Nightmares With Night Sweats

"The little novel of the eighth Christian Millau

Back Cover:

All the magic and the keys of wine a small book universe.

Notice JB:
It was after one of my many plays of "In Vino", broadcast on the wine posted on BFM, I discovered this book which was presented by its author, Christian Millau, co-founder of the Gault-Millau.

few clicks later on the excellent site selling second hand books that I-don't-mention-not-the-name, and here he stood roaring in my mailbox.

The book is in fact a succession of anecdotes and stories about wine and its environment, some not exceeding a few pages, Christian Millau has had time to collect during his long career as a critic. The last pages are, meanwhile, spent the author's favorite quotes, for wine (It includes authors such as Wilde, Baudelaire, etc..). We can therefore read a jumble of Yquem vertical legend, the story of "Billionaires Vinegar" or discussion of a bottle of XVIIIth century.

All these stories are not of equal interest, some frankly deserve a visit, others much less. I guess the sensitivity of the player plays much. It is true, for example, that the social role of wine through the ages is not what excites me the most.

Christian Millau likes to define himself as a lover, a lover of wine, which criticizes the "experts" and their pompous jargon and customs. The wine must remain a beverage of pleasure, or the novice as the insider should be able to find, so the dead "aromas of pear Lorraine", "sweat of young doe" or else "essence of rare wood in the Amazon" ... There is also no recall his adolescent discoveries along this gruff grocer in the cellar full wonders, or even to desecrate agreements dishes and wines universal type: oysters, Chablis, Sauternes, foie gras, etc.. The truth is probably somewhere between the two, as the saying goes, even if the notion of pleasure can be immediate and accessible (I / I hate / why), to discover the wine should be drunk, be a palace, share feelings and talk with those who speak the best winemakers. Christian Millau may elect (Hon incidentally) anti-diktat because he has learned, and because it was initiated.

ago in this book a bit of Taste and the power of Jonathan Nossiter . Wrongly called Mondovino by many, this story / movie had the effect of a mini-bomb in the wine world to its output. Standardization of taste, flavor Parkerizing, ubiquity of technology, excessive speculation, the wine world was not the venerable patriarch stroking his vines of his calloused hands, but a bureaucrat greedy for profit and export. Obviously, the situation is not as binary, and though some areas have clearly tipped toward a culture worthy of a science fiction movie, many winemakers known or unknown, or continued have switched to more natural practices, and a more upright stance vis-à-vis the vagaries of weather, disease or the wine itself.

"Wine is made to be drunk, not to be subject to speculation." While we obviously agree with this charming principle, I believe it is now impossible, even ridiculous, to hide the globalization of demand and the democratization of knowledge (thank you internet). As the years go by, the "stars" are expensive (at least in the Bordeaux region), as demand has become highly exceeds supply, the rich Russian or Asian who joined the rich American or European in the dance, and all these people often want to drink the same thing. The result comes from two angles:

- Fields announced on the fly "vintages of the century, rising prices, and the young novice buyer who sees the 2009 as a supermarket exclaimed: This is a great vintage ! Nobody wants to miss the next 1982/1990/2005 ...

- Fields not increasing their prices and continuing to supply their faithful recipients priced area are victims of counterfeiting and black market.

I consider the wine is worth the price we are willing to put there. If you growl against the rise of prices on the 1st GCC, not fear, many excellent reasonably priced areas still exist. If you plague because such areas do not accept growlers to take you as beneficiary, think of those who trusted them 20 years ago, and make an effort on your side to go to meet young winemakers.

Notice JB:
A little yes. No technical jargon, this book is for anyone curious oenophiles, and that, whatever their level. The stories are generally rather nice, the book is short and reads quickly, the approach is honest and simple, have fun by combining a dozen stories that are part of the construction of the comparison to wine by Christian Millau. Writ for want of a great literary moment, a moment of friendly curiosity.