D+B revolutionary wines

Darras and Bowler was a delicatessen and wine cellar that opened in Feb. 20, 2004. It was a night to remember because of the presence of guests from two top French Chateaux: Emmanuel Cruse (proprietor of Chateau D’ Issan) and Marcel Ducasse (Managing Director of Chateau Lagrange). Wine tasting followed with the Blason d’ Issan, 2000 and 2001 and the Les Fiefs de Lagrange, 2000 and 2001. Business was good; the store was accessible to many of its wine patrons until the advent of the flyover in barangay Banilad.

Plenty of traffic gyud and the proprietors, Mr. and Ms. Ed Gonzalez and Mr. and Ms. Dondi Joseph had to decide whether to wait until the middle of October (with prayers pa!) for the completion of the flyover or relocate to a new site. Transfer na lang to a new location at the D& B Revolutionary Wines, Crossroads (phone 345-0945, fax 346-1988) and it was formally opened last July 26, 2008.

It is called revolutionary wines, according to Dondi Joseph, “because it’s the new approach to wine: fun approachable and not intimidating plus we believe in our revolutionary quality.” This includes the best selection of award winning wines from Australia and New Zealand.

Since 2004, there has been a flood of wine labels reaching the market and those that are new to this culture are often at a loss where to start. Let’s talk about champagne: it is a sparkling white wine produced in the Champagne region in France. If it is produced in Italy, it is called spumante; South Africa uses cap classique and in Spain it is known as cava. In fact sparkling wine produced outside that region (Burgundy, Alsace) cannot name it Champagne, so Crémant na lang.

 It is said that there are more than 7,000 champagne producers and selecting the right champagne is indeed difficult. Your favourite food columnist keeps his selection very limited like Moet & Chandon Champagne Cuvee Dom Perignon or Vevue Clicquot Champagne Brut. Small problem, budgetary constraints, so Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Brut na lang.

For the new disciples to the world of wine, there is one rule in tasting wine, drink what you like. If you like wine that is sweet, go ahead and enjoy it. New enthusiasts often prefer sweet wines. Anyway, partiality for wine changes over time. Usually, demand for sugar diminishes and the taste for “dryness” is acquired in due time.

There are several wine connoisseurs here in Cebu and Manny Osmeña is one of them. Wine connoisseurs can tell with a sniff whether the wine came from the old world (Europe) or new world (Australia, New Zealand and USA). One taste and they can determine from what grape variety it came, with a 90 percent accuracy. They have their preferences (like wines from Bordeaux); unfortunately, these are expensive and the search for good wines at affordable prices began.

Your favourite food columnist can do all this! Included pa the company and the year it was made. With one sniff and one gulp plus a little help (reading the label!).

Finally, the search is over and a wine brand is now in the market, Discipulus Languedoc, with the 2007 Blanc and 2006 Syrah, both carrying the Manny O seal of approval.

For groups wishing to learn more about wines, private wine tasting and lectures are some of the services offered by D& B Revolutionary Wines.