バンドールの希少な白ワイン「Domaine du Gros Noré」2019/2/15
Domaine du Gros Noré（グロノレ）
Bandol blanc 2017（バンドール ブラン）
A.O.C.バンドール
セパージュ：クレレット・ブランシュ70%／ユニブラン30%
アルコール : 13.5％
収量：40hl/ha
SO²添加：約44mg / リットル
野生酵母発酵、ステンレスタンクで6ヶ月熟成、無清澄、無濾過
J.S.A.認定 ワインエキスパート 古島雅哉 さんよりお家での料理に合わせてコメントを頂きました。
グロノレは、地中海バンドール湾を見下ろす丘陵地のラ・カディエール・ダジュール村の生産者。ムールヴェドル主体の赤とロゼで有名なバンドールでは希少な白。やや濃いレモンイエローの外観、クレレット種主体の華やかでフルーティーな香りが印象的。アタックはやや控えめ、やさしい酸で、スマートで溌剌とした味わい。
サーモン等を中心としたシンプルな魚介類の料理と合いそう。今回はよりシンプルに？！赤エビとスモークサーモンのマリネサラダと。
お買い求めはこちらから
http://shop.avin.jp/?pid=136488960
Time for « Oursinade » !2019/2/10
Oursinade is a local sea urchin festival held every Sundays of February in the port of Carry-le-Rouet.
Sea Urchin are not easy to fish or select and it’s almost impossible to tell whether the spikes hide small or good-sized tongues. Furthermore, in the Mediterranean nobody has ever managed to breed them in farm conditions. So you have to ‘pick’ it from the rocks when fishing is authorized (from November to April) and respect the quotas per person and per day to preserve the species. And urchins have to be of a minimum size.
In Provence, local produces are celebrated with fervour. There is also Mouclades’ (mussel festivals) in Camargue or ‘Sardinades’ (sardines) in Marseille, Martigues and Port de Bouc.
In 1952, fishermen and visitors were tasting the fruits of their labour at the beach in Cap Rousset when the fishers offered the mayor at the time, Jean-Baptiste Grimaldi, his weight… in urchins! The event became the stuff of local history and the urchin was elevated up the ranks.
In 1960, mayor Alfred Martin launched ‘La Journée de l’Oursin’ (Urchin Day) in February when the ‘chestnuts of the sea’ were at their fullest. Their orangey gonads with their strong iodine flavour of this shellfish are considered by many a delicacy.
Throughout the month of February, visitors flock to Carry-le-Rouet port to take part in this fun and friendly event and celebrate the urchin through tastings and special events.
Alone or with family and friends, everyone comes together to tuck into a delicious feast of urchins and other seafood.
The best way to eat an urchin is with your feet in the water!
Scissors are the most effective way to open one. Shake the urchin briskly to remove any impurities around the gonads.
Traditionally the urchin is eaten ‘au naturel’ by removing the orange segments with a tasty chunk of bread. The delicious fingers can also be cut out with a teaspoon, with a little lemon juice, or served on a buttered cracker.
The Mediterranean coral, as it is also known, can also be served in a variety of dishes. Scrambled eggs, omelettes, soufflés, crêpes and more, there are so many ways to savour this spiny but flavoursome shellfish.
What to drink with sea urchin:
Bandol white Domaine du Gros Noré is a perfect match!
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The Terroir and Soil of Chateauneuf du Pape2019/2/10
The Terroir and Soil of Chateauneuf du Pape:
“The soils found in Chateauneuf du Pape, with its combination of rocks, stone, sand, limestone and clay terroir would be poor for most living things. But it’s perfect for the grapes grown in the appellation.
In the west, where the commune of Chateauneuf du Pape is located, you find soils with various sizes of rocks, stone, sand, clay and pebbles. In France, the various rocks, stones and pebbles are referred to as galets roulés. These rocks, stones and pebbles play an integral in the terroir and the development of the grape.
The various stones reflect light to the vines, leafs and grapes. They also absorb heat during the day and radiate that heat to the vines during the cooler evenings, which aids in the development and ripening of the fruit.
The rocky, stone filled terroirs produce ripe, concentrated, full bodied, intense wines. While many of the soils are riddled with stones, in the cooler terroirs found in the west, you also have deposits of limestone, which is perfect for the white wines. Red wines from limestone provide intense garrigue aromatics. In the northern part of the appellation, where Orange is located, you have more sand, clay, pebbles, limestone and marl, but less large stones and rocks.
The sandy soils often produce the wine elegant, supple wines in all of Chateauneuf du Pape. To the east you find Courthezon and Bedarrides with sand, pebbles and marl and in the southern part of the appellation, the soils have more sand, gravel, marl, clay and limestone in the terroir. The clay soils are perfect for making wines with richness and concentration!”
to read more: https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/rhone-wines-cote-rotie…
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Spice up your Valentine’s day!2019/2/6
One of our favorite red wine and chocolate pairing: Gigondas and dark chocolate.
It’s not a secret, red wine rocks chocolate!
Concentrated, balanced, refined: Gigondas wines offer a rich bouquet with fine, spicy aromas, and a sun-drenched colour that ranges from ruby to dark red.
Its terroir is so complex that it can produce a range of aromas that goes from fruity aromas of prunes and figs, to white pepper, scrub, thyme, and liquorice. It ages well and becomes more refined over time.
There is something irresistible about a chocolate vibe in a red wine – and you’ll know it when you taste it.
As for the chocolate, we recommend intense, dark chocolate, at least 60%. It’s not so sweet as milk chocolate and just dances better with the reds.
Chocolate deposits a fine film on the palate which to some extent neutralises the tannins in the wine, it’s very appealing.
Dark chocolate goes perfectly with our dry red wines from the Rhône Valley. Very tannic and powerful, red wines have to find a balance with the bitterness and the great organoleptic complexity of cocoa.
One of the grape varieties present in the wines of the Rhône Valley and a friend of dark chocolate, is undoubtedly Grenache. As he ages, he develops a spicy nose (nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla), Garrrigue but especially, torrefaction notes that flatters the flavors of chocolate.
Try your own wine/chocolate pairing for Valentine’s day with Gigondas 2014 red Daumen!
http://shop.avin.jp/?pid=126812755
WHAT IS BIODYNAMIC WINE?2019/2/4
“The official definition of biodynamic farming according to the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association is “a spiritual-ethical-ecological approach to agriculture, gardens, food production and nutrition.” Biodynamic wine is made with a set of farming practices that views the farm or vineyard as one solid organism. The ecosystem functions as a whole, with each portion of the farm or vineyard contributing to the next. The idea is to create a self-sustaining system. Natural materials, soils, and composts are used to sustain the vineyard. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are forbidden for the sake of soil fertility. A range of animals from ducks to horses to sheep live on the soil and fertilize it, creating a rich, fertile environment for the vines to grow in. Biodynamic farming also seeks sustainability, or leaving the land in as good or better shape as they found it for future generations.”
Full article here:
https://vinepair.com/articles/biodynamic-wine-explained/
