SHe in Las Vegas - by Morton's (and Eva Longoria)

Opened on NYE '13 in Vegas, Eva "Desperate Housewife" Longoria says her new restaurant is designed to cater to the ladies: small plates and a catwalk.

Female-only restaurants are trending right now with another new one set to open on London's Frith Street on Feb. 1st. 

Relax, though, girls - SHe's "behind the scenes video" below features a few delicious-looking guys too. 

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Bollinger Special Cuvée Brut - Aÿ, Champagne, France

Bollinger  Spcial Cuvée Brut -  Aÿ, Champagne, France

by Paige Donner

Tasting Notes :  Hints of roasted apples, spiced apple compote, peaches greet your nose after your eyes have been seduced by the fluttering of fine bubbles in that golden champagne color indicative of a Pinot Noir predominant blend. Full-bodied and toasty pretty much sums it up but also perhaps oversimplifies the aromatic complexity of this champagne. Creamy on the palate with notes of brioche, pear, green apple – with some spicy and a bit of walnut that all goes down on the velvet of the very fine Bollinger bubbles.  12% alc. Between 8 -9 gr. Dosage.


Price: $57.99 (approx.)


Production Notes :  The secret to this iconic NV champagne is that it is mostly reserve wine, some aged in magnums for over 15 years in the Bollinger cellars in Aÿ, blended with harvest grapes. And, as any champagne aficionado knows, champagne ages superbly in magnums, a process that helps it acquire that biscuity, toasty quality so emblematic of the best champagnes. Over 85% of this blend is Grands and Premiers Crus; 60% Pinot Noir,  25% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier.


Pair With :  Sushi and sashimi – the fresher the better; pata negra and prosciutto; Also grilled lobster, prawns; poultry and white meat; cashews, parmesan. Serve between 10 – 12˚C. You can keep it up to 8 years – that is, if you don’t drink it all now.

Notes from the House… for those who know that true elegance is born of simplicity will appreciate to the full this commitment to aesthetics and succinctness. It is also a reflection of the House’s commitment to concentrating on the essential: creating fine and good wines. Because in the end, everything else is simply superfluous.

The House of Bollinger Champagne began many decades before, but “Aunt Lily,” as she was known to her family members, still figures prominently in the House’s style and legacy ever since she was at the helm of the house in the 1950s until her passing in 1977. She is probably one of the most quoted dames of Champagne (see below).

Originally a Scotswoman, she married her husband Jacques, at one point the Mayor of Aÿ, in 1923 who himself had become the managing director of Bollinger Champagne at the tender age of 24. By the age of 42 she was a war widow and it was then that she stepped in, like other famous champagne widows before her, and took the reins of her house and steered it with an eye to perfection and unwavering dedication to excellence and innovation. This is the modern legacy “Madame Jacques,” became known for.

But going back to the previous century, 1829 to be exact, when the house was first formed is really to delve into the annals of international history. Original founder of Bollinger Champagne, Count Athanase de Villermont, was a nobleman and a war hero from the American Revolution. He became fascinated with the wines of Aÿ, Champagne when he inherited an extensive estate in this choice viticultural area of the Marne upon his return to France. The reason why the house did not take the name of “de Villermont” is because, at that time, the French aristocracy were forbidden to engage in trade. So Count Athanase partnered with Joseph Bollinger, a German, and Paul Renaudin, a Champenois.  And thus, on Feb. 6, 1829 a champagne house was born – one that has ever since become synonymous with excellence, quality… and international intrigue (as in, Diamonds Are Forever).

Since 2008 Ghislain de Montgolfier, a great-great grandson of Joseph Bollinger, passed the reins, for the first time in the house’s history, to a non-family member, Jérôme Philipon. In 2007 Ghislain’s great sense of humor coupled with his technical expertise got him elected as Head of the Board of the Union des Maisons de Champagne and co-Chairman of the Comité interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne (CIVC).

"I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad.
Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone.
When I have company I consider it obligatory.
I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and I drink it when I am.
Otherwise I never touch it, unless I'm thirsty."

Lily Bollinger,
17th October 1961, Daily Mail

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Yannick Alléno's * 1947 * At Cheval Blanc, Courchevel France

by Paige Donner

• WHEN: December 12, 2012  until April 7 2013

• Where:  1947, Yannick Alléno's new Pop-Up Gastronomic artistic culinary odyssey of a restaurant at Cheval Blanc in magical winter playground Courchevel, France

Please find here excerpts from the Press Release with my running commentary in red italics. 

Five Michelin-starred French Chef Yannick Alléno begins his winter season at Cheval Blanc Courchevel's 1947 restaurant when it opens on December 12th. 

[OK, this is the Super-Uber-Chef-Extraordinaire Alléno, the same mastermind behind Terroir Parisien which I wrote about here. Note to self* Find someone to explain to me how a mere mortal (human being presumably) gets 5 (five!!) Michelin Stars. I mean, even one signifies you've walked through a dozen or more culinary rings of fire. Right?]

The wine: creating a closer alliance

Moving away from traditional food and wine pairings, 1947 offers guests an entirely new way of experiencing wine, by blending the DNA and raw materials of the wines with the ingredients of Alléno’s dishes to create extraordinary results. 

A loin of veal  is  marinated in the barrels from Château Yquem and cooked using chalk from the Ruinart quarries, whilst the vegetables are fermented in vine leaves from Krug’s Clos du Mesnil. The serving temperature of Dom Pérignon Oenothèque 1996 is regulated; perfectly suiting the artichoke and black truffle…it is with these intricacies that Alléno is laying the foundations of a new modern cuisine

[Wow. Quelle Magnifique. Ruinart Crayères and grape leaves from Clos du Mesnil - love this Cradle to Cradle conceptual approach and implementation. Not to mention Yquem's botrytis sweet-soaked barrels and Dom Pérignon Oenothèque 1996. OMG. Amazing! ; ) ]

The product: distilling ingredients to their essence

“The culinary experience involves tasting exactly the right part of each product in 
successive sequences. At the end of the day, cuisine is only a question of concentration, 
and I have tried to extract the quintessence of the product through a selection process 
resulting from a long investigation,” explains Yannick Alléno.

The service: true mise en scene

Bucking the trend of pared-down service, at 1947 Alléno revives this pillar of French culinary history to offer guests a team of experts that echo the quality of the dining. The scene is set with assistants, sous-chefs and wine waiters that ensure that every aspect of the culinary journey is accompanied by knowledge and passion.

[Ahhh. Niiicce. Back to a bygone era... I'm feeling waves of nostalgia for an era I never even experienced.]

Every evening until 7 April 2013, up to twenty five guests will have the opportunity to  experience Alléno’s new culinary  concept – Cuisine Moderne. The master Chef will create French cuisine that fuses proud Gallic tradition with innovative creativity to define this new foundation. Main course is shared by all 20 guests.

[*Note to LFAW readers - please (please, please, please)  send in your impressions if you have the good fortune to enjoy Alléno's 1947 culinary odyssey this winter season in Courchevel.]

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As a Thank You we’re giving you a Holiday Bonus Perk

We’re optimistic that we’ll reach our film production fundraising goal for Wine & Climate Change, but we can’t do it without people like you.  Word-of-mouth and shared links have really helped and we truly appreciate your support.

IndieGoGo.com/WineAndClimateChange

AS A SPECIAL HOLIDAY GIFT, WE’VE ADDED THE BONUS PERK OF A 3-DAY 2-NIGHT VACATION IN CHAMPAGNE, FRANCE.
Yes, that’s right. A Champagne Vacation for two.

To Qualify:
1. Click Like on our Wine & Climate Change Facebook Page. You’ll find it here:  http://www.facebook.com/wineandclimatechange
2. Go to IndieGogo.com/WineAndClimateChange and click on Contribute, for a minimum of $20 or higher.  Add in the comments section that you wish to qualify for the chance to win the Champagne Vacation.

It’s that easy. You may contribute more than once to increase your chances.  We will choose One Winner the week of January 16th, 2013. Winner will be chosen randomly.

What YOU Get
A 3-day, 2-night vacation for two to Champagne, France. This includes two nights’ lodging in a luxury residence, a Tour and Tasting at Veuve-Clicquot Champagne Cellars in Reims, France, a visit and lunch to Hautvillers, where the monk, Dom Perignon, first invented champagne.
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*Transportation/airfare is not included. Some meals not included. Must be of legal drinking age to participate in the Tasting at Veuve-Clicquot Cellars. Must be 18 yrs. or older to participate.

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Corton Grand Cru - Charlotte Dumay

 

Recently I was privileged to taste some of the great Hospices de Beaune (Burgundy) wines. These were the 2012 vintages, so not only are they “babies,” they are still infants.

Which made them all the more remarkable for how present they already are and how their destinies of future greatness are unmistakable.

For sentimental reasons, it was a very special experience for me to taste this wine. My grandmother, all her adult life, sat by the fire in the evenings and knitted bandages that she would donate for the patients at the Hospice. Her name was Charlotte. 

Corton Grand Cru - Cuvée Charlotte Dumay

Tasting Notes: Deep brilliant ruby red. Light funghi on the bouquet, mineral, ripe red berry fruit finish. Altogether too drinkable. Open late 2013 and keep for up to 10 years and longer. 

 

*Read More ♥Chérie Du Vin Tasting Notes HERE*

 

Roland Masse (pictured above), the Manager of the Domaine des Hospices de Beaune said this:

When the grapes arrived at the wineries, they were in perfect health. We knew it was going to be a good year as soon as we tasted the musts.

 

[Excerpted from Christie's Auction Catalogue]: This gift to the Hospices was made in gothic lettering on parchment, in 1534. "For the cure and salvation of her soul," the childless Charlotte Dumay, wife of the King's Keeper of the Mint in Dijon, gave 100 ouvrées of vineyard and fallow land in the territory of Aloxe, with a house in stone. Today, this is one of the Hospice's longest-lived, most sumptuously structured wines. 

This was this year's "La Piece des Presidents" which is the auction item donated entirely to an elected charity. This year it was First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's foundation.

Hospice de Beaune Auction Price 2012: €27000 [$343,818] (tonneau - 350 liters) 

 

@♥Chérie Du Vin - YOU WILL LOVE MY WINE PICKS! ♥CHÉRIE DU VIN

 

 

Meursault-Genevrieres Premier Cru - Cuvee Philippe le Bon

Recently I was privileged to taste some of the great Hospices de Beaune (Burgundy) wines. These were the 2012 vintages, so not only are they “babies,” they are still infants.

Which made them all the more remarkable for how present they already are and how their destinies of future greatness are unmistakable.

Meursault-Genevrières Premier Cru - Cuvée Philippe le Bon

 

Tasting Notes:  Philippe Le Bon was the Duke of Burgundy (1419-1467). This is one of the most, if not the most, popular Burgundy White in Japan. 2012 vintage has top-notes of white flowers, tint of butter. Delicate citrus and white flowers on the mouth. Drink from late 2013 on or keep 3 - 5 years or more.

 

Roland Masse, the Manager of the Domaine des Hospices de Beaune said this:

When the grapes arrived at the wineries, they were in perfect health. We knew it was going to be a good year as soon as we tasted the musts.

[Excerpted from Christie's Auction Catalogue]: This Cuvée pays homage to Philippe le Bon, Duke of Burgundy, who gave his backing and authority to Chancellor Nicolas Rolin, during the latter's establishment of the Hôtel-Dieu [that's "hospital" in French], from 1443. It is regularly one of the finest whites, and fiercely contested at auction. 

Est. Hospice de Beaune Auction Price 2012: €8000 - 12000 (barrel)

 

@♥Chérie Du Vin - YOU WILL LOVE MY WINE PICKS! ♥CHÉRIE DU VIN

 

Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru - Cuvée Dames de Flandres

Recently I was privileged to taste some of the great Hospices de Beaune (Burgundy) wines. These were the 2012 vintages, so not only are they "babies," they are still infants.

Which made them all the more remarkable for how present they already are and how their destinies of future greatness are unmistakable.

Cuvée Dames de Flandres, Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru

Tasting Notes: Golden robe with brilliant reflections. Elegant mineral nose. Citrus, green apple. Creamy mouth, terroir, mineral, taking on butter hint. Drink from mid 2013 on; Best to keep 3 - 8 years (or longer even). 

Roland Masse, the Manager of the Domaine des Hospices de Beaune said this:

When the grapes arrived at the wineries, they were in perfect health. We knew it was going to be a good year as soon as we tasted the musts.

Cuvée Dames de Flandres

[Excerpted from Christie's Auction Catalogue]: This vineyard was planted in 1974. It was acquired by the Hospices in 1989, and named after the Ladies of Flanders, in commemoration of the origins of the community of Sisters who have cared for the sick of the Hôtel-Dieu, down the centuries. The vines lie in the commune of Chassagne-Montrachet. They regularly produce a great white wine which is striking for its minerality, its length of flavour, its capacity to age and its exceptional complexity.

Est. Barrel Price (at 2012 Auction):  €40,000 - 60,000

2012 Sold For: €57,780  ($76,302) - Barrel

 

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Burgundy's Abuzz About Their 2012 Reds

by Paige Donner

The excitement is all around and the consensus is in - Burgundy 2012 Reds are going to be great.

Speaking from Sunday's Press Conference Podium at Beaune's Hotel Dieu, just before the beginning of the 152nd Hospices de Beaune Wine Auction that is at the heart of the Great Bourgogne wine tradition, acknowledgment of the difficult weather conditions of 2012, including three hailstorms, tinged with wonderment the BIVB's revelation that 2012 is going to be a great year for their reds and a really good year for their whites.

PHOTOS

The Hospices Auction confirmed their conclusions.

See the full gallery on Posterous

 

This year's Hospices de Beaune Charity Auction sale set a record:

5,909,276 Euro

[The previous highest was in 2000]

That breaks down to: 407 barrels of red wine

111 barrels of white wine

Total: 5,631,410 Euros

+ President's Barrel or La Pièce des Présidents = 270,000 Euros

The Domaine des Hospices de Beaune offered 31 cuveés of red wine - whose overall sale value saw an increase of 68.85%.

They offered 13 cuveés of white wines whose overall value is up 18.11%.

The Auction was presided over by First Lady (former) Carla Bruni-Sarkozy whose foundation is the recipient of the charitable sale proceeds from La Pièce des Présidents along with the Fondation Idée, French footballer Guy Roux's foundation that benefits people suffering from epilepsy.

New this year to the auction is the Grand Cru from the Côte de Nuits, Echézeaux Cuvée Jean-Luc Bissey. All six barrels sold for a total of 300K Euros. For La Pièce des Présidents this year it was a “tonneau”of 350 liters of the lovely minerally Grand Cru Corton, Cuvée Charlotte Dumay.

Most Expensive White (2012) : Dames de Flandres, Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru 55,333Euro (barrel)

Most Expensive Red (2012) : Clos de la Roche Georges Kritter 55,667Euro (barrel)

"2012 Whites are Rich and Exceptionally Well-Balanced" - 2012 Domaine des Hospices de Beaune Manager - Roland Masse

*Note about the Whites [Domaine Hospices de Beaune] - While the reds are being heaped with all the praise, the Whites, to this taster's palate, are rich and exceptionally well-balanced. For such young whites, my inkling is that in a year and onwards these will be superb drinking Burgundy whites. With a good number to cellar as well.

“Many records were broken at the 152nd Hospices de Beaune auction. Star Cuvées amongst the red wines included (with average price per barrel and percentage increase compared to 2011): Clos de la Roche Cuvée Georges Kritter €55,667 (without premium +94.2%) and Mazis-Chambertin Cuvée Madeleine Collignon at €38,318 (without premium +57.7%). Thanks to a recent generous donation, a new Grand Cru from the Côte de Nuits was offered for the first time. This was Echézeaux Cuvée Jean-Luc Bissey, and all six barrels sold for a magnificent €50,000 (hammer price) per barrel, raising €300,000 for the Hospices.

The superb quality of the 2012 vintage wines, combined with the reduced quantity and the progression of demand for great Burgundy in many countries, not just Asia, contributed to this astonishing, record result," declared Anthony Hanson, Master of Wine, Senior Consultant of Christie’s

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Madame Champagne Duval-Leroy

by Paige Donner

Upon closer examination, you will find many extra-ordinary elements to the Champagne House Duval-Leroy. For starters, there are the champagnes. In Wine Spectator's Top 100 list of 2008, their Brut NV was the only champagne to make the cut.

FULL SLIDESHOW HERE

Then there is the amazing team that Mrs. Carol Duval-Leroy has assembled around her to create their award-winning champagnes in an atmosphere of joy - truly;  And also an atmosphere of groundbreaking innovation while still maintaining firm roots in tradition. And then, last but by all means not least, there is the local legend of Asti, Carol Duval-Leroy's little dog who is never far from her feet. Little Asti is this family-owned Champagne House's Ambassador, albeit he wears the title unofficially. At any rate, I can't help thinking of my favorite Colette quote, "Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet." My own dog evokes similar feelings in me... And reigning over Côte des Blancs vineyards in Vertus, Champagne - well, it's difficult to imagine a happier life for a dog. 

The Team

All three of Carol Duval-Leroy's sons are part of the Champagne Team. The eldest, Julien, works on-site at Headquarters in Vertus. These are no ordinary champagne headquarters, mind you. The newest building is the only one in Champagne that has a Living Wall, photovoltaic panels incorporated all along the sides and even a rainwater retrieval system. Her two younger sons, Charles and Louis, are partners in a communications agency specialized in, you guessed it, champagne. 

Two more key players in the house are Michel Oliveira, Deputy Managing Director, who has been with the house for 35 years, and Sandrine Logette-Jardin, the only female winemaker/ Chef de Cave at one of the big champagne houses (I have come across one other in the Côte des Bars, but their production is nowhere near the 5 million bottle annual production of Duval-Leroy's). 

The Champagne Trinity

This Champagne Trinity, Carol, Michel, Sandrine, each have made their significant marks on the house. A few top-notes are Carol's championing of champagne and gastronomy pairings with her Official Sponsorship of the Sommellerie section of France's Meilleurs Ouvriers de France contest, an annual contest that distinguishes France's best chefs, sommeliers and other professionals. This was one of the aspects of her work that won her, in 2008, the medal of Knight of the French Legion of Honor (Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur).  You can find Duval-Leroy Champagnes served at 150 Michelin-rated restaurants in over 50 different countries worldwide. She is also the President of the Champagne Viticultural Association. 

Environmentally-friendly Policies

In 1994 Duval-Leroy Champagne was the first champagne house to receive ISO 9002 certification standard. One of the ways to focus in on one of the more innovative and groundbreaking contributions that Michel Oliveira has made to the house, and indeed, champagne as a region, is to examine their Clos des Bouveries, the House's oldest vineyard plot. The environmental policies Oliveira has implemented over the decades have started here, where they use the Clos as a "test-bed" for environmentally-friendly policies and techniques that they then can apply to their other vineyards and also recommend to their grower-partners.

For example, since first implementing these policies, they have reduced by 70% the use of herbicides and vine treatments by 30%. And don't even get him started on the topic of greywater run-off and winery effluent... Not to mention that Duval-Leroy champagne bottles are made of a minimum of 70% recycled glass and come from a locally-sourced factory...And the list of the House's green initiatives goes on...

Vinification And Blending

Sandrine is fond of likening her winemaking methods to that of a fine watchmaker. Each year, of the approximately 250 cuvees she tastes, she blends the House's 15 champagnes from only the best ones. Refinement and elegance are the hallmarks of Duval-Leroy Champagnes and malolactic fermentation helps to develop their brioche aromas and characteristic smoothness. She also helped plan their new vinification facilities in Vertus to optimize single vineyard batches for smaller volumes of must. This gives her the freedom to play and experiment with rarely seen AOC Champagne varietals such as Petit Meslier. The House of Duval-Leroy is invested in preserving snapshots of the Champagne Terroir by vinifying these singular harvests which is something they've done now for decades with the Clos des Bouveries. 

As a last note, for such a big house with production of 5 million bottles annually and a global export reach, the family part of the family-run champagne house is very present in the house's ambiance. And you truly get the sense that these people have found their joy in what they're doing. 

List of Duval-Leroy Champagnes and Tasting Notes

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@ ♥Chérie Du Vin

Champagne Ernest Remy

If you ever find yourself for a day, or, better yet, a weekend, in Champagne during the Autumn season, use this as a sample daytripping itinerary and you won't go wrong.

Make your main destination Champagne Ernest Remy which is a long-held family champagne house located in Mailly, in the heart of the gracefully sloping hills of the Montagne de Reims. During the Fall, the play of colors - auburns, oranges, eggplants, deep reds, rusts, yellows, golds - is breathtaking so be sure to stop along the way and take pictures of the fleeting richness of nature while you're witness to it.

The Montagne de Reims is one of the most classical viticutural areas in France, famous for its Pinot Noir. The house of Ernest Remy Champagne makes its champagnes using only Grand Cru Pinot Noir from Mailly, harvested from their 15 hectares. Interestingly, for this harvest year 2012, Mailly enjoyed an abundant harvest, according to Ernest Remy's Tarek Berrada, who explained that it was perhaps due to the village vineyards' north- northwest sun exposure. In any event, they did not experience the limited harvest that most of the rest of Champagne did this year.

As with many wineries, this is a husband-wife team who have taken up the family business. But here is where any "typical" winemaker background ends, as both husband and wife come from the world of Art and Art history. It just so happens that she was born into a land-owning Champenoise family.

Evidence of these artistic leanings can be discovered in the labeling, packaging and design of their champagnes. For example, when you buy a bottle of their Rosé de Saignée Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru there is a small pink metallic medallion embedded into the top of the cork, hidden just under the champagne cap. A keepsake and a souvenir - for a memorable champagne whose hints of violet reveals itself on the long finish, after it has flirted its delicate wild strawberry and raspberry aromas before you. This Mailly rosé has a mere 6g. of sugar for its dosage and is aged a minimum of 20 mos. It is a rosé that could accompany meals, such as roast chicken, duck, lightly spicy asian dishes as well as red fruit desserts. It's available in Magnums and bottles, and in cases of 3 Magnums and cases of 6 bottles. *Tip: "Saignée" in French means that this rose has acquired its color through maceration and not blending.

With the rest of the day ahead of you, you have any number of wonderful restaurants nearby, all located in storybook beautiful little Champagne villages, one as lovely as the next. Top choices for lunch (or dinner) are L'Assiette Champenoise in Tinqueux, a two-Michelin starred restaurant that has a set menu starting at about 150 per person. Champagne Ernest Remy is on their menu.

Other choices in the vicinity include Le Relais de Sillery, Le Grand Cerf (Michelin starred), Le Château de Rilly (also a hotel) and then there's the small local favorite that you can easily pass if you drive along the Route du Champagne just a bit too fast - so be sure to keep a scenic pace and watch out for Le Mont Joly in Rilly, big steaks served on wooden cutting boards and very reasonable prices.

Lastly, it wouldn't be a trip to this Montagne de Reims region if you didn't stop in at Le Phare de Verzenay, an old windmill that has since been turned into a museum. But I'll let you do your Tourist Office legwork for this one as it's one of those sites you'll see displayed and described in most guidebooks and certainly at all the tourist offices.

Champagne Ernest Remy

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