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French Wine Explorers Wine e-Newsletter
www.wine-tours-france.com - April/May 2006

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This month's wine explorations:

Surprising French Wines
Visit the Great Estates of Bordeaux or Burgundy This Fall
Wine Tasting: What do We Mean by "Body"?
Alsace Christmas Markets Tour Update

Surprising French Wines

France's vineyards produce an amazing variety of wines. Nearly every region produces dry red, white and rosé wines, and sweet or dry effervescent wines; many also produce sweet red or white dessert wines. But the diversity of France's wine production doesn't end there. Each region also has its "oddities," surprising wines that are in a category all their own and challenge us to see French wine in an entirely different light.

Sometimes, it's an exceptional year that inspires a winemaker to separate out one or several of his vats to make a very special wine. Other times, it's the desire to renew old, forgotten winemaking or grapegrowing traditions that gives birth to an unusual wine. Or it can be a desire to break with tradition or even thumb one's nose at it that inspires the creation of a new wine. And then there are some wines that make you wonder what the winemaker was smoking when he decided to make them!

Error and accident played a role in the birth of some unusual wines that are now well-known. Legend has it that Sauternes was created when a 17th century winegrower went off to war and returned to harvest his grapes late in the season when they were already shriveled by the fungus we now refer to as the "noble rot" (botrytis cinerea). Another winemaker in the Jura had to leave his wine for 6 years when he went off to war - he couldn't top up his barrels, so a veil of bacteria formed on the surface of the wine. The famous Vin Jaune (Yellow Wine) of the Jura was born, with its totally unique flavors of bitter orange and walnuts. These "accidents" produced wines of such character that they now have their own appellations d'origine controlée.

But many wines created today with unorthodox, outdated or non-traditional techniques or grape varieties often do not meet the criteria of the French appellation system and are therefore "downgraded" to Vin de Pays or Vin de Table status. The A.O.C. system is based on laws and rules of production meant to preserve winemaking traditions. Those who do not observe these rules are sanctioned. But winemakers are generally an eccentric, incorrigible lot. The young ones are particularly iconoclastic, and less concerned about losing the right to put the A.O.C. label on their wine if they feel their "invention" can garner attention without it.

Take the case of Jeff Carrel, a winemaker in the Corbières appellation of Languedoc. Jeff (who is French despite the first name) is well-known in the region as a kind of "wine chef" who likes to mix a little bit of this technique with a dash of that technique and see what he comes up with. In 2000, he found that a parcel of land he had just bought was planted in Gewurtztraminer (quite an atypical grape variety for the Languedoc region). Before tearing out the vines, he decided to use the 2000 harvest for an "enological experiment." He vinified the grapes in two 500 liter new oak barrels, racked it and then put it back in the same barrels. Placing the barrels in a dry, airy room, he inoculated the wine with yeast and let it develop a "veil" of bacteria for a year, that same technique mentioned above for the famous Vin Jaune of the Jura. The final product is both sweet and dry at the same time, with explosive aromas of dried fruits, spice bread and paprika. Needless to say, the appellation Corbières (a red wine appellation) was out of the question for a Gewurtztraminer wine; it was even too bizarre for Vin de Pays status, and is sold simply as a Vin de Table de l'Aude (La Vigne Perdu 2000, Domaine Jeff Carrel).

On the other end of the offbeat winemaking scale is a sort of nostalgia in some parts of the winemaking community for wines made "like the old days." Each French wine region once had many more grape varieties than those that remain today. The number of varieties decreased over the years as killing frosts and diseases like phylloxera wiped out large portions of the French vineyards, and winemakers concentrated increasingly on using only the most noble, disease resistant and commercially viable grape varieties for their wines. But some winemakers are now making wines with those forgotten grape varieties, which can still be found here and there in the vineyards. Two good examples are found in Champagne and Burgundy. Champagnes Moutard Dilligent is now making a Cuvée des 6 Cépages (Blend of 6 Varieties), using Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Arbane, Petit Meslier and Pinot Blanc grapes. With this Cuvée, he hopes to demonstrate how Champagne might have tasted back in the 18th century, when all of these varieties were commonly used. In the old days in Burgundy, Pinot Blanc was once as plentiful as Chardonnay, now the "king" of Burgundy white wines. Domaine Fougeray de Beauclair in Marsannay uses what little Pinot Blanc remains in the vineyards to make a 100% Pinot Blanc white wine that is fresh, fruity and floral. It's interesting to note that both of these unusual wines retain their A.O.C. status; although the grape varieties used are rarely used in modern winemaking, these varieties are still authorized by their respective appellations for use in their wines.

Sometimes we find offbeat wines coming from the most renowned estates, for wines that are completely different than what they usually produce. These wines are often quite rare and therefore coveted by wine connoisseurs and collectors. For example, one of the greatest Champagne houses makes a still red wine in exceptionally good years (and in those years, only 4000 bottles are produced)? It's the Bollinger Côte aux Enfants, a delicate, perfumed red wine that the house of Bollinger itself refers to as a "curiosity." And when is a Sauternes NOT a Sauternes? When it's the dry white "Y" (pronounced "Ygrec") of the King of Sauternes chateaux, Chateau d'Yquem. This rare wine is produced in years when the Sauvignon Blanc grapes are abundant but not touched sufficiently by the Noble Rot to produce a great Yquem. The "Y" also contains a small amount of late harvested Semillon grapes, and all the grapes come from the same vineyard that produces the legendary sweet Yquem.

But are these weird, quirky, rare wines any good? From my experience, they can range anywhere on the scale from "bizarre but interesting" to "inspired and brilliant." And that's part of the fun of finding and tasting them. For those of you who read French (and even those who don't) and would like to see the full spectrum of "wild and crazy" wines available from the French vineyards, check out the site "Vins Etonnants" (Surprising Wines) at: http://www.vins-etonnants.com/ If you've tasted a particularly surprising and interesting French wine, share your story with us by writing to: info@wine-tours-france.com. We'll print the strangest wine stories in the next e-Newsletter!

We've tasted some pretty unusual wines (and some pretty awesome "classic" wines, too) on our wine tours - come join us and taste for yourself!

Visit the Great Estates of Bordeaux or Burgundy This Fall

Everyone is talking about the 2005 vintage, which is purported to be one of the greatest of the past 50 years. But will the 2006 vintage be as good? Join us this September as we visit the Bordeaux vineyards (Sept. 4-9) and the Burgundy vineyards (Sept. 11-15) on the cusp of the new harvest, to experience the excitement of these prestigious vineyards at this all-important time of year.

Both tours offer a fantastic overview of the most important appellations and producers, in a short (5 or 6 day) span of time. In Burgundy, you'll visit the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune, with tastings of many of the great Village, 1er Cru and Grand Cru appellations at top producers like Bouchard, Bertagna or Domaine des Lambrays. Stay in the very heart of the Côte d'Or in the charming city of Beaune at its best hotel, Le Cep, and enjoy sumptuous dining and fascinating sightseeing.

In Bordeaux, First Growths like Mouton Rothschild and Latour open their doors for you for exclusive tastings and in-depth tours of their amazing facilities. You'll see all sides of Bordeaux winemaking on this tour, from a top-notch "garage" producer to one of the best Cru Bourgeois, to the most famous Classified Growths. Your luxury accommodations are at Bordeaux's best Relais & Chateau hotels, with dining at the region's finest Michelin-starred restaurants.

Enjoy expert guidance from your own private sommelier throughout your tour, and of course, French Wine Explorers' trademark superlative service from reservation to the final "Au Revoir". Spaces are still available, so see our Bordeaux wine tours page, or our Burgundy wine tours page for more information - why not join us for both, back to back? Please contact us soon, and we'll get you all set for a great wine adventure in Bordeaux or Burgundy this fall!

Wine Tasting: What do We Mean by "Body"?

"Body" is one of those words everyone uses in wine tasting. "Cabernet is a full-bodied wine," "this wine doesn't seem to have much body," etc. But what do we really mean when we talk about the "body" of a wine?

The perception of "body" in a wine is largely a function of the concentration of the wine. Wine is 80-90% water. The remaining 10-20% of the wine contains all the aromatic and taste components that make wine enjoyable to drink (the dissolved grape solids). The closer the water content gets to 90%, the less "good stuff" (what the French call "matière", or matter) there is in the wine. The rest of the feeling of body is a combination of concentration and several other factors:

Viscosity or unctuousness: mostly a function of the sugar or glycerol content of a wine, it makes the wine more dense, less fluid, and therefore gives a sense of greater volume or body;
Fatness/richness: the feeling of a wine in the mouth - does it feel rich like cream would feel, or more thin, like skim milk would feel? This feeling comes from good concentration, balance, as well as sugar, alcohol and glycerol content;
Tannins: the tannins in red wine give a certain body to these wines. Generally, the more tannic a wine, the fuller bodied it will be (overall, the more extraction of dry matter from the grapes, including tannins, the more concentration and therefore the more body).

Many people will describe a wine with a high alcohol content as being "full-bodied". The alcohol content is part of the fatness/richness (called moelleux in French) , and is therefore only one of the elements that creates body in a wine. But a high alcohol content will give an immediate impression of body. Sugar and glycerol content also contribute to the richness or roundness of a wine. The current fashion for "full-bodied" wines has led some New World winemakers to place too much emphasis on the alcohol content of their wines, and to leave grapes to over-ripen on the vine to produce a lot of alcohol and higher than traditional amounts of residual sugar in their wines. Unfortunately, a high alcohol content and sweetness without concentration or acidity, tannins and moelleux to balance it will produce a sensation of hotness and heaviness that will be unpleasant.

It's important to understand that being full-bodied is not necessarily a sign of quality in a wine. What many people would refer to as light- or medium-bodied wines, such as the wines of the Touraine in the Loire Valley, or the reds of Burgundy, can be very fine wines, they are just in a different style than the fuller-bodied wines of Bordeaux or the south of France. In France, we enjoy the unique character of each wine, including lighter-bodied styles that go well with many dishes that more full-bodied wines would overpower.

There's nothing better than 5 or 6 days of wine tasting at the finest wine estates to sharpen your wine tasting skills! Check out our 2006 Schedule and join us!

Alsace Christmas Markets Tour Update

On this Memorial Day holiday weekend, it's a good time to realize that those other holidays (I mean the ones at the end of the year) will be here before you know it. This is a great time to make sure you have a truly memorable holiday season - by signing up for our Christmas Markets and Great Wines of Alsace tour, Dec. 14th-18th. This tour is the perfect opportunity to indulge in some fabulous wine tasting, sumptuous dining and incredible shopping for wonderfully unique holiday gifts for your family and friends. And there's no more romantic, enchanting time to visit Alsace, which becomes a veritable winter wonderland at this time of year, with its beautiful and charming wine producing villages dressed in their holiday best.

We still have space available at this point. Don't miss out - reserve today to ensure your place on this very special trip. See our Alsace Markets Wine Tour page, and contact us for more details.

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Contact Us!

I'm always available to answer your questions about our wine programs, our company, and wine in France and Italy in general. Please feel free to contact me at info@wine-tours-france.com, or toll free at 1-877-261-1500.

Best regards,

Lauriann Greene-Sollin, Sommelier-Conseil
President/Founder

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FRENCH WINE EXPLORERS
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