Impressing the Sommelier

One of the great imbibers of modern British literature and television, London barrister Horace Rumpole is, alas, no connoisseur. As author John Mortimer frequently notes, Rumpole’s preferred tipple is an inexpensive plonk called Château Thames Embankment, which Rumpole consumes in copious quantities at his preferred boîte, Pommeroy’s Wine Bar.Nevertheless, Rumpole is not without a certain sensibility. “Just sometimes, wasn’t life like the law?” he once mused. “It shouldn’t only be lived, but be seen to be lived.”So it is with wine. Yes, it’s true that one should make room, in both belly and basement, for Château Thames Embankment. But it’s not enough. If you really like wine, you should be seen — by your friends, by your favorite wine shop, by sommeliers — to be seeking something better, different, and above all, original.The result may not quite be a feared-by-men-and-loved-by-women stature, but I promise you this: You’ll get better service from both retail wine clerks and restaurant sommeliers alike. Even Horace Rumpole would agree that’s worth something.HERE’S THE (LIVE IT UP) DEALPernand-Vergelesses “Clos de la Croix de Pierre” 2005, Louis Jadot — A friend of mine sent me an e-mail last week, recounting how he had dinner at Chanterelle, which is one of his favorite restaurants — a place, à la Rumpole, “to be seen to have lived.”“I picked up the wine list with trepidation,” he recounts, “ready to take a deep breath, swallow hard and spend way more money on a Burgundy than I could afford. But as I perused the list, at the bottom, I came across the 2005 Pernand-Vergelesses ‘Clos de la Croix de Pierre’ from Louis Jadot for $75, which you had already told me to buy.“When I ordered it, Roger Dagorn [the sommelier] said that it was his last bottle out of a case he’d ordered in December. He went on to say that the wine was ‘wonderful and drinking extremely well right now.'”Well, there you have it. Since my friends are forever dubious about my recommendations (“I’ve never heard of it. How good can it be?”), you might find comfort in this reportage from the trenches of Chanterelle.Let me be as blunt with you as I am with my friends: You want this wine. It’s a steal among the dizzyingly high-priced red Burgundies from the great 2005 vintage (that it was only $75 on Chanterelle’s list tells you something right there).Pernand-Vergelesses’s “Clos de la Croix de Pierre” is one of Jadot’s overlooked treasures. Part of a larger premier cru vineyard called En Caradeux, Jadot’s parcel is a choice 8.2-acre subset surrounded by an ancient stone wall — hence the designation “clos,” or enclosure. Such enclosed vineyards always signal a former monastic holding, as only the Church was allowed the privilege of walling their vineyards.In 2005, Jadot created one of the ripest, richest, most profound versions of this wine in the 20 or so vintages of this wine that I’ve tasted. This 2005 version delivers an unusual depth and richness of black fruits (blackberries and currants) allied to a stony and mineral quality that makes wines from Pernand-Vergelesses more than merely fruity pinot noirs. It is indeed, as my friend says, wonderful. The price is, too: $33.99 at Garnet Wines & Liquors, $34.95 at Sherry-Lehmann Wine and Spirits, and $36 at Burgundy Wine Company.Le Clos de Vauriou “Touraine” 2006, Domaine Ricard — Here’s a choice example of “I’ve never heard of it. How good can it be?” The answers are: “I’d never heard of it, either” and “Really good.”Loire Valley reds are among the most underrated and underpriced wines on the market. Making things more complicated yet is that most Loire Valley reds are cabernet franc. But not this wine: Instead, it’s gamay, a grape better associated with Beaujolais than the Loire. Yet this single-vineyard bottling from Domaine Ricard will persuade you, in a single sip, of gamay’s goodness in Loire Valley soils.Domaine Ricard is the classic saga of a son taking over a family estate (47 acres in total) in the late 1990s, and catapulting the wines to another level of quality. When he was 22, Vincent Ricard left home to work for the admirable Chinon producer Philippe Alliet, who demonstrated to him the value of high standards. Several years later, he returned home to apply what he learned chez Alliet to his family’s vines and winery, lowering the vineyard yields and purchasing new casks and small barrels.The results are demonstrable and delectable in Le Clos de Vauriou, a 3.7-acre single vineyard planted entirely with gamay. The 35-year-old vines are cropped to a low (for gamay) 3.3 tons an acre. Fermented in casks, the wine is transferred to small oak barrels to complete the aging, although there’s no apparent oakiness or vanilla scent.Le Clos de Vauriou 2006 from Domaine Ricard is a pure, clean, surprisingly rich gamay redolent of black cherries, with attractive pepper notes. It’s a sweetheart of a deal at $12.99 at Cabrini Wines and Liquors (831 W. 181st St. at Cabrini Boulevard, 212-568-3226) and $14 at Moore Brothers Wine Company (33 E. 20th St. at Broadway, 212-375-1575).

Impressing the Sommelier

Impressing the Sommelier

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