I'M Not An Oenophile

By DAVID ELLIS/

"I must admit that I do not deserve to be considered a ((wine)) connoisseur," writes Richard Nixon in Forbes FYI, a new supplement to the business magazine. The former President's article provides evidence that his modesty is well placed. The Sage of Saddle River proffers advice that wine lovers will recognize as misleading or downright wrong. Never chill a red wine, he decrees. In fact, most Beaujolais and some other fruity reds benefit from cool temperatures. Nixon says California's consistent climate renders vintage years virtually irrelevant as a guide to quality, a claim that would be disputed by the Napa and Sonoma vintners who suffered through icy rains last fall. Nixon heralds the 1961 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild as the century's greatest Bordeaux; he serves it when regaling journalists in his home. Wine critic Robert Parker calls the 1961 "unyielding, too acidic, disturbingly austere and surprisingly ungenerous." Parker's pick: the 1949 Lafleur Pomerol.

With reporting by Sidney Urquhart