James Bond chooses Château Angélus
I attended recently a wine tasting by the Flemish Wine Guild (”Vlaamse Wijngilde“) where Château Angélus and Château La Conseillante figured as leading men (or is it leading ladies).
The owner of Château Angélus, Hubert de Boüard de Laforest, mentioned at that occasion that his wine figured in the latest James Bond movie. Actually, I’m not such a James Bond movie fan, but when Château Angélus is involved I tend to make an exception. So off I went to the dvd-shop and rented me one “spic and span” new specimen of “Casino Royale”.
I had to wait for Mr. 007 to finish a glass of Bollinger La Grande Année (actually he only orders this fine Champagne but you never see him drinking it) and some cocktails, before it was finally time for the big one. Sitting in the train to Montenegro while having dinner with the marvellous Vesper Lynd, you see dear old Bond sipping from a glass of Château Angélus. Well, that is if you know the label of Château Angélus, a big bell against a yellowish background. On the web, I’ve read that it was a 1982 that he was drinking. But, at least in the version I saw, he never ordered it explicitly and the label was not very clear, so I could not see from which year it is, not even when hitting the pause button and putting my nose literally on my tv screen.
One little side note: he does not hold his glass at the stem but at the bowl. Would this be a problem for die hard wine lovers?
Remains my most important question, is this good publicity? I was not able to see the bottle very well. Moreover, James Bond is not explicitly ordering the wine and not saying things like exquisite wine, exceptional year. So you really must be in-crowd to notice it. Okay, I’m one of those lucky guys who were able to taste different years of Château Angélus just recently. But if I did not have tasted it and Monsieur Angélus did not mention that his wine figured in the movie, I would never have noticed it. Actually, I would have never seen the movie. Hey, I just saw this movie because this famous wine figured in it. But does a wine lover needs any more reasons to see a Bond movie?
And, hopefully, just hopefully, James Bond didn’t order his Château Angélus 1982 “shaken not stirred”.
Have a nice Château Angélus 1982 today!
Bart
Quotes on wine
“I can certainly see you know your wine. Most of the guests who stay here wouldn’t know the difference between Bordeaux and Claret.”
– Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) in Fawlty Towers
TN –Château Hostens-Picant, Sainte-Foy Bordeaux, 2004
The combination of merlot (70%), cabernet franc (30%) and cabernet sauvignon (10%) brings a refined spiciness in the glass. Next to this some reminiscents of the barrel aging expressed by notes of mocha and espresso poured over by a sauce of black currants, strawberries and raspberries.
Okay, so the barrel aging is present but I never got that sensation of overwooded wine. Hell no, the fruit is omnipresent, luscious and a lust for the nose. Hey, if I’m ever sick, pretty please with sugar on top bring me a basket with such sexy fruit and I guess I’ll be out of my bed in no time.
So, as you could guess I couldn’t wait a moment longer to sip this wine and let it rock and roll in my mouth. The first thing I noticed was “finesse”. And oh boy, do I just love elegance in wine. Healthy tannins, present but like a good butler in the background, a refreshing acidity and an overall great balance. Again, the sensual fruit is lingering in the mouth with a softness and roundness that is exquisite. Great and exciting finish!
Stéphane Derononcourt is the consultant behind this wine. Voices whisper that this is the new school Michel Rolland. This self made man has entered and conquered big part of the Bordeaux scene without any diploma in his pocket. He just digs sensual wines loaded with fruit. I guess the wine above is one of his scholar examples.
One conclusion, I’m going to grab me some more wines with the stamp of Stéphane Derononcourt.
Wine: Château Hostens-Picant, Sainte-Foy Bordeaux, 2004
Bought at: Pin’art (Belgium - Mechelen)
Price: around 15 EUR (around 20 USD).
Have a nice and sensual wine today!
Bart
TN - Ravishing carignan: a Belgian with a Plan
Ever had a race car in a bottle? I just did:
Dirk Vermeersch, a former race driver and Maserati dealer (okay, he was also involved in dealing Volvo’s and Lancia, but these cars are not so sexy) sold all his belongings and went with his family to the Southern Rhône pursuing his dream.
There he started up a winery and damn does he make good wines. Just (re)tasted (well, sipped with loads of enthusiasm) his GT-C wine. Nope, no Gran Turismo but Grand Terroir Carignan. Monovarietal carignan are few and far between, I can assure you. This grape is often declared as being too dull to do a solo.
But boy, theory can be so wrong. Dirk, mister 100%, makes 100% right choices: low yields (around an astonishing 25 hl/ha), green harvest, old vines (on average around 40 years), etc. Result: what vibrancy on the nose. Peppery at first, subsequently liquorice and tons of black and red fruit are fighting for your attention. Talking about a concentrated nose… Then a sip and you can almost feel the sunny South on the tip of your tongue. Warm fruit, tannins that belong rather to the softies’ category, lean but no so mean acidity. In one word balance. This is a carignan I dig!
Oh, by the way, on the label it reads “powered by nature”. I’m really happy that nature can make such smooth running turbo engines.
In Belgium you can find this wine at (among others) Pin’art (Mechelen), and in the UK Vignerons de France (BN3 3JJ HOVE) are taking care of distribution.
Wine: LePlan Vermeersch, GT-C, Vin de Pays de la Drôme, 2005
Price: 8,20 EUR at Pin’Art (Belgium-Mechelen)
Quotes on wine
“Burgundy makes you think of silly things, Bordeaux makes you talk of them and Champagne makes you do them.“
— Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
If you enjoyed this post, make my day and buy me a glass of wine.
One thing I learned in Champagne today
I went for a quick trip to Champagne today. Funtastic weather, temperatures at about 25 degrees Celsius. During the smooth car trip the sun was playing hide and seek with some clouds and shadows were chasing on the highway. Ideal conditions to mentally prepare for these delicious bubbles.
First stop: Vincent Renoir, a small producer in Verzy. This village is located in the Montagne de Reims region. This means that the great red grape pinot noir is omnipresent. Their champagnes are indeed well loaded with this grape. Take their basic brut tradition (tirage 2003) and you will find half of it filled with pinot noir grapes. The other half is occupied by that other great
What is the anecdote beefing up this word? Just before Christmas the order books of
However, one problem during this period is the cold. It could happen that upon transport to the eager clients, the bottles remained some time in the cold. This cold had the effect that certain elements in the wine crystallize. They actually form some kind of “snow flakes”. Hence the reference to those typical snow flakes we all have in mind when dreaming about a white Christmas.
Nowadays this “problem” with
And now it is time to pop some
Santé!
Have a nice glass of Champagne today!
Bart
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