samedi 6 septembre 2008

Authentification of the Grands Crus

THE solution…

Mabye not, would be the correct answer.

In many (even serious) newspapers, such as Les Echos, you could read in France the past week an article about a way to identify the bottles of Grands Crus without opening them.

Sure, this is a great step forward in the fight against fake Bordeaux… however, this revolution enable to attest the authenticity of the bottle. My fellow readers, the BOTTLE… which means that if you happen to buy a nice Yquem 1947, drink it and refill it properly, it will appear as a brand old Yquem 1947.

This is eventually a wonderful invention to enable poor wine admirer to offer them unreachable bottles. Then the internet provides you with Ebay: a perfect cycle is closed.

Now, I only need to find a way to remove the cork without harming it…

 

The main question surrounding this “invention” is about the need of it. Or the meaning. Quite obvious is that this reveals the shift in the value of those bottles of Grand Cru. Once they used to be drank : no use of identification. Now they are one the one hand, a way to earn money and on the other hand, a way to prise oneself : can anybody says any longer that he drinks Mouton-Rothschild because it is its favourite wine, without thinking at the same time that the bottle is worth 800€ ? Can there still be honest enjoyment when it is no longer a bottle you can open with friends to celebrate the end of the week ? 

The destiny of most of those bottle can be split in two category : collection or luxury. Either they will spend their life in cellar(s), sold to a higher and higher price, either they will end up in some extravagant and showing off restaurant, put in display (a well as the bill) and drank like a glass of coke.

And this is the story of what we consider the better wines in the world : never to be tasted. 

vendredi 29 août 2008

Here it starts...

First post ever on this blog. I hope some day people will find useful information on this page. But as a start, which subject to develop ? A serious one, or rather causal... maybe a mere presentation ?

This blog is about wine, so thinking about it, this first post will describe my wine personality.

What am I interested in ? 
Every single wine which is not technically failed.

What am I looking for ?
EMOTION. A wine without emotion is useless. 

Examples of producer I enjoy ?
- Austrian one are my favourite : 
in Kamptal : Jurtschitsch  
in Burgenland : Nekowitsch , Kracher,  Feiler-Artinger, Ernst Triebaumer.
in Wachau : Alzinger, Hirtzberger
- French one (because it is the easier to find in France) : 
in Loire valley : Cotat, Redde, Huet, Château de Fosse Sèche, Germain
in Rhone valley : Chave, Grippa, Graillot, Oratoire Saint-Martin, Domaine de la Monardière, Château de Beaucastel, Château de Vaudieu...
in Languedoc : Mas Jullien, Peyre-Rose, l'Oustal blanc

Those are examples, the list is far from being complete... the goal is not to list, only to show the kind of wine I am looking for. 

And this will be all for the first post. Next time will start the serious discussion.