I take a notes like a squirrel on the bird feeder – fast and and full, getting it all down before someone changes the subject. You’ll know me by my notebooks. More often than not, however, the stuff that really sticks with me doesn’t require a scribble. My memory serves in certain moments where everything…
Category: Rhône
The Good Wines of Lirac
Last fall I spent some time with winemakers in Lirac, a cru located across the Rhône River from Châteauneuf-du-Pape. I covered a significant conversation with Rodolphe de Pins, winemaker at Château de Montfaucon and Co-President of Lirac AOP in a recent piece published on Palate Press: I’m in a vineyard on top of a graceful…
15 Years, 5 Houses, 3 Kids and 1 Wine that’s seen it all…
My husband has a pair of jeans that he calls his painting jeans. He’s kept them around for painting projects, each one adding to the mess that makes them the perfect source of memories: here is the Ralph Lauren red from the upstairs hallway; here’s the Phillipsburg blue from the dining room; here’s the pink…
A Gigondas from the Cellar
During a visit to Gigondas last fall, I had lunch with Thierry Faravel, proprietor and winemaker at Domaine le Bouïssière. Thierry and his brother Gilles are second generation vignerons, tending vines planted by their father Antonin, who grew grapes for the co-op for 41 years (not uncommon in Southern France). The family vineyards are in Gigondas,…
Lessons for 2017: Wine writer edition
Poised. That’s what we are. We’ve got 2016 buckled to our backs and 2017 about to pop. Does a new year mean anything to you? Or is the completion of a past year more meaningful as a milestone? I’m in the mix, I always stand looking back (and gushing that it has gone too fast)…
Holiday Wines from Southern Rhône and Provence
The dishwasher is finally empty. The tablecloths are washed. The tree is up. This means…we’ve wedged between Thanksgiving and Christmas and in my house we are celebrating everything. Whatever comes our way gets decorated, wrapped, sang to. This isn’t just our house, I get the feeling…everywhere you go (it’s beginning to look a lot…
Books for Winelovers
November is National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo in writer-code. During this month, writers are challenged to write a 50,000 word book. The NaNoWriMo community provides support, inspiration and tracking functionality. There have been several years that I’ve participated, and I’ve gone on to complete a partially-prepared-during NaNoWriMo story, the one that has emerged as my favorite…
Winemaker Rendezvous: Bernard Duseigneur of Domaine Duseigneur
Today we welcome a rendezvous with Bernard Duseigneur, winemaker at Domaine Duseigneur. The 30 hectare estate spans Châteauneuf du Pape, Côtes-du-Rhône Villages Laudun and Lirac. 17 weeks ago I clicked on an Instagram photo of of three bottles of wine from Châteauneuf du Pape. “Wonderful,” I commented. “I’d love to try.” “If you come over here our…
Tour de France: Mount Ventoux Wines
A kindly giant who watches over the aromatic garrigue scrubland and the carefully tended vineyards, Mont Ventoux shelters wines conducive to sharing and close companionship – celebrated with a fragrant, flavourful centrepiece. ~ CHRISTOPHE TASSAN Sommelier and Rhone Ambassador The Tour de France 2016 Stage 12 of the Tour de France will route cyclists from Montpellier…
Will Travel for Wine
L’occasion Passport: what it means to me to move around the world to taste wine and meet winemakers. Contagious: The Travel Bug One of my early wine tasting trips was to a little town in Northwestern Illinois called Galena. Galena is one of those delightful spots, with a historical downtown, a river view, lots of charm. Ulysses S….
Sustainable Wines for Earth Day
April 22, 2016 is Earth Day. Ask any winegrower the number one ‘ingredient’ in their wine and they’ll answer: terroir. The land. The Earth. This post is a round up of some of the recent sustainable and biodynamic (biodynamique in French) wines that I’ve highlighted on L’occasion. (And one recommendation for the beer lovers.) Profile…
Welcome Spring with Fresh Food & Le Ferme Du Mont Côtes du Rhône
“Do not search in a wine for the reflection of an exact science. The formulas of scientific oenology are only a thin competition which does not know how to respect the mysteries of eternal creation.” ~The late Jacques Perrin, Château Beaucastel, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Eternal creation. The mysteries of eternal creation… is there anything more beautiful? The…
Spring Meal Pairings for Southern Rhône Wines: #winePW
{Spring Meal Pairings for Southern Rhône Wines} Saturday April 9, 2016 at 11 a.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Central Join in on twitter with #winePW The Rhône Valley of France is a diverse and fascinating wine region; for this #winePW, we’ll focus on the wines and winemakers of the Southern Rhône. As many parts of the…
Visit French Wine
Atout France, the French tourism development organization, has rolled out a gorgeous new website that promises to be a place where “wine regions reveal their secrets”. The site is reasonably named Visit French Wine. The website allows visitors to slip into each wine area separately through regionally-based menus and an interactive map. Travelers may also input…
April Wine Pairing Weekend: Spring Meal Pairings for Southern Rhône Wines #winePW
On the second Saturday of each month, a group of bloggers who are passionate about the way good wine enhances a meal come together to blog about a wine pairing they have done. Each month has a different Wine Pairing Weekend theme to focus the pairings. There is a live Twitter Chat at 11 a.m….
