Category Archives: Uncategorized

Strasbourg Part 2: Historic Wine Cave beneath a Hospice: Cremant and Pinot Gris Grand Cru

Posted on November 17, 2014 by waywardwine

Last Monday’s EU Austerity Drinking Tour landed us in Strasbourg’s Christmas markets, on top of its Cathedral, and enjoying its wine. Today, we descend into the caves of the Hospice de Strasbourg.

As with our visit, not ten days prior, to Burgundy’s Hospice de Beaune, we find Strasbourg had its own, even older medical, religious, wine cellar. Since 1395, cellars beneath the city’s hospital provided wine as medicine and sacrament. Like Beaune, this hospice gained vine-land from guilty proprietors bent on heaven. Although wine-making stalled during the last century, it reformed as a cooperative in 1995. Let’s see what survived the centuries. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alsace, Cave Historique Hospices de Strasbourg, Cremant, France, French wine, Gisselbrecht, Grand cru, hospice de Strasbourg, Kirchberg de Barr, Pinot Gris, Sparkling wine, Strasbourg, travel, Wine Cellar | 1 Comment

Mimolette Returns!!! Moulin à Vent Stephane Aviron

Posted on November 13, 2014 by waywardwine

Mimolette: that Tahitian sunset-colored, melon ball of a cheese has returned. Last spring the Orwellian Federal Drugs Administration decided that no more than 6 microscopic cheese mites per square inch could exist. 3,800 pounds were destroyed. It did not matter … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Beaujolais, Cheese, France, Louis XIV, mimolette, wine | 2 Comments

Christmas Markets, Wine, and Pastries in Strasbourg, Alsace, France: Wolfberger and Domaine Loew

Posted on November 10, 2014 by waywardwine

We leave Luxembourg after three days. It was cold, charming, and filled with the leanest wine I have had. But this way we avoid bias or over-attachment . The fish starts to smell after three days, as grandma said. After 136 days of travel, we fight to keep things fresh.

So no respectable EU Austerity Drinking Tour would head to Germany without a brief stay in Strasbourg: heart of Alsace and its fantastic wine. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alsace, Christian, Christmas markets, Domaine Loew, France, Strasbourg, Strasbourg Cathedral, Vosges Mountains, wine, Wolfberger | 3 Comments

Thirsty Thursday: Aurélien Verdet, Hauts-Côtes de Nuits, la Prieuré, Bourgogne 2010

Posted on November 6, 2014 by waywardwine

This Thirsty Thursday we look to a small wedge in Burgundy. 4 wee hectares (just 9.9 acres) of Pinot Noir to be exact. Called la Prieuré, it sits on the Western edge of the Hauts-Côtes de Nuits (that blue splotch on the map) near Arcenant. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Aurelien Verdet, Bourgogne, Burgundy, French wine, Hautes-Cotes de nuits, Le Prieuré, pinot noir, Red wine, wine | 5 Comments

Luxembourg Wine: Elbling, Auxerrois, Rivaner, and Pinot Noir

Posted on November 3, 2014 by waywardwine

133 days of travel just careened us through the frigid vineyards of Burgundy. With winter gripping, we decide to dip a toe in Luxembourg.

Sandwiched between France, Belgium, and Germany, Luxembourg spans nary 1,000 square miles, filled by 525,000 residents. But can such a small, cold country grow grapes of wine worthy merit?

After dragging our gear across town, we unload into a hostel deep beneath the capital’s cliffs and fortifications. But hunger and knowledge of a Christmas market drive us to climb back up. Continue reading →