Archive for March 18th, 2008

George M. Taber Lecture: To Cork or Not to Cork

March 18th, 2008 by Sébastien Gavillet

George M. Taber, the famous author of the book, Judgment of Paris, spoke at a lecture organized by Deluca Liquor & Wine.  You can read more about the Judgment of Paris and the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 in the post entitled “George M. Taber Lecture:  Judgment of Paris.”

George Taber’s new book, To Cork or Not To Cork, was the focus of this lecture.  This book is about the problems associated with the use of cork.  It also presents the various wine closure methods that can serve as an alternative to wine cork.  The pros and cons associated with these methods are also discussed.

I have not read this book yet, so I will not discuss it here.  Let me just say that there really is no perfect cork, as George so unequivocally stated; otherwise, there would be no such thing as “cork taint” in today’s wine.

Australian Wine and Cork Taint

This is my two cents on why Australian wines are the world’s most corked (i.e. cork tainted) wines.

In my opinion, it is not the long journey from Portugal to Australia since South American wines do not suffer from this issue.  I think the problem originates from the Australian Customs’ practice of fumigating all incoming containers that contain wood or wood-based products.  Perhaps, the corked wines problem in Australia is related to the fumigation process.

Did I hit the nail on the head with my theory?  Until next time!  Cheers!

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George M. Taber Lecture: Judgment of Paris

March 18th, 2008 by Sébastien Gavillet

Deluca Liquor & Wine hosted a lecture by the famed wine writer, George M. Taber, author of the book, Judgment of Paris.  George was there mainly to present his new book called To Cork or Not To Cork, which discusses the controversy surrounding the use of cork as wine closure.  Before George proceeded to his main topic, however, he first took questions about the Judgment of Paris.

For your information, I do own this book.  This book is about the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, an event that is generally considered to be a key turning point for the entire wine industry.  If you don’t know anything else about the 1976 Paris Wine Tasting, just remember this.  It was the event that put California wines on the map.

Indeed, the 1976 Paris Tasting challenged the age-old wisdom that said Old World wines are better than New World wines.  What made this tasting so revolutionary was the outcome:  Californian wines were voted better than French wines in a blind wine tasting by French wine experts!  You can just imagine the resulting outcry when the results were revealed.  The judges gasped, whispers broke out and all you could hear was “Ce n’est pas possible!”

My “Judgment of Paris” – My Take on the 1976 Paris Wine Tasting

Now, I’m not here to defend the French wines and say that the outcome of the contest was incorrect, but I do have a few objections.  Mainly, I object to the means by which the vintages for the Burgundy White Wines were selected.

If you have read my past write-ups, you would be aware that, at blind tastings, I prefer a horizontal selection of wines if they come from the same AOC/AVA.  In the Paris Wine Tasting event of 1976, California wines were pitted against Burgundy wines.  California and Burgundy are not in the same region, obviously, so origin should have been considered in the selection of vintages.  To put it simply, what might have been a good year in California might not have been a good year in Burgundy.  As it turned out, 1973 was in fact one of the worst vintages for Burgundy in the last 40 years or so, whereas 1973 was a fairly decent year for California.

The quality of the vintages used for the red wine tasting was much fairer, though.

Overall, I am grateful to the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 for it showed the winemakers worldwide that they have to be more diligent and that they have to constantly keep up their efforts to make better wines.  This is the main reason why today, we can enjoy what George Taber aptly called “the golden age of wines.”

Enjoy the golden age of wines, folks!  Cheers!

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Chardonnay Blind Wine Tasting at Marché Bacchus

March 17th, 2008 by Sébastien Gavillet

Chardonnay was the focus of this blind wine tasting, which was hosted by Jeff Wyatt, owner of the hip, off-the-strip restaurant Marché Bacchus.  The location was wonderful.  We were surrounded by thousands of wine bottles; it was truly the perfect setting for a wine tasting.

To start the event, the participants gathered at the kitchen bar where William Sherer ordered the first glass of wine poured.  William Sherer, Master Sommelier, is the wine director of Aureole in Las Vegas; he is also the designated Maître de Cérémonie of the bimonthly blind tastings that Aureole organizes and sponsors.  After all the wines have been poured and accounted for, we began our task:  tasting and enjoying the wines.

Virtual Wine Tasting Tour

We went on a virtual wine trip as the Chardonnay for this blind wine tasting came from all over the world.  We visited Sonoma County, Chablis (Burgundy), Casablanca Valley (Chile), Macon (Burgundy), Treiso (Italy), and Austria.  We finished the evening with a Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru (Burgundy).

Like the Vox Wine Lounge wine tasting event, the Marché Bacchus tasting was no simple blind tasting.  I had to focus so hard on the aromas so I could assess the wines’ regional origin.  As expected, things got really tough at times.

Wine Review and Wine Tasting Notes:  Austrian Chardonnay

The Chardonnay from Austria was one of the evening’s most interesting and challenging wines.  As far as I can recall, I’ve never had Chardonnay from Austria before this tasting; this made the task of geographically placing this Austrian wine even more difficult.

Wine tasting notes:  This straw golden wine had a brilliant, almost oily texture and medium plus viscosity.  It presented the aromas of mango, guava and passion fruit.  There was a hint of sulphur on the nose (not in a faulty context) and the balanced flavors of oak, vanilla, lees, and furfural.  It had the typical acidic characteristic of cold-climate wine (medium plus acidity).  This Prager also had nice complexity and a pleasant, lingering finish.

If it hadn’t been for the fact that the event was a Chardonnay wine tasting, I would have thought this Austrian wine was a Riesling blend due to its noticeable mineral (flint) content, acidity and tropical fruit aromas.  Needless to say, I was not able to trace the wine to Austria.

Tip:  This Chardonnay from Austria is a great buy if you can find it.  Keep it in mind the next time you dine at Aureole.

Want to learn more about the other wines we sampled at the Marché Bacchus blind wine tasting?  Just email me.  I made wine tasting notes on most of the wines featured and will be glad to furnish you a copy.

The next blind tasting is set for the midnight of March 25, another Tuesday, although the location is yet to be determined.  The focus will be ANY French red wines EXCLUDING Burgundy, Bordeaux and Rhône Valley wines!  This ought to be an interesting tasting and, for those who will be attending, surprise us!

That’s all for this wine tasting.  Until next time!  Cheers!

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Wine Aromas vs. Wine Bouquet: What is the difference?

March 04th, 2008 by Sébastien Gavillet

Is there a difference between aromas and bouquet in wines?  Yes, there is.  The difference is distinct, but it can be really confusing to differentiate aromas from bouquet.  Even the most famed wine critics sometimes confuse these two.

Wine Aromas:  General Classification

Wine aromas may be classified into three major categories:

  • Primary aromas. They are also known as varietal aromas.  These aromas come from or are determined by the type of grapes (grape varietals) used in wine making.
  • Secondary aromas. These are also known as vinous aromas.  These aromas develop during the pre-fermentation and fermentation process.
  • Tertiary aromas: These aromas are developed during the post-fermentation process.  They develop when wine is being matured in the wine barrel (e.g. oak barrel) or being aged in the wine bottle (bottle aging).

Aromas versus Bouquet

To be precise, when a wine specialist talks about a wine’s aromas, he is referring to that wine’s primary and secondary aromas (i.e. varietal aromas and vinous aromas).  When he talks about a wine’s bouquet, he is referring to that wine’s tertiary aromas.

To put it even more simply, while it is true that there are three main aromas in wines, only the primary and secondary aromas qualify as “aromas” in wine lingo; the tertiary aroma is referred to as “bouquet.”  That, in a nutshell is the difference between aromas and bouquet.

Bouquet

Wines owe their bouquet to the post-fermentation and the maturing process.  The bouquet is developed only during the post-fermentation stage and in the wine bottle itself.  Aldehydes and esters are formed during the oxidation of the fruit acids and alcohol in the wine bottle.  As such, bouquet takes time – years, actually – to develop.

A good, mature wine will have a complex bouquet.  After all, a wine’s bouquet is a combination of aromas bundled together to form new aromas (you could call it perfume, if you want).

I have here a list of the common tertiary aromas found in wines.  Again, I would like to emphasize that these aromas qualify as bouquet aromas because they are developed in the post-fermentation and aging process:

  • prune
  • mushroom
  • truffle
  • cedar*
  • liquorice*
  • leather
  • toast*
  • roasted almond
  • roasted hazelnut
  • caramel
  • coffee
  • dark chocolate
  • smoke*

For more information about wine aromas, please see the works of Jean Lenoir and his must-have, world-renowned Le Nez du Vin kits.

Final Note on Aromas and Bouquet

A diligent wine critic will usually not use the word bouquet to describe the aromas found in young immature wines, unless he is describing wines of such exceptional vintage that they are already starting to show, albeit prematurely, their bouquet.

Cheers!

*Aromas that are usually developed when wine is aged in new oak barrels prior to bottling

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