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Burgundy: The 2013 vintage wines

guru — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 06:00:09 +0000

For the Burgundy winemakers, 2013 will have been a fret-full vintage! After a trying 2012 harvest, they are confronted to hail and disease, in other words to the mishaps of to-day’s climatic conditions.

Not a single burgundy vineyard was spared in 2013. The harvested quantities are a reflection of this difficult vintage, and hence extremely small as in 2012.

Not withstanding, on tasting, much more positive aspects are revealed. Once again, the hard labor of the winemakers and their experience will have paid off.

The red wines

The red wines present a deep and brilliant red ruby hue. On the olfactory side the nose is transported by the freshness of red fruits (blackberry, raspberry and cherry). And now for the taste buds! One find’s well-balanced wines with fine tannins and a few tangy notes as well as being long tasting in the mouth.

The white wines

The white wines present to the nose, a balanced fruity essence with citrus notes, a beautiful freshness and vivacity. The acidity is good; the wines are well-balanced, excellent news for a difficult harvest.

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When China awakes… the world shall tremble

guru — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 07:00:10 +0000

In 1973, Alan Peyrefitte, a French journalist, following his return from a trip to China, wrote a book with the above mentioned title, originally attributed to Napoleon in 1816.
Bothe Napoleon as well as Peyreffite where visionaries, and where perfectly right, but not listened to, for China has awakened.
Whatever field we are looking at, China is ominously present, her objective being in the middle of the twenty first century, the world leadership, and this is well on its way.
This month of March 2014, the French government was congratulating itself with the signature of an 18 billion Euro contract with China, aeronautical, automobile, nuclear energy, finance, environment, health, everything is on the table and the government prides itself on the consolidation of the French-Chinese partnership!
The technological transfer is Chinas ultimate target, which, in less than thirty years, won’t need to import a single thing from the rest of the world…
But the worst of all this, it’s when our Chinese friends, which nevertheless, remain our friends, take roots in our territory, they will not need to invade Europe in the next few decades, since they will already be in place, gently without a weapon and under the applause of complacent governments!
As far as we are concerned, us, amateurs of wines and Grand Crus, we deplore the loss of our heritage. Event though we are happy with the annual increase of our wine exports towards China, excepting this year, we willingly close our eyes on the hidden part of the iceberg. Over the last 5 years Chinese investors have bought out 75 properties in the Bordeaux region.
But this is also true for the Burgundy, Loire, Cotes du Rhone, Provence regions, only the Champagne vineyards are resisting the invasion, but for how long?
The icing on the cake arrived on March the 21^st of March, when China renounced on its antidumping investigation of French wines imports. A great sigh of relief blew over wine exporters, but what’s the price to pay? The highest one, since European firms have to give China technical assistance on equipment, materials and all its agricultural and wine making know-how.
Some wine professionals are happy with this agreement, seeing in it a potential increase in wine exports, but they seem to ignore the figures or are closing knowingly their eyes, since wine sales to China have declined, and will continue to decline little by little each year.
Being on the offensive, China could be the sixth world wine producer in 2016 and in 2030 she shall be the… all that will be left for us to export will be our Grand Crus, for I hope, that in this domain we shall never be caught up.

It is time for France to wake up, before becoming a new Chinese province.

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Englishmen “please shoot first”!

guru — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 09:58:16 +0000

Which was done and we thank them for it!

The passion for French wine brought our friends across the channel, to develop a vivid imagination.
The amphora was the first vessel to contain wine, but not very practical, heavy and fragile during transportation, she was replaced by the wooden barrel. This was practical for transportation puposes but inappropriate for its conservation, since the wine rapidly turned to vinegar.
The barrel was also rather cumbersome for service on the table, therefore a more practical conditioning method had to be found, this was done by our friends the “English”. It was in the XVII^th century that the thick and stable shaped glass bottle first appeared, answering to the needs of wine merchants.
Henceforth the bottles are found on the tables, but where not hermetically closed. In the antiquity, Greeks and Romans, used to close off their amphora with cork. These where replaced in the Middle Ages, by bits of cloth and leather and by other rather unorthodox means in order to close off the bottles.
Always, in that same century, our friends the English, them again, redeveloped the cork, due to its intrinsic qualities and capacity to seal of the wine and hence, its conservation in the bottles.
Now that the cork has been invented, obviously the corkscrew followed, and yet again its the “Englishmen” in the beginning of the XVIII^thcentury that developed the first corkscrew around 1795, filing a patent for the first corkscrew with a bolt and screw mechanism.
But that’s not all, for all this was extremely beneficial to the development of this divine beverage that’s wine. And us, the French, can be proud, and still not so long ago, as having the best wine in the world.
However, there is another English phenomenon, inherent to the only 100% French wine in the world, and never equaled to this day that is: Champagne.
It is in the middle of the seventeenth century that the English, bottle this French wine that came from the Champagne region and had not finished its fermentation. The French, in those days considered that this wine was defective. This white wine is then bottled in solid black glass bottles and the cork tied up with hemp string, in order to be opened the following spring. In 1660, the “popping cork” Champagne wine, sparkling and frothy, became THE wine of the British gentry.
Therefore the English also invented Champagne but…national pride obliges, it is the French that have made it a prestigious, precious, fantastic and never equaled wine.

Phew! Saved our national pride, but we have to admit that our English friends, connoisseurs and amateurs as well as collectors of Grand Crus, have really helped in the development of these wines of which we are so proud.

One has to read « La bouteille de vin, Histoire d’une révolution » by the éminent specialist of the history of wine, Mr. Jean-Robert PITTE, published by Taillandier. (N.T. Pas encore traduit.)

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The primeurs Grands Crus of 2013 from Bordeaux

guru — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 07:00:54 +0000

The 31^stof March, the begining of the 2013 primeurs campaign will be starting off.
Owners, oenologists, critics, consultants and wine importers will all be reunited together in the beautiful city of Bordeaux.
After an 18% fall in sales to china in 2013, this 2013 will have been the smallest harvest in the Bordeaux region since 1991. Mister Olivier Bernard, president of the union of Grand crus, has announced a half harvest and even less in some cases.

For a certain number of persons, 2013 should be a good vintage, having had a cold rainy spring season, hailstorms in summer and the harvest, disturbed by the bad weather. Nevertheless this vintage should be satisfactory, low in alcohol levels as well as presenting altogether a well-balanced wine.
But for others, due to an insufficient quality, the harvest will not be issued under their labels.
Robert Parker will not give his notes until later, this will perhaps bring everyone back to the real quality for price concepts!
On the world market, mainly Americans and Chinese have declared in not being interested by this vintage. Bluff or real intentions, the result should be apparent very quickly through the prices.
Some owners have already offered their wines to merchants, without waiting for the notes, preferring to play on the timing, and playing the European market card.
Corridor gossip or should one say, gossip from the Garonne riverside docks, announce a price reduction of 20 to 30%
Stay tuned.
The Bordeaux wine region is a bit like the French « Dallas » with its merciless universe…

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