THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 18, 1996 TAG: 9608150033
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F4 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: THE HUMBLE STEWARD
SOURCE: JIM RAPER
LENGTH: 77 lines
ALMOST EVERYONE, it seems, looks like a customer to Baroness Philippine de Rothschild of the famous Bordeaux winemaking family.
The family's marquee wine is Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, the first growth from Bordeaux's Medoc region. The baroness' father, Philippe, took over Mouton in 1922 when he was 20 and pushed it to the very top of its class before he died in 1988.
In 1924, Baron Philippe inaugurated the contemporary art labels that have made Mouton highly collectible, even when Bordeaux vintages have been below par. (Bottles of Mouton 1993, by the way, are showing up in U.S. shops with blanks where the artwork should be. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms can be a zealous censor of wine label art.)
With prices of Mouton from recent vintages ranging from about $80 to $175 a bottle, Baroness Philippine couldn't possibly expect to attract many of us with her top-of-the-line product.
What does she offer the rest of us? How about Chateau Clerc-Milon and Chateau d'Armailhac, two-fifth growths, which, like Mouton, are from the Pauillac commune of Haut Medoc. Baron Philippe bought d'Armailhac in 1933 and added Clerc-Milon in 1970. Both produce wines of dependable quality for about $35 a bottle.
Still too rich for you? How about the Baron Philippe Collection, with fine wines from various Bordeaux districts and communes, including Pomerol ($25) and St. Emilion ($15). The white Graves ($12) from this collection is usually a terrific wine for the money.
Next in the product tiers comes the well-known Mouton Cadet wines. Most supermarkets stock the Mouton Cadet Bordeaux red and white ($10), and when the vintage cooperates these can be very good values. The 1994 red, for instance, is a well-made wine.
Baroness Philippine also tempts us with a new line of varietals - Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot - made from grapes grown in the Languedoc region of southern France.
France doesn't allow many of its best wines to be marketed as varietals, that is, with the name of the grape on the label. Most French wines with ``Merlot'' or ``Chardonnay'' on the label are rather humble everyday wines.
At $10 a bottle, the Baron Philippe de Rothschild Varietals do cost more than the typical vin de pays d'Oc (country wines from Languedoc), but a recent tasting persuaded me that they are worth the premium price.
These wines are blended at Chateau Mouton-Rothschild by the same winemaking team that vinifies and assembles the first growth.
The Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, both from the 1995 vintage, are clean and refreshing, with correct and concentrated fruit flavors. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, both from 1994, have none of the punch flavors that afflict many vins de pays d'Oc. They are serious wines, with complex notes of minerals and tea and cocoa merging with the dark berry base flavors.
I would guess that these varietals will occasionally be discounted by a dollar or two, as are the vins de pays d'Oc made by the large French companies Barton & Guestier (B&G) and Georges Duboeuf. But even at full price, they are good wines for the money, inexpensive enough to make almost all of us potential customers.
Calendar notes:
The Chesapeake Bay Wine Classic Auction, the premier wine event in Hampton Roads and a benefit for public broadcasting locally, will be in November this year, not October.
The date is Nov. 2. As usual, the afternoon event will be at Bayville Farms in Virginia Beach. Tickets are $75 and up.
The classic's black-tie ``Gala Dinner'' will be the evening of Nov. 1 at the Chrysler Museum of Art. Tickets for this extravagant celebration of food and wine are $200.
The grand wine tasting that usually comes the day after the auction will be held instead on Sunday, Feb. 2, at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott. Tickets for the tasting are $30.
For tickets or more information, call 489-9476.
The best Virginia wine festival hereabouts, the Town Point Virginia Wine Festival, has been expanded to two days this year. It will be held on the Norfolk waterfront the weekend of Oct. 19 and 20, from noon to 5 p.m. each day.
There will be tastings of wine from more than two dozen of the state's wineries and lots of food and entertainment, as well as wine seminars. Tickets are $15 in advance. For information, call 441-2345. by CNB