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Leamington Letters #82: wetting the baby's head

24/7/2014

9 Comments

 
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It’s a boy! Another boy!

There has been a run of boy babies on Cassi’s side of the family recently. My mother’s last six great-grandchildren have all been male, so we’re two-thirds of the way towards the Red Sox team in the late 2030s. This one looks like the shortstop to me.

He entered the world with an understandable reluctance, giving his beautiful mother, father and medical staff quite a few anxious moments over many hours. But he’s here now. He’s gorgeous. And he is very, very welcome.

What we must do now to celebrate his arrival is ensure that his head is wetted appropriately. And this grandfather is, as before, in something of a quandary: I don’t do champagne.

Traditionally, I revert to the classics. First daughter Vic was toasted with a 1970 Margaux; Cass with a 1975 Gruaud-Larose. We also did well by the boys: a 2000 Larrivet-Haut-Brion (Maximilian) and an excellent Vieux Télégraphe from Chateauneuf (Asher). So what will we drink to wet the head of the as yet unnamed child of Cass and Michael?

I have narrowed it down to two, and neither have the classy status of those I drank to celebrate the birth of my daughters and my first grandsons. The one is a vin de pays Principauté d’Orange; the other a vin de France from the Rhône valley.

In other words, both are magnificent wines which have fallen foul of the French wine laws and those who would enforce them.

The first is from Chateauneuf, and a highly rated domaine – de la Janasse. It was drunk in serious quantities at the weddings of Owain and Tess and Vic and Andrew. The one in front of me is a 2008, it is drinking beautifully, and it is made with love and care by one of the great families of C-Du-P. But it is merely a vin du pays because – wonderfully and illegally – it combines Cabernet and Merlot with the obvious and traditional Syrah and Grenache.

The second is La Gramière which is made naturally in small quantities and tiny vineyards close to the Pont du Gard by two Americans, Amy Lillard and Matt Kling. 

The one I have in mind is the 2011, because after starting life a tad reluctantly (just like the baby in whose honour it will be drunk), it suddenly starting singing its heart out about six or seven months ago. Right now, it is as good a Rhône as I have ever tasted. And for those of you who participated in the vendange in 2011, to drink it now makes every back-breaking minute worthwhile.

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And the winner is ...
The problem is, it is not the kind of Rhône which the custodians of the Côtes-du-Rhône appellation enjoy. Probably because it shows up much of the dross that is produced and sold by the vat-load with Côtes-du-Rhône on the label. 

But it's about time us wine-lovers started to exercise their rights rather than doing what they are told by the merchants and pundits.

As you might expect, I have a glass of each in front of me as I type. The C-du-P which isn’t C-du-P is lovely, and warm, with a deep robe and massive depth of texture. The C-du-R which isn’t C-Du-R is luscious but structured, with blueberries and brambles and velvet and chocolate.

And it is the latter which I will drink this evening in honour of my new grandson. Here’s to you Cass and Michael and your new child.

David Ortiz Linforth has a certain ring to it ....

Today from the everysmith vaults: By chance this morning I clicked on the eponymous album, Papa John Creach. This is good and worthy of your attention. I commend it to you.

9 Comments
Ellie
24/7/2014 08:36:27

Beautiful. The baby I mean, but the wine is probably equally so.

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Allan
24/7/2014 08:46:50

Congratulations. May I have a glass?

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Sean
24/7/2014 08:57:20

Not so much Big Papi as Little Babbie. Congrats to all.

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james
24/7/2014 12:47:05

Very pleased for you. The wine issue is interesting and there is a piece in Decanter re the vignerons who consciously ignore the regulations and therefore accept that their wines will be at the lowest level: vins de France. Decanter still goes on and on about the classed growths. We need information about garagiste makers to be more readily available. We cannot all schlep round France digging them out. Although I would love to!

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Martin
24/7/2014 15:11:25

Congratulations to Cass, Michael and you.
"Bring forth men-children only,
For thy undaunted mettle should compose
Nothing but males."
And with Scotland so much in the news, why not a glass of pale golden joy from the Highlands?

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Andy
25/7/2014 01:53:01

Like the idea of choosing a wine the character of which suits the child. One could develop this thought: sensual for Burgundy, intellectual for Bordeaux, big and sporting for Oz Shiraz etc etc.

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Dan
25/7/2014 03:44:54

Better the other way round. Choose a wine into which the child will grow and to which it must aspire. Congratulations by the way. He looks great.

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myers
25/7/2014 04:39:14

I also have a bottle of La Gramiere 2011 [opening now] Congratulations to Cass and Michael and all your family.
Welcome to the nation little bro!..
Where are his chaussettes rouge?

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Cindy
25/7/2014 12:08:05

What a beautiful baby. Hold him tightly. Cheers!

Reply



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     Max Smith

    European writer, radical, restaurateur and Red Sox fan. 70-something husband, father, step-father. and grandfather. Resident in Warwick, England.

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