The Taste of the Parisian

        Several old friends from Taipei visited me in Paris, I treated them for lunch in a small elegant restaurant. Because most of people chose the gigot or cattle kidney as main course, I ordered Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil 2002 from Loire valley which locates in the middle France to match the dishes. The wine was served to the table, one of the friends frowned involuntarily when he had the first drink. After the second and the third drinks, there was still no satisfaction on his face. As being acquainted with him for years, I definitely understood what he meant and hurried the waiter to bring the wine list for a new order. Unreservedly, this friend chose Chateau Pontet-Canet 1998 from Medoc in Bordeaux.

   Objectively speaking, my friend’s decision was better than mine. The original purpose that I chose Saint-Nicolas was “light”: This wine is brewed from “Cabernet Franc” only. It is simple, with soft tannins and low acidity. It has apparent fruit characteristic, and taste smooth with the country favor of meat. The one my friend chose belongs to the fifth class in official classification of wine in Bordeaux. It might be considered as a famous good wine. It is vinified by the mix of 60% strong Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and another variety. It has an impressive, complex taste and elegant flavor. You can distinguish which one is better immediately when you take the first drink. In particular, this year is really good because 1998 is not a good year for Pauillac in Medoc. It was too hot in summer and there was too much rain. It is early-maturing and it should reach the peak after 20 years, but Pontet-Canet 1998 is appropriate to be tasted now instead. By the way, because the year is not good, the price is reasonable. It was so nice that my friend take care of my money.

        Instead, the waiter didn’t agree with us. When this wine was served on the table, he winked at me and said, “This is not Parisian.” (Ce n’est pas parisien.) In order to be fair, I responded, “Please don’t be so difficult.”(Soyez pas difficile.)

The best is not always the fittest

    The waiter’s judgment was certainly not positive, even full of sarcasm, but there were still two points worth being referred.

    First, what we took was lunch. The Parisians have to handle lots of affairs in the afternoon, therefore it is really not appropriate to eat too much or overdrink. As French people say, “light is better than heavy.” Of course, the wine my friend ordered was heavier than the one I ordered. Besides, there are so many chances to take delicacies and fine wine, we shouldn’t eat too much and overdrink at noon like a country bumpkin. 

    Furthermore, what we ordered was country dish. It is not much bad, but since its characteristic is rough, vivid, and pure, we should choose a wine that can match this kind of dish. In this condition, the pureness of Saint-Nicolas is better than the complexity of Pontet-Canet. As the French say, “The wench is beautiful because she reveals the energy when she wears native country clothes; the princess is beautiful because she wears complicated palace clothes. If the princess changes into the wench’s clothes, the grace will disappear. Because the form is inconsistent with the essence, even the best thing cannot show its beauty but negative impression.”    

    The most agitated thing is that the waiter used the adjective “Parisian”. What he wanted to express was that my friend is apparently not Parisian. Of course my friend is not Parisian, but the arrogant Parisians always regard the French expect from Paris        as country bumpkins. It was really a hurtful comment. In particular, it is embarrassing that all of my friends are men of renown who are famous and high-esteemed, but were unexpectedly gibed by the waiter in Paris.

The most precious is not always the best

    The Parisians are not only picky about this but also the rare wine. One day, I accompanied another group of friends from Taipei participating an auction activity that was held by a high-level restaurant in Paris. Everything went smoothly and people could buy the first-class old fine wine with reasonable price. But it made me feel embarrassed because after the auction activity, the group opened the wine they just bided to celebrate right in the restaurant. Although it was a waste for French people, my friends didn’t feel that. Besides, I also felt uncomfortable because customers in the restaurant, other buyers in the auction activity, even the waiters, the managers, and the cooks flung me a scornful look. Despite I wasn’t brave enough to explain to my friends, I really wanted to hide myself under the table.  

As the French believe that the wine is a kind of drink very sensitive, the fine wine shouldn’t be shaken or shocked. No matter being how careful, the wine was still disturbed when the auction activity went on. If the wine is alive, it must feel tired and uneasy. In this condition, it certainly cannot show the best part successfully. According to the French winelovers’ custom, the wine should be put in the cellar for resting at least 1 week to half month. Only after this experience, the fine wine can show its best part for people. However, as we treat the wine bided in a high price so rudely, it is absolutely awful to waste God's good gifts recklessly. The others can’t prevent us but look their contempt to punish us.

The first-class is not always the taste

    The French wine is not only respected by people but is used to judge a person. The best example is that President Mitterand chose the wine to guest the President of United States, Clinton for a state dinner in Champs-Elysées palace in Paris.

   At the time, Clinton attended the 50th anniversary commemoration as a state guest to celebrate that allied forces landing France successfully during the Second World War. The next day he went to Paris to join state dinner; this was the first time he visit France as a position of president. The main course was stewed quail with truffle, the matched wine is Chateau Lacroix 1970 from Pomerol in Bordeaux. All the people argued the wine that Mitterand chose. 

        In fact, the choice was great, 1970 is one of the best year of Pomerol. The wine will achieve the best situation about 20 year maturity periods, as Merlot is the body, with a fine structure, smooth taste, and apparent fruit characteristic, it can introduce the special spray of truffle gradually, and prevent it not to be stronger than the lightness and fresh of the quail at the same time. The wine and the food match each other very well, it is obviously designed carefully. Furthermore, Pomerol occupies only 3% of Bordeaux. Because of little production, the wine is rare,and that is the problem.

        Because of scarcity, there are few people have the luckiness to taste, and it is not as famous as others. Particularly, the France usually offer the big five domains as the wine of state dinner. The big five domains are chose by Emperor Napoleon 3 who wanted to show off the greatness of French wine in 1855 World Exposition. For this reason, he ordered Bordeaux to established a classification system, four top domains were selected at that time: Chateau Lafite-Rothschild、Chateau Latour、Chateau Margaux from Graves and Chateau Mouton-Rothschild which was added in 1973. It is interesting that the person who signed this certificate is Chirac, the former President. However, the winemakers in Pomerol didn’t want to accept this kind of rigid system. They usually reject to be classified as a reason of little production. It looks like an outsider in the fine wine area. And Chateau Lacroix is just a small domain that isn’t fund easily even in France. In the U.S., most people haven’t heard it before. Why did President Mitterand who is famous for the favor and understand of wine choose this infamous one to guest Clinton who is said to understand wine?

    Some critics thought that Mitterand wanted to express a message, “In the fine wine area, France still has a lot of secret that the United State didn’t know.” Perhaps, Mitterand seemed to satirize young Clinton, “Besides the famous brands, there are still many wonderful things you didn’t know.” For Mitterand who was already 78 years old at that time, he was not willing to offer the wine of 5 big domains to receive Clinton who was 30 years younger than him. Or maybe he wanted to express a subjective judgment, “As a leader of western world, you are too young and not qualified to be treated in the same way as the best French wine.”

The difficult Parisian

    How shall we make the conclusion? For the Parisian, the best wine is not always the fittest, the most precious is not always the best, even the best-level is not always the class. There is no rule in the beautiful world but the sense and flexibility, and these two abilities might are the most difficult to be obtained. However, indeed,

“The Parisians are so difficult.” (Ils sont difficiles, les parisiens.)