Burgundy Wines In Mandarin

courtesy of BIVB

BOURGOGNE WINES IN MANDARIN

The Book "Les Vins de Bourgogne" by Sylvain Pitiot and Jean-Charles Servant has just been published in Mandarin.

Over 400 pages, it includes 65 maps of regions and appellations as well as 30 illustrations and all the information you need to know about the Bourgogne region and its wines.

This reference work, first published in 1952 and at that time, authored by Pierre Poupon, is now in its 14th edition.

It is available in French, English, Japanese, Korean, German and Mandarin.

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Brunello di Montalcino - Mocali - 2007

Like any good California girl, I love me some Sangiovese.  So when I was able to get my hands recently on a bottle of the stuff from the Old World, my lips were smacking and my fingers trembling as we uncorked the bottle. 

Garnet Hued * Vanilla * Spice * Red Berries

Hint of Earthiness 

Balanced power between Tannins and Acidity

 

Wine Spectator's Notes On Brunello di Montalcino Vintages

• 2008   91   A cool growing season with rain at harvest; those who waited produced aromatic, balances and elegant wines.   Drink or Hold.
• 2007  93   Hotter and riper than 2006; fruit-forward, rich and elegant, offering immediate charm and softer textures.  Drink or Hold.
• 2006  95   Complex powerful wines that impress with ripe yet fresh fruit, firm, dense structures and fine balance.  Hold. 

Excerpt from Wine Spectator June 30, 2013

 

Sangiovese is virtually synonymous with Tuscany and is the most widely planted grape variety in Italy. Brunello, a synonym for Sangiovese Grosso, or "fat Sangiovese," gets its name from the big ripe grapes that are produced from these vines in the prestige appellation (Brunello di Montalcino DOCG) of Montalcino, a classic hilltop village surrounded by slopes just 30km. south of Siena in Tuscany, Italy. 

Mocali is owned by the Ciacci family and overseen by enologist  Tiziano Ciacci.  Their soils are mostly Galestro and Alberese that enrich the ground with mineral salts. Their Brunello di Montalcino wine - in fact all Brunello di Montalicino wines - are made exclusively with Sangiovese Grosso grapes.

This DOCG shares the top spot only with Vino Nobile de Montepulciano. Though winemaking in the region is recorded from as far back as the 14th century, the wines we associate today with this very first Italian DOCG emerged in the 1870s. It's largely credited to the efforts of the esteemed winemaking family of Biondi-Santi, namely Ferruccio,who decided to implement a revolutionary technique (for his day) of making his Montalcino wines - vinify his Sangiovese grapes separately from the other varieties. (At the time in Tuscany all grapes were fermented together - even the reds with the whites.) As he implemented this and a few other techniques, the resulting wines gained a reputation of being livelier and fruitier than other wines.

In July 1980 the appellation was formalized as Italy's first DOCG alongside Piedmont's Barolo. It is mostly small farmers and family estates who produce this exquisite red wine today and number approximately 200, up from just 11 producers in the 60's.  One of the DOCG requirements is that vineyards are not planted above 600m sea level. Brunello must be aged at least 4 years and for the riserva distinction, a minimum of 5 years aging is required. More INFO at Tuscany Taste.

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Lanson Gold Coin Hidden Treasure Found - Interview by Paige Donner

Lanson Found Gold Coin Treasure Champagne - Interview

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Cite des Civilisations du Vin, Bordeaux

by Paige Donner

"The building does not resemble any known shape because it's an evocation. Not of wine itself, but of the soul of wine," explain architects Anouk Legendre and Nicolas Desmazieres from French firm X-TU.

When fully unveiled in 2016, the eco-building that will be the Cité des Civilisations du Vin nestled on the shores of the Garonne will offer a total surface area of 14,000 m2 including 750 m2 for temporary exhibits and 3500 m2 of permanent exhibit space.

The laying of the first stone was celebrated on June 19, 2013 during Vinexpo Bordeaux. Slideshow Below.

INFO:  citedescivilisationsduvin.com

 SlideShow HERE

Inauguration June 19, 2013 Cite des Civilisations du Vin in Bordeaux

Mayor of Bordeaux Alain Juppe and Anouk Legendre, architect of Cite des Civilisations du Vin



All photos c. Paige Donner

FULL Gallery Pictures HERE

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Duck Fat Deep Fried Goodness by Edible Canada

June 6th, Vancouver BC. Edible Canada is up to something duckn' good as they get set to launch their themed take-out window for a second season this Tuesday, June 11th.   Following the success of the all-bacon window last year, the Edible team challenged Vancouver to come up with the take out window's theme for 2013.  With hundreds of mouth-watering suggestions to choose from, it was Vancouver's Kim Payne whose suggestion of donuts got the team's tastebuds tingling.   Because everything is better with duck fat, the next obvious step was to give the donut bites the same treatment as the Bistro's popular duck fat French fries.  So was born "Little Duckers", the small, duck fat fried donut balls of goodness.  And if that wasn't enough, there are 4 finger-licking flavours to indulge in, including "When Sticky Pigs Fly", which is loaded with bacon, chocolate and caramel, and the "Nutty Duckers" which is a 100 mile tribute with Fraser Valley honey, honey whipped butter and toasted Agassiz hazelnuts.   "It's a concept that is in line with everything we do here at Edible Canada," says Chef Greg Reid. "The flavours we chose are Canadian inspired, which is a true reflection of our menu. It was fun to take a suggestion from one of our guests and marry it with some of my favorite things here at the bistro.  They've been a hit with our taste testers and I'm excited to open the window so everyone has a chance to try them!"   Opening on Tuesday, June 11th at 11:00am, the take-out window will run through to the end of summer daily from 11am to 7pm. It is located adjacent to the Bistro entrance and directly across from the public market and Arts Club Theatre in the centre of Granville Island.   Congratulations for sharing your winning idea, Kim! As the winner, Kim will eat from the take-out window all summer long free of charge and is recognized on the menu with "Bring the Payne" – a spicy maple syrup concoction!     About Edible Canada Edible Canada is a seven year-old business headquartered on Granville Island, in Vancouver, BC.

Tuscany Food & Wine app by Acqua Panna

by Paige Donner

Ahhh... summer is at long last nearly here. Dream vacation destinations are beginning to dance through our heads like sugar plum fairies in wispy toutous as the languid summer months of promised sunshine begin to magically reveal themselves before us.

Tuscany. Tuscany, the land of Chianti and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Tuscany, where cold-pressed virgin olive oils beckon as seductively as do its wines and terroir. 

Dream vacations, can, however, at times, be more effort than joy, a corelation thoroughly dependent on planning and resources. So if this is your first Tuscan Escape, not to worry. The region's wine producers and local government tourism agencies have gotten together to form a welcoming platform called Tuscan Taste. 

Tuscan Taste is a series of outreach events and organized hospitality platforms to make your visit to and exploration of Tuscany as effortless as it is enjoyable. The brand was developed in collaboration with the region's main wine Consorzi to communicate the Tuscan values of quality, beauty, sustainability, taste and tradition.

Why a butterfly: Tuscany springs from the map to become a butterfly. A messenger to the world, heralding the quality of Tuscan wines. Heralding the traditions of a glorious region, and of a culture of winemaking built up 
through the centuries. A culture that, right here in Tuscany, has created some of the very best wines in the world. One butterfly, ten, a hundred, even more – as many as there are Tuscan wines. Butterflies fluttering 
their wings to take the message of Tuscan wines to the world, and to new and exalted heights.

For the billion and a half of us on the planet right now who are SmartPhone oriented, especially when we travel, we have this fabulous new Tuscany Food & Wine app by Acqua Panna at our fingertips as of this Spring.

The app is offered free for iOS devices and in addition to offering things to do and see - nature, art, history - in the region, it also features mouthwatering pictures and descriptions of local foods, cuisine, dishes, restaurants, and, of course, wines and wonderful wine pairings. 

Wines are especially highlighted in the Tuscany Food & Wine app where it features a guide to the many local wineries as well as detailed descriptions of the wines' composition such as alcohol percentage, grapes used and where you can find the wineries for a cellar visit and tasting. 

The GPS enabled "Around Me" feature spotlights the restaurants, sites, wineries and other points of interest within a few kilometers of your current location. For those who want to immerse themselves in the languid deliciousness that is the Tuscan Summer, there is even a glossary included on the app that explains the various abbreviations denoting the artisanal Italian local food products and wines which helps you to understand their exact origin and stamp of quality.

OK, then. All set?  The app is available for download at:

http://bit.ly/tuscanyapp

 

Long considered the best still mineral water for enhancing all the nuances of wine and food, thanks to its smooth, elegant taste, Acqua Panna represents all the power of nature in the heart of the Tuscan Apennines, with 1300 hectares of natural preserve, a unique aquifer, and a long history of culture, passion and love for the environment.

Acqua Panna
http://www.acquapanna.com
www.facebook.com/acquapanna

About Toscana Promozione
Toscana Promozione is the Economic Promotion Agency of Tuscany, established in 2000 by the local government. Thanks to a network of professional associations, institutions, enterprises, universities and research centers, Toscana Promozione is, today, a concrete platform for overseas enterprises interested in doing business in or with Tuscany.​

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Panda Bears And The Climactic Re-zoning of Wine Regions

by Paige Donner

What do panda bears and wine have to do one another? Now that's a question I never imagined I'd be posing here on my Local Food And Wine blog. But, according to the recently released (April 8th, 2013) study from the Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences (Lee Hannah, lead scientist) panda bears be one more species that is affected by adaptations humans likely will undertake in response to global climate change impacting wine-producing regions.

Let me explain... [More INFO on Local Food And Wine]

In the PNAS.org study of 4/8/'13, Wine, Climate Change and Conservation, several scenarios are outlined as to how our current trajectory of global warming i.e. climate change is impacting the earth's wine regions by 2050. In one scenario they state that the, 

Area suitable for viticulture decreases 25% to 73% in major wine producing regions by 2050.

Alarming? They seem to think so. The 6-page report further reports that the areas most affected will be wine regions in a Mediterranean or Mediterranean-like climate zone. That means parts of southern Europe, Australia, parts of Chile and Northern California.  The study does state that the areas that will suffer least, at least by 2050, will be higher elevation zones, coastal zones, and more Northern latitude areas - areas like New Zealand, Northern Europe and Canada's British Columbia. 

OK... so what about the Panda Bears? 

This PNAS report includes discussion of how adaptation can mitigate some of these climate change effects on wine regions. Adaptation can take the form of tailored viticultural practices, adaptive irrigation techniques, and also planting at higher elevations to name a few.

In China, where viticulture and the planting of vineyards are firmly in a development phase, this could mean rapid adaptation so as to anticipate regional climate change. In plain English what this means is that some of the areas that are most suitable for high-quality wine grape cultivation in China are the same areas that are the natural habitat for giant panda bears.

... China is not known for its European-style wines, but it
is among the fastest growing wine-producing regions in the
world. It has significant areas suitable for viticulture (Fig. 1), and these areas are in the same mountains that are habitat for the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). Future conservation efforts for the giant panda need to incorporate consideration of viticulture as a potential land use and viticultural suitability trends in response to climate change. - PNAS.org April 8, '13 Hannah

It seems that we may be seeing pictures of Giant Panda Bears popping up everywhere in the coming decades as the new poster child of climate change, just as we've seen polar bears and melting ice caps in the past decade.

For more information about this topic go to PNAS.org or take a look at this short (3') doc film preview. You can also LIKE Facebook.com/wineandclimatechange. 

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Finally - Deliciously Good News Delivered Right To Your Doorstep

Delivered straight to your Mailbox... the box of gourmet treats that will inspire your taste buds... and your culinary kitchen prowess too!

Brand new in France - Sign up for your Easter Treats La BonneBox now. Click on the link below.

Dès le 6 mars prochain, surveillez bien votre boite aux lettres!

Une box par ci une box par là, de déceptions en mauvaises surprises...Et si vous receviez finalement... La Bonne ? 

Gourmande et surprenante, la vraie box qui vous manquait débarque...enfin la Bonne ! 



Dès Février 2013, exigez la Bonne Box !


Abonnements dès le 5 Février sur www.labonnebox.com

Pour découvrir toutes les bonnes surprises qu'elle vous réserve!

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Cristal Vibrations

by Paige Donner

This title actually began as a chapter heading for my journal entry about my visit to Champagne Louis Roederer in Reims. But I liked it so much that I'm using it here, too. It just works so beautifully. It describes simply what Cristal, the legendary champagne by Roederer, is all about. Or, more precisely, what Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, Roederer's Chef de Caves - that's Cellar Master or "winemaker" in French - does with his wines.

Read Entire Post HERE + Picture Gallery 

It was at the cellars in Reims where I was treated to a guided tour by none other than Mr. Lécaillon. Yes, a visit to the cellars where Cristal is made, where a million bottles of the golden elixir lay resting before disgorgement, and by the very man who blends this most famous of the world's champagnes.

Unbelievable. Or, rather, Unforgettable.

It's required a fair amount of reflection to settle upon a term as to how to describe the man who elaborates the world's most famous, and perhaps loved, champagne... Read Entire Post HERE + Picture Gallery 

Cristal is a wine. It is a celebrated champagne. The most celebrated on Earth, in fact. And it is a singularly unique vibratory energy. It's a frequency. It's a vibration. It's the Cristal Vibration.

Lécaillon imprints his wines with this energetic vibration. Or, more precisely, he orchestrates the energetic vibrational imprint that nature has already made on the grapes - via the crayères (chalky champagne soil and cellars), the sun exposure, the placement of the vines the climactic conditions of that year - and allows its essence expression in his champagnes...

Read Entire Post HERE + Picture Gallery 

Champagne-Roederer.com

 

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Napa March And April Events - Art and Taste of Yountville

With Spring just around the corner, the itch to get outdoors is growing stronger day by day. It's easy to imagine how the grapevines must be feeling 'round about now... ready to burst forth and get busy bathing their buds in that sunshine.

Napa offers SO many great attractions the year round, but two of their outstanding events happen in March and April every year.

The first, Taste of Yountville, has been occurring annually for the past 20 years. With more excellent restaurants per capita than just about anywhere else on the planet, tiny Yountville really has something to offer... and boast about. 

Better yet, each Taste Ticket costs only a buck ($1) and you can count on participants like Bouchon and Bardessono's Lucy being ever so present. 

Yountville will host the 20th Annual Taste of Yountville weekend celebration March 14-16, 2013 to showcase the town's finest food, wine and arts.  Taste of Yountville will culminate in a town-wide block party on Saturday, March 16, 2013.  Admission is free, tasting tickets will be $1 each.  In addition to Saturday's signature block party event, the Taste of Yountville weekend will play host to several special events throughout Yountville. 

For more information click here or call the Yountville Chamber of Commerce 

More Info Here 

Arts In April

Relative newcomer as far as events go... is Arts in April, Napa. Started in 2011, this will be its 3rd year running. Best yet is that the event unfolds over the course of the month... so no matter which weekend in April you get yourselves up to Napa, you will find highlighted art shows and exhibits to accompany those great Napa Valley Wines.

April 1 - 30, 2013
Visit Website

And be sure to check the Special Events Calendar (like for bASH in St. Helena April 13th!!)  to help you plan your trip itinerary....

A celebration of the elemental connection between wine and the arts, this month-long program satisfies cultural cravings with an exploration of winery art installations, pop-up exhibitions and tastings. Introduced in April 2011, Arts in April offers special access and packages to enjoy The Napa Valley Collection, making it the perfect time to get a dose of Napa Valley culture with your Cabernet.

More INFO - VisitNapaValley

The NapaLife Insider's Guide to Napa Valley 

More than a guidebook, this newest Napa Valley Travel Book is written by Insider Paul Franson, a Napa resident  for coming on 20 years now. What's great is that he orients his book to the Digital Age. So, gone are the addresses and pet-friendly, smoking/non-smoking icons in minuscule type... 

Instead - since you can look up those other things on your SmartPhone, of course - what Franson gives you is honest, down home opinions of the best of what there is to find in Napa.

He's big on the local favorites, too, so you won't get just the tourist recommendations or places TouristAdvisors have reviewed and recommended...

In fact, as far as Travel Guides go, Franson seems to have hit this one out of the ballpark. It's like talking to a friend who has lived in Napa for a couple decades and getting the DL on good eats, good deals, good hikes and bike rides, where the celebs hang out, and even a bit of history as to who owns which winery and for how long and with whom?...

At any rate, you just might be tempted to pitch your tent until harvest time... Now that's not such a bad idea is it? Too bad that Ag Preserve is so vigilant, eh?! 

You can order NapaLife Insider's Guide to Napa Valley  guidebook directly from his website: NapaLife.com

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