Lourdes of the Vine

les larmes tombent dans la nuit comme les gouttes de pluie sur la fenêtre.

this lovely wine is made of 100% Lacrima.  A grape that is said to get it’s name from the fact that the skin ruptures easily, causing juice to “weep” out onto the other grapes in the bunch. Being in the melo-dramatic mood that I am in (this weather does not help) I decided to taste this ‘tear’…

Glad I did, immediately the aromas of this wine are really unlike other wines I’ve had recently.  It has a very intense floral scent that reminds me of dried crushed roses and such.  It has a damn deep purple hue to it.  To me, it is medium bodied with the suttlest hint of tannin, flowery flavors (that def coincide with the aromatics), also some hints of spice there and an acidity that goes down rather smoothly.  I still can’t believe the aromas in this wine…really fun. 

Lacrima di Morro d’Alba $17 availabe chez Madame Claude Wine

(this post was drafted sometime last week when it was rainy and gross…feeling not so melo-dramatic anymore…just sweaty..hehe)

(warning: my newest obsession is with an enchantingly haunting television series, Game of Thrones (on HBO, Sunday evenings at 9pm) so I apologize for my “language” in this blog entry…I now randomly speak in a british accent with some medieval times flair)

now, on to thy wine…

yesterevening i opened a delightful white wine, new to the shop.  

Thou name is Noblesse d’Aziaum and she hails from the north, north-east Francelandia to be exact, in the chateau-filled, wonderous wine-making region that is the Valley of the Loire. It is the third wine we carry from the much esteemed producer, Pascal Pibaleau.  A noble gentleman that I had the opportune fortune to meet just a few weeks back.

This particular wine is a dry version of pure Chenin Blanc.  Hints of honey and a white flowery aroma followed by really yummy flavors of mineral and lemon. A crisp wine that is such a delight….this wine is perfect for warm, sunny days like these with cheese and crackers or all things seafood and grilled asparagus!

this wine will hold a seat in my court, and most definitely NOT at the Jest’s table…okay i’ll stop..anyways, my deepest of gratitudes for reading mee lords and ladies…à la votre…

la noblesse avec her noblesse…$17 at Madame Claude Wine

…shameless plug…next Madame Claude Wine Class will take place April 30th…click link for more deets…merci et bisous à tous!

WINE CLASS NUMBER 4! 

back to the blog…its been a while…let’s see if I still know how to do this…

the other night I opened up a wine that has inspired my next WINE CLASS topic: Languedoc/Rousillon and Provence.  I studied French in the south of France, so i’m partial to this area and really cannot wait to go back. There is a rich history in these regions and they have a specific soil and climate that attributes to some really fantastic wines nowadays, not how they were viewed in old days…okay now to the wine…i’m going to save the facts for class…

…zee name of zee wine is Clot del Pila and it hails from zee Côtes du Roussillon appellation in South East Francelandia.

For 12 american dollars, lemme tell you, this wine is a delight. It’s light and fresh, with some hints of spicy herbs. This comes from the special terroir the grapes are grown in. Les cépages (grapes) dans ce vin sont: grenache, syrah, and carignan. Like myself, it’s not super complex but its pretty true to self and authentic to this wine-making region (sometimes I now refer to myself in wine-speak, weird, I know).

Overall, it goes down easy and I can assume it will pair quite nicely with a cheese/saucisson plate or even with some pasta with my Nani’s special tomato sauce (okay GUILTY, i actually paired it with these dishes and both matched really well). I’d also pair it with Rabbit à la Provençal or grilled veggies…

Come by the shop to pick up this beautiful wine…I guarantee it will not disappoint! 

it’s a 2010…

there is just so much yet do be done!

one day at a time…one day at a time.

ha no I didn’t really come back from Spain, that would’ve been a hoot! I really mean I’m coming back from my buzz of teaching a wine class ABOUT Spanish wines. Boy was it fun! My students were great, the wine showed exceptionally well and the Tapas provided by my lovely patrons were DE-LISH!  

Don’t feel left out though! I have a complete list of all the wines we tried and if you are interested in finding out a little more about the wines we tasted and trying them for yourself, come down to the shop and I will show you the Spanish way… 

This is what I am working towards folks! If you would’ve told me four years ago that I’d actually be teaching classes about WINE, I would’ve done one of those funny moves you see in sitcoms and movies where the person takes a sip and spits it out in astonishment, confusion, and yes of course for a good laugh…stay tuned I’m gonna get back to talking about our wines soon, I promise.

and so it goes friends….another wine class for the ages….Vins d’Espagne! SI SI SI!

this wine business can get a little daunting sometimes.  fun most of the time, sure, overwhelmingly intimidating other times, YES. and that intimidation set sail in the sea of my mind yesterday when i found myself in a huge crowd of men and women, all “experts” with “years experience” in this tasty industry compared to my measly 1.5 year term in the biz…

it was a distributor portfolio tasting at the Metropolitan Pavillion in NYC. a short VESPA ride from our lovely shop, it is, and le patron and I, learning from our past experiences at these things, went in with a game plan: TRY WINES WE ARE SEARCHING FOR/NEED TO ADD TO OUR STORE. ha so much for that, eh nah we weren’t so bad getting off track. here’s a peak as to how it all went down…

show start/anticipated arrival time: 11am, ya know, to “beat the rush”. ACTUAL arrival time: 11:30am. the rush we had hoped to avoid, totally there already. all of them. i have to say though we made fine time, and fine choices to add to the shop…stay tuned for the newbies…well i will let you all know when the new wines arrive…they are delicious, and…delicious…

wine tasting, the official way…

what a weekend packed with live music, good times, and great oldies…allow me to recap…

Saturday night, after a lovely day working chez Madame Claude Wine, I went to see one of my favorite bands, Tennis, play live for the first time since discovering them. Let it be known, they are truly a delight and I’ve had their songs stuck in my head all weekend and I am inspired to learn the keyboard even more so….anyways, wake up Sunday to pancake dreams, an important Manchester United VICTORY, knitting the heck out of my new scarf, cooking dinner and FINALLY drinking some VINO…drumroll please…

…The wine of choice was a DOLCETTO DI DOGLIANI 20009 a flavorful yet light Italian wine that hails from the Piedmont Region of bella Italia.  It is made from 100% Dolcetto and lemme tell you my friends, its DOL-LICIOUS…okay that was bad but anyways…

j’ai cuisiné Gnocchi served with a Pancetta, Mushroom, Spinach, and Tomato Sauce and a side of Butternut Squash/Potato Gratin…yes yes i know this was a POTATO OVERLOAD but I really had my heart set on making both dishes and luckily my lovely dinner guests, Steve and Laura, didn’t mind the starch times 1,000…leave it to me to take one ingredient idea and run with it….needless to say we were all pretty satisfied by meal’s end and the WINE really helped with digesting it all AND, BONUS, it paired swimmingly with the meal… go me!

here are some tasting notes i wrote down in my mind:

Dolcetto’s light to medium body and fruity characteristics (cherry, raspberry) went well with the acidity/mild sweet-ness and savory-ness of the sauce I concocted…also, when I followed a bite of the dish with a swig of the wine it brought about a very nice peppery undertone that just tasted damn delicious…neither the wine or food were lost against one another… they were just lovely together, which should always be considered when pairing food and wine…check this beauty out with your next Gnocchi/Italian inspired meal…

“just put some dolcetto with my potato” 

i cook…lovely apron courtesy of my awesome boss!

HOLY POTATO

the star of it all….$14 chez Madame Claude Wine

…à la votre. 

is there an Austrian theme goin’ on in this blog?! hmm…well yes there is chap, frankischly (ha get it?) because there is definitely something to be said about these cold weather reds…

once again the hills are alive, but this time with the taste of good ole blaufrankisch! it’s always great especially when I supply the wine and my dearest roommate supplies the dine…on the menu: homemade chili à la jon boy!

with just the right amount of spice and consistency, this dish went swimmingly with the fruity flavors and light spice of this little “winter red wine”.

no tannin with great finesse and all-around tastiness, this wine is a definitely going to be a staple in my imaginary wine fridge also at my spring and summer backyard shindigs..(which frankischly you are all invited too…ha okay I’ll stop)

but one more thing…blaufrankisch, not only are you a pleasure to say (blou-frank-ish) you are lovely to drink, PROST!….available at Madame Claude Wine for $18 american dollars!!

à la votre.

this was take 543…oh jeez.