The Walman Travel Restaurant Entertainment & Wine Report
By Nancy Walman
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The Line On Wine
By Nancy Walman
A Century of Wine Making
On October 18, a private dinner was given at Brooklyn’s River Café. It began with a flute of 1991 Brut Reserve Carneros Sparkling Wine in the enclosed terrace, accompanied by spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline. The guests we a select group of New York’s most respected wine journalists and the dinner was hosted by Joel Aiken, Vice President and Director of Winemaking for Beaulieu Vineyards, in celebration of BV’s Centennial Vintage, 2000. A selection of some fifteen wines from the winery’s library was accompanied by a celestial six course dinner, prepared by Executive chef, Brad Steelman. The wines included the newly released 1997 Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet.
The dinner, in the former barge’s main dining room, was everything one would expect from one of New York’s most dramatic restaurants and consisted of 1998 Winemakers' Collection Central Coast Pinot Gris and more Carneros Sparkling to accompany hors d’oeuvres: house smoked salmon, an airy mushroom soufflé and tender grilled lobster. The Pinot Gris had a totally different character than the Alsatian or Italian (Pinot Grigio) versions and was light bodied and slatly with a pleasant slightly-smoky finish. It worked beautifully with the salmon and lobster, two tough tastes to match or contrast.
A single sea scallop, gently breaded in Japanese breadcrumbs and set on golden Swiss chard and fall vegetables, was matched with a 1999 Sonoma Chardonnay and a 1999 Carneros Pinot Noir. The Chardonnay was clean, tasted un-oaked, as the Australians say, and had a subtle vanilla nose. The Pinot Noir displayed good acid, balanced-fruit and for our money worked better with the scallop.
Buffalo “Osso Buco,” a playful twist incorporating Buffalo ricotta filled ravioli, kabocha squash and sage was a dish that required sturdy backup and BV’s 1998 Reserve Carneros Chardonnay displayed great depth, complexity and character, while the 1998 Reserve Carneros Pinot Noir was velvety and Burundian. Our favorite, the 1998 Signet North Coast Syrah, was a big, lush wine with a deep violet hue and enough tannins to develop for years to come.
A Colorado double lamb chop was pan roasted with baby mint and rosemary potatoes and provided a hint of sweetness. But not too much for the 1998 Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon, 1997 Tapestry Reserve Napa Valley Red Table Wine (mercifully spared the indignity of being labeled a Meritage) and the breathtaking 1997 Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.
All evening, our eyes had been drawn to the selection of aged domestic cheeses. Not because of the our passion for cheese, which is considerable, but when was the last time we had savored an aristocratic progression of 1987, 1980, 1970 and 1969 Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. They had been decanted and the ’69 still displayed staying power. All were elegant, world-class and fine examples of why Georges de Latour Cabernets have long been considered some of the finest red wines made in America. Alas, midnight was approaching, as was our car service, so we missed the signature dessert, a miniature chocolate Brooklyn Bridge, accompanied by the 1996 Signet Napa Valley Port.
Some background: Beaulieu Vineyard, rooted in the benchlands of Rutherford in world-renowned Napa Valley, has pioneered California wine making since the turn of the century. Founded in 1900 by French immigrant Georges de Latour, Beaulieu Vineyard - or BV as it is commonly called - began as a 4-acre plot of land de Latour believed would bear the fruit of his homeland and produce wines of recognized quality.
Today, Beaulieu Vineyard spans nearly 1,500 acres, and its wines are marked by its proud tradition as an innovative leader in the history of the California wine industry. BV can boast of being among the first to import disease-resistant, bench grafted rootstock; the first to use American oak barrels for aging wine; and drafting the petition for recognizing Carneros as an American viticultural area. Georges de Latour was born on October 20, 1856 in Bordeaux. No one knows exactly when he came to America or when he forged his way to San Francisco, where he established a successful cream of tartar business. Naturalization papers date his application for citizenship April 1892. He took a young bride, Fernande Romer, at the age of 42, and together they established the early success and reputation of the winery they named "Beaulieu" (Beautiful Place). This was not an easy task. At the time the de Latours were developing and expanding their vineyards, the vicious phylloxera louse was plaguing the land. Georges went to his homeland for resistant rootstock and established a nursery in Rutherford to propagate the healthy vines, which he supplied to other vintners. Prohibition halted nearly all wine production in California in the '20s, but through a good connection with the Archdiocese of San Francisco, and by being a wise businessman, Georges kept the winery operating by producing Sacramental wine for the church. This resulted in Beaulieu's position of readiness at the end of Prohibition. A few years later, war struck. It became impossible to import French oak barrels for aging Georges' prized Cabernet Sauvignon. An innovator, he turned to American oak for aging BV's wines.
He then recruited a young Russian-born enologist named André Tchelistcheff to come to BV in 1938 from the Pasteur Institute in Paris. Georges de Latour passed away two years later, but not before he achieved his greatest honor - a gold medal from the 1939 Golden Gate international Exposition at Treasure Island for his 1936 Cabernet Sauvignon. Beaulieu was also one of only two wineries to receive the "Grand Sweepstakes Award" that year. BV wines have graced the tables of dignitaries around the world, including Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Beaulieu Vineyard is a key component of UDV's global wine family, which also includes Glen Ellen, Blossom Hill and M.G. Vallejo in California, Le Piat d'Or in France, Navarro Correas of Argentina as well as Croft and Delaforce of Oporto, Portugal.
Click Here To Visit the BV Website: <http://www.bvwine.com>
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