Potter and Pinot

Fun Stuff:

If you did not see it already, scroll down a bit and see me as a Simpson's character. Funny ;)

I have not seen the Simpson's movie yet, but I did see the Harry Potter movie and I am reading the final book in the Harry Potter series. Claudia and I went to see the fifth Harry Potter movie, The Order of the Phoenix, at the "local" drive-in theater. In this case "local" means it is only thirty miles away.

Anyway, the drive-in was kind of cool. I had never been to one before, and sadly it is the closest thing to the Alamo Drafthouse that we have. You can get crap to eat at the snack bar, but luckily they have no problem with customers bringing their own food in. On top of that awesome fact, the sound system is as good as you make it. The soundtrack is broadcast on a radio station, so it sounds as good as your stereo system can make it sound.

Oh yeah... the movie was fine.

The last book in the Harry Potter series, The Deathly Hallows, is pretty good so far, but I expect it to get much better. Claudia has already finished the book. We bought two because I did not want to wait for her to finish, and she will die of old age before I finish. I am special. I recommend the series for young and old.



Wine Stuff:

Mmmmm, Pinot Noir. LOOK AT THAT BURGUNDY COLOR AND CLARITY. It is so pretty.


I wrote about Burgundy (Bourgogne) not too long ago, well I just opened the first of the Burgundys that we brought back from France. While in France, I found that finding good Burgundy was no trivial task. Finding good value was even harder, so when I came accross this one, I was a little nervous. It had good reviews, but it only cost about 6 euro 50 cents. It is easy to find a decent Cotes Du Rhone for that, but Pinot is another story.

Well I lucked out, and that means that if you can find it here in the U.S. it will not be outrageously priced. This is a 2004 Bourgogne, Hautes Cotes de Beaune, Domaine du Clos Ministere.

The color, as I began to mention at the top, is a pale consistent ruby with no browning near the glass edges (signs of age). In the nose, the most obvious scent is young eucalyptus followed closely by car tire. Those come through at my storage temperature of 60 degrees F, but as it warms, the fruit starts to come out. Interestingly a little cinnamon peeks out from the notes of warm cherry pie. On the palette there is a high acidity and ripe tannin well ballanced with red fruits and herbal notes. It is only an 04', and I think it will reach its peak in another two or three years. It will probably stay there, happy to be drunk, for another five years.

happy drinking,
-PMo

The Simpson's Are Taking Over

Funn Stuff:
Here I am in all my Simpson's glory.

Wine Work and the Wine we Work for

Fun Stuff:

Today is a first because the “Fun” stuff is the same as the “Wine” stuff. For those who do not know it already, I do not want to be an engineer forever. My dream is to open a wine bar some day. Well, I finally started doing something related. I got a part-time job at one of the best New York wineries. The vineyard/winery is called Millbrook. It is the oldest in the Hudson valley producing vinifera varietals (European grapes).



I should learn a lot from this job, and the income, poetically, will go straight to the purchase of wine. I have only worked one day, but I learned a lot from the winery’s 23-year-old assistant wine maker. Nick is a CIA grad who knows about and loves wine. I am envious.



Wine Stuff:

So far, probably because it is summer, my favorite Millbrook wines are the Tocai Friuliano and the Proprietors Special Reserve Chardonnay. This Tocai, which has nothing to do with the Tokay d’Alsace (pinot grigio), is the most widely planted grape in the Friuli region of Italy. It is a great summer sipper, but it is also surprisingly versatile with food. It is not a sweet wine, but so fruity, that most confuse it for sweet. I know it is not sweet because it has less that 1% residual sugar after fermentation ;)

The PSR Chard has already become a staple at our house. It underwent barrel fermentation in 80% French oak and 20% American oak. The fruit was picked nicely ripe and is well balanced by the heavily-French oak aging/fermenting. I lean a bit French when it comes to oak, so this is right up my alley. I don’t know how easy this stuff is to find outside of NY, but I recommend it.



happy drinking,
-PMo

NYC and Paradis (Pronounced "pair-ah-dee")

Fun Stuff:

My brother Brian and our long-time friend Ben were in town visiting last week. Prior to their visit we had been into New York City three times, but while our guests were here we visited some of the major tourist attractions. We saw the statue of liberty, the museum of natural history, Times Square, the Neue Gallerie, and a few other small attractions. The statue of liberty was as impressive as you might expect, but I really liked the sculpture (on 6th ave, near 59th street), based on the 1932 photo of construction workers having lunch, taken by Charles C. Ebbets. Claudia is in love with the city, and I would rather live in Berlin ;)




Wine Stuff:

I liked the idea of my recent post which gave a brief bite of information as well as a blurb on a recently quaffed wine. I am going to try that again, and I would like to hear/read your thoughts on this style.

Oak… The final frontier… Just kidding. You are probably all dreading my exciting dissertation on cork, so I will save that for another day. Instead I will chat a little about oak.

What is the mystery with the oak barrels that are used to age wine? There is a ton of interesting (to me) information on this subject, but let’s distill it down to the most important factors. Oak is used for two things in the wine aging process:

• To change the character of the wine, i.e. taste, texture, aroma, color.
• The porous (though not too porous) nature of oak allows the slow oxidation of wine

The flavors, aromas, mouth feel, and color of wine can all be affected by oak because the oak barrels release substances into the wine during aging. The oxidation process assists in all of these things. There is, however, a lot of chemistry involved and not only are the details a little dry, but I am definitely no expert.

The last word is devoted to the battle between French and American oak. French oak barrels typically impart a more subtle oak flavor to the wine, and less vanilla flavor, while American oak is generally considered to add a more aggressive wood flavor. This is slowly changing in favor of American oak due to changes in production that help decrease the harsh flavors that American oak tends to produce. This is good for wine makers because American oak is a lot less expensive than French.

On to what I drank today

Tonight I had a 2005 Chateau Paradis that is made from 50% Sauvignon Blanc and 50% Grenache Blanc. The Sauvignon is aged in stainless steel while the Grenache sees some oak. My palette is probably not discerning enough to know, but my guess is that the wine is aged in second-use barrels for a fair amount of time. The oak is subtle but helps round out the aromas and gives the wine a nice creamy finish. The pairing of the two varietals is pleasant because I think the fruit forward tart character of the Sauvignon is well balanced by the less acidic, round, soft/sweet flavors of the Grenache. I think a wine like this goes well with grilled fish or chicken. I would recommend against sweet or spicy marinade because the tannins in the wine will be the only thing that stands up to the marinade. A glass full of tannins is no fun.

happy drinking,
-PMo

Local Crazies and Old Yellow Wine

Fun Stuff:

We have been getting to know our neighbors a bit lately. Like us, they like to sit on the porch and watch life go by while drinking a beverage.

They told us about the local "crazy" people. We use the term loosely here, as none of us have had a doctor examine the people in question. We have young crazy guy who carries a portable stereo and sings (to everyone presumably), crazy older guy who looks kinda like a mountain man or maybe he just has not seen a razor in ten years, crazy talking to herself lady who will surprise you during a run, and I am sure there are others we do not know about. That will change with time.

Gertie, by the way, tried to chase crazy older guy and one of the local villagers. Crazy older guy turned to face her, and she freaked out, while the local villager ran down the street with his young son freaking out. I pursued yelling "SHE IS NOT GROWLING, SHE IS JUST TRYING TO BREATHE!".

Wine Stuff:

Before I get into the wine I drank today, I want to introduce a wine that might not be very familiar to many. I have to talk about it because I recently learned how it is made, and the process stands out in a crowd.

There is a wine in France, from the Jura appellation, call Vin Jaune. The name translates to yellow wine, and it is typically made from the Savagnin grape. In recent years Jura has been producing Chardonnays made in similar fashion, but the Savagnin is somehow special.

In a nutshell:

• The grapes are picked when very ripe (as late as November)


• Fermentation is done in old oak casks and it take 6 YEARS and 3 MONTHS


• The wine undergoes slow fermentation wihtout topping off the cask


• Because the cask is not topped off, there is a large surface of yeast growth on the top of the wine protecting it from over-oxidation


• The process and flavor resembles sherry fino, and the wine is bottled in .62 l bottles. This is because, it is said, that for one liter of grape juice, only .62 l remain at the end of the process


• Vin Jaune, it is said, can be kept for 50 to 100 years (but not mine)


• This stuff tastes so good

So, I first learned about Jura when I was in Germany. I learned of a dessert wine that is also very interesting, but a story for another day.

I have never found Jura wines here in the U.S., though I am sure they exist. Please try to find one, and let me know what you think. Also, tell me where I can get more. I have only one bottle left from 1996 gifted to me by, obviously, a good friend in France.

On to what I drank today
I had another nice summer wine today from the finger lakes here in New York. It was a Seyval Blanc from the Glenora vineyard. I have to thank my new wine fridge for having the bottle ready for me at the right temperature. The nose is big and interesting, full of honey and a little apple. I doubt, however, that these notes would be evident if the bottle had come out of our normal refrigerator or if we had chilled it on ice. I recommend drinking at around 48 degrees F. The palette was first tart, then sour apple, then the medium length finish was granny smith apple. The advertised notes of vanilla and spice were almost undetectable to me.



happy drinking,
-PMo

Our Home and Not Wine

Fun Stuff:

In case you are wondering about our new home, here is a picture. We still consider Austin to be "home", so we are just renting for now. We are not renting this whole house though! We can barely afford to feed ourselves ;)



Claudia and I really like the place. The house is a 1920's Victorian with wood floors everywhere, a nice porch, spacious living dinning and bedrooms, a cute but tiny kitchen, small bathroom, and an extra room. Oh yeah, I should not forget the damp not-very-cool basement. No wine is going down there!

We are seven minutes walk to from the train station, and five minutes walk from main street. It's a great location.

Wine Stuff:

I do not only drink wine, though I get a lot of flack for being a beer hater. I am not actually a beer hater though... To me beer is like Modern art. I have a lot of respect for it, and can understand the statement the artist was trying to make when he painted the canvas solid white, but I am not going to buy it.

Actually I just do not like the taste of hops, and that is pretty much what beer is.

Which brings me to my point. I am currently drinking a Mike's Hard Crisp Apple, and on the bottle it reads "Flavored Beer" on the neck label, and "Malt Beverage" on the bottle label. Well, sure, beer is a malt beverage, but I am sure there is no hops in this stuff.

What is the world coming to when a label can be so misleading?!

Anyway, I drink Mike's various Hard Beverages, and so many other things it's not even funny.

Beer: a general name for alcoholic beverages made by fermenting a cereal (or mixture of cereals) flavored with hops

Malt: Malting is a process applied to cereal grains, in which the grains are made to germinate and then quickly dried before the plant develops

happy drinking,
-PMo

WOW! A Lot has Happened! The News and The First NY Wines

Fun Stuff:

Fun stuff might not be the right wording... A lot has happened since February. Of course, anyone might guess that "a lot" can happen in almost 4 months. Well I think I can trump the average story.

We were abruptly ripped from the comfortable womb of Grenoble, we moved back to Austin for a short time, long enough to get new embarassing clothing for Finn and Gertie, we bought a hybrid, we saw a beautiful midnight storm in El Paso from afar while visiting Claudia's family, we visited our nations capitol on the way to our new home, we moved into our new home in NY, and we bought something in which to keep all of our wine. In a nut shell.

BEAT THAT. (click on the picture to enlarge)



It has been a roller coaster ride until now, but we are settled into our new environment and it is growing on us. We have been into the big city a few times, and that is certainly a bonus. I think we can be happy here for a while.

Wine Stuff:

We were able to bring back a few more than ninety bottles of wine. We have wanted to get a wine fridge for a long time. So the wine import coupled with the desire to make it last urged the decision to finally get the fridge.

I will post images of our new digs soon, but suffice it to say, it is very "us". We are renting for now. We are not sure how long we will be here, and we need to determine where is the best place for us anyway. We live in Beacon now, and we like it. In fact, we grow more fond of it each day. We live within walking distance of Main street, food is good, and there are some good bars and coffee shops.

Some of our friends were the first to have a housewarming party, and on that ocassion, we were able to give some NY wine a try. The one wine I remember was actually owned by the NY winery, but produced in CA. It was a typical oaky chardonnay, that luckily had some fruit flavor behind the chunks of oak I was drinking. Actually not too bad if you are an oak lover. The same winery does a Burgundy style chard which should be much more subtle and interesting. I did not get to try this yet.

Tonight I am back to the old world. Italy to be specific. I just had a glass of 2005 Palagetto Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Vernaccia is the grape, and it is a wonderful summer wine. Light and tart with interesting undertones of nut. The finish is long with a surprise of grapfruit that shocks your tounge with its combination of tart and bitter.

San Gimignano is in the province of Siena in Tuscany. The vernaccia vines of San Gimignano are cultivated in their sandstone-based soil and the vines are likely unrelated to any other vernaccia. The wines from San Gimignano are DOCG status and there are references to vernaccia in the archives farther back than 700 years! This stuff is much more interesting than the common Trebbiano and Malvasia blends of Tuscany. Try to find some!

happy drinking,
-PMo

Cold White and Hot Red

Fun Stuff:

Winter arrived late in France. In fact, unlike in the U.S., it is still limping along. We had a good snow about four weeks ago, and we got some snow again today. I hope it sticks around for a little while. You have to go up to about 2000 meters to get freezing temperatures, and therefore, good snow for snowboarding.




These are the closest slopes to us. This is les Sept Laux (the seven lakes). There are plenty of better places in France, but we can get from our door to these slopes in 45 minutes. Most of that time is spent just driving up the mountain.

I have been learning to snowboard, and It is great fun. There is, however, a lot of falling involved. Snowboard falls are fast and violent. They just sneak up on you, and in the case of two of my friends, they break stuff. I hope to make it through the season without needing x-rays.

Wine Stuff:

Hot red wine is what winter is all about. No kidding. One of my favorite things about Europe is the Christmas markets. Every ten feet you can grab some hot mulled wine to tide you over until the next ten feet.

The French do a pretty good job, but the Germans do it the best. At any Christmas market in Germany, you can get your Gluewein spiked with rum, or amaretto, or basically anything alcoholic you can think of. If you are lucky enough to get invited to a German household around Christmas time, you might get the pleasure of participating in a feuerzangbowle. This is a traditional preparation of Gluewein. You create the wine mixture not unlike a sangria, only hot. Then you put it in a punch bowl, and place a firetongue, a simple metal bridge, over the bowl. Place a sugar cone on the tongue and soak it in rum of higher than 50% alcohol (for good burnin'). Light it up and let the sugar melt into the wine. If you have done a good job, the wine will catch fire too.

happy drinking,
-PMo

Bird Day: Day after Shopping and Day of Drinking

pre.s. I forgot to post the link to the images of our Turkey vacation. So in case you have not seen them yet, click here to check them out.

Fun Stuff:

First of all, if you are wondering if we will be giving thanks, i.e. Eating buttloads of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and cranberry sauce, this Thursday, the answer is no. We have differed that until Saturday. But do not shed a tear for us. We will, on Saturday, ingest enough tryptophan laced bird meat to put us in a coma until our next Thanksgiving in the U.S.

So, on to the subject at hand. How to conduct holiday shopping starting the day after turkey day. We all look forward to drive from home through hours of crazy mall-shopper traffic, the parking lot that we did not realize was so big, the joy of picking up interesting-looking garments from the floor where they have fallen after multiple removals and failed replacements to the rack, the inevitable good find in the wrong size with no similar garment of the correct size anywhere to be found, the line that goes out into the parking lot and all the way to your car which you know you will never find again, finally you pay for that ugly purple turtleneck that you are sure she won't like, but you don't care because... Oh crap! Forgot the receipt.

My recommendation is to avoid it all and shop on-line ;o)

Wine Stuff:

The big question, that I am sure is on everyone's mind right now, is what wine to drink with Thanksgiving dinner. The best thing to do, is to take stock of all your wine and spirits the day before Thanksgiving. Then on Turkey-day, DRINK IT ALL! Take inventory again the next day, and if you have anything left, you have something to improve upon for next year.



happy drinking and Turkey-day,
-PMo

Two-wheeled Monstors and Two-grape Wine Regions

Fun Stuff:

My first motorcycle ride in Europe happened two weeks ago. I am sorry to report that I was too excited to remember a camera. Nevertheless, the image below should give you some idea of how beautiful the ride was. The image on the left is a map of the road we took, and the right shows the area where that road is (you can't see it but it is there). On top of that, I got to ride a friend’s Ducati Monster 1000. I could not have asked for a better riding situation :0)



Wine Stuff:

There are ten wine regions in France, and three of those regions use only two grapes each to produce their appelation controlled wine. The Burgundy (Bourgogne) region is one of these. A few weeks ago, there was a small Burgundy wine festival in Grenoble. Claudia and I went to the event with some friends, and we tasted a lot of great wines. We came home with 13 liters of tastey grape juice.



Burgundy, which is devided into the smaller wine producing districts of Chablis, Côte d'Or, Côte Chalonnaise, Mâconnais and Beaujolais, uses chardonnay and pinot noir to make their wines. So simpley put, if you want French Pinot or Chard, get a Burgundy.

I usually hate Chardonnay, though I keep trying and trying to find good ones. The problem is I had a really good one once, and I can’t give up trying. With that said, I was able to get some pretty nice Burgundy chardonnay here in town.

The chardonnay, that I am used to getting from the new world (including CA), is usually made with nearly flavorless grapes. The wine makers then try to compensate with too much wood. I love the creamy, vanilla, butter, and toast flavors that oak can add to a wine, but only when they are subtle additions versus the wood juice that is so often on offer.

But I digress, the chardonnay I am drinking right now is a 2004 Clos de la combe chardonnay, and it is pretty darn good. Granted, it tastes characteristically like chardonnay, but thanks to the fruit and the art of wine making, it has some very interesting characteristics. The most important thing to say about this wine, is that all the other flavors I am going to talk about are well balanced. Not too much wood, but enough. Not to much or too little of anything.

The first, and most interesting thing to note is the past-ripe grape flavor. You know, when you have a bunch of grapes, there are those few that look a little beat up, and they are softer than the rest. You normally try to avoid them, but sometimes your are just too caught up in the days episode of Oprah, or Grey's anatomy, or Aquateen Hunger Force to notice that you just popped one in your mouth. It does not sound like a great taste, but it is just a hint, and it adds nicely to the wine. The other more common smells and flavors to note are the butter and tangerine in the nose, and the vanilla in the mouth. All that combines into something I am looking for in a chardonnay.

happy drinking,
-PMo

Turkish Fun, Turkish Wine.

Fun Stuff:

Claudia and I just got back an amazing vacation in Turkey. Actually it's Saturday now, and we got back on Monday, so it has been five days. This vacation replaces my vacation in Mexico as my new favorite vacation. This vacation was great! Claudia, I, Sinan, Sarah, Michele, Jason, and two of Sarah's friends, Sue and Paul went to the southwest coast of Turkey and got on a 20 m (65 ft) sailboat called Sardunya to sail around the coast for a week.




We were on the boat for seven days and there were only two crew members, the captain and the first mate, both part owners of Sardunya. The captain "sailed" the boat and did some other light work, while the first mate worked his ass off. We never raised the sails because it would not have been conducive to getting where we were going. Anyway, none of us on the boat really cared.



The first mate used to own a restaurant in Turkey, and he cooked us three amazing meals per day, plus he made tea for us everyday at 5 PM. We weighed anchor at a new beautiful cove each day, and all we, the vacationers, did was; wake, eat, read, tan, chill, swim, eat, drink, Tea Time!, swim, chill, eat/drink, sleep. It was GREAT!



Wine Stuff:

When we went shopping for our food (for the boat) we filled two shopping carts full of alcohol, and four full of food. The alcohol was mostly wine and beer, but we had stuff to make white russians two.

I had tried greek wine in the past, but it was a loser and have avoided it ever since. This made me a little worried about Turkish wine.

Turkish wine is pretty good in general. The majority of turkish wine tasted like any average wine you might buy at the grocery store. With respect to price, we bought mostly in the mid-range, so I cannot speak about the high-end stuff. Interestingly there were some very different wines among our stash. One was corked, so that does not count;) The other was just... different.

Note: I think that wines from different countries, in fact from different regions, should taste very different. Sommeliers spend years learning how to taste the difference between Margaux and Medoc, okay that one is easy. the point is that wine should have a special flavor that you can only taste from a certain place

Getting back to my Greek wine experience, the "interesting" Turkish wine we had had very similar flavors to the Greek wine I had once. It was very dry, but otherwise hard to describe. It was musky, green, and tanic. Maybe if I could put those flavors in the right proportions you could start to get the idea... but I can't. Anyway, it was interesting stuff worth trying. Incidentally, Turkey is very arid and probably does not have a lot of diversity in growing regions. The grapes I saw most often were Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, and Semillion.

happy drinking,
-PMo

Lovely Margaux & Grenoblegraffiti

Fun Stuff:

Grenoble, France is an interesting city. The size, population, and I suppose the location of the city make it a bit special. On a normal day when I am out and about, it seems a densely populated young and vibrant city. Then, when the average Friday night rolls around it becomes apparent how small the city really is. There is not much going on “after hours”. With that said, the says and pace are just right for me. I love the markets, the lazey Sundays (because there is nothing open), and the view is straight out of a postcard... We do, however, have a nicely tucked away, I might even say hidden, bit of graffiti.

There is an area along the river, the Isere, that has a half-mile-long wall of graffiti. I saw it the first time I went running there. Thanks to my friend Steve for suggesting the run.

I wonder if this is a designated legal zone for painting, because I have seen artisits down there at mid day with out a care in the world. I was running at the time, or I would have stopped to ask.

I hope to show a few pictures of the art from time to time, and I will start with the ones below. The majority of the art is writing, something like what you can see in the first picture. As you might expect, some is good or even great, and some is not so good. I will show some of the pieces that I find interesting.





Wine Stuff:

I really do love Margaux. There are many vineyards and wine makers in the appellation, but it is definitely my favorite in Bordeaux, and probably my favorite appellation in France for red wine. In fact, Margaux makes red wine wlmost exclusively.

I am drinking a 2001 Chateau Paveil de Luze Margaux right now. Though this is not a fine example of the appellation, it is not bad for 5 euros.

Most of Bordeaux makes wine from the same grapes, and Margaux is no exception. They use cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, and maybe some petit verdot. These are pretty much the same as the Semillion I talked about earlier, but Margaux produces a very different wine.



I love Margaux because of the soft, intricate, and seamlessly blended flavors as well as the full and round texture of the wines. The thing that makes Margaux preferable among all the Bordeaux wines is the subtle and intricate mingling of flavors and aromas.

I think I have probably mumbled on enough about my love of these wines, but , let me say a couple parting words.
-Doesn't go with spicy food
-Good with or without food
-Expect to pay for a good one (don't skimp, treat yourself)
-Yummy yummy yummy.

happy drinking,
-PMo

Big Metal Balls and Saint-Emilion

Fun Stuff:

I have taken up playing a game that some might call an old man game. The more I think about it, however, the more it seems to fit me. The game of pétanque is an old man game that oddly made it into the olymics. It is no stranger than curling. though.

Pétanque is a lot like bocce another uncommon game in the U.S. You play with cool looking heavy metal balls and you try to throw/role them close to a little wood/plastic ball called the jack. It is as simple as that.

The cool parts about the game are the balls, because they are heavy and metal, and the fact that playing pétanque and drinking go hand in hand.



The last time I played, I lost the actual game, but I won the... drinking.

Wine Stuff:

The wine I am drinking now deserves a proper wine snob review, but if that is what you want, google it. I usually drink a bit before I even start writing thus ensuring a non-technical write-up. So, on with it.

I am drinking a 2002 Chateau Pontet-Clauzer Saint-Emilion Grand Cru.



Wanna Drink?!?: This wine is yummy to say the least. Though I am presently drinking it by itself, I think it is best enjoyed with food. St-Emilion, in general, is highly respected stuff that is designed to hold on to and taste at peak moments during it's maturation. The city of Saint-Emilion is located in Bordeaux, and the growing region around the city is one of the four major regions that make up Bordeaux.

In case you want to know what you are drinking when you drink St-Emilion, or any other Bordeaux for that matter, the wine maker usually does not release the percentages of each blend. The grapes they commonly use, however, are Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon to a lesser degree.

Keeping the ratios secret is their way of holding onto their special recipe. Sometimes I think they forget that they also grow the grapes there. The fact that the rest of us do not grow Bordeaux grapes is pretty good protection against duplicating their wines.

Wanna Eat?!?: This stuff is good with beaf, grilled or otherwise. It would also be nice with duck, but I would avoid less robust bird like chicken and turkey. A sweet sauce on duck might compliment the dryness of the wine perfectly. Then again, I might have just pulled that out of my butt.

happy drinking,
-PMo

1st Vacation and Box wine

Fun Stuff:

I know I suck! You don't have to tell me... Geez!

I know how long it has been since I have written anything here. I really hope to write more regularly in the future. I have many excuses I am sure you don't care to hear, so on with the show. There is a lot of news, so I will break it slowly over time, giving me greater reason to write more often.

The image bellow is a cute picture of my critters. Gertie has discovered the joy of playing with socks, and she also likes to use the socks as a hobo scarf when she is not playing tug-o-war.



Claud and I went to Nice last weekend with some friends. It was great! The weather here in Grenoble had turned ugly, so we got out just in time. I have no pictures yet, but they will come soon. We also took a day trip to Monaco (Monte Carlo).. It is actually only about 30 minutes away by the slow scenic coastal highway. It was cool to see all the Ferrari's and amazing boats. I don't think I will plan to move there until I win the lottery.

Work is going well. I work a lot, but I like it, so no problems there.

Claud and I are both in French lessons. We make some effort to speak French at home, so the language is coming along well. We should be well prepared for when all the U.S. Friends and family visit.

BTW: “Deja vu” literally means “already saw”. More French lessons later ;)

Wine Stuff:

I have a good wine story, or at least a little humorous.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I enjoy acting the wine snob a bit. Well I recently decided that you cannot be a full fledged wine snob, i.e. Someone who makes fun of all easy drinking cheap wines that come in boxes, jugs, and in flavors like pink, without trying some of those things.

So...

I bought some box wine. I don't know if it is the same here versus the U.S., but I am a convert when it comes to everyday table wine. Being a wine snob, I know that most wine is not designed to age, so why not buy table wine that defies age? I bought a Sauvignon blanc and a Rose pictured below. All the box wine I have found here is also available by the bottle, so the box just seems to be a way for the vineyard/producer to save some money and help out consumers... with their habit.



My fave so far is the Sauvignon Blanc shown in the picture. It is quite good, and since it resides in a bag-in-a-box, it does not change over time. The average box in France contains 3 liters at a price of something like 3 to 7 dollars per liter. That is a deal especially when you drink as often as I do.

Finally, that image above, of the two boxes in my fridge, represents 8 bottles of wine at a total cost of $20. Not bad.

happy drinking,
-PMo

IMin' and Monbazillac

Fun Stuff:

When you are living in a land with a seven hour time difference from your home, you really appreciate instant messaging. I appreciated it already, but maybe I took it a bit for granted. I am sorry IM. I will never do that again. If you have IM, and you want to chat, here are my account names:

Yahoo: decbat2002

ICQ: deckard2000

Gtalk: decbat@gmail.com

Wine Stuff:

Jeannine, the lovely lady I am staying with during my French classes, pulled out a big gun last night. We were discussing how difficult it is to be a sommelier, what with all the requirements to know wine by taste smell and color. She postulated that she could tell the difference between wines from the different French wine regions, but maybe not from within a region. I said maybe that is not quite accurate, because each region has some atypical wine.

To show me the great difference between the Loire and Monbazillac she brought out a 1988 Monbazillac from which we drank. I won’t go into the discussion that ensued, suffice it to say, that wine ROCKED!

To employ a technical wine term, that wine was freakin’ yummilicious. And the color was like a slightly dried out honey.

I will argue with Jeannine more often, if that is a typical result.

happy drinking,
-PMo

Fun Stuff:

The train I am sitting in is quite ugly. All the other trains around it are as ugly or uglier. I am in Paris Gare de Austerlitz waiting for my ugly train to take me back to Amboise where I will complete my second week of immersion French lessons. Today is a bank holiday, so the school was closed. I decided to go back to Grenoble for the long weekend to see my sweety. With respect to Paris; I am just passing through.

From Grenoble, I arrived in the Paris Gare de Lyon with a bunch of pretty TGV trains. TGV is the name of the fast train. I think all those trains made fun of all of these ugly ones, and made them go to their own ugly train station. Poor ugly trains.

Anyway I had a nice weekend with my sweety, my pugs, and my friends. There was a party on Saturday where we ate a bunch of great Spanish food and drank a bunch of great Spanish wine. Some friends just returned from a long trip in Spain and decided to share the joy.

We all went to see a boring movie on Sunday, and today Claudia and I had a relaxing breakfast before my departure.

The French class I am in is great. The school boards the students with local families, and you have class 25 hours/week. I am only going to be in school for 8 days total, but I have already learned a lot. I can massacre the French language through a number of simple situations. I expect, by next week, the number of French words I know how to obliterate will double. And “What about my grammar?” you ask. Forget about it! I am the king of French grammar destruction.

Since you stay with a family during the whole experience, the amount you learn increases dramatically. A lot of the other students speak English, but it probably only amounts to two hours per day that I am not speaking French. So the other thirteen or fourteen hours are spent speaking French (If I am speaking that is).

Wine Stuff:

Maybe I will get Claudia to write a little something about her recent wine experience. She, and a bunch of other expats, went to a local wine shop for a wine and chocolate tasting. She said it was a lot of fun.

I have not been drinking a lot of wine during my stay in Amboise. I sometimes have a glass or two at dinner. I drink what I am served, and it is usually pretty decent stuff.

happy drinking,
-PMo

First Visitors to Chateau P&C

Fun Stuff:

Our first visitors have come. Today, our friends, Lars-Åke (pronounced "Laash okay", emphasis on the O), his lovely soon-to-be-wife Esti, and their adorable son William arrived from Belgium. We hiked up the hill on the way to the Bastille, but we only made it 1/10 of the way before it was time to stop and drink. I don't blame anyone. It was the wine's fault. It was screaming at us from inside the bag. It is beautiful up there. You can see that in the previous image.



I already made Lars-Åke mad because I put his Westmalle Tripple in the fridge on it's side. This type of beer has yeast remaining in it, and needs to stand up right otherwise the yeast will pour into the glass.

Wine Stuff:

I went to the big grocery store, Carrefour, and bought wine. It was so cheap I just decided to buy everything I wanted. It cost me $100 for 15 bottles. No joke!

I love all types on wines, countries, and regions equally, but I just have to mention the fact that I can find 5 and 6 euro Alsacien Gewurztraminer here. Alsacien Gewurz, I can honestly say, is my favorite wine/grape/region. I won't go into the details, but suffice it to say, Alsace soil allows for a vast diversity of flavor, and I love every variation of flavor on this grape.

happy drinking,
-PMo

Finally in Grenoble!

Fun Stuff:

We finally moved to France. We have been here only a week, and I am already starting to feel at home. We are still waiting for our refrigerator to be delivered, so we are eating out a lot. That has its good and bad sides. The food is great, and we don't have to cook it. On the other hand, we are spending A LOT of money, and it is less relaxing, less cozy.

We hiked up to the Bastille, on a hillside, just across the river from us. It is about a mile hike up hill, and we are not in the best shape of our lives. Very tough hike, but it was quite pretty as you can see here.



Wine Stuff:

So I don't have any specific wine to tell you about yet, but of course I have imbibed a lot of new wines. I do want to say that the price difference between French wine, in France, and virtually any wine in the U.S. is dramatic. So far I have only been to small grocery stores to shop. Nevertheless, I have not paid more than $6 for a bottle of wine, and I have purchased at the top end of what is available. The most expensive French wine I have seen was about $8. The most expensive wine in general was $11 (California). Don't get me wrong; you can buy expensive wine if you wish. There are two key issues at work here.

1 The average wine is better here than in the U.S.

2 French wine is just dirt cheap

I will enjoy life here :)

-PMo

Too Much Fun and Boring Wine

Fun Stuff:

Lately there has been nothing but FUN STUFF. I have had too much fun in fact. I am funned out. The date of departure is just around the corner. We, and all of our friends, are trying to cram in as much as we can before we leave. Truth be told, I am tired. I need a break. I think I am just going to leave the country.

Wine Stuff:

Too much wine to remember lately. Thanks to the, above-mentioned, too much fun, there has been no stopping the flow of wine. I can say, however, that I have not tasted anything too spectacular lately.

With that said I want to mention a phenomenon I have noticed. I don't have the wine importation facts to back this up, so it would be nice to know what other people think on the subject. I think that the wines we produce and import to the U.S. all taste the same.

Bold statement I know, but it is a bit of an exaggeration to make a point. In my travels I have tasted wine from all over the planet in many different locations. What I have noticed is that the wines in Europe, imported or local, have a broader range of flavor and character than those in the U.S. I think the U.S. follows more closely to taste trends, and like many markets, we tend to stay close to what sells best. In my opinion, that makes it hard to find "different" wine.

Just a Theory.

-PMo

EVOLUTION: Lucky Number 9 Wine

Fun Stuff:

My friend, Brandy, is coming to town tomorrow. That will be fun. We don't have any plans really. Just hanging out with friends, maybe visit a vineyard or two. I am sure we will have fun, and thus the fitting title fun stuff.

Wine Stuff:

So I said I would let you in on Evolution, "Lucky number 9". Evolution is a great white blend from Sokol Blosser. I will describe it, first, relative to another wine, Caymus Conundrum. Caymus is a popular and well-respected producer. Their Conundrum white blend can be quite good. Thanks to the many grape varietals used in it, it has a lot of character and layers. With that said, it has two faults. One, it is surprisingly inconsistent for such a big name wine. Two, it cost $22. That is about $5 more than it is worth.

Evolution costs $15, is surprisingly consistent, and has all the good things conundrum has. Give them both a try, and let me know which you think is better. I can't decide, but I drink about twice as much Evolution as Conundrum.

-PMo