If you subscribe to The Economist, check out page 81 of this week’s (October 14 – 20, 2006) edition.  Two studies were released in The Journal of Wine Economics.  In one study, they looked at a price equation to compare 1,000 bottles of Bordeaux and Burgundy wines tasted blindly by experts and found that the price of wine is largely determined by objective standards such as color, ranking and vintage rather than simply by taste and smell.  In another, 120 people were observed during their bidding on non-vintage champagne after tasting it blind, after inspecting only the bottle, and after tasting it when seeing the bottle, and the bidding was 33% higher when tasters could see the bottle.

I’ve come across the Clef du Vin in several catalogs. The item purportedly is able to simulate the taste of an aged wine simply by dipping the product into the wine one second for each year. To rephrase, say you buy a bottle of 2005 Bordeaux. You want to know how it will taste in 8-10 years time. Dip the Clef du Vin in your glass for 8-10 seconds and the chemical reaction with stimulate the wine to produce its essential aged flavor of itself in 8-10 years time. The Clef du Vin does not age the wine itself, but helps simulate what the wine would taste like with aging. Put yet another way (from Chateau Online), “It will gradually alter the organoleptic qualities (taste, smell, flavours and bouquet) of the wine, in a controlled way.”

Vinum Master Description – Most detailed description I’ve seen thus far of what it is and how it works
Grapevine – Time Magazine article about the Clef du Vin
Amazon.com Listing – Buy it here
Epinions.com – Good review
Clef-Du-Vin.com – Official Web site

Have any experience with it? Please submit your comments and let us know.

Paul and I went to Cité for national wine week (see previous post) on September 27th. I haven’t been to Cité in years; in fact, I worked in the Time Life building for 2 years and never made it down to the restaurant while I was there. Anyway, wine week this year was somewhat lackluster. The wines, though copiously poured, got an overall ‘ho-hum’ assessment from us both. Thankfully, they saved themselves with some outstanding filet mignons.

Next week, from September 25-29, 2006, several restaurants in NY will host a 10 wines for $10 wine sampling with lunch.  Check out the National Wine Week site for more details.  Thanks to Paul for tracking this down.

Bonjour! Our second East Coast wine dinner took us to the bonnie hill and dale of Brooklyn, NY for a feast aplenty courtesy of John Piccone, his lovely wife Dara, and servants (I mean sons) Eli and Sam. The theme as you know was Old Leather Bordeaux, and it did not disappoint.

First, we gorged ourselves on cheese, salami, olives, and crackers. The Piccones have a lovely cheesewheel cutting device that you can ask them about at a later date. This was followed by an impeccably prepared roast of lamb with roasted vegetables and for the vegetarians (i.e. NONE!) a similarly wonderfully prepared tossed salad.

The participants at this festival of Bordeaux included 1st dinner alums John P, Eric P, Tom C, Charles S, along with newcomers Dave M, Mark W, Nick B, , Stephanie V, and Dara P. Yes, Mark W, a noted scotch aficionado, as per previous history, came with both a bottle of required red and a bottle of scotch (more on the liquid consumables in a bit).

So what did we drink? Below please find the wines consumed in order along with our notes. You are welcome to comment on our comments, praise them, refute them, or otherwise just feel every so slightly disappointed that you were unable to attend! And so:

• 2003 Saint Amour
• our starter wine for the predinner festivities
• 2003 Lassègue
• Termed “the liveliest label” by our group
• 2000 Chevalier de Lascombes
• smooth, early, crunchiness on finish
• 1970 Magdelaine
• tasty, funky, dark, old, still pretty young, can hang for 5-10 years, not yet dead
• 1986 – Domaine de Chevalier
• Dark, full body, sharper than 70, angular (from front to back of palate), not balanced
• 1989 Chateau de Fieuzal
• Lively, cocoa, lots of taste, sweet, dusty grainy tannins
• 1995 Cos d’Estournal
• Plum, one flavor, up front, in your face, a 2 by 4, wine made to drink young [Note: WS rates this wine very highly, so our comments are likely a partial function of drunkenness from the previous consumption]
• 1998 Chateau la Gomerie
• Crowd pleasing wine, Not as good as cheese, wine could be from anywhere – no distinction, but bold and up front for ‘lay’ consumer
• 1998 Chateau Deyrem Valentin
• Real charm, nothing showy, has enough depth for 10 years

When all was said and consumed, our average Wine-Searcher sourced cost per bottle (not including starters and after dinner drinks) was $88. We followed up the dinner with a dessert of cheese and assorted pastries. The quote of the night may have come from John, who said “I don’t think I could live a day without cheese.”

But wait, there’s more! We had a vote on the wine for best-in-show, which was the Deyrem Valentin brought by Stephanie and she won the first wine group prize, a phat (as they might say in the ‘hood) Brooklyn hoodie sweatshirt.

After dinner drinks included the bottle of Glenrothes Select Reserve from Mark’s visit (a vatting of casks from various years representing the heart and essence of Glenrothes) and a 1973 Marcel Trépout Bas-Armagnac.

So, sincere thanks to all participants of our second event. Our third event will be held in late October and hosted at Dave’s place (working theme = Spanish Reds), followed by world class Barolos at Paul’s home in December.