Wine & War

The title, Wine & War: The French, the Nazis & the Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure (amazon.com) pretty much sums up this entire review. It’s fairly self-explanatory. Perhaps because I recognize chateaux and labels fairly easily, I paid almost no attention to the fact that the stories intertwined with wine estates and wine makers. But honestly, a reader at any level of wine knowledge will have no issue with this. To me, this felt as if it were simply a World War II book filled with incredible stories of struggle, resistance, and perseverance – which just so happened to be centered around wine.

The book bounced back and forth between stories of both French and Germans from all walks of wine-life – wine makers, negotiants, importers. French who were sent to German POW camps, French who led resistance movements, French who built walls in cellars to hide their quality wines.

The book also discussed the role of the Germans, intertwined in France’s wine industry during the war. While there was the obvious theft of millions of bottles of wine from the country, the reader also finds that Germany actually instituted their own people to oversee the wine regions of France to ensure that wines were truly purchased, and not stolen (though purchased with an incredibly overinflated Deutschmark), and the relationship treated with some level of respect.

It feels as if this will be a genre of book for an incredibly niche reader (such as myself) – history and wine rolled into one. While it may help to have some knowledge of French wine to glide through with full understanding of each region and chateau mentioned, it isn’t necessary. Instead, you’ll find yourself caught in captivating, and even innovative, struggles of survival and wartime interplay.

It sounds like Robert Parker is cutting his ties as quickly as he can before the ship sinks. The Wine Advocate (TWA) has cut its teeth on its strict ethics, coming up in periods when critics were nothing but ethical. No doubt TWA wants as much distance as possible, lest the public begin to wonder who else is unethical at the publication.

Just two days ago, Robert M. Parker Jr., the world’s most famous wine critic declared that his influence was ebbing, according to a Harper’s article. He said he felt that his influence was over-inflated by the public. Perhaps this is true – consumers now get their wine info from numerous sources, even in the palm of their hands via smartphones and QR codes. But reality proved Mr. Parker incorrect just a day later.

Mr. Parker spoke at the WineFuture Hong Kong yesterday, hosting a “Magical 20″ tasting. The Magical 20 in reference here are 20 Bordeaux wines of Mr. Parker’s choosing that perform at top growth standards, but with a far cheaper price. See the Magical 20 page, with wines listed, here. You might notice that, while cheaper than first growth Bordeaux, these bottles are still in many cases still well over the $100 mark and higher.

Fast forward to today, and this post on the Liv-Ex blog (Liv-Ex.com is an online market watch site for wine prices). The wines Mr. Parker included in his tasting saw immediate trading price increases. Truly not shocking, but interesting nonetheless. Mr. Parker remains the most influential critic for Bordeaux no doubt.

The winery’s location (no views of rolling mountainsides you’ll find at others) and buildings (more or less warehouse-style structure) leave something to be desired. But despite these initial impressions, it’s clear that it’s a nice place, with friendly people creating a laid-back atmosphere. A small outdoor seating area looks nice for relaxing on warm days.

What impressed me most, fortunately, were the wines. They were all very good. A nice cabernet franc rose, a couple of good, easy-drinking whites and basic reds, and a solid cab franc to end it. A couple of slightly sweet wines (they warned me) didn’t suit me, but that’s just my preference – they were still well made. Reasonably priced bottles were a breath of fresh air as well.

The winery is only a couple miles from others in Nelson County, so don’t forget to stop by. Check out Cardinal Point’s website here.

In short, it seems that Jay Miller, a wine critic who writes for The Wine Advocate – a long-trusted source of thoroughly ethical reviews – has become mixed up in a potential ethical scandal involving his upcoming trip to a wine region to taste and review new wines. The region’s representative association sent an email to local wineries giving them rules for submitting and, here’s the kicker, how much is costs for them to submit. Even a cost of 1,000 euros if Mr. Miller were to visit their winery.

I remain hesitant to jump to conclusions just yet. I’d like to hear Miller’s side of the story, as well as a statement from The Wine Advocate. No doubt more to come soon. Check back for updates.

A wine perfect for fall weather (NY Times). All Rhone wines are great for fall weather and foods. Nice to see St. Joseph area of the Rhone valley discussed. It gets overlooked.

Robert Mondavi’s Stag’s Leap district home is for sale (Decanter). Half off! Come on down!

Full story here.