Recently, a popular comedy duo hosted a variety show in which the cast competed to give a birthday present to a female idol born in 2000. The person who came last paid for everyone else's presents, just like in the "Gochi ni Narimasu" style. Among the gifts, which were all quite expensive, ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 yen, such as Dior cosmetics, high-end hand cream, and cantaloupe, the MC duo's "tsukkomi" bought a bottle of wine from the year of the idol's birth. He bought a 2000 vintage of Chateau Clerc-Milon in Pauillac, a fifth-growth Bordeaux winery. The price was 25,000 yen. Clerc-Milon is owned by the Rothschild family of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, one of the five great chateaux of Bordeaux, in the same Pauillac region, and they also own another fifth-growth Chateau d'Armayac in Pauillac. Clerc-Milon is more highly regarded and more expensive than d'Armayac. 2000 was the millennium, and a good vintage, so Mouton went for about 500,000 yen. Considering that, 25,000 yen for the same winery is not too bad.
In fact, last year I had the opportunity to taste the 2000 Mouton at the annual overnight wine gathering in Ikaho. Mr. Shimada, who runs this newsletter, was also there. It was still early and the wine was excellent, but it was too expensive. The five great chateaux are not that great, but it is true that all the 2000 wines are priced high.
And the other day, I, the author, opened a wine from 1995, the year of the birth of a young friend, to celebrate his birthday. I chose a Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes from Seraphin Père et Fils in Burgundy. Or rather, that was the best I could do. Since it was a dinner at a restaurant, you should be prepared to pay twice the retail price. So, if you want to open a birthday wine at a restaurant, I recommend that you do so at a restaurant that allows you to bring your own wine and prepare it yourself.
I think it's relatively easy to find wines from the year of your birth up to about age 30. However, if you go beyond that, you can find good vintages, but they are expensive, and if the vintage is bad, you'll have to drink it early, so it's hard to find them. Either way, it's a heavy situation.
It was a long time ago, in 1996. I was going to Paris and decided to look for a 1965 wine for a friend's birthday. The Internet had not yet become widespread at that time, so wine was always found on foot. Nowadays, winemaking technology has advanced, and the difference between good and bad wines is not as great as it used to be. However, in the 1960s, there were many bad years, and the production volume was low and the wine did not last long, so I could not find it no matter where I looked. 1965 was said to be the worst year of the 1960s, so I was overconfident that I would be fine in Paris, but it backfired. I thought that Legrand at Galerie Vivienne, where I always bought vintage wine, would have it, but they said they did not have 1965. I went to the main store at Place de la Madeleine, the headquarters of the Nicolas chain, and they had vintage Porto but not Bordeaux. I went to several other stores, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I was at a loss, so I somehow bought a Gault-Millau wine magazine to get information on wine shops. Since it was the only information medium at the time, there were advertisements for wine shops in the magazine. As I was searching, I came across a wine shop in the 15th arrondissement that had a great list of vintages.
I thought they might have it here. I immediately visited the store the next day. I found out they had a 1965 Haut-Brion, one of the five great chateaux. It was released from the cellar and recorked in 1990, and the label had apparently become worn out while it was stored in the cellar, so it had been replaced. However, they had left the original label and put a new one on the other side, so it was an extremely rare bouteille (bottle). Of course, I bought it immediately. It seemed that they had a lot of old Haut-Brion, so they asked me if I would like to buy other off-vintage wines, but I couldn't afford that, so I was able to get it anyway. I missed the opportunity to open the wine with my acquaintance, but I decided to open it at a wine party later. When it was recorked, they probably filled it with wine, because it was more drinkable than I expected. I decided to keep this rare bouteille as it was.
Aged wine is on a different level from regular wines, so it's important to enjoy the aged feel. Of course, it shouldn't be spoiled, but it's important to sniff out the bouquet, not the fruity aroma, and enjoy the complex flavors, such as minerals. A great vintage will gradually wake up after opening, letting you feel its deep rings and giving you a quiet impression. Wines from unfortunate years will reach their peak as soon as you open them, so enjoy that and prepare for oxidation before you move on to the second half of the wine.
In that respect, any wine up to about 30 years old can be enjoyed to a certain extent. As mentioned above, if it is a 2000 vintage, it is better to let it sit for a while longer if it is a Grand Vin of the Mouton class. Therefore, I think that Clair-Milon will be delicious enough. I was surprised that Vieilles Vignes, made by Christian Serafin, known as the "Magician of New Barrels," using 100% new oak, became more delicious in the latter half of the aging process, due in part to the good vintage of 1995.
However, please remember that old vintage wines come with risks because you cannot know the condition of the wine until you open it. It is an expensive purchase, so be sure to buy it from a reliable shop. You should be especially careful with the importer. Also, in the case of off-vintage wines, please be aware that the most important thing is to celebrate with the wine rather than enjoying it itself.
I am currently writing articles on Facebook about wines I have drunk in the past as part of a series called "Etiquette Speaks." I am currently writing the 1997 edition, but at the time I was young and the people I drank wine with were even younger, so I often opened wines from the year I was born. Most of them were from the 1970s, and thanks to that I was able to taste almost all of the Bordeaux from the 1970s, both good and bad years. At that time, bad vintages were cheap, and even the five great chateaux sold bad years from the 1980s such as 1984 and 1987 for around 7,000 yen at department stores. The same was true for wines from the 1970s, and most wines could be purchased for 10,000 yen.
Knowing that, when I saw the 25,000 yen Clair Milon, I couldn't help but mutter, "That's expensive." I mean, how much would I pay at a restaurant if I added dinner to that? Love is priceless. That's true. But you can't have your cake and eat it too. Wine is such a sin. That's what I always think.
This month's recommended wine: "Prosecco, the promising hope of Italian spumante"
"Prosecco Extra Dry NV DOC Prosecco Treviso Le Contesse" 2,160 yen (excluding tax)
This time, we will be introducing Italian spumante (sparkling wine). Last year, we looked at "Franciacorta" in Lombardy, which is on par with Champagne in both name and reality. "Franciacorta" is the name of a place, and the grape varieties used include Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the same as Champagne, and the production method involves secondary fermentation in the bottle. So, if you were to ask what spumante is unique to Italy, the first thing that would come to mind would probably be "Prosecco" from the Veneto.
Prosecco was originally the name of a grape variety, but in 2010 the name was changed to "Glera" in an attempt to adopt it as a unique name for the wine. It is mandatory to use at least 85% Glera. Incidentally, the Prosecco from "Le Comtesse" introduced here is made with 100% Glera. In addition, the classification that started from DOC has led to the creation of DOCG, and further hierarchical classifications such as "Rive", which can only be used by 43 villages in Superiore, and "Cartizze", which is said to be the best vineyard, are now allowed to use the name of a single vineyard.
In 2013, it overtook Champagne to become the world's best-selling sparkling wine, and together with Spain's Cava, it now forms one of the world's three major sparkling wines.
Unlike the other two, this is made in a sealed tank. Therefore, it does not have the toasty yeast aroma (bread-like aroma) that is found in champagne, and is characterized by the original grape aroma and fresh, fruity taste. Although it may taste a little sweet due to the characteristics of the grapes, the trend is to make it dry to match champagne, and the Prosecco we are introducing this time is also "extra dry", a refreshing dry specification. The alcohol content is slightly lower than champagne, at 10-11%. This Prosecco is also 10%. And above all, it can be mass-produced, so it is reasonably priced, which is one of the reasons why many people choose it.
The producer, Le Contesse , is a cantina in the Conegliano region that specializes in spumante. Using the latest technology, they produce Prosecco at a higher gas pressure of 5.3 atmospheres than usual. If you leave it like this for about a week, the bubbles will dissolve into the wine and become beautiful, fine bubbles like those made by the Champagne method. Please feel free to enjoy the light, refreshing, and fresh taste that is a little different from Champagne.
For inquiries about the wines introduced, please contact AVICO Co., Ltd.
Biography
Osamu Seki Born in Tokyo in 1961. Currently a part-time lecturer at Meiji University and other institutions.
He specializes in contemporary French thought and cultural theory, and is a director of the Reefer Wine Association.
His books include "An Introduction to Beautiful Men" (Natsume Shobo) and "My Neighbor is Arashi-kun" (Cyzo), and his translations include "How Should We Read Foucault?" by Oksara (Shinsensha) and "Mr. Pydrow, What Use Is a Gastronomic Critic?" by Pydrowski (Shinsensha).
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