The Booklovers' Guide to Wine

by Patrick Alexander

  Merry Widows: When the widowed Mme. Barbe-Nicole Clicquot inherited her husband’s wine business in 1805, she introduced a number of lasting innovations, including pink (rosé) champagne and the modern strong champagne bottle shape—as well as her iconic yellow Veuve Clicquot label. A few years later, in 1860, when the widowed Louise Pommerey took over her husband’s business, she was the first to create Brut, or dry champagne, and she was the first to discover and purchase the immense Roman chalk quarries beneath the city of Reims for storing her collection of over twenty million bottles of champagne. The third widow, or veuve, to inherit a champagne house was Lilly Bollinger. When a London newspaper reporter asked her when she drank Champagne she famously answered: “I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes, I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it if I am; otherwise I never touch it— unless I’m thirsty.”

  It should not be forgotten that in addition to being a wine that can be drunk alone, Champagne also pairs well with just about every type of food, from sushi to lobster to grilled steak. The celebrated British economist, John Maynard Keynes, said that his single regret, looking back over his long life, is that he did not drink enough Champagne.

  Depending on the amount of residual sugar, Champagne labels range from very dry (Extra Brut) to very sweet (Doux):

  Extra Brut (less than 6 grams of residual sugar per litre)

  Brut (less than 12 grams)

  Extra Dry (between 12 and 17 grams)

  Sec (between 17 and 32 grams)

  Demi-sec (between 32 and 50 grams)

  Doux (50 grams)

  In addition to sweetness levels, Champagnes are also classified by bodyweight, from light to full. Some of the most famous brands are:

  Light: Lanson, Taillevent

  Light/Medium: Laurant-Perrier, Perrier-Jouet, Pommery, Taittinger

  Medium: Heidsieck, Moet & Chandon, Mumm, Piper-Heidsieck,

  Medium/Full: Ruinart, Veuve Clicquot

  Full: Krug, Louis-Roederer

  The various different sizes of Champagne bottles were discussed earlier in the chapter on bottle shapes.

  Languedoc-Roussillon

  The Languedoc-Roussillon region refers to the southern French coast from the Spanish border to the Rhône Valley and Provence. The area is the single biggest wine-producing region in the world, being responsible for more than a third of France’s total wine production. As recently as 2001, the region produced more wine than the entire United States. Traditionally, it has been the most unregulated wine growing area in France, producing vast quantities of unremarkable vin-de-table bulk wine. The most common grape varietal in the whole region, from northern Spain, east along the coast to France, is Grenache (known as Garnacha in Spain).

  For much of its history, Roussillon has been more Spanish than French, being variously part of the Kingdoms of Aragon, Majorca, and Catalonia. Even today, the local patois is closer to Catalan than French. Roussillon enjoys more sunshine than any other part of France.

  The Greeks and Phoenicians planted the first vineyards along the Mediterranean coast of Languedoc as early as 600 BC and, having the highest temperatures in France, the region has been mass-producing vin-ordinaire ever since. Because the wines of the region focused on quantity rather than quality, the stringent AOC regulations which applied elsewhere in France were not enforced in the Languedoc, which basically had little reputation to protect.

  For much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a significant amount of French wine was actually grown in Algeria and then shipped to France for blending into vin-de-table. Following Algerian independence in 1962, most of the French colonists, pied-noirs, moved back to France, where a great many settled in Languedoc and planted vineyards of Cinsaut grapes, the high-yielding, heat tolerant grapes they had grown in Algeria. The wines of Languedoc simply replaced the wines of Algeria for producing France’s vin-de-table.

  As a result of the change in philosophy following the 1976 Judgment of Paris (discussed elsewhere in this book), many young garagistes moved from elsewhere in France to experiment with new ideas and winemaking techniques in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. Garagistes is an expression used to describe young winemakers who experimented with new winemaking styles in their parents’ garages—just as young Californians, like Steve Jobs, used their parents’ garages in the 1980s to build prototype computers. These passionate young winemakers were attracted to the Languedoc-Roussillon region because land was cheap, the soil and climate were perfect for growing grapes, and the AOC restrictions were almost nonexistent. Instead of being limited by the restrictions, traditions, and AOC regulations of Bordeaux or Burgundy, young garagistes were free to grow vines and blend wine in whatever way they chose, using whatever varietal of grapes they wanted, and to experiment with total freedom. If they succeeded, their wine would sell based on their own reputation and brand, not on the land and traditions of where it was made. The success of the garagistes in the Languedoc-Roussillon has represented a rejection of the concept of terroir. The same phenomena can be observed across the border in the Penedes region of Spain, where young winemakers are abandoning the traditions and regulations of Ribera del Duero and Rioja, and moving to the less-regulated coast of Catalonia, east of Barcelona.

  In addition to French garagistes, the flying winemakers from Australia also discovered the Languedoc in the 1980s and started buying land. With typical Australian disdain for French traditions and contempt for the old-fashioned, unhygienic methods of the Pied-Noirs, the Australians replaced the high-yielding but flabby Cinsault, Airen, and Grenache vines with Cabernets, Shiraz, and Chardonnays. Even E.&J. Gallo, the vast Californian conglomerate, grows the Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Chardonnay grapes for their Red Bicyclette brand in the Languedoc, which they describe as “a verdant area of rolling hills and wildflowers bordering the Mediterranean Sea.”

  Some of the most interesting and competitively-priced wines in France are beginning to emerge from the Languedoc-Roussillon and onto world markets with a special focus on wines made from the Carignan and Grenache grapes. Lighter reds are being produced in the center of the region in St. Chinian, while more aromatic reds using Grenache are coming from neighboring Faugères. Corbières is the largest subregion, and has long been known for its fruity and juicy red wines made from Carignan, Syrah and Grenache. Languedoc also produces extremely good and bargain-priced sparkling wines, called Blanquette de Limoux, made with the Champagne method but using the local Mauzac grape. Banyuls, near the Spanish border in Roussillon, is famous for its powerful, sweet dessert wines.

  Loire Valley

  Apart from the breathtaking beauty of the royal châteaux which decorate the river, the Loire is also justly famous for its white wines. Although some red wine (Cabernet Franc) is produced in the Loire, especially in Chinon and Saumur, the region is mostly famous for its three white grape varietals.

  Muscadet, the main varietal grown in the lower reaches of the river in the Pays-Nantes, is also referred to as “Melon de Bourgogne.” Delicious with the region’s plentiful seafood it has been described as “the perfect oyster wine.”

  Chenin Blanc, also known as “Pineau de la Loire,” is the most common varietal in the central Loire area of Anjou-Saumur and Touraine, and has the unique quality of producing both sweet wines as well as dry or even sparkling wines from the same vine depending on the vintage and the winegrower’s whim. Even when dry, Chenin Blanc still gives the impression of being sweeter than the Sauvignon Blancs further upriver. The small towns of Vouvray and Chinon have two of the most famous Chenin Blanc appellations.

  Sauvignon Blanc is the varietal of the Upper or Eastern Loire, and although this section of the river lacks the châteaux and beauty of the lower reaches, its wines more than compensate. The same Kimmeridgean limestone ridge, which stretches from England’s South Downs, across the White Cliffs of Dover, through the
rolling hills of Champagne and Chablis, gives the same dry, flinty, mineral taste to the wines of the upper-Loire as it does to Champagne and Chablis. The two most famous appellations of the upper-Loire are based on the two communes of Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire, which face each other across the river and have long been recognized as having the best Sauvignon Blanc in the world. That claim is now being challenged by the wines from Marlborough in New Zealand’s South Island, which counter the Loire’s more austere, mineral taste with a softer, fruitier flavor.

  Chasselas. It should be noted that the commune of Pouilly-sur-Loire also permits a second varietal to be grown, Chasselas. Blended with Sauvignon Blanc, the resulting wine is known as Pouilly-sur-Loire. Only the unblended Sauvignon Blanc can be called Pouilly Fumé.

  Rhône Valley

  The Rhône valley contains about forty individual AOC Appellations. First planted by the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans, the Rhône valley has the oldest vineyards in France. Because of the marked difference in geography and climate, the region is divided between two regions, the North and the South. Though there is a marked difference between the wines of the two regions, the Côte-du-Rhône AOC is found in both.

  Northern Rhône Valley: The northern Rhône valley which runs just forty miles from Lyon, south to Montélimar, has warm summers, harsh winters, and is plagued by the maddening Mistral wind, which brings cold air down from the mountains. The only red grape varietal permitted is the Syrah grape, and its most famous vineyards are around Hermitage. The Syrah grape is the exact same grape as Shiraz, which, of course, the Australians have made so popular during the past twenty years. Legend has it that a weary French knight, returning from the Crusades and sick of the bloodshed he had witnessed, became a hermit and retired to a stone hut on a hill where he planted a vine he had brought back from the town of Shiraz in Persia. We don’t know if there is any truth to the legend, but we do know that an English doctor, James Busby, took some Syrah root stock when he immigrated to Australia and renamed the grape Shiraz. Busby later wrote, “according to the tradition of the neighborhood, the plant [Scyras] was originally brought from Shiraz in Persia, by one of the hermits of the mountain.”

  The white wines of the northern Rhône are mainly made from Viognier grapes, and also Marsanne and Roussanne. The most famous appellations are Condrieu and Château-Grillet.

  Southern Rhône Valley: South of Montélimar the winters are mild, while the summers are hot; the river valley widens out and the range of permitted grape varietals also opens up. The main red grapes include Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Carignan. One of the most-famous appellations is Châteauneuf-du-Pape which can be made from a selection of up to nineteen different grape varietals (ten red and nine white). White grapes include Viognier, Marsanne, Roussanne, and Picpoul.

  Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the home of the Popes in Avignon, built by the Archbishop of Bordeaux, Bertrand de Goth, when he became Pope Clement V in 1309. As Archbishop of Bordeaux, he had already created the vineyard of Pape Clement, which celebrated its 710th consecutive harvest in 2016. As a puppet of the French King, Philip IV, Clement moved the papacy to Avignon from Rome and the popes remained in Avignon until 1377, when the papacy finally returned to Rome. In 1366, when the Italian poet Petrarch asked Pope Urban V why he remained in Avignon instead of returning to Rome, Urban explained that the quality of the wine of the Rhône valley was far superior to anything available in the Eternal City.

  The southern Rhône and Provence are most famous for their refreshing rosé wines, long popular throughout France, and finally finding acceptance in the USA. Perhaps the most famous rosés come from the Tavel appellation, and usually include Grenache and Mourvèdre grapes. My personal favorite is Château Maime from the hills just north of Saint Tropez. Because of the power of the Mistral wind, not only are dust and pollen blown off the land and out over the Mediterranean, but also all the bugs and pests are blown away, leaving the vines disease-free. Like Argentina and Chile, the southern Rhône and Provence are excellent locations for organic or pesticide-free farming. Thanks to the Mistral, it is the pollution-free clarity of the air which has drawn so many painters to this part of France, for its enhanced palette of colors and unique clarity of light which enables the viewer to see for more than one hundred miles.

  Spain

  Spain has more land devoted to vines than any other country on Earth. However, because the summers are so hot and dry and the winters are so cold, vines must be spaced far apart to maximize the resources of the dry and infertile soil, resulting in very low yields. Nonetheless, Spain is the world’s third largest producer of wine, after France and Italy.

  Similar to the French AOC system of classifying and labeling wines, the Spanish have a DO system, Denominación de Origen, which shows the geographic source of the wine as well as controlling local regulations such as grape varietal and production methods. There is also a slightly-higher classification DOC, Denominación de Origen Calificada that is restricted to wines from Rioja and Priorat.

  The earliest Spanish vineyards were planted over three thousand years ago by the Phoenicians in the far south of the country, in Jerez. They continued producing wine even during the seven hundred years of Moorish occupation, by arguing that the grapes were grown to feed the Sultan’s armies and to make wine to poison the infidels. The Greeks followed the Phoenicians by planting vines along the Mediterranean coast, and then the Romans covered the rest of the country with vineyards as far inland as the Douro River of present day Portugal. Although the Spaniards have continued to produce and consume large quantities of wine since the time of the Romans, they never introduced any technological advances, and their methods were rustic and steeped in tradition. As recently as the late nineteenth century, they were still making and storing wine the way the Romans had shown them sixteen hundred years earlier, crushing the grapes by foot in stone troughs, or lagars, and storing the wine in badly sealed, underground amphora resulting in a highly oxidized taste. The taste was not improved by the Spanish tradition of storing and transporting wine in animal hides—usually freshly butchered hogs. Even today, many Spaniards retain a preference for oxidized wines. It was only in the late nineteenth century that the French persuaded them to use oak barrels in place of animal skins. This emphasis on oak can be seen in the traditional way Spanish wines are labeled:

  Crianza red wines are aged for two years with at least six months in oak. Crianza whites and rosés must be aged for at least one year with at least six months in oak.

  Reserva red wines are aged for at least three years with at least one year in oak. Reserva whites and rosés must be aged for at least two years with at least six months in oak.

  Gran Reserva wines typically appear in above-average vintages with the red wines requiring at least five years aging, eighteen months of which in oak and a minimum of thirty-six months in the bottle. Gran Reserva whites and rosés must be aged for at least four years with at least six months in oak.

  Spanish Varietals: Spain’s classic grape varietal is the Tempranillo, which is used for most of its red wines. Another common red varietal is the Garnacha (Grenache) grape, which is found from Northeastern Spain all along the Mediterranean coast to Provence. White wines include the Albarino grape found north of Portugal in the Rais Baixas area of Galicia, the Verdejo grape found in the Rueda region, and the Viura grape of Rioja.

  Spanish Wine Regions

  Rioja: Between 1869 and 1901, in order to escape Phylloxera which was devastating France, wealthy Bordeaux winegrowers moved to the Rioja region of Northern Spain, which offered easy access back to France through the seaport of Bilbao. Either by buying their own vineyards or by educating and encouraging local Spanish farmers, the Bordeaux winemakers introduced modern French winemaking techniques to the Rioja during the twenty years before Phylloxera reached Spain. Most Spanish winegrowers resented or rejected these “foreign ideas,” but two aristocrats adapted the new-fangled methods, and today t
he wineries of the Marques de Riscal (with its distinctive wire mesh on the bottle) and the Marques de Murrieta are two of the most successful wine producers in Spain. It was Murrieta who had lived in London for many years as a young man, tasting good wines in the gentleman’s clubs of St. James, who was most horrified by the taste of dead pig in his local wines, and was determined to learn from the French. Rather than use the local Spanish grapes of Tempranillo and Garnacha (Grenache), the French replaced them with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and others to achieve the classic Bordeaux style. Following the harvest, the grapes were transported to Bilbao by train, fermented at the bodegas near the port, and then shipped back in barrels to Bordeaux for bottling. The winery of the Marques de Riscal was recently redesigned by the architect Frank Gehry to outshine even the nearby Guggenheim Art Museum in Bilbao.