It was a brisk, dark evening in the 5th arrondissement of
Paris, but from inside a shop with wooden floors and beams on the ceiling,
lights beckoned.
The lights … were in the shape of wine bottles. And so began
the introduction to Thierry Givone’s “Wine Tasting in Paris”, a company that
partners with WICE to offer courses in appreciating and recognizing different
kinds of wine.
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| Thierry Givone pours a Beaujolais. |
On this particular night, Nov. 18, Givone focused on the
Beaujolais region for a course that comprised tasting seven very different wines,
including two types of Beaujolais Nouveau. This is of course the most known
wine from the area located just south of Burgundy, and the course took place a
day after its official release and national fete, with people filling cafés for
a glass or two.
In fact, much of the Gamay wine that Beaujolais produces is sold and drunk before the harvest year is over. But what can be confusing to new
drinkers is the disconnect between Beaujolais’ image and the taste of its top
wines – whose producers aren’t too enamoured of the stereotypical
representation, Givone hinted.
So, along with the “nouveau”, WICE members got to sample a
Julienas and two surperb Morgons, among others. They additionally learned about
the producing region, its history, and the kind of grape involved (gamay).
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| Givone describes the region. |
“For me, it’s an interest and a passion,” Givone said of the
initiative he launched two-and-a-half years ago, after working for 20 years in
marketing. “I hope those who participate in the course will develop this
passion too, and remember everything that I explain to them.”
His wine-tasting “school” consists of a shop-cum-office
decorated with neatly stacked bottles of wine and publications about the
beverage. Light-hued wooden floors and dark beams on the ceiling add to the
cosy atmosphere in the room reserved for tasting, where course participants sit
on high stools at a long wooden table. Buckets are there for those who wish to
spit out the wine after tasting.
“I never spit out good wine,” commented one course participant,
and indeed some of the wines presented were excellent, totally "unspittable". Most members agreed that
only one – a Beaujolais Nouveau – was not up to scratch. With its candy-sweet
taste and artificial aroma, it was “not at all recommended”, Givone said frankly.
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| WICE member Tracey samples the wine. |
In contrast, participants were soon raving about an organic Beaujolais cru (superior wine) from the small region of Regnié, and about a Morgon that
was produced at one of the best vineyards in the area, located 350 meters above
sea level. Givone said the latter could be kept for up to 10 years.
“It’s a spicy, peppery, full-bodied wine with great aging
potential,” he told participants, teaching them the vocabulary as well for
describing the wine. He also offered saucisson (sausage) and bread as accompaniment to
the wines, apparently a perfect combination for Beaujolais.
The nibbles were a
welcome idea, because after tasting, and swallowing, sips from seven bottles of
wine on an empty stomach, the average person could become quite light-headed, not to mention light-hearted. In fact, at least one participant had to resist the temptation to giggle all
the way home (via public transportation, naturally).
Givone is one of two instructors that partner with WICE for a
wide range of wine-tasting sessions, and each has different approaches to the
world of wine, according to Andrew Hunt, the director of WICE’s Living in
France section.
“We hope participants will benefit from the knowledge that
the instructors impart and from the joy of tasting different wines each month,”
Hunt said. "Cheers!"
The next wine-tasting courses take place on Dec. 1 and 16,
focusing on champagne – how to pair it with foie gras and how to appreciate the
full “bubbly” experience. For registration information: http://www.wice-paris.org/event-2267862
and http://www.wice-paris.org/event-2267878
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| Thierry Givone with WICE members after the wine-tasting course. |