moki
el Presidente
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2003
- Messages
- 9,418
Very interesting... many people assumed French wines were the best in the world, and when put to the test, this assumption did not hold up. Would the same thing happen if the bands were off in the cigar world? Certainly possible...
from: http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/012447.php
.....
A Story I Didn't Know...
...about a subject close to my heart. In today's New York Post, Ralph Peters reviews a book by George Taber called Judgment of Paris. It recounts the story of a wine-tasting in Paris in 1976, when Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, arranged for little-known California wines to be tested against the best French vintages in a blind taste-test by prominent French critics:
Spurrier wasn't setting a trap. He fully expected the French to win, choosing labels such as Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Meursault Charmes and Puligny-Montrachet for the face-off.
The American bottles came from upstart wineries built by wine-lovers risking everything for their dream. Mike Grgich had arrived virtually penniless from Croatia. He believed that American chardonnays could match the best of Burgundy. Warren Winiarski abandoned an academic career and mortgaged his family's future to pursue his vision of making a Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon to rival the greatest Bordeaux.
Spurrier invited nine influential French critics, sommeliers and restaurateurs. They tasted the wines without knowing their identities, snickering confidently as they scribbled down their scores.
The results were stunning. Winiarski's Stag's Leap Wine Cellars beat the great chateaux. The triumph of the American chardonnays was even greater, with Grgich's Chateau Montalena well ahead of the pack and other star-spangled whites in third and fourth place.
The experts were mortified. They'd trashed some of France's most famous wines, while praising unknown wines from California. And none of this would've been publicized if one journalist hadn't shown up during a slow news week: George Taber of Time, the author of this book.
As Peters notes, the 1976 wine-tasting upset helped open competition in the wine industry, with the result that wine drinkers now drink better and cheaper wines from all over the world--not only California varieties, but wines from Australia, New Zealand, Chile, South Africa and other countries. And that's definitely worth a toast.
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The Economist has a very well-written take on this issue... as per their usual high standards.
The way I see it, there is not fundamental reason why the same thing can't with regards to tobacco.... it'd just require Cuba to not keep up with the times, and coast on their caché while tobacco farms outside of Cuba focus on technology and quality.
Either way, it's a very interesting article. This comment in particular I found amusing:
John Worontschak, an Australian wine maker who works in Bordeaux as well as with producers in places as diverse as Uruguay, Italy, Mexico and Sussex, is blunt about why experts from his part of the world are now in such demand: "It's because we're open to new ideas, and we're not full of pretentious bullshit."
Warming to his theme, he explains: "Too many people walk into somewhere like Chateau Mouton Rothschild, swoon at the art collection and get an inferiority complex." Flying wine makers like Mr Worontschak happily acknowldege that the top Bordeaux wines are "pinnacles of the industry." But they also insist that the key to making consistent, high-quality wine lies in the careful application of scientific methods and modern techniques.
from: http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/012447.php
.....
A Story I Didn't Know...
...about a subject close to my heart. In today's New York Post, Ralph Peters reviews a book by George Taber called Judgment of Paris. It recounts the story of a wine-tasting in Paris in 1976, when Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, arranged for little-known California wines to be tested against the best French vintages in a blind taste-test by prominent French critics:
Spurrier wasn't setting a trap. He fully expected the French to win, choosing labels such as Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Meursault Charmes and Puligny-Montrachet for the face-off.
The American bottles came from upstart wineries built by wine-lovers risking everything for their dream. Mike Grgich had arrived virtually penniless from Croatia. He believed that American chardonnays could match the best of Burgundy. Warren Winiarski abandoned an academic career and mortgaged his family's future to pursue his vision of making a Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon to rival the greatest Bordeaux.
Spurrier invited nine influential French critics, sommeliers and restaurateurs. They tasted the wines without knowing their identities, snickering confidently as they scribbled down their scores.
The results were stunning. Winiarski's Stag's Leap Wine Cellars beat the great chateaux. The triumph of the American chardonnays was even greater, with Grgich's Chateau Montalena well ahead of the pack and other star-spangled whites in third and fourth place.
The experts were mortified. They'd trashed some of France's most famous wines, while praising unknown wines from California. And none of this would've been publicized if one journalist hadn't shown up during a slow news week: George Taber of Time, the author of this book.
As Peters notes, the 1976 wine-tasting upset helped open competition in the wine industry, with the result that wine drinkers now drink better and cheaper wines from all over the world--not only California varieties, but wines from Australia, New Zealand, Chile, South Africa and other countries. And that's definitely worth a toast.
--------------
The Economist has a very well-written take on this issue... as per their usual high standards.
The way I see it, there is not fundamental reason why the same thing can't with regards to tobacco.... it'd just require Cuba to not keep up with the times, and coast on their caché while tobacco farms outside of Cuba focus on technology and quality.
Either way, it's a very interesting article. This comment in particular I found amusing:
John Worontschak, an Australian wine maker who works in Bordeaux as well as with producers in places as diverse as Uruguay, Italy, Mexico and Sussex, is blunt about why experts from his part of the world are now in such demand: "It's because we're open to new ideas, and we're not full of pretentious bullshit."
Warming to his theme, he explains: "Too many people walk into somewhere like Chateau Mouton Rothschild, swoon at the art collection and get an inferiority complex." Flying wine makers like Mr Worontschak happily acknowldege that the top Bordeaux wines are "pinnacles of the industry." But they also insist that the key to making consistent, high-quality wine lies in the careful application of scientific methods and modern techniques.
