By Jonas Roux (originally posted to Flickr as [1]) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Some of my random thoughts after a busy week of events in Vancouver spotlighting Bordeaux:

2014: Stephen Lemaitre Vintex Commercial Director for the Americas is encouraged that estimates of increased crop levels for 2014 over 2013 will help lower present exalted prices. After a lovely Spring and good flowering the weather has been mixed resulting in a catch up year with some recent rains but the forecast for the last 2 weeks of September is sunny and encouraging. Quality levels still to be determined.

2013: Tasting many barrel samples showed whites preferred: Domaine de Chevalier outstanding, Pape Clement, Malartic Lagraviere & Fieuzal also at a high level picked before the heat and rains. Reds suffered from both late budding and flowering, some coulure, rainy Spring and early Summer followed by hot July, August and September but rains forced earlier picking to avoid rot. Harvest of merlots advanced from expected October 8 date and some cab sauv picked in the rain. Sauternes faired much better picking with botrytis between the showers. 2013 reds are lighter but show their terroir well. Bill Blatch of www.bordeauxgold.com and Christie’s Bordeaux wine consultant says “lovely purity of raspberry fruit in 2013 acting a bit like a light Volnay in Burgundy presently but in 5 years will show OK.”

2012: Reds forwardly with lower acidity showing some successful merlots. Sauternes difficult with 4 top properties declassifying. Again dry whites excellent.

2011:  Current releases show lack of uniformity. Another leaner year that was the opposite of 2013 with a warm Winter hot Spring but cool + wet in July & August delayed ripening and saved by September & October warm up. Bill Blatch says he “was on the beach in February” and “wearing a Panama hat to the office in the Spring”. Lovely whites picked in August earlier than 1893.  Clean amazing pure selection of 2011 Chateau Latour impresses me but it lacks the usual power and concentration. Is it really worth 15 times the price of neighbouring Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste? Bill states that ” If I was starting a wine cellar now I would buy the 2011 vintage”.

Seems like the 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011 will be 4 less uniform vintages following 2 outstanding years of 2010 and 2009. Note this is quite a similar pattern to 20 years ago when the disappointing 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994 vintages followed that great pair of 1990 & 1989 Bordeaux wines!

2000 & 1990: Rain that fell on the 1999 harvest continued till February 2000 raising the water table, Mildew risks in April that smaller properties were able to handle better. Mid June finally some heat and July quite warm “better than the stats showed” says Bill. Vintage saved by the triple 000’s.  1990 warm wet winter gave the vines a fast start and heat wave continued right through giving tasty lush velvety softer styling. Bill Blatch and this blogger conducted a comparison tasting of 2000 and 1990 for the French wine club Les Chevaliers des Vins de France. Both vintages developing nicely. Bill says 2 characteristics of St Estephe on blind tastings for him are “Oriental spice & abrupt tannins”. Croizet Bages 2000 didn’t show too badly against a magnificent magnum of a leaner vintage for cedar-cigar box Mouton Rothschild in 1990 (like the Pichon Lalande) but Bill says Croizet had “vineyard spacing too wide and using a bad rootstock.” Other 2000s: Haut Marbuzet ready, Yon Figeac a L’Evangile wannabe, Rouget very ripe and concentrated even if a bit rustic. Best wine on the table was clearly the rich opulent 1990 L’Evangile followed closely by two other 1990s drinking well:  classy Trotanoy and fleshy alive Sociando Mallet.

“Bordeaux, toujours Bordeaux” – the official song of the Grand Conseil de Bordeaux!

You might also like:

 Loading ...

By Joseph Temple

Are you looking for a project to do this fall?  Well how about creating the ultimate conversation piece by building a do-it-yourself wine rack?  Below you can find ten inspirational ideas from Pinterest by using recycled materials – many of them might just be gathering dust in your basement or garage.  So get to work and submit the final product to our pin board by clicking here.  Best of luck!

1. Barn wood and railroad spikes

2. Old Milk Crates

3. PVC Pipes

4. Vinyl records

5. Reclaimed Ammo Box

6. bed springs & copper pipes

7. vintage film reels

8. a fallen tree

9. Repurposed dresser

10. Picture frame and pipes

You might also like:

 Loading ...

By Sakurai Midori (Own work) [GFDL or CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Question: We are preparing some ducks for a special dinner and need your help in choosing the best wine pairing. What do you suggest Sid?

Answer: This is easy. I recommend pinot noir with duck, squab, other game birds and even chicken. Need more information to be more specific. Domestic ducks are milder than wild caught. Classic duck recipes work well with classic Burgundy pinot while modern preparations open the door to more New World choices. Two important issues to consider are your sauce and the accompaniments. Pinot noir delivers appropriate fruit weight with balance and refreshes your palate with the complementing acidity. If the wine is too jammy and alcoholic you may lose some of the complex special flavours of your delicious duck. Lots of good producers out there from Oregon, California, Ontario, BC, Central Otago, Tasmania, Mornington Peninsula and other regions. A good choice is Cono Sur Vineyards & Winery in Chile who produce an amazing range of excellent pinot noir from expensive Ocio to best buy Bicicleta (Bicycle series). My fav is their 20 Barrels Limited Edition from the cooler Casablanca Valley. Enjoy!

You might also like:

 Loading ...

Presently enjoying a ripe sweet yellow kiwifruit from New Zealand. Wonderful colour and tropical taste loaded with healthy antioxidants of Vitamins B (folic acid) C & E. Also as a lawyer I find the story of kiwifruit fascinating starting from the 1920s when Hayward Wright first planted the Chinese Gooseberry in New Zealand where it thrived resulting in increased world export markets during the 1970s. This original “Hayward” variety had a brown fuzzy skin with a seedier tart green fruit. During the 1980s & 1990s increasing numbers of local growers fragmented the total production and with other countries such as Italy, Chile, Spain, France and South Africa entering into the picture as well there was severe price competition. The problem was that no one had registered a legal trademark for kiwifruit. A new cultivar “Hort16A” was developed in New Zealand and registered in 1996. Local growers in New Zealand got together in 1997 and formed a brand name for marketing called Zespri. In 1998 this new cultivar product was released called “Zespri Gold” which now is the current darling of the New Zealand kiwifruit industry. Lovely right now during their June to October season either by itself or in a smoothie with a banana and fruit juice. Try one. I think you will enjoy it.

You might also like:

 Loading ...

By Joseph Temple

During the Golden Age of Hollywood, stars like Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant lit up the marquees at theaters across the country, becoming household names while generating millions of dollars for studios such as RKO, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Columbia, MGM and Universal.  But where did all of these movie icons go to eat after the film stopped rolling and the spotlights were shut off?  In the city of Los Angeles, there certainly was no shortage of first-class restaurants that catered to stars of the studio era.  And below are seven examples that will take you back in time to an of era of continental-style fine dining, supper clubs and curved leather booths.  Enjoy!

Special thanks to the Los Angeles Public Library for providing most of the images for this posting.

blank
Instantly recognizable for its signature derby hat logo and the accompanying motto “Eat in the Hat,” this chain became synonymous with Hollywood’s Golden Age.  With the first location opening its doors in 1926, the most famous of the Brown Derby restaurants became the one on Vine Street where its walls were covered in framed 8 by 10 inch caricatures of various celebrities.    Studio moguls Harry Cohn and Jack Warner both had permanent reserved seats for years while booth #54 became the spot where Clark Gable proposed to Carole Lombard.  Back then, if you ever wanted to see a celebrity in the flesh, the Brown Derby was the place to go.
blank

(Left) The Brown Derby Restaurant near the famous Hollywood and Vine intersection. (Center) Actress Rita Hayworth and friend Evelyn Keyes dining at the Brown Derby, 1940. (Right) A 1948 menu from the Brown Derby. (click to enlarge all)

blank
Driving down Sunset Boulevard in 1938, there was no way you could miss seeing a 24-foot neon sign of Beryl Wallace at the famous Earl Carroll Theatre where the slogan was “Thru These Portals Pass The Most Beautiful Girls In The World.”  A 1,000-seat supper club-theater, numerous stars that included Tyrone Power, Errol Flyn and Betty Grable lined up to see a lavish show that featured beautiful chorus girls singing on a 60-foot-wide double revolving stage and staircase built at a cost of approximately $500,000 ($8 million in today’s dollars).
blank

(Left) Chorus girls performing. (Center) Seating area and stage. (Right) Plaques of celebrity signatures outside the Earl Carroll Theater and Restaurant. (click to enlarge all)

blank
On Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, flamboyant restaurateur Harry Gerguson assumed the identity of “Prince” Michael Romanoff, heir to Czarist Russian royalty during the time he owned Romanoff’s, one of the most posh places to eat for A-list celebrities.  In a town where everyone pretends to be somebody they’re not, its almost fitting that this restaurant, with its swank floor plan and larger than life owner, would explode in popularity.  Over the years, hundreds of famous people would dine here, including a young aspiring chef named Julia Child who loved one of the restaurant’s signatures dishes – strawberries Romanoff!
blank

(Left) Interior dining area (Center) Actress Barbara Stanwyck at Romanoff’s.
(Right) Romanoff’s Menu. (click to enlarge all)

blank
During the darkest days of the Great Depression, an immigrant from Northern Italy named Alexander Perino opened a fine-dining restaurant that ended up catering not only to celebrities but future Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.  Serving such renown dishes as veal scallopini, crepes suzette and strawberry Italienne, Perino’s would also earn a reputation as a mafia hangout, something its owner may have fostered by allowing mobster scenes for Hollywood movies to be filmed inside his restaurant.
blank

(Left) Owner Alexander Perino on the phone. (Center) Fashion show and luncheon at Perino’s.
(Right) President Richard Nixon & Henry Kissinger at Perino’s. (click to enlarge all)

blank
While many eateries have come and gone in the city of Los Angeles, Musso & Frank Grill has had the distinction for many years of being Hollywood’s oldest restaurant.  Originally founded in 1919, it eventually became the epicenter for writers in Tinseltown, being conveniently located next to the office building for the Writers Guild of America for many years.  With its world-famous food and martinis, diners have included William Faulkner, Ernest Hemmingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Charlie Chaplin who lunched there daily.

blank

blank
Located on the Sunset Strip, Ciro’s was the most popular restaurant/club for many years as the nightlife in Los Angeles exploded.  “The legend is that after a big premiere, a star’s social position for the year is determined by his table at Ciro’s” boasted its owner Herman Hover.   With chic silk walls and a red ceiling, legend has it that this hotspot played a key role in the courtship of Ava Gardner and Howard Duff as well as Rita Hayworth and Aly Khan.

blank

(Left) Ronald Reagan and Dean Martin dining at Ciro’s. (Center & Right) Menu and Wine List.
(click to enlarge all)

blank
For almost sixty years, this legendary West Hollywood restaurant entertained many distinguished guests with its great food and elegant ambiance.  Future President Ronald Reagan would propose to Nancy Davis at a booth that is now on display at his presidential library in Simi Valley.  Elizabeth Taylor loved Chasen’s world-famous chili so much that she had buckets of it flown in to Rome where she was filming Cleopatra.  And it was here where director Alfred Hitchcock learned about American cuisine and cocktails at his signature booth.
blank

(Left) The booth where President Reagan proposed to Nancy Reagan. (Center & Right) Waiting Room and Exterior of Chasen’s before its demolition in 1999. (click to enlarge all)

With branches in Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, Chula Vista, La Jolla & Pasadena, the International Wine & Food Society has a strong presence across Southern California.

You might also like:

• A look at 5 iconic Florida restaurants

 Loading ...