Today I felt very French! :-) I shopped at a different store for every item I needed. First I went to Nicolas, a very charming wine store that is as prolific in France as Starbucks is in the US. A very polite Frenchman selected a red Margaux from Bordeaux for dinner (scroll down for a description of Bordeaux wines). It's hard to buy a bad bottle of wine in France so I wasn't worried. I then crossed the street to the flower shop where I bought a bouquet of brilliant Gerbera daisies which never fail to bring a smile to my face.
Then on to the aptly names bakery, Le Boulangerie, where the swiftly moving line was out the door and ½ way down the block. It appeared that half the town was there buying their baguette for dinner that evening so I knew I was at a good place. Four very stylish older women were at the counter greeting me with a "Bonsoir!" and a smile. I then popped next door to the cheese shop, Fromagerie La Lochoise, run by the gracious Monsieur Minart. Six people and a baby were waiting for Mr. Minart's expertise and a wedge of French heaven. He took his time with each person including the baby, not rushing, ensuring that every purchase was the perfect cheese for the occasion at hand. When I arrived at the counter, still very hesitant to speak French, I held up my bottle of wine and baguette and requested his guidance with a simple “s’il vous plait?” Mr. Minart suggested an aromatic brebis (sheeps milk cheese), a creamy Camembert, or an herbed chevre (goat cheese). I gladly obliged with all three.
Isabelle and I dined on fresh warm baguettes, glorious cheese, and a bottle of Veuve Cliquot champagne (she decided to save the wine and celebrate with some bubbly) and solved the world's problems until 11:30pm when we tabled our discussion, promising to come back to it in the near future.
Bordeaux Wines
I won’t pretend to know a lot about wine cuz I don’t. I know what I like and don’t like and I know a bit more than the difference between red, white and rosé but beyond that, your guess is as good as mine. One thing I did learn in my wine class at cooking school taught by master sommelier Andrea Immer is that some of the best wines in the world come from the Bordeaux region in France, “the largest fine-wine region in the world” and the “model for all wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot”(1). Bordeaux is in southwest France, along the Atlantic coast, straddling the Gironde River and the smaller offshoots, the Dordogne and Garonne Rivers. Like Paris, there is a Left Bank and a Right Bank, but there is also the Graves (pronounced 'grov') zone which lies to the south of the Left Bank along the Garonne River.
Some statistics on the Bordeaux region (2):
• 300,000 acres of vineyards
• 850 million bottles of wine produced each year
• 25% of all AOC (appellation d’origine controlée) wine produced in France
• Grapes grown: Merlot (50%), Cabernet-Sauvignon (26%), Cabernet-Franc (10%), Sémillon (8%), Sauvignon (4%)
On the Left Bank, the main district is Médoc and the most famous towns in Médoc are Margaux, St. Julien, Pauillac, and Sainte Estephe. The dominant grape grown in this district is Cabernet Sauvignon. Bordeaux wines are usually blended and the wines from the left bank are predominantly Cabernet grapes so the wine will be full-bodied and high in tannin. According to Andrea Immer’s wine tasting notes in Great Wine Made Simple, the Cabernet-based Bordeaux wines “show blackcurrent and cassis character, often with vanilla and scents of cedar from the oak, and sometimes the earthy scent of wet gravel”. The fruit flavor is understated and “weaves harmoniously with the other components of earth, oak, tannin, and alcohol”. Translation: it's damn good!
The town of Margaux is home to 80 chateaux and domains that produce 9.5 million bottles per year and is situated on a plateau overlooking the Gironde river. The most famous premier cru wines of Bordeaux hail from Margaux. Château Margaux “consistently produces the finest wines in the Médoc. Château Margaux produces over 30,000 cases per year and is located in the centre of the Margaux appellation. The vineyards (Cabernet Sauvignon 75%, Merlot 20%, Cabernet Franc 2%, Petit Verdot 3%) lie on a sandy-stone topsoil, beneath which is gravel and then clay. The wine is fermented in a mixture of stainless steel vats and oak casks and is matured for 18 months in 100% new oak barriques” or barrels (2). It is consistently rated one of the top wines in the world.
Château Margaux is a full-bodied red with aromas of dark red fruits and earthy scents such as truffles, coffee or toast. It is delicious with roasted duck, wild game, or a hearty steak...or simply with a fresh baguette and cheese! :-) Mangia bene! Bon appetit!
(1) Andrea Immer, Great Wine Made Simple
(2) Berry Bros. & Rudd (www.bbr.com)
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