White Wine

March 16, 2016 5

Musings of a Wine Maven
FRANCE WINS THE PLONK TROPHY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM THE CAVES COOPÉRATIVES

Let us now continue with our little satire on the transmogrification of The Judgment of Paris into the imagined competition for the best of the lesser wines, The Plonk Trophy, and explain how the French victory, as detailed in "Two Buck Chuck Loses Plonk Trophy to the French," came to pass. It is best summarized in the Provence WineZine (PWZ) interview with French team captain Aimé de Bontemps, conducted shortly after the arbitrator upheld the decision declaring the French as winners. [...]

March 2, 2016 6

PROVENCE IN THE CITY: MY GLASS RUNNETH OVER WITH ROSÉ

With the popularity of rosé wines from Provence continuing to skyrocket, let it be known that I have been drinking this pale, dry elixir long before it became trendy. Having been introduced to Provence rosé on our first trip to this region [...]

February 21, 2016 6

I HAD AN APPOINTMENT WITH CHÂTEAU BEAULIEU…AND DISCOVERED VILLA BAULIEU

We take the back roads to Lourmarin when we arrive in Provence. Whether we pull into the Aix TGV station or land in the Marseille Airport, we take the D568 a short distance and then head north along the meandering D543 (a favorite of bicyclists, too, making for some ticklish maneuvers occasionally). Between Éguilles and Rognes—on the narrow forested stretch known as the Route de Rognes—we pass by a [...]

February 11, 2016 4

Château Vignelaure Rosés Coming to a Store Nearer to You this Spring

One of the unfortunate consequences of reporting on the wines from Provence is that so many of the delicious wines we enjoy while in Provence are not available in the U.S. We have been known to leave our running shoes in France to free up precious [...]

January 28, 2016 12

Musings of a Wine Maven
HO-HUM, MILLÉSIME BIO EXPO ENDS IN FRANCE

From January 25-27 over 800 wine producers from around the globe had their bio-dynamically influenced wines on display in Montpellier. Learning of it several months ago I gave consideration to taking it in, as the subject appeals, and nothing of this scope has been put together over here. My eyes had been more fully opened to sustainability two years ago while attending a packaging conference on the subject for a consulting client. Listening to the various presenters it became clear that the interest had now gone well past tree huggers and deeper into the general population. I began to believe that product recyclability and improved food product wholesomeness [...]

January 17, 2016 8

CLOS DE L’OURS: A CONVERSATION WITH CO-OWNER MICHEL BROTONS

Barely three years old, this winery was recently included in “Les domaines incontournable en Provence” in [...]

January 1, 2016 20

2015 THROUGH THE LENS OF MY WINE GLASS

2015 was a good year. Brilliant clarity and great depth. Intense bouquets segueing into a well-balanced product with layers of complexity. A lingering finish, imploring the reader, we hope, to return for more in 2016. Provence WineZine is still young but we have great promise [...]

December 5, 2015 7

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Muscat Love

It's been twelve months of Provençal wine and food pairings now, and I imagine you have seen some patterns. I love pairing special meals with special wines, and sharing the experiences with special people. Which makes me chuckle when I think of how the French use the descriptor "special" in not so nice a way. «Ouai, ça c'est très SPECIAL...» But, I digress... [...]

November 1, 2015 27

Musings of a Wine Maven
BARREL TASTING CONTINUES IN FRANCE NOTWITHSTANDING THE ENTENTE CORDIALE

It’s funny how one can misconstrue history, imagining the raison d’être of certain events to be one thing, and then being surprised to learn that reality is quite different. Such was the case when I moved to France in 1988. At that time, I was vaguely aware of some sort of official agreement between the French and the English termed the Entente Cordiale. At the time I did not realize it was originally a alliance pertaining to political and military relations, rather assuming the document was drafted and accepted (in 1904) to signal a new era of conviviality between two nations that shared a 1,000 year history of dislike, bordering [...]

October 17, 2015 50

THE PASTAGA OF LÉOUBE

In August of last year, Château Léoube’s Secret de Léoube was given a shout by Drinks Magazine, having placed in the gold medal tier of their 2014 Global Rosé Masters wine tasting competition with such local Provence favorites as Château d’Esclans and Mirabeau en Provence. Embarrassingly enough, having lived only an hour away for years, I had been blissfully ignorant of this domain. As Provence [...]

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