Feature Archives

August 12, 2016 25

Musings of a Wine Maven

“Has a Good Beat … Easy to Dance to”

Raise your hand if you immediately recognize this title as coming from Dick Clark’s American Bandstand “Rate a Record” segment. Hmm, not as many hands went up as I thought would. Perhaps, readers of this blog were busy watching Julia Child’s The French Chef or Graham Kerr on The Galloping Gourmet or, as I think about it, perhaps many readers were not yet born. Dick Clark’s legendary TV show, on the air from 1952 to 1989, showcased at least one band and played the Top 40’s songs to which gaggles of teenagers danced the hour away.

I am reminded of Dick Clark as I walk down the overstocked aisles in wine superstores these days and note the liberal use of “shelf talkers,” touting this wine and that wine [...]
August 6, 2016 13

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Tasting Tavel

Four years ago, almost to the day, I was at a dinner party for which each of the eight guests was asked to bring a rosé to include in a blind tasting. The wines came from all around the world, and no one wine was duplicated. One of the wines presented was a Tavel; its dark hue was unfamiliar to us and assumptions of sugar content and [...]
July 24, 2016 10

MARC CHAGALL AT THE CARRIÈRES DE LUMIÈRES: EXTRAORDINARY

The Carrières de Lumières defy description.  One could say (aptly) that it is a multi-media extravaganza—about 100 projectors casting 3,000 images on walls as high as 14 meters, spilling onto the ceiling and the floor, and choreographed perfectly with music ringing out from about 25 speakers strategically placed within the 5,000 square meters of a former limestone quarry certainly qualifies as fantastic... [...]
July 2, 2016 2

CATCHING UP WITH THE PROVENCE GURU

Those of you who travel to Provence or fancy a trip sometime soon--or who are lucky enough to live here--no doubt are acquainted with the Provence Guru. The Guru--aka, Jamie Ivey--and wife Tanya traded their London lives for adventures in Provence that spawned four books, a glossy magazine about Provence, a market stall where they sold rosé, a pop-up rosé bar, and a blog. I caught up with Ivey at Café Gaby in Lourmarin last week to find out what was keeping him busy these days. And, I got some scoop... [...]
July 2, 2016 3

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

And the Oscar Goes To…

The other night, we had some friends over for l'Apéro - a wonderful French convention that gathers people for an hour (or so) to share a nice beverage and some nibbles. Often, a digestif such as Pastis, Lillet, or Campari is served, but it can just as easily be a wine. Susan wrote a wonderful piece on l'apéro several months ago - you can [...]
June 4, 2016 6

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

The Happy Couple

A happy marriage isn't just about how you get along with one another. It's also about how you, as a couple, get along with others, and they with you. Meet the Croques: Monsieur & Madame. They get along really well - in fact, they are so much alike that people can't remember which is which! Today, I made both a Croque Madame [...]
May 28, 2016 2

Pinknic Debuts in New York City

Rosé comes in more colors than just pink, of course, but it is called rosé for a reason—it’s usually pink or some variation on that color theme. Imagine a huge festival “dedicated exclusively to rosé wine,” and surely “pink” comes to mind, followed closely by words like “pretty, fun [...]
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