In the 1980’s, Norman Tebbit advised the unemployed to ‘get on your bike and look for work’. My advice is, forget about work, get on your bike and look for wine.
Touring wine country can take many forms, most often (out of practicality) people opt for a car. Having been to many wine regions in this way I can attest it is the most practical (and often the only) way to see 5 wineries in a day. In a warm region like California, hiring a convertible is also a pretty enjoyable way to see the area in all of its materialist glory. Plus, I don’t think that Heidi Barrett would appreciate you turning up to one of her immaculate wineries in a sweaty t-shirt and a clapped-out Peugeot bike asking for a dainty sip of a $600 bottle of Screaming Eagle.
But, but, but, but, but, if you want to understand a place, understand the contours of the land through your aching but happy, working legs, you need to get up and get on a bike.
Having visited Alsace and been to Southern France twice on a bike, I would make the following recommendations:
1. Take a decent bike. (NB – I have never done this)*
Rural France is not a good place to break down and have to visit prehistoric corrective violence on a bike.
2. Plan your visits.
The world of wine is not hidden. If you make polite enquiries to see a winery, you know a bit about them and you are genuinely enthusiastic, you will be welcomed at almost anywhere.
3. Speak French.
The Academie Francaise are still clutching their ears from some of my renditions of the most beautiful language in the world. Still, despite that and the fact that many winemakers speak a smattering of English, you are in their county and you should show them the respect of speaking to them in their language. Just don’t expect them to understand anything you have just said as they switch to English to understand you.
4. Don’t be too ambitious.
As soon as I see a map, I start getting all Captain Scott and plan massively ambitious mileage. Stop. It’s a holiday, not a race to the South Pole (and remember what happened there). Pick an itinerary where you can stop for a leisurely lunch, glass of wine and a decent dinner. Slow down, enjoy the scenery. Things move too fast. (Life that is, not the hills, those go slowly.)
5. Don’t drink too much in the evening.
Cycling up a hill at seven in the morning with two panniers after a big night on the wine is not pleasant.
6. * + a puncture repair kit.
7. Try and book a couple of places with swimming pools.
If you are cycling for 8 hours in a day, having a dip after that is a great way of winding down and feeling better for the next day.
8. Renting vs bringing bikes from the UK
A big one: Bringing bikes from the UK is a massive pain on Eurostar, expensive on an aeroplane but equally, hired bikes are mostly terrible. I would say, on balance you should bring your bike and invest in a bike-bag which will save you untold amounts of grief at check-in. Without a bike bag, things can get a bit hairy.
With these eight pieces of advice in mind, all I can say is some of the best wine-related memories I have come from being on a bike. Cycling / walking / puffing / cursing up the Rosacker vineyard to see the Clos-St-Hune lieu-dit, and then spending the evening drinking the same wine in one of the picturesque villages that line the Alsacion Grand Cru strip is a truly profound experience. And, well, there aren’t too many of those to be had.
Dom Perignon 2003
On the 1st February, Joe (the retail manager) and I were cordially invited by LVMH to a trade tasting of the new and much anticipated release of the Dom Pérignon 2003 held at the Phillips de Pury & Company auction house/art exhibition hall.
Unlike the official launch held on the 7th December 2011 where the Chef de Cave Richard Geoffroy spoke from his base in Epernay yet simultaneously appearing as a holographic effigy in London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris and New York, this was a more intimate affair with the man himself.
Entering the great white expanse of the exhibition room and being faced with only a Riedel Chianti/Riesling tasting glass, water tumbler and leather notebook you knew immediately that this was a deliberate ploy to mitigate all unnecessary distraction and for us to focus on nothing more than the great Champagne itself – unfortunately this tactic failed on Joe, as he leaned over during the course of Richard Geoffroy’s monologue with the question, “Don’t you think these white tables would look great in Roberson’s tasting room?”
Richard Geoffroy, the face behind Dom Pérignon is certainly a perfectionist and a man that knows his own mind. As chief winemaker he has the indelible task of placing his own stamp on what he feels is the true expression of Dom Perignon – a job not for the faint hearted. The vintage of 2003 was a difficult year in Champagne and almost every viticultural region in Europe due to the serious heat and lack of water during the summer months. In a marginal climate such as Champagne where only a limited amount of exposure to sun and heat is required to ripen the grapes and to retain the acidity, this brought about serious problems and potentially dire consequences. However, following the other warm vintages of 1947, 59 and 76 that have strangely stood the test of time and brought about great Champagnes, the challenge to make another great vintage was embraced by Richard and looks sets to be another legend in the making.
At no moment in time was there any question of giving up. Instead, we embraced the challenge presented by such extreme conditions and seized the opportunity for Dom Pérignon to sign this Vintage … Everyone was expecting a very powerful, sun-filled and rapidly maturing wine. A real challenge for the creation of Dom Pérignon. I needed to interpret it differently. It was a risk, a push-back of the boundaries, which may be rewarded now.
After the initial briefing we were split into 4 groups and chaperoned into a darkened side hall where we were greeted each by our own sommelier. Here we would embark on a 4 dish taster menu designed by Richard himself, with each course being accompanied by a four stage light show in perfect synchronicity to each dish presented. The idea that the wine can be broken down into 4 colours; white, yellow, red and black went way over my head. It only served to made Joe and myself a little queasy half way through, but it somehow resonated with other people around us.
The Champagne was paired with a variety of intriguing dishes – from a soft boiled and sweetly seasoned salted egg with the albumen removed, to saffron and Parmesan risotto, to caviar with hibiscus jelly to foie gras covered in Mexican mole. Strangely each dish managed to hold its own and showed astonishing versatility.
The official Dom Perignon line of thought on the nose and palate is as followed:
Nose: The bouquet spirals through a light-filled, floral softness to the gritty minerality that epitomises Dom Pérignon, evocative of candied fruit, plant life and exquisite camphor leaf freshness, and finally plunges into darkness, spices and liquorice root.
Taste: At this stage, the wine still has a physical presence. It is striking and demanding, tactile and vibrant rather than aromatic. It is built on rhythm and rupture more than harmony. After an initial cloud of softness, we hit a mineralised verticality that gradually opens out to suggest a bitter, iodised and saline nobility.
For me the 2003 presented light smokiness with almond, bread and citrus notes on the nose. The mousse dissipates quickly but leaves a comforting series of beads. Though bigger and more powerful in style than the 2002 the wine somehow still manages to show restrained elegance on the finish – certainly a keeper.
P.S – and yes Joe, the white tables would be great for our tasting room at Roberson!