A Soul Story….

I had an intimate connection last night with Ghirardelli’s  double chocolate brownies and a glass of Domain de Nizas 2006 Coteaux du Languedoc.  Here’s the scenario, me with my legs propped on a chair, lounging, wine glass half filled in my right hand with Coteaux du Languedoc, double chocolate brownie in my left hand..wine to mouth, then brownie to mouth…..oh my goodness….shear intimate pleasure!  A bond was formed………

Domaine de Nizas Coteaux du Languedoc 2006 (60% Syrah, 35% Mourvedre, 5% Grenache)

“deep garnet in color, with fragrant aromas of blackberries, bilberries (European blueberries) and spices…..distinctive herbal notes….lavendar, sage, rosemary and wild thyme…..well-balanced and clean, becoming round and full-bodied, with soft, ripe tannins and a long finish…..powerful and elegant…..perfect with lamb and Mediterranean dishes and rich dark chocolate”.

Grapes grown on the hillsides of this Mediterranean climate and soiled land produced something so special that I have redefined what makes a perfect relationship; commitment, acceptance, and allowing.  Winemaking can be a metaphor for life.  I see this wine chocolate relationship of mine lasting forever and what could be better for the soul than a great relationship.

enjoy

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Sassafras Sorbet ~ how lovely to meet you!

I’m sharing a great recipe this week that comes from one of my favorite places to spend a lovely week-end, the Beechwood Inn, located in North Georgia.  The Beechwood Inn is a bed and breakfast to the highest power,  catering to wine lovers and foodies alike.  Dave and Gail, the Inn’s proprietors, makes the experience of staying at the Inn an interlude of food and wine.  They have an impressive wine cellar also, with an array of fine wines that would probably fetch a lot at auction.  Enjoy the recipe:

Wild Foods Recipe for Sassafras Sorbet: First you must go out in the woods and collect Sassafras root bark. You can also buy bulk sassafras at many health food stores. You need about 1/2 cup of sassafras root bark to make 2 cups of strong sassafras tea.

Ingredients·
3 pounds ripe Asian or Bartlett pears, cored, peeled, and chopped
1 1/2 cups extra-dry or brut sparkling wine, divided
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 cups sassafras tea

Preparation
1. Put pears and 3/4 cup sparkling wine in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to maintain a steady simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pears are tender, about 10 minutes. Whirl pear mixture, sassafras tea and sugar in a blender until smooth. Stir in corn syrup, cover, and chill.
2. When mixture is cold, stir in remaining 3/4 cup sparkling wine and freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve immediately, or transfer to a freezer-safe container, cover, and freeze until ready to serve.
http://www.beechwoodinn.ws/

“Wines sublime nectar is Incapable of lying,….

It will always whisper, in your mouth, complete unabashed honesty every time you take a sip.”  This line taken from one of my favorite movies, A Good Year, with Russell Crowe, is telling the truth about wine and food as well.  Both are incapable of lying.  Since we are beginning to go into the throws of wine grape harvesting, it’s important to state that the key to great wine is the state of the grape at harvest and the artistry and the role of the winemaker is to allow the wines characteristics to shine through, thus revealing the truth and nothing but. When a wine grape is picked when under-ripe the resulting wine will be overly acidic.  Too much sunshine causing overripe grapes, results in a wine that has high alcohol content.  Overly tannic red wines show youth and more aging time needed in the bottle.  Excessive use of fertilizers can give a wine an off-taste.  Natural enhancers like the taste of iron in a wine shows grapes grown in subsoil with high iron content.   The volcanic richness and earthiness in a Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa as well as the earthiness of a Burgudian Pinot Noir has no choice but to express itself within the wine.  Wine has soul, and this evening I’m going to feel the full expression of my bottle of  Tertre du Moulin 2006 St. Emilion Grand Cru.  I’m going to savor every deep dark berry, gravelly-ladened sip….I’ll think about sharing.

enjoy

The Fabulousness of Bordeaux

The 2009 vintage of the best Bordeaux plots of land is thought to be the best since the last best vintages 1996, 2000 and 2005.  I won’t dispute this and I believe fine Bordeaux has many more best vintages to come.  But what makes fine Bordeaux wine so great?  Centuries of great wine makers perhaps? tried and true old-fashioned winemaking skills?  climate?  location? I think all of these factors play an important role in the greatness of fine Bordeaux.  I also believe their fabulousness is attributed to not only the above but to the fact that Bordeaux, all Bordeaux wine,  is blended.  Yes, Bordeaux benefits from the blending of several powerhouse grape varieties;  cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot and malbec(reds), sauvignon blanc, muscadelle and semillon (whites).  Unlike single varietal wines produced in Chile, or California or Washington State, Bordeaux can pick from what was “the best in show” so to speak among all of these grape varietals and blend a liquid so unique, it can’t be matched anywhere in the world.  California wines my come close, but the terrior will never be the same.  Bordeaux is the most sought after wine in the world because of the experience and pleasure it brings to the palette.  Bordeaux is so fabulous people don’t mind waiting for it to grow up in the bottle.  In it’s age progression it gets wiser and mellower and in the end will reveal more than it ever could in it’s youth.  In a nut shell Bordeaux speaks to us in a way that no other wine can, and that makes it fabulous!

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