Dr Vino's wine blog

My post yesterday about natural wine bars in Paris reminded me that I never did a round-up of my France postings from this summer (and, ahem, beyond, such as yesterday’s). So here it is, a post to other posts! Yay!

France travel
Goose gitmo, my visit to a foie gras farm
Explore Perigord
France travel tips
Dr. Vino for minister of information

Buying wine at stores
Buying wine a la francaise
La Derniere Goutte, Paris
Lavinia, French for wine convenience
Bernard Magrez, the brand, the boutique
Caves Auge, the oldest wine shop in Paris
French microbrews

Paris wine bars
Feeling natural in Paris wine bars
La Muse Vin
Restaurant Fish

Tasting
Malbec match-up
The price is right
The price is right, part deux

General background on the state of French wines
France 500 fortunes, wine version
La double vie de barrique
Mortgage or future?
Breaking: Bordeaux exports up

UPDATE: don’t forget to check out my map of Paris wine shops–and bars to go!

The Parisians are getting natural. And I’m not talking about life on the Paris plage, the beaches that the current mayor put in a few summers ago, where topless sunbathing is prohibited. I’m talking about wine bars that are au naturel.

I read about the trend in Alice Feiring’s NYT story. I had to check some of them out for myself.

First stop, Aux Tonneaux aux Halles. On a non-touristy pedestrian street off of Les Halles, the owner was there pouring wine behind the bar. He buys the dozen or so wines available by the glass directly from the producers. Many of the wines are made without the addition of sulfites, some are made biodynamically, and they all taste distinctive. Be sure to try the excellent goat cheese. And the Morgon vielles vignes 2003 from G. Descombes.

Near the Chatelet metro, is Bistro Les Halles. No, Tony Bourdain is not the chef. But you can have a quick lunch at this olde tyme bistro–though it pays to arrive early to beat the rush. I love the Frenglish translation on the window (pictured above). Wines by the glass are between two and five euros.

Heading to the Latin Quarter, La Cremerie, mentioned in the NYT story has changed hands as of September 1. Pierre Jancou who had presided over the huge slab counter in the tiny wine shop/bar for four years decided to move to Germany and import the wines that he had been pouring in the sixth arrondissement. But he would only sell the shop to a like-minded owner so at least this space won’t become a fashion boutique.

Le Comptoir du Relais in the sixth is bigger and swankier than La Cremerie–indeed, swankier than most of the natural wine bars. With a more extensive menu, this spot in the hotel Relais St. Germain looks great. Pity I only had time to walk by it on this trip. Next time, a meal…

I also posted previously about the natural wines at Fish, a restaurant that also has a bar friendly enough to rival Cheers. As well as the 100 bottles of wine on the wall at La Muse Vin.

Anyway, just a few scribbles. Feel free to post your notes about your favorite wine bars among the new naturalistas.

Aux Tonneaux des Halles: 28, rue Montorgueil 75001
Le Bistro des Halles: 15, rue des Halles 75001
La Cremerie: 9 rue des Quatre-Vents 75006
Le Comptoir du Relais: 5, Carrefour de l’Odeon 75006
Fish: 69, rue de Seine 75006
La Muse Vin: 101, rue de Charonne 75011

It’s only 15 days until the campaign of spin stops and you can vote on that decisive electoral issue. You might think I am talking about foreign or economic policy. I’m actually talking about wine.

As I have written previously, Massachusetts has a state-wide ballot initiative taking place on November 7 that would allow wine sales in food stores. It’s a no-brainer from a wine lover’s perspective: buying wine where you buy your food makes it easier to have wine with your dinner. It’s such a novel concept that 34 states already allow the practice. People in Massachusetts should vote yes and make it 35 states.

But the issue makes people say funny things. Is it the wine talking? Or the campaign contributions?

“A dramatic expansion of alcohol sales as proposed in Question 1 would undermine the system as a whole and make meaningful enforcement nearly impossible,” Eddie J. Jenkins, the chairman of the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, said last week.

“I am opposed to Question 1 because it would make alcohol more accessible to underage persons and will dramatically increase the availability of alcohol in Massachusetts,” said Ted Mahony, the agency’s chief investigator.

Not only are these positions laughable–ever heard of carding?–but these unelected officials are now having their statements reviewed by an Ethics Commission since they are not supposed to “engage in political activities” while on the job. Their boss, State Treasurer Timothy Cahill, an opponent of the measure, gave them the green light to speak out according to the Boston Globe. He received $22,000 last year from distributors in campaign contributions.

In an unusual coalition against the measure, package store owners have been joined by some distributors and 28 local police chiefs. Since the measure is backed by Stop & Shop and Shaw’s, two supermarket chains, the distributors who are opposed must fear that retailer consolidation would be a significant counterweight to their market power. The cops’ demagoguery about drunken driving I just don’t understand.

Supermarkets do not have reputations for selling high quality wine. And they don’t always deliver wine at the best price. But there’s always the chance that they will try. Certainly Whole Foods does a good job though you pay a premium for the convenience. And Trader Joe’s has solid offerings at reasonable prices. Maybe they will serve as guiding lights for the bigger chains in Massachusetts.

Both sides have raised $7.6 million thus far according to the Boston Globe. And the irony is that if the measure passed, as polls suggest, November 8 would not bring cases of Kendall-Jackson to Stop & Shops. It would simply allow the right for municipalities to set their own rules.

I would vote yes to make wine one step more convenient and more like a normal, enjoyable consumer product, a part of everyday life.

tags: wine | massachusetts wine | supermarkets

Texier, Cotes du Rhone, 2004. $10 find this wine
I pulled out this wine as a “third bottle” one evening because I expected it to be big. But it was lean. And very food friendly. I poked around the web and found this comment from the importer: “Eric Texier and his wife, Laurence, studied nuclear science in France and in Illinois.” Oops, that wasn’t the important part. Take 2: “He vinifies all of his Rhones as if they were Burgundies. His touch is therefore light, and involving cold maceration of all reds…and the gentlest, non-filtered, gravity powered bottling possible.” Aha! Well, it certainly is an unusual CDR, but good nonetheless–and Texier is tres sexier at $9.99! Importer: Louis/Dressner.

tags: wine | tasting notes

“In London, they receive you with a sumptuous Porto, and in Rome, the mayor serves absolutely exceptional wines. [Instead, Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoë] thinks it is fashionable and modern to serve little democratic wines.” -Anthony Rowley, a French food historian talking about the sale of the wine cellar at Paris city hall. [NYT; previously mentioned in the quiz]

“Thanks to last year’s record grape harvest, good California wine is flowing like water.” [LA Times]

“We need to do this before we can do transgenic research to decrease the grapes’ susceptibility to fungus. Neither the grapes nor the wine will be consumed by humans. Our tests will involve chemical analyses only.” -Sarita Groenewald, manager of the GM grape project at Stellenbosch University’s institute for wine biotechnology [IOL]

“A team led by Maurizio Cellura discovered that winemaking at Milazzo was wasteful and needlessly polluting. The production of a bottle of Terre della Baronia created more than a pound of waste and put 16 grams of sulfur dioxide into the air. Producing the 2004 vintage of 100,000 bottles generated 22,000 pounds of plastic waste, 11,000 pounds of paper and oceans of wastewater.” [NYT]

“Not that there is a better drink with food than wine, but the two don’t complement each other nearly as much as we are almost everywhere led to believe.” -Ed Behr, The Art of Eating, #64 [via OWF]

tags: wine | environmentalism | genetic modification

I’ve blogged before about the Wine Century Club, the club that challenges you to drink off the beaten path. Try wines from 100 different grape varieties (blends included) and you’re in! You even get a handsome certificate to commemorate your wanderlust.

Well, yesterday I found the express route to membership. Consider it a mileage run, one of those trips that road warriors sometimes fly just to get the miles for elite status on airlines. In a word: Portugal.

Portugal, like Greece and Italy, is a treasure trove for people stuck at 75 on the way to the Century. Turn to these lands of plentiful indigenous grape varieties and your membership becomes a cakewalk.

Yesterday I tried the Quinta do Vale Dona Maria 2004, a “field blend” of 41 grape varieties (find this wine). Almost half the way there in one glass! While the wine did have some of the charming, rustic qualities that I like in the best wines from the Duoro (more to come on that next week), this one had a little too much oak for my taste. But, hey, if it takes you almost half-way to learning the secret handshake of the Wine Century Club, put it on your list!

tags: wine | wine century club | grape varieties

The best way to get a wine edu-ma-cation is to taste. The more you taste, the more you learn what you like and don’t like. And oh yeah, then you can one-up your friends with all those crazy wine descriptors, such as “the inside of a walnut shell.”

Appellation Wines has upgraded their free tastings and now will have regular free tastings 5-8 on Tuesdays. They encourage you to make it your new happy hour.

Many other NYC shops have regular free tastings including my faves, Astor, Crush, Moore Brothers and more. Check my NYC wine shop map for details.

And as if drinking free wine wasn’t enough, you can now have wine books read to you–by the authors themselves!

Bottlerocket Wines continues their excellent “eclectic salon” series of meet the author events. Some upcoming dates of note for these free events:

Jancis Robinson, Oxford Companion to Wine, 3rd edition, Monday, October 23, 6 – 8 pm
Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, What to Drink with What You Eat, Wed., October 25, 6 – 8 pm
Jay McInerney, Hedonist in the Cellar, Monday, Nov. 6, 6 – 8 pm

Well, there may not be much reading–but there will no doubt be much schmoozing (and boozing?).

Shop info can be found here

tags: wine |

Bono, the rock star and activist, can add wine savvy to his file with the Nobel committee in Oslo. This according to “60 Minutes” producer John Hamiln who recently wrote about travling with Bono in the NYT:

If the private plane and police escort weren’t enough, U2 had an extra perk that officially puts it over the top in my book. It turns out that Bono; U2’s manager, Paul McGuinness; and their tour manager, Dennis Sheehan, are all oenophiles. On the [charter] plane home to Nice that night, the Bordeaux was outstanding — properly aged and poured at the perfect temperature by unfailingly polite British flight attendants.

How sweet it is! Apparently though for Hamlin, the experience made his commercial flight home and the $5 mini bottle of generic “red” particularly bittersweet.

Maybe we will see a not-so-generic red from Bono himself? His other “red” products for AIDS research already include a red Amex and a red iPod among other things…

tags: wine | bono | charter jets