Tag: France

Our June 2022 Toast Will Be in Praise of Half Bottles

Once upon a time, we were known to friends as the couple who always had a half bottle of something sparkling chilling in the refrigerator if they had a reason to celebrate! We bought cases of the very well-made but relatively inexpensive Gruet Blanc de Blanc and Blanc de Noir to pop open when someone landed a new account, received good news, or simply felt like a quick celebration of a lovely day.

Memories of these spontaneous toasts sent us out to stock up on more half-bottles of great sparkling wines.

At the Urban Grape, we chose three selections: NV Bruno Paillard Premiere Cuvee Extra Brut 375ml (Champagne, FR) at $40, NV Guy Larmandier Cramant Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs 375ml (Champagne, FR) at $42, and just for fun the Hakutsuru "Awa Yuki" Sparkling Sake (Japan) at $8.

We popped open the Bruno Paillard for a quiet anniversary celebration.

It was highly recommended by the Urban Grape staff as a Champagne that would fit our taste. It is a fabulous food wine and stood up to the big flavors of our stinky cheese, salumi, and focaccia. It was a spot-on recommendation and we'll pick up a couple more bottles on our next South End walk.

Here are the labels for a few 375ml bottles of old favorites we'll add to our next Gordon's Wine order!

When dining out, we love enjoying great bottles of wine with friends. However, when it's the two of us, we choose from the wines by the glass. We would love to have more half-bottle options on wine lists. That will only happen when more of us order the half-bottles restaurants do offer. We enjoyed this half bottle of Deutz Classic Brut Champagne on the Select Oyster Bar patio!

Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2022 Penny & Ed Cherubino ( Labels courtesy of Gordon's Wine)

June 1, 2022
For November 2021 We’ll Raise a Glass of Cerdon, Renardat-Fâche and Have a Dessert Party

Our monthly toast for November 2021 will be a rare, slightly sweet sparkler- Cerdon, Renardat-Fâche 2019. A few factors influence this choice. This wine is organic. It's from, "The Bugey, halfway between Lyons and Geneva, is one of the tiniest and most obscure wine areas in France," according to importer Louis/Dressner. It is made with Gamay and Poulsard adding a new grape for sparkling wine to our life list. And finally, it's 8% Alcohol by Volume. That is a rare find. All these factors checked some boxes on our preference list.

Here's some fascinating information on this producer and this wine from the importer.

Aware that it was slightly outside our choice for drier wines, we have decided to use its ability to step in after a meal as an excuse for a dessert party! Today we'll wander the neighborhood and pick up a few desserts to sample with this month's selection. Perhaps some of the favorites from our memory photos above.

Trying wines from different places, made with other grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

We purchased our bottle at Gordon's for $23.99.

Related Posts:

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post: Join Us as We toast…

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017-2020 Penny & Ed Cherubino

November 1, 2021
For November 2021 We’ll Raise a Glass of Cerdon, Renardat-Fâche and Have a Dessert Party

Our monthly toast for November 2021 will be a rare, slightly sweet sparkler- Cerdon, Renardat-Fâche 2019. A few factors influence this choice. This wine is organic. It's from, "The Bugey, halfway between Lyons and Geneva, is one of the tiniest and most obscure wine areas in France," according to importer Louis/Dressner. It is made with Gamay and Poulsard adding a new grape for sparkling wine to our life list. And finally, it's 8% Alcohol by Volume. That is a rare find. All these factors checked some boxes on our preference list.

Here's some fascinating information on this producer and this wine from the importer.

Aware that it was slightly outside our choice for drier wines, we have decided to use its ability to step in after a meal as an excuse for a dessert party! Today we'll wander the neighborhood and pick up a few desserts to sample with this month's selection. Perhaps some of the favorites from our memory photos above.

Trying wines from different places, made with other grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

We purchased our bottle at Gordon's for $23.99.

Related Posts:

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post: Join Us as We toast…

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017-2020 Penny & Ed Cherubino

November 1, 2021
Another Taste of Patrice Colin Les Perles Grises for Our June Toast

Tonight we'll toast the month of June with a bottle of Patrice Colin Les Perles Grises. Sometimes the choice of a sparkling wine to feature for our monthly toast is made by visiting our favorite wine shops. Other times we pull a bottle from our wine rack. This bottle had a note added to the side with our trusty Sharpie glass and bottle markers. This bottle will bring extra smiles tonight because it was a gift from a friend who we hope will enjoy it with us.

Here is a full report about this bottle of "grey pearls" (as the name is translated) when we featured it a few years ago.

Wine Lovers Tip

We highly recommend adding a set of these markers to your wine supplies.

You can use them to mark the price and where you purchased a wine or, as here, note who gave it to you. Not only do we enjoy sharing gift wines with friends when they visit again, but we also enjoy the wines more ourselves because they're part of a friendship.

Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast…

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2019 Penny & Ed Cherubino

June 1, 2019
Another Taste of Patrice Colin Les Perles Grises for Our June Toast

Tonight we'll toast the month of June with a bottle of Patrice Colin Les Perles Grises. Sometimes the choice of a sparkling wine to feature for our monthly toast is made by visiting our favorite wine shops. Other times we pull a bottle from our wine rack. This bottle had a note added to the side with our trusty Sharpie glass and bottle markers. This bottle will bring extra smiles tonight because it was a gift from a friend who we hope will enjoy it with us.

Here is a full report about this bottle of "grey pearls" (as the name is translated) when we featured it a few years ago.

Wine Lovers Tip

We highly recommend adding a set of these markers to your wine supplies.

You can use them to mark the price and where you purchased a wine or, as here, note who gave it to you. Not only do we enjoy sharing gift wines with friends when they visit again, but we also enjoy the wines more ourselves because they're part of a friendship.

Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast…

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2019 Penny & Ed Cherubino

June 1, 2019
September’s Toast with Champagne Robert Barbichon Blanc De Noirs

This month we are chilling a bottle of Robert Barbichon Blanc De Noirs. It's an organic, biodynamic, grower Champagne from a small producer. You may have noticed that we toast with a lot of wines similar to this one. Like many of you, there are flavor profiles, business philosophies, importers, and regional terroirs that we prefer over others. This wine checks a lot of boxes on our preference list.

Humboldt Importers describe this wine maker well, "Located in the Cote des Bar in the Aube region to the southeast of the Marne, the Barbichon family have been growing Champagne grapes for 4 generations. Today Robert Barbichon produces a range of elegant, stylish Champagnes with bright mineral-driven fruit and just a hint of toast."

And (here's the part we especially like) Humboldt Importers characterize the Blanc de Noirs Brut NV as, "Crafted of pure Pinot Noir, it exhibits a creamy nose filled with bright white fruit, chalk/mineral notes and a crisp, elegant finish. 100% Pinot Noir from the Cote des Bar."

One of the fun things about this bottle is that it's a "Transatlantic Bubbles Selection." This is a new import category to us. But reading about their love of sparkling wine and the places where their selections are served makes us open to other wines from their portfolio.

They say:

"Transatlantic Bubbles LLC. specializes in finding and importing grower-producer Champagnes that offer superior quality at a better cost to the customer. We are a trusted supplier in the growing niche market for recoltant-manipulant Champagne."

We're looking forward to raising our glasses to the extension of this lovely summer that we have declared, "… will not end until October 15th, at the earliest!"

We purchased our bottle of Champagne Robert Barbichon Blanc De Noirs Brut at City Liquors in Cambridge for ~ $45.

UPDATE: (09.02.17) We had such high hopes for this Champagne and, well … at the risk of stooping to a cliché, "It exceeded our highest expectations!" We chilled the wine to ~ 55ºF and began tasting while enjoying some thinly sliced pork loin, pepper-flavored boursin, Jasper Hill Moses Sleeper (cows milk cheese inspired by French Brie), figs, and local cherry tomatoes – why skimp?

This combination added to the enjoyment of the Barbichon Blanc De Noirs Brut which only improved as it warmed.

Penny was haunted by a flavor she was experiencing tasted in the fruit of this wine. Then she realized it was like the charred, caramelized pineapple served with our Jamaican jerk chicken wings plate at Little Donkey. I liked the wine's yeasty character and hints of chalk.

We both agreed that the full, rich, round, "elegant finish" remained throughout our meal. And, the best news, we saved some more of this lovely bottle of bubbles for today.

We are buying another bottle the next time we find this little gem!

Cheers!

Related Posts:

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post: Join Us as We Toast …

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! Here are three of our favorite wine books …

The Food Lover's Guide to Wine

The New Wine Lover's Companion

The Wine Bible

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino, Screengrab from Transatlantic Bubbles LLC

September 1, 2017
Our October Sparkler Is Patrice Colin Les Perles Grises!

Another month means another wine to keep Our Sparkling Resolution to enjoy a glass of bubbles on the first of every month. This time Patrice Colin Les Perles Grises (Perles Grises = Grey Pearls) offered us both a winemaker and a grape we had never tried.

This food friendly rosé from France's Loire Valley is made from 100% Pineau d’Aunis. (This grape is also known as Chenin Noir but bears no resemblance to Chenin Blanc.) The production is biodynamic and the vineyard has been in the same family since the 1800s.

Here are a few comments about this sparkler that we found in our tasting research:

Carolyn Joy wrote, "Perles Grises is perfect on its own or with food. Its mid-bodied structure and balanced acidity allows for pairing with light white meats, seafood and shellfish as well as appetizers and desserts."

Palate Press says, "Very light, almost clear, copper color. The nose is interesting, a bouquet of white flowers and pencil shavings. On the palate it has huge flavors of pencil shavings with flint, rose water, pepper, and red currants. Smoke lingers on the finish. Pair with a fruit tart dessert."

Europa Wine Merchant wrote, "This bubbly made with the Pineau d’Aunis grape this has the varietal’s tell tale peppery quality along with scents of rose blossom, lilac, white raspberry, mirabelle plum and lanolin, firm, mineral, stony palate presence with pretty notes of small red berries, fresh herbs and a peppery finish all in Colin’s elegant style."

We sampled a bottle of this wine with friends and a table full of delicious seafood. The comments were positive and at the $15 price point it is certainly one we'll buy again.

Finding new wines to toast each new month keeps us on a constant treasure hunt. We seldom pass a wine shop without stopping in to explore its offerings. This wine came from City Liquors on one of our favorite blocks of Cambridge Street in Cambridge. (map)

Penny was pleased with both the selection and service when she stopped in while making routine visits to Mayflower Poultry, Petsi Pies, and New Deal Fish Market. It looks like she'll pack an extra quarter for the parking meter in future visits to this food and wine lovers block.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino, City Liquors photos from own site.

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October 1, 2016
Our October Sparkler Is Patrice Colin Les Perles Grises!

Another month means another wine to keep Our Sparkling Resolution to enjoy a glass of bubbles on the first of every month. This time Patrice Colin Les Perles Grises (Perles Grises = Grey Pearls) offered us both a winemaker and a grape we had never tried.

This food friendly rosé from France's Loire Valley is made from 100% Pineau d’Aunis. (This grape is also known as Chenin Noir but bears no resemblance to Chenin Blanc.) The production is biodynamic and the vineyard has been in the same family since the 1800s.

Here are a few comments about this sparkler that we found in our tasting research:

Carolyn Joy wrote, "Perles Grises is perfect on its own or with food. Its mid-bodied structure and balanced acidity allows for pairing with light white meats, seafood and shellfish as well as appetizers and desserts."

Palate Press says, "Very light, almost clear, copper color. The nose is interesting, a bouquet of white flowers and pencil shavings. On the palate it has huge flavors of pencil shavings with flint, rose water, pepper, and red currants. Smoke lingers on the finish. Pair with a fruit tart dessert."

Europa Wine Merchant wrote, "This bubbly made with the Pineau d’Aunis grape this has the varietal’s tell tale peppery quality along with scents of rose blossom, lilac, white raspberry, mirabelle plum and lanolin, firm, mineral, stony palate presence with pretty notes of small red berries, fresh herbs and a peppery finish all in Colin’s elegant style."

We sampled a bottle of this wine with friends and a table full of delicious seafood. The comments were positive and at the $15 price point it is certainly one we'll buy again.

Finding new wines to toast each new month keeps us on a constant treasure hunt. We seldom pass a wine shop without stopping in to explore its offerings. This wine came from City Liquors on one of our favorite blocks of Cambridge Street in Cambridge. (map)

Penny was pleased with both the selection and service when she stopped in while making routine visits to Mayflower Poultry, Petsi Pies, and New Deal Fish Market. It looks like she'll pack an extra quarter for the parking meter in future visits to this food and wine lovers block.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino, City Liquors photos from own site.

Related articles

Loving that Landaff Cheese: Welsh Style Flavor from New Hampshire

A Busy Season Resource: Our Poached Chicken Links

Michael Serpa Selects Champagne Jacquesson Cuvée 736 as Our Sparkler for June 2015

October 1, 2016
Reacquainting Ourselves with Aquitaine Boston

Aquitaine Boston is the latest on what we're happily calling our "Sand Pail List" of long-time Boston-area restaurants we're looking forward to visiting this summer. In this case, it's the recently reopened Aquitaine that has undergone a charming redo. (In case you missed it, here's The Boston Sun report on the reopening.)

We love welcoming bar spaces and opted for two seats right at the front windows with a people watching view of the street.

Light, bright, and classy is certainly the new theme of the room.

This menu does a nice job of living up to the spirit of the Aquitaine region of France. Traditional favorites of the area like duck, mushrooms, truffles, foie gras, apples, and walnuts all appear among the offerings.

Penny's lunch choice (photo above) was the "Duck Confit Presse with Duck Rillette, Dijon Mustard, Gruyere Cheese, on Pan au Levain." This was a great sandwich. Balance of the few ingredients and just enough pressing and grilling made it memorable.

Ed is a fan of Salade Nicoise. The one he ordered for lunch was described as, "Ventresca Tuna, Shaved Fennel, Nicoise Olives, Golden Egg, Haricot Verts, Green Herb Vinaigrette."

We each found an old favorite on the sparkling wines by the glass menu. Ed opted for Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut with the traditional Champagne blend. Penny went the rosé, cabernet franc route with Louis de Grenelle Saumur.

It was such a comfortable, relaxing atmosphere that we lingered over a scrumptious Apple Tart with creme fraiche while chatting with others at the bar.

It's good the have this corner open and filled with life again. The reopening of Aquitaine shows the importance of restaurants and active retail shops to a streetscape.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Disclosure: The Boston Sun is one of our freelance writing and photography clients.

Related articles

Michael Serpa Selects Champagne Jacquesson Cuvée 736 as Our Sparkler for June 2015

Spread a Little Local Love for the Rest of Valentine's Month

August 24, 2016
Reacquainting Ourselves with Aquitaine Boston

Aquitaine Boston is the latest on what we're happily calling our "Sand Pail List" of long-time Boston-area restaurants we're looking forward to visiting this summer. In this case, it's the recently reopened Aquitaine that has undergone a charming redo. (In case you missed it, here's The Boston Sun report on the reopening.)

We love welcoming bar spaces and opted for two seats right at the front windows with a people watching view of the street.

Light, bright, and classy is certainly the new theme of the room.

This menu does a nice job of living up to the spirit of the Aquitaine region of France. Traditional favorites of the area like duck, mushrooms, truffles, foie gras, apples, and walnuts all appear among the offerings.

Penny's lunch choice (photo above) was the "Duck Confit Presse with Duck Rillette, Dijon Mustard, Gruyere Cheese, on Pan au Levain." This was a great sandwich. Balance of the few ingredients and just enough pressing and grilling made it memorable.

Ed is a fan of Salade Nicoise. The one he ordered for lunch was described as, "Ventresca Tuna, Shaved Fennel, Nicoise Olives, Golden Egg, Haricot Verts, Green Herb Vinaigrette."

We each found an old favorite on the sparkling wines by the glass menu. Ed opted for Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut with the traditional Champagne blend. Penny went the rosé, cabernet franc route with Louis de Grenelle Saumur.

It was such a comfortable, relaxing atmosphere that we lingered over a scrumptious Apple Tart with creme fraiche while chatting with others at the bar.

It's good the have this corner open and filled with life again. The reopening of Aquitaine shows the importance of restaurants and active retail shops to a streetscape.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Disclosure: The Boston Sun is one of our freelance writing and photography clients.

Related articles

Michael Serpa Selects Champagne Jacquesson Cuvée 736 as Our Sparkler for June 2015

Spread a Little Local Love for the Rest of Valentine's Month

August 24, 2016