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S01E01 | Le Bec-Fin, Interview and Wine Tasting with Christophe Tassan

Written By: ClassicWines.com Team on Monday, March 19, 2007

Brian Freedman:Welcome to ‘The Classic Wines Minute’ brought to you by classicwines.com. I am Brian Freedman and today we have a treat for you. We are here in Center City, Philadelphia at one of the most renowned restaurants in the entire world, Le Bec-Fin. Our guest today, we are extremely fortunate, is French Master Sommelier and GM of Le Bec-Fin, Christophe Tassan. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Christophe Tassan:Thank you, my pleasure.

Brian Freedman:Oh, believe me, it is ours. So, today I thought we would talk about what’s going on in both the wine community, when it comes to fine dinning restaurants like Le Bec-Fin, and the also the role of a Sommelier, because we were talking before and that is changing a little bit. So, why don’t you just give us a bit of an overview, what is the job of a Sommelier at a place like Le Bec-Fin?

Christophe Tassan:Yes, you were right in saying that this job is also a kind of evolution, it is not -- Sommelier dining home today is not the same job that a Sommelier dining home 20 years ago, or 30 years ago. Thirty years ago, you know your seller and you know the kitchen, you know your customers and you kind of sell things. I think today the real job of a Sommelier is not to sell things, is to try to understand what the customer expects and what is the taste of their own customer, because you find in the world thousands and millions different wines, but that is real chance because you are able to suggest a specific wine for a specific taste for a specific body, I would like to say.

Brian Freedman:Okay. So, are people more willing to experiment with wines they maybe haven’t tried before?

Christophe Tassan:Oh yes, more often now, yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s the difference, but the Sommelier is not as a strange person or a Martian, he is a regular human being, but yes, today’s sommelier is an answer of what you think or what you expect. May I, I love that, I like sugar, I like acidic taste. So, well, yes, go this way, go this way. The Sommelier suggests things and you choose in the shop of the seller.

Brian Freedman:That is wonderful to hear because so many people hear the word Sommelier and they get intimidated. If they ordered the wrong thing, you will point and laugh and make fun of them and then their whole evening is going to be ruined, but that is really not the point. The whole idea is to be their tour guide it sounds like and to help them.

Christophe Tassan:Let me make a shortcut, it is not a preferred one, but somebody asked me some ice put in his wine. I would say, would you like a lot of ice or just a little. I am not here to say to him, what are you doing putting ice in your wine, it is not the way to drink wine, that is not my job. You like wine with ice, I will bring ice for you.

Brian Freedman:You are facilitating a great experience.

Christophe Tassan:Yes, yes. That is I think give you a more open, but of course the Sommelier to give right answers after, is this fine yard very sunny, is grape very interesting in this area, that is -- yes, you have to know everything, but you have to use it in a right way, in a different way.

Brian Freedman:So, you have great wine knowledge, but at the same time you also have to have great understanding of your customers and your guests?

Christophe Tassan:I think that is the most important.

Brian Freedman:Important, which is why people should not be intimidated when it comes to a place like Le Bec-Fin. I was here for dinner the other night and what struck me is how approachable it was, how friendly it was. Everybody who worked here was so warm and genuinely cared about the experience of all of the guests. I felt like I was at someone’s dinner party, a much nicer dinner party than my friend’s house, but a dinner party nonetheless, so it really is changing and perception is very different.

Christophe Tassan:Thank you, but we have to be more approachable today, more open, just feel people less easier to go. The wine is the same thing, if you try to understand the wine for ten minutes and what is that, what I can smell? I think it is the wrong way to drink wine. If you choose a wine, talk in the glass for me, wine is talking in the glass. If you are able to drink it, it is okay, you are okay to drink it. This wine came from this ground, and it doesn’t talk a lot, it doesn’t have anything to say. So, let me try another one who have a lot of things to talk and to say it.

Brian Freedman:Okay. So, with this wine, let us look at this. Right here we have a French Merlot. Now, Merlot, as everyone who has seen the movie ‘Sideways’ knows, has a very bad reputation, and it is not necessarily true. So, take us through a little bit of the difference between French Merlot and the Classic California style Merlot?

Christophe Tassan:So, in the Merlot grape selection, this is a perfect example to say that, so Merlot is an wine name, Cabernet, is a wine name too, but that means that the name is different, the grape is different, so the wine is different. Merlot, you request the Merlot style, that means that you request some wine well balanced, smooth, a kind of silk woven, velvety, and always close to the fruit and the fruity (5:23).

Brian Freedman:Oh, I see. So, it really appeals to the modern palate, this is what we like.

Christophe Tassan:Yes, yes, more approachable and enjoyable immediately, not too strong, not too big and not too hard. So, French Merlot you can find it in a kind of a juicy and fruity wine, light and everyday wine, but you can also find it in the Bordeaux area as a first (5:45) and well-known and outstanding wine all over the world because it is made with a -- with Merlot it is one of the greatest wine in the world, also in Australia and all the place. Merlot is a good grape, if you grown it in a right way in a good place for its time.

Brian Freedman:Sure. As long as you are not over-producing and you are not -- sure, that is probably why it got a bad reputation in the first place. So, this wine in particular, lets doets do a little 30 second tasting here. So, this is sort of a Classic French-style Merlot, beautiful, beautiful, looks like a (Voice Overlap).

Christophe Tassan:Yes, you got that ruby red, bright red color, that are young, close to a seven years old Merlot, but you see that that bright color red, perhaps that -- just the real start of the brown, but brown orange is a regular evolution in initial wine, but you have to find this clear, clear appearance. You can read behind this if you want, that is what is supposed to be the Merlot style, is not have to be dark as a Chardonnay, or purple as a (7:02) of course. So, after you get that freshness in the nose, fresh fruits, then the light spicys, the (7:11), that the Merlot should not be too (7:15), you can bring the fruit up with (7:16), that’s it, not as big as a -- just smell too much there.

Brian Freedman:Sure, sure. You can really smell this is -- it is an elegant wine, it is not smacking you across the face.

Christophe Tassan:That’s the right word, elegance also. We use always this word with (7:31), but that the Merlot in the juicy grapes is elegant as you can see.

Brian Freedman:Absolutely, absolutely. So, let’s taste this and see how this is.

Christophe Tassan:Does he have in the palate the same pitcher to give you in the color and in the nosen I think yes.

Brian Freedman:Absolutely, it is very consistent.

Christophe Tassan:Taste light to start, light in the middle taste and keep long time in the aftertaste, but in smooth ways.

Brian Freedman:Right, the finish is lingering, but it is wonderful. I almost don’t want to take another sip because I will cut short that, it is the dilemma of wine I guess.

Christophe Tassan:That’s the (8:14) of it. Some friend of me who own a vineyard in the Chateau (8:18) told me, ah, it is not because you have got (8:21) mule, that you own a race horse. It means that you should not have a great wine as Merlot.

Brian Freedman:That’s wrong, absolutely not, absolutely not. Merlot can be just as great as the finest Pinot, as the finest Cabernet, it is the matter of making it right. Well, Christophe, thank you so much for joining us today, it has been an honor and a pleasure to be here with you.

Christophe Tassan:My pleasure.

Brian Freedman:On behalf of all of us at classicwines.com, this has been the Classic Wines Minute, and again we are at Le Bec-Fin. Come on down, it is not nearly as intimidating as most people think it is, in fact it is going to be a great evening if you do. Thanks for joining us, until next time, I am Brian Freedman. Cheers.

Total Duration: 9 Minutes

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