Mondovino, interesting movie

Sommelier Jonathan Nossiter's view on the globalisation of wine.

In "Mondovino," Michael Broadbent, the legendary British wine writer and auctioneer, criticized the changes Mr. Rolland had made to Château Kirwan, a middling Margaux estate that now, Mr. Broadbent said, tasted like a Pomerol. He added, "I'd rather have an individual wine not up to scratch than a global wine that's innocuous." It's a sentiment that still has Mr. Rolland fuming. "I think English critics in general — the English are used to drinking older wines," he said. "Michael Broadbent is always speaking about the 1940's and 1960's. It's like they are stopped in time, like old people always looking back to the old days."

The documentary-like movie is about the e.g. traditional French winemakers with a strong belief of wine's terroir predominating its flavour versus modern-world winemakers building strong brands aided by wine consultants, like Rolland. Should winemakers design/adapt their wines to the taste of the customer and the wine critics like Robert Parker or should they stick to tradition, identity and the wine's terroir?

Le cabinet de curiosité de Bonnier de la Mosson

Early libraries, or wonder rooms to be more specific, are intriguing. Being in such a 'cabinet of curiosities' must be inspiring, impossible not to be triggered by the plethora of things around you. Jacques Bonnier de la Mosson was a collectioner and had his own cabinet. Having one of your own, that sounds incredible to me, a dream. The image depicts Jacques cabinet with 9 rooms, painted by Jacques de Lajoue in 1734.

Le cabinet de Bonnier de La Mosson est "un des plus spectaculaires des cabinets scientifiques du XVIIIème siècle, dans lequel, en dépit de sa spécialisation, l'esprit du cabinet de curiosités reste bien vivace" (I. de Conihout, 1998). Le catalogue distingue neuf cabinets : un cabinet d'Anatomie, un cabinet de Chimie, un de Pharmacie, un de Drogues, un "cabinet de Phisique ou cabinet des Machines", "le cabinet du Tour et des Outils", et trois d'Histoire naturelle. Plus un herbier et une bibliothèque.

Wilfing away on a lazy afternoon looking for information about Buffon (George Louis Leclerc, 1707-1788, visionary biologist) lead to de Lajoue's painting (Albert Beit collection Russborough, Blessington, Ireland), which lead to Bonnier's cabinet. The museum of natural history in Paris exhibits one of the cabinets of Bonnier de la Mosson, I will certainly have a look when in Paris.