Name Dropping

I had dinner the other night with Brewer Raats. One of the larger than life itself wine characters in the trade, he prides himself in Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc. Heck, he owns an Irish pub in South African college town, how cool is that?

He told a story about a night of wine tasting with fellow South African winemakers where each winemaker had to bring "the wine that changed you" or something to that effect. He brought Chateau Cheval Blanc, one of the seven great Bordeauxs, along with Mouton, Lafite et al. Cheval Blanc has lots of Cabernet Franc in its blend and his desire was to create a wine in the style of Cheval Blanc.

Zip forward to last weeks dinner in Boston and he brought his Raats Family 2001 Cabernet Franc and a 1998 Chat. Cheval Blanc. His is $30 a bottle, the Cheval Blanc is conservatively worth about $300. The only difference I could detect was that the Cheval Blanc had a little sweeter fruit flavor. Presently at the store we offer the yummy 2006 Raats Cabernet Franc at $29.99 a bottle and will add the 2007 at the same price. Drinkable and cellarable for less than $30 is ridiculous. That night we had them with Wild Boar and Mushroom over Pasta. Great match.

And if you want to really splurge, he is in partnership in a wine called MR de Compostella. Around $100 a bottle, and you can only imagine what a wonderful age-worthy wine this is.