Gimme some kind of sign
Lighter and Softer
COTES DU RHONE – CHAPOUTIER BELLERUCHE 2018
UPC: 03391181110136
14% alcohol
The French don’t have Chateaubriand every night with their wine – and we don’t either, so we did our home made chilli to have with a little Cote du Rhone.
This one seems a little softer and lighter than some, which was a bit of a surprise considering the 14% alcohol content. But that also, generally, means that you can put it down for a few years to savour in the future.
James Suckling says “bright, simple and easygoing style” We agree.
The anticipated blend of Syrah and Grenache but the % of each we don’t know.
Soil is made up of several major types of terroirs including pebbly clay soils, soils with layers of stones, stony clay terraces, and stony, silty-sand… All these soils provide the vine with a constant water supply and, at night, release the heat stored up by the pebbles during the day.
Meandering through the hood
Sources for many musings
Hannibal, Ernle Bradford, ISBN 0-88029-667-4
A Life on the Road, Charles Kuralt, ISBN 0-399-13488-3
A Place for Us, Eleni’s Children in America, Nicholas Cage, 0-395-45517-0
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres, 0-7493-9754-3
Birds without Wings, Louis de Bernieres, 0-676-97694-8
Mongols, Huns and Vikings, Hugh Kennedy, 1-552-78281-6
Mr. Clemens and Mark Twain, Justin Kaplin
Witness to A Century, Encounters with the Noted, the Notorious and 3 SOBs, George Seldes 345-33181-8
Dinner with Persphone, Patricia Storace, 0-679-74478-9
Pieces of my mind, Andrew A Rooney, 0-689-11492
Peter Gzowski, The Private Voice, 0-7710-3749-X
According to the Tribe
Memories are made of this
I’ve walked by it many times. This time I stopped and picked it up. And I knew just the occasion to share it with friends.
Boutari Naoussa
UPC: 05201022540504
Regularly $18.99, on Sale for $17.99
12% alcohol
For more than 10 years, this was a standard order for us when dining with our Greek friends. The quality, unfortunately, varied between vintages. But how times have changed since we gave them a rest. The Wine, not the Greeks!
The Boutari family has been making wine in the village of Naoussa for more than 130 years and they are one of only 5 world-wide wineries to have been named the International Winery of the Year by Wine and Spirits.
Xinomavro is the grape, and it flourish on Mt Vermio at moderate elevation (700 to 1700 feet). The other great wine from the region is the white, Assyrtiko.
The 2016 vintage is earthy, well balanced, and has a medium finish.
The occasion was a get together with two other couples who often shared the table with us and we used to work together.
As they were coming through the door, I started this. It was the song that Patrick and his band Kefi started many a wonderful night of partying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhmDsJEr4cc
That sparked many great flashbacks and memories. Homemade rhubarb gin followed homemade ginger ice cream cones.
Milestone 100
The 100th post today.
Lots of things have happened in the last 100 days.
The eldest great granddaughter, at age 5, got to hear her first song in English when she was here recently. I figured that it’s an appropriate beginning – and timely for this time of the year.
Gracie – Seasons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajl3fE5VYOA
It wasn’t as easy as you think to pick that first song. I could have started with the likes of Santa Esmeralda, or Tina, or Er-wick, or ….
She has also added a Polish song to her list of International Drinking songs: to go with the German, Greek, and French.
Looking forward to the seasonal changes we are about to experience, with the advent of the Fall colours and the photo opportunities.
Haven’t started it yet, but have boxes, and I mean BOXES, of negatives and slides that need to bescanned to digital. My latest excuse is I’ll wait till the rains come.
In the meantime, I’ve started editing the libraries (4) in an effort to cut down on what I want to keep and remove what’s not of relevant interest any more. More than 40 books got the toss from the first book shelf in my office.
After books, comes pictures; then we will get to CDs. (THAT is going to be a biggie). By that time, it should be Spring.
It’s perfectly acceptable to drink white wine after Labour Day, and we’ll soon be continuing with a 3rd Mystery Case from the Goddess of Wine.
I’ve done some change-ups to the site, so have a wander around beside the blog.
If you’re that bored with what’s going on, put up the Christmas tree and have a virtualChristmas dinner. I’ll be handing out some other ideas over the next while.
The Brilliance of Youth
In April, youngsters created these chalk drawing on Darwin Street.
Heading to the top
MONTSANT – CELLER DE CAPCANES MAS DONIS NEGRE
Montsant, Spain
UPC: 08427154011935
13.5% alcohol
$17.99
Full and Robust combination of Tempranillo, Merlot, Cabernet and Syrah.
The grapes come from old vines between 30 and 60 years old, planted on clay and granite soils located on terraces.
This could very easily become one of our favourite red blends yet, because it’s pleasing from beginning to end. Lovely bouquet and a strong finish. It will go with just about anything the cook prepares.
