HAPPY 14th of July ( Joyeux Jour du Bastille ! Happy Bastille Day ) , 2008 - France's day of independence celebration like our 4th of July! I'm off today and it's all wet outside. My family celebrated Bastille Day last night with an excellent TOAD HOLLOW offering of France's cremant de Limoux ( Sieur d'Arques F 11300 ) " Amplexus " brut sparkling wine. It sure was smooth and creamy and great to sip as we talked about France and the 14th and toasted them as a wonderful country for so many things including this southwest beauty. It sells for $21 a bottle and is a real gem that is still largely undiscovered by the American public. We have no problem selling it. I've heard, too that when they did an inventory of Thomas Jefferson's belongings after his death that they discovered that he had several cases in his cellar. This either means that he loved it and drank it when he could or that he hated it and that's why it was still there. I prefer the former and not latter possibility. Cheers to you all with the sparkling Limoux from southern France.
This story is also about Danielle and her daughter Benedite. It's also about Ronnie Miller and his tasting of excellent red , dry rose and " other - non-Sauvignon Blanc " French wines. We tasted the DOMAINE TARIQUET dry soft mellow white blend of Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay. We also tasted the TARIQUET Colombard Blanc ( BOTH are favorites of mine ). For the red we tasted the impressive DOMAINE DE FONDRECHE red Cotes du Ventous 2006 that was showing beautifully this night and fully ready to enjoy now without delay. I'm sure we tasted a dry rose but which one I cannot recollect now.
With the 2oo6 dry white Touraine Sauvignon Blanc ( DOMAINE De L'ANSEE ) Sauvignon Blanc this became quite the energized tasting on a Friday night back in May 2008 sometime. I'm sorry Ronnie that you had to compete for attention with the beautiful Danielle and her daughter Benedite. Oh well c'est la vie. Otherwise there was no competition because there were no overlaps in the tasting. It's hard for me to say " no " to including a wine owner/maker in a night's tasting because they are visiting and not here all the time. It also adds some excitement to the tasting. Many people bought both some of Ronnie's dry roses as well as signed bottles of the DOMAINE DE L'ANSEE. I got both Danielle and Benedite to sign some of the customers' bottles.
I have known Danielle and her husband for a long time now, since 2002-3?!? They used to be part of Jocelyn Cambier's portfolio and then that of Laurent Givry. Our store Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( www.clevelnadparkwine.com ) sold hundreds of cases of the DOMAINE GIBAULT and then a hundred or more later of the DOMAINE DE L'ANSEE. They are two separate properties both owned by Danielle and her husband. It was fun to get them back into our store once that Antonio Cabibi of International Cellars( Imports ) told me that he now represented these wines. Soyez bienvenu Danielle et Benedite chez nous au magasin.
These two tasting were side by side around our round table in the middle of the store. I've only got one picture of Ronnie here tasting his wines but it is a good one with our customer Bill Saunders, both men smiling. In the back we had Tim Adams with us for the first time representing his fresh new micro brew beer ( three types, a nut brown ale, a pale ale and an amber I believe ), founded in 2006 and all organic. They were very tasty , too and I had Benedite come back with me to meet Tim and taste his beer and practice her English with him. He in turn came and tasted the 2006 Touraine dry Loire valley Sauvignon Blanc. It was all very relaxed and fun.
It was a fun evening in the store. That's what we want : customers to enjoy themselves, taste and discover new things and learn in the process of this direct contact with the people responsible for paying/creating/promoting these wonderful liquid wine " gems " that are as varied and interesting/stimulating as anyone could ever hope for or ever hope to get to know and love and enjoy in their lifetime! Wow, I'm still learning all the time, I'm still discovering things each and every moment of each new wonderful day including this 14th of July, 2008!
Tonight depending after my son's swim meet we may enjoy either a great white burgundy or a great red bordeaux depending on our mood - on vera plus tard nos amis. Here are the photos from this evening for you to enjoy. Go see Mike today at the store and get some French wine to celebrate your 14th of July 2008. We have a whole store filled with many selections and different styles ans sizes to suit many moods and price-preferences from the ridiculously low to the insanely expensive ( 202-363-4265 ).
I've just added the pictures here to the text. I decided to add the pictures of owner Florence of the Lavandou restaurant at the end of the block. It's provencale and might be a great place to celebrate tonight if they still have room. Also, I've loaded two pictures of the DOMAINE CHANDON sparkling California wine ( French-owned, MOET ET CHANDON ) and wine maker Tom for color and some Bubbly pictures because it is a time to celebrate. Tom visited the store a week or two earlier. The pictures of Lavandou were taken a month or so earlier when we went to dine there for dinner. My son was doing a French project and Lavandou was the subject. We all had a wonderful meal there.
Cheers, Sante TONY
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