Jump to content

Wall Street Journal Wine Column - Columnist Will Lyons Replaces Jim McInerney


Lydia R

Recommended Posts

All, thank you very much for your kind words. Quite honestly it feels strange being in the public eye, and I'm not entirely comfortable with it. Regarding small-grower champagnes, a friend of mine commented that 'just because it's small doesn't mean it's good, and just because it's big doesn't mean it's bad.' He's right, of course: an RM on the label is not an absolute guarantee of quality - many of the smaller houses can't afford to select from the best parcels and must also hire an oenologue to help them make the wine. The large houses have tons of money, and can afford to to use older wine in their NV champagne and also to hire the best winemakers available. All this to say that anything I write is (and should be) subject to scrutiny and crticism, and I don't want anyone here to hold back when they have suggestions, objections or even complaints. As I've quickly learned, writing for a publication on deadline is difficult - there's neither the time nor space to make things as pefect as I'd like, and it's very different than writing on the internet.

JLK, I had to hunt mightily to find a few good restaurants in the area that serve RM champagnes by the glass, and Gerard's Place is one of the few that does (I also found one at Restaurant Eve the day before final edit and had to scramble to get that into the piece). It's timely you should bring up Gerard's Place - stay tuned...

Cheers,
Rocks

 

Seems that great minds think alike.

Here's the first part of the wine column from today's Wall Street Journal:

============================================

Talking Wine Around
The Water Cooler

By DOROTHY J. GAITER AND JOHN BRECHER

For Clients and Colleagues,
Our Holiday Wine Tips;
Reading the Small Print
December 9, 2005; Page W8

Around the holidays, wine plays a prominent role not only with friends and family, but at the office, too. Christmas parties, gift exchanges -- there are all sorts of issues. As you can imagine, we're the go-to people in our office when it comes to wine-related holiday questions. Here are four questions we've been asked by our own colleagues over the past year, and we'd guess they're pretty common everywhere this time of year. All of these questions have many possible answers, but we'll tell you exactly what we told our colleagues and what we'd tell you if you were in the cubicle next-door.

Q: The other secretaries and I want to give a nice bottle of wine to the boss, but he knows a lot about wine and we don't want to spend too much. What should we get?

A: An "RM" champagne. This will show care, taste -- and good eyesight. Let's explain: Most of us are familiar with the big Champagne makers of France, such as Piper-Heidsieck and Mumm, and the big guys dominate the market. Heck, for all we know, the boss even buys Dom Perignon by the case (since he is, after all, the boss and perhaps can afford it). But there are thousands of small producers in Champagne who make a limited amount of highly personal wine and, in some cases, export a little bit of it to the U.S. Some of these names, such as Pierre Peters and Egly-Ouriet, are fairly well known among wine-lovers, but we see new ones all the time. A California wine store recently featured a small-production Champagne called René Collard from the 1985 vintage that was just recently released from the winery. The cost: $59.99, a real bargain for a wine with such history. We had to order it, of course, and it was simply beautiful -- golden, with languid bubbles and nutty, toasty, citrus flavors.

Here's where the eyesight comes in: If you look closely, there is a tiny registration number on a Champagne label. Most begin with "NM," which includes the big Champagne houses that buy most of their grapes, then blend the wine and ship it. If it says "RM," that means it's a grower's own wine. This Champagne will be rare, special and distinctive -- and there's an excellent chance it will be new to your boss. Not only that, but it will likely be a bargain -- often $30 to $40 -- because it is, after all, an unusual label that no one has ever heard of. The boss will understand just how special this is. You won't find RM Champagnes at every corner store, but many fine wine shops carry at least one.

Copyright - 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
=========================================

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Reading the Small Print
By DOROTHY J. GAITER AND JOHN BRECHER

By Gaiter and Brecher, or by Raider and Lecher? Decide for yourselves:

"big guys dominate the market," "buy most of their grapes, then blend the wine," "RM," "highly personal," "small print," "Pierre Peters," "distinctive," "tiny registration number," "look closely," "$30 to $40," "you won't find RM champagnes at every corner store..."

They stole my article.

Gee and just three years ago they were raving about Heidsieck:

Through many taste tests, the columnists say they discovered you can't go wrong with anything from France with Heidseick in the name. "It's very elegant and sort of seductive.," says Gaiter. "You taste it, and then it sort of grows and just becomes very much in your head. It's a sexy champagne. This is a date wine."
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's pretty easy to be a cheapskate here with all the online buying places.  :)  I liked the article in part because it supported my evolving opinion that rosés from Provence are especially enjoyable.  I've been able to get a few deals from the closeout places, particularly Cinderella Wine at the wine library, so there are a couple of cases in the cellar for the summer. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

By Gaiter and Brecher, or by Raider and Lecher? Decide for yourselves:

"big guys dominate the market," "buy most of their grapes, then blend the wine," "RM," "highly personal," "small print," "Pierre Peters," "distinctive," "tiny registration number," "look closely," "$30 to $40," "you won't find RM champagnes at every corner store..."

They stole my article.

Gee and just three years ago they were raving about Heidsieck:

Sorry to bring this up again, but the nationally known team of Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher (aka Raider and Lecher) plagiarized my original work, and I'm going to make sure this is known for all eternity, or at least until they offer me an apology. Not once have I ever heard from them.

Only one of them was under $20. I rarely am willing to pay more than $14 for a bottle of rosé, but I'm kind of a cheapskate.

I can find you some outstanding rosés locally for under $20. In Provence, some of the really good, pale, bone dry ones are just a few Euros ex-cellar. Domaines Ott, as a counter-example, is a great wine, but they've marketed themselves well and are painfully expensive - you can get 90% of the quality than less than half the money. Same goes with Cháteau de Simon which is priced in the stratosphere, needlessly.

Forgetting my help for a moment, remember importer, importer, importer.

Buy wines from imported by Kermit Lynch, Potomac Selections, Wine Traditions, and Louis-Dressner. These should be in decreasing order of price, but not necessarily quality. There's an ocean of rosés I'm unfamiliar with, so I go to the rosé shelf, pick the palest ones I can find (regardless of the shape of the bottle - don't worry about that), turn the bottles around so I can read the back label, and if one of these four's name is on it, I buy it. I don't even look at the producer's name, and only rare note the vintage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Only one of them was under $20. I rarely am willing to pay more than $14 for a bottle of rosé, but I'm kind of a cheapskate.

I can find you some outstanding rosés locally for under $20. In Provence, a lot of the really good, pale, bone dry ones are about 3 Euros ex-cellar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...