n102  2030  08 Jul 80
 
BC-WINE-TALK
(LIVING)
By TERRY ROBARDS
c. 1980 N.Y. Times News Service
    NEW YORK - The most important wine for any socially active person to
have on hand, well-chilled and ready to be uncorked, is Champagne.
Real Champagne. The genuine article from France. Mumm's Cordon Rouge.
Moet et Chandon. Taittinger. Piper-Heidsieck, Lanson Black Label. Or
any of the other grandes marques, the Champagnes with established
reputations and that special appeal that comes from a readily
identified taste or label.
    No wine cellar, closet or cache should be dominated by Champagne, of
course, for table wines are more useful to accompany meals. But a
bottle or two of Champagne will not require a huge investment,
especially in view of its status as the world's most festive wine. It
is meant for celebrations, and it can create a special occasion by
its very presence.
    Moreover, it is easy to store and readily served, important
considerations for people who are inclined to entertain without much
advance planning. Just keep a bottle lying on its side in the
refrigerator, awaiting the right moment. It can stay there for
months, even years, without deteriorating. Convenience, in fact,
should be paramount with all of the wines in a single person's cellar.
    For sheer drama, I prefer magnums, the equivalent of two regular
bottles, but at least four people are needed to justify opening one.
Half-bottles are more appropriate for people dining alone, although a
half-consumed regular-sized bottle can be kept overnight in the
refrigerator without incurring much damage.
    The easiest table wines are the whites, because most are drinkable
as soon as they are purchased. They need not recline in a cellar
gathering cobwebs and maturity before they are ready to drink, and
decanting them is not only unnecessary but superfluous. Moreover,
statistics show that white table wine is rapidly becoming the
nation's most popular drink.
    Unfortunately, the best dry white table wines of France, the white
Burgundies, have become extremely expensive, with Chablis and
Pouilly-Fuisse from the most prominent producers at around $20 a
bottle. A good alternative is Muscadet, from the Loire Valley, a
fresh, dry white that can be had for as little as $2.99 a bottle.
    Other Loire whites can also be excellent value - for example
Sancerre and Vouvray. Both tend to be slightly more full-bodied and
sometimes sweeter than Muscadet, but they are also sturdy and
uncomplicated and can easily be stored in a refrigerator. White
Bordeaux is also increasingly available in the American market and
often is good value.
    The best whites from California are the chardonnays, luscious, rich
and often complex wines that can arouse discussion because of their
similarity to the best white Burgundies. Sometimes they cost almost
as much as Pouilly-Fuisse, Chablis or Meursault, but a diligent
shopper can find good California chardonnays for as little as $8 a
bottle.
    Slightly sweeter and less complex are the fume blancs and sauvignon
blancs from California. They are usually less costly and less
interesting than the better chardonnays, but they are sturdy wines
that can be served without any advance preparation other than
chilling. Frascati, Orvieto, Verdicchio and Soave from Italy fall
into the same category - convenient, inexpensive, durable.
    The easiest red is Beaujolais, which is inexpensive and nearly
always charming. It is usually meant to be drunk young, within two or
three years of the vintage, and it can also be stored in the
refrigerator. Beaujolais is one of the few red wines that is often
drunk chilled in France, although I prefer to let it warm up until it
is only a few degrees below room temperature.
    There are basic Beaujolais, Beaujolais-Villages and nine grand cru
Beaujolais that always bear the name of the specific growing area
where the grapes were produced. Beaujolais-Brouilly appears to be the
most widely available of these in the United States, but consumers
are also likely to encounter Cote de Brouilly, Julienas, Chiroubles,
Chenas, St.-Amour, Fleury, Morgon and Moulin-a-Vent. The last two
need more age, at least five or six years, before reaching maturity.
    A serious gastronome will also want to have a few bottles of a
fairly mature red Bordeaux or California cabernet sauvignon on hand
if a full meal with red meat or game is being planned. The 1973 and
1974 Bordeaux have matured at an early age and are not prohibitively
expensive. Most will never be great, but they are in good supply and
are drinkable now.
    The 1976 and 1977 California cabernets also are widely available,
but most are not quite as mature as the '73 and '74 Bordeaux. The
1974 vintage in California was superb, but these wines are
disappearing fast and are now hard to find. Calfifornia zinfandels
tend to be more agreeable at a younger age, often displaying great
charm when only a few years old. They also cost less than most
cabernet sauvignons.
    Very pleasant, sturdy and reliable alternatives among reds are the
Riojas of northern Spain. The quality standards for producing them
are high, and an inferior bottle will rarely be encountered.
Moreover, they are inexpensive, with many available at around $4 or
$5 a bottle. The same can be said about Chianti, the wine from the
hillsides of northern Italy near Florence.
    
ny-0708 2330edt
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