A Cold and Wine-y Saturday

The weather forecast did not lie -- Saturday was indeed a cooolldddd day in NC.  We woke up to light flurries that lingered throughout the day.  Honestly though, we are over the snow and are ready for Spring.  That said, we planned ahead for a day in the house which means a bottle (or three) of wine.  What else is there to do?!

The morning started with breakfast and La Dolce Vita from Raffaldini, a wine from NC that we picked up on a recent trip to the vineyard (see an earlier post).  This light, sparkling, and slightly sweet wine is not a replacement for champagne, but it was a great way to get the day started. 

The next two bottles, Kumbaya (a California blend) and a Cotes Du Rhone blend followed us through lunch, dinner, and the evening. 

Our favorite wine of the day?  The 2011 Les Violettes Cotes Du Rhone. 

Movies, some cleaning, a few small projects, and three bottles of wines -- a great cold and wine-y Saturday at home!

A Night in Chateauneuf-du-Pape

We had a great introduction to the French Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Rhône regions on January 23 at Wine Merchants Gourmet.  The event was led by Jérôme Quiot of Famile Quiot vineyards, one of the largest family of landowners in the regions with parcels of land dating back to the late 1700's.  We sampled a variety of both whites and reds.  Mr. Quiot enlightened us with a family history overview and a description of the various estates. 

We were blown away to learn the true length of time needed for great wine making grapevines to mature (15 years to find out if a planting is successful).  He commented that the recent plantings' success will be realized by his grandchildren 75+ years from now.  Most endearing, Mr. Quiot was honest about his plantings that have not been succesful. 

Thank you to both Mr. Quiot and Wine Merchants for a great 'adventure' to France for the night.  Add the Chateauneuf-du-Pape region to our list of favorite wines!