What is now becoming a regular event at Musings on the Vine is the Napa-Bordeaux Shootout.
This past weekend, on October 13, 2018, installment number eight took place, with France just edging out Napa for bragging rights to yet another win.
The results of the tasting were thus:
Well, as you can see, this was a close contest. Despite Napa having wines scoring in second and third place, France managed to garner more overall points.
So, after eight installments, the results stack up as follows:
France’s lead is a strong 6 – 2 in overall wins. Point-wise, the French have 282 points to Napa’s 238 points, a widening margin.
A few observations are in order…
- In prior meetings, it was clear that Napa was sometimes hampered by wines that did not age as well as their French counterparts. At this installment, to “level the playing field,” wines were staggered in age, with the French wines being on average a decade older than their American competitors. It appears to have helped the Americans by keeping the scoring close.
- None of the wines had scored over 90 points when they were first reviewed upon release. Also, none of the wines are considered “trophy” wines. Despite their lack of “star power,” the flight showed that you don’t always need to be a star to shine.
- I was again pleased with the 1989 vintage. The Olivier showed considerable aging potential despite being 29 years old. Another surprise? The 1988 Gloria… tons of aging potential left in this wine, a true testament to the quality of St. Julien Bordeaux.
Where does it go from here? Well if history repeats itself, I imagine a ninth match-up in the not too distant future…
Should be fun, as usual!
I can count on one hand the number of Scotch-based cocktails worth mixing. Scotch does not “play well with others,” which is okay by me.
I have fortunately, or unfortunately, been at many a great restaurant’s final meal… Colorado Public Library, Fantasia’s, Walter’s, the Pillar House, Maison Robert and Cafe Budapest… great institutes of gastronomy that left an indelible stain on my tablecloth of fine dining.
This weekend was the final hurrah of Brasserie Jo, the 20+ year-old French Bistro at the Colonnade Hotel in Boston’s Back Bay. A long time fixture for theatre-goers and revelers, Brasserie Jo has been witness to much of Boston’s culinary history.
Distinctive for their embrace of the real Parisian experience, for the better part of a decade, Brasserie Jo satisfied Francophile taste in style.
Merci
Last week I posted a fun libation called The Star Cocktail. Based on Calvados, the apple flavor made a perfect introduction to Fall.
English born Harry Craddock was one of the most important bartenders in the history of the cocktail. He was trained in America until prohibition sent him packing to the London and the Savoy Hotel. There he proceeded to write one the most important cocktail tomes, The Savoy Cocktail Book. Written in 1930 and containing well over 750 recipes, the book is a classic, still in print today.
According to Difford’s Guide, 365 Days of Cocktails, today is International Dot Day. As the story goes, in 2009, a teacher named Terry Shay introduced her class to Peter H. Reynold’s curious story The Dot. In it, a teacher starts a young girl on a journey of self-discovery by asking her to place a dot on a piece of paper. The exercise offers the girl encouragement in her own abilities and launches Vashti on life’s adventure.
Fridays in the Summer seem to beg for Rum… especially when the temperature and humidity are high.
This single malt is produced on the Isle of Mull by Tobermory. It is a 12 year-old Whisky that is heavily peated and aged in wine barrels previously used for the aging of Hermitage wine (Northern Rhone Valley – France).
Google “Bird of Paradise” cocktail and you will be presented with several iterations, each claiming “classic” status. Interestingly, the base spirits range from Gin to Tequila to Rum, with mixers running the gamut from lemon to lime to orange juice. Confusing at best.
The lore of cocktails is rich and filled with many contradictions. The challenge is that with any lore, there is a fine line between verifiable truth and entertaining story. Cocktail lore is no different.
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