The Sipping News

An argument in favor of bartender copywriting cocktails and techniques as intellectual property, which may be one of the most unenforceable ideas I've ever heard of. Thankfully, legally, this is impossible. I've always thought the cocktail world's willingness to share recipes and idea was always one of its most likable and noble aspect. [The Atlantic]

There seem to have been a rash of high profile bartender departures in recent months. The latest include Owen Westman, who will leave the San Francisco bar Rickhouse to open his own place all the way over in Melbourne. Westman, who was born in Melbourne,  couldn't say where the bar is or what its name will be (details are still being finalized). But the cocktail list will draw on his experience at Bourbon & Branch, Rickhouse and other bars he's visited throughout the world. (Rickhouse recently lost Erick Castro to Pernod.) He calls Melbourne "by far the most cocktail and food forward city in Australia." Meanwhile,  Nico de Soto is leaving Dram in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to go to London to work at a London branch of Paris' Experimental Cocktail Club.

Toward a lighter, and greener, Champagne bottle. [NY Times]

A lengthy piece on the legendary Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale. [Wine Enthusiast]

"Alcohol is not a flavor," says John Ragan, sommelier at Eleven Madison Park. Agreed! [Grub Street]

Champagne and Hot Dogs

For a couple years now, the Cognac people have been flying American mixologists and liquor pros out to France for "Cognac summits," trying to turn them onto the idea of using more brandy in their cocktail creations. Whenever I encounter one of the veterans of these trips, I ask them if they were converted to the cause, and they all take on the same resigned expression and wearily say "no." The reason? Cognac is just too damn expressive to make economic sense as a cocktail component. To use it will drive up the cost of the drink.

I thought about this recently as I sat down to a long meal of Champagne and hot dogs. That's right, Champagne and hot dogs. The event took place at Bark, the great dog joint in Park Slope. So the food was tasty. As was the wine. Dom Pérignon, Veuve Cliquot, Moet & Chandon, even Krug were being poured. The idea behind the peculiar repast, as with the Cognac meetings, was to get liquor pros and writers to think differently about Champagne. The worldwide recession has not been good to Champagne. People are drinking and demanding cheaper wines, and Champagne ain't that. Even in good times, Americans think of bubbly as a special-occasion bottle, for New Year's Eve and anniversaries and births. And though wine writers continually (and correctly) preach that sparkling wine goes beautifully with most food, folks are slow to learn, and loathe to pay for a bottle that costs so much more than the meal they're eating.

Even before the economic downturn, houses like Krug were trying to get consumers to think of Champagne as something you could drink everyday—a priceless pitch given the price of a bottle of Krug. This hot dog event was part of that push. And I was willing to listen to the argument, if only for its originality.

The feast was not for the weak of heart. We tried eight different hot dogs, paired with eight different bottles. Recognizing that we were not in training for the annual Coney Island hot dog-eating contest, the host served the weiners in halves. Still, that's four loaded hot dogs. And eight glasses of Champagne. (We were not compelled to finish each glass, but most did anyway. Imagine.)

I looked hard to find merits in the pairings, things that married the dogs and bubbly taste-wise. And I succeeded once. Bark's NYC Dog with Cucumber Relish found something of a kindred spirit in the Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage 2003. I puzzled over this, until Josh Sharkey, the owner of Bark, told me there was lime zest in the cucumber relish. There was the link: citrus!

Otherwise, though, my efforts were thwarted. The juicy acidity of the hot dogs warred with the zippy acidity of the wine. It was an acid fest. And, quite frankly, as good as Sharkey's frankfurters were, I was always thinking how much they were being outclassed by the Champagne. Few foods are as good as a glass of Krug. And the dog didn't even come close.

But even if the Krug emerged as a improbably perfect pairing for a red hot, the disparity in cost between the two items negates the pairing as a serious possibility. As I tasted the dogs next to the wines, I kept thinking I was playing a game only a rich man could indulge in, like putting shaved truffles on my egg sandwich. The Krug rep there told a glass of the stuff would run me about $40 in New York. Who else but a wealthy (and decadent) person could, or would, order a $40 beverage to go with a $5 dog?

I do think pairing Champagne with comfort food could work, but on a much more modest level, involving value Champagnes and other economical sparkling wines, like Cava or Prosecco. I'd break out an $11 half-bottle of Gruet from New Mexico with a bratwurst. Bark has one sparkling wine on its menu. Next time I'm in, I'm going to give it a try with my dog.

Review: Ulysse Collin Blanc de Blanc NV

When we think of Champagne, we tend to picture old, historic houses that have been having at the bubbly for centuries. New Champagne makers are an odd notion. But they do exist. 

I sampled the startlingly good wares of such a creature, Ulysse Collin, at the recent Polaner tasting. Olivier Collin's first vintage was only in 2004 and he's already a rising star, his wine praised left and right. The Blanc de Blanc NV (coming out of the 2005 vintage) was gentle and dry, yet with a sparkling clarity. It reminded me how simple a joy, yet subtly complex an experience, good Champagne could be. Pure enjoyment. It's not cheap; looks to run about $80 a bottle. But worth it, if you're in the mood to splurge.

In 2003, Collin recovered 4.5 hectares of vineyards that his family had rented out for years to Maison Pommery, and part of the family cellar, also rented out elsewhere. The Blanc de Blancs comes from a 1.2 hectare plot called Les Perrières, where the vines are around 30 years old. This plot has a shallow, poor topsoil 10 to 50 cms deep over the rocky subsoil of soft chalk with carbonated silex or onyx, which, I am told, is a rare geological combination in Champagne. Collin hopes to be completely organic in the years to come, but presently, owing to financial restraints, he uses a mix of organic and conventional practices.

He's aging the Champagne longer each year: 10 months in 2004, 12 in 2005, 13 in 2006. And he made a second wine in 2006, a Blanc de Noirs from a plot called Les Maillons near the town of Sézanne. I didn't get to taste that.

Collin made only 5,500 bottles of the 2004, but in 2005 he increased this to 9,000, and in 2006 he made 10,000 bottles of this wine and 5,000 bottles of the Blanc de Noirs.

What Italian Wines Do the Italians Drink?

I was recently charged by a major wine magazine to find out what wine young Italian wine enthusiasts drink in the course of everyday life. It was a fun assignment and confirmed a lot of suspicions I already had. Unfortunately, by the time I turned in the article, the magazine had taken a hit in advertising and no longer had the pages necessary to run the piece. It seemed a shame to scrap the story after having invested roughly 167 international e-mails towards it's completion. So I'm running it here.

When in Rome...

By Robert Simonson

Perhaps no youth culture in Europe likes their wine more than do the Italians. Roam through the centro storico of any major city after dusk and you'll see countless young Romans, Milanese and Bariese, vino in hand. Knowing that what the next generation of Italian wine lovers are drinking this year may be what the world's Italophiles will be drinking next year, we polled a small cross-section of locals on their current quaffing preferences. While individual tastes inevitable vary, some trends did emerge. Southern grape varietals, such as Falanghina, Primitivo, Aglianico and Nero d'Avola, are enjoying their moment, and Franciacorta, the Chardonnay-based, sparkling wine from Lombardy, has its advocates among the Champagne-loving Italians.

GEORGIA BASSANO, 32, Actor, Restaurant Worker, Rome

Bassano, a Roman who works in her father's restaurant and acts in her spare time, is a fan of Franz Haas A. A. Gewürztraminer, a white wine from the northern growing region of Alto Adige, on the Austrian and Swiss borders. But her friends typically go for a glass of Falanghina, from the southern Italian region of Campania. "I don't know why Falanghina is most popular in my generation. In Italy when we go out for a drink, one takes whatever is poured by the glass, and merchants prefer to serve falanghina because it's cheap, but also suitable for all. It is a wine that everyone can drink and that is wrong for no one."

ALEX DEO, 30, Opera Singer, Rome

Deo, an opera singer who lives in Rome, drinks wine "every time I can do it! About one or two times in a day. I prefer the red wines, especially Primitivo, Negroamaro and Nero d'Avola. I think that among my friends Nero d'Avola is the most popular." Deo sees a bright future for Primitivo. "First of all I think that Italians like to drink these kind of wines for their body and flavour. But I can't hide that there's a good marketing job behind the wines. You can find them everywhere (winebar, supermarket, restaurant) with every kind of price you want. And finally, in Rome there are many trends; now it's the 'wines from the south' moment!"

MATTEO VERONESE, 31, Mergers and Acquisitions Consultant, Udine

Veronese, a mergers and acquisitions consultant in the northeast city of Udine, counts pinot nero, merlot and Barbaresco among his favorite reds, while his preferred whites are Friulano, Pinot Grigio and Malvasia. While he, like many Italians, loves French Champagne, "Some of my friends think that Franciacorta is better than Champagne, but generally I do not agree." In the future, he sees Italians "increasingly oriented towards simple, I think woodless, wine that can be drunk every day."

BARBARA CIUFFATELLI, 36, Restaurant Owner, Rome

Ciuffatelli, a restaurant owner in Rome, has found that "Nowadays Italians prefer local wines which best represent the territory where the wines are produced, such as Nero d'Avola, Barbera, Fiano, etc. Very specific wines. Moreover, they are discovering grapes that are not trendy at all, but linked to the region, such as Pecorino" She has also noticed a lot of interest in "sparkling Italian wine, mostly Franciacorta."

GUIDO SETTEPASSI, 35, Lawyer, Milan

Settepassi, a Milan-based lawyer, calls wine his "hobby" and drinks it almost every day. He is a fan of French wines, including Pinot Noir from Burgundy, Merlot from Pomerol and Syrah from the Rhone valley, but also respects Barolo and Barbaresco from the nearby Piemonte, and adores "Aglianico and also Negroamaro from Salento." His friends, meanwhile, typically order Nero d'Avola, Blauburgunder and Dolcetto.

DAVIDE AREZZO, 28, Building Surveyor, Bari

Arezzo, a building surveyor in the Puglia coastal city of Bari, likes Greco di Tufo from Campania when he's drinking white and Aglianico, another varietal heavily grown in Campania, when drinking red. He's also a fan of chilled red wines, such as Fichimori, an Negroamaro produced by the Antinori-owned Puglia winery Tomaresca, which is meant to be served cold. Davide says simply, "Italian wines are the best."

FRANCESO MASCI, 35, Artist, Rome

Masci, an artist who divides his time between New York and Rome, says that "a very common summer white wine is Falanghina, which is kind of simple, but very fruity and dry. Greco di Tufo is another white, more articulate and intense, more alcoholic and it matches wonderfully with fish." Vermentino from Sardinia, made by Argiolas Costamolino, is another white that sells well with Italians, he said, while the Firrato wines Chiaramonte and Harmonium of Sicily are popular red wines.

DAVID WALDEN, 34, Tour Guide, Rome

David Walden is from Toronto, but he and his Italian wife have made Rome their home for many years. He drinks a half a bottle of wine every night at dinner. His tastes run the gamut from Cabernet to Sangiovese. His "big spender" friends opt for Amarone, Brunello di Montalcino and Barolo, while his pals of more modest means reach for Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Morellino di Scansano and Barbera d'Alba. He agrees that wines from the south are popular at present "since southern wines are decisively cheaper and not as refined." He says that in the future, we should "watch for reserves and aged barrique wines from Sicily and Puglia, such as Rosso Salentino, Negroamaro, Nero d'Avola and Primitivo."

MARCO LUNELLI, 28, Lawyer, Udine

As the sun sets, lawyer Lunelli pours a sparkling wine from Trentino. With dinner, it's a Sauvignon Blanc from his native Friuli or a Traminer from Trentino. And with dessert, he likes a Moscato from Piemonte. While the southern favorite Aglianico has a place with his friends, other southern grape varieties such as Fiano and Falanghina are "not so popular in the north of Italy in my experience." For the future, he think maybe "quality wines will be more popular. But maybe that is a hope, not an impression." 

ANDREA D'OSVALDO, 23, worker in family's ham manufacturing concern, Cormòns near Trieste

d'Osvaldo, who hopes to be a winemaker in the future, drinks Friulano and Sauvignon Blanc when she is at home, but prefers sparkling wine when she goes out, especially Champagne or Fanciacorta. "Other wines that I drink very gladly when I have a dinner are Pinot Bianco and Chardonnay (from Collio or Colli Orientali del Friuli), Pinot Nero (from Trentino Alto Adige or Bourgogne), Merlot (from Colli Orientali del Friuli), Napa Valley red wine, and Barbaresco and Barolo. My friends love Friuli's white wine, sparkling wine from Franciacorta,  the red wine from Tuscany (Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino) and Piemonte (Barolo, Barbareco, Barbera)." Other wines most popular in Italy, she said, are Greco di Tufo and Taurasi, Nero d'Avola, and Amarone. Finally, she notes, "I think that the sparkling wines, especially the Champagne, will be always fashionable." He particular favorite? Billecart Salmon Blanc de Blancs.

The Night They Devalued Champagne

Alice Fiering has a long, probing article in the Wall Street Journal Magazine about just how bad things have gotten in the most luxurious of wine regions, Champagne. Seems the recession has proved many of bubbly's fans to be fair weather friends at best. $10 bottles of Prosecco are the popular dates at liquor stores, while the Cristal and Krug have become unlikely wallflowers waiting, somewhat desperately, to be asked to dance.

According to the article, sales are off 50 percent for the basic stuff, and down 85 percent for the fancy. The Champenois aren't used to courting their customers, but they've been forced to cut prices and deploy some inventive marketing to keep the buyer interested during times when a bottle of the best stuff might be best used to buy a week's worth of groceries:

What Moët Hennessy is really looking to do is to get into the conscious dreams of those living in regions that they’d never given much thought to. Mark Bodi, chairman of New Hampshire’s liquor commission, was delighted when Moët suggested it sponsor stores within state wine stores, based on the dutyfree-shop concept. To kick off the partnership, an increased order of 2,000 cases of the company’s champagnes were shipped north to sit on fancy backlit shelving. In politics, the nation follows New Hampshire— could this be a bellwether for champagne? Their sales are up in the pilot store in Hampton, N.H., by 30 percent.

The bright side to all of this is that consumers are in for a bargain or two, particularly around the holidays, should the recession persist (which it surely will). Additionally, perhaps we are through, for a time, with the decadent silliness that became rampant during the boom years. Examples pointing out by Fiering:

Perrier-Jouët’s By and For line released a $70,000-a-case champagne they referred to as bespoke, and Veuve Clicquot teamed up with Porsche Design to make Vertical Limit, a $70,000 cellar that looked like a high-tech iron maiden and held 12 magnums of vintage champagne, going back to 1955.

Daniel Lorson, communications director of the trade organization Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC), told Fiering, “The bling-bling side, the artifi cial luxury side of champagne, is dead. It’s now about authenticity.”

How can that be bad?

Room For Everyone

At a recent wine event, I was seated next to the manager of a prominent Manhattan wine store know for its selection of classic French wines. We were having our dessert, and were musing how it would have been nice to conclude the feast with a nice sweet wine. This led him to relate how the folks at Chateau D'Yquem are always promoting the idea that the classic Sauternes should not be relegated to the end of the meal, but is appropriate from soup to nuts. With this he cracked a wry smile, communicating how ludicrous the idea seemed to him.

It seemed ludicrous to me, too. And it brings up an annoying habit I have often encountered among wine and spirit makers. That is, they want it ALL! It's not enough for them to be the best wine with lamb, the best wine with oysters, the best wine with fois gras. They think people should be downing their vino with every course, at every occasion. The Champagne people have been banging this drum for years, saying their bubbly is not just a special-occasion beverage, but a quencher for all times. (They, it seems to me, have the best case to make where this kind of monolopy-grab is concerned.) The spirits industry, too, has been trying to shed its cocktail-before-dinner image, encouraging people that gin and bourbon and tequila are do be enjoyed throughout a meal.

Most of these campaigns are born of greed, of course, not common sense. I can't think of a more unpleasant and dizzyingly rich experience than coating my mouth with luscious Yquem over a two-hour dinner. As splendid as that manna is, I imagine its saturating flavors would get in the way of the subtler flavors of any meal, and the volume of honeyed elixir would leave you a bit leaden at night's end. As for the "cocktail dinner," I've always thought it a patently bad idea. Spirits are bullies. They don't compliment food as well as wine does; they dominate the proceedings. There's simply no use pretending otherwise. And they get you drunker far quicker, so that, by mid-meal, you wouldn't really care or notice what you're eating or drinking.

Furthermore, I think distillers and vintners are doing themselves a disservice by promoting the supposed versatility of their products. They may imagine that it will result in greater sales and visibility. But it will also lead to a diminishing of their profile and a lessening of prestige. If Champagne is right for every food and every hour, it ceases to be special. And Sauternes and other sweet wines only heighten their attractiveness and allure by keeping themselves the exclusive treasure that is saved for the end of the festivities. (The best is always saved for last, right?) Cocktails have their own "hour"—a much better position than being an also-ran parvenu at the dinner table. A specialist is more highly thought of than a general practioner. Why become common when you've got a lock on a certain niche? Didn't Beaujolais do that in the '80s and '90s with the Nouveau campaign? And look at its dismal reputation now, only just recovering its dignity.

So Champagne, Yquem, Cocktails: recognize your uniqueness and embrace it. Part of the wonderfulness of the drinking world is there's a perfect drink for every human experience.