LOS

Oh, I don't misunderstand. What you've got in most states is a legally-enforced monopoly, and you're whining that you don't have one in California. This whole monopoly structure only exists because of the abnormal powers to regulate alcohol given to the states by the amendment that repealed prohibition. For any other good, this monopoly structure would be blatantly unconstitutional. I'm so sorry you much compete in the California market just like any other importer of any other good must do. The only reason you can call them 'opportunistic pirates' is because you've talked the government into enforcing your piracy for you. Lee

I had the 91 Chave last night. It too was quite lovely, though it is in more need of drinking up than your 89 was. I've had this wine often over the last few years and it is time to drink up, as this will soon begin to decline -- and that would be a horrible waste. Caveat: my passive cellar hits 67 in the summer; better cellared bottles may have more time to go. I suspect that even better cellared bottles will be drinking well now, though.

You walk in, and every table is set with 3 different salad dressings in those containers that pancake houses use for syrups.

1. Manchego -- I prefer mine soft and creamy (hence young) 2. Parmagiano Reggiano 2.1 Brillat-Savarin 2.2 Bufula Mozzerella 2.3 Comte 2.4 Ami du Chambertin 2.5 aged Crottin 2.6 Delice de Pommard 2.7 Saenkaenter (aged Gouda) 2.8 Manouri (greek goat's milk, great snacking cheese) 2.9 Gorgonzola, Montbriac, and Roquefort (for dessert with honey, as a plate of 3 small slices) 3. Velveeta Yes, I do like Cambazola -- we used to be able to get better quality locally, though. Maybe I just need to look around more. Lee

Don't know what article you're talking about, but the one linked to in this thread mentioned none of the under $25 burgundies by name... the whole lot was dismissed out of hand. But he did go through 25 of them and claims not to have picked a winner in the bunch. That says something about how frequent the particular needles we're looking for occur within the haystack. Sure good sub$25 french pinot noirs exist... just be prepared to blow a lot of $$$ going through the haystack looking for the needles... assuming you have access to the whole haystack... which those of us in some ass-backward states most deinitely do not. What I'm referring to as the 'original article' is the article in which Prial and his tasting group taste through a number of under-25$ burgundies, and generally find them lacking. Prial alludes to that older article in the article linked to above. That original article is no longer available in full online, unfortunately. See http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html...DA00894DB404482 for the abstract, or http://www.myspeakerscorner.com/forum/inde...4477&mid=373438 to see the Wine Lovers Page deconstruction of the article. As for your local wine selection, it's too bad that so few US states are reciprocal. I'm fortunate enough to live in one that is.

Frank Prial begs to differ in today's Times. I have been "working" on this question since Craig's original post -- results coming soon. Did you read Prial's original piece on the under-25$ burgundies? They seem to have been plucked from the shelves at random. So what Prial's really 'proving' here is that hand-picked 40$-and-up domestic pinots are generally better wines than luck-of-the-draw under-$25 burgundies. BFD. As to the question of $25 burgundies in general, the results are long in: if you have access to a wide enough selection, you will do very well indeed if you choose well. Unfortunately, the continuing slide of the dollar may change that, and soon.

Jermann makes a stunning Ribolla Gailla called 'Vinnae'. It needs 4-6 hours to show well, but it is wonderful once it opens up.

The things in this dish that make it a tough match are the spice (red pepper) and the sweetness of the fruit. This will kill almost any dry still wine. I think a Chardonnay of pretty much any stripe will be horrible (Champagne excepted). My first choice would be a sparking wine of simple pedigree, maybe a Cava or Crement de Alsace. Also good would be a basic Loire Chenin with a hint of RS, like Champalou's Vouvray. Gewurtz is another good option, but I would vote for a German kabinett or maybe a spatlese over an Alsatian -- though the Alsatian could work if it had a touch of RS. As natural as the SB/seafood match is, IME Sauvignon Blanc does very poorly with sweet foods, and this recipe looks to be very sweet for a fish dish. Possibly sweet enough to warrant a German Auslese, as suggested by Jason.

Thanks for the report. One small note. I assume that Le Chassagne is the new restaurant owned by the people behind the Caveau de Chassagne. The Caveau de Chassagne is not a cooperative, but a privately owned store. They *do* have access to, and first-rate prices on, an amazing selection of wines from the growers in the village, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

The last time I purchased a case of red and white burgundy was...last week. I just can 't justify the price of the domestic versions compared to what the A & P de Villaine costs. ...and I certainly won't use it for cooking, unless 'priming the cook' counts. 2003 looks to be the kind of Burgundy vintage that Parker wa\\is going to love. I say, let the points-chasers have it. I suppose I should be a bit more circumspect -- after all, I haven't tasted a single 2003 burg yet. But I'm planning on loading up on 2002s and 2001s. Lee

Psst...they still make some traditional Beaujolais, if you know where to find it. The Louis/Dressner imports and Chambers St Wines in NYC are a good place to start. We don't have vandergrift over here, so you haven't got the full Coudert Clos de la Roilette rant just yet -- and Roilette is one thing that vandergrift is right about. I bought about a case and a half of the 2002 untasted. The track record is just that good.

Scott First I'll respond on the issue of price inflation. I'm pretty sure that a 75% increase over the past 8 years has well outstripped the general inflation rate. That's what I meant. We agree that in those same 8 years Burgundy has gone from being overpriced in the wider wine market to being (relatively) underpriced. Now let me comment on the 2001 Cote de Beaune vintage. First of all, my D'Angerville example was for the purpose of illustrating the price inflation, and not intended to be an example of a good value wine (though the 2002 will almost certainly be a good value). Volnay was indeed hit very hard by hail in 2001. Most of the rest of the Cote de Beaune did not suffer as much as many believe. On my May trip, I tasted some superb wines from Pommard and Corton, and the wines from Savigny were often excellent if a bit erratic. All these from top producers, of course. But in the same cellars, the Volnays stood out as underachievers. I did not taste much red Chassagne or St Aubin, and cannot comment on those. Lee

Yes. Someone brought a bottle of their Pinot Noir to our Thursday night tasting group. It was ghastly.

I completely agree with Craig's original post, and I'm not sure whether you are agreeing or disagreeing. If by 'the classical French Burgundy', you are referring to Musigny, Montrachet, Clos de Beze, et al, then I think we're in agreement. Certainly the prices on these wines are higher than ever, but that's just a symptom of the overall wine market where the very top wines have skyrocketed in price. Very few regions (maybe Spain, for traditionally made wines) have resisted this. In many areas, the lesser wines' prices have ridden the coattails of their more expensive big brothers'. I think this is less true in Burgundy than in many other regions. I bought the 1993 D'Angerville Volnay '1er Cru' for $20 on pre-release. The 2001 will be under $35. That's still notably inflated, but consider what else has happened in the wine market, and it seems downright reasonable. The 2002 will be under $40. For that kind of money, you can find a few single-vineyard Oregon pinots, but not many. I'd much rather have the D'Angerville. Or the village Volnay from Lafarge for a few less $$$, or Roumier's village Chambolle for a few more $$$. Or .., or..., or... At the 25$ level, you can buy the Bourgogne of nearly any grower, and there are quite a few village wines from the lesser appellations. For 25$ from Oregon, you're pretty much limited to Willamette Valley appellation. There are virtually none of these wines that I would call the equal of Bourgognes from the top growers. Lee

German wines at the Kabinett and Spatlese levels often work very well, as does a semisweet basic Vouvray (Champalou's, for instance). I've never tried it, but I think that Moscato d'Asti would be wonderful. Any semisweet bubbly would probably work. Lee

Wednesday night, I made Cassoulet. I took many shortcuts, and threw in whatever was in the refrigerator and needed to go. It turned out pretty damn well, if I do say so myself. Here's how it went: 1. Take a leg of lamb, cut into 1" cubes, roll in flour and herbs de Provence, and brown in a big stock pot. Reserve. Deglaze with chicken stock and reserve the liquid. 2. Chop coursely 2 onions, half a head of garlic, 2 shallots, 5 stalks celery, and half a pound of pancetta. Saute. Deglaze with a health slug of dry vermouth. 3. Chop 1 large and soggy tomato, and cube half a pound of leftover pork loin. Throw these into the pot, along with the lamb and a 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes and three 1-lb jars of white beans (Spanish white beans from Whole Foods). Add a can of chicken stock and some white wine vinegar and some leftover red Languedoc wine and a large bouquet garni of fresh rosemary and parsley. 4. Cut in half 2 lbs of andouille sausage and add to the pot. 5. Once bubbling, remove the pot from the stovetop and place in the preheated oven. 6. Get hungry. Wait half an hour, and eat a very very soupy Cassoulet for dinner. 7. Leave the rest in the oven, cracking the door open just a bit to facilitate evaporation. Go to bed and turn the oven off, but leave the cassoulet in. 8. Get up in the morning and discover that the evaporation has finished perfectly. Put cassoulet in the refrigerator. 9. Cut duck breast confit into halves, cleaning the larger bits of fat off. Place in serving container with cassoulet and reheat. 10. Enjoy with a well-aged Bandol. Lee

Key question: is this limited to real Champagne, or is any bubbly fair game? Real champagne: Just about the whole Terry Thiese lineup is worthwhile. I'm especially fond of the Diebolt-Vallois and Henri Billiot lineups. The D-V Fleur de Passion can sometimes be found within your budget and it's an amazing bottle of Champagne. The Billiot Brut Rose and the 96 vintage brut are both fabulous. But don't fixate on these names: whatever Thiese champagnes you can lay your paws on, are virtually certain not to disappoint. Other bubbly: The sparkling Vouvray from Huet is great, though it's generally better with some bottle age. The sweet pink Renardat-Fache Cerdon du Bugey is an internet cliche, but no less great for that. Both available from Chambers St in NYC. The Chidaine Montlouis NV Brut is a great $11 bubbly, but is sold out at Chambers and may be difficult to find. For $8, the Seaview Brut from Australia is awfully hard to beat. The whole Cava line of Juve Y Camps has yet to fail me. Lee

By this criterion, my choice is clear. About 15 km from Chablis, there's a little town called Nitry. Not only is Nitry on the autoroute, but it actually has an exit (quite an accomplishment for a town its size), and this is the exit you take when driving from your hotel in Beaune for a day trip up to Chablis. In the little town of Nitry there is a country restaurant called, IIRC, La Boursadiere. La Boursadiere can be difficult to find -- even with directions -- and serves country food, well-prepared but of no great inspiration. It has a wine list that is filled with Bourgogne Irancy, Sauvignon de St-Bris, and no-name Chablis and Petite Chablis. There are precious few bottles of Chablis premier cru and no grands crus at all. However, there is always the latest bottling of the Raveneau "Forets", at half the US retail price. That and that alone is enough to make this my most loved wine list. Same time, next year. Lee