Were the 2007 Bordeaux really that bad? part 2

I suppose the only way to tell if a year is good or bad is to sample the wines and to tell if they are improving is to keep on trying them. The only problem with this is if the wine is not great but is improving over the years and you are testing it annually by the time it comes to perfection you might not have many bottles left.

One benefit of belonging to a wine club is that they will occasionally host a night where you might get the opportunity to try something special, or at least something you would not normally get to try.

Such was the situation with the 2007 Bordeaux where 10 bottles were lined up for blind tasting with only the names available to us, and oh what a list of names.

Regrettably all of the 2007 Bordeaux were definitely not up to the standards of earlier years as all were a little weak in both length and in flavor. All were high in tannins and a number of them quite sharp in taste leaving an almost metallic taste in the mouth.

The better known names definitely came out on top although there were a couple of surprises. What was very apparent when collating the scores was that there was a polarization of opinion on a number of the wines with some people marking the wines very high with others marking the same wines very low.

The results to some are the all important thing for a wine tasting night although personally I find it the experience and hope of getting to sample some great wines. Not this time but maybe next time

For those that want to know the results of the blind tasting were as follows

1st Chateau Angelus, St Emilion 2007 Premier Grand Cru Classe
2nd Chateau L'Evangile, Pomerol 2007
3rd Chateau Cos D' Estournel, St Estephe 2007 Premier Grand Cru Classe
4th Chateau Brane Cantenac, Margaux, 2005 2eme Grand Cru Classe
5th Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac 2007, 2eme Grand Cru Classe
6th Gerard Betrand Cigalus Rouge, Langeudoc Roussillon 2008
7th Chateau D' Armailhac, Pauillac 2007 5eme Grand Cru Classic
8th Chateau Pichon Longueville Baron, Pauillac 2007 2eme Grand Cru Classic
9th Chateau Lynch Bages Grand Cru Classe, Pauillac 2007, 5eme Grand Cru Classe
10th Chateau L' Evangile Pomerol 2007

Next month's wine tasting is followed by a dinner with the wines from the tasting matched to food so it will be interesting to see how the wine changes when served with food.

Were the 2007 Bordeaux really that bad? part 1

After a run of very good years the conditions for the 2007 vintage were not ideal resulting in the initial reports on the quality of wine not being good.

Up until 1999 a good bottle of Bordeaux would cost you around £10 but it all went wrong, from a consumers viewpoint, on the turn of the century.

A number of very smart marketers in the Bordeaux region saw the benefits that the Millennium year could bring and made a concerted effort to place Bordeaux wines as being THE drink to have for the New Year if you were a serious wine drinker rather than champagne that everyone would be drinking.

This was couple by excellent growing conditions and near perfect ripening conditions resulting in an excellent vintage.

What many people do not know is that you do not buy wine from the Chateau or grower but rather from a "negociant" who buy the wines on speculation, almost like buying futures, and then hope that the wine is an excellent one when it is ready for drinking 2 years later, although many Bordeaux are much better left for longer periods.

In order to be able to bid for the following year's crop a negociant must buy a certain amount of product in the current year.

The early marketing of the Millennium crop meant that prices rose steeply in 2000 and the perfect year in 2003 meant that the prices rose considerably, in some instances doubling the previous year's highs.

Because of the tight restrictions on watering and cropping, unlike in Australia and other New World regions, Bordeaux wines often bounce between excellent years and bad years with average ones in between. The first decade of the century however bucked this and in 2005 had another near perfect year producing another excellent vintage, the second in 2 years.

This created a lot of excitement in the industry and coupled with strong economic situation around the world resulted in prices spiraling upwards.

2006 was an OK year but retained the excitement from 2006 and once again prices rose sharply but it was in 2007 that the bubble burst in terms of quality but not the prices as the negociants were desperate to retain their bidding rights to the 2008 crop so many in the industry felt that the prices paid were excessive given the expected quality of the wines.

2008 was an OK year but 2009 once again was a good year and has set new benchmarks in terms of pricing - a bottle of 2009 Lafite Rothschild was selling for 1600 Euros per bottle with negociants. Wine speculators are expecting to make bumper profits on this which could mean that bottles will be reaching the market for over 2,000 Euros a bottle putting it far beyond the affordability for the normal wine drinker, and quite a few of the not so normal wine drinkers.

Story of Rice

It is the most important food stuff in the world and the basic staple of possible half of the world's population. There are thousands of different varieties and nearly as many different ways of cooking it - I am of course referring to RICE

What has always been uncertain is just where and when man first decided to cultivate it. It has long been agreed that there are 2 sub-species of rice with one being predominant in China with the other in India but until very recently it has been thought that the domestication of rice occurred in a number of different locations over thousands of years

In a recent study in the Philippines broke down the genome to its most basic levels to determine just where it came from and it would appear that all rice is the same at this lowest of levels.

This means that it all comes from a single source and that has been determined as being from China with the first domestication taking place about 8,000 years ago and then transported to India about 4,000 years ago

Some burnt rice remnants were found in South Korea a few years ago and carbon dating seems to place these back over 15,000 years ago but there is still a lot of controversy over these findings and accuracy of the data

There are fundamental differences in length, consistency and taste between the 2 sub species which could be explained by accidental cross fertilization with local wild rice in India but they are still cooked and prepared in the same way, most of the time anyway

Everyone has their preference as to which rice is the best but personally I think it depends on what you are eating. On the whole I think that the longer Jasmine rice is better as an accompaniment to curries and dry cooked or tandoori chicken whilst the shorter rice goes better with the Chinese style stir fry dishes.

Another particular favorite and something I had not had before is sticky rice which is very popular in Thailand and is part of one of the regional dishes served with grilled chicken and som tum, a very spicy green papaya salad.

In the east, rice becomes a main ingredient in kitchen, on traditional dish in Costa Rican cuisine. A combination of rice and beans called 'Gallo Pinto', serve with vary of 'mariscos', fresh seafood, direct from Costa Rica coast.

In the west rice is seen as something to be had when dining out at the local Chinese or Indian restaurants but for many people it is the only source of sustenance that they enjoy, and not every day either.

Carpaccio's Creation

Loved by many yet hated by nearly as many the dish of Carpaccio has been the subject of so many conversations that it is unusual to find food lovers that have not tried it.

Traditionally the dish is a selection of raw meats although raw fish has also been used particularly salmon or tuna and topped with a mustard sauce. The Japanese call raw fish sashimi and have been preparing it for centuries so it is not truly Carpaccio but when someone comes up with a good idea someone else always seems to adapt it

The origins of when Carpaccio first came about are uncertain as man has been eating raw meat for millennia but the finely sliced, almost wafer this slices of raw meat as a dish are believed to have originated around 1950.

History has it that a well to do lady ,countess Amalia Nani Mocenigo had been told by her doctor that she should no longer eat cooked meat as it was bad for her and should instead eat only raw meat.

Not wanting to be served chunks of raw meat and attract strange looks from other diners in the restaurant  she asked the proprietor of Harry's Bar in Venice Giuseppe Cipriani if there was anything he could do to help

His creation of very finally sliced meats served with a light mustard sauce was exactly what she was looking for but now the problem arose as to how to order it without embarrassment.

Being a fan of the 15th century Venetian painter Vittore Carpaccio Giuseppe Cipriani thought that the plate of meats looked very similar to some of the paintings that the artist made with his use of light colours and shades or reds and browns.

Because of this he suggested that the dish be called "Carpaccio" so that the countess could order her meal easily.

Whether or not this is true is not known but there was definitely an exhibition of Carpaccio's works in 1950 in Venice so it could well be true.

Whether or not it is true it is still and excellent dish and great as a starter especially if a variety of meats are used in particular beef, veal or venison

Personally I feel that this is the best way to enjoy Wagu or Kobe beef as you get the full benefit of the flavours of the meat

Hard to prepare well many restaurants cheat by freezing the cooked meats allowing them to slice the meats very thin more easily. I prefer to have my meats chilled as it probably means they have been well cared for but be wary if yours is very cold - it may just have come out of the freezer...

My friend's restaurant serves an excellent plate of this so I think that is what tonight's starter will be, probably followed by Spaghetti Carbonara

Academia Stupidity

The image of Dons drinking old Clarets and rich Bordeaux whilst sitting down to sumptuous gourmet dinners may well be thanks to the minds of TV and film makers but it was certainly the case for hundreds of years in the older institutions of Oxford and Cambridge in the UK but if the "experts" at the University of Hertfordshire are to be believed they were wasting their money.

A group of psychologists from the university carries out a blind tasting with a range of cheap and expensive wines (the wines were up to £30 a bottle - that is not expensive.....) including champagnes and vintage champagnes costing up to £30 (!!!!! very cheap for a vintage champagne). Also tested were varieties such as Rioja, shiraz, claret, pinot grigio and sauvignon blanc.

Unfortunately no information is available to tell which countries each of the grapes came from.

578 people were then chosen at random at the Edinburgh Science Festival and asked to decide which were the cheap wines and which were the expensive ones.

By the law of averages you should be able to guess correctly 50% of the time and surprise surprise this is the result that they got.

Their conclusion from this experiment - a quote from lead researcher psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman " These are remarkable results. People were unable to tell expensive from inexpensive wines, and so in these times of financial hardship the message is clear - the inexpensive wines we tested tasted the same as their expensive counterparts."

What a crock of shit

Apart from the fundamental flaws in the experiment information - small number, no indication of age or sex spread, what was the percentage of wine drinkers in the sample - the conclusion that they draw has no correlation to the question asked.

The test group were asked to determine which were cheap and which were the expensive wines, not whether they tasted alike or which did they dislike.

There is an observed fact that people will indicate a wine is cheap if they do not like it and many good wines are far to dry for normal taste buds given the high level of sugar in everyone's diet these days.

I will bet my bottom dollar that the rioja all went into cheap wine category due to the high tanin levels but I have had some wonderful rioja and many of them were not cheap

A like or love of wine is all about developing your taste buds and learning about what you like and what works well with what. Many better wines go great with food, as they are designed to be, but are not so great on their own.

Many of the New World Wines are "processed" to achieve a taste level to suit most palates so if you were comparing an Australian Shiraz against a French traditional style Shiraz the latter would almost certainly be classified as cheap.

A final point on the topic is that price has got bugger all to do with it. Five years ago you could purchase Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc for about NZ$5 but the price these days is nearer NZ$30. Why? Because it is a great wine and become very popular so its price has risen drastically - nothing else has changed.

So the conclusion to be drawn from all this - a lot of people in academia know bugger all about wines and it seems not a lot about conducting experiments and then reporting on the information gathered in a concise manner

I suppose the only good thing about this report is that if a lot of people read it and act on it there will be more of eh better wines that I like left on the shelves and who knows maybe the shops will be forced to have a sale....

Giving up Food

It may seem strange to talk about giving up food on a Food and Drink blog but we all do it from time to time and for the weirdest reasons. This blog is not about dieting for aesthetic reasons, or even for health reasons but instead for religious ones.

We are now in the period of Lent during which Christians around the world prepare themselves for the celebration of Holy Week culminating in Easter Sunday. Historically this always involved 4 areas of activity - repentance, prayer, alms giving and self denial and it the last of these that has carried forward into many parts of society with the first 3 falling by the wayside

Self denial has many forms and for the more religious this can often include giving up pleasures of a physical nature but many people will take an easier route and give up favorite foods or drinks.

Many people will give up sweets or cakes with others also giving up alcohol all of which is very simple to do whilst in many catholic countries the more traditional route of not eating during daytime and only having simple foods at night is taken. This can be taken to an extreme when no cooked foods are eaten during the 40 days of Lent which are a simile for the 40 days and nights that Christ wandered the desert and was tempted by the Devil.

All of this normally starts on Shrove Tuesday, also known as Mardi Gras where historically people went to Church and asked to be shriven, or forgiven of their sins so that they could be pure for the run up to Holy week. Given that Mardi Gras festivals are some of the most exotic and in some places decadent parties of the year you have to somehow think they have lost the origins of the day but then modern day world often does this.

Shrove Tuesday also has another name - Pancake Day - and this religious date has spawned a whole new culinary style. Traditionally on Shrove Tuesday the matron of the house would prepare a batter mix of milk, eggs and flour as the first 2 items were not permitted to be eaten during Lent and then heated  in a pan to create a "cake" to which were added all of the other forbidden items such as fish, cheese and meats and then eaten by the whole house

Nowadays there is a whole industry around pancakes with franchise shops selling millions every day with some of the most exotic ingredients imaginable including Foi Gras or truffles.

The most traditional topping in the UK for pancakes and normally only eaten on Pancake Day is fresh lemon juice and sugar - a firm favorite of young children and hidden in the depths of history is that the lemon and sugar represent the bitterness of the Devil and the sugar the sweetness of God.

Whatever your religious beliefs they still make an excellent dessert although the American invention of Jubilee Pancakes consisting of hot cherries in an alcohol based sauce and served with ice cream has to come a very close second.

Carbonara Confusion

One of the most popular Italian dishes after pizza and lasagna is Spaghetti Carbonara which is served in restaurants of every type all over the world and loved by millions.

However many people that enjoy the dish do not realize the origins of the dish nor how it should be properly cooked.

Being a traditional dish many people think that Spaghetti Carbonara is hundreds of years old but its genesis is as recent as the mid 1940's. At the end of World War II allied troops that were liberating towns and villages in Italy and had to stop and eat at the end of each day. Many of these locations were desperately short of food often only having pasta to survive on. The allied troops however were often very well provisioned and being kind hearted shared what they had in their rucksacks.

One one occasion troops billeted in a small village added their tin of ham and powdered eggs to a bowl of hot pasta to create a meal for all involved and so Spaghetti Carbonara was born.

It is often served with a cream sauce but this is not traditional. The proper way to serve Carbonara is to take an egg yolk and beat into this a little pepper and salt and place in to a metal bowl. To this is added hot spaghetti and then mixed so that the egg covers the hot pasta and is cooked by the heat from the pasta. Bacon is then added to the top of this and served quickly.

Ideally the egg is still cooking as it is served at the table making for a very subtle yet filling dish.

Regrettably there are few places that serve the dish properly but I am fortunate to have a friend that not only owns an Italian restaurant but also has an Italian chef as an adviser so the dishes are all served correctly and in the traditional manner. They even have the correct wines from the right areas as a matching

Think it's time for a pasta night