Rhône Wines

June 4, 2017 8

Wine and Jazz in Provence

What is the perfect musical pairing for the wines of Provence and southern Rhône? Jazz! There are terrific jazz events held in and about wineries during the summer months throughout Provence and most include wine tasting as part of the festivities. Take a picnic, try the wine, and listen to some jazz--what could be better!

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June 3, 2017 7

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Beauty and the Belle

A little over two years ago, I fell in love with a blonde bombshell - a white Châteauneuf-du-Pape. I was somewhat in awe of this wine, and never dreamed I would see its doppelgänger here on these shores. But, as you read on, you will find I was wrong.

Just this past October, Susan Manfull wrote an article for the Provence WineZine about a wine bloggers conference she attended last August in Lodi, California, that included visit to Acquiesce Vineyards. It was then she

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April 21, 2017 8

Musings of a Wine Maven
Most Laid Back Wine Competition of the Year Award Goes to “Rosé Today”

I guess I am beginning to become a little numb when considering all the wine competitions held around the globe each year. Could there be 100, or closer to 1,000? Let’s just say that there are so many that when I enter a tasting room and see a slew of certificates, ribbons, trophies, etc. I totally ignore them. Surely the vineyard is proud of these accolades, or they wouldn’t be displayed. But what do they really tell me? Not all that much. I will know in short order after I start tasting and

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April 7, 2017 17

Musings of a Wine Maven
Lord Save Us, Martha Stewart is Selling Wine Again

Never a quitter, Martha has shaken off the debacle of her failed venture with Gallo a decade ago to come back at the unsuspecting wine consumer with a new wine marketing scheme. Unable then to successfully sell her Martha Stewart Vintage label at fifteen bucks a bottle, her name is now attached to a box of six of her favorite selections for $59.99, served up in a wine club framework. Hmmm, if a fifteen buck wine made for her by Gallo couldn’t sell, why then these ten buck finds (introductory price) from California, Spain, Italy and France?

There are at least two rosés from Provence, the region that has taken the U.S. by storm with its immensely popular pink wine

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March 12, 2017 8

MILLÉSIME BIO 2017: CONVERSATIONS WITH ORGANIC AND BIODYNAMIC WINEMAKERS

“We don’t have fancy booths. We are natural. Authentic, like our wines,” observed one of the exhibitors at last month’s Millésime Bio Wine Fair in

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Siblings Fabien and Emilie Brotons were pouring wine from their family estate Clos de l'Ours winery.

March 9, 2017 2

Millésime Bio 2018 Slated for Late January in Montpellier

Millésime Bio, said to be the world’s largest trade fair devoted to organic wine, has announced its 2018 dates and a return to Montpellier: it will take place from Monday 29 January to Wednesday 31 January next year at the

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Duck Confit Cake and Domaine Moulin-la-Viguerie Tavel Wine

March 3, 2017 12

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
A Well-Traveled Tavel

It isn't often that I get wines straight off the plane from the vineyard in France. But, this week, that is exactly (well, sort of) what happened. You see, Sandra Gay-Moulines, attaché de communication for the Syndicat Viticole de l'Appellation Tavel, got a couple of bottles direct from the winery, whose owner, Gaël Petit, happens to be president of the Syndicat. Sandra gave them to Susan and Towny, who brought them back to States, and then they shipped them to me. See? Direct from the winery!

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