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| Europe | |
| France Loses ....Again | |
| 2006-05-25 | |
THIRTY years had passed since the Judgment of Paris, when French oenophiles received a red nose at the hands of American upstarts in a blind wine-tasting competition. But to the dismay of the French wine experts taking part in last nightÂ’s eagerly awaited rematch, Californian vintages have again trumped their Gallic counterparts.
Last night Mr Spurrier and a group of British, French and American tasters took part in the 30th anniversary re-enactment to discover whether the shocking defeat for what was then the undisputed world leader in viticulture could be reversed. A simultaneous sampling of the same wines was staged in the Napa Valley, California’s main wine-producing area, and at Berry Bros & Rudd wine merchants in London. Despite the French tasters, many of whom had taken part in the original tasting, “expecting the downfall” of the American vineyards, they had to admit that the harmony of the Californian cabernets had beaten them again. Judges on both continents gave top honours to a 1971 Ridge Monte Bello cabernet from Napa Valley. Four Californian reds occupied the next placings before the highest-ranked Bordeaux, a 1970 Château MoutonRothschild, came in at sixth. | |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #34 I have to admit that the one thing I miss most from Germany was the availability of GOOD cheese. The base commissary usually carried 40 or 50 different types. I used to love to buy the "ends and pieces", because it gave me a chance to sample many different types at very low prices. My favorite is still either aged cheddar or a good Gouda - depending on the mood at the time. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-05-25 23:29 |
| #33 Jeeze. Nimble and Zenster have gone bourgeois. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-05-25 23:29 |
| #32 The USA and Australia can make great wines, but they cant make cheese worth shit. Quite obviously, you have never heard of Laura Chenel. Her chevre (goat cheeses) are simply superb. Cypress Grove's Humbolt Fog blue goat cheese not only wins prizes, it is highly addictive. For down to earth and recognizable cheese, try Bravo Farms. These are raw milk cheeses from a herd of Jersey cattle with the highest butterfat content of all cow's milk. Their beautiful green speckled vein Sage Cheddar, made with 60 day old aged white Cheddar with powdered sage folded into the curds is outsanding with a pork or chicken liver paté. Their orange speckled vein Chipotle Cheddar (same 60 day old white Cheddar stock) goes astonishingly well with sparkling wines and Chardonnay. Their aged white Cheddar is nothing short of sublime with a nut-like flavor and deep creamy bite accompanied by a lingering piquant finish made for vintage red wines like Cabernet. They also make a Silver Mountain bandage wrapped cheese which is a tantalizing cross between French Cantral and Cheddar. Their Cannonball Edam and other waxed Edams are quite good. All of them are made with unpasturized milk that allows the subtle pasturage notes to shine through. Rouge & Noir of Marin French Cheese Co. in Petaluma, CA recently took WORLD GOLD in London for the “bloomy rind” category with its triple cream brie. Redwood Hill Farm’s Crottin and Bucheret goat cheese rival anything that France exports. Cowgirl Creamery’s Mount Tam soft rind cow’s milk triple cream has faint mushroom top notes and took first place this year with the American Cheese Society. Their Red Hawk triple cream washed rind cheese is tinged with sunset reds from the brine solution it is bathed with. Every single one of these cheeses are outstanding examples of the artisan cheese maker’s art. I have tasted all of them (a side benefit of my job) and they can hold their own against all comers. Yes indeed, I recently had some Cornish soft blues that knocked me for a loop and there are still small-run French cheeses that have no match, but to say that Americans cannot make cheese is patently false. America possesses some of the most innovative and skilled food artisans in the entire world. The breath-taking Maytag Blue cheesecake on a butter crumb bottom crust with reduced aged balsamic dressing and sliced spice-cured Queen Anne cherries bundled with micro-greens that finished my six course meal after our first meeting of the culinary institute’s advisory board was outrageous. Paired with an unobtainable 14% Ridge late-harvest zinfandel that had a nose like port, this end-of-meal cheese course nearly dethroned the second course smoked sturgeon dotted with caviar and crème fraîche on a slab of cold marinated watermelon and bedded on baby mache with a scattering of pickled golden beet matchsticks that almost passed for julienne of ginger. Just to piss all of you off, here’s this afternoon’s menu: Uncapped Eggshell Filled with a Mélange of Chorizo, Quail Egg and a Micro-Brunois of Seasonal Vegetables Topped with a Sherry Merengue First Course Crispy Chicken Fritter in a Sweet Onion Soup Flecked with Fruitwood Smoked Bacon Paired with a Kumeu River Chardonnay Kumeu, New Zealand 2004 Second Course Smoked Baby Sturgeon Dotted with Caviar and Cream Fraîche on Marinated Watermelon with Baby Mache and Pickled Golden Beet Paired with Weingat Schmels Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Wachau Hohereck, Austria 2002 Palate Cleanser Wine Poached Baby Pear Floated in a Simple Syrup Flecked with range Zest and Topped with Fresh Lemon Curd Third Course Herb Crusted Veal Strip Loin on a Crunchy Potato Cake with Charred Cream Corn and Fresh English Peas Bracketed by Glazed Yellow Carrots in a Sweet Mustard Demi Glace Paired with Chateau Malescot St. Exuperey Margaux Bordeaux, France 1998 Fourth Course Maytag Blue Cheesecake on a Butter Crumb Bottom Crust with Reduced Aged Balsamic Dressing over Sliced Spice-Cured Queen Anne Cherries Bundled with Micro Greens Paired with Ridge Zinfandel “Essence” Stone Ranch Cañeros District – Alexander Valley, California 2003 Assorted Chocolate Truffles with Cappucino or Espresso It was agreed by all (including some members who have cooked with Julia Child) that the second course reigned supreme. The wine pairing made it utterly sublime. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-05-25 23:13 |
| #31 What does one expect from the home of the NIMITZ-class, Patton, the Big Mac, Star Wars, the T-REX and Velociraptor, Edison,..................@etal!? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-05-25 23:06 |
| #30 What does one expect from the home of the NIMITZ-class, Patton, the Big Mac, Star Wars, the T-REX and Velociraptor, Edison,..................@etal!? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-05-25 23:06 |
| #29 6, I believed that till I had my first Cabernet with a blackend NY strip steak. Bye Bye Bud. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-05-25 21:42 |
| #28 (...To a H.S. / College Chant-type cheer routine...) "What's the WORD?? THUNDERBIRD! What's the price?? Fifty($.50)TWICE!! |
| Posted by: as 2006-05-25 21:26 |
| #27 My wife was looking at the pic and said "where is four roses" ") |
| Posted by: djohn66 2006-05-25 20:07 |
| #26 Those pixs bring back rocky memories of hugging porcelain. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-05-25 19:11 |
| #25 Cheddar cheese spread on a ritz cracker with spam and a fried bologna sandwich ahh them were the days. |
| Posted by: djohn66 2006-05-25 17:42 |
| #24 Tillamook Oregon has cheddar down to an artform. |
| Posted by: bool 2006-05-25 17:11 |
| #23 Steve - it was a cheap name joke, from the article. Spurrier looks like he was really hammering down the Cripple that day. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-05-25 16:50 |
| #22 cheep beer and red meat.......real men don't drink wine or at least don't admit to it. It's like admitting that you like to dance........way gay. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2006-05-25 15:48 |
| #21 As someone who likes America I have to say it will be a LONG time before the sin of processed cheese is worked off Got to agree on that one. but it served its original purpose: to get basic protein out during the Depression and WWII. These days there are some great boutique cheeses in the US, and many imports as well. Bottom of the 'wine' barrel, last sighted around 1974 or so: Pagan Pink Ripple in the Pop-top Can |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-05-25 14:38 |
| #20 Oldspook, talk about weapons of mass destruction! |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-05-25 13:55 |
| #19 Steve's changed a lot recently. I blame reading too many furrin' newspapers. You try digging through the Pak, Bangla, Phillipine, Kuwait, Russian, Indian, Somalia, Iranian, Syrian, Turkish, Yemeni, Zim-Bob-Way and Euro press every morning without drinking. Plus, Fred shorted my paycheck, again! Something about cost overruns on the hurricane control system.... |
| Posted by: Steve 2006-05-25 13:47 |
| #18 MRE Squeeze Cheeze on the Dogfood patty. Now THERE is fine cuisine. And don't laugh - that "beef" patty and the chili-mac were my favoite MREs, trade for the squeezecheese, tear the top, sprinkle in the tabasco. No spoon needed, just squish em out a bite-worth at a time, squish some cheeze on it, and chew em up. Of course you wouldn't want to be in the same track as me about an hour or so after the chili mac + tabasco + squeezecheeze. Yeah, I was the a-hole TC who'd rip one in the track on a roadmarch (RHIP, and the TC hatch is one of those). We had a jumpmaster that seemed to always do that from front of the stick just after we lifted, the bastard. Stuck in there with the stenchcloud until we got to the DZ and got our green light. |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2006-05-25 13:34 |
| #17 Looks like the lineup on my prom night... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-05-25 13:20 |
| #16 |
| Posted by: gromky 2006-05-25 13:17 |
| #15 Steve's changed a lot recently. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-05-25 13:12 |
| #14 Gripple Grain alcohol and Ripple. The nurses loved it. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-05-25 13:03 |
| #13 Thunderbird with grapefruit juice, you heathens. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2006-05-25 12:52 |
| #12 Oh God, what's next? Thunderbird? |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-05-25 12:24 |
| #11 Okay, now you're showing off! I can't keep up with MD 20/20. Out of my budget class, I'm afraid. :) |
| Posted by: Ebberemp Phinens2648 2006-05-25 12:20 |
| #10 EP, You are too kind. However, I must admit that I only came across the Boone's Farm when I inadvertantly allowed my stock of Mad Dog 20/20 to run low. |
| Posted by: Dreadnought 2006-05-25 12:12 |
| #9 Dreadnought - I prefer my Velveeta aged about a week with a thick slice of Spam and a hint of horseradish on Very White Bread. The Boone's Farm is a masterstroke - I applaud you. |
| Posted by: Ebberemp Phinens2648 2006-05-25 12:02 |
| #8 Oh well. One man's Filet Mignon is another man's Sh*t Sandwich. Velveeta and Boone's Farm? EEEEEWWWWWW! |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-05-25 11:54 |
| #7 Bright Pebbles, great comment! However, I have yet to taste a good Philly Cheesesteak with any French DNA. |
| Posted by: Capsu 78 2006-05-25 11:49 |
| #6 Can't a guy enjoy a nice piece of Velveeta with his Boone's Farm without you snooty gourmands getting all snobbish on us? |
| Posted by: Dreadnought 2006-05-25 11:17 |
| #5 I agree with mr. pebbles. The USA and Australia can make great wines, but they cant make cheese worth shit. I love cheese and no one comes close to the Euros in cheese making, although Stilton is my all time favorite. And BTW Spanish cheeses can be very good. You just can't find them. /end cheese obsession |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-05-25 11:12 |
| #4 The headline is grating, moderators please fix it. Don't use the word "loose" as a verb unless you are talking about the dogs of war or the fateful lighting of a terrible swift sword. It is "LOSES". Argh! (sorry, not trying to be a grammar nazi, but that error annoys the hell out of me) |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2006-05-25 11:04 |
| #3 As someone who likes America I have to say it will be a LONG time before the sin of processed cheese is worked off. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2006-05-25 10:29 |
| #2 What became loose? The corks on the wine bottles? And how could that relate to France? |
| Posted by: gromky 2006-05-25 09:51 |
| #1 And, of course, they want some cheese to go w/their w(h)ine. Maybe some monkey? |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2006-05-25 09:44 |
