As promised, here’s what I got from the $12 bottle of 2010 Domaine Brusset Laurent B. Cotes du Rhone. It’s good ya’ll. Not mind blowing, but it’s got the goods to deliver what you want in a yummy and satisfying Cotes du Rhone- great for a Thursday.
You can definitely go wrong in this neck of the woods. There’s just so much juice being turned out from this fruitful region that the odds are kind of against you. But if you trust your wine merchant and you see a low-priced bottle of Cotes du Rhone, it’s probably worth a shot. The Cotes du Rhone can be a good region to lean on.
This is so brilliant, I had to devote a single post to it. I tried this myself over the weekend and Eureka- it works. Where was this method during my early 20s? Genius.
What You Need:
1. A Bottle of Wine
2. A Shoe
3. A Hard Surface
What You Do:
1. Take off Your Shoe
2. Stick the bottom of the wine bottle in your shoe.
Happy Weekend dear readers. I hope you all are off to some exciting adventures. My mom is heading into town as my hubby heads to Istanbul. He’s working on a ballet there so he’ll be gone for over a week, thankfully CiCi (aka my mom) is hightailing it east. What would we do without our moms!
We are closing on our house next week (fingers crossed) and then we’re going to … Release the Kraken. We’re tearing down walls, repainting, staining and refinishing the floors and completely gutting and creating an entirely new kitchen (yay!). There are a million things I want to do this house. Every room is just so wrong right now and desperately cries out to be fixed but budget dictates that I must exercise some serious patience with her (my house, that is). I am the type of person that likes to tackle everything all at once, I can’t stand to leave things undone, but I don’t much have a choice here and will have to channel my inner Zen-ness.
In the meantime, I can’t wait to start scouring flea markets, vintage stores and craigslist to round out my decor. Stay tuned next week as I’ll be posting BEFORE pictures of Miss Virginie (after our dear newfound home state of course) along with some mood boards with a slew of ideas for design. I’m trying really hard to curb my enthusiasm for a California late-mid century house and respect the fact that Miss Virginie is of course a Virginia native with an unfortunate Colonial-ish vibe. Now, I pretty much hate anything Colonial, so you can bet that those ridiculous faux columns embracing the front door will be first to go. Inside, she’s a blank slate so I can really do anything but feel like I need to keep reminding myself that I’m in Virginia and not Laurel Canyon.
I would love your thoughts! We haven’t done a big reno project since our New York apartment and I’ve never done a kitchen, I’m pretty psyched.
What are you all up to this weekend? I’m going to hang with the kiddos and CiCi and watch Tina and Amy light it up on the Globes- my favorite awards show of the year, no one really takes it that seriously and everyone’s just drunk and happy, really the best kind of awards- and those two ladies kill me, they can get away with anything.
What I’m Drinking This Weekend:
I’m sticking with Southern France. My post this week about the Languedoc made me nostalgic for that part of the world, so I think I’ll try this inexpensive bottle from the Cotes du Rhone. Tasting note to follow. I once heard a Somm say that you really could never go too wrong with a bottle of Cotes du Rhone, but I would have to disagree with that as I have gone very wrong indeed. Let’s hope this one is promising, especially since it’s $12.
The Northern Lights- I have got to get to Iceland to see this fantastical sight. Anna Watson Carl’s posts about her recent trip to see the galactic display, are so inspiring. And this hotel blows my mind.
This looks amazing. Big Thornbirds fan- totally looking forward to this.
CBK, “the Original Gwyneth?”, I don’t know what do you think? I know that I love me some CBK, looking through these photos is kind of fabulous and makes me so nostalgic for the late 90s.
It’s January kids. It’s cold, it’s brrrr-ful and let’s face it, it’s a trifle bit depressing. Now I’m not a winter-hater, I actually quite like a healthy dose of cold. Polar Vortex? Not so much, but I’ve always loved the seasons and the change each brings throughout the year. The quiet and cold solemn days that winter boasts are good for the brain. These days lend themselves to clearing out the mind and readying oneself for a New Year and all that may bring. But honestly, when I’m not waxing poetic about it, January can be tough. It can be especially tough with little ones running around on the verge of daily cabin-fever frenzies, not to mention myself.
Enter the Languedoc- a perfect winter remedy. Now I’m not saying that alcohol is the answer but I am saying that infusing a little bit of Southern French vino into your life at this time of year can’t hurt. I often like to sip rosé and dream of lazy afternoons overlooking the Meditteranean from some fabulous terrace when this side of the pond suffers from a smudgy gray day, with seemingly nothing much in focus. These long winter days can roll right into each other creating a sort of blur-like effect. A good, inexpensive Languedoc wine goes a long way toward refocusing these foggy days.
5 FRENCH WINES TO CRUSH THE WINTER BLUES $20:
1. Domaine Rimbert St. Chinian Travers de Marceau Organic $15 RED
I’d like to have a perpetually flowing tap of this little beauty in my kitchen. Brought to us by one of my favorite importers, Jenny and Francois, I love its blueberry notes infused with a bit of leather and stones. This is wine is exactly why the Languedoc rocks my world.
2. NV Paul de Coste Brut Rosé, $16 ROSÉ SPARKLER
One of the best bottles of pink bubbles I have had, hands down. Inexpensive, marshy and herbalicious. You can taste the wild garrigue (herbs) floating through the air. Pop this one open on a cold winter’s sunset and imagine yourself seaside. The link is for a non-rosé, this one is a bit tough to find but it’s all over NYC wine lists.
3. ’10 Hecht and Bannier Minervois $19 RED
A juicy and yet still mineral red bursting with dark red fruits, licorice and mint. A very well-balanced and hearty red.
4. ’11 Ermitage du Pic St. Loup Tour de Pierres $14 RED
Terroir at its best. Kermit Lynch, pioneer importer, bring this beauty in to the States. An unreal deal for a great earthy, herbal bottle of wonder. Kermit knows what’s up. If you love wine and adventure and haven’t read his book, download this sucker today.
5. ’12 H.B. Picpoul de Pinet, $7 WHITE
You’ve seen this green bottle everywhere, well- it’s good and it’s $7. Enough said. Not just for summertime sipping, this racy and minerally white may be called the Sprite of the South of France but it’s drinkable and delivers decent complexity for the price. An old standby.
Most of you may be familiar with the Languedoc region of Southern France but for those of you that are not, it is magic. I don’t mean just the country itself, although its natural and wild-like beauty is surely something to behold- but this region is churning out some seriously good juice at crazy low prices (forgive me if I sound like Crazy Eddie).
The Languedoc-Rousillon produces a bevy of deliciously marshy, wildly herbaceous (in the good garrigue-kind of way as opposed to the unripe vegetal-kind of way), spicy and licorice-tinged, fragrant and floral wines that are relatively very inexpensive. They’re a little saucy too, maybe it’s their close proximity to Spain that gives them a bit of a kick. I am absolutely gaga for these wines. They pair fantastically with lots of dishes and especially anything that is Mediterranean-influenced. On a cold winter day, sip a good Corbieres and cozy up to a plate rustic vegetable panade (like this one from Alice Waters) and voilà- winter blues crushed.
A helpful and detailed map of the region to get your bearings, by Benoit France:
TIP: Look for small growers in these regions. If you can’t nail down my favorites, ask your local wine merchant which producers he or she favors. If you trust your wine shop, you really can’t go wrong with a wine from this region. Vive Le Languedoc!
A belated Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you, dear readers. We’re currently en route back from a weeklong holiday vacay with the fam in Texas. It was restful and fantastic and really great to unplug for the week. I hope you all have had a fabulous holiday vacation and are gearing up for New Year’s. What a wonderful year it’s been, I feel very lucky and grateful. Here’s to taking some time to celebrate the year and ring in the next.
What I’m Drinking:
Lots and lots of bubbly! ‘Tis the season, right? I’m digging pink bubbles at the moment so I’ve got my heart set on a delicious Languedoc pink sparkler that I recently sipped with my friend Anna in NYC- a NV Paul de Coste Brut Rosé. The Languedoc always makes me happy, it’s fresh and minty- full of that great garrigue herbiness and zesty- just right for a New Year’s celebration. The Langedoc is a bit of an unsung hero, I’ve never been disappointed by it and it’s tres affordable. Pink bubbles from the Languedoc= divine. I love this Austrian bubbly too, inexpensive and really good. Those Austrians rarely disappoint when it comes to their vino.
A Few Things:
Great interview with the legendary Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
A New Year’s réveillon? Anything that is defined as a long meal with lots of bubbly and good conversation is something I’m down for. I like it.
What a pretty and colorful holiday table! I love the pomegranate seeds and brie!
If you find yourself in need of a jolt of inspiration, check out my friend Amy Dickerson’s instagram account. A professional photographer whose posts will slay you.
Happy New Year to you all and Cin Cin! Welcome 2014.
As promised, here are my thoughts on the Volver ’11 Single Vineyard Tempranillo that I partook of over the weekend.
Good. Honestly and solidly good, and especially good for a $12 bottle of wine. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this wine and in fact there’s a lot that’s quite right about it. Perfect with any hearty winter dish, it’s dusty and hot (but not too hot) just like the region it’s grown in, La Mancha, Spain- yes that La Mancha of Don Quixote lore. Sipping this dusty, dark berry-filled wine makes you feel like you’re out on the Spanish plains waving your sword at those iconic windmills Quixote-style, or at least it did me.
I tasted the ’11 and really liked it, but I would imagine the ’10 might even be nicer with a bit of age on it to simmer down the wiliness of this Quixotic red.
Happy Weekend dear readers. It’s Santa Lucia Day! Cue my annual viewing of one of the most fantastic and hilarious holiday movies ever- The Ref, of course. Have you seen it? If you haven’t, you will not believe it’s taken you so long to see this little masterpiece. It’s seriously unbelievably funny with a killer cast- Kevin Spacey, Judy Davis and Denis Leary, not to mention the hilarious Christine Baranski (“slipper socks… medium”- my favorite line of the movie). The script is flawless. If you don’t mind a little profanity and uncomfortable family gatherings in your holiday movies (just the way I like ‘em), you’ll love it.
What are you all up to this festive weekend? There will be brunching, imbibing, playing (never too much play for those bebes) and general merriment around these parts, and maybe some rest too if I can manage to squeeze that in. We’re taking the bebes to Sesame Street Live tomorrow- woohoo- they love that Elmo so we’ll see what they think. I’m hoping to finally get my Christmas cards out, we’ll see how that goes- doubtful.
What I’m Drinking This Weekend:
I’m popping open a bottle of ’11 Volver tempranillo. I’m kind of in a Spanish mood these days, maybe because I’ve been talking to my friend Alana, of the fab Analogue Guides, who currently lives in Barcelona. Volver was recommended by another wino pal. It’s red, it’s rich, it’s hearty, it’s single vineyard, it’s $12 and it shares the same name as the great Almódovar film- ok, I’ll give it a shot. I’ll let you know what I think on Monday. I’m planning on making this City Bakery Pretzel Chicken as an experiment in whether or not the kiddos and the adults can dine on the same dish- maybe not the most perfect match with the Volver, but the mustard-baked chicken promises to be a hearty so we’ll so how it pairs.
A Few Things:
This makes my friggin’ day! Faith in humanity restored.
.A rare Redford interview and it’s 40 minutes long with the incomparable Terry Gross. Awesome.
Maureen Corrigan’s Best Books of 2013. If only I had the time or energy to read more than one page a day. Filed away.
Metallic woven bins. So stylish and chic. My living room/playroom desperately needs a few of these. I have a mishmash of cute(ish) baskets piled up in the corner overflowing with toys. These would be much cuter.
Happy Weekend dear readers. This powerful photo was captured outside the home of Nelson Mandela this morning. Isn’t it amazing. It kind of sums up his life’s work. What wonder one man can do, so humbling.
I hope you all are off to a fun-filled and festive holidayish weekend. Or something like that anyway. I’m attending the Kennedy Center Honors and all of the fancy dinners that accompany it with my father-in-law Jacques this weekend. I’m seriously pinching myself. He was an honoree himself and goes to the dinners and show every year, so it’s old hat for him. For me, I’ll be rubbing elbows with the President (say what?) in the White House (come again?) and with the likes of the Meryls and the Dustins of the world at the State Department and then again at the Kennedy Center. Hello. Not to mention the actual honorees this year including Billy Joel, Shirley MacLaine and Carlos Santana- so cool. I’ve rented 2 dresses from Rent the Runway, both of which were supposed to arrive at my doorstep tonight before 8pm and as of this post, are not yet here. What is a girl to do. It’s not like I can just reach into the back of my (tiny) closet and pull out a floor length black tie appropriate gown. Yikes. I’ll keep you posted.
What I’m Drinking This Weekend:
Lots of Presidential-approved vino. I’m hoping for a Virginia-made Thibault-Janisson sparkling- one of our great state’s best bottles of bubbly. It really is absolutely delicious, I know you might be dubious being that it’s Virginia-made, but trust me- it’s truly divine. They love the stuff up at the House that is White, as they supposedly regularly serve it up at State Dinners, but honestly I’d be thrilled with a cold can of PBR in the company of those peeps.
We had big plans to spend the holidays in NYC with family but at the last minute decided not to brave the early winter storm with toddlers in tow. Instead, we opted to stay home and host dinner for our family here in town. It’s been a while since I have hosted Thanksgiving dinner and was a real treat, even in our tiny 700 square-foot apartment. While dinner itself was imperfectly perfect, I learned a few things.
1. My bookshelf doubles as a fantastic little bar.
This may be a duh, but I had never thought of it before. I whipped out one of my favorite graphic tea towels, set up my vintage champagne bucket and we were in business.
2. Make sure the turkey thermometer is set to Fahrenheit. Again- duh, but we almost demolished our hopes of a super juicy turkey by reading the thermometer at Celsius (mine is an all too fancy digital model). We caught it in the nick of time- turkey save.
3. Homemade Poire William makes for a beautiful and impressive aperitif with a story to boot. The Poire Project was a huge success and the drink itself turned out pretty and pink. More later in the week.
4. Store-bought food on the table is a-ok.
I didn’t have the time or the energy to bake a homemade pie. My sister-in-law brought a pecan pie over from the local bakery and holy smokes was it good. Seriously the very best pecan pie I have ever tasted and I’m a tough crowd, being Texan by blood. All nuts and hardly any goo- way better than any pie I would have made.
5. Handwritten tasting notes are always a good idea. I was running short on time but really wanted to include my tasting notes on the table. In a last minute dash, I wrote up the cards, stamped them with some snazzy metallic ink and voilá- success. I think tasting notes are a fun way to engage guests about your wine picks and are a nice little keepsake from the day.
How was your Thanksgiving dinner? I’d love to hear your tips or lessons learned.
Former showgirl, forever travel junkie, sometime sommelier, and mom to twin bebes. This little blog is a mixed bag of tasting notes, travels, tales of motherhood, and current musings. Thank you for stopping by. Cin Cin! (photo by Amy Dickerson for Anthology Magazine)
read more...
