Wine of Change

APRIL 13, 2016

Wine of Change
Today I had beef tartare for lunch and drank Chassagne-Montrachet Les Blanchots Dessous. Yes, I had white Burgundy with meat. It was delicious. No, it was not an experiment: since I discovered the limitations of the mantra “White wine with fish, red wine with meat,” it is my usual practice. It turned out that grilled salmon goes well with Pinot Noir, and roast pork in marmalade glaze goes well with Austrian Riesling. The outdated rule lost power over me and does not stop me from enjoying new combinations of flavours.
I think that we too often drag the burden of conventions, taking them as immutable rituals. If we are talking about champagne, it is definitely an aperitif, if we take white wines, then only before red, if sweet, then for the dessert. Do you think it is a long tradition? Then let me quote a passage from the book “The Cook’s Guide” (1862) by Charles Elme Francatelli, chef of Queen Victoria: “The real gourmets mostly recognize that red wines should be preceded by white.” It is just fashion, nothing more.
Drinking champagne with ice until recently has been considered almost a crime against taste. Those who due to status and name could not be accused of lack of taste (Bill Murray, for example, who loves to drink champagne from a beer glass filled with ice), are called eccentric. But the ice was broken, and Veuve Clicquot released Rich champagne, a version for consumption with ice, and Moët release even two versions (Moët Ice Impérial and Ice Impérial Rosé). And if we again recall the history, Victorians used to serve champagne with meat dishes.
The way the world is changing can be seen in the very fact that the UK is now producing its own sparkling wines. Moreover, it also consumes them on its own, leaving virtually nothing for export. Since the process of climate change is unlikely to slow down, it is predicted that there will be enough British wine for everyone in the coming years. There will be enough Chinese wine as well: Chinese already grow the largest quantity of grapes in the world, and in about ten years, they are sure to start producing decent wine. By that time, Europeans will learn to eat insects without frowning. Incidentally, enogastronomic recommendations for those who want drink wine with such a meal are already compiled. Sommeliers recommend Clare Valley Viognier with beetle larvae, and Albariño with crickets. I do not rule out, however, that by the time these recommendations will be needed, they will already be out of date.
The wine cork is still another topic of the heated debate between the advocates of traditions and innovators. Can the plug made of natural cork be replaced with the screw plug? Traditionalists argue that it is not possible: the ritual of uncorking will disappear. They claim that wine continues to evolve only with natural cork (actually, it is not so); wine with a screw plug looks cheap. Innovators, on the other hand, point to multiple blind tastings, proving that wine from the bottle with the screw plug is not inferior to wine from a bottle with a traditional cork. They also say that PlumpJack winery in the Napa Valley knowingly started using screw plugs since 1997 for their rather expensive wines, which Robert Parker regularly assesses at more than 90 points; that 70% of all wines in New Zealand are released with the screw plugs, including the premium segment; and finally, you can do without a corkscrew.
The pretentious attitude to wine is another thing we should leave behind. Wine, of course, calls for a respect, namely the correct serving temperature, but definitely not the severity of the stone. Wine is fun, which should be felt at the table. For example, if you decant and serve sparkling wine before dinner, the excitement is guaranteed. “But what about the bubbles?” the guests will ask. And the bubbles are in place, because it is necessary to know a little trick: sparkling wine should be poured in the decanter by the walls like beer. In winter, guests can be served pink and sweet wines as an aperitif. All this will break the routine, which is confused with tradition. Do you remember “Hannibal” movie? There, in the end, on board of the plane, Hannibal Lector, a connoisseur of food and wine, said to the boy the remarkable words: “As your mom will tell you, and as my mom used to tell me, there is nothing more interesting in the world than trying new things.”
Try new things.

Author: Ignas Jurkonis