"bordeaux" news and stories

With the exception of White Zinfandel, Merlot may be the most-maligned wine in a couple of decades. In the 2004 movie Sideways, Miles, the main character and Pinot Noir lover, repeatedly trashes Merlot as the Worst. Grape. Ever. Somehow the wave caught on, and Pinot Noir sales soared while Merlot staggered along.

Of course Miles was right, to a point. The U.S. was awash in mediocre Merlot, most of which didn't even come close to realizing the potential of the grape. (Now we have the same problem with Pinot Noir, but I digress.) Merlot does have its merits, and I ask you to give it--or rather, certain bottlings of it--a chance.

Compared to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot tends to be softer, less tannic, and fruitier. Its flavors range from cherry to black plum and a hint of herbaciousness. In Bordeaux, Merlot is one of the two main varietals (along with Cabernet Sauvignon) and on the Right Bank is the dominant varietal.

Read my Merlot recommendations after the jump.

I still look down on box wine as cheap and presumably bad. Bordeaux wine in what amounts to juice boxes? I just don't know how I feel about that.

However I feel about it, juice box wine is coming. Called Tandem, it'll be introduced in London soon, but there's no word on if we'll see it here in the US. Apparently French wine makers don't like the downward trend in wine consumption. This is an attempt to get "young urbanites" to drink more wine. A spokesman for Tandem says that this is the ideal way to have a bit of wine with lunch, especially if you eat at your work desk.

The wine juice box even has a special straw to ensure that you get a full taste experience. The sensory straw, as it's called, has four holes in it so that the wine is dispersed throughout your mouth. I'm not sure how well that'll work, but, as it's been pointed out by traditionalists, you still can't see or smell the wine before you drink it, which are both important aspects of drinking wine. Do you think this product will take off? Would you buy it?

Luxist reports that a recent conference on Global Warming and Wines found that traditional wine-making areas may be at risk of losing their wine-making abilities, including the Catalonian regions of Spain and Bordeaux region of France. If current warming trends continue, one speaker at the conference argued, this could be a reality "within the next 40 to 70 years." Grapes in those regions could suffer not only from an increase in temperature, but from a change in the amount of rainfall they receive. Increasingly dry areas may face water-restrictions to conserve water, while other regions may face heavy rains, since many scientists predict changing weather patterns will accompany global warming. On the plus side, some of the areas of the world that are now too cold to successfully cultivate wines on a large, commercial scale will probably be warm enough to grow grapes, leading to new varieties and blends for connoisseurs to enjoy, drowning their sorrows to forget the loss of their favorite Bordeaux.

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The main feature of today's New York Times food section is a foray into the world of cultivated truffles. Apparently cultivated black truffles are more common than many consumers think and many restaurants care to admit.

Other stories:

• Eric Asimov sings the praises of white Bordeaux.
• Mark Bittman does Moroccan chicken with green olives.
• Nigella Lawson returns with chickpea curry and herbed millet.
• Kim Severson talks about Louisiana's crawfish shortage.
• Frank Bruni visits Del Posto.
• Marian Burros gives an update on the ongoing meat-and-carbon-monoxide issue.

[Photo: Tony Cenicola/NYT]

A 340-year-old oak tree has been felled and will be made into expensive barrels for top wine chateaux.  

The tree, planted during the reign of Louis XIV, is, or was, 120 feet tall. It is the finest surviving tree, planted as part of the King's program to develop perfect oak trees for ship building. It is, therefore, tall and straight without knots or kinks. Before you get upset at the loss of such an historic tree you should know that it has been infested with a boring beetle, so the decision was made to cut it down before it deteriorated further.

The oak was sold at auction for £25,500 to a company that constructs wine barrels. The oak will make 60 such barrels with the capacity to hold 225 litres, or enough wine to go into 300 bottles each. All have been sold to Chateau Latour and Chateau Angelus in Bordeaux and to winemakers in Chile, Spain, Italy and California.

This oak is described as the most magnificent of those that remain of the original planting of 50,000 specimens. All except 1,500 were removed after 50 years. It was called "Morat" after a forester who tended the forest.

I haven't been able to find a picture of the actual tree. The image here is just 'a' oak tree by Ansel Adams.

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