Say What?
I’m recovering from the Loire wine fair. The pressrooms at big wine fairs have one thing in common with hair salons: plenty of magazines you wouldn’t spend your own money on. And in the press rooms at the wine fairs there are usually stacks of these magazines. So you’re meant to take them. Take them I did, coming home with a satchelful, among them the February 2008 issue of Decanter.
One of the articles rated 2005 Loire reds. A bit of an overstatement as the article covered only cabernet-franc-based reds from Chinon, Bourgueil, St. Nicolas de Bourgueil and Saumur. Cabernet-franc-dominated reds are also made in Anjou and there are plenty of Loire reds in Touraine, Sancerre, Reuilly, Menetou-Salon and other appellations made from grapes ranging from pinot noir to gamay to cot (malbec) to cabernet franc. But perhaps I split hairs.
What got my goat was the ratings given to wine producers as well as specific wines. Downright jawdropping. How can a group of professional tasters – including 3 MWs -- get it so spectacularly wrong?
Let me elaborate.
There were three classifications, with five stars being the highest. Somewhat misleading. As a two-star rating translated as “Fair” (basically a blow-off with no comment about the wine); and one-star as “Poor”.
In the “Fair” category were such personal favorites as Bernard Baudry (practically every single one of his cuvees); Yannick Amirault. Even more stunning was the “Poor” rating for Philippe Alliet, whose Chinon scored a 12.
Alliet and Bernard Baudry have, for the past twenty years, represented the very best of Chinon. Yannick Amirault is currently the finest winemaker in the Bourgueil/St. Nicolas de Bourgueil appellations. Each is an experienced, talented craftsman, dedicated to making the finest wine possible. (You’ll find my tasting notes on wines from Baudry and Amirault in FrenchFeast (month of August) and, I think, all three, in Loire Updates.)
Domaine de la Butte, a property on the rise since it was taken over by Montlouis luminary Jacky Blot also rated “Poor”; while the Cuvees Busardieres from Domaine de la Chevalerie and the Vieilles Vignes from Nau Freres were among those deemed “Fair.”
I’ve been delecting in Busardieres for the past twenty years; and when Abel Osorio da Castro, the winemaker at Freres Nau, brought a magnum of the 2005 to my birthday party, guests chased him around the house to keep their glasses filled.
I’m aware that not many consumers are familiar with the names of Chinon producers. So let me make a comparison – hyperbolic as it may be – with St. Emilion. Imagine, if you will, a Decanter panel rating as Fair: Chateaux Cheval Blanc, Le Tertre-Roteboeuf, Pavie-Macquin; as Poor, Chateau Ausone, and giving their 3, 4 and 5 star nods to Balestard la Tonnelle, Corbin, Couvent des Jacobins and Cap de Mourlin.
Dioterie, the most elegant cuvee from Charles Joguet, rated “Fair,” while the simpler Varennes du Grand Clos rated 3 stars, which, in itself, is damning with faint praise but seems to reveal an inconsistency on the part of the tasters.
At this point I want to open a parenthesis: what’s with this category “Poor”? Or, how dare you? There’s a person behind every one of these bottles. A person – and maybe a family – whose livelihood depends on our reactions, particularly when they’re published in a magazine. A person who has spent a year pruning, ploughing, deleafing, obsessing over this wine only to have it written off as “Poor.” To my mind, that’s immoral.
Well, you can argue, the wines are out there and are fair game. But fair game means they should be treated fairly.
Which brings me to the non-parenthetical question of how these wines were tasted. I assume they were tasted blind but that’s the least of it. What I’d like to know is how much time was taken with each wine. And were the wines poured directly from a freshly opened bottle? Had the wines been carafed? And, if so, for how long? If a wine had been freshly opened but tasted “closed,” was it put aside to be tasted again later, after a period of aeration?
As many of you know, I’m currently tasting wines for the second edition of my Loire book. Many’s the bottle I put aside to taste again – and again, and again – if I feel that I haven’t got the best of what it has to say.
For example, last week I was tasting wines from Chateaumeillant. The 2006 “Extra-Version” from Geoffrenet-Morval, a red made from 80% pinot noir and 20% gamay, came across as pleasant, light, fresh and charming when first poured. On day two, it tasted even better. On day three it had blossomed, revealing lovely flavors of griotte cherries, cherry pits, and raspberries. The ripeness, balance and freshness were all I could have desired. The wine was lipsmackingly delicious.
Now I think this leads to another question: did the tasters have preconceived notions of what Loire cabs should be?
Well, they said they were looking for fruit, easy and early accessibility and lightweight. Not surprising, then, that “too much oak” was an across-the-board criticism. Further, the Loire was said to be going through an “identity crisis” in which common flaws, along with too much oak, included over-extraction and, in general, “poor winemaking skills”. (Again, I invite you to read my tasting notes.)
Now Loire cabs will probably always be lighter than Chateauneuf-du-Papes and Pauillacs (at least I hope so) but there are a number of different styles. One style is that exuberant, upfront charmer. It usuallly comes from sandy soils, often from young vines, and is usually tank fermented and tank aged. Wines from tuffeau soils are more structured and often see some oak. Yes, they’re on a smaller scale than, say, Latour, but please, don’t refuse them the right to aim for greatness – for nuance, complexity and nobility.
The panel’s verdict was that “despite the good vintage, the wines tasted were, in the main, disappointing.” Frankly, I think that says more about the wine tasters than the wine makers.
Dear reader 2005 is a wonderful vintage. To illustrate my point, one of my tasting notes on a wine dismissed as “Fair” by the panel: “2005 Chinon “La Croix Boissee” Bernard Baudry. A beautifully mingled nose; on the palate, a delectable wash of black cherry. The wine is elegant and soigne. An excellent Chinon.”
I know, I know. There’s no disputing taste. But come on!

The following post is from David Schildknecht, the White Knight of Wine Journalism imho.

I seldom look at Decanter and have found their tasting panel results no more reliable than those of the New York Times - indeed probably less so, the number of M.W.s notwithstanding. Anybody who could rate Baudry's '05s "fair" and Alliet's and Blot's "poor" was either having a very bad day or has zero appreciation (or - dare I say - "tolerance"?) for Cabernet Franc. But for a group of tasters to have done this, i.e. not served as a check on one another's human fallibility?! There must have been some really negative synergy or "group-taste" going on there is all I can say.

But, wait ... there is more to say: after taking a look at what this group of tasters came up with as their "results," what possessed the magazine to PUBLISH them?! If there is a tasting and for some unknown reason (and - giving even those of us who are experienced tasters a benefit of the doubt, sometimes there really are "bad vibrations" between the taster and the wines or among a group of tasters on a given day) the "results" show that in a vintage of outstanding potential the leading growers of the region or appellation (or the leading growers of the grape) in question produced consistently poor to average results, THEN YOU THROW OUT THE RESULTS and you try the entire experiment on another occasion, with other bottles, and perhaps with another cast of tasters. In a scientific spirit - or for that matter in the spirit of common sense and fairness to the growers whose wines are being judged - only if you were able to replicate results that are completely at odds with normal theoretical assumptions and the accumulation of past data would you publish them!

I'm stone cold sober - haven't even had anything in a glass to spit yet today - and (as the wretched American pols say) I approve the above message for inclusion on your site (indeed, would welcome it, including this paragraph), should you have the inclination to stir things up. (I don't know who the panel was in this case, so hope I have not just make enemies of former friends!)

Horrible news about Pithons! I had not heard. (Have to find time to check in on your site more often.)

Cheers,

David S.

The following letter is from Jim Budd. Jim, who shares my passion for and knowledge of Loire wines, wrote the article on Loire reds that preceded the Decanter panel tasting results. He did not participate in the panel and did not know the results when he wrote the article.

Hi Jacqueline

Have to say I agree with you about the Decanter tasting. I was invited but
was unfortunately away in the Loire and was asked to write the intro later
not knowing what the results were. Sadly from the comments published the
tasters seem to have been fixated by the idea that all wines from these
three appellations should be light and fruity, so no wonder they were taken
aback by the 2005s.

I have written a letter to Decanter making some of the points you raise –
Alliet, Blot, Baudry fair or poor! Furthermore the idea that top Loire
winemakers lack confidence is laughable. Try telling that to Jacky Blot or
Philippe Alliet!

Best wishes

Jim

And another county heard from:I

went over to France for the Salon des Vins, staying in my house in Bourgueil, beneath which lie several dozens of 2005 Loire wines!
I thought the Decanter tasting article was disgraceful, and took the magazine over to Bourgueil to show to my favourite grower, in Benais. (Better withhold the name)
He rarely shows his wines to “panel tasters”, in fact his top 2005 cuvées will not be bottled before mid-2009. He certainly didn’t feature in the Decanter tasting.

He cursorily glanced through the Decanter article, noted where I had highlighted the producers ranked fair and poor, and told how when a publication last called on him to request samples for a comparative tasting, they told him he would have to pay €150 for the honour!
Did you notice the blue carpet at the Salon? Apparently this is the worst colour to have at a wine fair. Nothing to do with biodynamic fruit and root days, but peoples’ judgement is adversely affected by the colour,

according to my man in Benais!
Perhaps Decanter had a shocking blue carpet in their tasting room!!
Regards, Michael Keating

February 1, 2008 : Sad News: Last night I received an email from Jo and Isabelle Pithon. They explained that, due to disagreements with their financial partner, they had lost their domaine.
As many of you know, the Pithons have been making wonderful Coteaux du Layon for more than fifteen years. In the last ten years, their dry chenins became ambassadors for the Renaissance of Anjou dry whites. They had just begun making red wine and had expanded across the Loire to Savennieres.
I've tried reaching them today to get more information but got only the answering machines on their mobiles. (The winery phone is disconnected.) I hope the news is not as bad as it sounds. Jo answered an email saying he'd probably be at the Salon des Vins de Loire. I hope to talk to him then.

January 30, 2008:
1) My article on chef Olivier Roellinger is posted in Article Archives.
2) Today I'm moving back to the Loire to taste through hundreds of samples and to put all my ducks in a row for the Salon des Vins de Loire. (I leave for Angers early Sunday morning.)
3) I'm also in the process of restructuring the website. Version #2 will probably go 'live' before it's actually finished. (Exactly when depends on the powers that be at the Authors' Guild.)
The new version will have quite a few changes.
The Home Page will remain devoted to explaining what's new and will include the occasional off-the-cuff post;
Replacing "Book Updates" will be Tasting Notes: The name is self-explanatory. A number of you have observed that you found it difficult to find tasting notes on my site. From now on they will be on this page or, if posted on another page, there will be a reference (and,I hope, a link) to them. All Loire wine tasting notes will now appear here.
FrenchFeast becomes the Blog page. It will continue to document my gastronomic excesses. It will also include 'gastrologs', or gastronomic philosophizing (by me or others). The Wine of the Week will be moved from here to Tasting Notes and posts on travel outside France will appear in FreeRunFeasting.
FreeRunFeasting, as noted, will be devoted to posts on travel beyond France. There will be references &/or links to recommended hotels and restaurants within France.
Mail & Events have been combined. The more philosophical of your missives will be posted in FrenchFeast.
I'm also going to put indexes in the margins of Tasting Notes, FrenchFeast, and FreeRunFeasting.
4)To Come: (Probably after the Salon des Vins de Loire): More on Sicily; reports on St. Chinian and Minervois, including a great cassoulet in Carcassonne and a super B&B in the Languedoc countryside; and truffle shopping and eating in the Rhone Valley.

January 15, 2008: FrenchFeast goes to Sicily Part II -- but I've only written about dinner so far.
BTW, tomorrow morning I'm leaving for Carcassonne. Visits to AOCs Minervois, St. Chinian. Then, east to Rasteau.

January 13, 2008: FrenchFeast goes to Sicily Part I.

January 10, 2008 : I'm back in Paris, recovering from a fantastic, eye-opening trip to Sicily. Suffice it to say that I fell in love with the land, the food and the wines. Talk about a wine revolution! Well, I intend to. I'm now sorting out my notes and will post my impressions and recommendations over the coming days. (In what's currently FrenchFeast. Note, however, that I'm also in the process of restructuring the website and am thinking of calling one section "Moveable Feast". (Not very original so I'm open to suggestions.) I also have a bunch of quick trips coming up -- to St. Chinian and to Rasteau -- and hope to write about those too. And, of course, I'm tasting, tasting, tasting for Loire Wines #2.(The winemaker,himself, just dropped off six bottles of Bailly-Reverdy Sancerres.)

December 26-28 2007: More letters as well as a rambling email discussion with Terry Theise in Back&Forth and a holiday snap of the Vidal family in FrenchFeast. I'm fighting off a cold while preparing for a trip to Palermo but I still hope to post something before the New Year.

December 22, 2007 (evening): Wine of the Year in Tasting Notes.

December 22, 2007 (afternoon) : As Gilda Radner was wont to say, it's always something. I fled the noise of neighborhood reconstruction and took myself, my notebooks and my ibook down to Touraine -- where I planned to spend the bulk of my time tasting and writing. I've gotten through all my Reuillys except for the mixed carton from Jean-Michel Sorbe (tomorrow) and was, finally, going to finish my Thanksgiving notes. This morning 220 cases of wine arrived from le Centre -- ie Sancerre, Pouilly, Menetou, Quincy, Chateaumeillant and the Giennois, as well as a couple duplicate Reuillys from Jean-Michel Sorbe. The wine had been delivered, as instructed, to my neighbors, the Teillets (Jean and Francoise) and Jean trundled them down in five separate wheelbarrow trips. Ok, now for Thanksgiving. Well, though I'd carefully gone through which notebooks I thought I should bring to the country, I passed over the one with the notes on Thanksgiving wines. So that will have to wait. Now I will get to work on my Wine of the Year. December 18, 2007 : Deafening, window-rattling construction work on the building next door has made it impossible for me to work. I'm leaving -- with ibook in tow -- for the Loire tomorrow in order to get something accomplished.

December 13, 2007 : More on Thanksgiving in FrenchFeast. In Back&Forth, a reader writes with a problem some of the retailers/wholesalers among you may be able to solve. I'm flummoxed.

December 12, 2007: In FrenchFeast, more on Thanksgiving (which I hope to finish before Christmas).

December 7, 2007: Lordtroglodyte returns in Back&Forth.

December 2, 2007: In Back&Forth, unusual email from a reader and my response.

November 29, 2007 : With jackhammers drilling under my window all day it was nearly impossible to get any work done. So the continuation of the Thanksgiving sage will have to wait until Saturday.I would, however, like to thank the newsletter subscribers who have sent such thoughtful and heartening feedback. For the moment, FrenchFeast seems to be winning as the site for the future blog.

November 28, 2007: In Loire Updates (click on Works, then on Loire book title): Matthieu Baudry of Domaine Bernard Baudry on the 2007 harvest in Chinon, as well as some observations on the To Bio or Not To Bio question. And in FrenchFeast, the beginning of my Thanksgiving report.

November 27, 2007: In Book Updates, Alsace harvest report from Philippe Blanck of Paul Blanck.I hope to post Thanksgiving notes tomorrow. BTW, Montlouis may be the most dynamic wine region in France right now. More anon!

November 25, 2007: In Article Archives, France's Maverick Winemakers and a sidebar published in the IHT on November 17, 2007. On Tuesday or Wednesday I hope to post notes on Thanksgiving in the Time of Transport Strikes in FrenchFeast. I expect to spend all day Monday at a mega-Montlouis tasting.

November 5, 2007: In Book Updates, notes on Champagne Drappier's Quattuor and on 2000 Moet.

October 24, 2007: First things first: I'm off tomorrow to Brittany to cover an oyster festival in Cancale, visit an oyster producer, interview Olivier Roellinger (3 Michelin-stars), and visit the workshop of one of the best producers of butter on the planet, Bordier. Second: as one of the guinea pigs for the 2nd wave of Authors' Guild websites, I'm told that they'll "migrate" my site to their lab next week. I'm supposed to work with their site and report back on how it goes. I can also add things to this site as it exists but, once the site has been 'migrated', the changes won't appear when the 2nd version is installed. It's supposed to have a lot of new functions, including a blog set-up. So I imagine I'll be changing things around -- eg a lot of what went into FrenchFeast will probably end up in the blog section -- in the not too distant future. October 21, 2007: Why I haven't been posting: a) The fall tasting season is in full swing (so I've got lots of notes piling up next to my ibook);b)in preparation for work on the new edition of the Loire book, I'm redoing the infrastructure of my filing system and creating shelf space by throwing out 3/4s of the documents accumulated for The Wines of France and ruthlessly tossing out hundreds of magazine sections of the Sunday New York Times and The New York Review of Books (after first ripping out crossword puzzles and interesting articles; and c)getting ready for possibly big changes to the website.
Re (C): My website is supported by the Authors Guild. They are testing an new, improved version and I have volunteered to be one of the guinea pigs. I'm saving a bunch of items I've been wanting to post in order to test out the new system and give feedback to the support staff. October 10, 2007: Meet Bob de Bourg in Book Updates.

October 4, 2007: In Book Updates, 2000 Cahors Chateau le Cedre Cuvee GC is Wine of the Week.

September 29, 2007: Harvest report from Champagne, and postscript to Burgundy report regarding organic viticulture vs. other types in the 2007 harvest. All in Book Updates.

September 28, 2007: Harvest reports from Burgundy and Chateauneuf-du-Pape in Book Updates.

September 24, 2007: You'll find the "author's cut" of a Burgundy article I wrote for the October 2007 issue of Food & Wine under Works/ Previously Published Articles. This version is longer than the one edited by F&W.
Also, I have just posted the .pdf file of David Schildknecht's review of The Wines of France which was originally published in The Art of Eating. Click on Works, then on the book's title.

September 5,6, 2007: I just returned from a short trip to the nearby Indre department. In the heart of Berry, it’s an area of la France profonde that deserves to be better known. Among its attractions – the Chateau of Valencay (in Valencay) and, in Vic-Nohant, George Sand’s house and the Eglise St. Martin with its eye-popping 12th century frescoes. In vinous terms, there are the AOCs Reuilly and Valencay but, taking a break from finishing the Wine Weekend saga, I want to write about two excellent restaurants: La Cognette, a long-time favorite, now better than ever; and l’Aubergeade, new to me and very much worth the visit. Tune in to FrenchFeast later today for details.

August 31, 2007: In Book Updates, Walden, from Herve Bizeul (Clos des Fees) is the wine of the week.

August 27,28,29, 2007: Another Wine Weekend installment in FrenchFeast.

August 25, 2007: Here Comes the Sun! Finally, a real, blue-green summer’s day. I took my mid-morning walk along the Indre river. My neighbor was out in his fishing boat (but the fish weren’t biting) and other fishermen were hauling out their tackle while their wives unpacked picnic baskets along the river’s shady banks. There were bikers and hikers and everyone was smiling. Many’s the time I regret not having bought a house by the ocean. But when I take walks like this I think, ‘Am I nuts?’ There are more dramatic vistas, yes, more spectacular sights, lots of them, but, where peaceable kingdoms are concerned, there may be many as beautiful as this but none, I think, more beautiful: a winding river, lined with trees and wild flowers, bordered by vast, varying fields of cereal crops – sunflowers or wheat mostly – and houses made of the soft local limestone, tuffeau, roofed with slate tiles and in the distance, the outlines of the Sleeping Beauty chateau. It would be hard, indeed, to find a gentler landscape. But thoughts return to vignerons. It’s not yet noon and it’s ‘hotting’ up mighty fast. It’s also very humid. Perfect conditions for rot, and not the noble kind – particularly when you’re talking about cabernet. But after a seemingly endless stretch of gloom-and-doom weather, it’s hard not to rejoice. I will indeed have lunch outside – after checking on the 60 liter canister of mirabelles, greengage plums and Williams pears fermenting in my garage.

In Article Archives I've posted six pieces I wrote for the Wall Street Journal -- ranging in topics from "Le Fooding" to Vinisud to Morellino di Scansano. Help Wanted These were the only articles I was able to retrieve because I'm not a subscriber to the WSJ online. If you are, and if you're willing to help retrieve other articles, please send me an email.

August 24, 2007 : In Back&Forth, recommended chateaux in the Dordogne area.

August 23, 2007: A Word on the 2007 Harvest, thus far, or The Sun’ll Come Out Tomorrow:
What’s this I see from my study window? Sunlight??? If so, it surely won’t last long. The sky will blacken, the rain will fall, first in big, fat, noisy drops, then in great, slashing sheets, and I’ll put on yet another sweater. I’m in my home in Touraine, not far from Chinon. Like all of my neighbors, I watch the weather forecasts religiously – but with increasing skepticism. The weather has been so bad that we are beginning to believe that when forecasters predict sunny, warm weather three or four days hence (always three or four days hence) it’s to forestall mass suicides. We are all suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder, except that it’s not winter, officially anyway. Actually, it’s winter with leaves. Everyone is depressed. And even more depressing is the thought that la rentree is here – vacation over, back to school, back to work – and no one has had a summer to revive them, to recharge the battery for the coming winter.
The weather is so bad, some regions have begun to harvest. You may read – or see, if you watch French tv – reports on harvesting. They always say that the great weather in April allowed the grapes to ripen earlier than usual and they have, thus, reached maturity, despite the awful weather in June, July and August. The snark in me starts snarking.
I’ll believe it when I taste it. But I really doubt it. Ok. I’ve experienced firsthand only the weather in central France. But from what I read and what I see and hear, the only areas that might have had growing seasons acceptable enough to produce good wine are in the southeast of France. Maybe there’ll be some fine bottles from Bandol and Corsica. Maybe even Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Elsewhere potatoes are rotting in the fields; tomatoes rot on the vines; and the grapes are attacked by rot, mildew, hail…
Hardest hit, unsurprisingly, are those who practice organic or biodynamic farming. I just got off the phone with Guy Bossard (Domaine de l’Ecu, Muscadet), a model (and not dogmatic) biodynamicist, and I asked him if, upon reflection, the various organic etc associations might not consider making exceptions for treatments in growing seasons like this. Yes, indeed, was the answer. One year like this was enough, even though a year like this only happens, it’s said, every 30 or 40 years. Guy has some parcels that have been spared but there are others so affected that his wife, Annie, doesn’t even want to look at them.
And those who use chemical treatments? Well, the supply ran out – particularly since potato farmers bought so much of it. Good vigneron customers – those who paid their bills on time – got product but others didn’t. And then, there were those who, fooled by a nice, sunny week in early August, stopped treatments and found themselves in the same situation as those who had never used chemicals at all.
So we’ll see…or taste.

August 15,16, 23, 2007: Second installment in the continuing saga of the Wine Weekend in FrenchFeast: notes on the visit to Domaine des Champs-Fleuris in the Saumur-Champigny appellation, followed by a tasting and dinner chez moi.

August 17, 2007: Another nice review of The Wines of France from Dr. Vino's Wine block. Under Works, just click on the book's title.

August 13, 2007: In FrenchFeast, a 2003 Chablis as Wine of the Week. Tonight I'm dining with my neighbors and will be bringing a '99 Cotes de Roussillon Villages Domaine Cazes Cuvee "Trilogy."

August 8 & 9, 2007
I have installed a high speed internet connection at my country house. I pray it keeps working. So...
News: The Loire book lives again! I have just signed a contract with the University of California press for an updated, completely revised edition of my Loire book.
I've post some recent notes from a Vouvray tasting held in Apri.
In Back&Forth there are a couple of letters regarding the new edition.
A Shaggy Wine Week-end : A long story that must be told in spurts. This is in FrenchFeast. I've just set up the story today. I'll keep you posted on its development.

August I'm in the country where, for the past several weeks, I've been experiencing major problems with my internet connection. I've got lots of juicy info to share but will have to wait to post whatever I can whenever I can.

July 2007

July 10, 2007 : In FrenchFeast, report on July 4th festivities at my house, Wine of the Week, 2005 Domaine du Grand Cros Rose "Nectar." In Works, I've posted another Choice Tables piece on Budapest's restaurants. Tomorrow morning I'm off the the Cotes du Bourg.Details later.

July 9, 2007 In Article Archives, a piece written for the International Herald Tribune on Paris Wine Bars (and What We're Drinking Now); and, in The Wines of France, a nice new review. More tomorrow -- including Wine of the Week.

July 2, 2007
I’m busy preparing for a July 4 bash at my house. It’s also a combined celebration of my birthday, which was June 28, and Mary McKinley’s b’day, which is today. It’s an “apero-dinatoire:” the wine will flow and the nibblies will be filling enough to serve as dinner. I’ll write more about it later.
I’ll also describe another shaggy meal. This was a birthday party given for me by Charles and Monique Joguet. A wonderful meal – a gorgeous fresh fava salad and a lipsmacking lentil and sausage salad, followed by roast leg of kid, then cheeses and a light, fresh apple dessert – was accompanied by many, many, many wines. While we snacked on rillettes and hazelnut-studded sausages, we drank an ’85 Muscadet from Guy Bossard (who was one of the guests), a 2001 Sancerre Cuvee Edmond from Alphonse Mellot, and two whites I’d brought – a 2002 Pinot Gris Zellberg from Andre Osterag and a 2003 Bourgogne Blanc from Domaine des Champs de l’Abbaye. For the meal, Charles had prepared numerous vintages of Chinon: Clos de la Dioterie 2006, 89, 87, and 82; Varenne du Grand Clos ’89; Franc de Pied ’89; and a surprisingly juicy Jeunes Vignes ’77. As if this wasn’t enough, there was also a ‘’90 Gruaud Larose, a ’90 Huet Le Haut Lieu moelleux; and a ’90 Foreau moelleux. I’d brought a ’90 Jurancon Clos Uroulat. More on all of this after the 4th!

June 2007

June 27, 2007 : A reader wants to know when I will publish my Chateauneuf-du-Pape tasting notes. Good question. As I have said, EHOM. I hope, however, to post them before the end of August. I also hope to post tasting notes on Vouvray, Graves, Burgundy, the Ardeche and the rest of Rhone Decouvertes, as well as a bunch of restaurant 'reviews.'

June 25, 2007: In FrenchFeast: Wine of the Week: June 25, 2007:Domaine de l’Alliance, dynamic young couple making exciting Sauternes and Graves.

June 22, 2007 : More old articles. This time a Barcelona travel piece (with a couple of restaurants) as well as Choice Tables on Prague and on the Bouchons of Lyon.There are also two pieces I wrote for Food&Wine -- on Olivier Baussan, the founder of Occitane and O & Co (cf. olive oil) and on the Thunevins/Chateau Valandraud (cf.Garage wine).

June 20, 2007 : I've posted my Choice Tables articles on Amsterdam and Salzburg (particularly for those going to the music festival) in Article Archives. And I've added the very special restaurant at the Salzburg airport. This was to have appeared as a sidebar when the main article was printed, but there was no room.

June 15, 2007 : There's a new "Page," Article Archives , under Works, though you can also access it by clicking its title in the side column here. As I retrieve my old articles -- the ones that might still be useful -- I'll post them here. I've started with pieces on restaurants in Budapest and Bath.
Also, please join the dialogue in Back&Forth.
I have a lot of other notes to post -- new Graves producers, a great Burgundy tasting, my neighborhood block party, Vouvray, not to mention getting back to those Rhone Decouvertes -- but EHOM. (This is my abbreviation for a fact of life: Events Have Overtaken Me.)

June 13, 2007 : Check out Back&Forth for some feedback from Karen Odessa Piper , one of my favorite chefs and food philosophers. (I'll respond tomorrow.)

June 11, 2007 : In Book Updates, recent tasting notes for Domaine de la Madone.

June 10, 2007 : I have renamed TheMailRoom. It is now Back&Forth. The page, itself, serves a double function. I continue to post your letters there but I'm also starting a Forum. The first topics I've suggested concern 1) desserts and the sweet wines commonly called "dessert wines;" and 2) an article from the Dining Section of last Wednesday's NYT (with link). Feel free to respond and to suggest your own topics.

June 9, 2007 : Photo of book presentation at WH Smith on Works.

June 7, 2007: I'm on my way to Graves. When I return I hope to post my tasting notes as well as another Shaggy Meal story -- this one on a block party in my neighborhood. And, of course, I want to get back to posting all the tasting notes that are piling up on my desk.

June 5-6, 2007:
Another Shaggy Meal Story: Asparagus Day Chez Marionnet.
The start of a new section, Cast of Characters. (Listed under Works because of space limitations.)
Note, too, that parts of FrenchFeast have disappeared. I've obviously overrun my space limitation for that page. I'll try to correct this.

June 4, 2007: PICTURES!!!! To see what my living room looked like while I was working on The Wines of France, click on Works, then on The Wines of France, then scroll past the blurbs.

May 22, 2007 : See Book Updates for tasting notes on 2004 Bandol reds and 2006 Bandol roses; also, another extremely nice letter in TheMailRoom.

May 17, 2007 : See TheMailRoom for a tremendously encouraging letter -- as well as what I hope is a helpful response.And see FrenchFeast for additions to the Arles diary (scroll down to April 19.)
Sorry to have been so "silent." I threw my back out -- no doubt lugging a suitcase filled with my books from Paris to Saumur to Angers to Paris for Les Journees Nationales du Livre et du Vin -- and was immobilized for two days.
Before leaving for the Loire tomorrow I hope to add a couple of tasty posts.

May 11, 2007: See FrenchFeast for my report of an agonizingly short cruise on the Seine tasting 2006 Entre-Deux-Mers.
Sorry, but Schildknecht's review of The Wines of France has been removed (temporarily, I hope) from the site. I deleted it after Ed Behr asked me to postpone posting it until all his subscribers had received their copies. When he gives me the green light, I'll repost the review.

May 10, 2007 : I've posted the wonderful review David Schildknecht wrote of The Wines of France for Ed Behr's Art of Eating.Click on Works, then click on The Wines of France.

May 9, 2007: Two very nice letters posted in TheMailRoom. I'm on my way to a Cahors tasting/lunch and will answer the questions raised in the letters when I get back. (If I'm too tipsy, answers tomorrow morning.)

May 8, 2007: Details on upcoming book signing in Events.

May 5, 2007 : I've finally posted all my tasting notes from the Salon des Vins de Loire. Click on Works, then click on "A Wine & Food Guide to the Loire.

May 3, 2007: Gardening Day account, shortened by mosquitoes.

April 30, 2007 : In FrenchFeast, praying for sun. (Or at least, for the rain to hold off until after 3pm on May 1.)

April 27, 2007 : I'm off to the Loire for the week. I'm bringing my iBook and hope to keep posting items on the site, including notes from a recent Bandol tasting in Book Updates (at Drouant, which I'll probably include in FrenchFeast); the continuing Arles saga; the final tasting entries from the Salon des Vins de Loire; tasting notes from Stephan Derenoncourt's bash; AND, more shaggy meal stories, including ANOTHER GARDENING DAY! (More tasting notes from the Rhone Decouvertes when I get back to Paris.)

April 26, 2007 : Why Mel Brooks was right about Saran Wrap:FrenchFeast.

April 24, 2007 : Part Four of Rhone Decouvertes: Cornas and St. Peray: Book Updates. (Sorry for the delay.)

April 19, 2007 : The start of the Arles Diary in FrenchFeast.

April 16, 2007 : Another great Paris bistro in FrenchFeast.Check Events for news of my participation in the Journees du Livre et du Vin.

April 12, 2007: Third Part of Rhone Decouvertes: Crozes-Hermitage in Book Updates.

April 11, 2007 : As soon as I recover from this hang-over, I'll enter the third part of Rhone Decouvertes (Crozes-Hermitage, and, with any luck, Cornas); continue the Loire updates (which will now be fleshed out by a very recent Vouvray tasting); and make some additions to FrenchFeast.

April 5, 2007: see FrenchFeast for a long restaurant review (which also serves as my definition of 'bistro gourmand,' a term I often use).

April 4, 2007 : see Book Updates for second installment of Rhone Decouvertes.

April 2, 2007 : See Book Updates for first installment of notes on 2006 Bordeaux.

March 29, 2007 : See Book Updates for first installment of Rhone Decouvertes.

March 28, 2007: Finally! Back to work. I've done "A" through "M" in the Loire update and there's a new bistro and a new Wine of the Week in FrenchFeast with a follow-up on the winery in Book Updates.

March 24, 2007: I have decided not to go to Bordeaux the first week of April to taste the 2006 primeurs but to dedicate that time to updating the site -- with the bushels of notes I've taken in the past few months. (I don't think there will be much of a market for the 2006 primeurs and, in any event, I'll get to taste a nice sampling of them next week at the Stephane Derenoncourt bash.)
Upcoming reports (in no particular order):
* Continuation of Loire tasting notes;
* Rhone tasting notes, by appellation;
* Arles trip;
* Notes from tasting of wines from young Burgundy producers;
* Paris restaurants;
* The 2006s of Stephane Derenoncourt's clients, and more.

March 20,2007: This just in: The Wines of France has been nominated for the 2007 James Beard Award in the category of Best Wine & Spirits Book.

For LOIRE tasting notes: click on Works, then click on "A Wine & Food Guide to the Loire.

Now, however, I’ll tell you a little bit about me and about what I hope to do on this site.

A member of the Big Chill generation, I’m a lapsed lawyer and a displaced New Yorker. I moved to France in 1989 to write a book about the wines and foods of the Loire basin (20% of France) and I stayed. As most of the subjects I want to write about are in Europe I now split my time between Paris and a small village in the Loire Valley, not far from Chinon.

In addition to books I write articles for numerous publications. My favorite stints have been for the New York Times Travel section when Nancy Newhouse was the editor and for The Wall Street Journal when Ray Sokolov was in charge of the Leisure page. For the Times I usually wrote for for a column entitled Choice Tables in which I surveyed, for example, the bouchons of Lyon, the best restaurants of Beaune, Prague, Budapest, and Amsterdam; for the Wall Street Journal I covered such diverse gastronomic topics as Tokaj wine, the Grenache grape, bad French cheese, iconoclastic winemakers, the wines of the Languedoc and Roussillon, and star chefs like Ferran Adria and Hiramatsu.

When your favorite editors retire it’s time to write a new book. The idea for this one--The Wines of France: the Essential Guide for Savvy Shoppers--came to me in the form of a question: why doesn’t such a book exist? Of course there are guides to the wines of France but the ones worth reading are heavy enough to use as doorstops. What I had in mind--and what I hope I’ve succeeded in writing--was something about the size of a Michelin Green Guide, encyclopedic in its range but down-to-earth in its approach. A user-friendly book people could bring with them to restaurants and to wine shops. (For a better idea of how the book works, click on the title. You'll also see some great advance praise from some of my favorite people in the wine and food world.)

I firmly believe that France is the greatest winemaking country in the world. And it always will be, at least in our lifetimes. France created the Benchmarks for most, if not all, the classic wines in the world. Further, no one single country can compete with France when it comes to diversity. I don’t mean simple diversity. Many countries are capable of making an enormous range of wines, but only France has proven that it can excel in every last one of those styles. And in all price ranges.

I’ve been living in France (and in a wine region) for fifteen years. (Scary how quickly time passes!) When I arrived one generation of vigneron was taking over from its predecessor and now I’m watching another generation of young Turks succeed their parents. And in this period of time I’ve witnessed a dramatic evolution toward quality. I’ve also witnessed amazing bureaucratic stupidity in face of these changes--all wine politics is local, and the same goes for food politics--and all of these issues will be recurring topics on this site.

But the pleasure principle is at least as important. My favorite word is “delicious.” And even though I’m trying to lose the 85 pounds I’ve gained tasting wines, cheeses, charcuterie etc and trying new restaurants, my discoveries will be another regular feature.