What's Going On in the World of French Wines

I can’t believe that today is Halloween. It seems like just yesterday I was writing a post about Labor Day celebrations. Maybe it is true that, as you get older, time seems to move more quickly. I’ve always loved Halloween, but I have to admit that this year I am feeling more than a little unprepared. I’m still scrambling to get Peter’s costume together and while I did manage to buy the requisite candy supplies, I don’t have any of my decorations up around the house. And of course, I haven’t figured out what to do about a costume for myself, either.

I have been thinking about what it would take for me to go as a wine snob…maybe a copy of the Wine Advocate in my bag, along with an empty bottle of a recent 100 point wine and a sommelier’s tastevin around my neck. But trying to come up with other identifying characteristics stumped me. So, now it’s back to the drawing board.

But one thing I do have all set are the wines I am going to have on hand for when my friends stop by tonight. I’ve selected three wines for folks to choose from – after all, the kids can’t have all the treats! I’ve got the Moet & Chandon White Star and the Castelnau de Suduiraut 2003 Sauternes in the fridge chilling – both are wines with some sweetness (the Sauternes more so than the Champagne) and so appropriate for the sugar-filled extravaganza that is Halloween. But just in case, I also have a red wine picked out –Jean-Luc Colombo’s Les Abeilles Côtes du Rhône. I think it will be a good wine for enjoying on a cool Fall evening.

And, if I can get my act together (in between trying to finish Peter’s costume and running some errands), I am also going to try to make butternut squash soup for dinner. Normally I would opt for pumpkin soup on Halloween, but I happen to have 2 beautiful butternut squashes on hand and a recipe courtesy of the chef from the wine dinner I did at Macy’s Cellar a few weeks ago. The soup he made that night was outstanding and I have been dying to try to duplicate it. Plus, I have a nice Riesling I picked up at the wine store recently that I want to try to pair with it. I’ve served Chardonnays the last few times I have made a dish with butternut squash in it and I want to see how the taste of the soup changes with a different wine.

By the way – for all of you who end up with a lot of chocolate candy after the evening is over, I highly recommend picking up a bottle of Banyuls – now that is one wonderful treat. Banyuls is a sweet fortified wine made from Grenache (it is a little bit like Port) and it is, no trick, PERFECT with chocolate. Two to look for are the Les Clos de Paulilles Banyuls and M. Chapoutier’s Banyuls.

As always, drop me a line and let me know if you are planning on serving any wines for Halloween and if so, what are they? And if you have any last minute suggestions for my wine snob costume, I am all ears!

Cheers!

Update: Well, maybe I will have to go with the wine snob idea next year…I managed to find a nun’s costume and decided to go with that. Peter went as a Wizard (and he was being a bit of a grumpy wizard when this picture was taken). Here we are in front of the fire engine that came to visit our neighborhood parade before we started our trick ‘r treating.

This episode covers our evening and dinner at the Jules Verne on the second floor of the Eiffel tower. We caught many of the dishes that we had but missed a few. The view on Paris was amazing and the meals delicious!

Well dinner last night was lots of fun – the chef did a great job of pairing the wines with the meal. The JJ Vincent Marie Antoinette Pouilly Fuissé with the speck covered salmon was especially delicious. And I can’t say enough good things about the dessert – it was out of this world! A frozen banana praline soufflé – wow, what an amazing combination of flavors!

Right now I am on my way back into the city for a Burgundy tasting which should be very interesting. The winemaker is going to discuss the wines as we taste and I am looking forward to hearing his take on the harvest. I’ll definitely post my thoughts on the tasting later this week. Tonight Peter and I are heading back to Durham (the weather here has been terrible though, so I have my fingers crossed that the delays aren’t too bad) and tomorrow is a very big day – I’m going to go vote.

North Carolina has early voting and since I will be back up in NY next week for another dinner (this time at Café Centro – click here for more information) and won’t get home until Tuesday evening, I want to make sure I get my voting done early. I’ve just about finished all of my research and decided who I will vote for (a special thanks to my friend Robin for providing me with so much excellent information of each candidate), so I think I am ready to go tomorrow morning and cast my ballot. I’m pretty excited – there is something very powerful about being able to vote and have your voice heard.

Speaking of voting and letting your voice be heard, in the spirit of the election, I am running my very own “Decision ’08” poll right here on the blog. Here’s your opportunity to cast a most tasty and delicious ballot! Click on the Decision ’08 button (at the top of the sidebar on the right) and it will take you right to the voting page. I want to know all about what wines you will be drinking on November 4th!

And while you are at it, how about expressing your opinions on your favorite French wines, too? I’m starting to look for great French wines to be included in my Top Picks for 2009 and I want to know if you have any wines you would like to nominate. The only qualification is that they be under $25 – so go ahead, nominate your favorite wine for ’09 and let your voice be heard!

This video starts as we travel from Beaune to Paris. After arriving we grabbed a quick lunch and then took the Cityrama tour of Paris which I wanted to share a bit of. I will apologize in advance for the shaky and poor quality of the video as it was difficult to record from the bus. There is also not much explanation of the views as the only audio available was through a headset. This part ends with some shots of the Louvre from the courtyard.

Rushing through the grocery store yesterday, I happened to spy a bottle of the 2007 Louis Jadot Mâcon-Villages on the shelf. I’ve always enjoyed the Jadot wines and find them to be a pretty good value, so I was very interested to taste the new vintage of the Macon-Villages.

I am finally just about all set up in the new kitchen, so I will admit I did entertain a few brief fantasies about cooking some sort of elaborate meal to pair with the wine. However, one thing after another seemed to crop up last night and suddenly it was after 8 and dinner was not even close to being ready.

So, we decided to simplify the menu and grill some chicken breasts seasoned with salt, pepper, mustard, white wine vinegar and olive oil. I made a small salad of mixed greens, cucumbers and toasted pecans and threw together a simple vinaigrette. In the mood for something else, I used the leftover canned diced tomatoes and mozzarella that I had used when making Peter’s dinner and added them to some orzo (chosen because it takes only about 10 minutes to make). I worried slightly that the tomatoes might not pair so well with the Chardonnay, but I figured it might be worth a shot.

Haphazardly planned as it was, our “quick to the table” dinner was actually very tasty. I had added some walnut oil to the salad dressing and the nuttiness was delicious with the chicken. The wine had a bright citrus and green apple note to it that balanced the oil and enhanced the flavor of the chicken. The orzo, while very tasty, was an ok pairing with the wine. I would have probably been better off if I had added in some different seasonings, but all in all, the wine did stand up to the tomatoes better than I thought it would. The bright acidity of the wine and the tangy nature of the tomatoes when combined with the chicken and the salad made for a very pleasurable mix of flavors.

So keep an eye out for the Jadot Mâcon-Villages 2007 – it is a very food friendly and enjoyable wine and, as evidenced by my meal, a wine that can pair well with almost anything you can throw together in the kitchen!

 
Wow – where has October gone? I can’t believe that we are just about to head into the last week in October. Halloween, which is one of my very favorite holidays is only a week away! And I still don’t have my costume sorted out. Or my son’s for that matter…if you have any suggestions, please feel free to email me!

But speaking of the last week of October, I just wanted to let you all know that I will be hosting another wine dinner in NY on Monday, October 27th at Brasserie 8 ½. The last two wine dinners (the pictures are here) conducted up in NY were so much fun that I can’t wait for this one. The dinner will feature wines from some of my very favorite French winemakers and the menu looks fantastic (dessert is a frozen banana praline soufflé – how good does that sound???). So head on over HERE to make your reservations. I hope to see you there!

This is the last of the three videos that make up day 12. It is my personal favorite and highlights our visit to the Damy cooperage (barrel maker). I felt like I was shooting an episode of How It’s Made.

As you will see in the video, much of the work is still done by hand with some help from modern machinery. You can get more information on the process and some higher quality videos at http://damy-cooperage.com/index-gb.htm.

If you missed it, Part 1 covered our tour to the Fallot Mustard Factory and Part 2 covered the tour of the Hospices de Beaune.

I had the pleasure today of conducting a tasting of French wines for an all-female audience in San Francisco. It was fun to have the opportunity to meet so many wine knowledgable and enthusiastic women. We tasted through a very wide range of wines and while they were all very good, several of them showed especially well. Some of my favorites from the tasting included: the Pierre Boniface Apremont 2007, a wine from the Savoie made from the Jacquere grape (think light, delicate, citrus and green apple fruit notes – a great alternative to Pinot Grigio), a Rosé d’Anjou from Sauvion that was off-dry (it had a little bit of residual sugar) with very refreshing acidity and bright strawberry fruit and also a 2005 Bordeaux from Château de Clairfont in Margaux (the second label of Château Prieuré-Lichine), at around $25, talk about an outstanding value!

As part of my seminar I included a little quiz about women in the wine industry and I thought you all might be interested in the questions. I’ll reveal the answers on the blog on Wednesday and if you have a good wine trivia question, I invite you to submit it to me for posting on the blog in the next few weeks.

Here’s the quiz – get those number 2 pencils ready!

1. This woman is credited with the invention of the riddling process of remuage.

2. This woman was the first resident American to pass the Master of Wine exam.

3. This woman was the first non-trade person to pass the Master of Wine exam in 1984. She is also an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

4.  It used to be believed that a woman was capable of turning wine into vinegar if she entered a winery while…

5.  Supposedly, this woman’s breasts served as the model for the creation of Champagne coupes.

6. This woman was the first to build and operate a winery in California (hint, the winery is now Freemark Abbey).

7. This woman’s marriage to Henry, Duke of Normandy (later Henry II) in 1152 created a lasting connection between England and Bordeaux.

8. This woman’s groundbreaking work on grape DNA has helped to identify the parentage of several major grapes.

9. This famous Bordeaux château owner once acted under the stage name of Philippine Pascale.

10. This English Queen was known for her love of “hock” wine.

Cheers!

The second part covers the tour of the Hospices de Beaune. There are some more images of the town that were shot as we headed back to our car. The architecture is amazing and the story is interesting as well. Click on the video below to see the tour!

Day 12 was a really full day so it had to be split into three videos. This is part 1 which is the shortest of the three and covers our tour to the Fallot Mustard Factory. I love Dijon mustard so was looking forward to it and was not disappointed. The lighting on the tour was very dark so most of it did not turn out.

The three points I found most interesting was where 98% of the mustard seed comes from, how they grind the seeds, the same method used for hundreds of years, and how the mustard gets it’s characteristic hot flavor.