Well, we are right into mid Fall season , and November 2022 ,is coming along fine, the temps are warmer so say the so call experts. Anyway, always good to bring the best of Wines news of France. First ,thanks to all my readers and/or followers! Oh yeah, the wines of France are just super simply awesome and a great tradition. Often imitated, some time equaled ,but never surpass! Let me give you some news shall we. I have taken several old posts into one for the memories’ sake. Hope you enjoy it as I.
This is just in and need to have it here ,update: The sale of wines from the Hospices de Beaune, the oldest charity auction in the world, once again broke a record on Sunday (today) , an emblematic cask reserved for the cause of children winning 810,000 euros. The recipe for this “piece”, as a cask is called in Burgundy, was this year reserved for the Princess Margot and Vision du Monde children’s aid associations. The 228 liter cask (288 bottles) was sold for 810,000 euros (excluding costs), beating by a hair the previous record set last year, at 800,000 euros. The proceeds from the other batches are intended for equipment and the renovation of the four hospitals and six nursing homes, i.e. a thousand beds, which are currently grouped together by the Hospices Civils. The latter do not receive any aid from the State for these expenses, which are therefore entirely financed by the vines given to the Hospices since their foundation in 1443. The official Hospice de Beaune : https://www.hospices-de-beaune.com/
At the Chateaux Grand Launay and Haut Lorettes in the south-west of France, pruning shears and machines are running at full speed for the harvesting of the reds. Most are reporting will make a great vintage, thanks to a very hot summer. We are, in France, one of the regions that has evolved the most technical and environmental in the last ten years, and the range of 5-15 euros, Bordeaux is unbeatable in quality . But we have no clear message ! vis-à-vis the consumer, lamenting the image hyper traditional Bordeaux. Indeed there are lots of properties in Bordeaux little known or hard to know that produces top wines at affordable prices! I am next to the Salon Gastronomique et vins of Vannes Nov 2022. Very good properties and affordable there indeed!
Do you know the wines of Tavel? Many years ago were my introduction to French rose wines! They were qualified at the time of kings of roses, a reputation that still precedes them today, as its wines astonish by their richness and complexity. It is a magnificent, powerful and generous wine, deep pink, revealed by the typicality of its terroir and the variety of grape varieties, from which it draws its floral and fruity aromas on the palate. With age, it develops shades of red fruits, grilled almonds and spices, far from the usual simplicity of the rosés of our aperitifs. webpage: http://www.vin-tavel.com/fr/l-appellation-tavel/appellation-aoc
From one vintage to another to be or not to be considered Cru Bourgeois. The handicap is more or less important according to the notoriety of the property. It’s a bit complicated to understand. A Cru Bourgeois can be a year and not be the next one, to appear or not in the official selection for a given vintage, the following or the preceding one. Either because it chose not to compete at all and did not submit samples in year N, but may review its choice the following year; either because the samples presented did not convince the jury on this vintage; either because it has unfortunately not disposed of the volume required to compete (harvest amputated by frost or hail …). Life is never so simple even in the wine business! The rule will therefore change with the next classification since the label will be issued for 5 years. To be or not to be considered Cru Bourgeois from one vintage to the next, the handicap is more or less important according to the notoriety of the château. In 2003, Chasse-Spleen was distinguished “cru bourgeois exceptionnel” and Gressier Grand Poujeaux “cru bourgeois superiéur”. The classification was split in 2007. Result, Chasse-Spleen has slammed the door of the crus bourgeois, Gressier Grand Poujeaux remained, but not for all vintages. Now presented as the wine produced by Chasse-Spleen, the cuvée sold directly by the property and online via the market place, it does not really need the umbrella “cru bourgeois”.
These are just some of my favorites in a condense write up ok. Château Le Crock(Saint-Estèphe); Château Lilian Ladouys (Saint-Estèphe); Château Paloumey (Haut-Médoc); Château de Taillan(Haut-Médoc);Château Bel Air Gloria (Haut-Médoc);Château Lamothe-Bergeron (Haut-Médoc); Château Malescasse (Haut-Médoc).;Château Fourcas-Borie(Listrac-Médoc);and Château Haut Breton Larigaudiére(Margaux). You won’t go wrong with any.
Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte: Today, the Union of Cooperatives located in Chouilly (Marne) Associates 4 500 winegrowers for a surface of 2 100 hectares and 10.4 million of bottles produced. Which puts the mark, in terms of volume, just behind Moët & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot. Today, 40% of our volumes are destined for the international market. They would like to achieve parity with the French market, i.e. 6 million bottles sold in France and 6 million elsewhere, and that’s within five years. They have great margins of progress in the United States, where they are imported and distributed by the group Ste Michelle. They benefit from its network. In addition, they have signed a three-year partnership with the Canadian company Cirque du Soleil last May. We are now their official supplier in the US and Canada. They are already the preferred brand of the French, as confirmed by several studies carried out by the Nielsen group. Indeed they are all over the supermarkets !!
Nothing so surprising about these Cistercian lands overlooking the three villages of Aloxe-Corton, Ladoix-Serrigny and Pernand-Vergelesses, in Côte-d’Or (21). Among the many owners, the Maison Louis Latour alone has about twenty hectares, a continent on the scale of Burgundy. Aubert de Villaine, also co-owner of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in Vosne-Romanée, has invested heavily in recent years, with three parcels and a closing contract, for a total of about 6 hectares. The Burgundian family Méo-Camuzet is also present today in Corton, like the Freys who bought the château of Corton-Andre, renamed Corton C, Patrick Landanger of the Domaine Pousse d’Or and others. Thus, 20% of the Corton-Charlemagne appellation has changed hands over the last twenty years!!
Among the great villages of the Côte de Nuits, Morey-Saint-Denis is undoubtedly the most unknown or even the most misunderstood of the wine aficionados. The story explains much of this disaffection: until the 1960’s, the wines of Morey-Saint-Denis were bought by the traders of Côte de Nuit and Beaune to assemble them with wines of Chambolle-Musigny or Gevrey-Chambertin, better known and easier to market. Another significant element, the absence in the village of Morey-Saint-Denis of large historical family property, pioneer of bottling at the Morey-Saint-Denis estates has taken on its neighbors a delay of notoriety that the town still behind, All of these considerations deserve to be reviewed. Modest in area with 133.53 hectares of vines, the name of Morey-Saint-Denis is not lacking in advantages thanks to five Grands crus: Clos de Tart, Clos de la Roche, (which has added its names to that of the town), Clos des Lambrays, and Bonnes-Mares, mainly located on Chambolle-Musigny, but a small part of it is included in Morey-Saint-Denis. These five Grands Crus pass through the town, from the south to the north, glorious succession of exceptional terroirs in the middle of the hill.Therefore, try them more and you will be delighted.
With skewers of poultry; the ideal, is the red wines of the Loire Valley type Sancerre or Saumur-Champigny (love it) which give the response to poultry with their fruity, their vegetable tip but also a characteristic sour freshness. But the Burgundy red wines such as the Mercurey or the Beaujolais wines also lend themselves to the game of concordance with this type of food. Lovers of white wines and skewers that mix poultry, lemon and vegetables will turn to a little fleshy cuvées; Meursault, Pouilly-Fuissé, white wines from the Massif de La Clape. With grilled fish, try the rosés Provencal, the white wines of Cassis, those of the range of Ballet or Corsica enjoy the company of a bar or a grilled sea bream. And with sardines? Prefer the rosés of Roussillon, like those of Collioure powerful, with aromas of red fruits. The rosé, color of summer, is also the wine of the Grill par excellence! Prefer those who possess matter and density such as the rosés of Tavel, a rosé Bourgueil or a Marsannay. There you go from 45 years of wine drinker, collecting, selling, and diploma guy from France and Spain. Enjoy it !!!
A great men of wine I have followed for several years and enjoyed his wines is Bernard Magrez, owner of four Grands Crus Classés in Bordeaux, and about 40 other domains in the world. Taking aim at developing new vineyards and also to take position in new territories. He had purchased the Château de Sartre and its 33 hectares in the appellation Pessac-Léognan. The castle was owned by the Perrin family, and produces 140000 bottles two thirds red and one third white each year. Now, it will allow Bernard Magrez to offer a complete line of Pessac-Léognan wines of high quality such as Château Pape Clément, Clémentin, the second wine and now Château Le Sartre . This latest purchase will allow a domaine of land of 54 hectares in the Haut-Médoc bordering his other property the Château La Tour Carnet that has itself 180 hectares. The idea is to increase the production of the second wine of La Tour Carnet. He had also made an acquisition of a property of 1,5 hectares in Pomerol as well to add to his portfolio which includes one hectare of Châteauneuf-du-Pape as well as a sign promise to developed wine in the country of Georgia. Webpage: https://bernard-magrez.com/en/bernard-magrez-2/
Tom Sullivan , an American story in purchasing the Château Gaby in Fronsac just over the Médoc in Bordeaux. The vineyards descend to the Dordogne river. There he and his wife owns a mansion that they enjoy spending time in . In little time Mr Sullivan has acquired four properties there, The Château Gaby appellation Canon Fronsac, also Château Moya appellation Castillon côtes de Bordeaux, Château du Parc, appellation Saint Emilion Grand cru and Auguste appellation Bordeaux Supérieur all in bio, He finds the wines from Napa very tannic and pre fabricated so he turns to France and especially the Bordeaux. Today, 90% of his 320K bottles are produce in his properties in France and the wines are exported with good recognition in the USA especially on the west coast but also in Miami and New York. Webpage: https://www.chateaugaby.com/our-wines
But those who continue to appreciate a good bottle, and there are more and more of them, especially in Paris; no longer hesitate to push the door of one of the 600 or so Parisian cellars shops, almost a quarter of wine merchants have developed their bar. wine and more than 60% offer delicatessen products. La Grande Épicerie du Bon Marché cellars has a clientele 80% Parisians. True national pride, wine is above all a marker of the strong identity of French gastronomy, especially in Paris. What comfort the 87% of Parisians who drink wine in restaurants (against 81% for all of France), but who find the wines too expensive. It must be said that, according to Statista, wines are 26% more expensive in gourmet restaurants in Paris than in the rest of France, and 15% in independent restaurants and bistros. (Of course Paris carries a price!)
An effort to revive the first vineyard in France which had some 42,000 hectares at its peak in the 18C, before completely disappearing after WWII. The numbers are: 14,363 cafes and restaurants were identified in Paris in 2017, which represents 61.3% of Ile-de-France establishments (Source: CCI de Paris Île-de-France). 604 wine merchants are established in Paris, i.e. + 11% between 2014 and 2017 (Source: CCI of Paris Île-de-France). 8,800 bars and restaurants in Paris have an IV license, which allows them to sell alcohol (Source: CCI de Paris Île-de-France). 8.84 restaurants per 1,000 inhabitants in Paris far ahead of Lyon (5.62), Bordeaux (6.77) or Marseille (5.22) (Source: CCI de Paris Île-de-France). 5.40 euros average price of a glass of wine in a restaurant or an independent bistro in Paris. An amount which rises to 9.10 euros in a gourmet restaurant (Source: OpinionWay for Wine Paris). 52% of wine consumers in Paris consider themselves to be enlightened amateurs (Source: Wine Paris). 250 sommeliers are members of the Paris and Île-de-France Sommeliers Association.
There you go folks, another wine episode of my belle France! The wines of France that is, superbe, sublime, wonderful, gorgeous, enjoy without moderation but accompanying a meal, family table just perfect. See you in the vineyards of France.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 