|
We’ve all seen them: small
stickers on French wine bottles indicating an award from a
prestigious French wine competition someplace. The sight of one
can often tip the balance when you’re hesitating over which
bottle to buy. But what’s the story behind these stickers? Did
you ever wonder how the competitions work? Who are the judges?
What gives them the right to award a certain wine a gold medal?
Here’s an inside look at one of these contests.
There are more than 100 wine
competitions held throughout France every year, and the ancient
city of Orange, in southeastern France, is home to one of the
oldest and largest of these. Held the first Saturday of each
February, the competition is open to all winemakers in the Rhone
region, including from such famous appellations as Chateauneuf
du Pape, Croze Hermitage, Tavel, Gigondas and, of course, the
ubiquitous Cotes du Rhone. The Orange competition is a bit
unusual in that the philosophy is to make the process as
democratic as possible. This means, keeping in mind the French
national motto born in the Revolution of 1789, “Liberté,
égalité, fraternité” (Freedom. Equality, Brotherhood), there
are no elites in the Orange wine award process. Each jury is
comprised of at least three people, of whom at least two are
wine professionals (winemakers, oenologists, merchants) and the
other one or two are amateurs (wine lovers). And that’s
how I, a lowly American wine lover, have been privileged to be
an Orange judge for the last six years. Introduced to the
competition by a winemaker friend, I apply every year as an
amateur just as the French do, and have always been
accepted.
There was even more
anticipation than usual this time round, as 2012 was the 60th
annual competition in Orange. Concours des Vin Orange
Executive Director Anne Mouralis and President Michel Bernard
spent more than two years planning this milestone anniversary.
At 8:30 AM on February 4, the six hundred juges (judges),
also called dégustateurs (tasters), battled the cold
weather and furious Mistral wind to take their places in the
Alphonse Daudet community center. The vast hall was soon filled
with excited chatter as old friends greeted each other with
ritual handshakes and multiple kisses (there is a strict kissing
protocol as to the number of kisses, which varies from region to
region in France. In Provence, women must be kissed three times
– left cheek, right cheek, left cheek – and men who are good
friends and colleagues commonly kiss each other twice, once on
both cheeks).
Each judge is assigned to a
table for four that is already populated by about 15 bottles of
wine, each identified only by a number. Each place is set with a
wine glass, a napkin, a pen and a paper with the number of each
wine to be sampled and columns headed Visuel (visual),
Olfactif (smell or nose) and Gustatif (taste).
And every two judges has ready access to a crachoir
(spittoon), a crucial tool for wine tasting, particularly early
in the morning! This year the co-judges at my table consisted
were two professionals, a négociant (export agent for
several winemakers) and the winemaker from a wine cooperative,
and my fellow amateur was a gynecologist from Avignon.
At about 9:25 Mr. Bernard
opened the proceedings with a speech thanking all of the people
who made the event possible. Then, as every year, precisely at
9:30, the tasting begins. For the next two hours the huge room
is filled with the sounds of intense discussion, gurgling and
spitting. Judges debate the colors (10 points maximum), smells
(10 point maximum) and tastes (20 points maximum). Some comments
include speculations on the types and blend percentages of
cépages (grape varietals) and the technologies that might
have been used to produce the wine. After all the wines have
been tasted and thoroughly and heatedly discussed, all four
jury members come to a consensus as to which (if any) of the
fifteen wine should be awarded either a Bronze, Argent
(Silver), Médailles D’Or (Gold) or Médailles D’or avec
Félicitations (gold medal with special recognition). The
jury can grant one or more awards, not exceeding 20% of the
samples presented. The “Président” of each jury, who is
“appointed for his/her tasting skills,” fills out a form
certifying the results. The form is given to Anne Mouralis who
immediately feeds the results on to the competition’s website.
Two hours after the tasting ends, anxious winemakers log on to
see what, if anything, they have won. Within days they get the
round stickers to apply to their bottles. An excellent
entertaining video of the process and history of the Concours
can be seen at
http://www.concoursdesvins.fr/pagesFR/06video.php. Watch it
even if you do not understand French!
In 2012 there were 2931
wines evaluated. 39 received Médailles d’Or avec
Félicitations du Jury, 252 Médailles d’Or, 236
Médaille d’Argent and 90 Médaille de bronze.
The results can be seen at
www.concoursdesvins.fr/pagesGB/02palmares.php
But that’s not the end of
the event. Normally after the competition most of the
dégustateurs travel 10 km to Chateauneuf du Pape to attend a
magnificent lunch, with each course prepared by a local
distinguished chef and an abundance of wine on each table. The
French know how to savor an occasion. As with any truly gourmet
French meal, lunch takes a leisurely four hours or so, but the
competition banquet is also accompanied by much pomp and
circumstance, as only the French know how. There are speeches,
processions by the “Confréries” of each major
appellation, all decked out in medieval finery and of course,
more discussions about wine and food and life and love! Because
2012 was the 60th anniversary, this year’s
celebration was even more elaborate; no mere lunch this time.
The Alphonse Daudet center was cleared and four chefs and their
staffs arrived to create a “Gala” dinner for the evening. The
chefs, whose restaurants are all located in small wine villages
in the area, Pascal Alonso of the restaurant Le Pré du Moulin in
Sérignon-du-Comtat
www.predumoulin.com , Thierry Bonfante of La Temps de Vivre
in Urchaux, Raoul Reichrath of Le Grand Pré in Roaix
www.legrandpre.com
and Christian Peyre of La Maison de Bournissac in Paluds de
Noves
www.lamaison-a-bournissac.com , created a six course menu,
each course paired with wines that have won gold medals in the
past. And, unlike the usual lunches, in addition to the usual
speeches and processions, this year had an entertainment
program--a mime, a magician, a band playing traditional
Provencal music and a choir of local winemakers who had
practiced specially for the occasion. Vive la France!
Sidebar 1:
Before each wine competition
in Orange, the management of the competition offers the
amateurs an opportunity to learn how to taste and evaluate
the wines. Held at the tasting room of the Institut Rhodanien
(Rhone Institute), in the same building as the Lycée Viticole
(high school for the study of winemaking) the seminar lasts two
hours. Philippe Dauguet, Champion de France de dégustateurs
amateurs (French Amateur Tasting Champion), is the lecturer.
To be an amateur wine taster in France is a very serious
business, indeed. As Philippe says, “Vous aller apprendre à
déguster des vins ... La tâche est toujours délicate mais jamais
insurmontable" (“You are going to learn to taste wine. The
task is challenging but not insurmountable”). In very theatrical
style he leads the group through the process of proper wine
tasting, explaining the theory of wine color, smell and taste in
great dramatic detail. And then an actual tasting is performed
as if the amateurs were on their jury at the Concours.
Wine are poured to all attendees, Philipe tastes each wine and
explains and demonstrates how he works when he is on a jury.
His method:
1 Before tasting each
wine take a breath, close your eyes and calm your senses.
2
Look at the wine
in the glass. Evaluate the sensuality, color, clarity and
density.
3
Smell the wine by moving your nose
from the top to the bottom of the rim of the glass.
4
Take a small amount of wine
into your mouth, swirl it and spit it out immediately.
5
Take another small
amount of wine into your mouth, swirl it and keep it in your
mouth for a few moments before spitting it out.
6
Count how many seconds (or
even minutes n some cases) the aftertaste (“finish”) stays in
your mouth. The longer the finish, the more likely this will be
a good wine that will last many years in a bottle and will
deserve some level of prize at the competition.
At each step, Philippe
advises that the judges make a note on their report sheet. His
own philosophy is to almost never assign a rating of more than 8
for the color and small and 14 for the taste. That leaves room
for him to assign a 15-20 for truly exceptional wines that he
would want to award a “Medaille d’Or avec Félicitations.”
Once the seminar is over,
the participants learn the name of each wine they tasted and can
pour themselves a few glasses AND swallow it, to the
accompaniment of cheeses and charcuteries. All in all it is a
wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning!
Sidebar 2
The Gala Dinner for the 60th
Concours des Vin was an event not to be missed. It is an
amazing feat to serve more than 500 guests such an astounding
gourmet meal! Aperitifs were a just-bottled dry and fruity 2011
Cotes du Rhone white wine and a fragrant just-bottled 2011
rose. This was followed by cold foie gras on a crust spiced
with ginger and sweet Muscat wine from Beaume de Venise, which
was paired with what some wine critics name the best rose in the
world: Tavel, 2010 Chateau d’Aqueria. Next course was a chicken
broth spiced with ginger and “truffle cappuccino,” paired with
three red wines from the Cotes du Rhone and the villages of
Sablet and Rasteau. Then came the main course: lamb “Allaiton”
stewed in violet mustard, served with braised endives and toast
smeared with lamb liver paste, paired with a strong Chateauneuf
du Pape. The cheese course was Brie de Meaux. Dessert was a
phenomenal Fondant made from praline and hazelnuts and topped
with a vanilla sauce. Dessert wine was a local Muscat from
Beaume de Venise. The chefs, Pascal Alonso of the restaurant Le
Pré du Moulin, Thierry Bonfante of La Temps de Vivre, Raoul
Reichrath of Le Grand Pré and Christian Peyre of La Maison de
Bournissac, all Michelin-starred celebrated chefs from the Rhone
valley, formed an association, “Amitié Gourmande,” with
the motto “Quatre maisons, une meme passion” (Four
houses, one single passion) And passion
it was!
|