“ Les nuages s’amoncellent sur la Champagne” (clouds are encroaching the Champagne region) announced The Figaro daily newspaper last weekend. I am sorry? Who would have thought that the sky could fall on the wine gods! Hard to believe that Champagne is being struck by lightening but: * As it has occured in other regions, the top shelf of the wine rack is suffering of less sales by volume and the weather forecast predicts at least 3 stormy years before Champagne can enjoy its usual summertime. Big International names like Moët and Chandon refuse to lower their prices to keep desire alive, but this is not the case for everyone and you can now find bottles for less than 10...
When you hang around wine drinkers, anecdotes are in all conversations. After a few glasses, some stories become your stories and you only want to share them around. You remember the shape of a bottle, a specific talk with a producer and particular emotions that arose when what you had smell and what you had tasted were revealing the unexpected balance and harmony. * Following up this visit at the French wine review fair, I am pouring myself a glass of my forever favourite red (Fleurie, 2005 – Domaine Monrozier) to tell you all about my first Sunday crush. I may have left the place with a spinning mind but I do remember the best, as the best always remains....
I was going to go to the « Salon de la revue du vin de France » (French Wine Review Fair) organised at the former stock exchange when my team mate called late because he felt asleep in his BATH – due to a terrible hangover – with the tickets on his night table (Excuse half accepted). I got terribly disappointed and realised that I was really looking forward to this exhibition. So I decided to go alone on this little mission, and so I went and was instantaneously dazzled. The crowd looked gorgeous and I had to admit that Parisians have style. Maybe it was the majesty of the place or the smell of happiness, but the second I...
I was reading this morning that today, France officially entered the recession. What a surprise! While many are complaining about the never ending crisis, wine sales are growing and so is the length of our aperitifs… Days and wallets are lightening making public gardens and terraces more and more appealing. Restaurants meals are left down but if you walk on the Champ de Mars ( personal garden of Miss Eiffel) on a warm evening, you’ll hear the clings of wine glasses, see opened bottles everywhere and youngsters laying down on the grass as if the city around them was only green fields. This could almost make us forget that the wine industry is not doing good. In terms of volumes,...