the best of culture, tr avel & art de vivre

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2014 Food & Wine Issue

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French food & drink in America

By DOROTHY J. GAITER

Valentine Ross

mille feuilles
Nine Centuries in the Heart of Burgundy by Gilles Platret and Philippe Pascal. After working for years for various luxury brands, Pascal and his wife, Catherine, threw themselves into winemaking and the painstaking restoration of Givrys ancient Cellier aux Moines estate, which they purchased in 2004. Once worked by Cistercian monks who settled here in 1113, the Cellier aux Moines had for centuries produced wines for royalty and popes before falling on hard times. The Pascals revived it, respecting and reveling in its history, and released their first wine in 2006. Historian Platret helps tell this tale of a love realized. Assouline, $75. French Food Safari by Maeve OMeara and Guillaume Brahimi. As the name implies, this is a journey through French culinary traditions with visits to the keepers of the flame: Alain Ducasse, Paul Bocuse, Guy Savoy, Pierre Herm. OMeara is a food writer, filmmaker and the presenter of the Australian public broadcasting networks Food Safari TV series. Brahimi is a French-born chef who trained in Paris with Jol Robuchon before moving to Australia, where he opened Guillaume at Bennelong, the award-winning restaurant in the Sydney Opera House. Their book contains recipes for complex masterpieces as well as rustic dishes suitable for novices. Hardie Grant, $45. The French Baker, Authentic Recipes for Traditional Breads, Desserts, and Dinners by Sbastien Boudet. Winner of the prestigious Gourmand Cookbook Award for French Cuisine, The French Baker is part autobiography, part travelogue. Boudet was born in Paris into a family of bakers and during the past few years has become a central figure in the sourdough revolution, a movement that embraces baking bread naturally, without additives such as yeast. The leavening of the sourdough is what I love the most. Within this chaotic world, microorganisms simply try to do what they are programmed to do: live, eat, reproduce and tear down anything that gets in their way, Boudet writes. Now thats passion. Skyhorse Publishing, $24.95. Fine French Desserts: Essential Recipes and Techniques by Hubert Delorme, Vincent Bou and Didier Stphan. If sweets are your idea of heaven, this book is for you. Whether youre an amateur or a veteran in the kitchen, the 20 interactive videos and helpful photographs along with explanations from the authorsall renowned pastry chefswill make you look like a brilliant baker. The 260 recipes include hot and cold desserts, cakes, candies, classic pastries, profiteroles, tarts and pages upon pages of instructions on decorating these yummies. Flammarion, $60.

PINK CHAMPAGNE HAS ALWAYS BEEN SERIOUSLY FUNNOW ITS ALSO SERIOUSLY GOOD.
of Champagne production. Because they are rarer, they tend to cost more than their pale cousins. In recent years, winemakers have been giving them very serious attention, and some houses are so proud of them that theyre pushing their ross front and center. In 2012, Nicolas Feuillattes new Cellar Master, David Hnault, introduced himself to the long and clean. They also complement a wide variety of foods, including sushi, roasted poultry, veal or lamb in mushroom cream sauces, and grilled vegetables. There are some good new producers on the scene today, and their labels are showing up on U.S. shelves. The one eliciting the most buzz is Barons de Rothschild Champagne from three branches of the famous Rothschild family, including the owners of Chteau Lafite Rothschild and Chteau Mouton Rothschild. Their stunning brut ros ($125, available in the U.S. since 2012) is 85 percent chardonnay. Those of you who have missed Manhattans La Caravelle restaurant since it closed in 2004 may want to try a Champagne by the same name sold by Rita Jammet, one of the restaurants former owners. At $39.95, you can pour confidently and generously. Then theres Tendil & Lombardi Ros de Saigne. First released in 2011, it is still wet behind the ears but youd never guess that from its elegance and finesse; its a steal at $48. Among the classics, mention must be made of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, which pioneered ros Champagne production in 1775. Today its portfolio includes nonvintage (balanced and noseticklingly delicious, $70) and La Grande Dame Ros 2004 ($290). Founded in 1760, Lanson has been making ros Champagne for about 60 years. The predominant grape in all its wines is pinot noir, which imparts crispness and a full flavor. Its pink label ros ($55) is made with a touch of fragrant Bouzy rouge and best shows its flavors with food. Gosset, the regions oldest wine producer (since 1584), today makes a bracingly audacious nonvintage Grand Ros Brut ($77). Showing the full-bodied style that is characteristic of the house, this blended wine shines best with meals, making it a favorite of sommeliers throughout the world. Another storied house is Louis Roederer, which continues to uphold the rigorous standards that made it the official supplier to the court of Czar Nicholas II, using the delicate saigne method and aging its wines on the lees for an average of four years before release. The house bottles only vintage ross, and like all its vintage wines, they are made exclusively from estate-grown grapes. On the market now is the elegant, full-bodied 2008 Ros Brut Millsime ($70). And true to its impeccable pedigree, Bollingers brut ros has the same largerthan-life profile of the houses other James Bond-worthy Champagnes. Mostly pinot noir, theres nothing frilly about the ros ($70), but it is beguiling nonetheless. Its most recent vintage bottling is La Grande Anne 2004 ($200)film buffs may recall seeing this prestige cuve in Casino Royale. Laurent-Perriers nonvintage Cuve Ros ($100) is another lovely option. A long line of female directors form the backbone of this house, a nice nod to the power of women in view of Susan B. Anthony Day, which falls the day after Valentines Day. Marie-Louise de Nonancourtwho bought Laurent-Perrier in 1939 from Eugnie-Hortense Laurent, who had inherited it from her motherinsisted that her son Bernard learn the ropes after his service in the Resistance. In 1968, he launched their nonvintage ros ($100)something nearly unheard of in the region at that time. Then in 1987, in honor of his daughters wedding, Bernard unveiled the luxury Cuve Alexandra, made from the 1982 vintage. There have been only seven bottlings since, the most recent being the newly released 2004 ($300). Everything about this wine is the ultimate expression of the houses two centuries of savoir faire. Even the bottle is special: inspired by those used in the late 17th century, it has a muscular silhouette and a discreet pink label, implying both power and finesse. A rare Champagne made to enjoy with a very special mealand a f very special someone.

U.S. market by leading a tasting of his ros Champagne wines at the legendary Manhattan restaurant Le Cirque. Among the standouts were the nonvintage brut ($37) and high-end vintage Ros Palmes DOr ($200). Ros Champagne, like all Champagne, is made primarily from three grape types: chardonnay, pinot noir and meunier (previously known as pinot meunier). Two major factors affecting the differences in taste and price are the provenance and quality of the grapes used and how the wines made from each are blended to make the base wine. Champagnes that are mostly chardonnay, even the ross, Ross from Nicolas Feuillatte (above) and Laurentwill often have a more elegant, lighter Perrier (right) are both delicious ways to say Be mine. taste than those that are predominantly VALENTINES DAY IS FAST APPROACHING. Unless you pinot noir or meunier, which tend to add have a tradition of going to a special restaurant, backbone, structure. perhaps you may want to consider staying in Historically ros Champagne has been this year and preparing a delicious meal with produced two ways. One is the saigne method, wonderful wines at a table for two that is yours which involves leaving the clear juice in contact for the night. What could be better for such an with dark grape skins of the pinot noir or meunier evening than a ros Champagne? They are so for just the right amount of time. The other, more pretty that you can enjoy them before you even popular method involves adding a touch of red pop the cork. Plus theyre available in a wide wine made in areas such as Bouzy (yes, its pinot range of prices and pair beautifully with food. noir is called Bouzy rougegotta love that) For more than a century, ros Champagne was to the base wine. Some winemakers are even not taken seriously even by the houses that made combining both, using the saigne method to it. In A Scent of Champagne: 8,000 Champagnes make the red wine that is then added to the base. Tasted and Rated (Skyhorse Publishing, 2013), These experiments are opening up a world of Richard Juhlin recounts that it was regarded as new possibilities. a frivolous feminine beverage that men could get What good ross generally have in common away with drinking only on their wedding day, are varying hints of strawberries, raspberries probably because it made the bride happy. and other red fruits, as well as touches of citrus, No longer. Today ross are growing in brioche and sometimes toasted nuts. The popularity and account for about 10 percent bubbles are delicate spirals and the finishes are

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C O U R T E S Y O F N I C O L A S F E U I L L AT T E A N D L A U R E N T- P E R R I E R

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2013-14 issue of France Magazine.

the best of culture, tr avel & art de vivre

W int e r 2 013 - 1 4

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2014 Food & Wine Issue

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