Winemaker’s FCK TRMP is a big hit
Vintner John Bambara succeeds in creating deliciously simple vintage ‘with a message’
“It has an amazing, luminescent texture,” notes Liverpool House sommelier James Simpkins. “No one has ever sent back a glass of this.”
“It has so much presence,” marvels Vanya Filipovic, the sommelier at Joe Beef, Le Vin Papillon and Bar à Vin Mon Lapin. “I’m waiting with bated breath to get more of it.”
Montreal winemaker John Bambara is beaming, listening to these reviews of his wine at Liverpool House from two of the city’s most renowned sommeliers.
Alas, Filipovic will have to hold her breath for a spell. Stock of this elegantly robust, unfiltered and barrel-fermented aligoté, culled from vieilles vignes in Bambara’s Burgundy vineyard, is just about depleted. Nearly 300 magnums of the white wine — selling for $74 each to restaurateurs and private customers — have been quickly quaffed by Montreal oenophiles, as much for their taste and quality as their socio-political statement.
Bambara labelled this wine FCK TRMP. The two missing vowels notwithstanding, the wine has hit all the right notes with its imbibers. All the more so since the profits from the wine’s sale are being directed toward various human-rights and underprivileged children’s charities.
“I just wanted to make a simple wine with a message,” Bambara says. “The label on the back, made up of harmony quotes from different writers, from the Beatles to the Dalai Lama, is one of hope, equally as important as the front label.”
The beginning of that bilingual message on the back reads: “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind. When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”
The label on the front, designed by noted Canadian artist Peter Hoffer, is not so subtle, either. In addition to the eye-catching, bold FCK TRMP designation, it also features the frightening image of three air-borne missiles. All that’s missing here is POTUS riding one of the bombs Dr. Strangelove-style.
Not the usual sort of inscription on a wine bottle, but then again Bambara, 51, is not your usual sort of vintner and wineimport agent. He has been in the wine business for nearly 30 years.
Ironically, this tasting is taking place within earshot of where former U.S. President Barack Obama sat with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for dinner a year ago.
And, no, Bambara’s inspiration for the name of his wine didn’t come on the heels of Robert De Niro’s declaration of the same sentiment — with the vowels — at the Tony Awards earlier this month.
“The idea came to me just after Trump’s election in 2016,” Bambara says. “I was shocked he got elected. I spoke with (Hoffer) and decided I had to deliver a message. But since I’m not active on social media, I figured the best way for me to do that was on a bottle.”
After much deliberation, Hoffer came up with the design for the front label a year ago, when the political climate was even more intense on a global level. But with Trump’s recent shots at Justin Trudeau and the imposition of tariffs on Canadian goods, many in this country have been uttering the same words as those inscribed on the front label.
Bambara insists he has had little direct backlash from Americans. Quite the contrary. In fact, he has been unable to meet the demand of American customers seeking to purchase a magnum.
“I think, in this instance, most people are happy to offend,” Bambara says.
“I’ve heard from U.S. tourists who have tried the wine at various Montreal restaurants and say they’re happy to see that message.
“They are also rather apologetic about their president. But then again, there are a lot of Americans who are very happy with him.”
Bambara is considering going with the same label when his next aligoté vintage is ready.
“The point is, though, that this was never meant to be a label to bring attention to me as a winemaker or agent. It was meant to bring awareness to the absolutely ridiculous situation the world is in thanks to this man.”
Although much of his income is derived from his Bambara Selection import-wine agency, based in St-Bruno, he began making wine in Burgundy in 2010. Bambara now makes seven different varieties, including two aligotés, a Côtes du Rhone red and a Santenay red and white.
“I’ve been fortunate to have been exposed to many great producers, which has shaped the way I make wines,” he says. “Reaction has been positive.”
All the same, Bambara is highly doubtful his wines will ever be served at the White House. On the other hand, they could soon find their way into some Ottawa cellars.