carswell

The Marchés publics site now has an e-petitions and fax petitions for signing. Please consider adding your voice to the chorus of protest; if you use the e-mail option, it takes less than a minute. Click here: Marché des saveurs du Québec petition.

While some cheeses pair well with some red wines, many don't. It's a different story with white wines, however, and a lot of sommeliers, restaurateurs and cheese experts (even French ones) recommend them instead.

Just called the store. www.lemarchedessaveurs.com Who knew? You can't sign the petition on the website but there is a link to a letter you can print, sign and send to the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux. edit: And why not cc your MNA while you're at it?

In today's Voir, Tastet lists his ten picks, which include a few not mentioned above (e.g. Parkside chef Andrey Durbach will be at Brunoise on February 16 and 17). Here's your hyperlink: Les plaisirs de la table - 7e édition.

Here you go: Turkish Toronto. Speaking of the Star, they ran an article about Uighur food and <drumroll> a new Uighur restaurant in the Queen City just before Christmas. See Uyghur food finally arrives. In the abovementioned China forum thread, my query re Uighur restos in cities outside Turkestan elicited no other candidates in North America. Wonder what it is about central Canada.

I assumed you were talking about selection, not prices. And yet you're opposed to privatization. (Or am I misunderstanding your upthread posts, too?) By the way, what's the date on the Hélène Baril article? It must be fairly recent, no? In any case, I'd missed it.

In large cities like New York, DC (with its huge diplomatic corps) and San Francisco, yes. In urban areas of an equivalent size to greater Montreal (greater Dallas and Denver, for example), not necessarily. The great thing some United Statesians have that we don't (at least officially) is distance purchasing from wineries, brick-and-mortar stores and Internet-based retailers, provided the buyer lives in a reciprocal state.

Unfortunately, I missed the La Presse article that broke the story and couldn't find it on their website (it may have been in La Presse Affaires, which is never accessible by non-subscribers). An article in Monday's La Presse says that an unnamed supplier claimed the SAQ suggested they raise their prices to cover the falling exchange rate. The SAQ denies that and claims it was all a misunderstanding. Barring a whistleblower, the only chance we ever have of learning the truth is if there's an inquiry into the affair, which the PQ has proposed. With the provincial Liberals firmly ensconced in power for another couple of years, don't hold your breath is all I can say. Not sure about that. As mentioned somewhere in the Sacre Bleu thread, I was once told by an HEC prof that the SAQ is clear and free when it comes to dep wines as long as they don't specify the vintage or the grape varieties. If so, I'd love to know what loophole they're exploiting. Another instance of misreporting in the Star article, btw: The author implies the price cuts will apply to all European wines. Not true. They apply only to wines the SAQ has contracted to pay for in euros. Wines paid for in, say, Canadian or US dollars won't be affected.

Interesting question. Will ask around. I suspect the answer might have something to do with prohibiting smuggling, always a problem in jurisdictions that heavily tax consumables. Wines and spirits bought by commercial establishments have a special sticker. If agents of the Régie find stickerless bottles on the restaurant premises (and I've been told they have been known to search through garbage bins), the restaurant pays a hefty fine and, I believe, can even lose its licence in the event of repeat offences. Resto/bar owners also pay slightly more than retail for their bottles, or so I have been told.

We should probably be discussing this under the SAQ thread (we are, after all, in the Marché des saveurs thread). But, hey, go with the flow... The author of the Toronto Star article is obviously biased in favour of privatization. Too bad he lets his smugness trump his argument. Astoundingly, his "analysis" leaves out key factors like the SAQ's unions (the goverment would privatize only over their dead bodies and those of the rest of the province's powerful union movement, and that just ain't going to happen) and public support for the monopoly (every survey shows phenomenally high approval ratings). What really kills me, though, is this quote: Uh, not exactly. As La Presse (which broke this story) and the SAQ have pointed out, the falling euro (whose drop they peg at 14.31%, not 17%) affects only the price the SAQ pays for the wines, not things like freight, warehousing, brokerage and other service fees and even certain taxes, none of which have been renegotiated. And those charges are proportionally higher for inexpensive wines than for expensive wines. So, not only is it possible that an 8% drop in the retail price may well be a fair reflection of the 14.31% drop in the SAQ's cost price, it's also true that the more expensive the bottle, the greater the decrease (it's hardly the across-the-board 8% that the Star claims). By way of illustration, La Presse provides the following figures, which it obtained from the SAQ: Current retail price / Retail price on Feb. 1 / Percentage decrease $10.05 / $9.20 / 8.5% $20.00 / $18.25 / 8.8% $40.00 / $35.00 / 12.5% With all the accusations, counter-accusations, denials and counter-denials, the SAQ's true motivations for going over the heads or — depending on who's talking — behind the backs of local agents are next to impossible to determine. Sloppy, partisan reporting like the Star's only obfuscates and, as such, does a disservice to the privatizers it purports to support.

All right, I jumped to conclusions. My bad. At the same time, you were unclear. After digesting your initial comment ("This is what we need in this forum (hint, hint to some people around here)."), I actually reread the thread from the beginning to see who you were referring to. I didn't twig on cook-em-all since, sf&m's rejoinder notwithstanding, he was not out of line in asking whether jfl91 is in the business (eG policy is that people with a vested interest in a concern under discussion are supposed to declare it). On the other hand, your comment came in a thread about high-end wines started by someone who had recently and repeatedly enjoined people, including me, to stop talking about Quebec wines or certain Quebec wines because, as far as I can tell, they aren't up to his exalted standards. I connected the dots. Unfortunately they weren't the right ones. You have my apology. And, yes, I'm touchy on this issue. Some members of this group have, at one time or another, tried to throw a wet dishrag on discussions about ethnic food and holes in Montreal's gastronomic tapestry. That kind of censorship and blind boosterism is abhorent. IMHO, of course. Funny you should mention the Reichl thread, as your condescending tone and refusal to reply to polite questions or support your claims there or to continue the discussion on this forum also set me up to assume the worst about your comments above. As for real names, eGullet has the good sense to recognize that many participants have valid reasons for using pseudonyms and not to impose a real names policy. There's been considerable discussion of this on other fora; see Anonymity when posting on food and wine boards for the most recent example. And besides, implementing such a policy would deprive brave real-namers of so many opportunities for one-upmanship...

Thanks for the heads-up, toto2. For once the article is available on line: Le Marché des saveurs mis au régime sec.

Big deal. Most of the top ten wines are new wave merlots and numero uno is Pavie, the worst offender of all. Guess that tells us where the jury's palate lies. The clincher is the unattributed tasting note at the end, which has to be by Robert Parker himself (correct me if I'm wrong). And there you have it: these wines appeal to Parker and "Parkerized" palates, people with a taste for blockbuster wines that are made in a highly concentrated, low acid style from ultraripe fruit, that are heavily oaked and that have little sense of place. To judge by your postings here and on Crus et Saveurs, you appear to be in that group. Fine. Even setting aside the issue of their inflated price, such wines are not my cup of tea (and I say that as someone who has far more Bordeaux in his cellar than wines from any other region). Fine. Neither you nor I is right or wrong, except as far as his own palate goes. If you want to continue this discussion, you should take it to the Wine forum. But, really, what's the point?

Ten tables of six persons, i.e. 60.

Terrible news, both for lovers of Quebec alcoholic beverages (many fewer of which will now be easily available) and the store's owners (this is bound to affect their bottom line, including sales of other products). Please let us know if there's an organized campaign to get the government to reverse its decision and what we can do to lend our support. Being in competition with the Marché (through the SAQ), the govenment is in a conflict-of-interest situation and should recuse itself from making these decisions. I hope the media give it hell.

I wouldn't dream of telling another winelover they were wrong about their preferences, jfl91. De gustibus non disputandem est. And, in fact, until prompted by the snide and snobbish lecturing of iharrison or sensorial or whomever he is, I'd bit my tongue and not made even a joking reply to your thread. Especially as I haven't tasted or been tempted to taste the Valandraud since the 1995, which I tried on release and dumped after a couple of sips. As I'm sure you know, Valandraud is one of the garagistes. Parker, of course, loves the garagistes and their wines, which are produced in miniscule quantities, whence the high prices. Many others, including me, are less sanguine. To verify this, Google Valandraud and some of the adjectives I used. You'll turn up a lot of praise for the wine and you'll also turn up descriptions like these: "I have to say, that I tasted around twenty wines made by Thunevin, including De Valandraud, and it was the most depressing tasting of Bordeaux wines I have ever made, they all tasted the same. They should have been poured into one exceptionally large vat, stirred and bottled as 'Thunevin 2000' ... All the wines have the same approach, totally overextracted, late picked and overoaked." - http://www.wineanorak.com/b2000ballantyne.htm "Chateau Valandraud 2001 75% Merlot, 5% Cab Franc, 2.5% Petit Verdot, 2.5% Malbec. Coffee and tobacco aromas with raspberry infusions. International style – powerful and sweet. Great density and length. Some found it over the top. Not for the faint of heart." - http://www.klwines.com/futures/01st_emilion.asp "A powerhouse, new style Bordeaux. It reveals an extremely extracted nose ... that is followed by a equally dense palate of enormous concentration with ripe, smooth tannins and great complexity .... Obviously a wine of very good raw material made in an international style, this is satisfying from a "hedonistic :-)" point of view but I'd have hard time to indentify it as Bordeaux when served blind." - http://www.wineloverspage.com/user_submitt...notes/8002.html "It seems producers are hell-bent on a particular way of competing internationally. They have, for this purpose, embraced a globalist ethos and are creating wines with the characteristics consumers find desirable in the products of New–World powerhouses like Australia and Chile. Forget uniqueness and authenticity. The bottom line requires the creation of a drink that can deliver the same thing the Aussies do, but cheaper. Argentine bodegas appear to want to show the world that they can do Concha y Toro better than Concha y Toro. Oh, and lest I forget, at the high end they can do Harlan, too. And Turley. And Valandraud." - http://www.wineloverspage.com/user_submitt.../tn_450677.html I realized that right at the next table over from us is Pamela Anderson. Now, I'm usually slow to make value judgements based on someone's outward physical appearance but I'll go out on a limb and on record right here and now to state that Ms. Anderson is at a whole other level than any of the other Baywatch actresses. If she was a bottle of wine she’d be Valandraud or Le Pin or some sorta Grand Cru from Dominic Laurent. Longevity? Staying power? Who needs 'em?" - http://www.enemyvessel.com/forum/topic.asp...all+have+issues ">If you are applying a facile universal gob standard of thickness, purpleness, and richness... Well, what other standard would you apply to choose Dom. Laurent, for example, as great Burgundy and leave out the likes of Rousseau, Drouhin, etc. Or to chose Valandraud and Canon-La Gaffelière as great Libournais wines while leaving out the likes of Vieux Château Certan?" - http://www.enemyvessel.com/forum/topic.asp...all+have+issues "Maybe I'm old fassioned, but for me the character of soil in wine is important, not neutral, sweet, jammy, thick and overextracted soup of Merlot." - http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:Q9x30j...extracted&hl=en But thanks for reminding me that I forgot to include overripe in my string of adjectives. Agreed. For people who are interested, it's good value. But, again, my comments weren't directed at the event but at iharrison, who could easily have stopped at "Thanks for sharing!". What is it about you newly arrived high-end event lovers that leads you try to tell other participants, many of whom have been around this forum for far longer than you and contributed much more to its success, what they should and shouldn't be discussing? I hope your tasting's a success.

Quebecer Pascal Marchand was the winemaker for Comte Armand in Pommard for several years in the '80s and '90s. He was lured to the newly created Domaine de la Vougeraie in '99.

Quoting a reply I made to a similar query on another board: While it's a bit out of the way and they may not be willing to reserve the place for an entire evening ever, let alone during the holidays, you might give Au Petit Extra a call; they certainly have seat ing for 120. (They used to rent out the next-door cabaret, Le Lion d'Or, for dinner receptions, though their spiffy new website makes it look like it's set up more for presentations and shows these days.) Am unsure how many seats Laloux has but it's pretty spacious and might be worth a shot.

Freakin', eh. Way too many posts about affordable eateries, local produce, inexpensive wines, shopping and <shudder> ethnic food. Far too few posts about celebrities, their hangers-on and would-be hangers-on. I mean, we're from Montreal, our standards are high! Thank gawd someone's talking about $300 tastings of overextracted, overoaked, overhyped, overpriced wines served to Beautiful and Very Important People in chic and exclusive settings. Guess sometimes it takes an infrequent contributor to tell the regulars how they should lead their lives. Thanks!

List of wines in a recent "nouveaux arrivages" tasting. All except the 2002 Juliénas are currently on sale at the SAQ, though some won't be for long (for availability, plug the code that follows the price into the search box at www.saq.com). Complete tasting notes will be found in the TN: Drinkers' dozen thread on the Wine forum. - Sauvignon Blanc 2005, Marlborough, Kim Crawford ($17.15, 10327701) - Sauvignon Blanc 2004, Marlborough, Jackson Estate ($20.00, 10383543) - Fumé Blanc 2003, Dry Creek Valley, Lake Sonoma Winery ($22.35, 10353310) - Menetou-Salon 2004, Morogues, Domaine Henry Pellé ($23.00, 852434) - Touraine 2004, Domaine de La Charmoise ($16.95, 00329532) - Beaujolais-villages 2004, Combe aux Jacques, Louis Jadot ($17.60, 00365924) - Juliénas 2002, Domaine du Clos du Fief, Michel Tête ($20.95, N/A) - Juliénas 2003, Domaine du Clos du Fief, Michel Tête ($22.85, 00743849) - Primitivo di Manduria 2001, Terrarossa Pichierri, Vinicola Savese ($22.95, 00863852) - Lytton Springs Vineyard 2002, Ridge ($51, 00513929) - The Holy Trinity 2001, Barossa, Grant Burge Wines ($30.50, 10257871) - Minervois 2003, Le Régal du Loup, Domaine du Loup Blanc ($21.55, 10405010) Also, a couple of Ridge heads-up. First, the 2002 Geyserville is supposed to go on sale at several SAQ outlets this week; price will be $51. Second, the 2003 Lytton Springs and Geyserville (both at $44.95) and 2002 Home Ranch (at $84.95) will be part of the LCBO's January 21st release.

Notes from a recent "new arrivals" tasting of mostly affordable wines currently on sale at the SAQ (the 2002 Juliénas has, alas, sold out). Prices are in Canadian dollars (C$1 = US$0.85 or thereabouts these days) and include 15% sales tax. Since points are de rigueur for a reviewer to be taken seriously, I've abandoned resistance and here introduce my rating system, with all wines being scored on a scale from 0 to 1. Flight 1 Sauvignon Blanc 2005, Marlborough, Kim Crawford ($17.15) 13% alc. Textbook New Zealand sauvignon blanc. Explosive nose of passion fruit, melon, jalapeno and a squirt of cat pee. Zesty upfront fruit, zingy acidity and a limesicle finish. Fresca for adults? Sure but so what? 1 Sauvignon Blanc 2004, Marlborough, Jackson Estate ($20.00) 13% alc. Grassier and greener, the fruit tending to kiwi and gooseberry. Crisp, minerally, refreshing. 1 Fumé Blanc 2003, Dry Creek Valley, Lake Sonoma Winery ($22.35) 13.5% alc. Initial volatile acidity. Reticent nose, more minerals than fruit. Totally dry, mouthfilling, sharp and grapefruity with a chalky finish. Turned watery and hot as it breathed and warmed. 0 Menetou-Salon 2004, Morogues, Domaine Henry Pellé ($23.00) 12.5% alc. Delicate nose: white flowers, citrus, hint of chile. Dry, light but flavourful, a tracery of grapefruit and minerals, a taut balance of fruit and acidity, a lingering sourness that draws you back for another sip. 1 Even served double blind, the two Marlborough wines formed an obvious pair. To my surprise, the Fumé Blanc was stylistically closer to the Loire than New Zealand. The Kim Crawford was the crowd pleaser. Pure and elegant, the Menetou-Salon was in a class by itself; just thinking about it sets my mouth watering. Flight 2 Touraine 2004, Domaine de La Charmoise ($16.95) 11.5% alc. The bottle at the tasting was mildly corked; this note is based on another bottle purchased the next day. Tart, supple and refreshing, a puckery gush of red berries and slate. Nothing profound, just pure, unadulterated fun. Serve chilled. 1 Beaujolais-villages 2004, Combe aux Jacques, Louis Jadot ($17.60) 12.5% alc. Pale red, by far the lightest coloured of the flight. Peony, poppy seed, hint of humus. Minerally finish. Honest but one-dimensional, a wallflower. 0 Juliénas 2002, Domaine du Clos du Fief, Michel Tête ($20.95) Strawberry and black raspberry, irises and stones. Rich, juicy and layered with a long tartish finish. Fabulous wine with years of life ahead of it. 1 Juliénas 2003, Domaine du Clos du Fief, Michel Tête ($22.85) 13% alc. Darker and less brilliant than the 2002. Bit of funk on the nose but mainly boiled red fruit candy. Dense but flat with jammy/stewed fruit and a slightly burned-tasting finish. 0 The Charmoise, the very model of what the French call a vin plaisir, will make an ideal summer sipper. The Jadot was a disappointment, especially for those who had tasted the house’s knockout 2002 Château des Jacques. As hoped, the two Juliénas illustrated the difference between the vintages and the deleterious effects of 2003’s heat and drought. While Tête’s is the best of the ten or so 2003 Beaujolais I’ve tasted, it couldn’t hold a candle to the 2002. A few tasters preferred the 2003, however. Flight 3 Primitivo di Manduria 2001, Terrarossa Pichierri, Vinicola Savese ($22.95) 14% alc. Overpowering nose: dried herbs and rosehips, sawed wood, sweaty horse, humidor. Round, fluid, tasting of plum, burnt rubber and herbs. Not remarkably structured or long. 0 Lytton Springs Vineyard 2002, Ridge ($51) 14.4% alc. 75% zinfandel, 20% petite sirah, 5% carignan. Rich, mellow, broad, layered and long, with great texture and presence. Oak held in check. A bit tight; decant if drinking now or wait four or five years. Classy wine. 1 The Holy Trinity 2001, Barossa, Grant Burge Wines ($30.50) 14.3% alc. 39% grenache, 35% shiraz, 26% mourvedre. Rich fruit tending to plum with some cocoa creeping in. Medium weight with a fluid texture and slightly cloying sweetness. Smooth, easy to drink if a bit simple. 1 Minervois 2003, Le Régal du Loup, Domaine du Loup Blanc ($21.55) 13.5% alc. The flagship of a winery owned by the owners of Montreal bistro Continental. 76% carignan, 12% grenache, 12% cinsault. Strange nose of dark fruit, flowers and liverwurst. Disjointed and rough on the palate. 0 No one tasting the primitivo would have guessed its zinfandel connection. The Minervois had got rave reviews from some members of the local wine media; either our bottle was off or the media are ethically challenged. The Holy Trinity was a surprise, both lighter and better balanced than I was expecting; it would be interesting to taste a bottle in seven or eight years. The Lytton Springs was irresistible, more subdued than many recent vintages and no worse for it; too bad about the price.

For what it's worth, here's the final paragraph from the headnote to the soufflé potatoes recipe in my tattered old edition of the Joy of Cooking, which relates the probably apocryphal story of the dish's invention. Louis XIV was delayed by bad weather. His cook was able to keep all of the royal dinner warm except the fried potatoes. The king's arrival was announced. In a fit of desperation, the cook plunged the cold fries back into the bubbling fat and, voilà, the dish that made him famous. Among the coincidences: I'd be delighted with a 10% failure rate, by the way. The few times I've made them, mine's been in the 30-40% range.

I agree. For sweet bay, cookbooks usually recommend using two fresh leaves to replace one dried leaf, and that's not even taking into account that herbs grown on a windowsill are usually less pungent than those grown outdoors. Also, while I've never cooked with fresh California bay, the labels on the jars the dried leaves come in always say to use half a leaf when substituting for one leaf of sweet bay.

FWIW, here's a link to the abovementioned Mirror reivew: Mutton doing.

See Uyghur Food, a newly begun thread in the China forum, for a discussion of the cuisine and a link to eGulleter Austin's well-written and beautifully photographed article from Chile Pepper magazine with recipes for several Uighur dishes including laghman.