A Cork and A Cauldron: New Discoveries and Old Favorites in Bordeaux

A recent visit to Château Teyssier in St Emilion lead to another great culinary find. In spite of its humble roots and namesake of an eighth century hermit, the village of St Emilion has acquired international celebrity status due to the glorious Grand Gru vineyard sites and exalted wines that bear its name. While exploring this medieval hamlet, we stumbled across the charming and inviting Le Bouchon, nestled in the shadows of a grand and imposing monolithic church. Enamored, we soon found ourselves seated on its steps for an impromptu aperitif.

While taking in the majesty at the heart of this celebrated appellation, we enjoyed bottle of 1996 Phillipponat Clos de Goisses, whose notes of brioche made it a perfect pairing with the local foie gras.

After our unexpected but immensely pleasurable detour, we headed to Bordeaux for a traditional dinner with out friend Marco Fantinel; and where better for that than La Tupiña, revered worldwide for both its delicious food and rustic atmosphere! While it may no longer be a secret to the tourists, year after year we return for chef Jean-Paul Xiradakis’s authentic southwestern cuisine featuring local seasonal ingredients.

“For me, cuisine is not an art. I started La Tupiña back in 1968 to offer the food my mother and grandmother cooked when I was a child. What I do, anyone could do—it’s nothing refined and not very fancy. But this is the way we eat in the countryside. It’s de la bonne bouffe—’good grub’.” -Jean-Paul Xiradakis

For the uninitiated, the name refers to the traditional pot-bellied cooking vessel that hangs over the central hearth of this singular restaurant that specializes in playing with fire without ever getting burned. While duck is is king at La Tupiña (as elsewhere in region, with each part celebrated in local dishes from foie gras, magret, casserole or stew), on this evening we opted for the famous cotes de boeuf with frites roasted golden in duck fat. We poured over the impressive wine list and its many collector pieces to accompany our meal.

While tempted by the remarkable Armagnac list which bears over seventy references of the best eaux-de-vie of the region, after dinner we opted to end this indulgent evening in the heart of France with another old favorite: a glass of J.M Rhum Agricole VSOP, AOC Martinique.

LE BOUCHON | 3 Place Marché, Saint Emilion
LA TUPIÑA | 6 Rue Porte de la Monnaie, Bordeaux

La Croisette and La Coulée de Serrant: A Heavenly Match Made in the Loire

Our recent trip in France took us to Savennieres for a visit with Nicolas Joly on the day following the summer solstice- a very important day of the year for this celebrated guru of biodynamy.

The summer solstice is a very important day for a vine. The vine is waiting for sun to land on earth. This is what happens at the summer solstice. It withholds its flowering process for the time when the sun lands on earth. The vines flowering closest to the solstice produce the best wines. -Nicolas Joly

After a tour of the stunning La Coulée de Serrant in the midsummer twilight, we made our way for what would become an exciting culinary discovery. Nestled in a corner facing the striking Loire river and its sandy banks, La Croisette could be easily be mistaken for a fishing cabin if it was not for the mouthwatering flavors filling the air and the beautiful garden. La Croisette is a new venture from the intrepid Isabelle and J-Paul Feuvray whose vast culinary passions lead to a diverse array of experiences that include a stint in Texas. They opened their first Tex Mex restaurants in the 1980s followed by a steakhouse in the 1990s. Returning to their roots, they created this open air barbecue on the tiny island of Behuard in 2004. While there, we enjoyed river fish and some of the most delicious barbecued ribs that we have ever tasted!

Joined by Nicolas Joly, another passionate explorer who ultimate decided to return to his roots (in his case literally), and his remarkable 1989 and 2004 vintages of La Coulée de Serrant the pairing was complete. As our meal ended and the sun finally made its descent, La Croisette proved the perfect venue in which to savor a magical evening in an enchanted region over a cuban cigar and great conversation.

La Croisette | Rue de La Boire, Béhuard

Arpège

“If my cooking would have been music, I would have composed it harmonious and light. And I would have played it passionately.” Winner of three Michelin stars, Chef Alain Passard takes a musical approach to his cuisine. There’s no wonder he decided to call his celebrated Parisian restaurant, Arpège, or arpgeggio, meaning a “chord, played on multiple strings” (from arpa, Italian for harp). We were in Paris last month and following a marathon visit to the Louvre, we met another couple to spend the evening at Arpége, which has become one of our new favorite restaurants.

We drank a Billecart Rosé NV to start – always one of our favorite wines. Next came a 1997 Josmeyer Riesling Hengst, exquisite when we first opened it (although it began to loose its energy after a while). Next came a 2005 Côte-Rôtie Maison Rouge by Domaine Georges Vernay, which was a little too young and woody, and so we decided to taste side-by-side with a 2000 Volnay Clos de Ducs by Marquis d’Angerville, which was beautiful.

Chef Alain Passard’s cuisine is truly musical: sometimes a jazz quartet and sometimes a symphony orchestra. The poached egg with sherry was in “perfect harmony” and the ravioli in vegetal consommé seemed to sing with powerful simplicity. We also loved the white onion au gratin with Parmigiano Reggiano and black truffles.

Arpège | 84 Rue Varenne, Paris | +33 1 45 51 40 41

Daniel Jarry (Vouvray)

Winemaker Daniel Jarry is a passionate collector of antique bottles. He stores them in his cave where nature maintains a nearly constant 85% humidity — perfect for aging his wines.
We recently paid a visit to winemaker Daniel Jarry (left) in Vouvray and had the immense pleasure of getting to taste some of his older wines with him.

His cave is built in a hillside, underneath the vineyards: you walk through the cellar, you are surrounded by old barriques and his amazing collection of antique bottles.

Perfect ripeness, Daniel told us, is the key to making long-lived wines that will retain their freshness as they age. He vinifies every parcel separately according to the fruit’s natural sugar levels.

Here are our notes from the tasting:

Moelleux Reserve 1989: an exceptional wine with aromas of quince, white flowers, and honey; velvety in the mouth with a lingering finish.
Moelleux Reserve 1996: an elegant, refined wine, with a good balance of freshness and sweetness and fruit and floral flavors.

Demi-Sec 1997: Hazelnut, spices and white flowers, a very focused wine with a persistent finish.

Demi-Sec 1996: a beautifully balanced, vibrant wine with pear and acacia aromas.

Demi-Sec 1995: Floral, fruity with some mineral notes, the attack is bright, then the wine reveals a lot of finesse

Sec 1985: this wine was simply unbelievably good, with distinct personality, a pure expression of the appellation; Jarry noted that this wine will continue to age well.

The only bitter note was that Daniel has now retired and he told us that 2007 was his last vintage.

Welcome to LiveWine

Welcome to LiveWine, a new blog about wine, about “living” wine and wine that is “alive.”

Wine is on everyone’s lips these days: there are more and more food and wine writers, journalists, and bloggers than ever before and food and wine travel — from the ancient mountains of Argentina to the bubbles of Champagne — is quickly becoming the hottest topic around.

So much is written about food and wine and the luxury of gastronomy and the wine experience today that we often forget that wine is a living organism. It is made from living fruit, grown in living earth. It is nurtured by a living sun by day and cooled the earth’s living breezes at night. Most importantly, grapes are grown and grape juice is turned into wine by living beings: women and men across the world, who pour their blood, sweat, and tears into wines that reflect their land, their traditions, and their national identities.

When we came up with the name of LiveWine for our blog, we wanted to remind our readers — and we hope there will be many of you! — that wine “lives” and that we “live” wine.

Our motto?

Live wine as you live your life for wine is living thing.

So please add us to your blogroll or just come by to visit every once in a while: we’ll be sharing some of our favorite wines, restaurants, stories, histories, and, most importantly, news from our favorite people who make wine and with whom we drink it.