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Category Archives: FRANCE
Right vs. Left: Banking on Bordeaux, 2010
When Sonny Bono died in 1998, the public pointed to an old superstition: Celebrities tend to die in trees. Gratefully, Harrison Ford survived; otherwise we’d have to hear them go on about how celebrities tend to die in fores. In … Continue reading
Chassagne-Montrachet And Hyphen-Mania
In Burgundy’s Côte d’Or, attaching a big, famous name to your own plebian, obscure name has been an effective technique in the never-ending wine hustle. So much so, in fact, that négociants often purchase the local hyphen supply en primeur, … Continue reading
Nuits-St-Georges Aux St. Jacques: Odoul’s With An ABV
A spitball’s throw away from the hallowed estates of Vosne-Romanée lies the somewhat less hallowed estates of Nuits-St-George, but the difference in prestige (and price) may be comparable to Prince Fielder’s salary in 2015 and Jackie Robinson’s in 1957. It’s … Continue reading
Côte-Rôtie: Prost! To The Roast With The Most
Among their myriad character flaws, the French are ludicrously and endlessly poetic. Thus, the Northern Rhône appellation Côte-Rôtie, which receives an inordinate amount of sunshine, has a name translated as ‘The Roasted Slope’. And since that’s not quite poetic enough … Continue reading
The Fourth Monkey: Pineau Evil
If my description of the following Pineau des Charentes is so passionate that you feel a Svengali-like drive to go buy some, better hurry. The hand-numbered bottle I tried was listed 885/900. Bottom of the barrel takes on a whole … Continue reading
‘Garagista’ = Pretentious; ‘Garrigue’, Not
When I taste wine, I tend to verbalize a lot. I say things that may wind up in my tasting notes, but at the moment may sound like disjointed babble coming from a mentally-unhinged street person. And not just any … Continue reading
Corsica: Napoleon’s Vinous Dreamscape
If you took the eno-expertise of France and blended it with the climate of the Italian Riviera and stirred in the heritage of Greece, you might suppose that you’d just created vine Valhalla—a test tube appellation with Goldilocks conditions where … Continue reading
Bourgogne Passetoutgrain: Gamey Gamay
Pinot Noir doesn’t need my stamp-of-approval of course, but Gamay is a groovy grape that occasionally wears a stamp-of-ignominy because of Beaujolais Nouveau—which I also like—and which, in any case, is as absurd as dissing Zinfandel because of Sutter Home. … Continue reading
Posted in Burgundy, BY VARIETAL, FRANCE, Gamay, Gamay, Uncategorized
Tagged Domaine Arnoux Père et Fils, passetoutgrains
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Life’s A Bubble: Sparkling New Thoughts, Fizzy New Year
In the week before Christmas and New Year’s, it is customary to write a column about Champagne and related species. And doing what is expected, occasionally a thorn in the paw of creativity, also keeps us focused in this time … Continue reading
L’Enfant Jésus: Good to the Beaune
Everything about Burgundy is eternal; nothing about Burgundy is predictable. Except for one thing: The Little Drummer Boy could not have afforded L’Enfant Jésus. When I was a fledgling fan of French phantasmagora, I used to use the mnemonic Beaune—pronouced … Continue reading