The history of Provence can be traced back to Neolithic cave paintings. The first settlers were Ligurians who were absorbed by Celtic invaders from the north. Phocaean Greeks settled Masalia (Marseilles) in 600 BC and the Romans had completed their conquest by 124 BC.

Evidence of all these (and succeeding) cultures can still be seen in the cities and fortified villages of the region. These diverse cultures have left an indelible mark on the art, literature and cuisine of Provence. Mont Victoire, named for the victory over the Franks in 107 BC, dominates the barren hillsides surrounding the ancient Roman city of Aix. Sparse pine forests and olive trees give way to vineyards that are planted to both Mediterranean and Atlantic varieties.

The marvelously varied cuisine of Provence and the Southern Rhône is defined – but not limited – by its geography. Proximity to the sea and the mountains often results in plates that combine fish and meat and produce, along with the ubiquitous olive tree. Two classic regional dishes reflect this diversity: brandade melds salt cod, potatoes, garlic, olive oil and fresh cream; bouillabaisse brings together local fish such as racasse, langoustine, skate, and squid, plus sausages, served in saffron-scented stews. Abundant game adorns restaurant menus: boar, duck, antelope, and rabbit (often as rillettes) are common plats du jour. Game birds like capon and pigeon are roasted with the wide variety of local herbs. Lamb, also a staple, sometimes appears in form of lamb a la ficelle, a leg hung by rope over an open flame. Anchovies from Collioure are eaten grilled and served with rosé. The distinctive olive oils produced here are blended with fresh olives and herbs to make tapenade.

David Moore

A frequent customer posed an interesting question earlier today, when she asked for my opinion on the following story in last Saturday’s Montreal Gazette:
It’s a Question of Yeasts
…in case you didn’t follow the link, it’s an article about the growing use of “cultured” yeasts in “winemaking.”

Here’s what the Encyclopeadia Britannica has to say about Saccharomyces:
Genus of yeasts belonging to the family Saccharomycetaceae (phylum Ascomycota, kingdom Fungi). An outstanding characteristic of members of Saccharomyces is their ability to convert sugar into carbon dioxide and alcohol by means of enzymes. The yeasts used to ferment sugars in the manufacture of baked goods, beers, wines, distilled spirits, and industrial alcohols are all strains of one species, S. cerevisiae. One such yeast cell can ferment approximately its own weight of glucose, the simplest form of sugar, in one hour.
(http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9002436)

One of the many components of terroir, is the particular strain of yeast that thrives in a particular vineyard…which may be different than that in an adjacent vineyard. Terroir is not just about “soil.”

We tend (all things being equal) to prefer naturally produced wines that haven’t been sterilized and inoculated with “cultured” yeast. Granted, if you’re trying to produce industrial quantities of wine, using what are called “indigenous” yeasts isn’t practical – it’s much better to just “nuke” the juice, and introduce a “predictable” yeast.

This is why so many fake wines and garbage “Beaujolais” taste so similar.

Last year while having dinner at Ratcliffe in Charlotte, I ordered a bottle of Pinot Noir from Oregon – from a property whose wines I’d had (and liked!) in the past. It tasted like cherry cough syrup – very woody, cherry cough syrup.

So, I did a little investigating and found that the winery in question did, indeed, sterilize the juice from their beautiful, organically grown fruit, and introduced the following yeast strains: (76%) Assmanhausen, (19%) RC212, (5%) RA17…hmmm…nothin’ says “Burgundy style” quite like ‘em.

Turns out, this is the norm these days. These “cultured” yeasts provide “flavor profiles” that the wine press “likes” (just like kids like sugar), and the resulting wines garner “high ratings.”

Wines that are produced naturally teach us more about wine than manipulated wine “products.” They taste real, and they’re idiosyncratic, and smart people appreciate ‘em – this must be true, because we’ve only got smart customers, and they come back time and again, for the real McCoy.

So, ask me how I really feel about “cultured yeasts” in “winemaking.”

Posted by David Moore

This fine Meursault domaine was established in 1973 when Henri Germain, brother of François Germain of the Château de Chorey-les Beaune, set up on his own. The Clos des Mouches is a monopole of the estate, and a relatively new wine for the Germain estate. This half-hectare parcel is located between the village and the well-known premier cru Santenots, which borders on Volnay. The fruit of this vineyard provides a wine which is supple, with rich red raspberry and earth flavors, and concentration that comes from the low yielding 50 year-old Pinot Noir vines. The racy textures and aromatics of this wine are enhanced (but not masked by) a perfect balance of old and new barrels.

Regional History
Viticulture in Burgundy was well established by the second century AD, and likely predates the arrival of the Romans. By the late Middle Ages, the influence of the monastic orders had organized wine growing in Burgundy as nowhere else in Europe. It was the monks who recognized that certain individual vineyards consistently produced distinctive wine.

Land reform came with the French Revolution, and the Code Napoléon abolished primogeniture, establishing that all inherited property be shared equally among siblings. As a result, the ownership of many of the finest vineyards is fragmented, with some growers owning just a few vines in many different vineyard sites.

Until the 1930s, most fine Burgundy was bottled by négociants, who buy grapes or wine from the growers and market it under their own “brand.” Today, with few exceptions, the finest wines of Burgundy are all estate-bottled: that is, sold by the farmers who grow the grapes. Halfway between Beaune and Santenay, Meursault is a prosperous, attractive village comprised mostly of vineyards.

Regional Foods
Burgundian cuisine is relatively uncomplicated; it relies on the high-quality ingredients that adorn the countryside. These include naturally raised chickens from Bresse, beef from Charolais cattle, and game and fish from nearby forests and streams. Wine, of course, is used for making sauces a la bourguignon, usually with onion, mushrooms and lardoons (salt pork). Boeuf Bourguignon and Coq a Vin follow this pattern. In contrast, sauces without mushrooms are called Meurette and are flambéed with marc (eau-de-vie made from grape must). Meurette sauces are excellent with fish, eggs, and poultry. Escargots are raised nearly everywhere in Burgundy and usually prepared in a slow braise, then stuffed with garlic and parsley butter. Other specialties include parsley-flavored ham from the Morvan hills and white-wine-poached fish finished with lardoons. Epoisse, Citeaux and Aisy Cendre are the best-known cow’s milk cheeses and Charolais the best-known goat’s milk cheese.

© 2007 Moore Brothers Wine Company

The recent scandal in Brunello is still simmering, and now our “esteemed American wine ‘journalists’” find themselves having to explain why they couldn’t spot the frauds when they were busy “rating” the latest (suspect) releases.

Seems the suspected fraudulent Brunellos were those “rated most highly” by these nimnods, and now, rather than face the music for not knowing their behinds from holes in the ground, these idiots want to blame Sangiovese for not being “noble enough” on its own to achieve the coveted 90+ points that the “journalists” bestowed on the fakes.

This is not only hubris, this is scandalous in itself. To Mr. Suckling (and the others), I have this to say: “STOP WRITING ABOUT WINE AS IF IT WERE SOMETHING YOU HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF.”

The reason DOC and Appellation laws exist in Europe is because everyone knows that the manufacturers of large-production, “food-processed wine” and their distributors are prone to fudge the facts – after all, there’s money to be made.

Just like the old days when Bordeaux was (literally) the “new kid on the block” and pumped up much of its wine with Madiran and Cahors from further south, and when the négociants of Burgundy pumped up their Pinot with Syrah and Grenache from the Rhône, the addition of Cabernet and Merlot (both much easier to farm, and quicker to ripen than Sangiovese) to Brunello is FRAUD. It is unconscionable that these “journalists” who write about Italian wine without knowing anything about it would blame the “Real McCoy” for being what it’s supposed to be, rather than admit being wrong.

Further, their response will likely lead to a “changing of the rules” to allow for what is now considered fraud.

So Brunello in the future will likely taste like Napa Cab, thanks to these bozos, and Brunello will stop being the unique expression of a place and a culture. Just what we need, another anonymous, expensive red wine.

Posted by David Moore

Reader, PeterD posted this question:
To the experts: is an “industrial” product, by definition, adulterated? Is it possible to have an “industrial” wine that is pleasing to the palate and not a chemistry experiment? Serious question folks.

Peter,

Thanks for your question. Oreo Cookies have pleased my palate over the years, but I wouldn’t make an argument in favor of their “quality.” In the same manner, Ragú tomato sauce has pleased many a palate, but shouldn’t be confused with a real marinara sauce made from small-farm tomatoes.

The “implied contract” between a producer or merchant of wine, is that wine is special; the product of careful, artisan farming, and craft – worthy of special attention, and even celebration.

An “industrial” wine, breaks this contract. The same could be said for “luxury goods” of any kind that have been transformed into mass-market phenomena. At one point, for example, a Jaguar was a hand-made automobile – now it’s a Ford Tata with a high price and a bad service record.

Wine, culturally, and historically, has always had a tension between mass-production and artisan, but it’s the only “product” in Western civilization to have been the result of 1,000 plus-year experiments in farming which proved a direct relationship to a “terroir,” and the finished product.

The Phocaens who planted the first vineyards in France weren’t concerned about “planting merlot for the Paris market,” they were concerned that they’d have something to drink that wouldn’t kill them (the water would), and the wine provided another source of calories, which was critical in a time of primitive agriculture.

Along the way, grapes were nurtured that made wines that tasted good with the other foods these diverse communities “could” grow, which is why, in the “Old World,” there are so many different agricultural traditions and wines. In the “New World,” wine is largely a business opportunity, and unfortunately one which has quickly become “commodified,” and “dumbed-down,” much like the aforementioned Ragú “tomato sauce.”

Independent of one’s preferences (just as few reasonable people would describe a McDonald’s hamburger as the “ne plus ultra” of “good” food), these industrial wines (just like my Oreos), are not “good.” They contribute nothing to our culture, and succeed only in fooling enormous numbers of consumers into believing they’re partaking in the long, and “special” tradition of wine.

And in direct answer to your particular question: is an “industrial” product, by definition, adulterated? Is it possible to have an “industrial” wine that is pleasing to the palate and not a chemistry experiment?

Not that I’ve ever seen.

In order to produce the prodigious amounts of “wine” necessary to cover the “brand” needs, the fruit must come from multiple sources of high-yielding vines. I don’t believe that the few really interesting vineyard sites in the world – all together – could produce 1,000,000 cases of wine, let alone the multi-millions which are produced of Woodbridge, Turning Leaf, Yellowtail, and Santa Margharita.

Thanks for asking, and for sending the email. Good to know someone’s paying attention.
Posted by David Moore