And no, I am not talking about fault lines in California, Mexico, Japan or even… of late, Chile. The ‘plates’ I am referring to have to do metaphorically with the dramatic shifting in the UK wine market and the fact that France no longer appears to be most anyone’s favorite when shopping these days. Not first, second, third, or now even fourth… are you amazed?

In restaurants, when I was first learning about wine in the late 1970s (yes, back in the proverbial day), it was all about French wine. Bordeaux and Burgundy were the pinnacles, and yes we tipped our berets to the Loire Valley, the Rhône, and a few bits and pieces of Provence and the Languedoc. We studied and consumed Italy at the peripheral level (Chianti and Barolo), enjoyed our token Germans, and locally were fiercely proud and supportive of an emerging local but, at the time, globally insignificant California wine industry. Continue reading »

I was glancing through the myriad emails that come my way this past week when I saw a headline in Wines & Sprits Daily.com that read: SOME FRENCH PRODUCERS USING NEW WORLD TRICKS. Needless to say, I was intrigued. It’s not a secret that French wines have been having a hard time of late selling in the American market and it’s not exclusively due to the tough time the dollar is having versus the euro. Continue reading »

This recent few weeks has found me (again) in Asia but this time not in Korea, rather Hong Kong followed by Singapore. As the MS ‘brand’ continues to grow, Hong Kong is a new market for us, the nightly table provided great fodder for recapping the day, planning for tomorrow and of course letting our proverbial hair down after being in classroom and/or examination mode all day.

While the jet lag is tough and the work load formidable, the local dining makes up in part for the wear and tear on the body. Impeccable Chinese food in Hong Kong (the whole roast pig was extraordinary) and a delightful mix of cuisine in Singapore (including my de rigeur share of Char Kway Teo, a sublime noodle dish), all washed down with tasty wines and non-stop great stories. On one of these occasions, with a bunch of folks in tow, I did what I so often do and asked the table about their memorable food and wine experiences. Continue reading »

For years I have preached in my sensory evaluation teaching and ‘how to taste’ classes that deja smell is far more evocative with most of us than deja vu. That olfactory triggers resonate much deeper and more viscerally with most people than that elusive momentary brain blip that is named so aptly by that lovely French term. So, you can imagine that I was delighted to read about last week’s published Northwestern University study that reaffirms the power of smell and emotional connection.

Even without this study’s corroboration we all know firsthand how this works both positively and negatively. We all can connect with the pleasure sensation that is elicited by the smell of a perfume your Mom wore when you were a child or the aroma of fresh peach pie that might bring you back to helping your Grandma bake during summer vacation. It can also be negative. The smell of certain fusel liquids or chemicals is said to revive latent painful memories in war veterans while the smell of burning enamel can bring anyone back to the unpleasant emotions associated with teeth being drilled in your dentist’s office. Smell is indeed powerful stuff.

In reflecting on this more, I have begun to wonder if, based on which wines you first learned on, your palate and perception of what you like and what is good is established similarly. Think about it. If you grew up and first cut your teeth on red wines from Bordeaux or Burgundy, you likely have fixed olfactory ‘memories’ of terroir- the lead pencil and cigar box aromas of Bordeaux and the ‘barnyard’ and sweet earthy nuances of Burgundy. Continue reading »