LeDom du Vin's view over Steven Spurrier's Judgement of Paris in 1976 and the following anniversaries...

LeDom du Vin's view over Steven Spurrier's Judgment of Paris in 1976 and the following anniversaries...

While at work, not long ago, one of my colleagues and I were talking about the "famous" or should I say "infamous", depending on which side your on, Steven Spurrier's Judgment of Paris in 1976.

The conversation arisen when we started talking about the movie "Bottle Shock", a Randall Miller feature film that dramatizes the 1976 wine tasting in Paris and appeared at the 2008 Sundance Festival. Although, I haven't seen the movie yet (which I intend to do soon), as a Wine Buyer / Sommelier (and because I worked in London for 5 years), I'm pretty familiar with the stories of this particular tasting and following anniversaries, and more especially the name of Steven Spurrier....

For those of you who do not know what I'm talking about, here is a synopsis taken from Wikipedia (not always the best reference depending on the subject, but pretty straight to the point, stating the facts and usually quite impartial, and I need to admit quite interesting and details on lot of subjects). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgment_of_Paris_(wine)

"The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 or the Judgment of Paris was a wine competition organized in Paris on 24 May 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, in which French judges did blind tasting of top-quality Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon wines from France and from California. California wines rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world's best wines. Spurrier sold only French wine and believed that the California wines would not win."

At that time Steven Spurrier owned a small yet quite successful wine store on the "rue Royale" called "Les Caves de La Madeleine" where he encouraged his customers to taste wine before buying them. He also was the instigator and creator of "(l')Academie du Vin", one of France first private wine school.

To keep it short and to resume the all story, he was a fairly reputed British wine connoisseur and wine merchant who wanted, surely by curiosity but also as a tool to increase his popularity and the sales in his shop, to taste the quality of the newer and up-and-coming wines from California against the already worldly established quality of the French wines and especially the reputation of the red Bordeaux and white Burgundy, thinking that California will have little to none chance to win.

Steven Spurrier's Paris 1976 tasting raised some controversy amongst winemakers, producers, estates owners, journalists, wine critics and quite a few connoisseurs on both sides of the Atlantic.

• The French pretty much ignored the all story, didn't necessary believed in the final results and especially and surely didn't thank Mr. Spurrier for breaking the myth of the superiority of the French wines (in France, we are quite "chauvin" - stubbornly proud - about our local products).
  

• While the American really appreciated the final results and the free publicity that suddenly put the wines of Napa, and California in general, on the map of the serious wine producing regions of the new world, outside of the leading wine regions of France, Italy, Spain, Germany and more generally Europe. Moreover, this wine tasting changed the world's view of California wines forever (and the price of the wines too, from nearly one day to another. Since then, due to the results obtained by the American wines at the end of this tasting, the price of the best Californian wines have been decided and attributed by the winery's owners depending on the market price of the best French wines from Bordeaux mostly for reds and Burgundy for both whites and reds).
  

It all started because Spurrier's "l'Academie du Vin" school was a hangout place for the English and more especially the Americans who worked in Paris and were eager to learn more about wine. More specialized in French wines, Steven was quite intrigued by some of the California Cabernets and Chardonnays his students brought by the shop and the school. Curious to see how these newcomers would fare against French wines made from the same kind of grapes, he arranged a blind wine tasting in celebration of the American Bicentennial activities in Paris. The French tasters chosen for the event had impeccable professional credentials.

The tasting consisted to taste blindly, to avoid any bias attitude toward the French wines knowing that most of the judges where French journalists and food and wine personalities. Here is the list of the judges who participated in the 1976's "Judgement de Paris":

• Pierre Brejoux (French) of the National Institute of Appellations of Origin (INAO)
  
• Claude Dubois-Millot (French) sales director of the "GaultMillau" restaurant guide
• Michel Dovaz (French) of the "Wine Institute of France" (Paris)
  
• Patricia Gallagher (American) member of "l'Academie du Vin" (Paris)
• Odette Kahn (French) Editor of "La Revue du vin de France" (Paris)
• Raymond Oliver (French) of "Le Grand Véfour" restaurant (Paris)
• Steven Spurrier (British) Wine store owner and creator of "L'Academie du vin" (Paris)
  
• Pierre Tari (French) owner of Château Giscours (at that time) (Margaux)
• Christian Vanneque (French) the Sommelier of "La Tour D'Argent" restaurant (Paris)
  
• Aubert de Villaine (French) co-owner-director Domaine de La Romanée Conti (Burgundy)
• Jean-Claude Vrinat (French) owner of "Taillevent" restaurant (Paris)

And now, here is the list of the tasted wines with their respective final rank (the average rating of all the judges):

Red
Red Bordeaux Haut-Médoc/Pessac-Leognan & American Cabernet Sauvignon

• # 1 - 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Napa Valley (not to be mistaken with Stags' leap)
• # 2 - 1970 Château Mouton Rothschild 2nd Growth Pauillac (Mouton was only upgraded to 1st Growth in 1973)
• # 3 - 1970 Château Montrose 2nd Growth Saint-Estèphe
• # 4 - 1970 Château Haut-Brion 1st Growth Pessac-Leognan
• # 5 - 1971 Ridge Vineyards "Monte Bello" California red blend
• # 6 - 1971 Château Léoville-Las-Cases 2nd Growth Saint-Julien
• # 7 - 1970 Heitz Wine Cellars "Martha's vineyard" Napa Valley
• # 8 - 1972 Clos du Val Napa Valley
• # 9 - 1971 Mayacamas Vineyards Napa Valley
• # 10 - 1969 FreeMark Abbey Winery Napa Valley

White Burgundy & Californian Chardonnay

• # 1 - 1973 Château Montelena Napa Valley
• # 2 - 1973 Domaine Roulot Meursault Burgundy
• # 3 - 1974 Chalone Vineyard California
  
• # 4 - 1973 Spring Mountain Vineyards Napa Valley
• # 5 - 1973 Joseph Drouhin Beaune "Clos des Mouches" Burgundy
• # 6 - 1972 Freemark Abbey Winery Napa Valley
• # 7 - 1973 Ramonet-Prudhon Batard-Montrachet Burgundy
• # 8 - 1972 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru "Les Pucelles"
  
• # 9 - 1972 Veedercrest Vineyards California
• # 10 - 1973 David Bruce Winery California

However, these ratings slightly changed at the end of the tasting when they decided not to take in consideration and not to include the notes of Patricia Gallagher and Steven Spurrier, thus leaving only the French judges ratings.

Blind tasting was performed so that none of the judges knew the identity of what was being tasted. The judges were asked to grade each wine out of 20 points. No specific grading framework was given, leaving the judges free to grade according to their own criteria. Rankings of the wines preferred by individual judges were done based on the grades they individually attributed. An overall ranking of the wines preferred by the jury was also established in averaging the sum of each judge's individual grades (arithmetic mean).

Following this tasting, other tasting comparing Californian wines and French wines where organized (some with the same wines as in the 1976 Tasting):

• 1978 San Francisco Wine Tasting
  
• 1986 French Culinary Institute Wine Tasting
• 1986 Wine Spectator Tasting
• 2006 The Judgment of Paris' 30th Anniversary

All these tasting that created so much controversies and endless discussions and debates in the wine world and in the press for years. Some critics suggested that wine tastings lack scientific validity due to the subjectivity of taste in human beings. The organizer of the competition, Steven Spurrier, said, "The results of a blind tasting cannot be predicted and will not even be reproduced the next day by the same panel tasting the same wines." In one case it was reported that a "side-by-side chart of best-to-worst rankings of 18 wines by a roster of experienced tasters showed about as much consistency as a table of random numbers." Some people in the following tasting where saying the Californian wines will not age as long as the French and "vice et versa". Some people where even expecting the downfall of the Californian before the French and "vice et versa". etc.., etc...

In my opinion, these tastings were great to point out the fact that high quality wines can be found else where than in France; also great to counter the arrogance and the aristocratic attitude of the French in many ways; but it was also great to pinpoint Napa Valley and California on the map of the serious winemaking regions in the world outside of Europe. But in my real and honest opinion, I do not like these type of tastings.

Blind tastings are great when you try to define a wine not to compare a wine. Defining a wine by blind tasting makes you think and increase your censorial memory regarding the color, smell and taste of the tasted wine. It is a hard game that only few of us excel in, but if you can guess the varietal, the type, region of origin, the vintage and the winery or producer (for the best of us), then it is exciting and personally rewarding in many ways.

Blind tastings to compare wines of the same varietal coming from different regions of the world are in my opinion absurd and do not prove anything, and especially not the quality. It might delineate the differences in color, smell and taste due to the region of origin and other factors, but not the quality. More especially not which one is better than the other? Better for what and because of what? Bland tastings to compare should only be for wine of the same varietal and same region of origin or appellation, not from different country!

Now, if we really try to analyze these tasting, we will realize that they were totally unfair and surely didn't prove anything in the end due to different non-negligible factors. The quality of the tasters, their credentials and their palates have nothing to do with what I'm about to tell you about these tastings.

I will try to dissect the different factors which should have been taken in consideration and which created some much controversies and hot discussions about the subjects. May be it will help you to better understand my opinion about them.

• How can we decide to compare Californian, and more especially Napa Valley wines with French Bordeaux and Burgundy wines when there are so different in style and character due to their respective region of origin and the different type of soils, climates, Terroirs and vinification methods that deeply and drastically influenced their respective taste?

That is in my opinion, the first question that Spurrier should have ask himself, especially as a wine connoisseur and wine retailer.

Here is my list of non-negligible factors that should have been taken into consideration, and that really somehow push me to think that these type of these "blind-tastings-to-compare-wines-from-different-part-of-the-world" are somewhat bullshit and unfair in many ways:

• Wine is a capricious being that continue to evolve, grow and age in the bottle and that is easily influenced by its surrounding light, humidity, temperatures, vibrations, odors, etc. It is also influenced by the quality of the vintage and the winemaking processes used. It is very important before doing a blind tasting or any tastings to verify the condition of storage of the bottles and where they come from.
  

• It is known that wine tasting is a subjective thing that depends on too many factors: the time of the tasting (better usually in the morning with no breakfast taken before when your taste buds are fully awake), the condition of the tasting (too much distraction, smell, noise, lack of concentration, preconceived prejudice against the varietal or the region of origin, light in the room, overall temperature inside and outside may also impart the taste of the tasted wines, if it is a sunny day, a rainy day, winter, summer, fall, spring, etc..).

• It has also been established many times that comparative and blind tastings, when comparing wines that are not from the same varietal or the same place of origin, are often misleading because tasters will, most of the time, give higher ratings to the riper, fuller or heavier wines, which has nothing to do with their aromatics, flavors, complexity, nuances or depth.

• More over if the wines have been placed in an order going from the lightest to the heaviest, the heaviest may also receive higher ratings (or worst if too ripe and too alcoholic); if the wines have not been placed in any order regarding their weight, a lighter wine going just after a heavier wine may also get bad ratings and Vice et Versa. Varietal, place of origin or/and appellation and overall profile or weight should also be taken into consideration to conduct a fair blind tasting.

• Climate, Terroir, type of soil, exposure and vinification system are also very important and dramatically influence the color, smell and taste of the wine. That is why it is usually better to compare the wines from the same appellation. Comparing an orange to an orange from the same region or/and appellation is always easier, especially to define which one is richer or sweeter, etc... Comparing an Orange from Spain and an orange from Florida, will only show you their differences, one may be juicier, sweeter, richer, bigger, etc.. than the other one, but it doesn't mean that it will be better, it just mean that it will be different.

• "Better" or "Best" is a question of personal taste that is why tasting is so subjective, because everybody has its own taste, and that goes for everything that you see, smell and eat. Whatever you want to compare in life, comparing will only show differences and nuances that will mean different things depending on the person's personal point of view.

• About the region: Napa Valley is a gorgeous sunbathed valley where it doesn't rain much through out the year and where temperatures can reach quite high during the summer and fall months, which are essential conditions for the perfect ripeness of the grapes. Irrigation is also allowed and methods of vinification differ greatly from those in Bordeaux and Burgundy. Vineyards also benefit of great sun exposure on the hilly parts on both side of the valley.
  

• About the region: Bordeaux, especially the Haut-Médoc, is extremely flat, boring, humid and quite rainy overall compared to Napa Valley. Also the wines from Bordeaux are blend and not essentially Cabernet Sauvignon like in Napa. The wines can be quite dry and hard in their youth depending on the vintage and generally not as ripe and extracted than Napa Valley wines.

• About the region: Burgundy is also tremendously different from Napa Valley. Much hillier than the Médoc, the wines have much more mineral and are more influenced by the type of soils that differ greatly from a village to another and from vineyard to vineyard, whereas in Bordeaux, especially in the Médoc, vineyard soils are quite similar from Saint-Estèphe to Margaux or even lower in Pessac-Leognan, and because the parcels are blended together with different grape varieties, the varietals with the vinification and ageing processes have somewhat more importance than the soil types.
  

• Vintage is also an important part of why these type of comparative tastings are unfair, in the Paris Tasting, not only wines were coming from three totally opposite type of regions from 2 different countries, which was already a mistake to start with, but also vintage were different. Vintage is crucial in the taste of a wine, more especially in France where appellations have more restrictions that forbid certain practices whatever happened, which is not the case in California where producers and wineries cab re-adjust their wines in difficult vintage with various methods.
  

However, those are only a few of the non-negligible factors and I could probably write much more about this fascinating subject (may be I'll do it in another post, this one is already long enough), but I think I make my point clear. The Paris tasting was surely an extraordinary experience and open the doors to new point of views and discussions, but I still think that, in my opinion, blind tastings to compare wines from same varietals yet from different regions of origin are unfair and do not prove anything. They will only show differences and nuances, not which one is the best or not, especially with various vintage. And yet what being "the best" really means? Nothing! Because these wines are just different from one another due to different influential factors (the most obvious are cited above).

More over, one do not drink with closed eyes under pressure of under-or-over-rating a wine; one mostly enjoy wine with food, family and friends, it is a part of the atmosphere and usually has been chosen to go with the food. The huge, over-extracted, overripe, super oaky, monster wines... are they really the ones that we drink and enjoy over the food? Not really, they are mostly bred for critics and ratings. Whether from Napa, Bordeaux, Burgundy or elsewhere, the ones that most people usually enjoy and drink are the juicy, more harmonious, vibrant, complex, earthy and nuanced wines that express themselves greatly in the glass and with the food and reflect their differences and their Terroir of origin.

Enjoy!

LeDom du Vin

Step into the Green! Drink more Biodynamic and Organic wines (and Food) from sustainable cultures and respect the environment!

Highly expensive wines: prestige, brand, name, history, quality, small production...still worth it or not? still as attractive? still selling?

Highly expensive wines: prestige, brand, name, history, quality, small production...still worth it or not? still as attractive? still selling?

As you may have realized by reading most posts on my wine blog, I like to write about lesser known appellations, unusual grape varieties and obscure wine regions. My job as a Wine Buyer and Sommelier, since I started roughly 17 years ago, has always been to find and buy (and share) these little wine gems scattered through out the whole world and to open the mind and more especially the palate of my customers.

Of course, a lot of amateurs, connoisseurs, collectors, Wine Buyers and Sommeliers only swear by the brands or labels and the most well-known producers and winemakers around, but as the grandson of a local winemaker myself, I've always preferred to support the smaller, more artisanal, winemakers. Don't me wrong, I also appreciate the established and expensive brands and labels too, for their quality, their prestige and their history, but I very often have little interest to buy them for the store due to limited sales and obviously can not really afford them for myself.

In most cases, I even find them way too overpriced and overrated. Moreover, for the past 3-4 years, they have become sleeping beauties with very slow turn-over, and although they are still selling from time to time, they do not trigger the same interest as they used to. People don't want to pay the high price for these wines no more, even despite their prestige and what they represent. And don't get me wrong (again), but even prestigious wine names have bad vintages.

I experienced it many times. Whether complementing a lunch or a dinner with family and friends or in a restaurant as a Sommelier or as a customer, at the property itself with the winemaker or during tastings, not all of these wines were great or unforgettable, some were really bad or didn't age well, and in most cases their quality didn't necessarily justify the asking price. Due to a degrading world economy, more overwhelming and omnipresent advertisings from cheaper and lesser quality brands and the ever increasing amount of wines available in the market, the era of highly expensive wines is, in my opinion, finished after nearly 70 years of reign.

It is quite unfortunate, because, in the last 17 years, I had the privilege to buy, open and taste (and share) many vintages (old and new) of thousands of these exclusive bottles from all around the world: during the "En Primeur" Bordeaux campaign nearly each year, but also in many wine trips all around France, Spain, Chile, Argentina, California (and a few more places else where), during tastings and wine dinners when I was a Sommelier (and Wine Buyer) in Bordeaux, Paris and London. Furthermore, since I arrived in New York, about seven years ago, I had the chance to taste many more of them, due to my position as a Wine Buyer for retail and wine boutique, which even brought me more occasions to taste these prestigious wines, less old vintages but nevertheless still from extraordinary names and regions.

As I said: "the era of highly expensive wines is, in my opinion, finished after nearly 70 years of reign." And here is my version of how they became established names and brands and how the end of their era did happen.

First, you have to remember that most of these well known names, brands and labels established their fame through out the last 30-40 years only, 60-70 years for the oldest. Before that, the few well known ones were the jewels of the table of rich and notorious personages. Luxury products estimated by the connoisseurs and the collectors and barely accessible for the general public.

Let me explain, (also read my previous post on the subject at www.ledomduvin.com or click on the following link: "Biodynamic, Organic, Sustainable Culture, Lutte Raisonnée, etc....").

Remember that although wine (and its variants) has always been a part of the culture and the history of man (and woman), since the Neolithic period (appearing somewhere between 8,500 and 4,000 B.C) up until about 500 years ago, wine (made from domesticated and tended Vitis Vinifera grape varieties as we know it now) was mainly and principally produced in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean sea from Lebanon to Morocco, then rapidly expanded and even better adapted to the western and northern Europe (then the rest of the world) where it is now one of the most lucrative agricultural products.

At this time, only a few hundreds wineries (at the most) constituted "la crème de la crème" of wine. We had to wait for monks then travelers and settlers, who brought the gapes and methods to the newly discovered continents and countries between the 15th and the 19th century, to see wineries mushrooming around the world and thus much more competition and choices in style (like North and South America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and more recently Asia).

And as I said earlier in this post, up until the late 19th century, wine (especially for the more established names and labels) was still a luxury product reserved for the elite, the richest and the most fortunate. Even most producers of that time didn't enjoy much of it. The lands and the vineyards often belonged to aristocratic and "bourgeois" families, and the produced wines were sold mostly in bulk to rich négociants and other merchants to be bottled, marketed and sold. Even during this time, brands and labels were promoted by the vendors and established by the high society, not necessarily by the Châteaux or the estate owners, although they benefited of it.

The beginning of the 20th century marked a revolution and a renaissance for wine production and its consumption, especially after the devastating Phylloxera plague which destroyed roughly 3/4 of most European vineyards, the first World War and the different prohibition movements around the world between 1900 and 1935, which slowed down the market and the sales, and changed the public opinion towards alcohol production and consumption in general, including wine.

The 30's first few years were marked by the Great Depression that had a traumatic effect worldwide. Especially in Europe where, in response to this weak and desperate times, authoritarian regimes and "dictatures" emerged in several countries, in particular the Third Reich in Germany, but also in Italy and Spain. The subjugation of weaker states around the globe by their stronger expansionist neighbors, as well as the expansion of communism and the rise of extremist ideas and political parties ultimately led to the Second World War by the decade's end. The decade also saw a proliferation in new technologies, including intercontinental aviation, innovative inventions, faster vehicules and the birth of radio. It was the beginning of a new fast paced era that will never stop to accelerate to even go faster over the last 10 years, and who knows for the next years to come....

By the mid 30's, in France and a few other countries in Europe and despite the difficulty and the consequence of it, wine was being promoted as a healthy product (which it is, in moderation of course) to increase the sales and encourage people to buy and drink more, which was a bit difficult but needed during these modern dark ages with the subjacent and up-on-coming second World War.

See (and enjoy) this very convincing French advertisement from 1933-34, on the front page of the "Cartes Taride" France Routière Kilometrique Reference # 75, which contains one of Pasteur's most famous sentence:

"Wine is the most healthiest and hygienic drinks"

and few more funny French classic sentences and statistics of this period:

"Give the preference to restaurants that include wine in the price of the meal."

"Human Life Average: 59 years for a water drinker against 65 years for a wine drinker"
"87 % of the centenarian are wine drinkers."
"Wine is the milk of the elder."

What a great advertising, isn't it? I love it! I know, I know, some people will be offended... well, sorry, but I still love it. Let's get back to our subject of the day.

By 1940, except a few exceptions amongst the most recognized and established names and labels which succeed by getting even more attention, more than 80% of the wine production in the world consisted of low quality, chaptelized, often sour, bitter and tannic, even sometimes sweet or fortified wines.

Basically, the wine production suddenly and drastically increased after the second World War, in the 50's and more especially the 60's. The world population nearly double in 30 years after the 40's (also read my post on Biodynamic, Organic, Sustainable Culture, Lutte Raisonnée, etc...."). New techniques were applied and many more wineries mushroomed as well as new talented winemakers arisen. But due to over-planting and over-production, quality was still a bit of an issue for most producers everywhere, and only a small bunch of them came out of the lot as classics and benchmarks in their own appellations.

Nearly 20 years passed and the "Baby Boom" generation, born just after the 2nd World War and now in age to be drinking, was ready to take over the world in everyway possible and was more educated and attentive to their drinks, especially their wines, than the previous generations. New techniques, researches and studies brought more accurate knowledge and information about the soil, climate, microclimate, topography, geology, importance of drainage and exposure to the sun, leading to a new era of wine making and vineyard management. Bringing new ideas and new tastes to the wine world, as well as accelerating and increasing the wine production due to constent, increasing demand.

During the late 60's and begining of the 70's, when bottling at the estate began to be a less expensive and more common practice for Chateaux owners and other producers, and especially since the label saying "bottled at the Chateau" or "bottled at the property" was firmly established as a sign of quality and provenance of the grapes and the wine itself, the fame of some of the most established brands of today's market became even greater and quality somewhat risen.

By the mid 80's and beginning of the 90's, with the rise of the rapidly-growing-in-popularity-and-influential wine critics, like Robert Parker Jr., in order to consolidate and maintain their heights compared to others and satisfy the ever increasing demand, established names with prestige, history and quality had to produce and promote more. Evolving as quickly as the marketing methods to keep their undeniable advanced on the new talents and somewhat more innovative and better marketed new comers from all around the world.

Also in the 80's and 90's, after further studies and researches, producers and winemakers attached a bit more importance to the different types of soil and micro-climate, and Terroir in general, and began to uproot old inefficient parcels to replant better adapted grape varieties in accordance with the different types of soil, consequently increasing quality and producing greater and healthier wines.

But there is no secret, if these wineries were and remain some of the best in their own appellation, it is due to the fact that they have better Terroir (soils, microclimates, sun exposure, etc...), location, history, "Savoir-Faire" and surely more finance than their neighbors and competitors to produce higher quality wines, i.e.: Châteaux Margaux will probably always be the best Margaux; Domaine de La Romanée Conti will surely always be one the best Burgundy; and so on....

Therefore, gradually from the late 80's to roughly 2006, partly due to their quality, history and prestige, and partially due to the ever increasing demand and interest from emerging wine interested countries (like Russia, China, Japan, Corea, Brazil, some of the United Arab Emirates, etc...) but, in my opinion, mostly by greed, prices attained never-reached-before-ceilings. Skyrocketing even further more to outrageously expensive prices between 2000 and 2006, with vintages like 2000, 2003 and 2005.

For example a 2000 vintage Bordeaux 1st growth like Château Margaux or Château Latour was sold at an astonishing $125-150 a bottle en Primeur in 2001 (and much more when it arrived in the market in 2002), against $550-575 for a 2005 vintage of the same 1st growth Château (and way much more when it arrived in the market in 2007), which is roughly a increase of 500% in 5 years and Bordeaux wasn't the only region to unjustifiably increase their prices. Many other regions readjusted their prices to higher grounds to match, compete and reach the same level of popularity, some without any apparent reasons and some for sudden increase in popularity but not necessarily in quality.

I know that we have to take in consideration the cost of living that has increased tremendously in just a few years since 2000 and also the European change of currency to the Euro since 2001, which didn't help either, etc... but common! Isn't it greed or what? I think that Bordeaux really shot itself in the leg, killing both their fame and their sales since the 2000 vintage which was the first vintage of series of a few more vintages that attained never reached before ceiling. In fact, many other regions followed that trend between 2000 and roughly 2006, like Burgundy, Châteauneuf du Pape, California, some regions of Australia, Piedmont, Tuscany, Priorat, Ribera del Duero, etc...

However, and in my opinion, since roughly 2006, I 've seen a shift in the market and the interest of the customers going from highly expensive brands, labels and names to more interesting wines made from unusual grape varieties crafted in lesser known and somewhat obscure regions at less expensive thus more attractive prices and delivering as much or sometime even more complexity and layers of aromas, flavors, texture, structure, balance and depth, than much more expensive wines .

Moreover, for the past nearly two years, people have been restricting their weekly wine budget in New York and everywhere else (or monthly or yearly as you prefer, you got the picture). They do not want to spend their money the same way, compromising and making wiser choices. In my opinion, this crisis started 3 or 4 years ago and has gradually infested everyone of us. Customers that used to spend $75-$100 and more a bottle, are now spending between $30-$50 (at the max); those that used to spend $40-$75, now only buy between $20-$35; the ones between $18-$25 are now between $12-$20 (at the max)...and all the $15 and under, are now trying to spend less than $10.

In fact, since September 11th 2001, after the destruction of the World Trade Center (which is by the way not rebuilt yet, 8 years later.....no comment...), then the gradual collapse of Wall street, the real estate market, the banks, the insurance companies, and the consequently degrading world economy, lack of opportunities and jobs, and the ever increasing number of unemployed people, customers and consumers have been more and more careful about how they spend their money.

Whether on the wine list of a reputed restaurant down town or on the shelves of their favorite local wine boutique, patrons have been hesitating on buying and ordering the most exclusive wines, leaving aside the highly priced names, labels and brands that have been the proud leaders of their own appellation for decades to choose lesser known yet as interesting and enjoyable wines for a price more appropriate to their wallet. Not by lack of faith or taste, but because they don't want to spend the kind of money these wines demand.

Moreover, people are more and more educated about provenance, quality, taste and especially pricing due to a blooming and very lucrative wine education market with multiple classes and tastings, and an explosion of wine magazines, wine websites and wine blogs (like mine) on the internet. People know how to diversify the source of their information, and nowadays, more than ever, form their own opinion rather than listening blindly to the critics. The reign of the names, labels and brands is slowly fading away, especially due to their prices, to leave its place to a new era of wine discoveries for a younger public in quest of better quality wines for lesser prices.

That is why I'm asking openly these questions to whoever wants to answer them: "Highly expensive wines: prestige, brand, name, history, quality, small production...still worth it or not? still as attractive? still selling?"

Still worth it? Probably for some of the rare and immensely rich amateurs and collectors who can afford it but surely not for the rest of us (most of us should I say) that will never be able to afford it or never be willing to pay these outrageous prices.

Still as attractive? Well, not really either, because I find fantastic values nearly every week, which I found much more attractive and often delivering as much or sometime even more complexity and layers of aromas, flavors, texture, structure, balance and depth, than much more expensive wines.

Still selling? Unfortunately not anymore and definitely not as much as they used to just only 3-4 years ago. For the past 5-10 years, these names, labels and brands have become more acquainted with cargo plane, shipping boat and truck to go from one place to another, like auction company to collectors to auctioneers again to private cellars to retail or special distributors, through out the world, but they rarely get opened. It is a shame, somehow, that these prestigious bottles have lost, over the years, the respect of such loyal consumers because of greed and unbelievable prices. No offense but it is true!


Some of you may not understand what I mean by names, labels and brands, so here is a list of some of these wines that I bought, tasted, drunk, shared and enjoyed over the past 20 years as a wine amateur and 17 years as a Wine Buyer and Sommelier. It is also for you to better understand that I do have nothing against these wines that I had an immense pleasure to open and drink, however they are now back to their old place as luxury products only available and accessible to very few of us. I hope that you will comprehend my way of thinking behind this long post and take no offense of it, especially the owners and winemakers of the following wines.

From a region dear to my heart, Bordeaux:

Chateau Petrus, Chateau Lepin, Chateau Ausone, Chateau Cheval Blanc, Chateau Latour, Chateau Margaux, Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau d'Yquem, Chateau Mouton Rothschild, (to be continued soon with more brands)

Despite Bordeaux, where I come from, I also tasted many other distinguished wines from many other regions and countries, from producers like:

Dagueneau, Domaine de la Romanee Conti, Vega Sicilia, Billecart-Slamon, Krug, Moet & Chandon "Dom Perignon", Louis Roederer "Cristal", Taittinger "Comtes de Champagne", Pol Roger "Cuvee Winston Churchill", Conterno Barolo, Trimbach, Raveneau, Dauvissat, Morey, (to be continued soon with more brands)

Enjoy,

LeDom du Vin

Step into the Green! Drink more Bio and Organic wines (and Food) from sustainable culture and respect the environment!

Be open minded to everything and respectful, and enjoy food and wine (and art, culture, people, and more especially life...etc)

Be open minded to everything and respectful, and enjoy food and wine (and art, culture, people, and especially life...etc)

As I often say: "Every wine deserves to be tasted, even if not every wine should be drunk! But you can't say that you don't like it, if you didn't try it. And you can't say that you don't like certain wines made with this grape variety or from this particular region, because you'll never know what you might discover or how a wine could surprise you, until you've tried it! And that goes for pretty much everything in life." LeDom du Vin

Consequently, in life as well as in the culinary world, one needs to remain open minded with everything and especially with wines and food, because you may not like a certain type of wine (or dish) one day, but discover a very similar wine (or dish) crafted (with the same grape or from the same region) by another producer (or a chef) the next day and really enjoy it....and that again, also goes for everything.

Thus, be open minded to everything and respectful, and more especially be forgiving, life is too short to let anger, envy, greed, fears and doubts, destroy it. Life is complicated and often unfair in many ways everywhere you will be. Therefore, what really counts is to enjoy all the most memorable happy (and unhappy sometime) moments of your life. Moreover, these simple happy memorable moments, even if joyful and spontaneous yet ephemeral, often release a smile back to enlighten your face and somewhat contribute to bring you a bit of comfort and happiness (even if brief).

So don't drive yourself too crazy with the little, often insignificant things in life, or even by unconsidered, rude and narrow minded people. They are not worth it and you have way better things to pay attention to and to get yourself busy with, like: your wife or partner, your kid(s), your family and basically your life, your situation and what you will leave behind, your legacy, for you and your family. Don't waste your time, try to be as positive as you can, and despite all the bad things that can happen, live your life fully, respectfully, carefully and extensively with the ones you love. Protect yourself from the rest of what may happen with others, and be practical, logical, sensible, rational and bright regarding your choices in life.

I just became an American, and when I was learning American history to pass the test, I was often stopping on the same sentence from Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence, trying to really understand what it means: "that all men are created Equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

And as I try to reflect on these words, I'm thinking: Liberty is a human concept or notion that doesn't really exist, and perhaps that at the beginning of time all men when were created equal, but in 2009 it is not true anymore (and surely wasn't either at the beginning). One just has to everyday watch TV, listen Radio, read newspaper and magazines or even search on Internet, to realize it. Equality, harmony, balance and equilibrium have disappeared the day we started to give value to things, to control each other's action and behavior, and to gain power and superiority on each other. In short, men invented money, power, politic and religion, and now look where we are... (however, this is too long of a different subject).

What I'm trying to say is that, in this F@#% Up yet still beautiful world, the only things that remain somewhat free are these little, simple, happy moments with the people that really count for you. That is why you should enjoy every single one of them, remember the good ones, leave the bad ones to the past... and forgive if you can. Even if Life is difficult to understand, comprehend or even accept for some of us and totally unfair in too many ways and fashions for many of us. More over, Life is often the luck of the draw, some get the right number but most get the wrong one... so only the little moments of furtive happiness remain for us to enjoy.

Everyday is a battle in many ways and for many reasons, people live and die...we can't do anything about it or against it.... it is a natural cycle and a concept that exist since the beginning of time, and never stopped spiraling since then.... Therefore, Life is a really fragile, delicate thing and we only have one (as far as I know, may be more for some depending on your belief...), so might as well try to make the best of it while we are here. Even if most of the time life is a b%$#@, and that for a good majority of people on the globe, life only corresponds to try to get a pay check at the end of the month in order to survive and live with a minimum of something for themselves and their family, more than 3/4 of this majority don't even receive a pay check and don't even have food on their plate, water to drink or to wash up, a roof to protect them or even a bed for them to rest.....

So if you can, and especially if you are luckier than the millions who are not, leaving in miserable, poor conditions (even in the richest and most advanced countries of the Western world and Asia), please, pursue your dreams and pursue that quest for Happiness (even if it is difficult) and enjoy these little memorable ephemeral yet enjoyable moments. Believe that it will happen and give yourself the tool to reach your goals. It is not easy and often take a lot of time and patience and hard work for most of us, but it is not impossible. Reshape your life with your good emotions, desires and everything else that can convey some sort of happiness. While you there you have to live...so be open minded to everything and respectful (as much as you can) and remember to enjoy these little moments, because at the end of the day that really what counts.

Add a bit of good wine and good food to your everyday life, even if inexpensive and simple, you'll see, it helps a lot and take good care of yourself and the ones you love, 'cause nobody else will.

I get carried away, probably under the emotion of a weird moment thinking about all the people I like and love (and those that are recently gone), that brought me and still continue to bring me a bit of happiness everyday of my life, especially my wife and son, who really keep me going with my life and my dreams. May be you should do the same... take a few minutes to really understand, comprehend and appreciate what drives you and who are the persons that really count in your life....

I wrote these lines listening to Evanescence (not the happiest lyrics you'll tell me...I agree, but it get me thinking...), reflecting on my life, past and present....realizing that overall I'm very lucky and luckier than many people, with my life and my little family....even if it is not always easy...but learn how to move on and to think positively...and live an interesting life full of cheerful memorable moments.

LeDom du Vin

Arnoux Pere et Fils and 2006 vintage in Bourgogne

Arnoux Pere et Fils and 2006 vintage in Bourgogne

Located in the Cote d'Or department (county), eastern France, Beaune is probably one of the most visited cities of Burgundy for its wines and more especially for one of the most well-known wine events in the wine world: the Hospice de Beaunes. It is also the wine capital of the Cote de Beaune region, home of the best Burgundy whites, where a few more bright, aromatic, earthy reds can also be found, like Beaune, Chorey-lès-Beaune, Pommard and Volnay.

Here is some info about the Arnoux Père et Fils winery taken from the importer website at www.jeffwelburn.com

"Pascal Arnoux is yet another graduate of the Lycée Viticole in Beaune. After working with his uncles Michel and Rémi for most of the past two decades, he took over complete control of the family domaine in 2007.

Based in the village of Chorey-lès-Beaune, Domaine Arnoux covers just under 50 acres (roughly 20 hectares) spread out over several parcels in Chorey and Savigny-lès-Beaune, Beaune, and the hill of Corton. A practitioner of lutte-raisonnée (sustainable culture), Pascal works his vineyards by hand and employs natural alternatives to chemical pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, including the introduction of pheromones to sexually confuse grape-worm butterflies. He confers frequently with a government eco-protection agency in Beaune and also the Côte d’Or Chamber of Commerce to keep up on the latest bio-friendly viticulture methods.

Pascal is a non-interventionist in the cellar, though he does put a lot of thought into the oak selection process. He knows a thing or two about barrels, as his father was a cooper. Arnoux’s Chorey-lès-Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune and Beaune reds are textbook, and what to look for on the lists of better restaurants when visiting Beaune. The domaine’s Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru Les Fournières and Grand Cru Corton Rognet are beautifully structured, with layers of complexity. Pascal also makes excellent white wines, the JWS favorite being his fleshy, mineral-driven Pernand-Vergelesses blanc."

As for me, I always loved the wines from the Cote de Beaune and its surrounding sub-regions and appellations. The Beaune whites have always been some of the most sought after and complex whites in the world. The Beaune reds, somewhat less well-known and appreciated than the established reds from the Cote de Nuits (the upper part of Burgundy), are getting a bit more recognition and attention from amateurs and connoisseurs, being greater values yet still offering complexity, length, earthy flavors and balance from smaller, less recognized artisanal producers.

Although, the name of Arnoux has been around for quite a few decades and is pretty well established among the big brands of Beaune, in my opinion, Arnoux remains among the more traditional, artisanal and environmentally friendly winemakers of the area. Arnoux' Chorey-lès-Beaune and Savigny-lès-Beaune are both benchmark in their own appellation.

The following wines are 2006 vintage which, in my opinion and despite what the wine-press was saying about it (see my post "Follow the wine press or not?"), is a much better, consistent and brighter vintage than the so acclaimed 2005 vintage which was more opulent, fleshier yet less balanced or characteristic (in my opinion) from traditional Burgundy wines.

2006 vintage in Burgundy (like in Bordeaux and a few other French regions) brought fleshy, ripe fruit and body like in 2005 yet with brighter acidity, giving a more balanced, juicier, more enjoyable, fresher attitude to most wines.

2006 Arnoux Pere et Fils Bourgogne Pinot Noir France

Suggested retail price $17-$20

Selected by Jeff Welburn and distributed by Winebow in NYC

Made from declassified young vines of Chorey-lès-Beaune, this is a very enjoyable, juicy yet earthy, well rounded yet with good acidity example of a good Bourgogne Pinot Noir. The robe is light to medium intensity, bright ruby red. The nose is expressive with fresh aromas of red cherry, earth, touch mineral. The palate is light to medium bodied, with red berry flavors and earthy tones with a fruity, fresh and approachable attitude. A good compromise between the rather esoteric, too earthy burgundy and the sometime too extracted new styler. An easy pick for the summer.

2005 Arnoux Chorey-les-Beaune "Les Confrelins" Burgundy France

Suggested retail price $27-$30

Selected by Jeff Welburn and distributed by Winebow in NYC

From the so acclaimed 2005 vintage (despite my opinion about it), come a fleshier, more opulent than usual Chorey from Arnoux. Fortunately, it is one of his benchmark wine and the terroir of "Les Confrelins" add in complexity. The palate is nice, ripe, supple and medium bodied with red and dark cherry fruit flavors and moderate yet present soft tannins. It remains among some of the good Burgundy that I tasted under $30.



Regarding my view about the 2006 compared to the 2005 vintage in Burgundy (and Bordeaux), here is my opinion.

You see, I think that quite a few Burgundy and Bordeaux 2005 vintages were fleshier, riper (like in 2003) than most previous vintages. However, what the wine-press forgot too mention (in many cases), is that they were also a bit angular, unbalanced and not as consistent as most 2006 (that I tasted, in my opinion). Moreover, a lot of 2005 Burgundy (and Bordeaux too) presented (in way too many cases) overripe fruit and touch of alcohol (like in 2003 due to the summer heat wave) but also unharmonious mid-palate and weird acidity, and often green, bitter tannins in the finish (due to, like some producers did in 2003, mixing early harvest with later harvest and other mistakes -here again- read my post on "Following the wine press or not?").

My opinion, real traditional Burgundy drinkers should avoid the 2003 and 2005 vintage, and focus and buy the following vintages, which offers (in my opinion here again) the best characteristics and flavors and the most consistent, traditional attitude and profile a good burgundy wine should have: 1999, 2002, 2006.

Don't get me wrong, 2005 is a good vintage overall, but it is more a pick and choose type of vintage and definitely not a great vintage (despite what the wine-press said about it), more over the skyrocketed prices (because of the wine-press here again) are ridiculous and far from affordable (like in Bordeaux for 2003 and 2005, the wine press went to quick, to fast and certainly didn't measure the consequences of such a hasty enthusiasm for a vintage which gradually revealed more flaws than attractive features....).In most cases, I preferred most 2006 Burgundy (white and red) that I tasted, than the 2005.

For Bordeaux: 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 offer some great values, but 2001 and 2007 weren't great, and 2003 and 2005, although 05 was much better than 03, still present too many angularities, here again (overripe fruit, alcohol, green, bitter tannins, weird acidity and so on, and the prices don't necessarily represent the quality of the wine...).

However, this was just a few parentheses about the fact that (in my opinion) the wine-press (in general) is too often influenced by labels, brands, winemakers, and especially a handful of wine-critics dictating the vintage, the market and prices. Although very important, vintage characteristics about an entire wine region are often too global and aren't necessarily representative of the sub-regions and diverse appellations, and definitely doesn't take in consideration the different winemakers' style.

Enjoy!

LeDom du Vin

Step into the Green! Drink more Bio and Organic wines (and Food) from sustainable culture and respect the environment!

Why...did I change the name of my website/blog to LeDom du Vin?

Hi everybody,

Some people may wonder why I changed my blog's name? Well, here is the answer.

For the better, I just changed the name of my blog/website from www.wineandcolors.com to (logically) www.ledomduvin.com

First, because it sounds better and more people know this blog (and me) as "LeDom" (du Vin).

Secondly, because it sounds a bit more French and people find a certain originality to it.

After all, why not? It is a blog with a French name, about wine and food and other goodies in Life (and people love French food and wine and life style to a certain extend). Written in English by a French guy, naturalized American (and living in one of the most cosmopolitan town in the world: New York), it was, somewhat, natural and logical for me to bring both culture together.

Finally, it is also a bit sentimental and nostalgic. More than 17 years ago, before I started to work in restaurant and gradually entered the wine business, people already knew me as "Dom" or "LeDom".

I trained and worked in many places in France, like Paris, Orleans, Bourges, Strasbourg, and more especially Bordeaux (where I'm from and where I spent most of my time until the age of 24 years old), and the name of "Dom" followed me everywhere.

When I moved from Bordeaux to England as a Sommelier, 13 years ago, I met a guy at work who became one of my closest friends for years and used to called me "LeDom". The name sticked to me since then, and from Dominique or Dom, my name became quickly "LeDom".

People may think that it refers to "le Domaine du Vin" (Wine's Domaine) or "Le Dome du vin" (The wine Dome), it could and it might be (I quite like the thought of it...), but in fact... there is a more behind it...

"LeDom du Vin" more especially refers to the fact that as a young Sommelier in London, on Sunday (most Sundays should I say), when I wasn't working, I was meeting with other Sommeliers and wine lovers, friends of mine, to have long lunches with a lot of food, and more especially a lot of wines (everybody was bringing at least one or two bottles each to taste that day, and we were at least 4 or 5 people minimum meeting nearly every other week-end).

However, great food eater but not-necessarily-great-enough cook for my friends' taste, I was often assigned to organize, open, decant and serve the different aperitifs, champagnes, wines, liquors and digestives (which anyway, as Sommelier, was a perfect fit for me). And very often during these lunches, when certain persons were finished with their wine, they used to say: "LeDom, du Vin!!!", which literally translates to: "LeDom, more wine!!!"

So for me, for them, for you that are reading this blog and with nostalgia for all the good memories that these words bring to me, this blog will, from now on, be called "LeDom du Vin".

Some of you may have had some difficulties to read my blog over the last few days, however, Blogger.com should soon redirect all of the posts from www.wineandcolors.blogspot.com and www.wineandcolors.com to my new blog's name: www.ledomduvin.com

Thank you for all your support since I began last August and thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I'm open to all comments, so feel free to let me know what you think about my blog and about the posts in general.

Thank you again,

See you soon for more articles and posts about wine, food, culture and life in general.

Enjoy!

LeDom du Vin

Step into the Green! Drink more Bio and Organic wines (and food) from sustainable culture and respect the environment!

New wines and old wine articles explaination

Hi Everybody,

Over the next few weeks (or few months, because I do have a lot to catch up), I will write about new wines of course, with Fall and Winter season calling for some earthy, more full bodied and complex wines; but I will also write about wines that I have tasted over the last few years. For these wines, I will try to mention the exact tasting date or at least the month when I tasted them.

Let me explain: I used to have a website where as you used to write most of my previous tasting notes, but unfortunately for diverse reasons, more especially for time and lack of know-how-about-to-maintain-a-website reasons, I completely erased and canceled it and decided to restart from scratch. That is the reason why I do have a lot of writing to catch up in this new blog that I just started a few weeks ago.

I hope that you will not be too confused, otherwise send me a note and I will try to help you (especially if there is no date).

LeDom