Living in Canada we are dominated by liquor board monopolies. Always amazed on my travels to check out the better prices and the better accessibility of wines elsewhere.

In France the taxes are high but still lots of wines available and often you can find quality bargains at rock bottom prices. In Bordeaux wine is for sale everywhere including spiral staircase show piece L’Intendant across from the Grand Theatre. In Paris wine for sale at many outlets including Nicolas and the now over 10 year old Lavinia with their vast selection on Blvd. de la Madeleine. Lots of the usual traditional wine shops but I continue to be surprised by the increasing expansion of wine departments in other stores. The three “Grands Magasins” carry wine – Au Printemps, Galeries Lafayette, and Bon Marche (including 1852 Gruaud Larose for 27,000E a bottle displayed among the new release First Growths) – but also now a better selection at the popular grocery chains of Franprix, Carrefour, and Monoprix (really enjoyed their NV Le Mesnil Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Champagne for outstanding value of 22.50E). Another “electronics” shop with great wine prices but a limited inventory that I used both last year and this year is C Discount on the Left Bank in the 7th at 63 rue de Bac ( just down from another wine store Ryst Dupeyron at #79). Henry de Valbert NV Champagne from Mareuil-sur-Ay very drinkable and discounted to 12.64E a bottle, aged 2004 La Chablisienne 1er cru Cote de Lechet Chablis 14.94E and the enjoyable fruit of vintage 2009 Nuits-Saint-Georges Vieilles Vignes Domaine de Gramont 20.40E.

I raise this question of where do you buy most of your wine? What are some of the most important factors for you in making your choice: Proximity to home or office, very competitive pricing, knowledgeable service staff, wide wine choice availability, access to the display of product,  easy parking, good facilities and storage temperature ….?

We all know now that when buying older wine at auction the buyer beware – “caveat emptor” – principle certainly applies.

Where do you recommend we shop for wine when we are visiting your city?

Fortunate to have enjoyed a February 2013 vertical of the best vintages back to 1982 of Chateau Pichon Longueville Baron second growth Pauillac.

Property with a long history realizing substantial improvements since the eighties under AXA first under the guidance of the indomitable Jean-Michel Cazes and now Christian Seely. Wonderful terroir expressed in the wines from those great gravelly vineyards next to Chateau Latour and the stricter selection for their Grand Vin.

Even torridly hot 2003 is successful in a riper more forwardly softer style because of their older vines with deep roots in that gravel having the same beneficial effect as the more moisture retaining clay soils of St. Estephe.

1996 Highest cabernet sauvignon at 80% but much lighter colour with prominent acidity. Needs time?

1995 Darker than 96 with much richer fuller fruit. A surprising delight!

1988 Herbal greener stemmy notes but a more elegant balanced character.

1986 Shows the opposite styling to 1982 with those more backward and tougher hard old style tannins.

1982 In that same sweet attractive 2003 style but more rustic as the selection then not as rigorous as now.

Clearly my top three:

2000 Less severe modern style still showing some oak. Admire the intensity and structure here. Still needs cellar time.

1990 Wonderful cedar-cigar developing bouquet with a palate of  almost overripe concentrated fruit. Very impressive!

1989 My winner! Love the balance, elegance and the deliciousness! Deserves that Wine Spectator 1992 Wine of the Year selection. Hope you have some of the 1989 tucked away for a special treat to see what this chateau does spectacularly!

What is the best vintage of Pichon Baron for you?

By Guillaume Paumier (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Spent last week ensconced at Government House in Victoria judging the 11th Lieutenant Governor Awards For Excellence in BC Wines.

This is a competition for wines from 100% grapes grown and processed within British Columbia to determine the best of those entering and celebrate “excellence” in our home grown product regardless of the grape variety or the blend. Every winery can enter up to 4 wines with no entry fee charged and no restriction on the vintage submitted to be judged by 7 wine judges all knowledgeable on BC wine – of which I am one.  We tasted 400+ wines and came up with only 12 winners – less than 3%! Pretty strict in our top selections.

Ontario has followed this with their own similar program for Awards based on Ontario wines now in the 3rd year. There are lots of other big wine competitions out there including the Los Angeles International Wine Competition going for 7 decades with nearly 100 judges. The International Wine Challenge in England and International Wine & Spirit Competition have been around for a while. Decanter World Wine Awards is still somewhat the new kid on the block but now in the 10th year has really expanded with an impressive line-up of world judges and over 14,000 entries. The Aussies have lots of these and are the pioneers of all these medals with the Sydney International Wine Competition still going strong for 13 judges processing 2000 entries (the final 400 being judged with food pairings) resulting in a Top 100.

Blind wine judging is always interesting and very educational for the judges. However, it is a very subjective process and I usually take in all these many competition results with a grain of salt. Are the Awards actually credible? I want to know how many wines were entered, what the wines were, who were the judges, and what was their experience with the wines they were tasting. Naturally the wineries that win are ecstatic and undoubtedly it should help them with their subsequent advertising campaigns. I guess I still have mixed feelings on their overall reliability to guarantee for me that the winners will satisfy my own personal nose and palate preferences.

Would be interested in your comments on what Wine Competitions you respect or feel you can rely on both internationally and locally to help you with your own wine purchasing decisions.

Interesting to see how the 2012 vintage is evolving for Sauternes. Several chateaux now have announced they will not be making a first label Sauternes in 2012: d’Yquem, Suduiraut, Rieussec and Raymond Lafon. Other properties like Climens feel it may be a less concentrated year but still worthy as very fine and elegant. Quality through low yields reported as averaging only 2.5 hectolitres per hectare are impressive. What makes a top Sauternes vintage? How important is the botrytis factor? Look for more improved dry whites from Sauternes in 2012 which also helps the producer with cash flow. Check out Bill Blatch the #1 authority on Sauternes at his website www.bordeauxgold.com for interesting interviews and more details.

In my Andre Simon lecture last year on Andre Simon’s Partners I quoted Bill “a fervent promoter of Sauternes with all food” for his recommendations on pairings and he provided the following tips:

Chateau d’Yquem: Roast Turkey (Andre Simon: Peaches)

Chateau Suduiraut: Szechuan & Spicy Indian Food (Andre Simon: Nectarines)

Chateau Climens: Oysters on the half shell – especially salty ones (Andre Simon: Apple Charlotte)

What is your favourite Sauternes of all time? Chateau d’Yquem 1967 & 1921 are among mine.

Please let us know your innovative ideas for best food matching with Sauternes.