Van and his wife, Virginia Le, work together to introduce wine to the Vietnamese.
Sept. 6, 2006, 6:01AMWINEA Vietnamese lesson in wineHouston couple share their passion for wine with the Asian community
At age 10, Le Van fell in love, and it was no fleeting crush. But it wasn't a girl that made his heart race; it was wine.
Le Van's father, a successful, French-educated builder in Saigon, took the boy to a French restaurant and gave him a sip from his customary glass. The story of that evening entered family lore. Van's wife, Virginia Le, heard it the first time she met his parents.
"When he brought me back home, he boasted to the whole family," Le Van said. " 'My boy, he took a sip of wine today, and I didn't see him frown. He seemed to be enjoying it.' "
And how. Today, Le Van, who retired from Washington, D.C., to Houston after a long career with Voice of America, hosts a weekly radio program on wine in Vietnamese (Tuesdays, 3:30 p.m., VOVN, 1110 AM). He writes a syndicated newspaper column in Vietnamese, maintains a Web site (levan wineclub.com), leads winery tours with his wife and has recently self-published a book intended to introduce his fellow expatriates — mostly the older generation — to wine. Before you run out and buy it, take note that it's in Vietnamese, too.
He and his wife, married for 37 years with two daughters, are serious wine collectors who fell in love with each other over their shared passion. Listen to them describe an early date:
Le Van: The very first time when I brought her to my apartment . . .
Virginia Le: His bachelor pad!
Le Van: . . . to treat her to a meal that I cooked myself.
Virginia Le: It was a Château Mouton Rothschild.
Le Van believes that Ruou Vang, Mon Qua cua Thuong De (Wine, A Gift of God) is the first book on wine ever written in Vietnamese. Nicole Routhier, a noted Vietnamese cookbook author who lives in Houston, agreed that may be true.
Wine, excepting rice wine, plays no part in traditional Vietnamese culture. When Le Van was growing up, the long ship voyage and lack of refrigeration stymied its transport to Vietnam. The wine that somehow survived the hot journey was too expensive for ordinary Vietnamese, anyway.
The Vietnamese drink beer and cognac — the former to be sociable, the latter on special occasions. In fact, cognac is so popular among Vietnamese men that many suffer from liver problems — one reason Le Van hopes they'll switch to wine.
To get around the transportation problem, French colonialists imported vines from Burgundy and Bordeaux and tried to produce wine in Vietnam, Le Van said. But they lacked the technology that might have brought success, and the grapes withered on the vine, in a manner of speaking.
Today, even in the United States, "We don't pair (Western wine) with our Vietnamese foods," said Anna Tran, who oversees customer relations at Mai's restaurant. "For us, it's just not something at the dinner table."
Wine, A Gift of God answers many of the questions that Le Van has been asked on his radio program.
"Of course, if they want to buy a wine book in English, they can find hundreds of them," he said. "But they would love to have something with an Oriental touch that they can relate to. Here they look at the Vietnamese edition, they see all these glamorous models drinking wine, so they feel somehow they are related to it."
Glamorous (some might say hokey) photographs of attractive Vietnamese women posed with glasses of wine are indeed scattered throughout the bright and colorful book, which was designed and edited by Virginia Le. It also offers basic information on wine and real-life stories told from a Vietnamese perspective.
In one, a Vietnamese-American man is taken to a restaurant by his boss to celebrate a job well done. The boss invites him to order the wine, a gesture meant to flatter. Instead, the Vietnamese gentleman panics. He knows nothing about wine and fears he'll lose face if he asks the sommelier for advice.
"In Vietnam, if they give you a job, that means you have to know," Virginia Le explained.
The trouble continues when the sommelier presents a bottle. Again, the guest of honor suffers. Why isn't his boss being served first? And why wasn't wine poured for the other guests? He is, Le Van said, "totally confused and lost."
In Wine, A Gift of God, Le Van outlines the procedure for ordering wine and inspecting the bottle, a process he illustrates with photographs shot at Tony's restaurant. He also gives advice on pairing Asian food with wine, which turns out to be mostly common sense.
As Virginia Le summed up, make sure the wine and food are in balance. If the food is strong and spicy, the wine must be its match. And while the accepted wisdom suggests gewürtztraminer or riesling with Asian food, she thinks reds such as zinfandels or robust cabernets can do the trick, too. Furthermore, pair tannic wines with fatty foods, such as pork or duck.
"The taste buds are the ultimate judge," Le Van added reassuringly. "If it pleases your tastes, it's good."
The couple are translating the book into English for young Vietnamese-Americans. Meanwhile, back in Vietnam, vintners are again attempting a homegrown industry. The Les showed me two bottles from their collection — Vang D'alat (wine from D'alat), a recent gift. Virginia Le is skeptical, but the label promises "marvelous tastes."
WE SALUTE YOU !!!!
2001 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Big, bold and elegant. Black and red cherry, purple plum & vanilla creaminess on a platter of sweet French oak. Rounded tannins and firm acidity help keep its shape. Intriguing depth of spicy, rich and refreshing flavors. 
