Category Archives: Uncategorized

Fronton, Gaillac, Madiran: Red Wines of Toulouse, France: Day 98 EU Austerity Drinking Tour

Posted on March 24, 2014 by waywardwine

This Monday’s EU Austerity Drinking Tour finds us 98 days into our alcohol-on-a-dime traipse through Europe’s famed regions. We leave glitzy but wet Bordeaux for southern France. Our hub will be Toulouse: a city surrounded by ignored but extreme value wine regions.

We leave Bordeaux still drenching in Atlantic rain.

But as the TGV speeds East, the sun emerges, mossy trees trade fade to gnarly shrubs, and the world becomes dry, calm, and continental in climate. Here the mellow Mediterranean holds more sway than the wet churn of the Atlantic. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Chateau Bellevue la Forêt, DURAS, Fer, France, Fronton, Gaillac, Jacobin Church, Madiran, St Thomas Aquinas, Syrah, Tannat, Toulouse | 3 Comments

Suburban Vineyard: Finding Haut-Brion in Bordeaux’s Pessac-Léognan

Posted on March 17, 2014 by waywardwine

It is our last day in Bordeaux. We had visited Graves and St-Émilion. But we have yet to see Pessac-Léognan.

medoc-map-2010In 1855 Bordeaux merchants ranked the top houses. Of the Premier Grand Cru (best of the best), all were in the Médoc save one in Pessac-Léognan. Now we could debate the validity of an 164 year-old classification, but Pessac was just a bus ride from our apartment.

Famed wine-focused (and graffito-tagged) Bordeaux University passes us by.

We get off the bus and hike, expecting suburbia to turn into farmland. It doesn’t. Just past a gas station and apartment we find this: Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1855, 1855 Classification, Bordeaux, grapes, Haut-Brion, Medoc, Pessac-Léognan, vines, Winery | 4 Comments

Thirsty Thursday: Arneis, Seghesio, Russian River Valley, CA 2012

Posted on March 13, 2014 by waywardwine

Spring has sprung, at least where I live. Time for an odd, snappy white.

The grape in question is Arneis: roughly translated, it means “little ass”. Either the vine is a pain to manage, or the resultant wines tastes just as prickly. Etymology aside, the grape comes from NW Italy’s Piedmont.

Folklore claims Arneis drew birds away from the prestigious Nebbiolo vines of Barolo and Barbaresco. It made for a decent white. But once wines became 100% Nebbiolo, Arneis disappeared.

While Arneis declined in Italy, the Seghesio family left the Piedmont and started making Californian wine in 1895. By 1992, Pete decided to plant Arneis. He had already upped their game with hand-harvesting and small lot batches. Seghesio’s Zin and Sangiovese were garnering respect. But Arneis was a risky throwback. 26 vines remained more than any in the US for years.

Today, 8 acres of Russian River Valley, Sonoma County real estate fill our glasses. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, White | Tagged Arneis, barbaresco, Barolo, California, Piedmonte, Russian River, Russian River Valley, Seghesio, Sonoma, White wine | 1 Comment

St-Émilion Part 3: Macaron Sweets and Panoramic Treats

Posted on March 10, 2014 by waywardwine

Extracted from St-Émilion’s underworld (last post), our EU Austerity Drinking Tour continues above ground. Too sick to drink, we wander. Gates and walls gird every corner of this hill-town.

You almost expect a bouncer with sunglasses to stand there. But when each bottle costs a thousand bucks, these vines become too valuable for tourists to traipse through and take selfies (#vineyardselfies).

Almost bored by all the brilliance, we walk around another Romanesque ruin abutting another Grand Cru vineyard.

But then, on the city’s edge, we also discover the birthplace of macarons. In 1620, while Pilgrims were landing in Plymouth, this bakery started selling macarons. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1620, Bordeaux, Château, Fabrique de Macarons, France, macaron, Macaroons, Marie Antoinette, Pilgrims, Plymouth, St-Emilion, Troglodyte | 2 Comments

St-Émilion Part 2: Above and Below

Posted on March 6, 2014 by waywardwine

Today continues Monday’s EU Austerity Drinking Tour of St-Émilion: Bordeaux’s citadel to Merlot. Flu still numbs our adventurers’ palates, so we opt for a city tour instead of wine. The whole city is a UNESCO site, so why not?

We pass more wine-shops than people. The Roman “Cadene” Gate begins our slippery descent into the ancient core. It is a hodgepodge of eras with a home from 1291. *meh!*

We stumble past our less adventurous tourers, nearly falling in our rush. Then we mass into a small pocket: i.e. town square. An ancient market gapes to our left. Continue reading →