Confessions of a Wino

I have an American colleague, of French origin, who given his own bodyweight in Sancerre would happily sit on his sunny balcony and drink it nonstop in a frenzied Loire-athon. He does admit that other wine regions in France exist but they are either over-priced or under-qualitied. There are no wines produced from outside “l’hexagon”.

I share an interest in French Sauvignon Blanc and the Loire is the pinnacle of how to convert the grape into astonishingly bright, juicy, sunny, flavours.

It seems ages since people seriously contemplated that new fangled New Zealand upstarts like Cloudy Bay might put the Loire Valley out of business. The subtleties of the wines of the French region are rarely found in Marlborough. I love many kiwi zingers, but grapefruity zinginess, if overdone, can test ones mouth ulcers to the limit . Built by Domaine Serge Laloue, Exhibition Sancerre is zingy in a gooseberry bush kind of  a way, but without the cat piss. Very refined and priced to go at £12.95.

Cafe de Luna, on boulevard de Clichy is a bustling bistro that caught my eye on a cheeky weekend visit.  We were staying round the corner in the ninth and needed a reasonably priced dinner.  That is a challenge at the moment for Brits in Paris due to the parity of Euro/Sterling.

I started with Bourgogne escargots in garlic and mopped up every last morceau!  Eating snails is always a bit like chewing on rolled up condoms but it is the sauce that makes the strange texture so appealing.

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Chez Clément has many branches in Paris and one in Nantes.  Is this the French version of Chez Gerard? Je pense que oui!

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Do you eat ready meals?  The UK is one of the world’s leading producers (and consumers) of ready meals, and I mean by volume, not necessarily quality.  Is that good or bad?  What does it say about our work addicted society that we no longer have time to enjoy a home cooked meal with friends/family at our own tables?

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Has Ian Simpson finally moved in?  From my bijou pad in Manchester I can see his penthouse apartment atop the Beetham tower, self appointed tallest residential building in Europe.  Recently I have noticed some lights on the top floor for the first time, so maybe it is finally fitted out?

The fact that I can see his penthouse is far from remarkable since most residents of Greater Manchester, the Outer Hebrides, and the caves of Afghanistan can see this proud member of a building.

So some of you may assume that I reside in the forgotten 1970’s part of town.  I beg to differ!  And so must the poor producers of Muscadet when challenged.  Muscadet is sooooooo 1970’s.  Sooooooo much so I wanted to remember it rather than forget it.  Is Sèvre et Maine really a second class citizen compared to the more fashionable and expensive Loire appellations like Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé?

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I have been on a bit of a mission to persuade anyone who will listen to try French Sauvignon Blanc and in particular the Loire appellations of Pouilly Fumé and Sancerre.

In the 1990’s the Loire wines lost focus and, some say, attention to detail.  The rise of the New Zealand SB with its bright zingy flavours stole the limelight.  I am still a big fan of Cloudy Bay and many of its Kiwi imitators.  However, the French have fought back admirably in my opinion and the price difference (at least for us Brits) is no longer an issue.

This 2005 Pouilly Fumé (pwee foo-may) from Domaine Cailbourdin at less than a tenner is a good example of why the French should be given a second chance.

On pouring is was pale straw coloured, like one’s urine should be (but mine never is).  At 12.5% it is probably the average strength of my urine though.  It smelt peachy like a bellini (the wine I mean) but tasted of gooseberries.  For me it had the zinginess of Cloudy Bay but with less fruit and somehow more subtlety.

I’ll be drinking more of this one over the summer.

A few days in Newquay, Cornwall had me looking and talking like a surfer dude in no time.  Fistral Beach is the centre of all (cool) surfing activity in England., So seeing as we were staying at the Headland Hotel next door, why not skip down to the beach and Fistral Blu, a trendy eatery, we thought.

It claims to be fine dining but falls a bit short of that.  In fact I was left unsure as to what exactly it was trying to achieve.  Do they want surfers fresh from the beach, or the rich and famous of Newquay to drive down to eat?

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Anjou, the Loire village better known for its Rosés is the latest to be laughing behind the back of the wine buyers at international warehouse shop, Costco.  Once again Costco has placed cost as a more valued criterion than quality.

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