Wine class last week was enlived with Antonio Gardella's poetic passion for wine. A student asked about his experience tasting wine from the venerable Château Pétrus: "It's like a woman in a diaphanous dress with beautiful legs, ample and generous--who says yes." Bordeaux is the source of most of the wine world's most expensive bottles. In fact the highest price ever paid for one bottle was $160,000 for a 1787 bottle from Château Lafitte once owned by Thomas Jefferson, now housed in the Forbes Collection (article in Forbes). Why the acclaim for Bordeaux? Certainly part of it is in the clever marketing of futures that drives the wine prices up, but one has to credit winemaking expertise honed for hundreds of years, the ideal climate moderated by the trio of rivers (Garonne, Dordogne and Gironde), and the remarkable soil--gravel pockets in silt and clay on the Left Bank and marly limestone hills of the Right bank. The gravel of the Left Bank, along with protective pine forest, keeps the temperature warmer, best suited for Cabernet Sauvignon grapes which need the warmth to ripen properly. Faster-ripening Merlot favors the Right Bank soil and climate. All areas of Bordeaux use judicious blending to maintain consistency and optimize their wine despite variance in the quality of the individual grapes. I meet many people in the US who think that wines that are 100% of one varietal are preferable, which I don't understand since great wine has been blended for generations. The only grape varietals allowed in Bordeaux are: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Carmenere. Antonio explained that Carmenere is rarely seen any more since Carmenere didn't take well to grafting to American rootstock after phylloxera decimated European vineyards in the 1860s (read article). Old Carmenere bineyards can be found in Chile because the soil is sandy and dry, conditions unfavorable phylloxera, as well as newer vineyards in Washington State with similar soil.
An interesting bit of wine information pertains to the mold botryitis cinerea or "noble rot" that causes grapes to partially "raisin-ize" meaning the flavors will be stronger--more extracted and the brix or sugar content elevated. It's difficult to control because other molds will cause off-tastes and keeping them out of the vineyard is difficult when spores float through the air. Growing noble rot is very labor intensive. At Château Pétrus, the grapes are individually picked when the botryitis is optimum. They were also one of the first to practice green harvest or éclaircissage where some unripe grapes are removed to enhance the flavor of the ones that are left to ripen. Recipe from Williams Sonoma.
BRAISED SHORT RIBS:
4 lb. bone-in beef short ribs
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp. olive oil, plus more as needed
2 large yellow onions, chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup red wine
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
3 fresh thyme sprigs
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 to 2 cups beef stock
Season the short ribs with salt and pepper. Spread the flour out on a rimmed baking sheet. Dredge the ribs in the flour, shaking off the excess. In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm the 3 Tbs. olive oil until nearly smoking. Working in batches, brown the ribs on all sides, about 10 minutes total. Transfer to a slow cooker.
Add more oil to the Dutch oven if needed. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions, carrots and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker. Add the wine to the Dutch oven and cook, stirring to scrape up the browned bits. Add the tomato paste, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf, mashing any large chunks of tomato paste with a spoon. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until thickened and reduced by half, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the wine mixture to the slow cooker along with enough stock to come halfway up the sides of the ribs. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours according to the manufacturer?s instructions, stirring occasionally. Skim the fat off the sauce. Discard the herb sprigs and bay leaf. Transfer the ribs, carrots and sauce to shallow bowls or plates and serve immediately. Serves 6. Pair this recipe with one of our 2000 Bordeaux.
If you didn't take the Test Your Wine Knowledge quiz on Bordeaux, you probably aren't signed up for the free newsletter with wine discounts and recipes that I put out every week for Touring & Tasting--sign up here (no obligation to buy wine). Here's the quiz:
4 lb. bone-in beef short ribs
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp. olive oil, plus more as needed
2 large yellow onions, chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup red wine
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
3 fresh thyme sprigs
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
1 bay leaf
1 to 2 cups beef stock
Season the short ribs with salt and pepper. Spread the flour out on a rimmed baking sheet. Dredge the ribs in the flour, shaking off the excess. In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm the 3 Tbs. olive oil until nearly smoking. Working in batches, brown the ribs on all sides, about 10 minutes total. Transfer to a slow cooker.
Add more oil to the Dutch oven if needed. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions, carrots and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker. Add the wine to the Dutch oven and cook, stirring to scrape up the browned bits. Add the tomato paste, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf, mashing any large chunks of tomato paste with a spoon. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook until thickened and reduced by half, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the wine mixture to the slow cooker along with enough stock to come halfway up the sides of the ribs. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours according to the manufacturer?s instructions, stirring occasionally. Skim the fat off the sauce. Discard the herb sprigs and bay leaf. Transfer the ribs, carrots and sauce to shallow bowls or plates and serve immediately. Serves 6. Pair this recipe with one of our 2000 Bordeaux.
1. Is Bordeaux a type of grape, such as Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon?
2. What is the difference between "Left Bank" and "Right Bank" Bordeaux?
3. What was the highest price ever paid for a bottle of Bordeaux?
a. $4, 450
b. $6,000
c. $25,000
d. $160,000
4. Does mold on grapes ruin them for winemaking?
5. What vintage of Bordeaux is called "the greatest vintage Bordeaux has ever produced" by famed wine critic Robert Parker, Jr?
You should know the answers from the post above!
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