UPDATES.

I’ve added a new category to this site—’Winds of Wine—News about Vintages, Travel and Lifestyle.’

Frequently I receive updates from others and cannot write about them all, so am now including some brief synopses here.

On March 10th I’ll be a guest of Laetitia Ouspointour of LO Wine on her Instagram live feed as we sip our own Etalon Rouge 100% Cabernet Sauvignon in La Cave Wine Bar here in Blaye, Bordeaux. You may recall that I interviewed Laetitia on my first ever Instagram Livestream last spring during lockdown.

This Thursday I will taste three different wines associated with Burgundy’s Hospices de Nuits-Saint-Georges Wine Auction, before the actual auction takes place on March 14th. I’ll then write about the event for a publication and let you know where to find the article.

My latest Forbes pieces are here and include reviews of 80+ Bordeaux wines, Roero Arneis and Nebbiolo wines from Piemonte in Italy, and a $36,000 bottle of wine.

OVERVIEW.

On Saturday I was able, finally, to reciprocate long overdue hospitality to four South Africans here in Blaye. I prepared a 6 course meal of both French and Italian recipes (and friends brought cheese—making a 7th course). These were paired with 7 wines, of which most were French and Italian, although the final wine was a stunner from South Africa—Vin de Constance.

1. CHEF.

2. DISHES.

Here is the menu and dishes and paired wines.

Zucchini cucumber gazpacho
Tuscan roasted olives with herbs
Spaghetti with shrimp and lemon

3. WINES.

Franciacorta, Graves, Roero Arneis, Roero Nebbiolo, Saint-Émilion, Vin de Constance
An unusual beauty of a sweet wine from South Africa

All wines listed on the above menu were good, although the South African sweet wine—Vin de Constance—was outstanding. Precise flavors that included green apples and apricots—a stunning beam of focused energy. A Technicolor Dreamcoat, more kaleidoscopic than Sauternes sweet wines. It is a late harvest style wine made from the grape Muscat de Frontignan.

WINDS OF WINENEWS ABOUT VINTAGES / TRAVEL / LIFESTYLE

  • Hours ago, Matteo Lunelli—CEO of Ferrari Trento sparkling wine from Italy—announced that Ferrari will be the official sparkling wine of Formula 1 races for the next three years. The CEO of Formula 1, Stefano Domenicali joined the presentation, and said ‘Your sparkling wine will flood everyone with joy.’
Matteo Lunelli announces partnership of Ferrari sparkling wine with Formula 1
A toast, both real and virtual

The wine on the podium will be a 100% Chardonnay (Blanc de Blancs) in a three liter bottle (Jeroboam).

  • Gavin and Angela from Château Bauduc have bottled 20 vintages and are shipping their wines to the U.K. at great prices. Because they have a London warehouse they can get wines to your door in the U.K. in four days.
  • Laetitia Ouspointour’s latest Instagram video has her visiting a famed wine bar in the city of Bordeaux on a blustery, fresh day. Great virtual tour! [French]
  • Young, dynamic and educated at Menlo Park in California, Lucrezia Povero is now leading promotion of five organic wines made by Cascina Vengore in the Piemonte region of Italy. Here, vines are interspersed with woodlands. Fertilizers are manure and green manure only and the wine is aged in clay amphorae. This is part of the Terre Alfieri DOCG where wines are made from Nebbiolo, Barbera and Arneis grapes. The first video gives some great visuals from Piemonte. In the second Lucrezia talks with enthusiasm about the 2020 harvest.
  • Can bacteria express resistance to the antimicrobial activity of wine? Check out new research as of January, this year, from The Academic Wino.

Thanks for tuning in!

This Post Has 3 Comments

  1. More beguiling matches of wine and food from outside the main stream. Mixing wine and food from two of the world’s best culinary nations makes so much sense and you continue to make it all sing.

  2. Thanks Michael – it’s great to be able to walk to the local outdoor market on Saturday morning and pick up all fresh ingredients. You likely do the same in Hanoi…

  3. Winemaker Josh Phelps, owner of Grounded Wine Company in Napa Valley, California, wrote:

    ‘Can’t wait until I can come to Europe! Hope all is well, Tom!’

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