The vineyards of Clos Roche Blanche were planted at the end of the 19th century and have been a part of the Roussel family from day one. Catherine Roussel took over this 28-hectare estate in 1975 from her father. She was later joined by Didier Barrouillet, who tends the vineyards and makes the wine. Neither [...]
Archive for April, 2008
Clos Roche Blanche Touraine Sauvignon Blanc 2006
Posted in France, Recommended, tagged Clos Roche Blanche, Louis/Dressner, Sauvignon Blanc, White Loire Wine on April 29, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Cederberg Chenin Blanc, 2007
Posted in Food & Wine, Recommended, South Africa, Value Pick on April 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Chenin Blanc is arguably the most versatile of all wine grape varieties. Crisp, dry table wines, light sparkling wines, nectar-like dessert wines, and even brandy are all produced in various areas of the wine world, all of Chenin Blanc. While versatile, a general tendency to over-irrigate and overcrop reduce most Chenin Blanc to the forgettable. [...]
Design*Sponge: In the Kitchen with: Amenity Home
Posted in Food & Wine, Recipes and Wine Pairings, tagged Amenity Home, Design*Sponge, Recipes, Ridge Santa Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay 2005, Ridge Wine, Wine and Food Pairing on April 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
This week, Design*Sponge features recipes for avocado goat cheese spread and spicy penne pasta from Amenity Home. About Amenity Home: After becoming friends at art school in San Francisco, Californian Nicole Chiala went on to work in publishing in London and Minnesota-native Kristina de Corpo to the advertising world of New York. Only when they [...]
Frankenwines and Feiringphiles
Posted in Reference, tagged Alice Feiring, The Battle for Wine and Love: or How I Saved the World on April 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Globe and Mail (Canada’s national newspaper) ran a great piece on Alice Feiring and her soon to be released book — The Battle for Wine and Love: or How I Saved the World from Parkerization. Read Saving the World from Frankenwines. More details on her book from the publisher: “I want my wines to [...]
Mas des Bressades
Posted in France, Recommended, Value Pick, tagged French Wine, Mas des Bressades, Robert Kacher, Rose, Roussanne, Viognier on April 23, 2008 | 7 Comments »
Mas des Bressades is considered by many as one of the top estates in Costières de Nîmes, located 35 miles southwest of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, on the western side of the Rhône. Cyril Marès has been the winemaker since 1996. He previously worked for Chalone in California and Bruno Prats in Chile. His wife, Natalie Blanc, owns [...]
Design*Sponge: In the Kitchen with Abigail Percy
Posted in Recipes and Wine Pairings, tagged Abigail Percy, Design*Sponge, Dessert, Glasgow, Recipe, Recipe with Wine Pairing on April 18, 2008 | 1 Comment »
This week’s edition of In the Kitchen features Abigail Percy and her recipe for Panna Cotta. Abigail is a jewelry designer from Glasgow, Scotland. Had I known she was from the great city of Glasgow before I submitted the wine pairing, I might have suggested an appropriate spirit instead. Perhaps a wee dram of Auchentoshan [...]
Didier Dagueneau Pouilly Fume Pur Sang, 2006
Posted in France, Recommended, tagged Didier Dagueneau, French Wine, Loire, Pouilly Fume, Pur Sang, Sauvignon Blanc on April 17, 2008 | 5 Comments »
Didier Dagueneau has been called a nonconformist, independent, eccentric, and maverick. He is also dedicated to producing some of the greatest white wines of the Loire — and all of France for that matter. He is considered by many to be a master of the sauvignon blanc grape. He is on a crusade to redeem [...]
L’Aventure Roussanne 2006
Posted in California, Recommended, tagged L'Aventure, Paso Robles, Roussanne, Stephan Asseo on April 14, 2008 | 2 Comments »
L’Aventure is located in the west end of Paso Robles. Stephan Asseo is the owner and winemaker. He began making wine in 1982, following his education at L’Ecole Oenologique de Macon, Burgundy, France. In 1996, he left France to find his next adventure and landed in Paso Robles. He purchased 126 acres, selected his rootstock [...]
Design*Sponge: In the Kitchen with Matt Armendariz
Posted in Recipes and Wine Pairings, tagged Design*Sponge, Matt Armendariz, Three Layer Cake on April 11, 2008 | 2 Comments »
I will also be providing the weekly wine pairing for the recipes edited by Kristina on Design*Sponge. The In-the-Kitchen-With column appears every Friday at noon, and features the recipes of design*sponge readers’ favorite designers. Design*Sponge is a daily website dedicated to home and product design run by Brooklyn-based writer, Grace Bonney. Launched in August of [...]
Three Layer Cake Recipes with Wine Pairings
Posted in Recipes and Wine Pairings, tagged Nipozzano Chianti Rufina Riserva 2004, Recipes, Three Layer Cake on April 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Today marks the actual start of my partnership with Three Layer Cake. Three Layer Cake provides the recipe (and some great food photography) with my wine pairings. The first recipe is Penne with Sausage, Fava Beans, and Arugula. The suggested wine pairing is the Nipozzano Chianti Rufina Riserva 2004. View the recipe at Three Layer [...]
Baudry Le Clos Guillot Chinon 2005
Posted in France, Recommended, Value Pick, tagged Bernard Baudry, Chinon, French Red Wine, Kermit Lynch on April 10, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Year after year, many consider this to be one of Chinon’s most admirable domaines. Baudry claims that his 2005 vintage is the best ever. This is another great example of Chinon, exhibiting classic Chinon characteristics. Violets and floral on the nose, nice aromatics. Currant and boysenberry on the palate with some minerality, earth and tobacco. [...]
Breton Chinon Beaumont 2004
Posted in France, Recommended, Value Pick, tagged Catherine & Pierre Breton, Chinon, French Wine, Kermit Lynch on April 9, 2008 | 5 Comments »
Chinon is situated on the left bank of the Loire river and along the Vienne river, at the heart of the Loire Valley. Chinon produces mostly red wine, based on Cabernet Franc grape variety known as Breton in the region. Chinon produces more than 6 million bottles of wine annually. 100 years ago, wine from [...]
Italian Amari
Posted in Italy, Spirits | Liquor, tagged Amari, Amaro, Italian Spirits, San Francisco Chronicle, Spume, Wolfgang Weber on April 7, 2008 | 2 Comments »
I am a regular reader of Wolfgang Weber and his blog Spume (it should be on your list of regular reading) — this week he published a great article on Italian Amari that he wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle. Read it here. Cynar, Averna, Fernet Branca are all examples of Italian Amari. Not very [...]
Rosenblum Holbrook Mitchell Reserve Syrah, 2003
Posted in California, tagged California Wine, Napa Valley, Rosenblum, Syrah on April 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I really like some of Rosenblum’s wines — I think their entry level Petite Syrah is one of the great values (at around $15) out of California, and now in the world thanks to the sinking value of the dollar. This wine is one of their higher end wines, made with sourced fruit out the [...]
