WHY WINE

French revolution ?

CHATEAU D'O

When asked what he thought about the French Revolution, which took place at the end of the 18th century, Zhou Enlai (Chinese premier from 1949-1976) replied that: "It is too early to tell." What will be the consequences of the quiet revolution currently taking place in the world of French wine? Again, too early to tell for sure, but a kind of revolution it is.

After long discussions and much soul searching, France finally decided to try to contain the success of New World wines with an easy to recognise label, and wine made from grapes from all over the country, regardless of terroir.

The terroir, that quasi mystical mixture of soil, climate, environment plus the ever important je ne sais quoi that makes a chateau so unique from its close neighbour, will in this case be abandoned to offer an easy to understand product.

Mind you 99.9 percent of quality French wines will remain as they are and reflect the area, the village and even their birth.

But be ready to welcome Vignobles de France (French Vineyards), a series of wines identified only by their grapes. All come from the category known as vins de pays, or "country wine", an appellation that is enjoying growing popularity.

So far, vins de pays had to come from a specific area to be classified as such: the Pays d'Oc for instance, or l'Ile de Beaute (Corsica). There are dozens of well defined vins de pays.

In the case of Vignobles de France, producers will be free to use grapes - say a pinot noir or a chardonnay - from all over France and craft them into the kind of drink they believe will appeal to a young, international clientele. It will be a label easy to recognise, with none of the complexity of the traditional French label.

"It could produce a sauvignon that has a bit of acidity, of the aroma from the Loire, and a bit of roundness and a more mature aroma from the Languedoc," Michel Leguay, the deputy director for technical issue at Viniflor told Reuters recently.

I recently drank a bottle of very classic French wine I bought during the last days of our dear old Don Muang. The 2000 Chateau Tour Saint Bonnet is classified as a Crus Bourgeois. This relatively new categorisation was an attempt to distinguish it from the huge mass of wines from Bordeaux. Although not members of the more rarefied classification of 1855, they are still better than most and worthy of your special attention.

A total of 490 wines were presented and 247 made it. It goes from nine "exceptional" (wines like Chasse Spleen or Haut Marbuzet) to 85 "superior" and 151 simple Crus Bourgeois. The classification was finalised in 2003 and is now part and parcel of the French wine landscape.

Our Chateau Tour St Bonnet is a very good example of everything that is special in the Medoc. With a reasonable 12.5 degrees, it offers a nice balance of fruit and austerity. If you compare it to a similar wine from the New World, you'll probably get more fruit but may miss that bit of grandeur that characterises the best Bordeaux. The Chateau Tour St Bonnet is an elegant wine, a very honourable Bordeaux with a price one can still afford from time to time. I paid 1,500 baht at the tax free shop about six months ago.

It will go well with red meat, with most hard cheese and bring a touch of elegance to your dinner, and joy to your friends.

Bangkok Post
Friday February 02, 2007