Grenache

March 5, 2022 2

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Gruntled with Grenache

Pleased. Satisfied. Contented. Those are quotidian words describing one of my favorite not-so-quotidian words: gruntled. And I was fully gruntled with this 2017 Grenache from Kitá Winery in Lompoc, California. Sadly, I am disgruntled to have learned recently that this winery is closing.

They are the makers of the one and only Sauvignon Blanc that I have actually liked. No, not liked — loved! Their Chardonnay is truly excellent. I think Kitá vintner Tara Gomez is brilliant, as are her wines. And this Grenache is no exception. The good news is that I was able to find quite a few bottles of this wine still available... [...]

February 5, 2022 10

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Dinner with Friends

I know that “zoom fatigue” is a real thing, but if you want to see your close friends who live 3,000 miles away, a Zoom dinner is an absolute joy!

We have really missed seeing Susan and Towny these past couple of years because of COVID, but we talk to them as often as we possibly... [...]

May 1, 2021 3

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Baby, It’s Cold Outside

As you know from Susan’s recent articles (“A Perfect Storm” and “Fear and Angst”), the Southern Rhône Valley has had a really tough time of it lately. Long, drawn out freezes have severely affected the vines, which will affect CDR wines for years to come. Today, to show support of vintners from that region, I am pairing my meal with a... [...]

April 27, 2021 2

“A PERFECT STORM” HITS THE SOUTHERN RHÔNE VALLEY VINEYARDS

The French language is usually where we turn for precise (and typically ingenious) expressions to describe almost any situation. In the case of the historic April frosts that severely impacted vineyards from Champagne to Provence, the French might borrow one from the English language. A perfect storm...

[...]

January 27, 2018 18

DOMAINE RICHEAUME: TAKING THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Sylvain Hoesch was not going to be a winemaker. “No,” he answered, rather emphatically for a man who seemed to have such a quiet demeanor. “I was sure I was going to do something else.” Hoesch grew up on Domaine [...]

August 15, 2017 5

DECODING CÔTES DE PROVENCE ROSÉ

There are still people out there who think that rosé comes from blending red and white wines and others who (seriously) think rosé is made from a single grape variety called rosé. This article focuses on the traditionally dry, fresh, fruit-forward, pale-colored rosés [...]

April 2, 2016 34

Musings of a Wine Maven
HENRI BONNEAU, le DERNIER ADIEU

I arrived at No. 35 Rue Joseph Ducos just in time to watch five men, led by son Marcel Bonneau, carry the casket of legendary winemaker Henri Bonneau (1938 - 2016) from his long-time home to the 11th-century church Nôtre-Dame-de-l’Assomption, across the street. In moments, it seemed, the casket had been carefully placed in the center aisle in front of the altar. That was March 26th.

Just five days earlier, I had been in Châteauneuf-du-Pape with business associate Jacques Navarre; it was one of the stops on our ten-day visit to wine producers in Burgundy and the Rhône Valley. I had not anticipated returning to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, yet when I heard the news that Monsieur Bonneau had died, I immediately [...]

March 5, 2016 6

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Wine for Food

I was perusing the rosé section at Total Wine last weekend in search of a bottle to have with my Moroccan harira, a soup I enjoyed when traveling in Morocco in 1991. The thing I love about winter - even here in Tucson - is that the stock of rosé wines is good. But this is also dismaying to me, as people - people who should know better - say [...]