That’s what FrenchBenedictinemonkDom Pierre Pérignon reportedly said when he tasted the first sparkling wine he made in Champagne, France, commonly known now as simply “Champagne.” (Sparkling wine made elsewhere is NOT Champagne BTW!)
However, according to Wikipedia, this quote first appeared as part of an advertising campaign in the late 19th century!
Regardless of the truth of the source of this quote, drinking Champagne is like drinking stars — there’s no denying how delightful the experience is of drinking real, quality bubbles from Champagne.
Even if Dom Pérignon spent most of his career trying to get the bubbles OUT of Champagne!
This year, here’s a brief primer about Champagne and a history of DomPérignon, the granddaddy of them all, plus some notes on a few prestige cuvees I had the opportunity to taste as well as two that are a bit more down to earth and easy to find wines: Veuve Clique and Jacques Bardelot – Brut which we paired with appetizers including the French triple cream brie cheese St Angel, oysters, and caviar as well as a meal of caesar salad, pesto pasta, and chicken.
And what, if anything, have all the fires, floods, and hurricanes taught us? That our special occasion is now. Don’t wait.
If someone gives you a bottle of champagne, don’t keep it in the cellar, the closet or on or in the refridgerator for the next five years. Drink it! And what better day than today?
#MerlotMe love with wine from Sonoma paired with a simple squash and sausage pasta dish and a chard with apple and pomegranate salad
“I’ve got this one squash I’d like to use for our pasta,” says Sue on the drive from my house on the coast to hers in Ojai, “and I need help getting it cut out of the fence.”
It actually took three of us because I was busy taking photos, but Sue and Barry wrestled that squash out of the fence and Sue got it roasting because squash and merlot are a match made in heaven, and October is #MerlotMe time! Continue reading →
Late Sunday October 1, multiple fires began in the counties of Napa, Sonoma, and Lake. Whipped by high winds, the fires threatened and destroyed homes, lives, and wineries.
These fires continue tonight with over 1000 firefighters working to keep people and animals safe in the towns of Sonoma and Napa. In fact a reliable source reports that as of Thursday, there are 73 helicopters, over 30 air tankers, some 500 fire vehicles, over 8000 fire personnel, with another 150 fire vehicles requested from neighboring states plus CHP, National Guard, police, utility workers and more in the region at work.
Thousands more firefighters are working around the clock across a state which has plenty of fuel following last year’s generous rains.
The flammable grasses and shrubs combined with hot dry winds will make for a dangerous situation until winter storms hit –which may be in a month or two.
During the past week, I have followed the stories and photos as friends in the region have told harrowing tales of evacuation, near escape, fire, damage, and repeated evacuations as they make sure children and pets are safe as well as keep tabs on elderly and infirm neighbors. The losses are devastating: many lives and pets as well as cherished possessions.
Ten years ago yesterday, on October 7, 2007, Cantara Cellars opened their doors to their Camarillo tasting room and winery.
Ten years later, yesterday, they celebrated this accomplishment with a dinner party with 75 of their friends, family, and wine club members sitting at one long table decorated with fall colors and pumpkins with succulents which were sold for $10 to raise for Meadowlarks. Tasting room manager and my writing partner Sue Hill and her sweetie John Walsh were there of course — and so was I. Continue reading →
According to Wikipedia, the straw basket bottle that many people associate with cheap Italian wine, and even more specifically, Chianti, is called a fiasco — or, if you want many of them, fiaschi: Continue reading →
Hey there! Yes that’s me sporting a chocolate mustache from Dellorees’s Confections in Placerville CA! We’re on a post International Food Bloggers Conference with a stop at the Farm and Table for some special bites (pictured) paired with wines from two El Dorado County wineries, Holly’s Hill and Lava Cap.
And now I am writing to you from a beautiful cottage at Lucinda’s Country Inn near Fair Play in the heart of El Dorado wine country.
I’m surrounded by the sweet lulling sounds of crickets, I can easily start a cozy fire in the gas fireplace when it cools off, I’m sipping on a Holly’s Hill red blend (pictured above), and soon I’m going to take a bath!
I’ve had an inspiring weekend at IFBC, and I’m looking forward to exploring El Dorado County more tomorrow before I drive home. But first here’s a few more fun people sporting chocolate mustaches!
