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Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Tain l’Hermitage | 6.8.16

Our final morning in the South greeted us with perfect azure skies and a stiff breeze. After coffee and emails in the courtyard, we departed the house for our first visit. The first domaine sits on a hill at the eastern edge of the appellation, and by the time we reached the chateau the wind had become noticeable and steady.…

Pic-St-Loup, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Séguret, Gigondas | 6.7.16

We started early this morning with a drive down into the Languedoc, about an hour and a half south. Once off the autoroute, the road begins to wind through rugged terrain. Scraggly green-gray bushes cover rocky outcroppings bleached by the brilliant sun; the two-lane road is shoulderless, but passing is never in question.

We weren’t sure what the coffee arrangement would be in our AirBnB, so we brought along an Aeropress and a bag of Stumptown coffee. Thus the morning began with a bit of email catchup, and a warm taste of home. We supplemented with some croissants and a baguette from the Boulangerie around the corner.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Courthezon, Gigondas | 6.6.16

A delayed flight produced an exciting connection this morning between tarmac and TGV. With one in two SNCF trains cancelled by striking rail workers, the margin for error was nil, and with heavy fog and teeming terminals we feared the worst. But the luggage belts were in our favor, and we even managed to grab two double espressos before boarding…

Boston, Paris, Avignon, Courthezon | 6.5.16

France is an old place -- many domaines we work with have been in the business for centuries. But others are newer: winemaker Olivier Leriche left Burgundy’s prestigious Domaine de l’Arlot in 2011, and founded a new winery on old vines in the Ardèche. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed following Olivier over the last five years as he has experimented with grape…

We're on our way to France for a two week tasting trip covering the Southern Rhône, Languedoc, Northern Rhône, Beaujolais, Burgundy, Chablis, and Jura. We hope to post photos to this blog daily.

It may be spring for another month, but here in Boston it’s starting to feel more like summer. Warm weather can make wine pairing tricky -- heat and alcohol rarely go well together, and a cold beer is sometimes the best fit. But when the moment or the meal calls for wine, we look for bottles with low alcohol, good…

Check out our new one-minute video about how Ansonia Wines works.

Thomas Keller's Marinated Skirt Steak -- this is a great way to get a lot of flavor out of an inexpensive cut of meat. The longer you marinate, the more intense the flavor; make sure to brown the meat well.

Moules Marinières -- we were feeling decadent so added some cream to the broth before serving. Made bread à la Tartine to accompany. We let mussels soak in flour/water for an hour -- meat was clean and plump.

It was perhaps inevitable that breadmaking would join our list of minor obsessions. Bread and wine have far more in common than the ecclesiastical: both are the product of fermentation; both mix art and science; and both reward success with sensory delight.