La Route du Vin

New from Bourgueil

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The Bourgueil Vineyards (DK Images)

This wine is new and it is great, but before I say more, I am going to start off with some pronunciation tips because a wine that is hard to pronounce tends to get overlooked and there is no way you should miss this wine just because you don't want to say its name:

Here goes. Concentrate. Boor'goy. The trick is to give it a Yiddish twist at the end-as in the oi of oi vey. Step on the G hard. Boor-ghoi. Perfect!

Now here's the story. Bob and I were in the Loire not too long ago to look for a new Bourgueil. Bourgueil is part of the Touraine. It's north of the Loire River, west of Tours. The climate is mild and you will run into the odd palm tree. I like to hunt for new wines. It's a good way to stay on top of a region and who's out there.

I did some advance work and happened to see the Domaine Rochouard had received a 5-star (perfect) rating from Decanter magazine for one of their wines. Getting 5-stars is rare and a big deal so I dashed out an email and fixed a rendezvous.

Domaine Vigeau-Chevreau Cuvée Silex Vouvray 2006

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The Vouvray wine cellars in the River Cliffs Photo Claes Lofgren

I'm starting to think that Vouvray is America's favorite French white wine. Nobody seems to be able to get enough of it.

Of course, there are a lot of reasons for this, not the least being that Vouvray is the ideal white wine for many people because it is not steely, steely Dry with a big D, but rather dry with a small d. It is made from 100% Chenin Blanc.

Bob and I went hunting for a Vouvray last May in the Loire Valley. We did our homework first. Domaine Vigneau-Chevreau kept popping up:

La Revue du Vin de France:
"This estate, which is biodynamique (organic) is distributed over several types of soil which permits assemblages of wine which play right into the hands of the Chenin Blanc grape with its velvety acidity so typical of a good Vouvray. Vigneau-Chevreau makes wine with lots of textural finesse and generous minerality..."

Jacqueline Friedrich in her new book, The Wines of France puts Vigneau-Chevreau on a short list of her favorite Vouvrays,

I fixed a rendezvous with Stéphane Vigneau and was immediately impressed by the impeccable cellars. Vouvray is planted in tuffeau, a limestone rock. Tuffeau is the same white rock that many of the chateaux of the Loire are made from. The rock was excavated from the land leaving behind cavernous caves which the Vouvrillons put to good use as wine chais (barrel storage rooms). The caves are very old and snake around for hundreds of meters underground.

Release of New California Cult Cab - Kapcsandy Family Vineyards 2005 from the famous State Lane Vineyard in Napa

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Kapcsandy Family son Louis Jr. and father Lou flanking their world-class winemakers Rob Lawson (middle right) and Denis Malbec of Chateau Latour (middle left) in the Yountville, Napa Valley vineyard.

"This winery is definitely one of Napa's up-and-coming superstars." -Robert Parker

Okay, I admit it, I've gone over to the dark side- or maybe, I should say, the sunny side - the sunny California side. For 25 years I have offered nothing but French wines. There's a reason for that. French wines are the most riveting wines in the world. And the country is not exactly unpleasant to spend time in.

But, something happened to me the other day as I was slicing into my rosy filet at a fully-dressed table at Chateau Cheval Blanc in Saint-Emilion sipping back and forth between the 1996 and the 1986, trying to decide which I liked better. I got my mind changed. Not about French wines. No, never. My feelings for those wines are firm, but about perhaps opening the door a crack, a sliver, and letting one wine from California in, if it proved itself worthy.

My lunch partner was a man who, in between sips of his Cheval Blanc, started to put a bug in my ear about the new Kapcsandy Family Winery (pronounced "Kap-shandy") - specifically about how it was a Napa wine with French sensibilities. A California-French fusion. I liked that idea.

This wine has been recognized in Wine Spectator as one of the top new estates with full potential cult status. They grouped it with the California Collectables like Harlan, Bryant Family, and Colgin, all of which sell for $500-plus per bottle and are impossible to get unless you are on the mailing list. There is a 5-year wait even to get on those lists and finally score the chance to buy a bottle or two. So Kapcsandy is something quite special and by California (or even top Bordeaux Standards) a fair-priced wine.

Well, when I sampled the wine, I loved it for its pungent cherries and raspberries with the great taste of vanilla. The balance and acidity level seemed perfect to me. And, it was true about its Bordeaux-like character. This is a wine that has a Bordeaux stamp all over it - no surprise because the fellow that makes the wine grew up watching his father and his grandfather make vintages for First Growth Chateau Latour in Bordeaux. Yes, THE Chateau Latour.

Clos de l'Echo and Rene Couly

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The harvest at Domaine Couly-Dutheil in Chinon

"A trumpet blast of fresh, meaty fruit, from one of the most beautiful villages in France."

That's how wine writer Andrew Jefford in the The New France describes the taste of a Domaine Couly-Dutheil Chinon.

Wine Spectator chimes in with high marks for Couly-Dutheil's Clos de l'Echo. They praised the 2004 as "Outstanding: a wine of superior character and style."

"Still a bit restrained, with a toasty aroma slowly giving way to a very structured core of black cherry, currant, iron and black olive notes. There's lots of grilled herb and mineral in the finish with good underlying flesh. Drink now through 2011. Only 100 cases imported." -Wine Spectator

You know, the longer I drink wine, the more reds from the Loire end up in my glass. These wines have a purity about them that I love. There are no sharp edges. They are not heavy yet. They are substantial and bursting with berry flavor, to say nothing about their affordability.

Chinon stirs up great memories of the lazy lapping Vienne River and the little stone houses with their prim lace curtains and brightly painted shutters lining the edge of the River under the shadow of the nobly deteriorating Chateau de Chinon, the very same place where Jean d'Arc convinced the Dauphin, Charles VII, to put on the French crown and throw out the English.

Saumur Champigny from Domaine Lavigne

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The tufa-stone outcrop (and ancient Chateau) that runs along the Loire river at Saumur. This stony soil and subsoil makes for highly calcareous vineyards that lend the Cabernet Franc grapes juicy flavors and good acidity.

The new vintage of Saumur Champigny, one of our favorite Loire wines, has just arrived!

Bob and I got off a plane from Boston to Paris in May and drove straight to the Loire for three days. We were on a mission to find some new wines -which you will hear about soon- and, of course, we would never consider a visit to the Loire without stopping in on our friends Gilbert Lavigne and Pascale and Antoine Veron. Pascale and Antoine run Domaine Lavigne, but père Lavigne still puts in his two "centimes" worth.

Why is Saumur Champigny not very well known in the United States? I just can't figure that out and I'd like to leave it up to you to start changing that. The wine is well loved in France and no Paris bistro would leave it off the menu. I love to see that glass of lightly chilled and fruity Saumur Champigny coming my way. Raspberries! Raspberries!

A Different Way to Visit Paris

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A View from the Living Room to the Dining Room

How about a quick trip to re- connect with one of the world's most beautiful places? And how about visting Paris in a new way staying in my family-sized apartment. It is very centrally located and there is plenty of room for a family or 2 couples. It is organized in fact so that everybody will have complete privacy if you decide to share it with family or friends.

Imagine the possibilities:

Plan a late lunch at L'Ami Jean the nearby restaurant that Ruth Reichl, Gourmet's Editor, called in the September issue, her favorite new restaurant .

Or visit rue Cler one of the best market streets in Paris (three blocks away) and shop for your dinner - or just some cheese and an already prepared meal to take back to the apartment.

Stopping by the Musee Maillot in the nearby 6e arrondisement for a look at the erotic drawings of Henri Matisse before shopping for shoes on rue Cherche Midi followed by a late afternoon glass of Sancerre at au Sauvignon, a favorite wine bar with a neighborhood feel that turns you into a local.

Domaine des Jougla St Chinian 2006

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The rugged St Chinian vineyards hard against the mountains that provide an especially good terroir that stresses the vine roots making full flavored red wines

This is the region that's giving the rest of the world's wine regions a run for their money. It's time to think about putting some in your glass.

The Languedoc Roussillon is an amazing place to roam and taste among its scrub, pine trees and gorges of turquoise water. The quiet is deafening in those hilltops at night, and the food is robust and perfect for those stunning garnet-colored beauties with flavors of mint, leather, raspberries, pepper and blackberries. Have I persuaded you to pull a cork yet?

Domaine des Jougla is located in Prades-sur-Vernazobre, a village of 200 people. The famille Jougla, who has worked their property for many generations, makes a red St Chinian cuvee Ancestrale from a vineyard that is very close to the Mediterranean Sea and right on the dividing line between the schist soils of the mountains and the limestone soil that was raised from the sea when the Pyrenees were forming.

This means the wines have the benefit of two soil types: the schist which produces wines with mineral notes, some coffee and smoky aromas and scents of the garrique (those rocky outcroppings laced with lavender and herbs) and the calcaire (limestone) which makes a wine with bouquets of fresh black currants, raspberries, and cherries. The Jougla St Chinian Ancestrale is made from Mourvedre (40%), Grenache (30%), Syrah (30%).

2006 Vouvray from Benoit Gautier

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Vouvray aging in the ancient Vouvray caves

I'm always astounded at the number of cases of Vouvray I have to cram into my containers arriving from France. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the number of people who love Vouvray. After all, it's plenty dry for the wine drinkers who like dry, and yet it's not too austere for the folks who like a little less steeliness in their glass. And, of course, there's that very friendly price, especially for a white wine. I guess that's why I don't ever have enough.

That is one of the reasons that the Wine Spectator named the Gautier Vouvray " Best Wine Value" in the annual Loire Issue a couple of years ago.

Vouvray is made from the Chenin Blanc grape and is a small wine area in the middle of the Loire Valley very close to Tours. Grapes have been grown in this area for centuries -- back to Roman times at least. In 1936, Vouvray was awarded its own appellation.

How does it taste? The Gautier Vouvray is refreshing as can be; a perfect food wine. You will see white flowers, citrus and minerals, with excellent acidity for food. It is especially good with rich cream sauces, grilled foods and fried seafood. it has a slight green-apple crispness which also makes it a perfect aperitif as well. There's a surprising lemony bite at the end that's quite mouthwatering.

Vouvray is planted in tuffeau, a limestone rock. Tuffeau is the same white rock that many of the chateaux of the Loire are made from. The rock was excavated from the land leaving behind cavernous caves which the Vouvrillons put to good use as wine chais (barrel storage rooms). Many of the caves date back 500 years or more and have lovely, ancient carvings in them.

Chateau Cote Montpezat

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The Chateau and Vineyards

Chateau Cote Montpezat is from Cotes de Castillon, which you've heard me mention many times. It's one of my favorite appellations. It's just to the east of St. Emilion with the same charmed type of clay and limestone soil.

"This property really proves itself with rigorous work during the harvest and the selection of the grapes. The wine is mouth-filling and elegant and the wine gets better and better every year." -La Revue du Vin de France

Somehow you can just count on a Bordeaux to be great. Especially when it's hand-picked which is my job.

Bordeaux has the highest winemaking standards in the world for the most reasonable price. Yes, it's true. I'm not talking about Classified Growths, I'm speaking of the Petit Chateaux who subscribe to all the vineyard practices and winemaking standards of the Bordeaux Biggies, but don't have the appellation behind them to fetch the big prices.

There are a lot of talented winemakers around Bordeaux who didn't inherit the reference vineyards from their fathers, but know good vineyard practices and have great skills, and these folks are turning out wonderful and high quality wines that make you feel that you're drinking no-compromise Bordeaux and not paying a lot to do it.

These are the wines I like to hunt down and I've spent a lifetime doing it.

Jean-Pierre Auvigue ( oh-veeg) Magnificent Macon Villages 2006 The Back Door to Affordable White Burgundy

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The Macon Villages Vineyards that surround every village in the area

Sunday cellar close out - only 10 cases left.

There is nothing like being in Macon on a warm, sunny day. The country restaurants disgorge their patrons all over their front yards, The chilled silver buckets with crisp, minerally Macon poking out the top appear on every table. Appetites are strong and the laughter is loud and frequent. There is not a cloud in the sky. The little roads twist and wind and disappear into the rolling hills.

The Maconnais is Cote d'Or's little sibling to the south - much less expensive, but 100% great Chardonnay with crisp dry flavors of lemon, honey, flowers, orange zest all tied together in a minerally package. There is fantastic lively acidity - nothing flabby or heavy or too candied and it's a white Burgundy that is priced so you can have a bottle every day.

Macon Villages wines come from villages stretching from Tournus ( south of Beaune) down to Macon (which is north of Lyon). Macon Villages are wines that are a cut above wines with just "Macon" on the label.

I was in Macon recently with Jean-Pierre Auvigue. Domaine Auvigue is a tidy estate in the commune of Charnay-les-Macon. It is always one of my favorite places to visit. It is Macon wine at its best. Jean-Pierre believes in putting you through your paces when you taste. There is always a line-up of about a dozen bottles, ready for the uncorking, but first there is the spin through the chais and the barrel tastings of the current vintage.