The Tasting Panel magazine

then this Zin's alcohol [14.5%] amplifies the heat while the Petite Sirah keeps the structure sound. It's an exciting pairing." Arsenault's sentiments about Folie à Deux's quality and value, especially for restaurant customers, are echoed by Jonathan Young, who runs Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York City. "If you have a list like mine, where there's already so much Napa, I can The "Passion Shared By Two" Is a Recipe for Success in New Orleans In the French Quarter of New Orleans, time travel comes easy. Particularly when ensconced in Antoine's, the oldest continually run family restaurant in the United States, established in 1840 by Antoine Alciatore. Rick Blount, CEO and fifth-generation family member, sits with his Wine and Beverage Director, Matthew Ousset, in one of Antoine's 14 dining rooms, the spent plates that not long before held classic Creole dishes arrayed around us as if we were kings—or Frenchmen. With the perfume of Folie à Deux Chardonnay on all our lips, Rick finishes the tale of how his grandfather, Roy Alciatore, built a secret door in the ladies room that entered on the speakeasy and then—historic tidbit by historic tidbit—downshifts into the modern day subject at hand: Antoine's wine program and their relationship with Folie à Deux. Oui, it's oyster slick to time travel in New Orleans. "So wine's been an integral part of Antoine's tradition literally forever," continues Rick. "Even during Prohibition: Roy firmly believed that federal agents would never be brave enough to go into the ladies room—and they never were." "He was also cutting edge," interjects Matt. "Roy was the first—or among the first—in New Orleans to get into California wines." "Yes!" agrees Rick. "Like Folie. And that is very much what Roy was into. At Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York City, General Manager Jonathan Young finds that Folie à Deux Chardonnay "lets the fruit talk." Young is shown at the famous bar with Blue Point oysters on the half shell. offer [customers] something different but that they have also heard about," he says. "Tourists in New York, especially from Europe, they know Sonoma. Of course they know Napa Valley, but they look for Sonoma wines, too." Folie à Deux's move helps Young expand his pairing options for such classic dishes as oysters on the half shell: "Typically, California Chard is not good oyster wine—it overpowers the oysters. I love the acidity in the Folie à Deux Chardonnay, and the flavors are not sitting on a lot of oak. There's not as much vanilla; this lets the fruit talk." If a company goes to the trouble to forward its mail to Sonoma Valley because of the vineyards, it's probably a wise move to let the fruit talk as much as it wants. Matthew Ousset (left), Antoine's Wine and Beverage Director, shares a glass of Folie à Deux Chardonnay with Antoine's CEO Rick Blount in the restaurant's wine cellar. Comprising the length of four buildings, the cel- lar's capacity is 24,000+ bottles of wine. He was an aficionado but he wasn't a snob. He loved to offer—and to drink— the kind of wines that people could enjoy and afford to drink every day." "That's why Folie is our house wine," adds Matt. "And we also sell it by the case for banquets. Large parties have several choices from our wine list, and Folie is a wine that sits well with people." "Simply," says Rick. "Folie à Deux is one wine from a successful family company—Trinchero—not unlike my own. I'm fifth-generation, they're third. They work incredibly well for us because they're all wonderfully made at a wonderful price point." And then he pauses, his eyes caught in that New Orleans time travel: "Sure, we carry the most expensive wines we can get. But Roy asked, 'What do people drink every day?' And I'm asking it, too. They drink wines like Folie. And we give our guests what they want." —Brian Huff january/february 2012 / the tasting panel / 71 PHOTO: BRIAN HUFF PHOTO: DOUG YOUNG

• Cover