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Volume XIV, Issue 22 July 9, 2009 Lamb=Bordeaux? Wine With Meat Loaf In the 1970s, I was advised ining with wine has been a Beef Wellington? Why not? by an old-timer that the classic talking point for decades. to go with bouillabaisse? I have no pairing was Bordeaux and Serving the right wine objections. lamb. D I tried it and with younger with a main entrée, or vice versa, is The problem wasn’t that the ideas the refuge of people with formulae, were wrong; it’s just that no one ever Bordeaux I wasn’t sure what which usually do not work. eats that way on a daily basis. Rarely to make of the pairing. It was Food editors and gourmet society anyhow. The average American eats OK, but nothing special. sophisticates, among others, have steak, fried chicken, spaghetti with As I began to read more always been into this “ with meatballs, hamburgers, grilled about the way classic dinners fish, red with meat” hooey until a few sausages, chili, pizza, tacos, and all were crafted in the late 19th savvy folks wised up and realized that sorts of everyday food. and early 20th centuries, it was it wasn’t the main ingredient that was And no one ever suggested wine obvious that lamb=Bordeaux the key, but a mélange of ingredients. for the foods we eat daily. was a mistranslation of what That is, sole poached in white wine Weekdays we eat simply; even on really was at play. is distinctively different from the same weekends we use all sorts of time- In the classic work “Notes sole covered in a tomato reduction, (and money-) saving steps to put out on a Cellar-Book,” by the late green chili peppers, and cumin. a dinner that’s tasty and doesn’t take Dr. George Saintsbury, a One book that tried to set diners four hours and foie gras to make. number of the classic English right more than two decades ago was So what wine goes with pizza? It dinners included mutton, not “ with Fish,” by David all depends on the kind of pizza, and lamb, which has a gamier Rosengarten and Josh Wesson. The that leads to rule No. 1. Like prefers flavor. And the wine often was idea was sound, but most people like. Pizza slathered with tomato a Bordeaux from the 1870s or never understood the ideas put forth. sauce will be sweet-tart (from the 1880s, and (I assume) gamier Even while that book was making sugar and acid), so would benefit as well. its way around the book stores, I saw from a medium-bodied red such as Today’s Bordeaux is a lot people still trying to put a round peg . If the sauce is also one that is less gamy than the 19th into a rectangular pie pan by foisting sweeter than savory, may century Bordeaux I have had off the old saying as being more or be best. Indeed, so would a plate of and our lamb is fresh and less valid. similarly spiced pasta. rarely has a strong gamy The worst of it wasn’t what the But a pizza with a white sauce, no aroma. food columnists were saying. It was tomatoes, and loads of chicken might what the wine columnists were saying. be best with a simple white wine, like Much of what I’ve seen from wine a Lake County . Inside this issue writers in newspapers and magazines The choice of spices could alter over the last two decades were food- such ideas. Look at a pasta arrabiatta, Aussie Hardships 2 wine suggestions that were elitist. with a lot of Cayenne pepper, olives, Wine of the Week 2 A great with lobster and perhaps capers. Then a lighter Tasting Notes 3 bisque? Sure, it may go well. And an wine, even a chillable red, would be a NZ: Buy by Brand 3 Alsace Gewurztraminer with roast better pick. Bargain of the Week 3 marinated pork loin with a veal demi- Fried chicken with mashed A View of Cab Franc 4 glace? Sure. And Chateau Latour with (See Meat Loaf on page 2) July 9, 2009 Page 2

Meat Loaf (Continued from page 1) the weight of the wine. A heavy no matter how well it works with a potatoes isn’t often a very spicy Pinot with 15% alcohol, as rich as dish. In such cases, find a wine that dish, so I might pick a lightly oaked , will overpower a dish as compromises, allowing some Chardonnay or even perhaps a delicate as roast beef. The weights harmonies to work that all diners young Sauvignon Blanc. of the wine and the food should be can appreciate. But the best wine I ever had roughly equal. For that reason, a dry or slightly with fried chicken was a bone dry Moreover, a dish with actual off-dry often is the best choice. . sweetness (such as Sole Veronique Rosé made with too much sugar Steak calls for something as or honey-glazed ham) should have or alcohol can be so clumsy that it beefy as an Australian Shiraz; grilled a wine with an approximately equal isn’t refreshing, and has the weight sausages and a Cru or a sweetness. Thus German Kabinett to be awkward with most foods. As young Santenay works nicely. is better than a wine designated a lighter wine, it has some weight to Meat loaf also can be variations “trocken.” The trocken is fine with work with meat dishes, but not so on a theme. When made with garlic Cantonese food that rarely has a lot heavy that it detracts from seafood and onions, I’d go with something of spice. But Szechuan calls for a and other light, delicate dishes. as straightforward as or wine with a softening effect, such In strategizing what sort of wine . But if you have a barbecue as an off-dry Gewurztraminer. would work with a particular dish, sauce coating, we’re back to weight, I am not suggesting that all of think of how the various seasonings so perhaps a Petite Sirah or a Zin. the above ideas are “best.” I can work with the food, and pick a is the perfect choice imagine that some people may not wine that seems compatible in for a rare roast beef, but think of like Sancerre, Semillon, or Chianti, flavor and weight. Aussie Hardships The downturn in Australian sell for $2.99, the so-called Three- control of key assets [that wine sales here and the even greater Dollah Koala. make] important , they could drop in dollar volumes coincides Among the sellers of Australian face trouble in future if competitors with a horrid situation down under. properties is Constellation, which outbid them” for fruit. It’s estimated in that listed 20+ for sale. And “The difficulties faced by [those] some $400 million in vineyard and Foster’s listed 31 vineyards for sale, attempting to sell vineyards in an assets are for sale, with no totaling some 10,000 acres. over-supplied market could also expectation they’ll sell soon. Many owners of U.S. firms, in diminish the value of the vineyards A surplus of wine, a near-decade strained times past, have sold off they retain, which in turn could of drought, and a weak Australian vineyards and/or abandoned long- force more vineyards to come up dollar are only some of Australia’s term contracts, to the detriment of for sale if assets are devalued. wine woes. their brands. “It’s potentially a very dangerous In the face of this, Bronco Wine As Australian wine columnist cycle.” Co. has launched Down Under, an Jeremy Oliver warned in a recent Meanwhile, the latest Australian Australian Chardonnay intended to article, “if wine producers lose marketing strategy here is valid: to emphasize the regional greatness of many Aussie areas, not just a few. Wine of the Week Anticipate a greater number of excellent wines in the $20 to $25 2008 Bergerie de l'Hortus Rosé de Saignée, Coteaux du price range from Australia in the Languedoc ($15): Stunning aroma of red berry fruit, faint violet coming year. notes and a hint of strawberries. Modest alcohol (13.5%). A Syrah/ Especially, look at dry , /Mourvedre blend from the south of France that proves dry rosés, and balanced Shiraz as light, delicate wines can have intense flavors. Great acid to work three prime areas for Australia wine with a wide array of foods—meats, seafood, and almost anything for the rest of the year and into else you can throw at it. Imported by Beaune Imports, Berkeley, CA. 2010.

Page 4 What Can Be One of our favorite wine regions , moving on to an and using her words, ‘too woody’ is the . It lacks the excellent rosé (100% Cabernet and ‘too powerful,’ among other panache of Bordeaux or Burgundy, Franc) and followed by a ‘vertical’ of things. but has great wine in a style we love. their more recent bottlings of Cab “She also felt that it was terrible Subscriber Dave Buck wrote to Franc, down to their magnificent that a handful of reviewers, led by us this week about touring the area. 2001 release. Robert Parker, could influence the His comments are worth noting: “What I found intriguing was industry as a whole, solely for the “Last month my wife, Rosemary, that virtually all the wines had an sake of high scores. What a shame. and I had the opportunity to travel alcohol content of no more than “We ended up buying a mixed through France for close to a month 12.5% and…no . They all case of Cab Francs, rosés and a and one of the highlights for me was exhibited great fruit, were well single bottle of the bubbly. We visiting the city of Chinon in the balanced, had good body, and a enjoyed the wine for the remainder Loire Valley. lingering aftertaste. of our trip through Normandy, “I had read that Cabernet Franc “In talking with the lady behind Brittany and ending up in Paris for a does very well there, more so than the counter, she kept emphasizing week. in Bordeaux. A singular event the fact that no oak was used and “We even brought one of the occurred when we visited the Couly- that the 12.5% alcohol was a ’01’s home to enjoy sometime Dutheil tasting room, on the edge of constant (no heat there). soon.” town. “Unfortunately, I had no access Cabernet Franc has fewer “Not only was there no fee, the to the acid content or pH numbers. adherents than Cabernet pours were generous and we were In addition, she went on to say that Sauvignon, and the above remarks able to taste virtually every wine many wines in other regions, such as reflect how seductive the wine can they had for sale. Bordeaux and Burgundy, according be when it's made correctly. “We started with a beautiful to insiders had become ‘Parkerized,’ ©2009

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