I'm always surprised at how many people hate the French. I mean sure, there was that whole anti Iraq war thing and they themselves have expressed an unprecedented amount of Anti-American sentiment. Maybe folks resent the fact that Johnny Depp moved there and Jim Morrison is buried there. Whatever your feeling, we can't deny that the French have contributed to society. Historically, I cannot dismiss the entertainment value that must have come from countless aristocrat beheadings. And then there's the artists that single-handedly gave us the Impressionist movement (and the Rococo but that was just a bunch of silly nonsense.) Then there's the food. I'm not talking about French, er, Freedom Fries here, I'm talking about the greatest of the French food gifts... foie gras, escargots, lardons, crepes.
Then there's my most favorite of the French contributions - wine.
So I tried to think of my favorite French wine to write about. And I couldn't. Then, I tried to think of my favorite wine region to write about. And I couldn't do that either. The more specific I tried to get, the more I realized that I have a love affair with most all French vin. From the easy to drink, summer wines of Provence to the complex, mysterious wines of Bordeaux. The masculine, hearty, almost gamey wines of the Rhone to the profound whites of Alsace and the Loire. Then, there is of course the holy grail of French wine... Burgundy. These are the Princess Diana wines. No, she didn't make them famous by drinking copious amounts of the stuff, I just have a habit of thinking about wines in terms of people. These wines remind me of the late HRH because the wines of Burgundy are an anomaly. The older they get, the more beautiful they get. They are graceful, elegant and feminine, yet have amazing backbone and strength. They are misunderstood and complicated, but when you get to know them, they become intriguing and endearing.
French wines in general don't appeal to the American palate and it's easy to understand why. America has always been a Jack and Coke, Budweiser, Stoli martini kind of nation. So when we picked up on this new wine culture thing, we simply substituted our cocktails for a glass of wine. A big, overwhelming, highly alcoholic, glass of wine. I like to call these "cocktail party wines". These are the wines that will get you just as schnokered as that Cosmo but be twice as filling. And more important than that... they don't need food.
French wines serve a different purpose. They are meant to be consumed daily, all day and not get you knee-walking-commode-hugging-drunk. They are meant to make food taste better. Conversely, the food also makes the wine taste better. There is a marriage between the wine and the food, that we here in America, are still trying to figure out. Don't give up mon petit winos. Your palate with wine is like your palate with food. The more you taste, the more you'll discover flavors and sensations in wine will grow on you. Remember as a kid when you hated peppers and onions and anything green or squishy? Somehow you grow up and you can't imagine not eating those things or cooking with those things today.
So, in honor of Bastille Day, which also happens to masquerade as my birthday, the plan is as follows:
Open a bottle of Bollinger and drink with friends.
Eat some cavier.
Open a bottle of Natter Sancerre (Sauvignon Blanc) and drink with friends.
Eat some escargots.
Open a bottle of Domaine Tempier Rose and drink with friends.
Eat some fois gras.
Undo button on my pants.
Open a bottle of Vosne Romanee (Pinot Noir) and drink with friends.
Eat some morels.
Open a bottle of Lafite Pauillac Rouge and drink with friends.
Eat some duck confit.
Be put to bed.
Happy Storming of the Prison Day, France!
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