French wine producers are now allowed to hold back more stock, following recent losses caused by extreme weather conditions.
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Category: Rhône
Mediterranean Bliss: Picpoul-de-Pinet
Picpoul’s naming origin means lip stinger for the acidic bite in the mouth of the drinker — this variety is notably high in acid, particularly for such a hot growing region. This explains what makes the grape unique, responsible for commercial thriving as well as ecological.
Braille on the Label: A Chapoutier Pioneering Moment
The Chapoutier label reveals itself in print and in Braille – the tactile language in which characters are felt by the fingertips rather than seen by the eye.
Tasting Romance: French Wine and the Senses
“Smelling and tasting,” said Howell, “our chance to connect with nature.” To take that a step further, our chance to connect with ourselves. How we immerse into and learn about the world from our own impressions.
Dessert Wines from Southern France
Family-run domaines are the standard in the Southern Rhône. Generation after generation maintains cultural and regional wine footprinting while making effort to step them into the world. VDN represents a product that mirrors this balance of yesterday’s ways emerging fresh into a range of new tastes.
But First…Dessert (with the French Winophiles)
The experience of French dessert wines is textural as much as flavorful. The balance of sweet and savory, viscosity and lightness, of freshness and stability…
Wine Wrapped Up: The L’Occasion Gift Guide
To give the gift of wine is to give a bit of life – a bit of someone’s life’s work too – for others to enjoy. To be toasted instantly or tucked away for later, the bottles hold promise because they are emblematic of sharing. Here are a few of the bottles that have brought me enjoyment, that have inspired and delighted me or taught me something new this year. Thank you for joining me on L’Occasion in 2017. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year.
Wine for the Quiet Season
When November joins us each year, I’m reminded that there is a quiet season. This phrase entered our life many years ago during annual travels to Door County, Wisconsin to celebrate our November anniversary. Door County is a coastal place, heavily enjoyed during the warm summer months for hiking, biking, boating, swimming, outdoor strolling…summery stuff….
What Does it Mean to Be Made in France?
Earlier this month, I lined up a set of wine bottles from France. Each one from a unique and stated region, each one bearing a label like a little luggage tag: here is my home. To the French people, their government and producers indication of these regions is of the highest importance. While American consumers…
A Château in Provence
I wrote the book before I’d been there, which may seem a backwards way to craft a novel. But by the time the book had been outlined, characters created, fictional wines made this place had begun to feel like home. My novel isn’t about this place exactly, but it is about the feeling of this…
Mapping France in Wine Bottles: Where to Get Affordable French Wine
If you have the impression that finding affordable wine in France is hard – it is definitely time to revisit that stance. My husband and I have taken several road-trips through France, meeting winemakers and tasting wine – much of it high-quality, AOP wines with price-tags that need to be forgiven for their modesty. Where…
Lessons from a Biodynamic Winemaker in France
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…
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,…
