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A Few Days in Paris – 2025 Edition
We generally have an opportunity to plan our lives.
By this, I mean deciding that we want to visit a place or a country. And sometimes, our travel is planned for us when we need to travel for work. And then, occasionally, we get a lucky break – for example, when your work travel takes you to Paris.
I’m typing this on the plane, coming back after spending a week in Paris – yes, for work. And I will not lie to you – I enjoyed the experience. As you know, when I travel, I take lots of pictures. And then I love sharing those pictures – and this is exactly my plan for this post.
We were in Paris last May, when the city was getting ready to host the Summer Olympics 2024. Coming back a year later, at the end of October, and outside of the busy tourist season worked rather well.
I stayed at the hotel located within a 5-minute walk from the Eiffel Tower, thus I had an opportunity to take pictures during the day, during the night, from 100 meters away, and even from underneath the tower. And now, I can share them with you.
One of the experiences we missed last May was visiting Notre Dame. It was just reopening after the restoration, and we didn’t have a chance to see it. I was very lucky as we managed to see her in all of her renewed beauty.
Let me explain the “lucky” notion here. We initially planned to visit Notre Dame on Wednesday night. It was raining on Wednesday, so we decided to wait until the next day. Then, we got a recommendation to reserve our visit time online – the admission is free, but if you have timed tickets, your wait should be minimal as opposed to the live queue. When I tried to reserve tickets for the time in the evening (our work was ending at 6 pm), all the tickets were sold out for Thursday and Friday, the only two days when we could visit. So we decided to visit on Thursday night, which also appeared to be the only day of the week when Notre Dame is open until 10 pm!
When we arrived, close to 8 pm, there was literally no line, so we were able to go in and fully experience the beauty of Notre Dame.
We also wandered by the Musée d’Orsay after dinner. It was too late to enter the museum, but at least we snapped a few pictures of the hippo:
At last, a few words about food and wine.
Talking about food experiences, it was my first time trying frog legs! I must say that I liked them. I usually hear a reference to “tastes like chicken,” but to me, they most resembled fish, such as trout, and not chicken. Also in the highlights were Beef Bourgogne (great flavor), oxtail terrine (very tasty), and veal liver with wild mushrooms (perfectly done, not something you can easily find in a restaurant in the U.S.). From the food let-downs, I want to mention steak tartar premixed with … wait for it… ketchup (sigh). You couldn’t taste anything except ketchup in that dish…
And then I found a perfect delicious gelato…
Now, the wines.
As always, I started by visiting the store. I picked a bottle of 2022 Club des Sommeliers Saumur-Champigny AOC (13.5% ABV), a perfect opportunity to taste the beloved Cabernet Franc. I understand that this is a supermarket brand, and on the first day, the wine had no resemblance to the classic Loire Cab Franc (no cassis, no bell pepper whatsoever). On the second day, the wine improved, offering at least some hints of the classic flavors.
Ah, and here is the obligatory picture of the supermarket wine shelves – you can zoom in and study if you wish.
The 2024 Le Sudiste Chardonnay Pays d’Oc (12.5% ABV) was outstanding. Classic Chardonnay, vanilla and apples profile, just a hint of butter, round, silky, and refreshing.
While visiting Basque restaurant (probably best meal of the trip), I found some delicious wine by the glass from the appellation I’m not familiar with at all – 2020 Domaine Abotia Rouge Irouleguy AOC (65% Tannat, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc) – the wine was a standout, dense, full-bodied, an interplay of wild berries, well integrated tannins and perfect balance.
Passing through the duty-free at the Charles de Gaulle airport on the way back, I had an opportunity to platonically enjoy some of the lovely and very expensive views, such as a line-up of Krug Champagne, Hennessy Cognac for measly €39,393, and a nice display of Louis XIII Cognacs (only €7,450! How many would you like?).
And then there were some unplatonic pleasures, despite early morning hours (who said you can’t enjoy wine at 8 AM?). I had some time to stop by the Star Alliance lounge, and I found a few of the Gérard Bertrand red wines being offered.
I was sure that I wrote about Gérard Bertrand wines on multiple occasions, but apparently it was only one blog post from 2 years ago, also talking about … yeah, visiting Paris.
Gérard Bertrand makes very reliable wines, usually at quite reasonable prices. First wine I tried was 2021 Gérard Bertrand Kosmos 888 Languedoc AOP (14.5% ABV, Grenache/Syrah/Mourvèdre blend), which was outstanding – generous, supple fruit, full body, perfectly accentuated tannins, luscious and delicious. I actually want to cite the description of the wine from the back label here, as it explains the name of the wine: “Kosmos is a tribute to the two most emblematic cosmic stars in organic viticulture, the Sun and the Moon. These two stars come together to represent the symbol of the infinity of the Kosmos, 888”.
It is interesting how the second wine couldn’t be any more different. 2022 Gérard Bertrand Héritage An 560 Côtes du Roussillon Villages Tautavel AOP (15% ABV, a blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Carignan) was much leaner despite higher ABV, tight, restrained, with firm structure, firm body, and more pronounced tannins – also perfectly elegant, but requiring you to slow down a bit to savor the beauty. Here again, I feel compelled to cite the description on the back label: “Gérard Bertrand reveals the history of South of France greatest terroirs. At the origin of humanity, 560 000 years ago, our ancestors already lived on the lands of Tautavel. The magnificent and secular landscapes are home to a vineyard in a limestone and schist clay amphitheater”.
On this happy note, it is time to conclude the travel story.
Hope you enjoyed some pictures!
A Few Days on Cape Cod, 2025 Edition
I enjoy writing about our trips to Cape Cod as it is always an opportunity to share some picture and talk about wines.
This trip was no exception. We were blessed with beautiful weather, warm and dry. And we drank a lot of delicious wines I’m happy to talk about.
Before we talk about wine, a few of the pictures I love to bring back from Cape Cod:
First, a sparkling wine – NV Incandesa Brut Traditional Method California Sparkling Wine (11.5% ABV, 70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir). The wine was delicious, with a classic nose of baked bread and apples, fine mousse, and a round, generous palate. I had to do a bit of research to learn more about this wine, as the bottle itself offers very little information, and it is not easy to find anything on the web. It appears that it shouldn’t be surprising that this sparkling wine tastes so good – it is made by one of the most famous Spanish Cava producers, Raventos Codorniu, as its first foray into the North American market. Side benefit – this was a perfect pairing for the oysters…
Appropriately for the weather, we enjoyed 3 Rosé wines.
2023 Poggio Stenti Sangiovese Rosato Maremma Toscana DOC (13.5% ABV) was delightful, a Rosé with a presence. A full assemblage of strawberries on display – from aromatics on the nose to the flavors on the palate, coupled with a good mid-palate weight, a well-present body. Too bad this was my last bottle brought back last year after our family European trip.
2024 Turley Zinfandel Rosé California (12% ABV) – I’m so glad Turley started producing this wine some years back – it is absolutely delightful, can perfectly compare to any Provançal Rosé in its lightness, effervescence, and beautiful aromatics.
2024 Field Recordings Domo Arigato (Mr. Ramato) Skin Contact Pinot Grigio SLO Coast (12.5% ABV) – one of my perennial favorites from Field Recordings. This is a skin contact wine, so it is more than just a light Rosé; the wine offered herbaceous undertones on the palate, and had good body weight, with red fruit mixed with herbs. Delicious.
We had only a few of the white wines, so here are notes on one of them.
2024 Field Recordings Super Gnario El Palomar District (13.1% ABV, 100% Malvasia Bianca) – amazing aromatics, with flowers, whitestone fruit, guava, overall very intense. On the palate, the wine might be even a bit too much with “in your face” white plums and green pears, medium to full body, good acidity and lingering fruit on the long finish.
Let’s take a little break from wines – here are some garden pictures for you, and a little bit of food:
Now, to the reds.
2018 Pedra Cancela Winemaker’s Selection Dão DOC (13% ABV, 40% Touriga Nacional, 30% Alfrocheiro, 30% Tinta Roriz) – Portuguese wines are delivering great QPR, and this wine was no exception. Open and inviting on the nose with red and black fruit continued with black fruit interplay on the palate, with a touch of spices and good earthy undertones. Simple and tasty.
2017 Carlisle The Integral Red Wine Sonoma County (14.5% ABV, 62% Syrah, 38% Mourvèdre) – you rarely can go wrong with Carlisle, and this wine didn’t disappoint. Dark cherries on the nose, dark cherries on the palate, perfectly integrated tannins with elevated but smooth mouthfeel, excellent balance, medium to long finish. An excellent wine.
2017 Alban Vineyards Patrina Estate Syrah Edna Valley (14.8% ABV) – Alban is one of my favorite producers. This Syrah had a beautiful nose of dark fruit with a hint of barnyard. On the palate, the wine was surprisingly sweeter than I expected, with blackberries dominating the palate. My guess is that I opened this wine at the wrong moment in time – it probably needed another 5 years to turn around.
1993 Store’s Winery Merlot San Ysidro District (12.8% ABV) – I keep opening these old wines that I got from the Benchmark Wine, and so far, not a single one has disappointed. To begin with, just take a look at this cork – it looks like the wine was just made, not 30 years ago. Yes, of course, tertiary aromas dominated, with dry fruit well present, but the wine was still perfectly alive, with medium to full body, good acidity, and perfect balance. This wine was a treat.
There you are, my friends – a few delightful days on Cape Cod. How was your summer?
Reminiscing About Cabernet Sauvignon
Yesterday we celebrated Cabernet Sauvignon Day. Well, I guess some people did, as I was drinking Tempranillo. But – grape holidays are an excellent opportunity to think about the grape we are honoring, and I’m happy to seize this opportunity.
As you probably know, it is hard for me to pick the favorites. If I were asked directly to name my favorite wine, I would never name any particular wine or grape as a favorite; my answer to this question always is “I love them all”. But deep inside, when nobody is asking, I know I would gravitate toward a good Cabernet Sauvignon when I can.
I’m very particular when it comes to Cabernet Sauvignon. This is one of the very few wines where I perfectly know what flavors I’m looking for. I need cassis, I need eucalyptus, I need a little bit of a bell pepper, and a touch of the cedar box would be nice too. If these flavors are not part of the core profile, I might still enjoy the wine, but I would never remember it as a Cabernet Sauvignon.
I decided to mentally challenge myself – recall my favorite Cabernet Sauvignon wines and associated experiences. Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the most popular wines in the world, produced by everybody and everywhere, so it is easy to name lots of producers. But this is not what I tried to do – I only thought about my most memorable encounters with the Cabernet Sauvignon, no point in regurgitating a bunch of Cabernet Sauvignon producer names.
Let’s see what came to my mind.
As only yesterday I wrote about the wines of Smith-Madrone, let’s start with that. Smith-Madrone has two Cabernet Sauvignon wines in its portfolio – Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and Cook’s Flat Reserve, each one delicious in its own right. Both are textbook Cabernet Sauvignon wines – my textbook that is, as both perfectly demonstrate the exact flavors – cassis, eucalyptus, bell pepper, cedar box. Just thinking about those wines makes me smile.
Next, how about Jordan? Jordan Vineyard and Winery in Alexander Valley in Sonoma produces only three things – “Chardonnay, Cabernet, and Hospitality”, according to John Jordan, winery owner. I had Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon on multiple occasions, and it never disappointed. It also has this classic profile, only with a bit more fat comared to Smith-Madrone, but thoroughly enjoyable on all occasions.
Then there is Kamen Estate. Unlike Smith-Madrone, I had Kamen Estate Cabernet Sauvignon only once during a group dinner we had in Danville in California. The wine was recommended by the wine director at Vine at Bridges, a wine bar/store at the Bridges restaurant. I don’t remember the exact taste profile, but I remember that I was blown away by the purity and beauty of that wine. I still have a bottle of 2006 Kamen Cabernet Sauvignon in the cellar, but finding the right moment to open that bottle will be mission impossible.
An interesting tidbit – thanks to the same wine guy at the Vine at Bridges who recommended Kamen to me, I discovered Field Recordings wines early on, way before they became a crowd favorite. The first Field Recordings wine I ever tried was Fiction, a wild blend of red grapes and not Cabernet Sauvignon at all – but, last year I opened Field Recordings The Armory, a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wine for my guests. At first, I was not even planning to try it, but seeing how everyone likes it, I decided to give it a try. Whoa! Classic Cabernet profile was tremendously elevated, adding succulent wild blueberries to cassis, together with high intensity, high acidity mouthfeel. This was one of the most “energetic” Cabernet Sauvignon renditions I ever tasted.
The next wine is somewhat of a sad story. I discovered Louis M Martini Cabernet Sauvignon during Windows on the World wine school classes back in 2004, when Kevin Zraly said that Louis Martini delivers a lot in the glass for a very reasonable price. For many years, this was my go-to “around $20” Cabernet Sauvignon, until it was not – now winery makes over-priced, over-done Cabernet Sauvignon wines, but it is still the name I will remember fondly.
Okay, two more.
Beaulieu Vineyards, commonly abbreviated as BV, is another Cabernet Sauvignon staple I must mention. BV wines have this beautiful classic Cabernet Sauvignon profile enhanced with Rutherford dust. Well, basic BV wines might not give you the amount of pleasure you are looking for, but if you can get your hands on a bottle of Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, believe me, you will think that you have already made it to the winelovers’ heaven.
And lastly, bow to the dark side. Randy Dunn is well known for the wines of dark, brooding power. Dunn wines are not made to be consumed young. But if you are able to find a mature Dunn Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon wine, that will be an amazing treat, weaving dark and brooding power on top of the classic Cab profile. I had an opportunity to drink Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon only a few times in my life, but boy, those were memorable moments!
Here you are, my friends – a little trip down the Cabernet Sauvignon memory lane.
What were your most memorable Cabernet Sauvignon wines?
15 Years of Blogging
Wine, food, and life.
This story started 15 years ago when…
Nah…
Well, wait. This is actually true. This blog should’ve started at least 17 years ago, as some of my friends suggested. Then, of course, there was a fear of the unknown, “should I or should I not” inner voice fighting, and slow warming up to “I guess I can at least try… what is the worst thing that can happen?”. In March of 2010, I finally told the world that the new wine blog was coming (here is the link to the very first post on this blog). Four months later, in July of 2010, this blog finally took off.
I love numbers, so for this post, I wanted to share some Talk-a-Vino 15 years stats:
- 1,553 – number of published posts (it averages to 100+ a year, even though earlier years saw a lot more posts than the late ones)
- 1,556,337 words written (only in posts, not including comments; this was a fun project of figuring it out)
- 10,202 comments posted (that includes my replies as well)
- Pinot Noir is the most talked about grape with 79 posts, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon (70) and Chardonnay (55).
- Wine Quiz is still the most popular category with 257 posts, even though I have not been running the series for many years now.
- 640,293 spam comments protected against by Akismet according to the WordPress.com dashboard – this one is the most impressive number 🙂
When I started writing this blog, I was pondering the question – who do I write this blog for? After spending some time researching what others think, I came to a simple conclusion – I will be writing this blog for myself. I will be the one who has to like the posts first and foremost – of course, it would be wonderful to find some soulmates, people who would enjoy reading what I wrote, but I wouldn’t do anything special to find them, “just be myself,” as they like to say.
As an engineer at the core, I wanted my posts to be organized, so I came up with a concept of “series”. I was also very ambitious – for example, one of the series was called Daily Glass – as I drink wine daily, this series was supposed to talk about those daily wines. To date, I have 84 posts in that category – not exactly a daily activity. However, I still find the concept of the series helpful, at least personally, as it delivers the big picture. Usually, the names of the series are self-explanatory, as with the Daily Glass, so I don’t need to explain what “Restaurant Files”, “One on One with Winemaker”, “American Pleasures” (well, this one is actually about great American wines), or “Travel Diaries” actually mean.
Wine, food, and life.
This blog became a place where I store wine, food, and life experiences. There are notes for thousands of wines. There are restaurant experiences and recipes. You can find my travel diaries, whether visiting Japan, Israel, Paris, or my own neighbourhood, all illustrated with countless pictures. Tasting rare grapes is another passion, spurred by being bitten by the Wine Century Club bug – the rare grape experiences are collected throughout these pages, as I continue that Wine Century Club journey. Then there are even more experiences I love to collect, such as tasting wines from as many US states and as many countries as possible.
When I started blogging, the plan was to share my opinion and my opinion alone. When at the first Wine Bloggers Conference I attended, I heard seasoned wine writers saying “interview, interview, interview”, this was completely lost on me. What interviews? Why should I ask someone questions and then try to repeat the conversation in the format of a blog post? Little by little, conversation after conversation, the “aha” moment happened, and you can now find 40 or so conversations with the winemakers and wine people, the interviews. Among those, there is a series called Stories of Passion and Pinot, dedicated to the people who made the finicky grape their passion, most of them coming from Oregon.
And I also have to mention two of my perennial favorites. In my 15 years of blogging, I haven’t missed a single year with my Wine News and Updates, always published on April 1st, always filled with the most sensational happenings in the world of wine (if you have some time, check them out!). Another favorite is the list of the Top Wines of the Year, also published every year from 2010 through 2024. Originally envisioned as being only Top 10, then Top 12 (a dozen), the Top Lists usually reach at least 24 wines, but hey, this is my blog, my rules, and I can break my own rules.
I’m definitely enjoying my journey of 15 years, and I can only hope that I was able to share the joy with you on some occasions. Let’s raise our glasses to Wine, Food, and Life. Cheers!
Frustration of the Oenophile – Choosing Wine
First-world problems, I know. Nevertheless, let’s talk about them.
I guess we, oenophiles, are tender creatures. Doesn’t take much to get us frustrated. Wine not tasting the way we expect; not enjoying critic’s choice 100-points wine; close friends not sharing your excitement about the wine in the glass. We can go on and on about these little insignificant things, each one a source of the full-blown frustration. Oenophile’s frustration looks different every day. And mine right now might be the biggest one of all (remember – taste is subjective, so are the feelings) – inability to choose the wine.
Assuming I will be able to finish this post today, tomorrow we are celebrating Valentine’s Day – and what says “I love you” better than a luscious, voluptuous, sexy, and seductive bottle of wine? Forget flowers, flowers don’t stand a chance against such a bottle of wine. But what wine will be luscious, voluptuous, sexy, and seductive? The need to choose that wine properly becomes the cause of the ultimate frustration. But that’s not all, because merely in a week we have to deal with OTBN – Open That Bottle Night – and this is the ultimate “oenophile frustration” cause, as now we need to decide what bottle we kept not opening waiting for a special moment which might either never arrive or already be in the past?
Decisions, decisions, decisions. Trying to select the right bottle of wine for the occasion, you have only a few minutes to agree with yourself on the proper bottle. If you will not arrive at the decision within those few minutes, the next 2, 3, 4 days will be miserable. You are going to pull a bottle, look at it, think about it for a moment, sigh, and put it back. Then repeat the process over and over again, pretty much until you force yourself to feel that you got the right bottle. Possibly to change your mind again in a few hours, or even 20 minutes before the bottle needs to be opened. If you are an oenophile, and you are not going through this pitiful “decision paralysis”, I envy you and congratulate you. And for the rest of us – I share your pain.
So what wine should you select for Valentine’s Day? I already told you – it should be luscious, voluptuous, sexy, and seductive – or not. Of course, there is a big dependency on the food, but don’t try to achieve a perfect match – it’s okay to enjoy your food and wine independently. I have to say that I’m not a big fan of still Rosé wines for Valentine’s Day – yes, it matches the pink color of all the all V-day paraphernalia – but it might not deliver the pleasure you are looking for. I also would suggest avoiding “thought-provoking” wines – rare grapes, natural wines, skin-contact wines, wines from the forgotten corners of the Earth. On a normal day, I’m the first one to ask for an obscure wine, but for Valentine’s Day, wine should give you pleasure, elevate your mood, it should be easy to understand. If upon the first sip you will not say “ahh, this is good”, you’ve chosen the wrong wine – put the cork back and go fetch another bottle.
I love to have bubbles for Valentine’s Day – of course, nothing can beat the classic Champagne (and it perfectly can be pink), but you can’t go wrong with Cremants, Franciacorta, Trento DOC, Cava, and all other méthode champenoise wines. If you like white wines, Chardonnay is your best choice of white V-day wine, pretty much from anywhere in the world, as long as it is not a lifeless purposefully unoaked rendition.
And then, of course, the red. Ideally, the red should have an age on it, to truly deliver all that pleasure upon a first sip. Amarone, Brunello (I would avoid Barolo unless you perfectly know what you are doing), Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux/Cabernet blends, Super-Tuscans, Spanish Grenache, Rioja from a good producer, Syrah and Zinfandel. I’m not trying to make other wines feel bad, but for Valentine’s Day, this is what I would pick from.
Here is actually what I picked – Champagne and Syrah from California – and I will tell you all about it later on.
If you thought selecting wine for Valentine’s Day was frustrating, it is nothing in comparison with selecting the wine for OTBN.
OTBN (Open That Bottle Night) was invented in 1999 by Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, writers behind the Wall Street Journal’s wine column at that time. The purpose of the OTBN, which is always celebrated on the last Saturday in February, is to encourage wine lovers around the world to open that special, stashed far away bottle. We all have those bottles that can be categorized as “not today”. These wines typically exist in single quantities in our cellars and always have a memory attached to them.
This is what makes the selection process very difficult – to open or not to open? I have only one such bottle. What if I open it too early – I will never know how amazing it could become over the next 10 years? Once I open that bottle which was gifted by a dear friend, brought back from the amazing trip, acquired in the moment splurge, will my memories be lost forever? Should I just hold on to that bottle instead? Will I open this wine in the right company? Will people truly appreciate the sacrifice I’m making?
Frustrated, frustrated oenophile. It is hard to make wine decisions.
I hope you got my point. And I hope I helped you, at least a tiny bit, to select a proper bottle of wine, at least for Valentine’s Day. And please don’t ignore the OTBN – the right time to open a special bottle of wine is now – you never know, tomorrow the wine might be gone, or you might be gone. Truly, live in the wine moment – at least on the last Saturday in February.
Do you have frustrated oenophile moments of your own? Please share! And I wish you a happy, quick, and not-frustrating-at-all wine selection process, for all the special moments to come. Cheers!
Travel Diaries: Cote d’Azur, Pink Sunsets and Rare Grapes
Cote d’Azur.
French Riviera.
One of the most coveted vacation destinations in the world. I didn’t know that, but according to Wikipedia, “Riviera is an Italian word that originates from the ancient Ligurian territory of Italy, wedged between the Var and Magra rivers. Côte d’Azur is originally a nickname given by France to the County of Nice after its annexation in 1860, because the climate was similar to that of the north of Italy, even in winter, with “a sky as blue as its sea”.” I know it is summer, but here is my illustration of the point above:
An evening in Antibes
Over the past 10 years, I had to travel to Nice a good number of times, and always for business. As a business traveler, I always held a grudge against these trips to the South of France – I don’t like Nice airport, it is one of the most uncomfortable ones, and I had my share of bad experiences in Nice. But the last trip was admittedly better perceived – I stayed at a brand new Marriott property, Moxy in Sophia-Antipolis, which was very nice. And we spent most of our free evenings in Antibes, which is a beautiful small town – still with lots of tourists, but overall incomparable to the crowds of Nice itself.
As you already know, I’m here to inundate you with pictures. As we visited Antibes (and Nice once) only in the evening, the majority of the pictures are related to the sunset. Here you go:
It is not only the sunsets that provided a source of enjoyment during our walks. Thought-provoking, creative statues by Nicolas Lavarenne were another great entertaining element of the Antibes boardwalk – I have to say that I really enjoyed them. Here are a few of the highlights:
Here are more of the sunset pictures:
And now my most favorite, the one I promised you in the title of this post – pink sunset:
Before we part, a few words about the wine. I had a few of the decent wines during the week, some local, some not. 2023 Estandon Brise Marine Blanc Méditerranée IGP (Clairette, Ugni Blanc) and 2023 Estandon Brise Marine Rosé Méditerranée IGP (Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah) were both on point, crisp, refreshing and light. 2020 Caves de Rauzan Mascottes Olga Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Bordeaux AOC (13.5% ABV) was also very good, on par with the excellent 2020 vintage, and overall very generous and supple.
My personal highlight was the 2020 Château de Bellet Rouge Bellet AOP (14.5% ABV, 35% Folle Noire, 25% Braquet, 40% Grenache). This was a super-local wine, with the vineyards and winery located in the Nice area. The wine had a nice core of dark fruit, a hint of my beloved barnyard and a silky-smooth texture. Not only the wine was delicious, but it also added two new rare grapes to my collection, inching closer to the coveted Hexavin goal.
That’s all I have for you today. Hope you enjoyed looking at the pictures as much as I had fun taking them.
Travel Diaries: Europe 2024
The European family trip was fully planned – Paris, Milan, Tuscany, Rome. Hotels and airline tickets were booked, and only train tickets remained to be put in place. This will be a great trip. July 2020 was shaping up to be a great time.
Yes, you read it correctly. July 2020. The month that never happened. along a few years. But the desire to have the family trip to Europe never went away. The original idea behind the trip was to celebrate two important events in the youngest kids’ lives – graduation from university and high school. 4 years later, that was the time to celebrate another university graduation – and as Covid became history, we could get back to planning the European trip again.
Everything in life has its silver lining, sometimes we just can’t see it. With our trip, there were a few advantages. First, the trip was moved to May instead of July. I’m sure both Paris and Rome are beautiful in July, but July is a very hot month for both cities. Going in May saved us from the heat torture. The second advantage was that my original plan (Paris-Milan-Tuscany-Rome) over the 10-day period would create way too much stress. Going directly from Paris to Tuscany evened out the whole experience, making it more relaxing.
So what is this all about? I’m writing this post while sitting on the plane flying back from Rome. We had a great trip – we saw a lot, ate a lot of tasty food, drank delicious wines, and were able to relax at the same time. I want to share this experience with you including a few of the good learning points in the hope of simply helping and encouraging someone to take that trip you’ve always wanted to take and feel good about it. Here I plan to share some general thoughts about the trip – the things we either did right or learned. Then I will inundate you with lots and lots of pictures and details about food and wine in the subsequent posts.
Few of rationales behind this trip planning. The kids (grown-up, yes, but still) had never been to France and Italy. They have never experienced European trains. My wife and I have never been to Tuscany. These were important points that I wanted to cover in my trip planning.
We started our trip in Paris, where we spent 3 nights. Then we flew from Paris (Orly, nice and easy) to Florence on Sunday morning, using one of the budget European airlines, Vueling. Got to Florence, got our rental car, and drove about 1.5 hours down south to stay at the agro farm for four nights. After that we drove back to Florence, but now to the train station, and took a high-speed train from Florence to Rome. Three nights in Rome and back to where we started, New York.
While in Tuscany, we visited Siena, where we had a walking tour with the guide. Same in Rome – we had guided tours of the Vatican, the Colosseum, and a bit of Rome itself.
In retrospect, the whole schedule and trip logistics turned out quite well, allowing us enough time for sightseeing and relaxation. Here are a few learning points and suggestions based on our experience.
Plan ahead
I started the planning at least 9 months out. Of course, not everything can or needs to be done so far in advance, but if you want to have specific flights (schedule/stops/airline), and specific hotels, do start as early as you your made the decision to go. Double that effort if you plan to use award points and miles.
Book your tours to the popular attractions online/as early as possible
I don’t know about you, but lines are one of my most hated things – and you should’ve seen the line going round and around the Vatican with all the people who want to see it – this was one long line. So timed tickets are the way to go, whenever they are available. Here are the links for booking the timed tickets (these are the current links at the time of this writing – I can’t guarantee you they will not change.)
Booking a timed tour of the Vatican (60 days in advance)
Booking a timed tour of the Colosseum (30 days in advance)
Use tour guides!
I know, the tour guides cost money. But they also help you to create deeper, longer-lasting memories, and they make your “walking around” interesting and worthwhile. I also believe that it is best to get references for the tour guides, as I’m sure they are not all the same. Both of our tour guides in Siena and in Rome were incredible and if you are interested, I will be happy to facilitate the connection.
Remember, people live there
This might sound banal and “duh”, but remember, while you are a tourist, not everyone is around you – especially when it comes to the cities. You will be competing for the same attractions and especially, the restaurants, with the people who actually live in those “tourist attractions”, so when you are out and about Friday night or Saturday, so are the locals. Plan accordingly.
Reserve ahead
I already suggested that you should reserve your attraction tickets as early as possible. But you have to also do the same with the restaurants. Of course, you will always find a place to eat. But if there are any specific restaurants you want to try, start making reservations 30 days in advance, and possibly even earlier. Trust someone who’s spent lots and lots of time trying to find a reservation at one of the recommended restaurants about 3 weeks before our trip – with literally no availability in sight.
Trains in Europe are not what they used to be
Sure, it is my age talking, but about 20 years ago, you could rely on the schedule of the trains in Europe to be rock solid. Now, there are strikes, and your trains can be delayed or canceled, the same as airline flights. When we came to the Florence train station, my heart literally sank – two of the earlier trains to Rome were delayed by 100 and 70 minutes and I heard the word “strike” over in the announcement. At that moment, I regretted not driving directly to Rome from the place where we stayed instead of going in the opposite direction just because I wanted to provide a European train experience to the kids. We got lucky and our train was delayed by only 5 minutes, but keep the possibility of a strike in mind.
Don’t overextend
I can’t speak for Europeans who often have 6 weeks of vacation. When your typical vacation is only 7 to 10 days, obviously you try to do as much as possible, see as much as possible, and experience as much as possible. But converting your vacation into a race is a mistake. Accept that you will not see everything you want at once. Allow for a slow time. Let life happen around you without hurrying it up. Spending 4 lazy days in Tuscany after 3 full days in Paris and before fully embracing Rome worked absolutely the best and in my opinion, made a very good vacation into a great one.
Lastly, keep in mind that planning is great but you also need a little bit of luck. We were lucky with the weather (not too hot, not too cold, and not a day of rain), we were lucky with our flights, we were lucky with our train ride. Just remember that things might happen, whether you want that or not.
That’s the end of my uninvited advice. Now, get ready to be inundated by lots of pictures and tidbits of our travel escapades.
2023 Uncovered
“Uncovered” is an interesting word. On one side, it means that something is simply not covered, like a grill left uncovered for the night. Uncovered also means that a discovery will be made, a secret will be revealed, something will “lose its cover”.
I intend to talk about both meanings.
Let’s talk about revealing.
I have a secret closet – compartment, shelf, what have you. I don’t like it. It bothers me. I always remember it exists, and it is daunting and depressing. This closet contains posts that should’ve been written and never were. I’m not talking about just some interesting post ideas which never materialized. I’m talking about winemaker dinners, exciting, insightful, delicious – but not written about. Happening 5 years ago – and still hurtful to think about. Wine tastings – too many to remember. Some are reasonably recent, such as the 2020 Bordeaux Cru Bourgeois tasting (by the way, if you like Bordeaux, 2020 is the vintage to get by the caseload) – and some going back to much earlier. And even samples – I have some samples I didn’t get to in ages… I’m telling you, this closet is not a happy place…
Sad closet aside, let’s talk about some of the things that were not covered in 2023.
Wines
Many wonderful wine experiences of 2023 were never discussed in this blog. I don’t have any notes, so I can’t recover from it – but I can still share some memories – with the help of photographs, of course. Let’s take a quick trip back to 2023.
I had a good reason to open these two 21 years old (young?) Rioja wines from Lopez de Heredia. Just look at the state of these corks… and the color of this red wine. Both were superb, but I will not tell you anything more than that.
Then there were a couple of trips to Cape Cod, where we always drink well. In this set, there were good and bad memories at once. 2013 Torrione Petrolo was quite underwhelming, and 2001 Turley Petite Sirah was surprisingly not great – as I said, I don’t have any detailed notes, only remember my disappointment with these two wines. 2007 Leviathan was superb, though, and it made it into the top 23 of the 2023 list.
The sunset through the glass was unbeatable:
Next, I tasted a delicious Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley:
This 2016 Hendricks Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Napa Valley was perfectly on point in its Cabernet sauvignon expression, with just enough of everything (cassis, eucalyptus, tannins, acidity).
Another trip to the Cape:
Both 2020 and 2021 Campochiarenti Chianti Colli Senesi were outstanding, one better than the other – this is why they were included in the top list. San Nicolas is always perfect. 2013 Campochiarenti Passione Divina Vini Storiche was excellent, but so was 2013 Stolpman Sangiovese, and literally surprising myself, I preferred Stolpman Sangiovese over the classic Italian version (#5 on the Top 23 of 23). 2016 The Family Barrel Shiraz from Barossa was also very tasty and perfectly restrained.
The last set was from a get-together with the wine friends:
This was an interesting set of wines. Nothing was mind-blowing probably with the exception of 1998 Gaja Rennina Brunello di Montalcino, which was simply superb. But overall, most of the wines were good. 2017 Dr. Konstantin Frank Amur was tasty, and a new rare grape (Amur) for my collection; 2018 Dr. Konstantin Frank Saperavi and 2020 Dr. Konstantin Frank Rkatsiteli were nice and tasty. Voruta Black Currant from Lithuania was also nice, with a delicious Cassis profile, and allowed me to add another checkmark to the Wine of the World collection. 2010 Vino Della Pace was simply surprising, as I didn’t expect the wine made from 855 grape varieties to last 13 years, but nevertheless, it was quite drinkable. 2021 Domaine de Chafalet Le Méphisto Gamaret from Switzerland was a touch gamey, crisp and fresh, easy to drink. Flor de Muga Rioja Rosé was excellent, more of a Provençal style, lean and crisp. Lastly, Capetta Dolce Asti DOCG was a perfect accompaniment for dessert with its cut-through acidity (#12 on the Top 23 of 23).
These wine experiences should’ve been covered better, but at least now these wines have some presence on this blog.
Wine tastings and events
I already mentioned the Bordeaux tasting which was not covered, and it will not be, as the 2021 Cru Bourgeois tasting is taking place merely in a week. Few other events still have a hope of coverage – Benvenuto Brunello and Chile Site Matters were two of the tastings that I still hope to write about. The same goes for the virtual tasting of the wines of Alentejo – I will make an effort to have all of them covered.
Travel
While I wrote last year about my trips to Nashville and Sweden, there were two trips to Belgium and another one to Greece that never made it to the blog – and you know how much I love inundating everyone with tons of pictures. The Belgium trip was also interesting because I accidentally came across Belgium wine which I didn’t even know Belgium produces, thus needing to add Belgium to the list of countries in the Wines of the World table. I still have a hope of correcting this, and at least writing about the Belgium trip, but we will see.
Why did I write this post?
This might be a reasonable question to ask. What is the point of this sort of self-pitying talk? When I only started writing this blog, I read many posts from others talking about blogging in general, their motivation and goals for blogging, and so on. One idea got stuck with me: we (writers) write this blog first and foremost for ourselves. This is the only reason to stay true to what you are doing. As soon as you start writing for “someone else”, you lose the core of your writing. So I needed this self-talk, I needed to get this pain and pressure out of the system – and now I feel better.
Mission accomplished.
Let’s get some wine writing done.
Happy New Year 2024!
And just like that another year became history.
I wish you a healthy and peaceful New Year 2024, filled with smiles, love, laughter, great wines, and memorable experiences!
Beautiful Lights, 2023 Edition
While I don’t celebrate Christmas, I still love the lights. I grew up celebrating the arrival of the New Year, and while this was borrowed from the Christmas traditions, there was always a tree for the New Year, ornaments, and lights.
It might be just me, but it seems that the holiday light displays are becoming more widespread, for sure when made as attractions. Or maybe it was always around and I just never took my time to notice them – but I definitely do now.
Newport Rhode Island is one of our favorite travel destinations in general, and particularly during Christmas. We visited Newport back in 2017 to see Christmas decorations, and thinking about that visit, I couldn’t believe that that visit took place 6 years ago. This year, we also decided to visit the Sparkling Lights display which was shown in the evening at the Breakers. As you can imagine, I have a bunch of pictures to share with you. But before we visit Newport, I would like to mention my hometown – Stamford, Connecticut.
Stamford always has some beautifully decorated houses we loved to visit over the years. But this year, we had a “notch up” experience. Driving back from our local supermarket, my wife said “hey, wait, I want you to turn around”. When I asked why, she said that she saw a glimpse of a nicely decorated house on a parallel street, and we should go see it. When we got there 2 minutes later, the view greatly exceeded my expectations – might be the best Christmas lights display I ever saw at a private house – and the best part was that we could park the car and just walk around the decorations. So let me start my inundating display with these pictures:
And now, here are the pictures from the Breakers, the Sparkling Lights display:
Here are a few pictures from the Elms:
And probably my favorite of the whole Newport trip – the Marble House:
Hope you enjoyed!
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