The Musings of Ron Kapon

Bottle Shock- The Next Sideways?

I loved Sideways and apparently so did most of America as it led to a resurgence for Pinot Noir and lots of people visiting the Santa Barbara area (the prime location of the movie) and drinking more wine. In 2006 I attended a blind tasting conducted by The Wine Workshop (part of my families business- Acker, Merrall & Condit; I am not involved in the business) recreating The Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting that revolutionized Wine (Several of the original judges attended this tasting). That is the name of George M. Taber’s book published by Scribner in 2005. But I am getting ahead of myself. George M. Taber was a reporter and editor with Time Magazine for 21 years. Stationed in Paris between 1973 and 1976 he wrote extensively on French wine and cuisine. He was the only reporter in attendance when Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, who owned a wine shop in Paris and organized wine tasting and educational seminars decided to pit the best of French wines against “those California newcomers.” Spurrier was sure that the French wines would win easily as he sold only French wines in his shop. He used mostly French judges including: Pierre Tari of Chateau Giscours; Aubert de Villaine of Domaine de las Romanee-Conti; Christian Vanneque the sommelier of Tour Argent. Spurrier and Patricia Gallagher of l’Academie du Vin were the non-French judges (there were 11 in total). However, the totals for Ms. Gallagher & Mr. Spurrier were not taken into account, leaving 9 French judges to rank the wines. Leaders of the French wine industry banned Spurrier from attending France’s wine-tasting tour for a year because of the tasting results. The French press ignored the story but Frank J. Prial writing in the New York Times and many other US publications picked up Taber’s Time Magazine story. The 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon finished first beating out Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1970; Chateau Montrose 1970 and Chateau Haut-Brion 1970 that finished second-fourth. Chateau Montelena 1973 finished first among the white wines beating out Roulot Meursault Charmes 1973. Third and fourth place went to Chalone Vineyard 1974 and Spring Mountain Vineyard 1973 Chardonnay. Then last week I went to see the movie Bottle Shock. “There are certain moments in history when America has proven itself to the world: Neil Armstrong setting foot on the Moon; or the US men’s Hockey team beating the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympics.” Would I place the 1976 Judgment of Paris in that category? That depends on whether you love wine. The movie Bottle Shock tells the story through the eyes of father and son Jim and Bo Barrett. Jim Barrett, played by Bill Pullman, was a former real estate lawyer, whose winery was struggling until this tasting. His son Bo, who is now the winemaker, is portrayed as a slacker and hippie (Chris Pine). Alan Rickman is perfect as Steven Spurrier. Dennis Farina, a favorite of mine, has a part solely written for the movie. There is a love interest for Bo and a Latino apprentice (Freddy Rodriguez) who now has his own winery. But why no mention of Miljenko (Mike) Grgich who was the winemaker at Chateau Montelena at that time? The vineyard scenes are fabulous using the real outside of Chateau Montelena, but interior shots use several Sonoma wineries. Since this was not a documentary there are love scenes and several referrals to drug use. The movie is not adopted from George Taber’s book (I understand he has another movie in production using his book as the source) and the character of George barely has anything to say in the movie. It is not until the crawl at the end of the movie that we learn that Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars won in the red wine category. I enjoyed the movie that could be called a "Love Story to the Napa Valley and Chateau Montelena.” Just a few weeks ago I read that the owners of Chateau Cos d”Estournel purchased Chateau Montelena. The moral of this story just might be: If you can’t beat them, buy them.

Tales of the Cocktail

I admit it; I am a wine guy. I have been teaching and writing about wine for over 45 years. Even my e-mail spells it out- VINORON. A few years ago I added spirits to my journalistic endeavors and even shared teaching a spirit course at The International School Hospitality Management at Fairleigh Dickinson University. I have traveled to Scotland (Scotch), Ireland (Irish), France (Cognac), London (Gin), several Caribbean Islands (Rum), Mexico (Tequila), Peru (Pisco), Jerez (Brandy), Italy (Grappa) and Sweden (Vodka) for my research. There was an opportunity to broaden my knowledge and find interesting angles for stories: The 6th Annual Tales of the Cocktail held in late July in New Orleans. I had been to New Orleans a year ago in May for the Wine & Food Festival (The Shame of America). “Get there and everything will be taken care of,” said Bonnie Warren, my previous host. True to her word, my five nights at Harrah’s New Orleans Casino & Hotel, including breakfasts and dinners, were covered. I just paid for airfare. The Tales of The Cocktail gave me a Media ID which worked for admission to most of the seminars and tastings.

I was ready to go to work. Tales headquarters was the historic Hotel Monteleone at the edge of the French Quarter on Royal Street. I quickly learned that any seminar taking place on the 16th floor roof was like weekend travel to The Hamptons. I avoided all those seminars after the first day when I waited, along with many other people, 20-30 minutes to go up and come down the two elevators. The other two disappointing functions for me were the two outside/inside ones- The Royal Street Strut and The Tiki Party. The strut had few shops open with very limited food (luckily, I was dining at Brennan’s that night). I arrived at The Tiki Party a few minutes early but had to wait almost a 1/2 hour for them to open the tent flaps. I had a few food selections and one drink but when I looked up the tent was jammed and there was no place to sit. Did I mention it was hot outside and inside the tent? I left early and went back to my room at Harrah’s (next door to the tent). The Spirit Award ceremony was held at the Theatre at Harrah’s Casino and had plenty of food and drink and there were tables and chairs.

The seminars were fabulous. The problem was many were held at the same time so I found myself multi-tasking and spending half the allotted time at two seminars. The Reidel Spirit Glass Tasting was the highlight of the whole 5 days. George Reidel was the best speaker and his dry sense of humor made the seminar number one. We also got to keep the Tequila, Single Malt & Cognac glasses.

One comment on tickets- I had media credentials hanging around my neck and a wristband for the Strut and Tiki events. I don’t remember anyone asking me for them except at the sold-out Reidel tasting. If I lived in New Orleans I would come to as many events as I could without bothering to register. Why pay when no one seemed to be checking?

That said my other favorite events included: The Tasting Rooms with free admission and sponsors pouring their products. I found some hotel guests who just wandered by and were smart enough to taste for free. For me, it was about seeing old friends and colleagues. Emerging Spirits or “What is the next big thing” Donna Hood Crecca, editor of Cheers Magazine led the panel discussion. The answer is: Absinthe, Pisco, Liqueurs, Rye, Rum, Sake, Gin, Irish and Cachacha. The opening of the Absinthe Museum of America was where I tasted the formerly banned products. How to Taste Like a Professional and Whiskies You Have Never Tasted Before were both led by Paul Pecault who has finally published the revised edition of his Kindred Spirits book. I have used his old edition on hundreds of occasions for research. Artisan Spirits discussed products from smaller companies. The Spirited dinner at Zoe in the W Hotel perfectly matched many cocktails with the dinner courses. The Media Breakfast at Brennan’s was over subscribed and led by Bonnie Warren who has done their public relations for over 21 years. She along with Rachel Douglas the public relations director at Harrah’s were my hosts. I sat in on every seminar that David Wondrich, Gary Regan or Jared Browm/Anistatia Miller conducted. I managed to tag along at the very end of historian Joe Gendusa’s daily New Orleans Cocktail Bar Tour. He visited 4 to 6 cocktail bars near The Monteleone Hotel with one free drink provided.

Due to the overlapping times the following are seminars I would have attended if I could clone myself: Eggs in Cocktails and Beer as an Ingredient in Cocktails; Bourbon & Blues and Rum and All That Jazz; The First International Symposium of Cocktail Shaker Collectors; Ultimate Bloody Mary Championship; Molecular Mixology & The Flowering Punch; Bartenders of The World Suite (started at 11PM when I was sleeping) and The History of Bar Snacks.

In 2007 the event used: 7,250 mint leaves, 3,580 lime wedges, 800 watermelon cubes, 560 gin soaked dried cherries, 1,390 orange slices and 2 tons of ice.

During the opening ceremony the Sazerac was declared the official cocktail of New Orleans and The Punch & Judy by Charlotte Voisey was named the official cocktail for Tales 2008. I even learned that New Orleans was the birthplace of the cocktail. Antoine Amedee Peychaud, a French planter and pharmacist, was forced to flee the Caribbean island of Santo Domingo during the Black Rebellion of 1793. He relocated to New Orleans and opened an apothecary shop on Royal Street. The building is still standing and has been an antique shop opened by the Cohen family for the last 100 years. Peychaud brought with him an old family recipe for bitters. He would add a few drops of brandy toddies, the Creole gentleman’s drink and restorative of the day. Peychaud served the drink in a double-end eggcup called a Coquetier (kah-kuh-TYAY). After purchasing Louisiana from France in 1803, many Americans moved to the Crescent City. Coquetier was most frequently heard as COCK-TAY and was soon slurred into COCKTAIL (after a few drinks). Now you know the rest of the story.

www.talesofthecocktail.com
www.harrahsneworleans.com
www.hotelmonteleone.com
www.neworleanscvb.com