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Tag: Wine bars

Choose a village and go. (winefolly.com)

Provence is the Source of Some Great Wines

September 2, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Provence. Saying that word makes me happy, because I’ve spent some great days and nights there, days and nights that included, of course, some superlative food and wine (not mention landscapes and views). Escargot, lamb, salade niçoise, soup au pistou … merely typing the names of those foods causes my mouth to water.

Today I’m writing about a recent tasting I conducted that was all about Provence, and while I was unable to venture to France, I did make some food to pair with the three wines that took my taste buds to the beloved region.

The wines — two bottles from Côtes de Provence and one Coteaux Varois en Provence AOP — were opened and tasted on the same evening, and I paired them with a variety of cheeses and olives, duck sausage, a bit of basil pesto and bread, and grilled lamb chops.

First up, Domaine de la Sanglière‘s Prestige Blanc, made from 100 percent Rolle. The Domaine de la Sanglière is a perfect apéritif, and is full of citrus and floral loveliness, bouquet- and palate-wise. Pale straw in color, redolent of honeysuckle, a hint of red grapefruit, and a nice touch of vanilla. The Sanglière sees six months in oak, and it seemed made for the chèvre we served. Its generous, agile mouthfeel proceeds to a crisp finish. Serve this around 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and drink now.

From Provence come some fine wines.

Next up, the 2015 L’Oratoire from Domaine Saint Andrieu (AOP Coteaux Varois en Provence), which is made of 51 percent Syrah and 49 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. If you are fond of spicy notes, then you’ll want to get a bottle of this wine. The soils from which this one comes are dominated by clay and limestone; a mild and wet spring, followed by a hot and dry summer, led up to a September 2015 harvest. The duck sausage we paired with the L’Oratoire was an inspired choice; the earthiness of the duck was lifted by the spicy richness of the wine, and the flavors of both were enhanced. This wine is drinking well now, so open and enjoy.

Domaine Saint Andrieu is certified to be High Environmental Value by the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food, so if that is something on which you place value (and we all should), that’s another reason to try a bottle. According to French guidelines, HEV encompasses biodiversity conservation, plant protection strategy, managed fertilizer use and water resource management. It aims to identify and promote particularly environmentally friendly practices applied by farmers and winegrowers. The certification ensures that the “factors for biodiversity, such as hedges, trees, strips of grass, flowers and insects, is widespread throughout the vineyard and that the stress applied to the environment through farming practices is kept to a minimum.”

Finally, we come to the 2014 La Bravade from Chevalier Torpez (AOP Côtes de Provence). It was born for the lamb chops we grilled (pan-seared with nothing but salt, olive oil, garlic, and a touch of butter). This wine is 50 percent Grenache, 20 percent Syrah, 15 percent Carignan, and 15 percent Mourvèdre. In the glass, the La Bravade is deep cherry in color, nearly black. Aromas of cherry and other dark stone fruit dominate, with an undercurrent of raisin and a hint of cinnamon. 

Like kirsch? Then this wine will be on your “keeper” list, because that profile is remarkably evident on the palate. Mouthfeel here is rich and satisfying, and the tannins are supple at the finish. This vintage is reaching its peak, so drink now.

(This story was originally published at papercitymag.com.)

Want more wines? Check out my grape and spirits library at PaperCity:

An Irish Whiskey With a Caribbean Twist
A Syrah You’ll Love
Houston Sommelier Charms at River Oaks Restaurant
A Zinfandel for Daily Drinking
A Wine Family’s Excellent Adventure
Four Brothers and Some Great Young Wines
Your Endless Crush Rosé
Enrique Varela Loves Malbec
This Geologist Knows His Italian
A Chardonnay For Your Mother (and You)
Don’t Dismiss the Peat
Distinctive Whisky Enters a New Era
A Whisky Legend Visits Houston
A Rare Cask, Indeed
Austin Whisky, Strange Name
Here’s Your Texas Rum Goddess
A ZaZa Wine Guy Loves Great Service
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

A Perfect Day For a Tamalada, and Friends and Wine and Food

October 5, 2014 / / 0 Comments

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There are days that not only seem perfect, but are perfect. Yesterday was one of them. Sun was out, air was cool(er), light angled just so, slicing through the air with a briskness that spoke quietly of ease. On those type of days all I require is to be near good people and good food and wine. Simple, and honest. Nourishment for soul and body.

You don’t know how good homemade tamales are? Never made any? Angela and I did yesterday. She did. I watched and observed. We joined in a tamalada at Sylvia’s. Sylvia Casares, AKA Enchilada Queen, shared her method with us, told us stories of her days spent working in a lab for the Mars corporation, how a stranger on a plane gave her the final push she needed to follow her dreams and how she opened her first restaurant and how it feels to now operate three and what she felt like when the bullet entered her abdomen and she knew she would not die in that way. Not that way.

A woman of taste and substance.

Sylvia Casares, a woman of taste and substance.

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A pork butt and a guisado were cooking, their aromas filling the room. Masa was being mixed, husks were steaming. You know those scents? They have the ability to make one happy. The masa was delivered to our table and Angela and Jack and Sally set to making tamales. It was a tamalada, and Sylvia told us about her father and the recipes her grandmother passed down.

Angela makes a mean tamale.

Angela makes a mean tamale.

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Masa is putty in their hands.

Masa is putty in their hands.

The day continued and Angela and I sat in the sun and drank some rosé and talked and watched people live their lives and go back and forth toward their happiness and desires.

Judy smiles at Brockhaus.

Judy smiles at Brockhaus.

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Jack mesmerizes the Brockhaus table.

We had been invited to a dinner that evening by Russ and Judy, two people with whom Angela and I share a passion for food, wine, and travel. I was not aware that it was a 10-course meal with wine pairings, for 10, but I certainly did not mind when I discovered it was so. We had scallops and duck and foie gras mousse and some Catena and Hunt Cellars (a 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon that Russ had given Angela for her birthday). We spoke of empanadas and Brockhaus and heard a tale about a tasting of some 1945s. We toasted Russ and Judy and left the table happy and sated.

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Duck sofrito …

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A scallop is never a bad thing.

One final venue made the evening complete. Russ and Judy had never been to Camerata, so we took them there and shared a bottle of my favorite wine (favorite now and for about the past year). You can see a photo of the bottle at the beginning of the tale of a perfect day.

What I’m Drinking Now (And It Takes Me Back to Paris)

August 30, 2014 / / 0 Comments
Made in California, but it took me to France. (Brockhaus Photo)

Made in California, but it took me to France. (Brockhaus Photo)

Every now and then I come across a wine that transports me, that at first taste takes me to a place I want to be. It happened a few evenings ago, and I have Vanessa Treviño-Boyd to thank for the brief excursion of the mind and spirit. I was sitting at the bar at 60 Degrees Mastercrafted, where Treviño-Boyd is the beverage director and sommelier, and she brought me a bottle of Lieu Dit, a 2013 Melon. The producer describes it this way:

From old vines planted in the early 70’s, this block grows on sandy soils in an exceptionally breezy part of Santa Maria Valley out at Bien Nacido vineyard. The fruit is pressed, fermented, and aged all in tank to ensure the minerality, freshness, and tension we look for when enjoying this variety.

It was crisp, balanced, and drinking it took me back to a little restaurant in the Fifth Arrondissement, at the top of Rue de la Montagne-Sainte-Geneviève, the street on which I lived. Several mornings each week a man would bring oysters he harvested to the restaurant, and I would go there and eat them as I stood on the sidewalk. If he was extremely busy, which he often was, I would shuck the oysters from Brittany at a small table outside the door of the restaurant, gathering a dozen or so on a plate before I ventured to begin my breakfast. With the briny wonders I drank, always, a wine that was from the Loire. I thought often of Hemingway, who had many times walked on that same sidewalk. Those mornings were beautiful. It was late fall, winter was coming on, and all was good with the world, at least on that small stretch of land in Paris.

I will be buying the Lieu Dit melon, a Brockhaus-approved wine, by the case, if I can find that much.

Photo(s) of the Day: Girona

August 3, 2014 / / 0 Comments
Youths of Catalunya

Youths of Catalunya

Boys

I was in Spain, and had driven from Barcelona to Girona, stopping for an impromptu lunch at Can Fabes along the way. Friends were preparing to open a wine bar/restaurant, Mon Oncle, in that little city with the river winding through it, and I wanted to visit them on my way to Provence. Mon Oncle is in an ancient square in Girona, and if you sit at one of its tables you will eat and drink well. It is run by good people. The boy on the left is the son of two of the owners, and he and his friend were busy with an iPad as the adults around them swept and cooked and composed menus.

Mon Oncle, or, a Wine Bar Opens in Girona

November 10, 2012 / / 4 Comments

I left Barcelona with wine on my mind and in the trunk of the car. I was headed to Girona, a city Angela and I had visited in 2011 (we had a reservation at El Celler de Can Roca). This time I was going to visit friends who lived there. They were opening a wine bar, and I thought it would be fun to observe their work and give them some help. I had taken a train from San Sebastien down to Barcelona, and, after a few meals and a night at Camp Nou seeing Messi & Co. work their magic, I rented a car and headed toward the ocean. (I did make one stop, for lunch, at Can Fabes, more on which later.) (Update: Here is the story of my afternoon at Can Fabes.)

Girona is a beautiful city, with a small river running through it. It is not far from the French border, and its people are fiercely independent. I had my trusty GPS unit, and had programmed into it the village in which my friend and her husband lived, about 20 minutes outside of Girona. They own an amazingly beautiful bed and breakfast in which I stayed one night during my visit, and I recommend it highly.

They were not home when I arrived, so I called and arranged to meet them in Girnona, near Mon Oncle, the name of the soon-to-open wine bar. It is in a building in a large open square, in the old district; in other words, a perfect location. Plenty of space for outdoor dining, for sitting and enjoying wine with friends.

When I reached the square, after a stroll along the river, Mon Oncle was abuzz with activity; Axel, one of the owners, was helping affix a sign to the building’s exterior, and his sister, Marie, and her husband were inside unloading supplies and going over inventory. I had not seen Axel since 2005, and the last time I saw Marie was in New York in 2002. We greeted and I told them I was available for work. We toasted with beers and I started helping ready chairs and tables for the square. Mon Oncle’s opening night was two days away, and cases of wine and water and beer were stacked inside the restaurant, ready for the open-house crowd that would gather to celebrate.

What occurred two days later was magical, and perfect. Hundreds of people showed up (even a group of drummers), and they drank and dined and danced and, in short, created the perfect atmosphere for the premiere of Girona’s newest wine bar.

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