Les verres de vin, en France!

Cork Talk by Colin Harkness

I could hardly wish for a better location to write this week’s Cork Talk! I’m sitting on the banks of the River Vezere, in Périgord Noir about an hour out of Perigueux in the stunningly beautiful countryside, a five-minute walk from one of those wonderful, charming villages that France does so well!

Fifty metres to my right an old stone bridge traverses the river, under which swim the local trout joined by the occasional canoeist, who has either fallen out of the canoe, lost a paddle or simply decided to cool off for a while. But there’s the rub – malheureusement, these days injuries mean I can no longer canoe! However, that doesn’t stop the rest of the family, nor would I want it to, so I find that I have time to write an article – everyone’s a winner (something I used say when working on the Bingo at Southport Fairground, all those years ago!).

But I digress! The eponymous ‘glasses of wine in France’ has a certain ambivalence. Each year we come to France, home to some wonderful wines of course, I am always astounded by the choice of wine glasses in so many restaurants and indeed, people’s homes (we mostly house swap)! As I’ve written before, it’s another French paradox. It’s so much more difficult to appreciate fine French wines when the only glasses you can find are the hopeless Paris goblets which, inexplicably, are so common!

Now, there may be those who accuse me of being a touch pedantic – surely wine tastes the same out of any glass? Well, firstly, no it doesn’t! Ask Mr. Riedel whose company has spent a fortune (and made a far greater one) researching the effect that different glass designs have on wine. Yes, I was sceptical too until I went to a Riedel organised tasting where I found the difference quite remarkable! Incidentally, there isn’t a Paris goblet in their range!

This dreaded wine glass just doesn’t work when tasting a wine the way we should, when trying to fully discover its secrets and therefore appreciate it so much more. You can’t swirl and sniff the wine without spilling it, the glasses are too tiny anyway and the design is such that the aromas aren’t able to funnel upwards towards your nose, giving a hint of the delights to follow.

Also, from an aesthetic view point this glass just doesn’t cut it. Wine is a drink, sure, but there’s so much more to wine than simply, pleasantly slaking one’s thirst! Good wines tell a story, there’s a history to them. Appreciating fine wine is a social, cultural activity and this is best achieved with a glass that allows the drinker to fully cherish the aromas, the flavours, the wine maker’s art and the occasion. Paris goblets just don’t do any of this!

So, call me a pedant if you like, a restaurant’s choice of wine glasses makes a big difference to me, when trying to select one in which to dine. For me, wine is an integral part of the dining experience. The aromas and tastes of the food are inextricably linked with those of the wine, and vice versa, each, together and separately, contributing to the ambience, which again is a major part of dining out. A restaurant that has poor wine glasses cannot appreciate this and is therefore doing a disservice to their diners – and to their chefs! This, of course without, as yet, any reference to the wine selection of the restaurant!

However, now the rant is over, it is possible to find restaurants in France that are like minded (with me!) and it’s no coincidence that the three we thought excellent in every way in Perigueux had very good wine glasses – none of the said goblets in sight!

It was difficult, but we all voted our final restaurant of this holiday the best – the food was excellent, the service friendly and professional, the prices fair. Plus, there was a very good choice of wines by the glass, by the well designed, attractive glass!

I’m a sucker for Viognier. When I see a white wine made from this variety I almost invariably order it – so I was delighted to see Pays D’Oc Viognier on the impressive list of white wines by the glass. Again it was close, but I preferred it to the Sauvignon Blanc, also Pays D’Oc, that was also ordered. Our aperitif wine sorted.

I asked the patron, Fred (of Chex Fred!), to recommend a white for the tuna tartare and was pleased to hear him say the white Graves, the one I fanced myself. It turned out to be my favourite of the evening – dry with mineral notes and fresh underplayed citrus acidity and just a faint green plum aroma.

The tuna steak, served red to pink as ordered, came with mixed veg sautéed in a light sauce whose delicious flavour came from the huge Langoustine with which it was cooked. Fish yes, but a little meaty too – so a red, or maybe a rosé? Fred suggested a choice between Provençal rosé whose delicate, pale colour often suggests, erroneously, a light dainty flavour (there were a few different rosés too); or a Saumur red slightly chilled. Cabernet Franc based wine (from another quite lengthy list of possibilities). Difficult choice – so we ordered both!

Finally, in a good glass again, of course, we tasted a

Cotes du Rhône to go with the pork dish ordered by the (nearly) 21st Birthday boy!

A ‘verrey’ good night!

colin@colinharknessonwine.com, Instagram colinharkn ess53. Twitter @colinonwine Facebook Colin Harkness www.colinharknessonwine.com