French wines for beginners

Thanks, that totally makes sense and is reassuring.

Salut/Hi cherie,

le/on 23 Feb 2004 07:29:19 -0800, tu disais/you said:-

For your sake, I hope so. It's a shame to miss out on pleasures, and if you never come to like French wines (or Austrian, or Australian etc) you're missing out on a lot of pleasure. Where much Californian and Australian wine is about sheer in your face pleasure, most European wine is intended (and vinified) to accompany food, without dominating it. I believe that it is essential to understand this if you're going to come to grips with these wines.

An example. In California, as I understand it, the Merlot grape is vinified to be soft and blackberryish, without much distinction generally. Speaking from a European perspective, it is the classic grape of Pomerol in Bordeaux, and one of the world's best and most expensive wine (Ch Pétrus) is made there, from it. It is also the leading grape in Ticino (Tessin) in Switzerland, and there too, it makes a very powerful expressive and intense wine, capable of loooooonnngggg aging.

So wines made from the same grapes in different parts of the world can be wildly different, and it can be just as wrong to judge a Californian wine as if it were the same grape variety from Europe, as to do vice versa, and judge a European wine as of it were Californian.

I attempted to try a French white Burgundy last night with dinner. There was only one on the wines-by-the-glass menu, quite inexpensive, and I cannot remember the name. I was poured a taste, which went very well--until the finish--which was unpleasantly dry to me. I chickened out and defaulted to a California Chardonnay, which was nice (and predictable) but did not hold up all that well with the heat involved in my blackened seafood entree. A Reisling would have done better, maybe? I will keep trying.

Salut/Hi cherie,

le/on 24 Feb 2004 07:38:55 -0800, tu disais/you said:-

In general, wines sold by the glass tend to be bottom end, especially likely if you say it was inexpensive. I'd not worry about not liking it too much. Any more than you would worry about not liking one particular "Californian Chardonnay". What did you drink it with?

oups...

Ah, that's likely to be quite a tricky match, with the smokiness (sp?) and amount of chili in most blackened spice mixes. In general a match with food of that type is more a matter of damage limitation than a marriage made in heaven.

Perhaps, though I'd not hold my breath.

D'you know, when doing spicy bbq food (not the same, I know) I often look to a fairly full bodied pink wine. It's often reasonably priced, and rarely of such subtlety that it will matter much if it's eclipsed.

That's the spirit.

Yes, I figured as much. But my husband was ordering his usual pick at this particular restaurant (Franciscan Merlot--which is a wonderful wine, I might add) so I was stuck with the glass selections.

A shame because the dinner itself was delicious---Blackened escarole (I swear it's called escarole, but isn't that a green??), yellow pepper coulis, grilled roma tomatoes and asparagus. The wine did not ruin it, but it did not compliment it either. Maybe I should have had a beer!

That sounds interesting! I'll have to remember that. Do you mean a white zinfandel? Or some kind of rose'...I'm not so familiar...

Escarole as a fish? -- most interesting! Given that list of ingredients, trying to find a decent (let alone sublime) wine match is nigh unto impossible. The asparagus and the grilled tomatoes don't make things any easier, to say the least. Your idea of a beer ain't half bad, cherie.

White Zin is a poor excuse for a rosé, as it lacks the acids of its European counterparts that make them so appealing (I confess that in the very distant past, DeLoach did make a few appealing white Zins). Most rosés from France will be much more crisp and light when compared to a standard White Zin.

Mark Lipton

escarole

Yes, it is a green vegetable. You probably mean escolar, not escarole.

Since Bourbon is made in Bourbon County Kentucky I wouldn't think that you could find anything in France that you wouldn't find here. Like your husband, I like Blanton's but Knob Creek also makes a good single batch as does Woodford Reserve. Bi!!

Are you sure that it wasn't Escolar which is a type of Sea Bass? Bi!!

ESCOLAR, ESCOLAR!!! Thank you so much, that was driving me absolutely insane.

-Cherie

trying to find a decent (let

grilled tomatoes don't make

counterparts that make them so

appealing white Zins). Most

standard White Zin.

I'm sorry, it's escolar, not escarole (thanks to Ken). It's a really nice fish...stark white, and meaty but delicate. My only experience with rose' is rose' champagne, which I used to love but haven't had in several years. Wait! In 2000, my husband and I were served a bottle of French rose' in St. Barths...pretty nice if I remember correctly.

-Cherie

absolutely

You're welcome.

Right, you are. Although I was not aware that it is a type of Sea Bass. I suppose it does resemble a black bass to me, but not a Chilean sea bass which is more oily and less meaty. Does that sound right to you? I cannot imagine a blackened Chilean sea bass going over very well...

Cherie

Okay, I continued my education last night. (No wine Wednesday night, not such a good accompaniment to an egg-white omelette with spinach and mushroom, and wheat toast). Last night my dinner was a simple dish of grilled swordfish, basmati rice, and steamed greeen beens. I was confined to the wines-by-the-glass menu once again (my husband and I only wanted one glass each), but I think this restaurant has decent selections. We asked for a taste of three different whites: Daulny Sancerre, Deux Roches Macon Davaye', and Nora Albarino. I have no idea what Daulny Sancerre is, but both my husband and I found it to be overwhelmingly dry, so we did not ask for any further information. The French Chardonnay was nice, but again I found the finish just a little overly dry for me. Lastly, we tried the Nora Albarino, a Spanish wine which we were told was a perfect pairing for seafood, and found it to be our favorite of the bunch. I found it to resemble a dry Reisling, but was infored that Albarino was actually the name of the grape. Interesting.

Have a great weekend. Cherie

Cherie, "Chilean Sea Bass" is an entirely unrelated fish, no bass at all. It also goes by the name "Patagonian Toothfish," but some marketing whiz who'd learned his lessons from the renaming of the "Chinese gooseberry" to the Kiwi Fruit rechristened the hapless fish, and thus the "Chilean Sea Bass" was born. Here's a link to the real things:

HTH Mark Lipton