Valentines Day – Romancing With Bubbles

If you are going to be doing any romancing on Valentine's Day it's worth while taking a look at Pink Champagne. I know, I know – you will all be shaking your heads at me and saying it's Rosé Champagne, but somehow Pink Champagne has managed to stick in the public's general consciousness. Jayne Mansfield used to bathe in it twice a week, maybe that's why . . .

In fact, Jayne liked all things pink – she created a 40-room Mediterranean-style mansion in Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills, which was known as the "Pink Palace." As its name implies, the mansion was all pink, with cupids surrounded by pink fluorescent lights, pink furs in the bathrooms, a pink heart-shaped bathtub, and a fountain spurting pink champagne. After her untimely demise the Pink Palace was owned by a plethora of stars before it was demolished - Ringo Starr, Cass Elliot, and Engelbert Humperdinck.

Pink Champagne is the favourite tipple of Dame Shirley Bassey and now diva Mariah Carey is to launch her own label, named Angel – so too is the singer Pink who is hooked on wine-making and intends to take a two-year course to be a Master of Wine.

In the 1950s Tallulah Bankhead used to sip Pink Champagne from a slipper at London's Ritz Hotel. Sipping champagne from a shoe is a custom to which several countries lay claim – some say it started in 19th century Russia, when men used to toast a ballerina's performance by drinking champagne from her ballet shoe. Some say it began in England in the 18th-century, before becoming popular in Paris in the 1880s at the Folies Bergère, where gentlemen used to drink from the shoes of the can-can dancers.

Last year the custom, known as Le Rituel, was brought back to life by Christian Louboutin and Piper-Heidsieck, Louboutin created the Louboutin Champagne shoe featuring the designer's signature bright red soles and high stiletto heels, cut from Slovenian crystal. A limited edition gift box containing the Piper-Heidsieck Brut Cuvee and shoe shaped flute was available to buy at Selfridges for £350.00, but you could buy a drink from the shoe at Mews of Mayfair for £90.00!

Pink Champagne is nowadays associated with Valentine's Day, whether it's down to its reputation in the past or whether it's down to canny marketing I can't tell. Online surveys have shown that women prefer the gift of Champagne on Valentine's Day above flowers and chocolate. It's ironic to think that Champagne was invented by a monk!

Bordeaux-Undiscovered can send your beloved a bottle of Pink Champagne as a Valentine's Day gift with a personalized message. Champagne Authentic Rosé Brut comes from the House of Edmond Barnaut and is full of luscious fruit, exotic spice and irresistible bubbles. We don't supply shoes to drink it from (heaven forbid) but we can send it completely free of delivery charge!

Northern Wines

The press have reported that the first commercially-produced wine from grapes ripened in Scotland is to be launched, if there is enough sunshine. Hotelier Pete Gottgens is setting up Scotland's first vineyard on the banks of Loch Tay and plans to sell his wine at his Ardeonaig Hotel. Gottgens will produce a white dessert wine and was inspired by the dessert wines produced in countries such as Canada and Sweden.

Scientists have predicted that global warming will create a more favourable climate for making wine in Britain, including Scotland. Wine has even been produced in the Outer Hebrides on the Isle of Lewis (albeit from grapes grown inside poly tunnels) but never previously on a commercial scale north of the Border. The problem for grape growing this far north is that grapes need 100 days to ripen.

There are already 416 vineyards in England and 2,732 acres of vines under cultivation, an increase of 45% in the past four years. In the Domesday Book (1085-6) the most northerly place in which vineyards are recorded is Ely in Cambridgeshire but nowadays there are vineyards in the northern counties such as Ryedale Vineyards, north east of the City of York, Leventhorpe Winery in Leeds, Mount Pleasant in Lancashire and Whitworth Hall Vineyard in Durham.

The Domesday Book records vineyards in 42 definite locations and interestingly enough only 12 of the Domesday vineyards were attached to monasteries. Most belonged to nobles and were undoubtedly cultivated to provide them with wine for their dining tables and altars.

There is hot debate as to whether Roman vineyards in Britain stretched as far north as Hadrian's Wall but we can lay claim to an indigenous grape variety of our own that could have been grown in Roman times. The Wrotham Pinot is an English variety with white hairs on the upper surface of the leaves, and is particularly resistant to disease. Local lore has it that this vine was descended from vines brought over by the Romans. The grapevine leaves are distinctly grey-green and from a distance the new leaves look as if they had a coating of white dust or flour over them. Locals gave the vine a nickname “the dusty miller’ as it reminded them of mill workers after a long day milling flour.

Edward Hyams of Oxted Viticultural Research Station made an experimental Blanc de Noir from this grape and in 1980 Richard Peterson took cuttings to California, where he now makes a pink sparkling Wrotham Pinot.

Professor Richard Selley, of Imperial College London, who studies the effects of geology and climate change on viticulture, has said that Scotland could be a leading wine producer within 70 years. Food for thought isn't it?

Château Pichon Lalande and the Ladies of the Vine

Château Pichon Lalande, or to give it the full name, Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is proud of its history – and so it should be as it tells the story of the great women behind the great wine. Over 300 years ago the estate belonged to Pierre de Mazure de Rauzan who was head of a viticulture empire, owning vineyards in Margaux as well as Pauillac. In 1700 his daughter, Thérèse, inherited the estate as a dowry when she married Jacques de Pichon-Longueville, the first President of the Parliament of Bordeaux. The estate remained in the family until 1850 when Baron Joseph de Pichon divided the estate among his 5 children. However only two of the children survived to inherit, Raoul and Virginie, resulting in the halving of the estate into Chateaux Pichon Baron and Pichon Lalande.

Anticipating the split Virgine married Count Henri de Lalande, gaining the title of Comtesse de Lalande, her independence and the control of her domain. Virgine was a woman with spirit and her passion for vines and the quality of her management made her a strong personality in the Médoc. She ordered Duphot, an architect from Bordeaux, to design a chateau inspired by the Hôtel de Lalande in Bordeaux where her husband had spent his childhood and the result was the breathtakingly beautiful building that we see today. Virgine left her mark on her vineyards as well - in 1855, Chateau Pichon Lalande acquired the status of Second Cru Classé.

Virginie's eldest sister, Sophie, has also left her mark. Sophie was an accomplished poet and talented painter. Sixteen of her poems were published in memory of her mother in an anthology entitled “Fugitive Poems”. Between 1811 and 1814 she was a student of the painter Gérard, the official painter of Napoleon and fourteen of her paintings hang in on the walls of the château. Some are landscapes, some are portraits of the family and some are religiously inspired scenes which can be seen in the church at Pauillac.

In 1925 the château was bought by Edouard and Louis Miailhe, descendants of an old Bordeaux family of vineyard owners and Edouard's daughter, May Eliane de Lencquesaing, became the owner and administrator of the Château Pichon Lalande. She quite naturally revived the traditions of Virgine, personally overseeing the management of the family domain with her passion for wine and strict management. May Eliane soon became a legend in her own life-time and is known by her peers as “Madame La Générale”.

Like her forebear, Sophie, May Eliane has a passion for fine art and the chateau's Orangerie currently displays a collection of elegant antique glassware, some of which is over 3000 years old. May Eliane spent 20 years accumulating this impressive collection as she feels that there is a similarity between the modesty of the origins of glass and those of wine. In her words: “glass is made from the humble raw material, sand, and wine from a wild creeper, the vine. Both are utterly transformed by human intelligence and expertise to create something which is not merely a product, but a work of art.”

In 2007 the chateau passed to another family-owned French institution, Louis Roederer Champagne and the estate is now managed by May Eliane's nephew Gildas d'Ollone. Over 3 centuries only 2 families have worked with vigour for the renown of the Château and its wines.

Even the 150 acres of vineyard reflect the women behind the wines of Pichon Lalande, the parcels of vines around the chateau are named for them: Virginie, Sophie, Marie-Joséphine. . . They are planted with 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 8% Petit Verdot. The vines neighbour Chateaux Latour and Leoville Las Cases and 27 acres of vines fall within Saint Julien, which account for the wine's elegant and supple character. Pichon Lalande has an unusually high proportion of Merlot for a Pauillac property, which tends to make the wine slightly softer and more feminine than wines from many other classified Pauillac châteaux.

The wines themselves are a dense plum colour and are known for their voluptuous charm and are remarkably consistent throughout the vintages. The aromas are of smoky blackberries, plum liqueur, cherries and liquorice. I like to think that they too hold a memory of the women behind the wine.

Wine Storage – The Cave at The Hotel Glendale

It's not often that you get the chance to take a peek behind closed doors, let alone the troglodytic world of wine cellaring but The Cave Public Wine Storage Lockers in Glendale, Los Angeles let you do just that. The Cave is a subterranean public wine storage facility located in the basement of the historic Hotel Glendale and they post regularly on their Blog. The Cave boasts a long standing and fiercely loyal customer base and has been carefully watching over their precious wines for two decades. Many of their customers have been building their collection with them since their opening in the early eighties and cite the consistent temperature control and non-warehouse atmosphere as their primary reason for being there.

What is now The Cave Wine Storage was once the Ballroom (now known as The Bordeaux Room) and Restaurant of The Glendale Hotel which was opened in July 1925 and now a historic landmark. The Hotel was a rumoured speakeasy during the Prohibition and reputed to be a watering hole of Clark Gable. A speakeasy was an establishment which illegally sold alcoholic during the Prohibition (1920–1932, longer in some states). The term may have come from a patron’s manner of ordering an alcoholic drink without raising suspicion — bartenders would tell patrons to be quiet and “speak easy”, — or from patrons’ ability to talk about alcohol without fearing that a government official might be listening.

Glendale was one of the first wealthy suburbs to the "stars," as can be judged by the roster at the local cemetery, (always a good barometer) which now includes Michael Jackson. In fact there are more stars buried in the cemetery at Glendale than at any other spot in the world. It's the final resting place of Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Stewart, Nat King Cole, Errol Flynn and Walt Disney to name a few.

The airport at Glendale provided the first paved runway west of the Rocky Mountains in 1923 and the first regularly-scheduled airline service between Southern California and New York City was initiated there in 1929, with owner Charles A. Lindbergh piloting the first flight. Among the passengers on the 48-hour trip were Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. Pioneering female aviator Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly solo across in the country when she landed at Glendale in 1930.

Glendale was also home to John Wayne and it was his neighbours who gave him the nickname of the Duke - because he never went anywhere without his Airedale Terrier dog, who called Little Duke. The city's connections to the world of movie stars continue on today and is the home of Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks SKG and the Walt Disney Company also has a large campus there.

Despite the movie star glamour the Cave maintains a discreet demeanour and pays homage to its famed speakeasy roots by remaining low key and off the beaten path. The Cave is accessible by a subterranean driveway and the facilities are large enough to hold 550 cases of wine, yet intimate enough to feel like it's in your own basement. Their Blog, written by Jen, tells their story and gives you a glimpse into the hidden secrets held below ground. Jen writes about her quest to learn more about wine and her tasting notes are little gems – she includes the conversation at dinner. I love this as it is what wine is all about – being enjoyed! I'll leave you with a recount of her recent discoveries:

“Main Course: soft shell crabs marinated in olive oil, garlic, and anise seed on the grill, served as sandwiches with lime, cilantro and mustard. Salad: frisee, fresh fennel, endive, and figs with lemon and olive oil.

The Conversation: the Tour de France, of course. (We all ride.)

The Wine: 2004 Chablis 1er Cru "Les Forets."

The wine, my first white, was really good. It was completely honest and it was austere in a simple and unadorned kind of way, the wine that walks into a room and you sit a little straighter just by the space it commands, minus anything else.”
Dessert: honeydew, apricots, blueberries with a small array of soft and blue cheeses, breads, nuts and fennel green olives.

The Conversation: the dentist in Beverly Hills who has a woman giving foot messages while your teeth are being worked on.

The Wine: There is a gentleman who cellars here who makes his award-winning wine from that which is indigenous to his home Norway - various berries and, in this case, kumquats. While I could very easily have encountered an item one might find in a canister at IHOP amongst the boysenberry and blueberry syrups, this wine was really a beautiful balance of all things contained. It was delicately proffered and gently present, a lovely bit of regard. "

Wine Inspired Fashion

If any wine lovers have seen the chocolate inspired dresses in the news recently from the Paris Salon du Chocolat held in Shanghai you may be wondering if wine has ever inspired haute couture . . .

Well back in 2007 we did have a dress made from wine - Australian scientists found a way to 'grow' clothes out of red wine. Boffins at the University of Western Australia, researching alternatives to conventional cotton, created a fabric from wine. The rubbery cellulose layer formed as a waste product when wine is made into vinegar is used to create a “fermented fabric”. The inspiration for the project was gained when the scientist, Gary Cass, was working in a vineyard several years ago. There are drawbacks to the new fabric. It must be kept wet as the short cellulose fibres are like tissue paper when dry and are easily torn. It doesn't look very appealing either . . .

Unlike this fantastic image advertising Vinexpo, which is to be held in Hong Kong 25th - 27th May this year! Vinexpo is an international wine and spirit exhibition that was created in 1981, by the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

It has established itself over the years as the key event for major international operators in the wine and spirits sector. It's held in Bordeaux every uneven-numbered year and has grown tremendously. In 1981 there were 524 exhibitors (including 96 from outside France) from 21 countries and 11,000 professional visitors from 50 countries but in 2009: there were 2,400 exhibitors from 48 countries, 46,621 professional visitors from 135 countries and 1,367 journalists and writers! It's a great showcase for products from all over the world, visited by buyers from every corner of the globe, and is a place for exchange and debate in the heart of the greatest fine wine growing area in the world.

As for wine inspired fashion for men I tracked down a site in the USA called Little Barrel Clothing. It was set up by wine lovers Taylor Latham (daughter of American TV journalist Lesley Stahl) and Andrew Major based on an idea that they had during their vineyard wedding in Santa Barbara's wine country.

They wanted to give family and friends something to remind them of the vineyard experience (something that would last more than a few sips). When they couldn't find unique or fashionable enough gifts, they decided to make them and created the first Little Barrel designs. They offer ties, scarves, head bands and totes as well as catering for wedding gifts. Wine themed vineyard weddings are popular in the states – I wonder if the trend will take off over here?

Finally for those amongst us who want to drink their wine in a fashionable manner there is the zip inspired wine glass . . . I think that's taking it a little too far don't you think?

Léoville Las Cases Announces Petit Leon de Léoville

Chateau Léoville Las Cases is to make a Second Wine according to decanter.com: Yorick D'Alton of the Delon family, owners of the St Julien property, said it was the wish of Leoville Las Cases director Jean-Hubert Delon to make a real second wine. He added, “The trend at the property is to select more and more, and if we make a second wine this will improve our top wines.”

At the moment Château Léoville Las Cases produces two wines, its Grand Vin, and Clos du Marquis, which has been produced since 1902. Clos du Marquis' grapes actually come from a separate area of vineyards surrounded on all sides by other Second Growths. It is considered to be one of the finest “Second Wines” as its quality is superb. The grapes are grown in the Petit Clos – Clos meaning an enclosed garden or field.

However as Clos du Marquis hails from a separate vineyard it is really a separate cuvée – and not a Second Wine. Clos du Marquis has the ability to challenge many other châteaux of the Medoc. Indeed, it is the equal of most 3rd, 4th and 5th Growths and has been an outstanding performer for many years, offering tremendous value for money. The Petit Clos vineyard is to the south of the Leoville Las Cases Grand Clos vines and covers 12 acres. It is planted with 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc.

The Marquis referred to in the name is the Marquis de Las Cases Beauvoir who inherited the Château before the French Revolution. During the Revolution the Marquis, fearing for his life, was forced to flee France and as a consequence the Leoville estate was broken up. This gave birth to the 3 separate Châteaux Leoville Barton, Leoville Las Cases and Leoville Poyferré. Today Léoville Las Cases comprises over 209 acres and has been run since 1950 by the Delon Family.

Léoville Las Cases is the largest of these 3 châteaux and is now without doubt the leading estate in Saint Julien. The Delon family have owned it since the mid 20th century and have run the estate now for 5 generations. The largest plot of Léoville Las Cases' 209 acres of vines is a walled vineyard known as the Grand Clos, which is located in northern Saint Julien with only the Juillac tributary separating its vineyards from those of Château Latour in Pauillac.

Originally Château Léoville Las Cases was part of the Mont Moytié estate, the mont being the gravel mound rising above the tidal marshes on which the Château stood. It was the Moytié family that were the first to plant vines here, at the end of the 17th Century. Even at this early point in the history of the Médoc, Léoville was recognised as being second only to the four accepted first growths, (Châteaux Latour, Lafite, Margaux and Haut Brion).

Château Léoville Las Cases vineyards are planted with 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. They lie on the well draining Garonne gravel and alluvial clay deposited by the river.
The Grand Clos vineyard has an impressive stone gateway surmounted by the lion of Las Cases as the entrance to its vineyard and this is depicted on the label of the bottled wines.

D'Alton said, “This will be a common second wine from both vineyards, made from young vines and vats that are not of the right quality level.” The first release of the new wine, to be called Petit Leon de Léoville, will be from the 2007 vintage.

Wine Investment - Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chinese Art

Chateau Mouton Rothschild could be a wine for investors to watch in 2010 as its prices continue to rise and it will be interesting to see what the 2008 vintage does once it is bottled. There has been speculation that the 2008 label will be designed by a Chinese artist and decanter.com reported that in September last year, the as yet un-bottled Mouton 2008 rose from £1850 a case up to £2,200 on the back of this rumour. Speculation was so rife that the 2008 Mouton was the most traded wine on the Liv-ex Index. The 2008 vintage is attracting a lot of interest as 8 is a lucky number in China - number 8 in Chinese sounds similar to the word which means "prosper" or “wealth”.

Mouton is also opening the world's first Mouton Cadet Wine Bar in in restaurant No. 9 Garden in Guangzhou according to Torres China. Torres is the exclusive distributor of Baron Philippe de Rothschild in China and is partly owned by the company. The Mouton Cadet Wine Bar will have a “similar theme to its wine museum and cellar door in Bordeaux” and that it will be “the first time that dedicated display materials will be showcased outside of its territory in France.”

If the 2008 label is designed by a Chinese artist this will not be the first time – the 1996 label was designed by Gu Gan who is a pioneer of the Modernist Movement in calligraphic painting. His works have played a key role in defining 20th century Chinese art. His works are displayed in many museums both in China and the West, including the British Museum and the Museum for Far Eastern Art in Cologne.

Chinese calligraphy has remained unchanged since 2000 BC. It's both language and art and Gu Gan remains true to this tradition, while at the same time taking a profoundly innovative approach. He has brought colour to calligraphy, shaking off traditional restraints and the insistence on balance, and adds ornamental seals to the actual drawing. Author of The Three Steps of Modern Calligraphy, published in 1990, Gu Gan is now regarded not only as a master but also a leading theorist of his art. His work bears witness to the idea that calligraphy can be a link between his own culture and Western abstract art.

For the Mouton 1996 label Gu Gan brought together in a single drawing five ideograms, all signifying the heart, varying the colour and stroke of each. This composition is called Coeur à Cœur (Heart to Heart) and the 5 hearts represent the different human races, joined together through wine.

Chinese art is a flourishing market and the soaring prices of Chinese contemporary artists over the past few years has jolted the global auction market, setting off a building boom in arts districts in Beijing and Shanghai and turning many Chinese artists into multimillionaires.

In 2008 China overtook France as the world’s third-biggest art market after America and Britain. Thanks to shifts in policy, which once banned owning, inheriting or exchanging pre-communist works, Chinese buyers are now catching up in a big way. More Chinese treasures are now sold at auction in Hong Kong than in New York, London and Paris.

If Mouton Rothschild does commission a Chinese artist for their 2008 label it will be interesting to see what art genre they come from.

The World's Biggest Bottle of Wine is Made in China

The world's biggest bottle of wine has been made by a group of Chinese winemakers and is 15ft high containing 1,850 litres of wine. It has been produced by Wang Chen Wines in Liaoning province, Northern China. At the time of writing details in the press are sketchy but looking at the enormous bottle in the picture it seems to be Ice Wine. Liaoning is home to the largest ice wine estate in the world (see my Blog Chinese Ice Wine) and in 2007, the vineyard's annual output of grapes exceeded 4,000 tons, which has made it the largest single producer of ice wine grapes in China, and possibly even the world.

The bottle is over three times the amount held by the previous record-holders, Austrian winemakers Kracher, whose bottle held 490 litres of Grande Cuvee TBA NV No.7 2005. A company spokesman for Wang Chen Wines said:

“We are very proud, and the wine is very good. We have all had a glass from the bottle to celebrate.”

Ice Wine is a sweet dessert wine made from frozen grapes that was originally developed in Germany in the 1700's. Grapes are left on the vine well into the winter months and then pressed in their cold state. The water in the juice remains frozen as ice crystals, and only a few drops of sweet, concentrated juice is obtained, making the wine much more expensive than traditional red and white wines.

Although the Chinese passion is for red wine the sweet desert wines of Bordeaux, Sauternes and Barsac, are attracting interest. Chateau Climens regularly hold wine dinners that consist entirely of Chinese food and actively promote their luscious wines in China. The Liaoning Gateway (promotional and educational website of the Liaoning Province Government) reported on a recent tasting in which Climens was the most popular wine. Paired with a fried rice with crab meat and roe dish, the sweetness and richness of the wine complimented Asian cuisine - a fact that Virginie Achou Lepage, the communications director, says makes it potentially popular in China. You never know, you might see dessert wines being made in China with botrytis cinerea (noble rot) before long. . .

As for the world's biggest bottle of wine unfortunately there isn't a wine glass large enough to pour it into. You may think I am losing the plot until I tell you that there actually is a world's largest wine glass – but it's one for sparkling wine. Technically it's a Spumante glass and it was unveiled in the city of Spoleto. It took 11 magnums (or a little more than 6 gallons) of Spumante to fill up the monster glass, which is 6.5 feet tall and 1.4 feet wide. Naturally they used Spumante Asti DOGG.

The world’s smallest bottle of wine was made by Steve Klein of Klein’s Design, Encino, California, USA. He produced a hand-blown miniature wine bottles standing 3.2 cm (1.2 in) tall and with a volume of 0.75ml (0.026 fl oz).

The world's smallest wine glass is too tiny to hold even a drop of wine. In 2000 the NEC Corporation in Japan created the world's smallest wine glass using highly advanced manufacturing techniques that can produce 3D objects at the nanometre scale (one nanometre is one-billionth of a meter). Researchers built the glass from carbon with an external diameter of only 2,750 nanometres, approximately 20,000 times smaller than a normal sized glass. They'll be counting how many angels can dance on the head of a pin next . . .

Some of My Favourite Wine Stories

I thought I'd share some of my favourite wine stories with you, the first being Wine in Space. It's not as daft as it sounds - the Japanese seem to be “boldly going where no man has gone before” and are making beer from barley that has spent 5 months on board the Russian Space Station. There is also a Space Sake on the market - Japan's Kochi prefecture and 19 local breweries paid the Russian Federal Space Agency to carry several types of freeze-dried yeast used in sake brewing into orbit in order to make sake. France, however, is somewhat more cautious. . .

Apparently the French were so concerned about alien abduction in the 1950s Châteauneuf du Pape actually passed a municipal decree banning them. As of the time of writing it has still not been repealed.

Bonny Doon Vineyard in California was not slow in taking the mickey and Randall Grahm produces a series of wines known as Le Cigare. Le Cigare is French slang for a flying saucer. Grahm’s description on the back label of his bottles quotes the decree:

"Cigares, the flying variant thereof, are prohibited from landing in the protected vineyards of Châteauneuf du Pape by decree of that village council in 1954."

Another favourite story of mine is Bordeaux Pirates, Buried Treasure and Lafitte - the only buried treasure that I know of in Bordeaux is of the “berried” variety that can be bottled, however I stumbled across this story which fascinated me. After the French Revolution two brothers, claiming to have been born in Paulliac, Bordeaux, turned pirate and set up their base in New Orleans. Whether the brothers had any connection to Chateau Lafite Rothschild in Paulliac, which dates back to 1234 when it was owned by Gombard de Lafite, or to Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte in Pessac Leognan is lost in the annals of time.

Jean, the younger of the two, was known as "Prince of Pirates," "the Terror of the Gulf," and the "Hero of New Orleans." The Lafitte's lost treasure has acquired a lore of its own and has never been accounted for and you never know – Jean Lafitte might crop up in the next Pirates of the Caribbean film . . . Don't forget that Johnny Depp loves Bordeaux . . . so I wouldn't be surprised!

I really enjoyed writing a series of blogs on Bordeaux's appellations as some of the smaller ones don't get much press and produce some fantastic wines. I love the history and the culture behind the wine that we drink and in researching the AOC Saint Macaire I came across something that intrigued me. There was actually a long lost Bordeaux grape known under that name! Some long forgotten grape varieties are now found flourishing in far flung pockets of the New World, having been transported there by pioneering travellers. In Long Lost Bordeaux Grape Varieties I unearthed a few of these: Saint Macaire, Gros Verdot, Cabernet Pfeffer and Cabernet Gemischt.

Of course the most famous of these “long lost” grapes is Carménère – but there are still small patches of Carménère still surviving in Bordeaux and several vineyards have reintroduced it. An example of famous châteaux that use Carménère are the Fifth Growth Château Clerc Milon and the Second Growth Château Brane Cantenac. Carménère is still one of the permitted grape varieties in Bordeaux from which red wines can be made, alongside Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec.

If you have any favourite wine related stories please let me know which ones!

Sweet or Dry Wine?

The Grocer has reported that consumer preference for sweeter wines is being ignored according to a leading Master of Wine. Tim Hanni, a flavour expert and industry commentator from the USA has accused the industry of ignoring the tastes of its customers by producing wines that are too dry for millions of palates. He argues that, given the choice, most consumers prefer wines with a sweeter profile. He eventually hopes to calculate how much money the wine trade is losing by not catering sufficiently for consumers with sweet and hypersensitive palates, and who detect bitter flavours in many mainstream wines.

"I can't imagine any industry that's more ignorant of its consumers than the wine industry," said Hanni. "The wine industry has a very distorted sense of history. One hundred years ago the standard for dry Champagne would qualify as dessert wine today. Globally, sweet is very much a preferred taste, very natural, and somehow we've created this distortion of taste."

John McLaren, UK director of the California Wine Institute, the non-profit trade organisation that represents the region's winemakers, agreed that businesses were missing an opportunity to provide sweeter wines. "Tim Hanni has a point. For some reason we have come to associate dryness with sophistication, and sweetness with naffness and chavs, whereas most consumers' default wine style will have at least a hint of sweetness."

Big-selling, mass produced wines such as Blossom Hill and Echo Falls have been derided by critics for having a sweeter profile than most well-reviewed wines, but they may be more in tune with consumers than the trade realises if Hanni is right. A commercial wine typically has about 5g of residual sugar per litre. Echo Falls white zinfandel contains 25g/litre which, according to supplier Constellation Europe, makes it ideal for novice wine consumers.

Back in August last year Reuters reported on research by British and Australian scientists which showed that your wine choice reveals your personality. It showed that drinkers who preferred a sweet taste in wine were more likely to be impulsive while those who chose dry varieties had greater openness. However this research may throw some light on people's preference of sweet or dry – apparently the younger you are the more you are likely to like sweet wine:

"There is some support for the notion that sweet preference develops early in humans and thus could drive the development of impulsiveness," said the researchers, who reported the finding in the journal Food Quality and Preference.

The researchers said there is some evidence that a preference for sweet tastes fluctuates throughout life. It seems to be heightened during childhood and then declines in late adolescence.

I am aware that your palate changes and develops throughout life and this research does seem to make sense. Younger people do seem to prefer sweeter wines. If you have a preference for sweeter wines then choosing fruity wines with soft tannins could suit your palate. Merlot is a good choice; it is full of blackcurrant flavour. If you spot a wine with the description of spice, tobacco or pepper then you'll know it is a drier style. Try Chateau Toumalin (£9.49) - this is made with 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc. It's a lovely, deep ruby crimson colour, has the flavours of blackberry and blueberry and an ample, full sensation on the palate with refined, silky tannins.

White wines with a high percentage of Semillon and Muscadelle can be rounder and sweeter – Chateau Laures (£6.75) is a blend of 60% Semillon, 30% Sauvignon Blanc and 10% Muscadelle. This has loads of fruity aromas and intense fruit and honey in the mouth. As for a rosé, why not try a Bordeaux Clairet? These are medium bodied wines, full of fruit and Domaine de Ricaud Bordeaux Clairet (£5.75) is slightly sweet . . . it is also one of our best sellers!