The truth is that there are only a few great wines. That is the miracle and the mystery of wine, that the vine-the Vitis vinifera- has traveled right around the world, and yet in only a few fate-favored places is great wine produced. What do I mean by "great" wine? Simply this: Certain spots in some magical way combine the right soil, the right amount of sun, the right amount of rain, the right angle of slope- all these things for the right kind of grape to produce wines that in their balance, their bouquet, their subtlety of flavor and often their longevity, are unmatched by any others. They are all different from one another, having in common only their nobility, which they express in endless, enthralling ways; and it is a good thing that your palate will prefer this one and mine prefer that one, so that there will be no end to the delightful debates over their respective virtues. But in this select company all are superb, and all unique. Each is a creation that could not be duplicated chemically, or even naturally in another spot- not even by using the same grapes and importing the same soil and the same workmen with the same methods of cultivation and harvest. Move the vine and the wine will be different. There are vineyards in Burgundy where the vines at the top of the hill yield a far finer wine than do those a few hundred yards farther down. Half a mile away the situation may be reversed; the lower slope may be the favored one. Why on vineyard should produce an ordinary wine and another across the valley should produce an a supreme one, no one knows; but that is the way it is, and we should be grateful that in a standardized, machine-made world there is on article that cannot be turned out to pattern. There are so many great wine regions in France, but, I cannot delay any longer in dealing with the world's greatest wines, the ones ideally suited to accompany the main meat course of any meal: the fabulous French wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy. Both of these regions produce red and white wine- and in each the best is generally conceded to rank with best in the world. Bordeaux comes in tall, slender bottles and has been called the Queen of red wines. It is subtle, inclined to be on the light, dry side, with an aftertaste that is indescribable.Its appeal is discreet and aristocratic. By contrast, Burgundy is the King. Its bottle is stouter in shape, with sloping shoulders, and the wine is stouter too. It is heavier, "chewier"; it hurls its imperial brilliance at you with a shout. Getting to know the Bordeaux and the Burgundies, with their apparent infinity of place names and complicated labels, seems a hopelessly confusing task. Actually it is simpler than it seems, for the French government has established regulations to aid the wine lover. These are the famous Appellation control laws, put into operation in the 1930's. Their aim is not only to prevent such sharp practices as the adulteration of good wines with bad ones and the use of misleading labels, but also to try to force each district to produce the very best wines that it is capable of. To that end, the laws specify the exact boundaries of each district, the kinds of grapes that may be grown in those districts, and even the amount of wine that can be produced per acre in each district. In Medoc district of Bordeaux, for example, the general quality of the wine is very high, and Appellation Control laws are aimed at keeping it that way- the Medoc is subject to stricter standards of quality than the other wine-producing districts in both Bordeaux and Burgundy.
BORDEAUX: Let us take up Bordeaux first. With no exception, without even a rival, this all-important area stands supreme for the extent, quality and variety of its wines. Every type of unfortified wine is made there: delicate and full-bodied reds, dry and sweet white wines, even a little Rose. The wines of Bordeaux run the full gamut of quality and price, from obscure local pressings that sell for a few cents a bottle and are drunk on the spot (they are not worth shipping), to the great Chateau names like Lafite and Haut-Brion, which ring like bells in the imagination of the wine lover, and which, for a good vintage, command upwards of $100 a bottle-when they are available. The boundaries of the Bordeaux region are defined by the Appellation Control laws. Any wine grown there, so long as it conforms to other provisions of the laws, may be labeled Bordeaux- Bordeaux red, Bordeaux white. Primarily, that designation guarantees the place of origin. It says nothing about the quality. To find a somewhat better grade of wine, one does not buy a mere Bordeaux; one should select a bottle from a certain part of Bordeaux region, which is divided, again by the laws, into two dozen separate districts. Many of these produce rather undistinguished wines, but five of them produce some of the greatest wines in the world, and the quality within those five districts is so superior that there is an obvious advantage for the grower in any one of the five in labeling his wine as coming from there. The five are: Medoc, Graves, St.Emilion and Pomerol, renowned for their reds, and Sauternes, for its supreme dessert wines, which are white.
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