Bordeaux & Madonna...Timeless Legends...

   I think that Madonna's casting you a look Bordeaux!



        Well hello fine fair weather fruit from the vine drinkers. Welcome to another week of Karen Wendy’s ramblings on wine and all things related. This week our focus is on that classic fairy-tale place of legends Bordeaux. As always I’m looking to do things with a twist so similar to one of my university theology classes where I wrote a comparative paper on the Bible and Bob Marley, I wanted to come up with a modern day iconic classic legend to compare Bordeaux to…who better than Madonna! Let’s see if you’ll agree with me on the comparison…

       Bordeaux has been around a long time people, we're talking close to 2000 years as the history of the first wine productions put it somewhere at 48 AD, though Pliny the Elder first recorded evidence of vineyards in Bordeaux in 71 AD. If Pliny the Elder had stuck around until 1983 he would have heard Madonna's first recording as well with her self-titled album. Now by no means am I saying that Madonna is as old as Bordeaux wines, but relatively speaking she most certainly is. Madonna at 52 years (her birthday's in 4 days just in case you didn't know) in the music industry and Bordeaux wines almost at 2000 in the wine industry - each one has earned their right as well established and well respected in their own industry. They aren’t your fly-by-night Australian wines or Amy Winehouses that just don’t have enough mettle to withstand the drugs and rock and roll – no my friend these two are here to stay.

     Drawing on another comparison let's look at production of the two. In Bordeaux there are 37 well-known Appellations, e.g. Medoc, Saint-Emilion, Pomerol and Pauillac just to name a few. Whilst Madonna has 29 albums (not including box sets) accredited to her name, e.g. Like a Virgin, Ray of Light & Hard Candy. But to really put on the wow factor Madonna has sold more than 300 million records worldwide and is recognized as the world's top selling female recording artist of all time! How does Bordeaux wine measure up to this  - with its eyes closed...this region's vintages on average produce 700 million bottles of Bordeaux wine. Vintages people, as in every year. This is everything from large quantities of table wine to some of the most prestigious and expensive wines in the world. Want a review on a couple of wines that would put a good dent in your wallet if ordered at a restaurant? Check out Gary Vaynerchuck as he tastes two Bordeaux from the highly contentious 2008 vintage.

http://dailygrape.com/videos/44-2008-right-left-bank-bordeaux-tasting

     Another easy link to make between their two legends is the list of number ones. To keep it simple we'll look at Wine Spectator's annual Top 100 list to see the number ones:

 - List from 2004: Château Rieussec Sauternes 2001 - 100 points

 - List from 1999: Château Ducru-Beaucaillou St.-Julien 1995 - 95 points

 - List from 1993: Château Latour Pauillac 1990 - 100 points

  And Madonna - well survey says that she's got twelve Number One hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 - Like a Virgin, Frozen and 4 Minutes are just a sample of some of her amazing works of art. Bordeaux wines and Madonna know what it’s like to be at the top of their game and I will almost guarantee that they will be again and again – 52 pffff – Madonna will be rockin’ out well into her seventies and still lookin’ good doing it, as for Bordeaux I’ve got no doubts they’ll be making their billboard number ones again.

       Lastly, but by no means could this be the end of the comparison, I’m sure you’re curious to know what on earth sponsored this comparison – besides Madonna’s birthday of course and finding some way to incorporate that into my blog. Here’s the article that sparked the idea in my head written in the French newspaper Le Monde and translated into English for the online version of Time magazine:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2087901,00.html

       In reading that I thought to myself wow – talk about keeping up with the times and using modern technology to improve a process that’s thousands of years old. Madonna? Totally in the same boat, remember relatively speaking. She has produced absolutely quality music over the decades (almost 30 years!) but has also evolved with the market, trends, and youth of the generation. Bordeaux wines are not about to throw out generations of wine making knowledge and put full trust in satellite images to tell them how they should be producing their wine and neither is Madonna going to chop and change herself to the point where she is unrecognizable to her devoted fans (me!).  
       
      Which brings me to my last words for my wine loving fans (you – hopefully!) what Bordeaux wines did I drink this week?

Dourthe No. 1 Rouge 2009      Château Pey La Tour 2007

Merlot - Cabernet Sauvignon   Bordeaux Superieur
$18.75                                      $22.50

Curious to know what I thought about them - why not come to our warehouse this full moon Saturday and find out for yourself. Until then may your glass be a plenty and your wine rack never empty - but if it is you know who to call!

Upcoming Events At Discovery Wines

We are very excited to announce our upcoming events for the month of August!

Every Friday night this month Karen from Discovery Wines will be at Muse handing out complimentary samples of their featured wines. Come along to Muse at #17 Front Street between 5pm-7pm to check out their skybar, great cuisine and to taste some new wines. The theme this Friday is Argentina!

We also have the following events coming up.

August 13, 10am-12pm - Wine 101: Intro to Wine Class

Christian will be offering two wine classes (second one Aug. 27) at Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. These classes are designed to give you all the basic information you need to know about wine. 

August 18, 7-9pm- Organic Wine & Food Pairing

We have paired up with Mike Knight of TEN Cafe & Bar to bring you an evening of organic wines and cuisine. 

August 20, 6:30-8:30 pm- Wine Tasting & Sunset Cruise

This isn't your average "booze cruise" folks.  Discovery Wines is teaming up with Ana Luna Adventures for an incredible evening of wine exploration and nautical adventure aboard the luxurious M/V Ana Luna.  We are going to set sail from Grotto Bay and watch the sunset off of St. Georges Island all the while sipping some of the Discovery WInes team's favorite treasures. Come join us for what is sure to be a memorable evening.

August 27, 10am-12pm- Wine 101: Intro to Wine Class II 

(This one will be held at Harry's Restaurant)

The second of two, this class is designed to provide you with a more depth understanding of wine.

Space is limited. For further information or to reserve your spot, please contact kristen@discoverywines.bm or 331-WINE (9463)

A bit of nostalgia in a bottle

When I smell Carmenere I am transported to another place.   Such a distinct smell conjures up images of vineyards set at the base of enormous snowcapped mountains, meticulously manicured grape vines hand harvested when the fall arrives, old beat up bicycles leaning on grape trellising, and the most remarkably hard workers I have ever had the pleasure of laboring with. It is with great nostalgia then that I sip a glass of Carmenere that just arrived to the DW warehouse over the Cup Match holiday and briefly throw down a bit of prose on Chile, this weeks blog subject.

I was lucky enough to spend over a year in Chile making wine and traveling the majestic country from top to bottom, all the while, tasting as much as I could of one of Chile’s most important exports.  I feel lucky that I got to spend so much time there seeing the beautiful mountains, rivers, beaches, lovely ladies…ahh yes, I left a bit of my heart in the small town of Santa Amalia, but I digress. 

I have a certain association with Chile; I understand a bit of its identity, if you will.  But I don’t think too many other people do. For example France conjures up generic images of the Eiffel Tower, or croissants or snotty French people even to someone who hasn’t been there.  Italy just the same, think Italy and you think romantic hills of Tuscany or Roman architecture, easy identification even for those who have never set foot in Europe.  Chile however, is not so identifiable.  This gives France and Italy a leg up on marketing and selling wines.  A marketer or a wine slinger like myself doesn’t have to give a little song and dance to get someone interested in a place like France. Even if they have never been, I don’t need to try too hard to give them an idea of the culture, the landscape, the architecture let alone why they should try the wines from that place.  It’s already an understood that good wines come from France and Italy. Well, I ran across an article recently that discusses the struggle that Chile is having trying to promote its identity and how that translates to association with a wine exporting country. 

http://wineeconomist.com/2011/04/19/reimagining-chiles-wine-identity/

This article brings up that perhaps Chile’s grape, Carmenere could be the vehicle to giving Chile an identity.  Carmenere is Chile’s grape; there is no doubt about it.  Nobody else produces it let alone celebrates it the way Chile does. Carmenere was, however originally a grape that was grown side by side with Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux, France.  In the early 1900’s a disease (root louse rather) destroyed essentially every vine in Europe and replanting was done without Carmenere.  Not much is known why Carmenere wasn’t replanted, but it wasn’t. So folks thought it was lost.  Well it had not become extinct after all; it turned up in Chile in the 1980’s and is now trying it’s best to define a nations wine culture.  Might just work, couldn’t hurt any.  The quality of some Carmenere these days is awesome.  If you haven’t tried one yet you owe it to yourself to buy a bottle today.

Anyway, wine culture is one thing.  Those are the folks like you reading this blog who are already curious about Chile.  It’s the rest of the consumers out there that must be introduced to Chile so that instead of seeing a Kangaroo on the label and thinking “Oh, Australia, yeah good cheap wine” they will see something on the bottle of a Chilean wine (mountain, river, lovely lady etc.) and associate it with quality wine.  Good luck Chilean wine marketers, I’m rooting for you.