What's Going On in the World of French Wines

A few weeks ago I found myself in the midst of a bit of a wine dilemma. I was in the process of planning my Mother’s 60th surprise birthday party and I was trying to organize the wines with the menu for dinner. Starting off with Champagne was a pretty obvious choice, and I knew it would go nicely with the two appetizers the caterer had suggested, so that part was pretty easy. But I have to admit that I had some difficulty with the appetizer and the entrée. My difficulty stemmed from the fact that I had to balance the wines that I wanted to pair and thought would pair best with the menu, with the need to serve wines that my guests would enjoy.

The appetizer was to be a goat cheese tart topped with mixed roasted vegetables and a small frisée salad. In my mind, this was a course that called for a Sauvignon Blanc or a Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon blend. However, when thinking about the family members who would be attending the party, I needed to take into consideration what kind of wine would best suit my guests’ tastes. I knew ahead of time that I was going to have quite a mix of palates at the party. I would have several wine enthusiasts, several novices, and quite a few individuals who don’t really care much for wine. It was important to me to have a wine that would work for all of these different types of wine drinkers. Adding to the challenge was the fact that I knew that a few folks wouldn’t drink the red wine I was planning on serving with the main course, so the white needed to be fairly substantial.

So how did it all turn out? Well, for the first course I chose to serve a Vouvray, a Chenin Blanc with some residual sugar. I knew that several of the people who would be attending tend to prefer wines with some residual sugar to them, so that was one of the key reasons I chose it over a Sauvignon Blanc. The issue of residual sugar in wine is an interesting one to me. There are lots of folks out there who seem to believe that if a wine has residual sugar to it, then it is either less sophisticated or downright bad. Other wine snobs will tell you that people who prefer sweeter wines have less-sophisticated palates. I don’t particularly care to pay attention to either point of view. While I will definitely agree that there are lots of wines made with residual sugar that are not very good, then again, I will also point out that there are also lots of dry wines out there that aren’t so hot either. The key to me is whether or not the wine is in balance.

Personally, I love wines with a sweet side, but in order for me to love them, they need to also have a high level of acidity to balance the sweetness. This way, the sugar doesn’t make the wine seem cloying, but rather refreshing. So a good quality Vouvray, which is made with Chenin Blanc which is a grape with lots of racy acidity, is rarely sticky sweet and syrupy, but rather vibrant and mouth-watering. And in terms of that whole “sophisticated” palate argument, I often wonder why people think that is so important anyway. Why does having a “sophisticated” palate make you better? Do you enjoy your food more? Speaking for myself, some of my very favorite meals that I have ever had were not elaborate exotic chef creations, but were fresh, in-season foods that were simply prepared. My goal for my Mother’s party was that people had a pleasurable meal with good food and good wine – it wasn’t about a palate challenge to rate sophistication levels. When so much of our experiences with wine come down to whether or not we have a pleasurable experience with it, why do we worry so much about what other people think?

Now the Vouvray might not have been my number one choice for a pairing match for the goat cheese tart, but it was a fine pairing, and I also knew that it would go fairly well with the main course, which was a beef stew. I also served a red Bordeaux with the stew as there were some people at the party who were red wine lovers and well, to be honest, the beef and Bordeaux combo is a personal favorite of my Mother’s (and mine, for that matter).

In the end, the party – especially the surprise of it – was a great success and everyone seemed to enjoy both the food and the wine. Which for me, was the sweetest part of it all.

When it comes to grape descriptors, my favorite of all time is the one used to describe the more herbaceous and aromatic side of Sauvignon Blanc: cat’s pee on a gooseberry bush. Definitely a creative way to describe the smell of the grape!

But don’t let this descriptor deter you – Sauvignon Blanc is a white grape that produces one of the most refreshing and food-friendly wines around. Appearance-wise, Sauvignon Blanc is known for typically ranging from a pale lemon yellow to a medium intense yellow, and can sometimes have a greenish tinge on rim. It is usually fairly intensely aromatic with primary aromas that range from green beans, asparagus, herbaceous, grassy, “flinty”, gooseberry, lemon, lime, grapefruit, and passion fruit. When aged in young oak barrels, one can find aromas and flavors of spices, vanilla, honey, toast and coconut on the wine. On the palate, Sauvignon Blanc can run the gamut, producing wines that are light, medium and full-bodied with medium to medium plus alcohol. Usually Sauvignon Blancs are know for having a fairly high level of acidity, part of why the wines are so refreshing and food-friendly.

While it can be found in several different appellations around France, the two major regions know for producing spectacular Sauvignon Blancs are the Loire Valley and Bordeaux. Within the Loire Valley, the famous AOCs for Sauvignon Blanc production are Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé. The wines from these two villages are noted for their crisp acidity and intense aromatics, and especially for having a strong mineral character and a stony quality. Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc is a bit different as it is usually blended with the Semillon grape, which makes the wines broader on the palate and more full-bodied. This blend of grapes is used to produce both dry and sweet wines that are capable of being aged for a long period of time.

There are numerous “classic pairings” for the Sauvignon Blanc grape including fresh, young goat cheese and, when blended with Semillon and produced in a sweet style, foie gras. However, I have found that there are few dishes that don’t go well with this grape. Fresh, lively and citrusy, Sauvignon Blanc is great for sipping on its own, but also for pairing with fish, chicken and turkey dishes and it is also a great choice for vegetable dishes such as a stir fry or a vegetable quiche. There are several Sauvignon Blancs to choose from on my list of wine picks, so grab one to open tonight with your dinner – I’m sure you will enjoy it!

Recently, I helped some friends out by holding a small wine tasting featuring wines from around the world priced at under $20.  Even with the extreme heat of the day (and boy was it hot!), the wines showed beautifully.  One wine however really impressed us all as a terrific summer find.  It was a wine from Domaine Lafage, the Côté Est Blanc.  Zippy, bright and refreshing, with citrus flavors and a steely, mineral note, this wine was a favorite for almost everyone.  It is a Vin de Pays from the Côtes Catalanes, an area in the Roussillon region of Southern France, and the grapes are grown at high altitude in steeply terraced vineyards.  This region of France, one of the most historic viticulturally speaking, is very close to Spain and the winemaker for this wine, Jean-Marc Lafage, makes wine in both countries.

If you are looking for a fresh white to pair with a seafood dish or just something to enjoy one hot summer evening, I highly recommend searching out this wine.  Click here to go to the importer’s website for more information.

It is always fun to discover a new wine – what can be a bit more challenging is remembering the name of the new wine and then finding it!  There are a few things I recommend that you do when you taste a wine that you want to try to find again.  First of all, figure out a place to keep a list of wines that you want to try again.  Maybe you have a list on your phone or PDA, or perhaps (if you are like me) a small notebook that you keep in your purse or pocket.  If I am without my notebook, one thing I like to do at restaurants is write the information about the wine we’ve had at dinner on the back of the receipt.  This way I can remember not only the name of the wine, but where I had it and when.  When you are writing down the name of the wine, don’t forget to include other details, like the vintage, the place it is from and the name of the importer and/or distributor. (This information can be found on the front and/or back labels, so make sure the waiter leaves the bottle on the table.)

Once you set up your system for your personal wine list, the next step is to track down where to buy your wine.  The Internet is your best friend here – start with searching for the winery or the importer of the wine (again, don’t forget to write that down when you record the name of the wine).  Then, you can take the information to your local wine store.  If they don’t carry the wine but sell others from that importer, they might be able to special order it for you.  But if they can’t, I suggest that you return to searching on the web.  Depending on where you live, you might be able to order the wine from a store on-line.  The website wine-searcher can be a huge help when you are trying to locate a wine.

And when all else fails and you can’t locate the wine you are searching for, start looking for other wines from the same region.  You never know what you might find next.