No this is not a Bastille Day Special.
It is not everyday that someone gives you a present on their birthday.
In this case, this is not a person but an hotel Copley Square in Boston turning 118 years young.
Here's the details (below) as featured on their website:
So Joyeux Anniversaire, Happy Birthday Copley Square!
Found out about this great deal thanks to Wendy Perrin of The Perrin Post (via Twitter)
Well even if some of the wines getting the top ratings from US wine critics at the Sud de France Tasting on July 13 fail to move me on the eve of Bastille Day, no heads will roll under the guillotine.
The master of ceremony will be wine critic slash aspiring novelist Jamal Rayyis (pictured below) responsible for five editions (or is it 6) of Food & Wine Magazine's
Wine Guide.
In any case, I will be sipping and spitting for you from 2 pm to 6 pm at the Maison de la Région Languedoc-Roussillon in New York ans surely discover new favorites of my own.
Douce France, Joli Pays de Mon Enfance!
It's July 1st and Canada Day festivities are either happening or ready to roll across the land up North.
While driving up the New York Thruway a few weeks ago, the distance to Toronto showed up on a sign which prompted the question of whether a summer visit to Toronto should be considered.
The program for Canada Day in Toronto seems top heavy with country and bluegrass which I am not sure fits my present mood.
On the other hand, the city Summerlicious 2009 which kicks off on July 3rd and runs until July 19 sounds appetizing:
Each restaurant will offer a special 3-course prix fixe menu where patrons can sample the establishment’s delicious fare. The prix fixe menus are available at lunch and dinner at the following price points (some restrictions may apply):
$15, $20 or $30 lunch menus*
Amongst the Top 25 Menu Picks for the Event is Mildred’s Temple Kitchen with its lean and clean decor (see below).
As for museums, cheese shops and patisseries, shops and wine stores I should check if make it to Toronto, I should trust your advice on that as I start with a blank slate.
Happy Canada Day!
The online reservation for Pinot Days 2009 Grand Tasting in San Francisco is now closed yet some tickets for the event will still be available at the door on Sunday, June 28.
Event starts at 11am so I suggest that if you want to try your luck you show up a bit early.
With 200 producers showcased and a price tag of $50, it is a great bang for the buck.
Here's a sample of the wineries present (from A to E):
Check the 2009 Participating Exhibitors List for the rest of the alphabet.
Interested in knowing more about the creators of Pinot Days and its history, read 5 Questions with Lisa Rigisich of Pinot Days SF by Ward (WineLog Blog, June 17).
Aficionados of the grape can follow the Pinot Noir news as they happen thanks to this Pinot Noir Thread (on Treehugger)...
I'm feeling thirsty now.
File under Sunday Picks
Related piece: June 25 to 28, Pinot Noir Fever Hits San Franciso with Pinot Days 2009
I jotted down June 25 as the opening salvo for Pinot Days 2009 but when I checked the program realized that it actually kicked off a day earlier with Newcomers in Pinot.
It gave those attending a chance to try 16 different pinots (from 16 'young turks') in flights of four in a blind tasting.
Maybe a chance to discover future stars?
The New Kids on The Pinot Noir Block were:
I have not tried any of them yet.
I picked Couloir Wines (label below) to see who these Young Turks were and discovered that it is not a newbie operation.
Its founder and winewaker Jon Grant I realized upon visiting the Couloir site is also the Assistant Winemaker at
Turley Wine Cellars. The name Couloir means "a steep mountainside gorge,
appeals to Jon's predilection for ski mountaineering.
Couloir Wines delivers handcrafted wines with a sense of
place and time", these are single vineyard pinot noirs.
Mirroring this New Kids program and using the same format of 16 wines blind tasted in flights of 4 will be 2 Events on Saturday, June 27.
First the Gems from Southern AVAS Areas (Santa Maria Valley, Santa Rita Hills, Santa Lucia, Santa Barbara and Central Coast) from 1 to 3pm featuring:
You get an hour break before the Gems from Northern AVAS Areas (Russian River Valley, Carneros, Anderson Valley, Santa Cruz and the Sonoma Coast...) from 4 to 6pm with:
Tickets for each of these Saturday events are $80 a piece.
As for the rest of the program, check the Event Details Page.
Happy Pinot Days.
The June 24, 2009 Edition of The World (PRI) shared a report by Genevieve Oger on How French are encouraged to turn on the charm.
In a 2007 study delivered to the mayor of Paris, it was reported that even though visitors to the city of lights were thrilled by the sights and restaurants they felt that service and hospitality at hotels could be best described as surly.
Of the junior of senior grade I don't know.
Genevieve Oger notes that in "a program to boost tourism in tough
economic times, the City of Paris is encouraging Parisians to turn
their homes into Bed and Breakfasts, and to become charming hosts."
Services such as Alcove and Agapes help you find a Bed and Breakfast in Paris that suits you.
The Official Paris Tourist Office counts Alcove and Agaves amongst the list of Chambres d'hotes (French term for B&B) it offers in At home with the Parisians who have adhered to the “Hôtes Qualité Paris” quality charter for B&B.
See an example of the accommodations offered by another member Good Morning Paris (above).
Today's report on The World as I later discovered was a repeat performance of a similar piece that was broadcast on Deutsche Welle (June 6).
Right after I wrote about Fete de la Saint Jean and its bonfires, I noticed that a friend of one of my sons who now lives in Spain was planning on attending a San Juan Fiesta in Valencia and bonfires were part of the program.
It took place at the beach from Tuesday the 23rd at 5pm to Wednesday the 24th at 2pm.
One long party.
Other cities in Spain such as Alicante with Fogueres de San Juan according to Spain Info "celebrate this great homage to fire for several days, a relation of the “Fallas” in Valencia, where the main characters are genuine works of impermanent art: the bonfires and the large cardboard and wooden figures which go up in flames on the night of San Juan."
A sign of our impermanent existence?
Just wondering
Related: June 24, Bonfires and Festive Night, La Fete de la St Jean
As I am writing this, it is still morning in California so you might still be able to grab some tickets for the 3rd Uncorked 'Best of the Best' Tasting on June 24 from 6 to 9pm at Ruby Skye in San Francisco.
Having a chance to sample a 125 plus wines and a few Belgian and German beers for $50 (in advance) is a steal.
As an extra incentive, I noticed on the reservation page that for each 3 tickets purchased you get a 4th one on the house.
You can even purchase (some, all?) wines that thrilled you.
My friends from Olson Ogden (Russian River Valley) will be there and they have a special deal for you, buy two of their 2007 and you get a 2006 as a gift.
And let me ask, when was the last time that you went to a wine tasting in a night club (Ruby Skye, pictured above).
Hopefully you won't be so dizzy that you can't enjoy the grooves of DJ Sol.
Related: Great Wines, Poor Attendance at Golden Glass-Slow Food Tasting in San Francisco
As I was looking for updates on Merci, a Parisian shop, I stumbled upon My Little Paris.
No brash, flashy statements here, what makes this guide to shopping, foodie things, culture and other things local stand out is that they say it softly.
Credit this soft touch in no small part to the charming illustrations of Kanako like her tip of the hat to the song by Jacques Dutronc 'Paris s'eveille' (below) for the Culture pages.
Want to leave categories behind, check the Unusual section whose latest suggestion is Lunch at the Market (June 4) featuring Le Marché des Enfants Rouges,39 rue de Bretagne, in 3rd Arrondissement, Metro Arts-et-Métiers.
I did notice that it is even open on Sunday from 8:30 am to 2pm.
Cecile Debise in Le Marche des Enfants Rouges (L'internaute, in French) notes that people visit this small indoor market (only 20 merchants) as much to have lunch as to do their food shopping.
She writes that this is the oldest market in Paris and that its name has its origins to the previous occupants of the site, an orphanage founded in the 16th century where abandonned children were dressed in red.
This market counts a wine shop as you can see in the slides accompanying her piece.
On a closing note, want to brush up on your French, try the French Version of My Little Paris which seems to be updated more often.
There in P'tits Luxes (June 23), if you are looking for something more than the usual restaurant experience, they suggest Art-Home a table d'hote with a view for 12 on the rooftop of the Palais de Tokyo.
Actually an unusual eaterie, Art-Home (or 'arome' in French) is a collaborative project between Electrolux and the Palais de Tokyo...
An exciting tour around Paris
I hope you enjoyed.
Related: Merci, Do-Good Haute Shopping in Paris, Opened March 5th
Tired of checking the gyrations of the stock market and loving wine, the collector in you might want to step in the mysterious world of Wine Trading with Liv-ex Fine Wine Market (UK based).
For example instead of America's Most Wanted, you'll learn about 2008 Bordeaux Most Traded (May 2009).
Their most recent piece is on Fine Wine and Transparency (June 17) which notes that "the wine trade is reorganising itself along financial market lines with transparent buy (bid) and sell (offer) prices and an emphasis on charging commissions rather than making margin."
For wine lovers and collectors, they mention the launch in July 2009 of The Vinfolio Marketplace in the US. The graphic below (from Vinfolio site) illustrates how it will work.
I did not realize immediately that beyond the blog, Liv-ex is also an online marketplace for wine.
In the right column of their site, the Recent Trades box for the UK tells you what's up, what's flat, what's down.
I visited Live-ex Fine Wine Market after seeing it recommended on Twitter by no other than Jancis Robinson. She observes (on June 17) that it is not just California real estate that stopped bubbling, its wine prices are softening.
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