May

15

It has been sweltering hot in San Francisco in the past couple of days.  Of course, as some of you may know, “hot” in San Francisco doesn’t have quite the same meaning as it does anywhere else.  For example, I remember when we first moved to the Bay Area from New York City, and we overheard someone characterize 80-degree weather as a heat wave – we had just left New York’s sticky, 90+ degree summer humidity, and so to us, that just sounded like gobbledygook.  Fast foward a year later, though, when we finally experienced that same weather for ourselves without air conditioning (which houses in San Francisco typically lack), and that same statement made a lot more sense.  I only share this recollection with you because, at the moment, Weather.com says that it’s 71 degrees in San Francisco, our thermostat reads 87, and our house feels like a sauna.   

Should you find yourself in a similar situation this summer, we suggest picking up a bottle of Jean Francois Merieau “Bulles” Touraine Sparkling, sticking it in the fridge for an hour or two, popping the cork, and drinking up!  We’re confident that you’ll find this sparkler to be brilliantly refreshing, just as we have found it to be during these past couple ”hot” days.

The organic “Bulles” Touraine Sparkling – composed of 80% Chenin Blanc and 20% Sauvignon Blanc – was produced in the Touraine appellation of the Loire Valley (i.e., it is not Champagne, although like Champagne, it was aged sur lie (the link is to Wine Spectator’s free online glossary)).

We loved the lightness of body and the juicy flavors of apple, pear, and a twist of lime, and as we polished off the bottle last night on our deck while watching the city reflect the sun’s pink light at dusk, we were sure that the drink in our glasses could not have been more appropriate. 

Where to get it: We bought our bottle at K&L Wines in San Francisco.  They ship.  You can also find it using the Snooth search function under “Wine Locator” in the right hand column of this page, or by visiting wine-searcher.com or winezap.com.

Apr

17

Last night’s Wine Library TV show (click the link to view the episode at WLTV) was about the Chenin Blanc grape and how it deserved more respect — this couldn’t have been better timing from our perspective, because just a couple of nights ago we opened one of our favorite ever bottles of that varietal: Prince Poniatowski’s Clos Baudoin Vouvray 2001. 

In white wines, as we’ve mentioned before, we tend to prefer crispness that straddles the line between high acidity and no puckeriness on the finish.  The Clos Baudoin was that — bright and refreshing — but also creamy due to aging, and it left literally no trace of bitterness at the back end.  We couldn’t imagine a more appropriate wine to drink chilled on a hot afternoon.     

We detected pineapple, smoke, minerals, and creamy lemon on both the nose and palate, and interestingly, we also found the scent of the wine to be a little bit deceptive: while it smelled sweet like lemonade, it turned out to be completely dry to the taste.

One last thing to note: the Poniatowski family no longer owns the Clos Baudoin estate, which it owned since 1918, meaning that if you think you’ll love it like we did, you might want to spring for a couple bottles in case you ever get the urge down the road to enjoy it again.    

Where to get it: We bought our bottle at Vintage Berkeley in the East Bay.  They ship.  You can also find it using the Snooth search function under “Wine Locator” in the right hand column of this page, or by visiting wine-searcher.com or winezap.com.

Blogroll

WP Themes