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Sunshine on a Rainy Day

Domaine Bertrand et Axelle Machard de Gramont
Bourgogne Aligoté “Le Chêne du Court” 2017
AOC
100% Aligoté
Organic, hand harvested
Nuits-St. Georges, France
Winemaker: Axelle Machard

Pale glistening gold. Fragrances of apples, peach, smoke, light tangerine, and wet rock or limestone. As the glass and I are both sweating due to the evening…rolling this around in my mouth and there’s fresh apple, pear, light peach, salt, a lemon lime swirl ting of tart, and something herby but I can’t quite place which. I should have my Penzeys’ card revoked. It’s just so crisp, refreshing, elegant and so welcome. Henri is knocking on the door and this glass brightens this rainy grey day. Unfortunately it has me craving mussels and super salty frites which I have neither, and am not about to make a delivery driver come out in this  rough weather.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: delicious and sweeter

Coming from a distinct wine lineage, Axelle, Bertrand’s daughter is at the helm of Domaine Bertrand et Axelle Machard de Gramont, and is who brought it into organic certification. I’m glad she came back from a 15 year stint in Paris to rejoin her father in wine. Her parcel of Aligoté is pretty darn special residing behind the Abbaye de Saint-Vivant which is now a historic site and had been going through restoration when a discovery took place. I got pretty intrigued about the Abbey and with some really bad Google Translate of different papers and posts, I found that a bottle was unearthed from under debris and a slab near the apse and altar. It could date back to 1772 or possibly 1810-60 and it was opened and tasted in 2011. I would love to know how that turned out, and I’m sure one of you probably knows.

#wine #winelover #vino #vin #winelife #葡萄酒 #ワイン #cheezit #organic @worldbyglass #Aligoté #Aligote #pairswithcheezits #wineinfluencer #winestagram #France #Bourgogne #burgundy #axellemacharddegramont @axellemacharddegramont @docwineshop @docwinebar @apwineimports @cheezits

 

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Rouge Rebel

Domaine No Control
Délire du Désordre 2019
Vin de France
Gamay
Converting to organic, biodynamic practices, hand harvest, and unfiltered
Auvergne/Beaujolais, France
Winemaker: Vincent Marie (he also has exceptional taste in music 🤘🎸)

A swirl of dark ruby & purple. Before we get any further let it breathe. Decant this baby and out will pop and crack some leather, bright cherry, vanilla whiff, then here come the flowers. There’s roses, lilacs, lilies, and everything just keeps exploding and also some barny (not the dinosaur) funk. On with the show…sipping cherries & dried cherries, olive pits, smidge of leather, and a whole bunch of juicy goodness of cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries laced with balsamic. Is it rustic…is it punk or is it a mix of all with funk?

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: smooths it all out

This bottle intrigues me like the silent bad boy with the leather jacket and motorcycle that did doughnuts in mom’s flower patch but still manages to pick me a bouquet. Maybe our 2nd rendezvous with this rebel tonight will let me see a bit more his soft sensitive side. Or maybe I’ll just roll with this Gamay Auvergne/Beaujolais fusion mix and crank some “Rage Against The Machine”.

#wine #vinho #vino #vin #Gamay #rageagainstthemachine #pairswithcheezits #worldbyglass #cheezit #vinewinenyc #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winelife #naturalwine #organic #Auvergne #Beaujolais #France @vinewinenyc @vincentnocontrol @steven.graf.imports @cheezits

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Immortalized Affection

Famille Sumeire
Château Coussin
L’Orangé
Vin de Macération
100% Ugni Blanc
Sustainable agriculture
Trets, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France
Winemaking siblings: Olivier and Sophie Sumeire

Color shining shimmering golden orange. That orange keeps on coming with scents of orange and other citrus blossoms, and after a while Orange Julius hence my I’m getting a hint of vanilla. Next are tangerines, mandarins, salt, with a familiar green smell of just whittled branches or fresh buds pre bloom, and at last a tiny smidge of anise. That was delightful! Sipping tangerines, mandarins, and of all things a pinch of those Valentine’s Day “Conversation Hearts”. That was a surprise that faded and then enters pears, crab apples, and grass. It’s just darn fresh and lovely and I would say very picnic friendly. Yeah, get outside, spread that blanket and relax back and stare up at the tree branches with that clean blue sky peaking through.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: nice and friendly and weirdly snuggly.

Château Coussin (one of Famille Sumeire’s 3 estates) and has a splendid view of Monte Sainte-Victoire. Maybe this is a better place for a picnic…I can see why Cézanne captured these landscapes time and time again. Another famous artist, César Baldaccini, known for his compression sculptures and being one of the Nouveau Réalisme pack (side note: I used to work for one of his contemporaries and that movement was truly revolutionary) was also affiliated with the area and  a family friend of the Sumeire’s. In 1987, as a symbol of affection for the family, he designed a special wine case from their labels, and part of that art now graces two of their wines (rosé & red) immortalizing his name and signature. As we all know, wine and art are a perfect pairing.

#wine #vin #frenchwine #Provence #France #winelife #vino #葡萄酒 #ワイン #cheezit @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #winestagram #UgniBlanc #Cézanne #Cezanne #cesarbaldaccini #nouveaurealisme @docwineshop @docwinebar @famillesumeire @cheezits

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Bottled Memories

Lindenlaub
En Équilibre 2018
100% Riesling
Organic, unfined, unfiltered
Dorlisheim, Alsace, France
Winemaker: Christophe Lindenlaub

Yellow gold with a little unfiltered treat. There is a lump at the bottom of my glass that reminds me of  a mini version of what you find in the bottom of a bottle of mezcal. Right from the get go there’s beautiful aromas of honeysuckle, wisteria, and apricot. It’s very fragrant. Then of all things a soft hint of Chanel #5 🤔 and then a squeeze of lime, smoke, and a poof of gas, like for your car…but that is not a bad thing (it’s just a Riesling thing). After all that, here comes tastes of lemon, lime, smoke, and apricot. A whole lot more than I was expecting! Also a tang zing keeping it so lively. It’s bright and happy like chirping birds gossiping.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: smooth operator

Say what if a Riesling and Chenin Blanc had a little wild baby. Well, this is what this wine would taste like…the lovely and then the lovely funkilicious. I’m going to be a bit honest, the C#5 has sent me down a rabbit hole of memories. My grandfather brought a bottle back from WW2 for the love of his life, my grandmother. I spent my young years huffing that empty bottle full of fragrance and am still hanging on to that scent filled with so much history. Now on to another glass, and back to an evening of warm recollections of years past.

#wine #vinho #vino #vin #Riesling #chanel #pairswithcheezits #worldbyglass #cheezit #vinewinenyc #葡萄酒 #ワイン #naturalwine #organic #Dorlisheim #Alsace #France @vinewinenyc @christophelindenlaub @super_glou @cheezits

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Party Pig!

La Mongestine
Bob Singlar 2020
Vin de France
Merlot 40%, Marselan 10%, Pinot Noir 40%, Roussanne 10%
Organic, minimal intervention, & on its way to biodynamic
Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence, France
Owners: Harry and Celine Gozlan
Winemaker: Maxime Gamard

Color shining cran-raspberry lollipop. It’s a light red masquerading as a rosé so give it a little chill. Take a little sniff and there’s raspberries, strawberries, dark plums, cherries, and a little natural funk wiggling there in the air and if you give it a time out…poof it’s gone. (Also if you wait a loooong time there is a whiff of hazelnut.) Tip and sip and absolutely freaking delicious! There’s raspberry, strawberry, boysenberry (giving that little tart spark). It’s fresh and light but this young little piggy has some depth and wonderment. Ok piggy doesn’t really fit, Bob is a wild boar, and from the looks and the glouglou…he’s a party animal. Dare I say, I could see him cheering on a rugby match.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: just makes it more fruity

Harry and Celine Gozlan took on Domaine de la Mongestine in 2017, but the land has a very long history (you can still find artifacts like pottery, etc in the earth) and had at one point been pretty much abandoned. They lucked out though because it was replanted in 2001, and certified organic in 2014. Another plus is they have a fabulous winemaking team that keeps it natural. If you want to see what they’re doing behind the scenes, you can even do a workshop to find out more about the whole organic process from vineyard to cellar, which I think would be a whole lot of enlightening fun. You’ll respect that bottle in your hand even more.

#frenchwine #wine #vin #VindeFrance #organicwine #skincontact #Provence #France #bobsinglar #winelife #vino #葡萄酒 #ワイン #cheezit #organic @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #wineinfluencer #winestagram #Merlot #Marselan #PinotNoir #Roussanne @docwineshop @docwinebar @lamongestine @SkinContactWines @cheezits

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A Watermelon Moon

Sébastien David
Lisounette 2020
Vin de France
70% Cinsault & 30% Cabernet Franc
5 months aging in concrete tanks
Organic, biodynamic, wild yeasts, unfined and unfiltered
Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil, Loire Valley, France
Winemaker: Sébastien David

Pretty, pretty salmon color. First whiff out of the gate is buttercream, quickly followed by cherry pie, watermelon, and a smidge of funk with some interesting good depth. This ain’t your mama’s rosé. Ooh this tastes so good! Here’s that watermelon again, then a squish of lemon and also orange zest, and a salted cherry Starburst…you’ve never thought about doing that? C’mon we all do it with Snickers minis. why not? Wait, am I the only one? Back to the wine…there’s also a pull off the end of a croissant with a dab of clotted cream. Delicious!

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: oof so tart. Just put them away

So I’ve learned a new word that I never would have thought of hearing: “Hurluberlu” which from what I’m finding is “one who looks at the stars and planets to show him how to grow” and in some cases just an “eccentric man”. Hmmmm, well evidently this is part of Sébastien’s magic. He not only looks back to the past generations (he’s 15th) for guidance and techniques but also to the future with going biodynamic and permaculture. Another part of the future or branching out is when he took his first steps toward a rosé in “Lisounette”.  Well, as you can read above, the 2020 rocks! If it’s due to following celestial bodies, then I say lets all break out our telescopes and go moon bathing!

@docwineshop @docwinebar @hurluberluseb @tedward_ws @boboselections @cheezits #vindefrance #pairswithcheezits #wine #vino #vin #葡萄酒 #ワイン #cheezit #organic @worldbyglass #wineinfluencer #winestagram  #Cinsault #CabernetFranc #saintnicolasdebourgueil #France #SébastienDavid #Hurluberlu #Lisounette #loirevalley

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Give Her the Gold

Château Haut Lavigne
Cuvée N comme … – Rosé 2020
50 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Cabernet Franc
Vin de France
Organic
Côtes de Duras, France
Winemaker: Nadia Lusseau

Burnt orange watermelon glass. Sniffing strawcherberry, raspberries, buttery brioche, and mandarins. Oh pile on the delicious tastes of cranberry, strawberry, cherry, raspberry, a sprig of hay along with a tiny tart funk balsamic tang, and a lick of granite.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: tons of strawberries and berries galore

Nadia Lusseau may have not started out as a winemaker, but during her studies she ended up doing a stint in an oenology lab where things changed. By 2002, she acquired her land in Côtes de Duras and was growing organically in 2005. This is one woman that is truly passionate about wine and is firmly invested/committed to her land and all that grows and inhabits it. As she says on her site, “The vineyard is year round devotion. No Sundays or public holidays !!!” Her hard work, patience, honed skills and natural senses are like Nadia Comăneci who graces this bottle, and I easily award it the gold.

@vinewinenyc @nadia_vignoble_haut_lavigne @jennyfrancois @cheezits #pairswithcheezits #wine #vinho #vino #vin #beer #Rosé #rose #rosato #worldbyglass #cheezit #vinewinenyc #葡萄酒 #ワイン #organic #cotesdeduras #France #chateauhautlavigne #CabernetSauvignon #CabernetFranc #cuvee #vindefrance #NadiaComaneci

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A Princely Little Fox

Famille Coulon
BiotifulFOX 2019
Vin De France
60% Roussanne, 20% Marsanne, 20% Viognier
Organic and biodynamic
Southern Rhône Valley, France
Winemakers: Daniel & Frédéric Coulon & Daniel’s sons Victor & Antonin

A glass of spun straw. Breathing in apricots, peaches, salty slatiness, honeydew that is a little musky as it warms, tangelo, and pineapple. Take a sip and it’s heavenly, bright and a little decadent at the same time. We have a fun fruit basket of peaches, apricots, honeydew, pineapple, with a smidge of honey and rocky mineral. Just wonderfully crisp, delicious, and delightfully foxy.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: brings out tiny flowers too, nice

With a swish of a tail this pretty little fox can spark a new project and expand the future of Domaine de Beaurenard’s historic wines. The Coulon Family has branched outside of their own vineyards to work with bio and organic grapes sourced from their friends’ Rhône vines. This beautiful blend is the culmination of their 8 generations of expertise and attention to nature, listening to the earthly rhythms, and following the pull of the stars and planets above. By the way, check out the label…remember “The Little Prince”? Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s work transported many of us as kids and even rings true or more poignant now. Dang, I didn’t realize how much emotion this would bring back reminiscing. Just remember as the fox said, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” ❤️

@docwineshop @docwinebarny @wilsondaniels #FamilleCoulon #DomainedeBeaurenard @beaurenard @cheezits #pairswithcheezits  #wine #vino #vin #whitewine #葡萄酒 #ワイン #cheezit #organic @worldbyglass #wineinfluencer #winestagram #bio #Roussanne #Marsanne #Viognier #Rhône #France #fox #thelittleprince #BiotifulFOX

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It’s All About the Schist

Le Fief Noir
Ouest Coast
Anjou 2017
100% Chenin Blanc
Certified organic and hand-harvested
St-Lambert du Lattay, Loire, France
Winemakers: Alexis Soulas and Dominique Sirot

Golden starlight twinkle twinkle. Pull the cork and breathing buttercream, butterscotch that fades into pineapple, yellow watermelon (yeah each color/one does smell different), lemon and lemon vanilla wafer. Sipping creamy salty lemon, key lime, kumquat, very mellow papaya, light orangey pops, and honey filled pear. I think I’ve had my weekly allotment of fruit! There’s also dried sage in the end and then bring that citrus back round again with a salt shake. So sweet, calm, and clean and bright that is yearning for some yellow fin sushi with jalapeño.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: Raises the citrus

Alexis Soulas and Dominique Sirot became friends and hatched their wine plan in Corsica, but Anjou was where they landed. Back in 2012, they tasted the wine of Domaine des Chesnaies, decided this was the exact place for their project to take root, and after a renaming Le Fief Noir was born. Soil is the key and king here. The black schist of L’Anjou Noir is perfect for Chenin Blanc and also is where their name Le Fief Noir stemmed. Their passion for their wines is evident in the bottle and in their writings online. They have a lot to say, check their website. Alexis Soulas says, “A wine is never entirely finished. It belongs to the one who get it. This is this open field to interpretation, this co-creation, which make our job so beautiful.” I love that any of us can become part of their world and the story of their wine.

@docwineshop @docwinebar @lefiefnoir @wineberryamerica @cheezits #pairswithcheezits  #wine #vino #vin #whitewine #葡萄酒 #ワイン #cheezit #organic @worldbyglass #wineinfluencer #winestagram #instawine #Anjou #Loire #France #CheninBlanc

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A Lovely Reliable Old Friend

Domaine de La Pinardière
Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie 2019
100% Muscadet (Melon de Bourgogne)
Sustainable agriculture
Vallet, Loire Valley, France
Owner/Winemaker: Christophe Olivier (4th generation of this longstanding wine family)

Shiny golden with a light green hue. Scents of seaside saltiness then open to green apples, a mix of pretty pears, and granite. Sipping in pears, golden delicious apples that when you bite in are juicy and crisp all at once, a minerally lick of a rock, shake (or two) of salt, and a spark of lime zip. So fresh! Exhale and there’s a little salty peatiness in the back of your mouth. Smooth…Oh this is an old friend that stays consistent each time I meet you, and you always make me crave shrimp, langoustines, and oysters…but then when am I not craving those.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: ooh clean and lovely

I first met this wine on a night on my own. Walking home, I passed a bustling oyster bar and noticed the window seat open, and that never happened. My S.O. was living in Switzerland, and I was missing him and decided to treat myself but not break the budget. The sun was dimming, and this little glass transported me to France. It became a stop on evenings when it was still too warm to go home and this glass of muscadet was a delightful partner with a handful of oysters. Tonight, this wine is just the same as it was in the past and all of these memories and emotions come flying back. It’s amazing how time flies, places close, people move…sigh…but so happy to have some things not change.

@docwineshop @docwinebarny #DomainedeLaPinardiere @BaronFrancois @cheezits #pairswithcheezits #wine #cheezit #whitewine #organic @worldbyglass #needmorewine #winestagram #instawine #wineinfluencer #Muscadet #MelondeBourgogne #Vallet #LoireValley #France