Wine

October 5, 2016 10

Musings of a Wine Maven
A Postcard from the Foire aux Vins

How could it be in the twenty-two years since I returned to the States after a six-year career segment based in Lyon, that I could have overlooked the huge deal the fall wine sales still are in France? I guess for one thing, we have always gone back for our annual holiday in the summer, where to the delight of my wife Benedicte the summer clothes sales are in full swing. Both wine and clothing sales are semi-annual events in France, legislated at the national level. They are eagerly anticipated and, from what I have seen, produce the desired sales activity.

Of all places, I was reminded of [...]

October 4, 2016 6

Provence Nominated for Wine Enthusiast’s Wine Region of the Year

A Wine Star has become to wine what a Grammy is to music, an Oscar to film. Since their inaugural Wine Star Awards event in 2001, Wine Enthusiast Magazine has each year honored worldwide excellence and the exceptional achievements of men and women in all facets of the [...]

October 1, 2016 10

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Le Vin de Table

Vin de Table. Table wine. We all have our favorites. You know, the wine you drink every day. The one you buy when it's just you, or you and your family. A good, reasonably priced, and readily available table wine. Vin de Table.

Today's wine is just that. La Vieille Ferme rosé can be found in most grocery stores, big box wine stores, and even the occasional boutique [...]

September 25, 2016 10

STOMP SOME GRAPES IN PROVENCE

If you are in Provence and looking for something different to do—in between touring Roman ruins and visiting hilltop villages—I’ve got the answer: Kick off your shoes, climb into a huge oak barrel filled with grapes, and start stomping. That’s what Provence WineZine photographer Pamela O’Neill and I did earlier this month when we visited Les Pastras, an organic farm, located in the southern part of the Luberon, most known for their truffles. We had a ball, not to mention felt a little like Lucille Ball in her iconic I Love Lucy episode about her adventure stomping... [...]

September 20, 2016 12

DOMAINE SAINT ANDRIEU IS WELL WORTH THE DRIVE UP THE HILL

Deep in the heart of the Var, north of Brignoles, and a wee bit past the tiny predominantly organic village of Correns, there is a long and winding road just off the Grand Rue (also called the D45). Soon after making that turn, on to Le Collet de Recoux, that [...]

September 3, 2016 8

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
You Can Tell a Wine by Its Label

When searching for a Provençal rosé to pair with this week's recipe - Cambozola and Fig Flatbread - I have to admit that I chose the wine for its label. I know several wine enthusiasts who swear they never choose a wine this way, but I don't believe them. Not completely, anyway. I think even they would be beguiled by this [...]

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 19, 2016 8

THE STORY OF RÉGINE SUMEIRE’S “PÉTALE DE ROSE” ROSÉ

After I read the invitation to a winetasting of “Pétale de Rose” rosé back in spring of 2015, I was confused. The rosé bearing this name appeared to be made at two different domaines: Château Barbeyrolles and Château Tour de l’Évêque. Muddling the picture [...]

July 3, 2016 3

Château Saint-Maur Showcases Work of Storytelling Artist Marc Ferrero

Rod Stewart famously sang, "Every picture tells a story," and internationally acclaimed contemporary artist Marc Ferrero is creating artwork that really does just that. As leader of the "Storytelling Art" movement, he is bringing stories to life on his canvasses. For Ferrero, "the canvas [...]

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