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August 26 2006

The Book or a Bottle?

What’sthe old college catchphrase, “I’d rather have a bottle in front of me, than afrontal lobotomy?”

Notme. Sign me up for the passivity of having well-rounded wine knowledge.

Thegauntlet has been thrown down. I’m taking up the bourgeoisie study of French wine.

AsI’ve mentioned before, I wish I had it in my DNA to be a more casualobserver. I’ve secretly always been abit jealous of the “not a care in the world, live in the absolute moment, Ilove everything” crowd. The folks thatwould, truly, rather have a bottle in front of them.

Youknow the type: the person that exclaims at a social gathering that they LOVEWINE, but aren’t able to produce what kind they specifically like because they “LOVEIT ALL.” The same goes for music, theylove all kinds. EVERYTHING! And, then they detail their last concert—Kid Rockwith Uncle Kracker as the opening band, or maybe it was the first American Idolsummer tour, they can’t remember.

Unfortunately,for me, the object of my affection(s) leads to ardent study. In my mind, what’s the point of enjoyingsomething if you don’t understand the context through which it came to becreated?

Idon’t need to know the secret recipe to Coca-Cola to enjoy a can, but it’s moreinteresting to know that in the late nineteenth century that it actuallycontained the stimulating by-product of the coca leaf.

Oneof the side benefits of my wife’s job is she gets a pretty healthy discount onbooks from her company, one of largest and oldest publishers in thecountry.

So,I take a look-see around to see what book I’m going to get on Bordeaux to start my learningcurve. Hmm … should I start with the basics and read anarrative on the 1855 Grand Cru Classification so I can get the foundation, orshould I start with a regional overview?

Decisions,decisions.

Then,I saw a book that combined both. This mustbe it. A jacket blurb from anotherauthor calls it, “One of the most influential wine books of all time.”

Thisis the book that I’ll buy to begin my journey towards French wine enlightenment.

AsFrench existentialist author Albert Camus said:

Butwhat is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life heleads?

Bordeaux and its Wines: Classified in Order of Merit Within EachCommune, 17^th Edition

And,then I realize that the book classifies 1,800 vineyards, more than 14,500 winebrands, 200 wine merchants, is $200 and over 2336 pages long.

Sigh.

1800vineyards.

2300pages.

I’drather have a bottle in front of me. Ifigure I can drink a lot of wine in the time that it would take to wade through2300 pages.

I’m200 bucks ahead not getting the book, that’s at least a half case of prettygood wine. Maybe I can get some Kid Rock tickets, too.

August 25 2006

New World

Based on news that Robert Parker will be doing some hiring at The Wine Advocate.

August 25 2006

The American Vine-Dresser’s Guide

The American Vine-Dresser’s Guide, 1826, Chapter 2 pages 30 - 33.

Here, the author, John James Dufour, comments on the Cape grape a native grape to North America that, here, is speculated to have been imported from Africa. Dufour continues to comment on its suitability to drink and the ongoing struggle to introduce European vine cuttings. Interestingly, and amusingly, he notes the bias many had at the time for French wines versus domestic wines.

Considering all I have said above and that it may bepossible that in Pennsylvania some of theCape grapes may be now growing wild in the woods, having been sowed there by the birds, which have takenthem from where they were cultivated; for it is past30 years sinceMr. Legaux got it at Spring Mill, Ithink to be sufficiently authorized tobelieve, that the Cape is the only one we have in the United States to saycompletely successful; is an imported grape; and Mr. Legaux having asserted that it came from Africa, it ought to bebelieved until proven of the contrary, and Mr. M’Mahon, in his gardening, speaks of it as afact beyond doubt. The question nowremains to know from what place grapes cameto the Cape of Good Hope; for theDutch, who planted the vines there, could carry none from their own country: Portugal, Teneriffe, and the Canary Islands are probably the place from whence the Cape of Good Hope has been provided with that precious plant; and I have read somewhere, that they had much troubleat first to make their vines flourish; it requiring all the phlegmatic patienceof a Dutchman, to bring it to a successful end.

Chaptal tellsus in the Dictionary of agriculture, that the Burgundy grapewas planted there, for the purpose of having the same wine, but that ina few years, the grapes grew quite different, being large in the bunchand in the berries, and the juice so extraordinary rich, that it could not flow from the press without theaddition of water. I was told also, when at Bordeaux, thatthe same Burgundy grape, planted in the vicinity of that town, underwent a total change, andmade a quite different wine. Although this Cape grape, is a coarse fruit, or,as it is said, a wild one, it is nevertheless a very precious plant to the United States, and well worth theattention of all good citizens; if I had not met with thatgrape, the cultivation of the Vine would be in these western countries, and, perhaps, in the United States, very near asit was before; for I would myself give up the job as impracticable; but we mayanticipate the hope that theclimate of ourcountry will gradually change and become more congenial to good grapes. I have seen with great pleasure, in the AmericanFarmer, that in York County, in Pennsylvania, someof the European vines that I tried in vain,are now doing very well there.

The additional trouble andexpense attending the culture of the grape and the making of the wine; as wellas the time the vine dresserhas to wait for its produce; the large preliminary expenses, for cellar, press,and vessels to the makingand storing the wine, the patience to await itsmaturity, are sufficient to be dreaded by beginners in the world, and in thewoods, too, are of themselves sufficient, without the addition of the fear; that such a coarse grape would at last not be fit for to make palatable wine: tothat may beadded another obstacle, that the first vine dressers of a country have toencounter; it isthe prejudice against home-made, of a people who areused to imported wines only, which are or ought tobe of the best sort, and of the strongest,naturally or by mixture, with spirits, to supportthe transportation; the home grown winewhich is toappear first among such a people must resemble exactly the one he is used to, to engage him to pay for it: Such was our case at first, but we gradually found a market for all we made; I saw a greatmany, who would at first not taste the Swiss wine, because it was not as strongas the imported Madeira, which is about one-third of brandy, or as sweet asMalaga wine, nor as mild as it would be, if kept only one half the age of theimported one, but having drank of it a few times for company’s sake, they havebecome great lovers of it; so that, by the by, the consumption having prettywell kept pace with the product, old American wine has always been scarce.