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A Few Days in Paris
If you have followed this blog for some time, you know what the “a few days” title means. Yes, pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. This post will not be an exception – get ready to scroll.
Pictures have such an important role in our lives. Pictures solicit emotions, bring back memories and moments, and let us re-live those moments. Pictures can also serve as a personal journal, keeping all the dates in perfect order.
Probably my favorite shot of the entire week
Based on the pictures stored on my computer, I was able to figure out that the last time I was in Paris was almost 13 years ago, in October 2010. Of course, even if one is not familiar with Paris from the books, once you visit, that memory will be with you forever. Yes, I knew what I will find in Paris in a general sense, but the particulars, such as navigating this sprawling city, became rather blurred.
Once I arrived, though, it all came back rather quickly. Paris has one of the very best subway systems in the world when it comes to navigation – before every entrance, there is a full list of stations which you will find in a given direction – as long as you know where you are going, getting there is really easy.
This was a trip for work, and I was definitely lucky with the location of the meetings – a stone’s throw from the Eiffel Tower. For 5 days straight, I could look at the Eiffel Tower any time I would want. We even took some pictures from the roof of the building, admiring it from an even closer distance.
We also had a dinner cruise along the Sienne, allowing this photography junky to take a beautiful picture of the well-lit Eiffel Tower during the night – despite the rain which was going on the whole night but conveniently stopped as we were passing the Eiffel Tower, allowing for some magnificent pictures to be taken.
And then there were numerous strolls around the streets of Paris, allowing more magic to be captured. Remember I promised to inundate you with pictures? Here you go – and when you will be done scrolling, we will switch our attention to – yes, you guessed it – food and wine. See you in a minute or so.
Now, food and wine, as nobody can talk about Paris without paying attention to food and wine. And wine and food.
Let’s talk about wine first.
First of all, I now did what I usually do during my trips, especially the European ones – visited the supermarket to see the selection of wines. Considering the location in the center of Paris, I think the prices look quite reasonable – good luck finding $3 wines in New York.
I grabbed two bottles to enjoy in my hotel room during the week. 2020 Rasteau AOP Cru de Cotes du Rhone at €7.23 was a very nice find. The wine needed a bit of time to open, but then offered a smokey, concentrated, powerful mouthfeel with a good amount of dark fruit. My second bottle was a bit more expensive – €9.28. It was 2021 Gérard Bertrand Solar 6 Syrah Cévennes IGP, a certified organic (Bio) and bee-friendly wine from the South of France. Along with Domaines Paul Max, Gérard Bertrand is one of my “safe choices” for situations where I need to pick a decent bottle of wine for a modest amount of money. This Syrah was quite generous, good amount of fruit, a tiny hint of black pepper, round and well-balanced. I run into the Gérard Bertrand wines a few more times during the trip – last time at the airport lounge in the form of the 2021 Gérard Bertrand Crémant de Limoux An 825 Brut, a blend of Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which was delicious in its own, but also perfect in Mimosa, with its firm structure and consistent bubbles.
I need to mention a few more wines. Of course, when in France, you should drink French wine. Except, maybe, when you are in a kosher restaurant. We visited L’As du Fallafel restaurant twice during the week (one of my colleagues eats Kosher, and then, of course, the food is just tasty), and an Israeli wine was a perfect option in my opinion. 2020 Gamla Cabernet Sauvignon Galilee was well approachable from the get-go, nice amount of dark fruit, good acidity, good structure, well-integrated tannins – a very nice wine overall. Last but not least was Chablis I had at the restaurant called Au Petit Marguery.
2021 Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis Vieilles Vignes de Sainte Claire was excellent. First, there was the nose of sapidity, minerality, and a touch of gunflint. I spent a good few minutes just admiring the aromatics before taking the first sip. The wine continued on the palate offering savory and complex mouthfeel with good acidity and restrained expression of the white-stone fruit. While working on this post, I looked up this wine – turns out that the grapes for this wine are harvested from the 70 years old vineyard with the roots of the vines extending for 25 meters into the Kimmeridgian soil. Now that will guarantee some complexity.
Now, let’s talk about food. There are two restaurants I want to mention. First called Suffren was an accidental find, as we were walking around looking for a place for dinner. I’m glad we stumbled upon it, as the food was outstanding, and the service was even better – happy and friendly. It was fun sitting at the table close to the entrance and observing the people waking in, shaking hands and talking with waiters – truly a neighborhood spot. The steak tartar was my choice of main course, and it was delicious. Everybody also got desserts, and polished their plates – profiteroles, baked Alaska, Crêpes Suzette (made tableside, of course).
The second restaurant was Au Petit Marguery. I found the restaurant via search as an affordable restaurant offering traditional French cuisine. The food was good even though it didn’t leave me speechless. Foie Gras was good overall, but it was served with some sort of a sweet toast which I didn’t appreciate at all, and I was really expecting more condiments to accompany such a rich dish.
My main course was fish (have no idea which one), which was not bad, but again, not truly memorable. For dessert, I got an oversize profiterole which was not bad but not amazing, but again maybe it was competing with my overinflated expectations.
I also stopped by a few of the cheese stores – this is literally a mandatory activity when in France. Tea is something I love, but talk much about tea in this blog. I found my favorite tea store, Mariage Frères, a short walking distance from my hotel, and I got a few teas to bring home. Around the corner from the tea store, I found another one of my favorites – Le Café Lenôtre. I was really hoping for a cup of hot chocolate but was laughed at as nobody else wants to drink hot chocolate in July.
And now you have my full report. It was definitely fun to spend a week in Paris and see how your memories are coming back to you. Before we part, I would like to leave you with one of my favorite pictures, taken during the rainy trip along the Seine. I think it gives you a perfect Paris mood in one shot…
Celebrate Tannat!
Yesterday, April 14th, Tannat Day was celebrated around the world.
Obviously, I’m late to the “Celebrate Tannat” party, so why even bother, right?
Tell me honestly – have you ever forgotten to wish a happy birthday to a friend on the actual birthday day, only to call the next day, apologize, and still wish a happy birthday? If you have never done that, you can probably skip this post altogether as “too late”. For those who had been in this movie once or twice, let’s still celebrate the Tannat grape.
Tannat is an interesting grape due to a number of reasons. First, this is one of the most tannic grapes out there, with one of the highest levels of phenolic compounds in seeds and skin (you can check this article if you would like to get some actual scientific data), competing for the leadership here with Sagrantino grapes from Umbria in Italy. Second, Tannat’s story is very similar to the story of its very close cousin, Malbec.
I’m not implying that Tannat and Malbec are genetically related. But they share similar lifecycle stories. Both grapes originate from the cradle of the French wine world, Southwest France, also known as Sud Ouest. Once upon a time, Malbec used to be the king of Cahors, and Tannat was ruling in Madiran. Both grapes managed to lose their crowns and were reincarnated in full glory in South America – Malbec found kingship in Argentina, and Tannat became an uncontested star of Uruguayan winemaking.
While Tannat found its new home in Uruguay, the grape is actually growing all around the world. But Uruguay is not just the new home. The interesting part about Tannat’s story in Uruguay is that the local winemakers found a way to tame its powerful tannins and acidity, and are able to produce delicious single-grape Tannat wines. However, Tannat can be found in Australia, Chile, Argentina, France, California, Oregon, Texas, and many other winemaking regions, where it is often used as a part of the blend.
While working on this post, I decided to check how often I mentioned Tannat one way or the other in my blog. From almost 1,500 posts, 34 posts contain the word “Tannat”. For comparison, 453 posts contain the words “Cabernet Sauvignon”, 13 times difference. However, just looking at the website word count, the word “Tannat” was mentioned in the blog about 700 times, and Cabernet Sauvignon about 2,500, less than 4 times difference.
Never mind the word count. As we said before, Tannat is the star of Uruguayan winemaking. Also, if you care to look for them, Madiran wines made somewhat of a comeback as of late, and Tannat is a major grape there. You can also find single-grape Tannat wines in Oregon, Texas, and Virginia. Speaking of Oregon, I have to mention the wines of Troon Vineyard. Craig Camp, the head winemaker at Troon, makes wonders with Tannat, from beautiful full-bodied organic reds to sparkling Tannat wines – Pet tanNat is definitely the wine to experience.
And then there is blending. If you would care to look at the list of grapes in the blend, lots of red wines from around the world have some amount of Tannat. Sometimes it is only 1% or 2%, but this might be enough to add acidity and tannins to the blend, to make the wine shine a little bit more.
Playing solo or in a minor supporting role, Tannat is well worth celebrating. Whether you celebrated Tannat yesterday or not, give this grape a chance – you might well like it in your glass.
Where In The World is Gigondas?
Do you think I’m dumbing it down way out of proportion? Do you think every wine consumer is perfectly familiar with whereabouts of Gigondas and its wines, and thus taking offense in the title of this post? Well, if this is the case, please share your anger in the comments section below and click the “x” in the corner. And if you are still here, let’s talk about the tiny speck of land in the southern part of the Rhone appellation in France.
Source: By DalGobboM at French Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Size matters, but probably not in this case. Gigondas has only about 3,000 acres of vineyards for the whole appellation (for comparison, E.& J. Gallo in California owns 20,000 acres of vineyards). Nobody knows where Gigondas name came from, but it is known that the wine was consumed in the Gigondas region more than 2,000 years ago. First records of Gigondas vineyard go all the way back to the 12th century. I guess the wine in Gigondas was really good even in the early days, as in 1591 there were first laws enacted, particularly prohibiting the sales of the wine to foreigners. In 1971, Gigondas became the first appellation in Côtes du Rhône-Villages to receive its own AOC status.
Gigondas is the land of Red and Rosé (just Red, mostly). Yep, that’s right – no white wines are produced and no white grapes are grown – at least for the wines produced under the Gigondas designation. The wines of Gigondas stylistically similar to the wines made in the neighboring – also much larger and a lot more famous – appellation of Châteauneuf-du-Pape – despite vignerons mostly working with 4 grapes in Gigondas (out of 8 varieties officially permitted), while folks in Châteauneuf-du-Pape allowed to use 18 in production of their red wines, 9 of which are white. At the end of the day, it is not for nothing both Gigondas and Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines are often classified as “GSM” – which stands for Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre – these are the main three grapes, with Grenache typically been a workhorse here (up to 80% allowed in Gigondas wines).
Now, the time has come for an ugly truth. I’m actually not familiar with Gigondas wines. I know and had many of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines, but I usually would pass by one or two bottles of Gigondas which most of the stores would offer, and go to the Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the same price range. Thus when I was offered to try 3 different Gigondas wines, my “yes, please!” was very enthusiastic.
When I mentioned on Twitter that I’m going to play with err, taste a few of the Gigondas wines, I got back an instant outpour of love – and not only to the wines, but to the place. Take a look at these tweets:
It is time to talk about the wines I was able to taste. I had three wines, two from the 2015 vintage and one from 2014. Let’s take a look at the producers first.
The Domaine des Bosquets traces its history back to 14th century. Today, Domaine des Bosquets farms 64 acres of vineyards (50 years old vines), primarily growing Grenache and small amounts of Syrah, Mourvedre, and Cinsault.
The Famille Perrin needs no introduction to the wine lovers. It takes roots in the same 14th century, with its historic Château de Beaucastel. In the 1950s, Famille Perrin became a pioneer of the organic farming, later on extending into the Biodynamic. The Famille Perrin also involved in the multiple projects in France and around the world, and the wine I tasted comes from their La Gille property in Gigondas.
Unlike the two wineries we just talked about, the Guigal Estate was founded in 1946 by Etienne Guigal in Ampuis, a small village Côte-Rôtie appellation. From there on, however, E. Guigal moved to the great prominence, with its so-called “La La” bottlings from Côte-Rôtie (La Mouline, La Turque, La Landonne) becoming an object of desire and obsession for the wine lovers around the world. Guigal Estate produces the wines in multiple appellations throughout both Northern and Southern Rhone, and “Guigal” name on the bottle is typically associated with quality.
I have to honestly tell you – with the exception of E.Guigal, this was not the love at first sight. However, all three wines perfectly evolved on the second day. Here are my notes:
2015 Famille Perrin La Gille Gigondas AOC (14.5% ABV, $38, 80% Grenache, 20% Syrah)
Garnet
Beet juice, mocha, raspberries, medium intensity, minerally undertones
Dense, chewy, blueberries and blueberry compote, eucalyptus, dark chocolate, medium to full body. Long finish.
7+, I would like a bit more balance.
8- second day, the wine is a lot tighter, has firm structure, shows hint of white pepper and by all means a lot more enjoyable. Apparently will improve with time.
2015 Domaine des Bosquets Gigondas AOC (15% ABV, $35, 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre and Cinsault, total 30 month aging in oak and concrete)
Dark garnet, almost black
Intense nose of freshly cut berries, vanilla, eucalyptus. Noticeable alcohol as well.
The palate is very intense but also astringent at the same time, black pepper, surprisingly medium body (was expecting bigger body). After 30 minutes in the decanter, the aggressive alcohol is gone. Still, feels that the wine needs time – not ready to drink now. Putting aside for a day.
Day 2 – cherries, mocha, and coffee on the nose. No alcohol, all nice and integrated. The palate shows tart cherries, pepper, vanilla, cut through acidity, medium plus body. Nicely drinkable. 8-/8, very good.
2014 E. Guigal Gigondas AOC (14.5% ABV, $36, 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre)
Intense garnet
Open and inviting nose, black pepper, raspberries, mint, cassis
Fresh raspberries and blackberries, hint of mushrooms, nice minerality, a touch of vanilla and pepper, firm structure, good acidity, good balance
8-, a very pleasant and nicely drinkable wine from the get-go.
Day 2: 8+, sweet vanilla, dark chocolate and blueberries on the nose, extremely inviting. The palate evolved dramatically – pepper, raspberries, graphite, nutmeg, violets, firm structure, superb.
Here you are, my friends – my first serious encounter with Gigondas. Looking at the pictures, I would really love to visit Gigondas, and I will be happy to drink the Gigondas wine – just need to fiorget them in the cellar for a while. What is your eperience with Gigondas? Cheers!
Daily Glass: Pleasures of a Simple Côtes du Rhône
What do you think of Côtes du Rhône wines? Côtes du Rhône (I like to call them CdR for short) are some of my favorite home wines. A “little brother” of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, they often offer similar, may be a bit less expressive taste profile, usually at a fraction of a price. They are also quite versatile with food, offering a wide pairing range, from lamb to game to cheeses.
I was reminded today of how good these simple CdR wines can be. While traveling (I’m in south of France at the moment, near Nice), I asked for the local red wine at the restaurant. Red Provence (that would be a true local wine) are made in a very minuscule quantities, so it is not surprising that restaurant at a small hotel didn’t have any. I was offered to look at the wines from the neighboring territories, such as Côtes Du Rhône, and I ended up picking the cheapest wine on the menu. It so happened that 2013 Antoine Ogier Artesis Côtes du Rhône AOC (14% ABV, €21 at a restaurant) was an excellent choice. The wine had red fruit on the nose with a touch of lavender, very soft tannins on the palate, soft and silky profile, plums, touch of minerality and excellent acidity, overall very balanced. After about 30 minutes the wine also showed tobacco and touch of pepper on the palate – a very classic profile overall. Drinkability: 8-
What was even better than just a nice glass of wine was that wine worked perfectly with food – this was an accidental success, as I didn’t think about the wine at all while ordering the food. The wine paired spot on with the Rabbit Pate, elevating each bite. It did the same thing with Grilled Veal with Creamy Mushroom Sauce. Believe it or not, but it was not even disturbed by an interesting dessert – a Pineapple Carpaccio (called on the menu “raw marinated pineapple”) with Lime Sorbet. All I can say that this was probably one of the most versatile wines I ever had – kudos to the winemaker for crafting such food friendly wines – I guess 155 years of history mean something.
Before we part, I want to live you with a couple of curiosities. Below you will see the back label of that bottle of wine, providing sulfates warning in 21 languages (I already shared that on Twitter). I find this interesting and a bit ridiculous (sorry – wine always contains sulfates, and no, they don’t cause the headache). The second picture shows an extremely thoughtful presentation of the condiments. I shared this on Twitter too, noting that I like the classy presentation, something which French mastered perfectly, only to be ridiculed by someone asking me if ketchup is a French food. Of course it is not, but think about how many times you were presented with the bottle of ketchup at a restaurant, only to think “where should I put it to – on the plate or directly on the fries” – by the way, both are equally uncomfortable choices? In this case, the problem is solved in the best possible way – here is your personal bottle, and you don’t need to deal with any puzzles, just enjoy your food.
Voilà! I’m done with my “notes from the road”. If you are in US, happy few last hours of the Labor Day holiday weekend. Until the next time – cheers!
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