The beauty of the terms used to convince a public of the complexity and the subtlety of wine, or how to render even more inaccessible this pure pleasure given by our wines and filling the hearts of revellers. Is there a universal language to talk about wine? Do all these terms used by the wine professionals (I plead guilty) or the experienced tasters to describe the by-product of grape fermentation have true resonance and signification for a broad public? A proper and definite lexicon to describe wine, a multitude of fancy terms which help, guide, orientate? I am sceptical. The universal language of wine is and should remain the language of pleasure. If wine production is a technical topic requiring an adapted vocabulary,…
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Accords Mets et Vins, dans un monde de congruence – Pairing Food and Wines, in a world of congruence
Posted on 20 septembre 2016
Les mondes du vin et de la gastronomie regorgent de belles vérités, parfois impressionnantes, souvent intimidantes pour le commun des mortels. L’extrême difficulté que constitue le mariage entre mets et vins en serait une ? En effet, en France, pays de gastronomie aux nombreux sommeliers émérites, il est un discours récurrent qui explique que chercher la congruence (puisque c’est le terme) entre mets et vins, ou plus simplement réussir à accorder le verre et l’assiette n’est pas plus aisé que d’escalader l’Everest. Cette accord parfait, ce mariage réussi, serait comme une quête du Graal, où les composantes du plat, la sauce, la cuisson, l’accompagnement, mais aussi sa texture et bien sûr son goût interagiraient avec le vin en fonction de son profil et de…
Precision and viticulture. How to associate the artist and the scientist, how to combine the empirical and the theory, how to match intuition and calculation? Yet, certain modern equipment and new technologies are said to be able to achieve such a feat in a field in which experience and observation remain the best allies. Precision viticulture – behind this terminology you can find a myriad of new tools such as aerial mapping, hemispherical pictures and remote sensing. Technology as a user manual, able to predict, anticipate, understand and optimize. A great promise or a nice marketing speech? Optimisation and the production of great wines, two goals that don’t sound compatible. After all, the real question is the function of the vine grower. Is he an…