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New York Foodies Welcome Michel Chapoutier
Plus, two wine families tie the knot, science proves Champagne bubbles enhance the celebration, and the competition for greenest California winery heats up
Posted: October 1, 2009
• New York foodies gathered at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center on Sept. 25 & 26 for the first Le Fooding d’Amour event held on American soil. The event (its quirky name is a combination of “food” and “feeling”) was created 10 years ago by French food writer Alexandre Cammas in order to foster a more casual food movement in France. The party in Queens was essentially an urban barbecue that featured six Parisian chefs and six American chefs, including David Chang, who served Bo Ssäm on lettuce wraps with pureed kimchi, and Wylie Dufresne, who offered a unique dish of grilled chicken necks with yuzu marmalade. Unfiltered was fond of the grilled marinated pork rib with a pineapple teriyaki barbecue sauce that was both sweet and tangy prepared by French chef William Ledeuil of Ze Kitchen Galerie in Paris. In addition to various grilled items, DJs were spinning records, ice cream, Champagne and cocktails were served, and a multimedia performance entertained the hordes of food lovers in the outdoor courtyard of the museum. Ticket sale proceeds went to the charity Action Against Hunger. Unfiltered was first on line when we heard the spirited Michel Chapoutier would be attending the event himself and pouring four wines, including the Chapoutier Hermitage White Chante-Alouette 2005 (94 points) and the Chapoutier Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Bernardine 2006 (92).
• Two of the world’s most-powerful wine families tied the knot over the weekend. Jean-Charles Boisset and Gina Gallo were married in San Francisco on Sept. 26. Gina is a third-generation Gallo and, like her grandfather Julio, is a winemaker for E & J Gallo, America’s largest winery. Jean-Charles is president of Boisset Family Estates, the third largest wine company in France. The two had been frequent companions in recent years and rumors of a wedding were rampant on both sides of the Atlantic this summer. “We are linking with the past and bridging to our new future together,” Boisset said. More than 100 guests, including many members of the extended Gallo family, gathered in the penthouse suite of the Fairmont Hotel, which offers a dramatic view of San Francisco. The bride is based in Sonoma County while the groom generally divides his time between Northern California and Burgundy.
It's all about the bubbles.
• For those who think Champagne has more flavor than still wine, you may be on to something. A report published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences claims that the bubbles in sparkling wines are carriers of actual flavor and not just aroma. "Champagne aerosols projected up to several centimeters above the liquid surface appear to hold the ‘organoleptic’ essence, or sensory properties, of Champagne," explained study lead author Gérard Liger-Belair, a Champagne researcher at the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne. "Bubbles rising and collapsing in Champagne and sparkling wines have a distinct advantage over still wines," in the flavor department, he added. For instance, the researchers found traces of fatty acids in the bubbles, which are typically a vehicle for taste, not smell. Liger-Belair's colleague, Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin, an organic chemist at the German Research Center for Environmental Health in Munich, states that such tests are only now possible based on recent advances in molecular resolution technology that allows science to get a better look at Champagne bubbles.
• What’s the greenest winery in Mendocino County? Well, there seems to be a competition going between Fetzer and Parducci, at least when it comes to the California-based Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA). Parducci Wine Cellars in Ukiah received the 2009 award this week for “Enhanced Environmental and Economic Leadership,” and it scored a similar award in 2007 for its efforts toward being carbon neutral. Fetzer Vineyards in Hopland won a GEELA in 2008 for its sustainability initiatives and likewise in 2003. Longtime observers know that Paul Dolan, a partner in Parducci, was president at Fetzer for 11 years and launched many of its environmental initiatives. Both wineries have been environmental leaders in the industry, although they have not been alone. The Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission won in 2006 and Kunde Family Estate in Sonoma County also scored the prize in 2008.
