Mark discusses Oldman’s Brave New World of Wine with NBC’s Chuck Scarborough.
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8 Gluttony-Enabling Thanksgiving Wines
If, like me, you are determined to engage in unadulterated, Al Rokerian (pre-stomach-band) gluttony this Thursday, you need wine that is bright and lively enough to the clear the way for each and every gravy-bathed spoonful of excess. Here are eight recent discoveries, one for each major wine category, all overachievers in delivering high pleasure for the price. Track them down at your local wine merchant and/or via Wine Searcher.
BUBBLES:
Roederer Estate Brut Anderson Valley (California, $23)
vibrant with notes of baked apple and spice, and a fine bead
LIGHTER WHITE:
Arnaldo Caprai Grechetto Colli Martani Grecante 2012 (Italy, $19)
glowingly fresh, with a vein of grapefruit zest
MEDIUM-BODIED WHITE
Fox Run Finger Lakes “Lake Dana Vineyard” 2012 (New York, $38)
bursting with flowers and juicy green apple
RICHER WHITE
Truchard Roussanne 2012 (California, $25)
peachy, creamy, but clean and lip-smackingly crisp
order direct here
LIGHTER RED:
Bourgueil Cuvée Alouettes 2011 (France, $16)
light, bright, redolent with lilacs and buzzy with acidity
MEDIUM-BODIED RED:
La Cabotte Côtes du Rhône-Villages Massif d’Uchaux Garance 2011 (France, $20)
juicy, velvety, plummy, medium-to-full bodied
RICHER RED
Norton Malbec Reserva 2011 (Argentina, $20)
cassis, blackcurrants, and smoke on a lively frame
DESSERT
Vietti Moscato d’Asti Cascinetta 2011 (Italy, $14)
lightly sweet, with pears, orange blossoms, and a cleansing fizziness
Red Obsession review: Why All Winemakers Need an “8” on Their Labels
Red Obsession review: Why All Winemakers Need an “8” on Their Labels
The moment in the captivating new movie Red Obsession when Chinese wine enthusiasts sprint to a tasting like oligarchs storming the entrance of Art Basel Miami or Gaga fans hurdling into a concert hall, you know you are witnessing a particular degree of infatuation. Opening last week in in New York, this Russell-Crowe-narrated documentary transports the viewer inside the patrician world of Bordeaux wine and among the money-is-no-object Chinese collectors who have now supplanted their American counterparts as the leading importers of investment-grade Bordeaux.
The movie packs deep flavor into its 78 minutes, encompassing lush aerial sweeps of Bordeaux vineyards, candid commentary by wine pros such as the UK’s Oz Clarke and China’s Jeannie Cho Lee, and a front-row seat to the Chinese frenzy for prestige wine as both a tool for investment and a symbol of their newly-won wealth.
The movie also reveals a certain Bordelais ambivalence towards their voracious patrons in the East, some of whom are snapping up vinous treasures for pure speculative purposes, with no intention of ever wetting their lips. China’s most coveted Bordeaux premier cru, Château Lafite Rothschild, however, evinces no hesitation; aware that “8” is a lucky number in Chinese culture, the estate shrewdly embossed the symbol for 8 on each bottle of ‘08 Lafite. The price of that wine shot up almost 20% days after the labeling was announced.
The film also shows us the darker sides of this consumptive ardor, particularly the market bubble that has already begun to deflate and the growing scourge of counterfeiting. And we learn that the Chinese aren’t content to merely buy; they are fiercely interested in cultivating their own vines and beat the French at the own game, converting vast stretches of their homeland with the aim of eventually becoming planet’s largest producer of fine wine. Indeed, visiting Shanghai a few months ago, I tasted a fruit of these new efforts and documented it in this video.
Red Obsession is the rare grape flick with broad appeal, a fast-paced swirl of the economic and social implications that attend China’s explosive demand for fine wine. Ultimately it is about passion: the devotion that Bordeaux vintners have for their storied terroir and their determination to exploit the demand for it wherever they can, as well as the compulsion felt by China’s new rich to embrace symbols of Western success.
In one of the film’s funniest moments, we see how fervor for wine can take over for more carnal inclinations. Explains Peter Tseng, sex-toy billionaire and irrepressible wine collector: “When I was younger, I preferred sex. Now I prefer wine.”
“Red Obsession is currently in limited release in select American cities; check your local listings. You can also download it now via iTunes and Amazon.
Auction Winners are Brave Drinking at Chez Moi (3Ls, cult wine, Hungarian juice, Madoff’s stash)
Last week I hosted a group of six auction winners who had bid generously for a wine tasting at my place through CharityBuzz auction benefiting Food & Wine’s Grow for Good campaign and Wholesome Wave. Determined to pull out all of the stops, I enlisted special bottles from my personal collection that would maximize our chances of drinking bravely.
The line-up spanned the world (New York, California, France, Italy and Hungary), wine types (bubbly, white, red, and dessert), bottle sizes (half-bottle to two 3-liters), blue chips (Patz & Hall) to cult wine (Scholium Project and Le Pergole Torte), recent releases to the delightfully mature (a 2005 Beaujolais cru Morgan in magnum), and finally a bottle I had acquired from Bernie Madoff’s actual stash (through the 2011 Morrell & Co. auction that benefited the victims of this nefarious felon). Along with the wine, we nibbled various fine cheeses, salumi, and bread from nearby nirvana Eataly. Below are the wines:
1) Sparkling Pointe North Fork of Long Island Brut 2002 (New York)
2) Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc 2005 (South Africa, from Bernie Madoff’s stash, seized by U.S. Marshalls from Madoff’s “downstairs bedroom on right”)
3) The Scholium Project “The Sylphs” Guman Vineyard 2006 (California, Chardonnay, 3-liter bottle)
4) Patz & Hall Chardonnay Carneros Hyde Vineyard 2010 (California)
5) Cuvee du Cep d’Or Rose 2012 (France, 3-liter bottle)
6) Domaine Savoye Morgon Côte du Py Vieilles Vignes 2005 (France, magnum)
7) Montevertine “Le Pergole Torte” 2006 (Italy, 3-liter bottle)
8) The Royal Tokaji Wine Co. “Red Label – Aszú 5 Puttonyos” 2008 (Hungary)
Gaia Gaja Gets Double Paws
Last night I was fortunate to have dinner with Gaia Gaja (pronounced ‘Guy-ah Guy-ah’), whose fresh-faced charisma and alliteratively alluring name is rivaled only by the recently wedded Lauren Bush Lauren. Gaia is the elder daughter of Angelo Gaja, the Piedmont-based godfather of legendary Barolo and Barbaresco. The wines we enjoyed, including the 2009 Gaja Barbarbeco and 2008 Gaja DaGromis Barolo, were as floral, licorice-infused, and persistent as one would expect from Italy’s most renowned producer.
Having a real-life Piedmontese gastronaut in my midst, however, I was equally curious about her knowledge of truffle hunting in her native area. (With my annual BYOT(ruffle) tradition, one can never been overeducated in the mysterious ways of the blessed tartufo bianco). Gaia Gaja did not disappoint, providing these fascinating nuggets:
- There is no specific type of dog bred for truffle hunting, although smaller dogs with short hair are favored for their ability to move easily through forest underbrush.
- To determine which puppy of a litter has a special penchant for truffles, each is given its chow with a few flecks of real truffle. The puppy that responds most positively to the truffle is singled out for training.
- The dog will eventually be trained by letting it home in on a truffle wrapped in a napkin and then be rewarded with a dog biscuit. The napkin gets the dog used to the fact that he shouldn’t chomp into the truffle but instead wait for the biscuit.
- A truffle hunter and his canine companion often have an unusually close relationship, whereby the dog is allowed to sleep in the hunter’s bed, is fed eggs in the morning, and is cajoled and praised like a human. Said Gaia with feigned exasperation: “The dog is often treated better than the wife”.
- Although scrambled eggs or simple pasta dishes are the classic vehicles for shaved truffles, Gaia encountered her favorite all-time truffle dish at a restaurant in her local town of Barbaresco. It consisted of the swoon-worthy concoction of truffles shaved over a raw egg yolk surrounded by polenta that had been infused with pureed chestnuts and grated parmigiano reggiano.
- Some truffle dogs are trained to differentiate between black truffles and the more valuable white truffles. Upon sensing his tartufo target, the pooch will signal his master by stomping one paw for black, two for white.
