Archives de catégorie : suggestions permanentes

Je suis interviewé par Invintory.com dimanche, 26 février 2023

Nouvelle vidéo sur le vin

La société Invintory propose à des amateurs de nombreux services de création de caves et de créations d’événements. Voici son site :

https://invintory.com

They interviewed me, regarding my passion for wine, my understanding of wine and the philosophy of my dinners. You can have a look.

Here is the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0TKiGV_GhQ&t=1589s

The slow oxygenation method for opening old wines lundi, 26 décembre 2022

This is a actualised version of an article of 2006 :

I create this subject as my method for opening old wines has been called the « Audouze method » on the board of Robert Parker. I find it absolutely funny. Here is what I wrote :

I find it absolutely charming to name this method with my name, especially the verb (I tell that to my friends : some of you say “I have Audouzed my wine”, and my friends do not believe that), but I am certainly not the first to have made the experiment. Bernard Pivot in his Dictionary in love for Wine wrote an article named so : To Audouze a wine = open the bottle as François Audouze does.

At this very moment, the actuality is on the judgement and perspectives on 2005 wines. So, I create a new message just to answer to some questions which arose on a recent discussion. I will not create any sensation. There is already a text that is the reference on my method. I do not know where it is. So, this message gives only some precisions answering to questions.

My personal contribution has been to understand that slow oxygenation has a considerably better effect on a wine than decanting. And of course, the older the wine is, the greater the effect is.

Everybody knows that when someone is found in a desert, still living but lacking cruelly of food and water, it is crucially important to feed him extremely slowly. If fed too quickly, he could die.

So, the so-called Audouze method should be called : slow oxygenation method. But as some of you have tried to use it by making innovations, I would be happy that this method would be called : “do nothing method”.

I would be happy that the method would be used in its total purity.

So, the skeleton of this method is :

         you open a wine 4 to 5 hours before drinking

         you let it stand

         you do not touch it anymore (you store it in a room with appropriate temperature, or in the door of a fridge for white wines)

         when it is time, you pour it in the glasses

         point.

The more you use it in its simplest way, the more you will check how efficient it is.

I have confused some of you by introducing variations. Let us talk about the variations :

1 – enlarge the surface to give more air : it is better to enlarge the time of opening than to enlarge the surface by drinking a drop of the wine. When the wine smells earth, mud, meat, then enlarge the surface (I would not do that today). But if the smell is just shy, let the air play its role.

2 – recork when the smell is very good. You recork with a neutral cork (a cork that smells nothing) only with some millimetres and you do it only when you are afraid that the smell would deteriorate. If the smell of a very old wine is too generous, then you do it (you will do it once out of twenty times or less).

3 – after the slow oxygenation, decant at the last moment : I would not do it as I prefer to never shake the wine by a not necessary operation. The sediment remains at the bottom of the bottle. That’s it.

4 – change the time before opening and service : it is clear that the youngest the wine is the more it will accept a long time. For La Mouline Guigal 1990, you take no risk by opening it 8 to 12 hours before.

A question has raised for champagnes. Generally I do not open champagne before serving. The noise of the opening belongs to the symbols of the rarity of the moment of serving champagne. Anyway, it could be done for very strong champagnes like Krug and Salon which could benefit from 20 minutes of open air (today I would say 2 hours). For old champagnes, I would not recommend it (today I would say for old champagnes, open them two hours before serving).

So, I hope it answers to your questions :

         for young wines, do what you want, as the differences will be minimal, but I would prefer a young wine opened with slow oxygenation than with decanting : question of smoothness

         for old wines, use the method in its simplicity

         if you decide to buy a very expensive wine in a restaurant, I suggest that you buy it before the meal and ask the sommelier to open it four hours before. You will use your money largely better.

Thank you for the interest that you show for the method that I use and which helped to save the life for a great number of wines, which would have been refused and thrown away if this method had not been used.

Compliments d’Aubert de Villaine lundi, 14 novembre 2022

(in English, see below)

Il convient de garder la tête froide, mais quand même…

Aubert de Villaine, gérant du domaine de la Romanée Conti m’avait adressé des lettres de compliments, lors de la parution de mon livre sur le vin, lors de mon 500ème bulletin et en d’autres occasions.

Ces lettres privées restent privées.

Mais là, cette vidéo très courte (1’22 ») peut être vue.

Je ne suis pas dupe, car ce compliment n’est pas justifié, même si Aubert de Villaine est tout sauf flatteur.

Mais ça fait plaisir quand même.

Il faut mettre le son très fort pour bien entendre.

https://youtu.be/TWDuxFvDH3g

Bon, il faut garder la tête froide, mais c’est quand même un cadeau inouï qui m’est fait.

dsc07446

Les propos en français (AdV = Aubert de Villaine, FA = François Audouze :

AdV : Les Godichots 29, oui, c’était mon grand-père, oui…. les vins comme ça, il n’y a pas besoin de….il y a des gens qui essaient de mettre des mots et de faire de la poésie dessus, mais la poésie sur le vin, c’est toujours très mauvais. Le vin, c’est la poésie par soi-même.

FA : vous avez remarqué que dans mes écrits, je deviens de plus en plus synthétique.

AdV : Vos écrits sont… personne n’écrit sur le vin mieux que vous.

FA : ah, c’est gentil

AdV : c’est vrai, c’est vrai, je veux dire, au niveau du style, du choix des mots, etc, personne ne le fait mieux que vous. Non, c’est vrai, tout le monde a à prendre des leçons là-dessus. Je me régale à lire vos commentaires.

FA : c’est gentil. De plus en plus je deviens synthétique. C’est l’émotion pure qui doit ressortir. Qu’est-ce qu’on s’en fiche qu’il y ait de la banane, de la cerise ou du kumquat. Aucun intérêt.

AdV et FA : ce qui compte, c’est l’émotion…

——————————————————————————–

The dialogue translated in English (AdV = Aubert de Villaine, FA = François Audouze)

AdV: Les Godichots 29, yes, it was my grandfather, yes… wines like that, there is no need for… there are people who try to put words and to write poetry about it, but poetry about wine is always very bad. Wine is poetry by itself.

FA: You have noticed that in my writings, I am becoming more and more synthetic.

AdV: Your writings are… no one writes about wine better than you.

FA: ah, that’s kind

AdV: It’s true, it’s true, I mean, in terms of style, choice of words, etc., nobody does it better than you. No, it’s true, everyone has to take lessons on this. I enjoy reading your comments.

FA: That’s kind. More and more I become synthetic. It’s the pure emotion that must come out. Who cares if there is banana, cherry or kumquat. No interest.

AdV and FA: what matters is the emotion…

questions posées sur ce blog vendredi, 4 mai 2018

De plus en plus de questions me sont posées sur le blog, à propos d’une bouteille à vendre, à estimer, ou à ouvrir et à marier avec un plat.

 

Depuis plusieurs années, je me suis fait un point d’honneur à répondre à toutes les questions.

 

Il arrive un moment où je ne peux plus répondre à toutes les questions qui m’arrivent, car mes emplois du temps ont changé.

 

Dans cette section du blog qui est « suggestions permanentes » : http://academiedesvinsanciens.org/?cat=11 vous trouverez des rubriques sur ces différents sujets : qui peut vous aider à estimer ou vendre vos bouteilles, comment ouvrir les bouteilles, etc…

 

Par ailleurs, mon livre ‘les carnets d’un collectionneur de vins anciens’ que l’on trouve sur Fnac.com ou Amazon.com, édité par Michalon, donne beaucoup de réponses générales.

 

Physiquement aujourd’hui, je ne peux plus répondre.

 

Il ya beaucoup de professionnels qui peuvent vous aider.

 

Il y a aussi un forum de passionnés du vin : http://www.lapassionduvin.com/ très documenté, où l’on répondra à vos questions à deux conditions : que vous soyez inscrit et que vous vous présentiez, car cette communauté sympathique à laquelle je me suis joint ne veut pas que l’on pose de questions si l’on ne s’intègre pas à la communauté. Cela paraît légitime.

 

Bonne chance dans vos recherches.

 

Vous m’avez posé une question sur la valeur et/ou la vente de vins que vous possédez mardi, 24 avril 2018

Vous m’avez posé une question sur la valeur et/ou la vente de vins que vous possédez

 

Sur mon site www.wine-dinners.com ou sur mon blog www.academiedesvinsanciens.org, vous avez posé une question sur la valeur d’un ou plusieurs vins, et éventuellement sur les moyens de les vendre.

 

Je voudrais d’abord vous remercier d’estimer que mon avis pourrait être compétent.

 

Je suis acheteur de vins anciens pour ma cave, mais je ne suis pas un expert en évaluations. C’est un métier. Je ne suis pas professionnel de l’évaluation. Par ailleurs, si j’achète beaucoup de vins, c’est le fruit d’envies, de coups de cœur où la raison n’est pas toujours présente.

 

Aussi, pour avoir une évaluation de vins, je vous suggère d’aller sur www.idealwine.com ou de vous adresser à l’expert d’un commissaire priseur. En achetant la revue « la Gazette de l’hôtel Drouot », vous trouverez les adresses d’un nombre élevé de maisons de ventes aux enchères de vins et de leurs experts.

 

Etant acheteur, je peux être intéressé par certains de vos vins, mais je ne souhaite pas faire de propositions. Je souhaite en recevoir, après que vous aurez reçu l’évaluation d’un professionnel.

 

Pour vendre vos vins, s’ils ont un intérêt pour des collectionneurs, je peux vous recommander des personnes qui me vendent du vin.

 

Régis Fleischer [wineart2020@yahoo.fr] 06 62 62 53 97

 

Philippe Roux [phroux@sodivin.com] (06) 72 869 263

 

Clos & Chateaux-Guillaume Soulier [guillaumesoulier@orange.fr] 06 20 63 64 79

 

GARY BOURGINE [gbourgine@yahoo.fr] (06) 86 45 53 44

 

Juan Carlos Casas [jccvins@gmail.com] (06).62.70.21.06

 

Gordon Wilson [gwilson@vins-rares.fr] (06) 78 73 49 72

 

Vladimir Kauffmann [lesvinsdelamiral@yahoo.fr] (06) 60 05 15 77

 

 

Vous pouvez les contacter si vos bouteilles sont de provenance et d’années qui présentent de l’intérêt.

 

Une remarque importante : sauf dans le cas de bouteilles très rares, la valeur gustative de vins anciens est généralement très supérieure à leur valeur financière, ce qui veut dire que le même vin, beaucoup plus jeune, est souvent beaucoup plus cher, et n’apporte souvent pas autant de plaisir.

 

Bon succès dans vos recherches.

 

François Audouze

 

Reportage sur ma cave et mes dîners jeudi, 9 novembre 2017

Un reportage a été fait sur ma cave et sur mes dîners par un journaliste de Vice.com un site très éclectique. Voici le lien (les deux adresses conduisent au même article) :

https://www.vice.com/fr_ca/article/vb3p58/avec-francois-audouze-le-pape-des-vins-anciens?utm_source=VICEQUEBECTWITTERCARD

http://bit.ly/2yjakZV

A lire sans modération !

Quelques vidéos à regarder quand il pleut mardi, 23 mai 2017

En regardant une vidéo sur Youtube, j’ai vu toute une série de vidéos qui ont été faites avec moi.

En voici quelques-unes, à regarder sans modération :

Interview François Audouze collectionneur de vins rares (1ère partie)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMMbcngPYME

Interview François Audouze collectionneur de vins rares (2ème partie)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0p4lYi4ZiA

La méthode François Audouze pour ouvrir de vieux vins (Ophélie Neiman)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpAi8TN7-5o

Uncorking wines with Francois Audouze (Asian Palate)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2H7SC7r2s0

Jim How interviews Francois Audouze (part 1) James Howaniec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-zmrqiR8ME

Jim How interviews Francois Audouze (part 2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wrh23Wu3vA

François Audouze : l’émotion des vins anciens (Ophélie Neiman)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6C9CbrKUg4

François Audouze et la modernité (Ophélie Neiman)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=688lsP_cPbo

Une bouteille de vin jaune de 1774 vendue 57000 euros

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNqqDJDf-Js

ITV françois audouze – percée du vin jaune 2010 (Christophe Menozzi)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zGkMiEuxrc

s’il pleut, si le film à la télé ne vous branche pas, lancez une de ces vidéos !

An interesting film on my cellar and my dinners vendredi, 3 mars 2017

The article and the video on Men’s Up.

The article is in French, but here is the text of what is presented :

http://www.mensup.fr/gastronomie/wine-dinners-francois-audouze-vins-d-exception-alcool-137665

Francois Audouze has an eye that sparkles, assuredly this man is happy. We are in one of those beautiful Parisian houses he likes, the Taillevent. He is a little home here, as he is with many other great chefs with whom he has worked for years to develop his outstanding Wine dinners.

The principle ? Ten guests, a sumptuous dinner and ten old wines – even very old ones – coming from his cellar. He is expecting his guests this evening for the 205th edition of his « Wine Dinners », opening the bottles to be tasted this evening: Château Haut-Brion 1979, Corton Blanc Jacqueminot 1919, Vosne-Romanée Antonin Rodet 1947, Gevrey Chambertin Maison PhilippeJarrot 1947, Clos Gamot Cahors 1893, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Chartron 1928, Chateau Gilette 1945, Chateau Filhot 1928 … Evidently we do not talk about the champagnes that will be opened as an aperitif. All these bottles come straight out of François Audouze’s cellar. A cellar as there are few, a cellar that defies superlatives. « It is an old wine cellar, » explains François Audouze, « it is essentially French and has of nearly evry vintage. There are between 35,000 and 40,000 bottles, and for those over 50 years of age, there must be about 10,000 « . Almost 8,000 lines of cellar, François Audouze does not take the exact account. « I have no ambition to have the largest cellar but I probably have the most diverse. »

François Audouze is an autodidact of wine, a collector by chance. If the cellar of this old industrialist has nowadays bottles as old as rare, it is by grace of an encounter with a wine. « I started entering wines in my cellar in 1970. At first I knew absolutely nothing about it, it was by fumbling and asking the advice of my wine merchant that I started. One day a friend talked about a grocer who was opening some crazy bottles on the Friday night after the office, and I said, « Well, we’re going! « It was with the blind tasting of a Climens of 1923 that everything began: » I almost fell backwards, « says Audouze, » it was so much more complex than anything I had tasted. It was then that I knew that my way was the old wines. « 

For François Audouze, the doors of a world are opening up. The impetuous youth loses its attraction in the face of the subtlety of a wine polished by time, which reveals itself with delicacy. Contrary to popular belief, a wine does not die. Finally not always. « Everyone is convinced that a wine dies, and Robert Parker has reinforced this idea with his concept of a maturity plateau when it is completely false, the proof is that my greatest white wine is a Montrachet from 1865. So where is the maturity of this wine? Death comes mainly from the cork, and as soon as the cork no longer plays its role, there is evaporation and denaturation of the contents. François Audouze, if he is now known as a collector, does not quite recognize the logic that traditionally prevails in the elaboration of a collection: he follows his intuition more than his reason. « These are just buying led by my heart. Everything I buy is made to be drunk, not to be stored. »

Few people can boast of having tasted wines as old and as many vintages: 174 to be precise. François Audouze’s record includes more than 14,000 wines, discovered on the occasion of meals, which he records every detail on a blog with lyrical and loving accents. No one, it is said, writes as well on wine. The man is above all an Epicurean. It is only to see with what delight – even jubilation – he observes, hume, savors and speaks of what he eats or drinks to understand that for him, the good bottles are made to be opened and especially shared. The circle of friends no longer enough, he created the « Wine Dinners ». « Having a lot of wines, I created a structure that sells dinners. It’s not for profit, but for people to have access to my wines, » explains François Audouze. « It is not a tasting, it is a meal, the recipes are made to go with my wines, there is a quest for perfect food and wine, my role is to tell people to forget everything of what they have been drinking before. « It is a new experience, instead of judging, they will try to understand. »

For this 205th dinner, François Audouze teamed up with chef Alain Solivérès. Both men are used to working together. Dinner will start with two champagnes, a Lanson of 1971 and a Salon of 1988 on a Gillardeau oyster in sea water jelly. Dinner will then be placed under the sign of the hunt: bar of line, pheasant, roasted pigeon And hare with a spoon. « The chief must have the humility to put himself at the service of the wine. To go with the old wines, it is necessary to simplify the recipes. » Whether it is the choice of wines or recipes, everything comes from a game of subtle correspondence. « When I create a dinner, I am like the painter who creates a painting, every dinner is a creation of the moment. And there is always a coherence: two champagnes, two dry white wines, two Bordeaux, two burgundies and ends up with two sweets.  » Famous labels and more modest wines come together without complex. The dean, a Cahors Clos de Gamot dates from 1893. A canonical age that would have earned him a probable death if François Audouze had not opened it according to a method perfected by his care. « If I did not invent it, I have largely contributed to make known the method of slow oxygenation.If one oxygenates extremely quickly a wine, as when one carafe it, one will kill it. Wine is opened and is left alone for four to five hours, there will be a slow oxygenation work that will eliminate the small olfactory impurities, evaporate the bad molecules, and all of a sudden you will have an opulent wine ready to drink. Beyond 25 years, I recommend that you open a wine for four to five hours before and do not touch anything. « 

A little intimidated at their arrival, the guests quickly take the game. Whether you are a connoisseur or a simple curious epicurean, François Audouze makes no distinction. He takes his guests by the hand following a true ritual, to the discovery of this world that he made his own. He gives them before the beginning of the meal some precious advice to make the most of the dinner « We drink slowly, we eat slowly. » If you swallow your glass or your dish all at once, you will have little opportunity to see the relevance of the combinations that we wanted to offer you. François Audouze: « We do not judge a wine, we try to understand it, we are humble in relation to wine. » And he concluded with a broad smile raising his glass: « The last rule: we are here to have fun! »