Today, people around the world will drink over 10,000,000 pints of Guinness. Tomorrow, heaven only knows how many pints will be downed in the name of St Patrick.
The man in charge of making all of that incredible brew for the last fifteen years is Fergal Murray. I had the chance to chat with him yesterday. We all know the story of the great brew, but most won’t be aware of its universal consumption. “Guinness has 49 breweries around the world,” he said. “Twenty are in Africa and Nigeria is or biggest market there.”
I asked the question that wrongly nags the Guinness folks. Maybe it’s an urban myth, or maybe it’s a matter of corporate dirty tricks by a competitor. But, I figured, let’s get it out of the way. Is Guinness made differently for different markets? The answer was a yes and no. “Guinness has two main variants,” Fergal explained. “All of the keg beer - the type you get in better pubs around the world - is made in Dublin. In the rest of the world, especially Africa and Asia, it’s not really about going into a pub. They like to use bottles. Nigerians love the Extra Stout, which has been there for 150 years. It’s the same recipe they’ve had forever. And some people might think the African version may be taste a little different, stronger.”
At least Guinness will never make a Lite beer, right? “Well, actually, in Ireland, we make what we call Mid-Strength which is only 2.8% alcohol (regular Guinness is 4.2% alcohol), because we got so many requests from people who wanted a lighter brew they could enjoy during the week. But that’s mostly about the alcohol. As rich as our draft is, it’s only 125 calories, which is less than a lot of supposedly light beers.”
And, for the record, they also make other premium drinks like Smithwicks, Harp and Red Stripe.
We wrapped up the conversation with a question about whether Fergal wished the emphasis on drinking Guinness wasn’t so targeted on St. Patty’s Day. He laughed. “Were going to start off by expanding to the rest of the month,” he said. “We are the official beer of March, not just St. Patrick’s Day, but March Madness and everything else.”
Slainte!
Just for fun, I though readers might like to know how Guinness describes the task of the person pulling your brew.
Pouring the Perfect Pint
1. Clean dry glass - preferably with branded logo and the 20 oz pint
2. Hold glass at 45 degree angle and never allow the spout to touch beer or glass
3. The Pour - pull faucet down and allow beer to fill glass - you will see the surge commence
4. The Settle - allow the nitrogen bubbles to create the theatre and wonderful surge event creating the beautiful creamy head
5 The Top Up - the Beer has settled (distinct gap between dark liquid and head) and the glass is topped up slowly to create a domed effect with the head proud of the glass
6. The Presentation - Give the creation of the perfect pint to the adoring customer
Anyone interested in the great wines of Burgundy should consider the last minute addition of the renowned Jacques Lardiere, Director of Winemaking at Maison Louis Jadot. Lardiere oversees the production of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Gamay wines for the value lover like his ubiquitous Macon-Villages and my personal favorite the luscious Fixin. But, as befits one of the best Burgundy houses, he also makes some of the world’s most prized and expensive ($500+) wines.
But the most important thing about Mr. Lardiere is that he is a most charming, intelligent and thought-provoking dinner partner. A lucky few will have the opportunity to do just that at 7pm, Wednesday, March 3rd at Mirabelle restaurant in Austin. It’s being done as a benefit for the superb annual confab of The Texas Sommelier Conference.
The dinner will run $85, a small price to pay for the chance to taste seven Burgundies including two Premier Cru Burgundies and the Grand Cru, Corton Pougets, not to mention Mirabelle’s reliably great food. I don’t often write about winemaker dinners; there’s usually several each week somewhere in Austin. But this one is different. Make it if you can.
For those who can’t, Lardiere will be available and discussing Jadot’s wines from 5pm-6:30pm at the Austin Wine Merchant, which will also be offering tastes of several Jadot wines.
Again, if you have any interest in Burgundy wines, Mr. Lardiere is one of a handful of people with encyclopedic knowledge of nearly every vineyard in the appellation. Added to that, he doesn’t spend all of his efforts and time on the normal $50-$500 Burgundies. He also knows where the bargains are. Highly recommended.
Wish you could be at the Oscars on March 7? Well, you may not get to walk the red carpet, but you can drink the same concoction the stars are being served at the ceremonies.
The official drink of the Oscars is called the Golden Glamour and, in keeping with the wealth of the imbibers, it uses some pretty nice ingredients. A fun four-pack of Moet’s Imperial Champagne in splits (1/4 bottles) runs about $40, and includes a one-use ice bucket and four funny little cones that you stick into the bottle so you can drink your Champagne like an expensive beer.
The luscious vanilla liqueur called Navan also runs about $40. It’s named for its home town of Navana in Madagascar and the minute quantity used in the recipe is a testament to how powerful its aromas are.
For folks who love to do a big Oscar party, this is a must.
Golden Glamour 4 oz. Moët & Chandon Imperial Champagne 0.25 oz. Navan 1.5 oz. Passion Fruit Juice Combine all ingredients in an old-fashioned Champagne glass. Top with fresh sprig of mint for garnish.
AFP is reporting that Bordeaux wines are set for an off-the-cliff plummet.
Even as Chateau Lafite leads a surge for Bordeaux vintners in Asia, US retail prices for the same wines have skidded below wholesale cost as a major importer dumps stocks worth tens of millions of dollars.
US importer Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines (DC&E), a subsidiary of the British drinks giant Diageo, has abandoned Bordeaux wine after 35 years, aggressively liquidating its warehouse stock on an already shaky market.
Speaking to AFP, a source within DC&E, who asked to remain anonymous, blamed "enormous stocks" of unsold Bordeaux for their exodus. "It's all about making money. The margins are getting thinner each year and Americans are trading down."
DC&E's turbulent withdrawal, which has heated up in recent weeks, is having a "huge impact on the market," Chris Adams, chief executive of Manhattan retailer Sherry Lehmann, told AFP.
For many years, DC&E was the largest US buyer of Bordeaux, and amassed a colossal cellar. Now famous labels such as Lafite, Haut Brion and Lynch Bages are being offered to American retailers at discounts of up to 50 percent.
"I have 5.5 million dollars' worth of First Growths in my warehouse that I cannot sell, because I'll be 50 percent more expensive than Chateau & Estate," said Guillaume Touton, owner of Monsieur Touton Selection, the New York importer with annual sales of over 100 million dollars.
I received this note from a reader and acquaintance, Daniel McKeever, a few days ago. I'm not sure I agree, but there may be something interesting here. Here's his note, unedited, so others can take a look.
Wes,
I've been working on an experiment that you might find interesting.
I think that we in the wine world taste wines on certain days that we know that we like, and then when we don’t like them, we chalk them up as a bad bottle, or something to the sort rather than considering where the moon is and how it can affect the wine. There is an affect on all living things, consider that the crime rate rises when there is a full moon. As the moon moves, the ocean’s tides are pulled by gravitation. So to it works with us, and the living, breathing organism also known as the bottle of wine. Might it be that some wines are more alive than others? Could it be that some wines are just more in tune with how the earth breathes. I know that there are many professionals who think that root days are fine to taste on. You can still enjoy a bottle on these days, for sure. I believe that there are just days that are better than others for tasting wine. Also, when you are spending a bunch of money on a bottle of wine and looking for magic, some days you won’t find it.
I was interested in the subject because I buy and sell a lot of Burgundy. It is expensive and there’s nothing more heartbreaking than opening a bottle in a dumb phase, or having one that you know isn’t flawed, but just isn’t doing what you know it should. There are many producers who I represent who are practicing biodynamics, and I have seen first hand the results in the vineyard, and in the glass. One night I was having dinner with Bruno Lafon in Tan Hermitage and really started to dig into why it was that wine could be better on some days rather than others. He told me then, that wine tastes best on fruit days, and then on flower days. Leaf days can be okay, but always watch out for root days. Fruit days can help a wine that is reductive to open up. Flower days seem to have a focused nose, but can sometimes cause a wine that is reductive to reduce a bit more and take on almost a port like quality. Leaf days are ones that aren’t necessarily bad, but the wine will show less fruit and more earth tones. Root days cause the wine to close in and show earth notes and little fruit. Needless to say my mind was blown, and I’ve been conducting my own experiments for most of the year. This was one of the first times that I’ve done an experiment in a controlled environment. Partially because, it is a bit of a risk to go around and show the wines that I intend to sell when they are not showing at their best.
Biodynamic experiment
Wednesday October 14, 2009 was a fruit day and I made appointments with some wine buyers to show a set of wines. I also made the exact same appointments at the same times for the following day, which was a root day, to show the same set of wines with fresh bottles opened at 10 o’clock a.m. My objective was to evaluate the wines as they progressed through the days and to show that they would be radically different from fruit day to root day.
I brought two wines that were biodynamic, Masion Champy Pernand Vergelesse 1er Cru Les Fichot, and Gourt de Mautens Rasteau Jerome Bressy. Also, there was one wine that was organic (Paul Autard Cotes de Rhone,) one that was not fully biodynamic, but made in the cellar in a biodynamic fashion, Masion Champy Bourgogne Signature Chardonnay. I also brought two wines from Spain that were farmed normally for a control factor (Izadi Bianco, and Arzuaga La Planta.) I chose the two whites because they both see wood, and I’ve seen that oxidative whites will tend to close in on a root day, which sometimes can be a good thing especially in the way of older wine.
The first wine we tasted was the Izadi Bianco 2007, a white Rioja which is fermented in barrel and a blend of 80% Viura and 20% Malvasia. There was a presence of oak on the wine. Still, it was very pretty, clean, and pure. The tree fruit was showing on both the nose and palate. It was medium bodied with good acid and a fresh lively finish. On the second day, there was still oak present, yet there were more citrus notes and a green stemmy floral tone and more of an herbal thing on the nose, also a bit of heat. There was less of the apple and pear on the palate, and it was replaced by a grapefruit and meyer lemon thing. Although the body was the same, and the wine was sound, the wood and acid were more pronounced. The structure was evident and the fruit was a secondary expression.
Next up was Masion Champy Bourgogne Signature Chardonnay 2006. Day one the wine was firing on all cylinders. The color was gleaming straw with gold and green streaks. The nose was pronounced with golden apple, vanilla, pear, and chalky limestone. There was a saline note, which reminded me of Meursault. On the palate, the wine danced. It was medium to medium plus in body, super round and had a wonderful texture. The oak was a nice frame to the wine, the fruit was generous, minerality was preaching the place of origin. Day two found the wine pinched. There was nothing wrong with the wine, it just wasn’t as expressive on the nose. There was more oak that seemed present, and the lees were showing with a yeasty thing going on. There was less fruit, and minerals on the nose. I even got a bit of banana peal on the nose, which was not there the day before. The palate was fine, just not exceptional as it was the day before. It was all about the structure, and less about the mouthfeel and texture. The body was the same, but the finish wasn’t as long, or exciting. It wasn’t nearly as good as the day before.
Wine number three was Masion Champy Pernand Vergelesse 1er Cru Les Fichot 2006. The first day, the wine was bright red cherry, fresh red roses, and a faint note of rhubarb on the nose. The palate offered the same beautiful high tone cherry core with some pomegranate and great minerality, charm, and the earthy rhubarb tone that was subtle and lovely. It was medium body very round and elegant, with a long finish. It was lively and crunchy as if you’d just picked a berry off the vine and it exploded in the mouth. It was silky and fresh. The second day found the same color and body, but the nose was more barnyard, the rhubarb tone was more present along with a radish, and beet note with almost a sappiness to it. There was also a bunch of cedar. The bright red cherry thing had faded dramatically. There was a baking spice note that was pronounced. The palate was ok. The fruit was dim. It had more tannins from the wood, and was pretty hard and wound up. It was angular and tight and closed up.
Next up was Paul Autard Cotes de Rhone 2006. Day one, the wine was vivid on the nose. It had bright red fruit, dried herbs, lavander, along with a meat oil thing that reminded me of the casing from a dried salami. As one buyer put it, it was like a Cotes de Rhone from thirty years ago. On the palate it had some wood tannin up front, which turned into a beautiful garrigue flavor which resonated, fanned out and framed the red cherry, strawberry, and white pepper notes. It was medium plus body and was round and ethereal. Day two, the wine was there on the nose, but then after a swirl it would kind of disappear. It had similar tones on the nose, lavender and garrigue but the fruit was muted cherry and so forth. The palate was tight. The wood tannins were more present, it was angular and less round. Still, not a bad wine, but not even in the same ballpark as the day before.
Wine number five was Gourt de Mautens Rasteau Jerome Bressy 2004. I was most interested in this wine and how it would react to the experiment because the first time that the guys in my company went to visit Monsieur Bressy, it was on a root day and he wouldn’t even show them the cellar, much less let them taste the wines. That’s pretty dramatic when you consider that they had come all the way from Texas. The following year, I went to the vineyard on a favorable day and was blown away at the quality and craftsmanship of the wine. On day one, this was the showstopper. It was almost black in color, a deep garnet core, it was opaque, and stained the glass with a swirl. It was vivid and savory on the nose with a developed blackberry, currant, and floral note, along with a sexy animal thing. On the palate it was huge. There was black fruit, which was full of what the French call sucrosite, which is sugar without sugar. The wine was impeccable with an amazing finish, which hung on and on. Day two found the wine showing mostly dirt on the nose, and had almost an Amarone thing going on, a pruned dried fruit, and quite a bit of heat. On the palate, it was so tannic. The fruit was short, dark and sweet up front, but disappeared in the mid palate, and then fell off the map. I wish I could say it had some nuts toward the back of the palate, but it was almost like chewing on paper. It was heavy and hot. It was not even enjoyable, and in fact made me want to brush my teeth.
The last wine was Arzuaga La Planta 2007. Day one found the wine with a buttered carrot thing going on the nose. It had some caramel, red apple skin, and cherry as well, along with a little coconut from the wood. It was overshadowed by the Rasteau on the first day and unfortunately seemed out of context. The palate was medium plus in body, had some big tannins but was balanced. The fruit was fresh apple and cherry, there was some cinnamon and coconut. Day two, it was much better than the Rasteau. It had more of the caramel thing and a similar buttered carrot note, but there was some alcohol present on the nose as well. On the palate the fruit was muted a bit and the tannins were much more present on the front of the mouth. It was fine, but wound up and not as round.
All six wines were dramatically different. I think there was less variation in the wines which were farmed normally. Although they weren’t as expressive on the fruit day, they weren’t as drastically different on the root day.
One of the things that comes to mind is that many vineyards send off samples to the press in hopes that a good review might make their vintage. Unfortunately a poor review could break them as well. Might the day of the month in relation to the moon and the cosmos affect how the wine will be received? I’ve never really agreed with the 100 point scoring system to begin with. It is a bit like the show, “Who’s Line Is It, Anyway?”
“Welcome to the show where everything is made up, and the points don’t matter.”
A group of French wine lovers welcomed Jean-Michel Cazes, owner of Lynch-Bages winery, for a celebratory dinner at Aquarelle on April 19. It was a homecoming as M. Cazes had been a graduate student at UT, earning a Masters degree in Petroleum Engineering. His visit was from a series of coincidences.
Earlier this year, at UT, another French graduate student in Petroleum Engineering was reading an old Wine Spectator. Anne Burgot relates the story: "I saw this article about Jean-Michel Cazes, like me, did an engineering degree like me in Paris, and then came to Austin to do the same Master degree as me in UT in Austin in 1959, just 50 years ago! So many coincidences! I found that it was too much to be random. Since I love organizing events, I wrote him a letter to ask him if he would like to come back to Austin 50 years later and that I would volunteer to organize a wine tasting dinner at a delicious French restaurant I know." She never expected to hear back from him, but "two weeks later he sent me an email letting me know that he would love to come back to Austin and could be here in April."
Indeed, Ms. Burgot spent four solid months working on the event, but at the end, she put together a benefit for the Wine and Food Foundation of Texas and filled all of Aquarelle's seats. Best for Austin, her newfound interest in wine and organzing have her hooked. Her next program will be to put together a quarterly tasting of wine for women.
As for the dinner, food and wine were both loved by all. Aquarelle's five course menu was scrumptious, as were the wines, but the dinner was dominated by Almond Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Foie Gras and a Cabernet Reduction married with both a 1996 and 1988 Lynch-Bages. The wine of the night, for my purposes, was the 2005 Chateau Villa Bel Air, a dense and rich Graves loaded with violets and lavender.
Thanks again to Ms. Burgot for her efforts and for these photos of herself with M. Cazes and of the Aquarelle kitchen team with M. Cazes.
This whole obsession with wine began early. I started collecting good wines I was 17 years old and the legal drinking age was 21. In college, I discovered the salutary effect of taking girls to my dorm room to show them my ill-gotten wine collection (“You drink wine? How interesting!”). Later, I was able to wangle a job with a newspaper covering wine and, at the same time, discovered Texas makes some good wines, which led me to write The Wine Roads of Texas. That book won some awards and was subsequently made into a three-part PBS documentary of the same name. My next book, What’s a Wine Lover To Do, came out in 2010 on the Artisan imprint of Workman Publishing. I now have a column in the Austin Chronicle, am a special contributor to the Dallas Morning News, and write regularly for Wine & Spirits, The Wine Enthusiast, Imbibe, and Wines & Vines.
