Dentelle

I taste colors. I taste fragrances. I taste things that I touch. I taste the essences of place. Sometimes I even taste sounds. The rosy-gold of angel wings, the fragrance of freshly mown grass, the feel of old stone, the sound of cicadas whirring in the trees, the essence of Provence with its lush light and lovely langourous lifestyle....all there, lingering on my palate as I taste Jean-Marc's Dentelle, a young rose perfect on this summer's evening. How does one capture the terroir of the vineyard, the feelings and emotions of the vigneron and his family? How do the bright yellow sunflower and the scent of lavender find their way into the bottle? Why am I able to taste the laughter of the children and the tears of their mother in every sip? Does love linger in that sparkly finish as I swallow the wine? It doesn't matter what kind of food I pair this bright rose with; every sip evokes a warm dusk in Provence, listening to the wind rustle the leaves of the plane trees and knowing that life doesn't get any better than this.

Mistral

I lifted the bottle carefully from its cradle in the cardboard insert. Its soft coolness caressed my hands evoking visions of Jean-Marc's cave and the time the wine spent aging in the concrete containers there. The cork pulled with a soft pop! and I could almost see tiny motes of Provencal essence drift out and up. The wine rested for a few moments before I poured a bit in the glass. Swirling it to release its fragrance, I marvelled at its plummy color, deep almost to the meniscus of the liquid. I buried my nose in the glass and inhaled. Hidden in the aroma of the wine I discerned the sweat and exhaustion of tending the vines, of harvesting the grapes. I heard the joyful laughter of Jackie and Max as they played with Braise. From the kitchen of the old farmhouse, I could hear the murmur of mother/daughter gossip as Kristin and Jules cooked and set the table for the group hard at work with the vendange. I sipped and held the precious liquid in my mouth savoring its flavor and verve. I felt the frustration, the worry, the sense of being overwhelmed that punctuated the lives of Jean-Marc and Kristin as they worked the vineyard, restored their 400 year old mas, made trips to the Emergency Room, entertained friends, family, and potential wine buyers, wrote, loved, and lived. But I also savored the joys in their lives as well...finding Braise, welcoming family, publishing a book, winning awards and producing some of the finest new wine to come out of the Rhone Valley. The wine warmed my tongue and my heart. While others may taste plum and fig, roasted meat with layers of mineral, granache, and chocolate, my sips of Jean-Marc and Kristin's lush and lovely Mistral gave me a taste of their love of family and of Provence. A votre sante, mes amis.

Road Trip

What do the New Pioneer Food Co-op in Iowa City, a Frenchman with connections to an organic vineyard and the famous Chateauneuf du Pape wines, and a 'desert rat' from Arizona all have in common? Well, these three wildly diverse things led me on a merry road trip today! My quest was a case of wine from Domaine Rouge-Bleu. And you can see from the photo I took of the side of the carton that I was successful in my day's adventure. The 'desert rat' is Kristin Espinasse, author of my first and favorite blog, French-Word-A-Day. If you're a careful reader of my blog, you've seen that I have a 'word-a-day' widget along the left side. I've been reading Kristin since before my first trip to France in late 2005. The French guy with the connections is her husband, Jean-Marc, whose passion for wine led them to buy an organic vineyard a couple of years ago. I've followed the trials and tribulations of Domaine Rouge-Bleu and watched JM, Kristin, and their children, Max and Jackie build a new life in northern Provence. Through the wonder of blogs, e-newsletters and emails, I learned from JM that his wines would be sold in Iowa at the New Pioneer Food Co-0p. I contacted Robert Morey, the Co-op manager who was kind enough to email me this week that the wines had arrived and were on the shelf....yahoo! Not even the severe weather that rolled across Iowa this morning could keep me from my quest for JM's wine. I waited it out and as soon as the rain stopped and the thunder was a mere rumble in the distance, off I went. Robert Morey couldn't have been nicer and as he carried my mixed case to the car, we talked about France and our love of it. He and his family are headed to an area just north of where I'll spend all of September. They leave Wednesday for a month as well. I love it when I meet a kindred soul! Come back tomorrow....I'll be sharing my thoughts on the wine I plan to taste just as soon as I post this blog entry.

A Sign of the Times

It's a sign of the times. All managers from my lowly level and up have been 'asked' to take 10 days off without pay between now and September 29th. We had a choice of how to do this, and I chose to do a day a pay period. Because I have a lot of paid time off that I need to use or lose, I've decided to stack paid and unpaid days together and take little mini-breaks. This week is my first. I'm taking Thursday and Friday off; backed up to the weekend, this gives me a 4-day break from work....yippee!! So, this evening I celebrated. First, a masssage after work, followed by a drive home accompanied by the most beautiful double rainbow, then a lovely dinner of stinky roquefort cheese, baguette, huge green olives rolled in olive oil and herbes d'Provence, and a big glass of a chewy, lush Cahors wine. Ah! this is the good life...and I might as well celebrate this unexpected time off instead of bitching about it. I'll plant marigolds and tomatoes tomorrow.

Favorite Things # 4 & # 5

Drum roll here....favorite thing # 4 is French wine! I consider wine one of the major food groups and tasted as many yummy wines as I could on my trips to France.One night in September at Le Bistrot de Paris, my dinner companions and I shared an $85 bottle of Pouilly Fume that was wonderful. I've sipped roses across Provence. But my very favorite French wine is the one I'm toasting with here in Patrick's tiny upstairs kitchen....a lovely red wine called Cahors. It's specific to the Lot region of the Dordogne and is made by only a few families there. I first read about it in Michael Sanders' book "Families of the Vine," which follows wine families of this region as they work their vineyards and produce their wines. I don't have an educated wine palate, so I can't describe this wine in terms of the subtle flavors in it. I can tell you that it's big and bold and almost black in color. It holds up deliciously against the most complex and richly flavored foods. The best thing about it is...I can actually buy it in Des Moines! A bit pricier than it was in Paris and Provence, but still a very special treat.

Here's # 5 on my list of favorite things from Paris and Provence....pastis. It's an anise-flavored liqueur that is very popular as an afternoon aperitif in the South of France. "51" is one of the popular brands and the glasses are made especially for pastis. You pour the liqueur up to the white line, add an ice cube, and fill the rest of the glass with cold water. The clear amber liquid immediately turns cloudy. Sip slowly and enjoy the Provencal afternoon sun! Yes, I brought the bottle and the glasses home from France and managed to do it without anything breaking. I noticed as I set these on my dining room table that the pastis bottle is getting low...time to make another trip to Provence!