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Don't forget to donate to the Third annual Menu for Hope, you could be like one of these lucky people who got to spend a day, or two, or three, working with us here at La Gramière!! It's a great cause and we're trying to make lots of money for it this holiday season, so go on over and donate! $10 is all you need to be in the running for our great prize! So far, only one person (thanks Kristinn!) has asked to be entered in the raffle for our one of a kind, fun, and rewarding day in the vineyards!!!! I didn't put an expiration date on the prize, so even if you aren't planning trip next year, don't worry you have time!! Come on guys, make me proud!! or at least feel a little of the "love"! :-)
Yes, my friends, the event you've been waiting for. Matt and I will
be spending a few hours at Coaltrain in Colorado Springs on Thursday, December 21st from 4-7pm. Unfortunately, due to archaic liquor laws in my home state of Colorado, we won't be able to have a tasting, but we'd love to see you and talk about our adventure! Call Coaltrain for directions and details, 719-475-9700, 330 W. Uintah (Uintah and I-25). Hope to see you there!
Yesterday's Bettane & Desseauve tasting was in Tavel, known throughout the wine loving world for
it's characterful rosés. Ask a vigneron in Tavel and they will tell you that they should be considered apart from all other rosés, for Tavel is a wine to be enjoy at table, not quaffed on a sun-soaked terrace. I say you should enjoy Tavel any way you please, especially given the quality of the wines I tasted yesterday!
It's a very interesting appellation, with 3 very distinct terroirs. The western-most part of the appellation is on a limestone covered slope that descends into the village. The stones that are locally called "lauzes" blanket the vineyards, giving the impression that the vines are growing on the surface of the moon. This terroir tends to give the wines a trademark flintiness that is easily recognizable as Tavel.
The second terroir at the bottom of this valley is covered with the famous "gallets roulés" that are also found in Châteaunuef-du-Pape. As Vincent de Bez, director of Château d'Aqueria explained to me, the difference between Châteauneuf du Pape and Tavel is that below those big round river rocks in Tavel there is only 3 - 4 meters of red clay and then it turns to a sandy subsoil. In Chateauneuf du Pape, the red clay is 8 meters deep and then there is blue clay which is impermeable, meaning that the moisture is locked in. This means that in Tavel the moisture drains out and the terroir is hotter in a sense. 
Finally, there is the ancient riverbed that is mostly sand with a bit of clay, this lends to a bit more feminine style of Tavel, more floral, lots of fruit and well-balanced acidity. I was lucky enough to taste through 18 different Tavels yesterday, what an experience. It's harder to taste through a series of rosés than it is reds, it takes more time, but in the end the styles are quite different. The wines of Tavel are very much worth discovering, if you have the chance, try a bottle, it will bring a little bit of Provençal sun to your cold winter nights! Today it's off to Vacqueyras, mmmmmmmmmmm!
Ok everyone, I'm participating in the great fundraising event called a Menu for Hope, in which food bloggers (and now wine bloggers too!) raise money for charity. Last year they raised over $17,000 for UNICEF, this year they are raising money for the United Nations World Food Programme. Here's a quote from Pim at Chez Pim who started this event 3 years ago to raise money for the tsunami victims:
To us Food Bloggers, food is a joy. On our blogs, we celebrate food as a delight or even an indulgence. Unfortunately, for many others who share our world do not share that privilege. For them, food is a matter of survival. This "Menu for Hope" is our small way to help.
All participating food and wine bloggers out there are offering some great prizes in exchange for your donations. A raffle will take place at the end of the donations period and you could win a number of amazing prizes! There are meals at multi-starred restaurants, tours of exotic cities, and many, many bottles of wine, but no one is offering a prize quite like we are here at Domaine de la Gramière! Drum roll please!...
Well, yes, it's true. I have been asked by my friend Michel Bettane to participate in the selection process of the newest Guide Bettane & Desseauve, a comprehensive guide to French wines, that will include 1500 wineries and 7-8000 wines. Last week I tasted over 200 wines from the appellations of Costières de Nimes, Côtes du Ventoux and Côtes du Luberon. These are not
appellations you see very often in the US, but I was pleasantly suprised at the overall quality of the wines. There are so many people making good wine out there these days, and so much to be discovered. It's a lot of fun. Though, you can imagine tasting 70 wines in one sitting is exhausting, you take a lot of breaks, eat a lot of baguette and drink a lot of water! 
This is how it works: Each appellation has on organizational body that contacts all of the producers within the appellation. They are asked to send samples of their wines (3 different cuvées max, 2 bottles each. ) A tasting is then organized at their headquarters where all the wines are tasted blind. I take notes and then decide which wines will be "pre-selected" for the book. Once all of the selected wines have been revealed I am given the second bottle of those wines to taste again at a later date with Thierry Desseauve. Together with Thierry we will select the wines and wineries that will appear in the guide. At this point I will go visit the individual wineries, taste through their entire line of wines, then write up the text that will be in the book, including tasting notes of the wines, information on the winery, etc! It's a huge endeavor, but so very exciting. I am one of seven people in France that they have retained to help them with the enormous job of writing a wine guide for all of the appellations of France, something 2 people alone could never
do!
This week I am tasting Tavel, Lirac, Vacqueyras, and Côteaux du Tricastin. After Christmas, Thierry Desseauve is coming to taste at Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, and Cairanne (I am planning on going along too) and then we will attack the huge job of tasting all of the Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône Villages wines. A huge job, but somebody's got to do it!
Last weekend we took advantage of Ryan Air's new route Marseille-Porto for a little 4-day get-away with our good friends Peter and Lucy. What a great trip! I highly recommend a few days in Porto. We had a great day winding (and boy do I mean winding) our way up the Douro valley. It was a holiday weekend in Portugal so most of the wineries were closed, but we did manage to taste at one winery, Quinta do Vallado. Their reds are big and extracted and spend 18 months in new oak, which is not exactly my style, but they
were good wines to say the least. Apparently the grandfather of the people who currently run the winery has always made a small amount of port; one day they realized they had more than they could ever drink, so they decided to start blending and bottling it. I have to say it was my favorite wine. They make both 10 and 20 year old tawny port. Delish!
Sunday morning we woke up to pouring rain so we spent a luxurious day at our hotel sitting in front of the fire reading books and playing pool. Now isn't that civilised? I can't remember a better day,
reading and relaxing absolutely guilt free. Late that afternoon we returned to Porto (by the freeway this time!). Monday we decided to make the obligatory visit to one of the Port houses, sort of a Napa-esque winery visit and complimentary tasting. One of those things we all do once, but won't repeat again. We went to Taylors, where they have endless cellars full of barrels and casks and more barrels, all filled with port aging to perfection.
The town of Porto seems lost in time, oozing with old European charm. The city hasn't yet been taken over by multi-national chain stores and restaurants. Salt cod, a staple of the Portuguese diet is available in seemingly every store! (see photo above) There is a wonderful central food market with amazing fruits and vegetables, fresh flowers, meats and fish of all kinds. The river is lined with cafes and restaurants and you can just imagine the boats coming down the river filled with barrels of port to be delivered to the various houses for blending
and aging. All in all, a wonderful weekend destination, full of culture, history, and most importantly, great food and wine.
I am honored, humbled and jumping up and down to announce to you that our wine, yes, Domaine de La Gramière 2005 Côtes du Rhône Rouge, is being featured in the Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant Newsletter this month. I can't express to you what a thrill this is! For ten years now I have been reading his newsletter. As soon as it arrives I sit down with a cup of tea, or a glass of wine depending on what time it is, and am immediately transported to a place I love to visit. It is a place where you visit winemakers, wineries, the French countryside, and Berkeley, California. Sometimes your mouth waters at the thought of tasting one of these scrumptuous wines just off the boat, sometimes it's the food he describes at a local restaurant or one of their famous parking lot events. Even while working at the store, every month we would all delight in the moment we first got to read the proofs for the upcoming newsletter. Well, here it is everyone, Kermit faxed me the proof for his December newsletter, and we are in it! My hands are shaking and my heart is pounding even as I type this. I hope I never wake up from this wonderful dream....
