Posts belonging to Category Provence

As though there were no red wines for hot days and warm nights summertime is allegedly for fresh white wines and sparkling fruity wines like Moscato d’Asti. NOT. There are beefy and manly pinks and there are also Pinot Noir and Beaujolais that work in the 80s at 8:00. Sometimes you even find a 21 year old memory on your table in front of you. Here are several of da kine.
2007 M. Chapoutier Belleruche Cotes du Rhone $14: tBoW does not see pink wine from this mainline Rhone producer so we had to give it a try. Mostly Grenache and Syrah. Alcohol in the nose and mouth (level is a bit high for pink) but plenty of fruit. Reminds me of the 2006 St Andre. 13.5% (more…)

Ros√©, Moscato d’Asti, fresh fruity bracingly acidic and low alcohol white wines. These are summer wines we have learned to adore. And every summer brings a new batch. What is it about summer wines that seem so fresh and new soon as the weather gets hot? As Dotor√© might say these are the best days of the year. (more…)

It is a very good weekend when jazz at the Hollywood Bowl is followed by visiting art studios in Topanga Canyon. The show at the bowl was better than anticipated. Women artists dominated on stage and in the studios. At the jazz festival Esperanza Spalding, the 24 y.o. singing bassist, was the most anticipated “find”. (more…)

The summer is drawing to a close. As we hang onto the last warm evenings now mingled with some cool-ness we rush to determine which have been the greatest Rosés of our Summer 2007 Festival of the Pank. Here are a few candidates recently compared.
2006 Cotes de Provence Chateau du Rouet Cuvee Reserve Tradition $12: Good wine to start the evening. Orange copper color. Dry with strawberries in mouth. Easy drinker without much finish. 60% Grenache 40% syrah. 12.5%. (more…)

I just watched David Mac’s vid once more, this time with peewee (darling daughter) and he inspired me to put this post out that has been marinating in my brain the past week. I have several topics including the “attack” bit, taking “no-wine-over-$20″ too far, and whatever else spills forth.
Taste enough wine, read enough tasting notes and you will come across something like “on the attack the wine showed forward fruit with firm grip”. What up with “the attack”? Never got this. Makes me think the taster plays alot of chess. Tasting wine requires a field of reference. If you are a competitive chess player when you choose to go on the attack is very important, downright strategic. I guess a real chess-playing, wine-taster would also have a place for putting the other tasters in mate. The ultimate move might be saying something so cool and sufficiently summative the other tasters simply tilt their collective kings. (more…)