Still Sweet, but Not Old-Fashioned Sauternes, Madeira, Tokaji, Sherry and Port Update Their Images by ROGER MORRIS

TASTINGCORNER Still Sweet, but Not Old-Fashioned Sauternes, Madeira, Tokaji, Sherry and Port Update their Images BY ROGER MORRIS hat’s this? A glass of premi- nice Lurton, director of Château Cli- of the family that produces a variety of um Sauternes paired with mens and head of the Sauternes-Barsac top Port labels. “We’re urging restau- a spicy lobster entrée at a producers group. rants to decant a bottle of Port as people Latin/Indian fusion restau- Increasingly, producers of tradi- are coming in,” to provide an enticing Wrant? Perhaps a Port rosé served chilled tional table and dessert sweet wines and visual reminder to order at meal’s end. with a splash of tonic as an afternoon their regional associations have dropped Symington is also working with chefs cooler? Or a new-old sweetie called Màd passivity and are attacking the market, to suggest pairings on the dessert menu Cuvée on a tasting menu at half the becoming innovative in retaining loyal like Graham’s Six Grapes with choco- price of a traditional Tokaji Aszu? drinkers while enticing the next genera- late. He’s also working with chocolate For a time, traditional sweet wines tion. They are doing this through a va- and cheese artisans on co-promotions. seldom changed. Instead, they waited riety of ways—moving to earlier in the Further, Symington is re-designing for the market to come to them. Pro- meal as table wines or cocktail ingredi- its shelf talkers for retail stores, moving ducers reasoned young people drank ents, repositioning their images and up- from “winespeak” to featuring product junk wines in college, moved up to dating their labels, even changing their attributes and specific Port and food Bordeaux and Burgundy as they started product contents or expanding their pairings. Next up: Symington’s bottle their careers and gradually worked their product lines. bar codes will allow customer cell way into dessert wines at elaborate din- phones to link to websites while they’re ners. Once hooked, they stayed loyal to Port: Variations on a Theme still in the shop. their evening sherry, Madeira, Riesling Traditionally, both restaurateurs and Robert Bower, a family member of trockenbeerenauslesen, Port, Sauternes producers have loved their glass of Port the Taylor’s franchise, works directly or Tokaji Aszu until gout forced them to after dinner—an additional bar charge in the American market with importer abandon alcohol or they were wheeled for the eatery, a way for the Port houses Kobrand. “We need to continue to use off to the nursing home. to remind consumers to buy a bottle the meal as the hook with Port,” he No more. when wine shopping. Both are working says. “Port has always been the per- “Actually, the concept of dessert to refresh this ritual. fect way to end the meal, but we need wine does not exist in France. It is “Restaurants these days are looking to better educate staff to offer Port typically Anglo-Saxon, and we really for ideas that go beyond the food—a before coffee, something they often think it is too restrictive,” says Béré- bit of theatre,” says Rupert Symington fail to do.” Pictured above from left: Quinta da Roêda; bottles of Croft Pink; Riesling grapes; Royal Tokaji Essencia sipping spoon case Bower also points out that Taylor’s the famous wine village of Màd), a Croft Pink kicked off the wildly popular late-harvest wine clad in modern trade Port rosé trend and that their Fonseca dress. “We’ve just launched it,” Howk- Bin 27 is one of many Ports widely used ins, “and it is very exciting, as it is a $20 in cocktails. retail wine.” Wine to drink Sauternes with Szechuan dishes presented by a chef from Bor- Tokaji: The Comeback Cuvée Sauternes: deaux. “We really hope that they will be Tokaji Aszu has done much to rebuild During, not after, Dinner seduced, and that they will transmit our its image, cheapened during the “In France, Sauternes wines were tradi- message,” Lurton says. Soviet occupation of Hungary, as one tionally served with poultry and fine fish of the world’s great wines made from like turbot,” points out Lurton, “but lit- Sherry: Sharing Secrets botrytized grapes. tle by little, the habit to have Sauternes Unlike Port or Sauternes, not all sherries “Certainly the most important seg- and Barsac wines with foie gras has sup- are sweet. “It’s both a challenge and an ment of the market for Tokaji wines is planted every other match—and this is opportunity for us to represent such var- the restaurant,” says Peter Molnar, head very restrictive, too.” ied wines,” says Sonia Smith, director of of Patricius winery as well as the 15- Typical of culinary events the Sau- the Sherry Council of America. “We try member Tokaj Renaissance group. ternes group has promoted to foster to help people discover which style or “For us, it is very important to match non-traditional pairing was a semi- styles they prefer. We’re very involved our wines with the gastronomy.” nar and luncheon for writers and in re-introducing sherry to a whole new Molnar says much of the group’s sommeliers last year in New York at generation of consumers.” effort has been put into restaurant the restaurant At Vermilion, match- “One of the ways we are doing this events and bringing American ing its spicy Latin and Indian fusion is through the Secret Sherry Society,” wine writers, chefs and somme- dishes with the smooth sweetness Smith says, which has its own web- liers to Hungary. and acidity of Sauternes. site, regional parties and competitions New product development After the success of that among mixologists to create cocktails has been modest, as the brands event—“which acted as an eye- using sherry. “We began with a cocktail continue to promote traditional opener for many journalists”— push, but now we’re working with chefs Essenzia and the puttonyos lev- Lurton says the group launched a and sommeliers. Amontillados and ol- els of sweetness. However, Ben challenge competition for under- orosos and sweeter sherries go well with Howkins, a principal in Royal 35 chefs to create innovative food spicy foods.” And the fragrant and sweet Tokaji, points to his brand’s and Sauternes pairings. Recently, Pedro Ximinez? “PX has become incred- new Màd Cuvee (not a refer- a symposium was hosted in Bor- ibly popular poured over vanilla cream,” ence to frivolity but rather to deaux, inviting 300 Masters of Smith adds. TASTINGCORNER From left: Schloss Gate; Foie gras with Sauternes = classic pairing Madeira: Embracing Tourism small hand-crafted lots of wine that Like Port, sweet Madeira is fortified and truly show the character, style and ver- may even have additional grape juice satility of the different varietals.” added. Made only on the Portuguese is- land of the same name, Madeira is clos- German Rieslings: est in style to sherry in its baked, oxi- Changes in the Vineyard While not abandoning this market, dized flavor profile. “Keeping our traditional buyers [of sweet- Swift says many producers and import- “Our strategy to keep existing er-grade Rieslings] is not a problem,” ers have shifted emphasis, devoting re- customers and gain new ones is similar says Julie Swift of importer Valckenberg. sources to developing the dry table Ries- to the ones used by many other niche “The biggest challenge is capturing the ling category as well as the emerging wine producers from all over the world,” younger generation.” However, Swift German red-wine niche, especially with says Ricardo Tavares of Madeira Wine and others we interviewed concede Pinot Noir or Spatburgunder. Indeed, Company, the category’s dominant that the German wine industry, once a many vineyards once dedicated to late- player. “We deal with on a daily basis a leader in bringing American retailers to harvesting are now picking early, and limited share of voice, and thus the need the vineyards for wine schools, has not many have been replanted to red vari- to keep constantly passing the same done much to promote its sweeter, and etals as global warming, and terroir-spe- quality message over and over again.” most expensive, wine grades over the cific clones and rootstock have boosted To accomplish this, Madeira works past 20 years. ripening needed for quality. the tourist trade hard, and the Old However, one of the attractions of Blandy Lodge in Funchal is toured by traditional sweeter wines that German most visitors before they leave the is- importers have been promoting is their land. “We tell them that they are not TRADITIONAL very low alcohol. “You can drink Ries- buying a mass market product, but SWEET WINES lings at 7.5% alcohol without getting something unique and personal,” Ta- WINE REGIONS blitzed,” says importer Rudi Wiest. vares says. Similarly there is an active Naturally, all of these traditional outreach program to the media and to sweet wine producers are competing GERMANY the trade. with each other for market share. But “Innovation is a key element in the Rhine most agree that it’s more important for process,” he says “and we have been FRANCE HUNGARY the customer to understand the category, leading the way with the introduction Bordeaux whatever the region, for all it’s possibil- Douro Valley of products such as the Alvada, the Tokaj-Hegyalja ities—with dinner, after dinner or as an Harvest (a young, dated, single-harvest) SPAIN ingredient in cocktails. PORTUGAL and the Colheitas (single-harvest and As Howkins concludes, “Any of Jerez single-cask wines). These innovations these sectors that are promoting their allow consumers to experiment with MADEIRA brands helps us all.” n.

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