Chouchen Mead This is an excellent traditional mead from Britanny. It is semi -sweet mead that is very low in acidity. This creates a very smooth velvetytexture and finish. The honey used is of excellent character and is plum/pear in aroma and flavor.
ALSACE - RENE BARTH VINYARDS The settlement of the village can be traced back to the middle ages. It successively belonged to the lords of Horbourg, the counts of Wurtemberg, the bishop of Strasbourg and to the lords of Ribeaupierre until the revolution. Michel Fonné, is a certified œnologist from Dijon. After having obtained the technical expertise in Champenoise winemaking in Damery and after having made wine from the 1987 harvest in the Alexander valley in California (Hafner Vineyard), Michel took over the family business of his uncle, René Barth. The harvest is carried out manually. This allows for specific years to experience a quality sorting of the grapes. The pressing of (non treaded) whole grapes from white types of vines takes place on the pneumatic press. This technique prevents the dissolution of the decay in the juice extracts and strongly limits the extraction of the bitter or herbaceous tastes. Each part of the vine is made into wine separately in order to evidence the proper characteristics of each piece of land.
Rebgarten 2004 Riesling. Triumph of the Alsace vineyars, delicate fruitiness and finebouquet Dry, refined and delicatly fruity, with an elegant bouquet of mineral or floral notes. Acknowledged as one of the finest white varietals in the worl, it is gastonomic wine par excellence. Crémant d'Alsace A sparkling wine made the same way as Champagne with Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Riesling or Chardonnay. Crémant can also be found in Burgundy, Loire Valley and Bordeaux among others. A popular one is the Crémant from Limoux in Roussillon. But the most popular Crémant is the sparkling wine from Alsace. Wine makers use almost the same traditional way as in Champagne. Wine goes through the fermentation process twice. During the second fermentation, while the wine is already in its bottle, wine makers add sugar and yeast. They produce carbon dioxide making the liquid sparkling forming bubbles while sugar transforms into alcohol. Alsace Crémant is typically a sparkling white wine, delicate and light. It is recommended to drink it young as an aperitif or as a dessert wine. Crémant is better served cold at 7°C (45°F). Crémant from Alsace is alternative to Champagne.
Chateau du Chatelard Purchased by the Rosier family in 2000, this estate has been part of history since Charlemagne grew vines. Moreover, Château du Chatelard was the centre of a memorable siege during the French Revolution and was rebuilt in 18th century. Located less than 2 miles SE of Moulin-à-Vent and Fleurie, the château is situated in Lancié, right the heart of Cru Beaujolais country. Oenologist M.Jacques Dupont, columnist for le Point magazine, said regarding the ‘Nouveau’ wines of Château du Chatelârd: “The richness of this wine is its charming character, harmony and complexity…blackberries and cherries, fruity; a classic.” This perfectly describes the anticipated characteristic qualities of the ‘Nouveau’ wines The very cold winter followed by the extremely hot summer will combine to produce generously flavored Beaujolais Villages. Deep ruby with glints of purple. Intense nose of crunchy raspberries, spiced grape jelly, and pewtery minerals. Youthful and a tad angular at present, but with wonderfully penetrating flavors of raspberries, grapes, and crushed stones.
SHADOKS 1968 - 2008, 40 years that the Shadoks (a major French TV phenomenon) create their strange inventions, pronounce their strange mottos and above all "pump" to leave their strangely formed planet and "escape to Earth". Indeed everything they carried out was utterly absurd from the creation of many different but useless inventions such as "The Easy non-pouring bottle" to their famous mottos, some of which can still be found in the French language today. Imagining the panic that these humorous birds like creatures would cause in his cellar, Jean Christophe Icard, a wine grower in the Bordeaux Region decided to dedicate this exceptional cuvee to them. Les Shadoks Red Produced from grape selection between Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon , goes perfectly with white meat, grilled meat, cheese and delicatessen foods. It is indeed a wine long on the palate, with a sustained red color giving a smooth taste. Les Shadoks Rose Produced from grape selection between Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon served chilled with hot starters (pizzas, quiches) but can also be drunk with the meal. Slightly ruby red wine is very fruity but with more red fruits.
Château de L’Orangerie The origins of which go as far back as 1790, has the distinct feature of being in the hands of the same family since this date.The estate, previously under the name of “Palay” was renamed “Château de L’Orangerie” so as to carry on the memory of a family tradition which conserved its orange trees in a wing of the château during the winter months. Today Jean Christophe Icard, great-grandson of Theodore Icard (founder of the estate) allows it to enter its 3rd millenium in serenity and with dynamism. The vineyard itself is situated in the village of Saint Félix de Foncaude, 50km south east of Bordeaux in the district of Sauveterre de Guyenne in the Gironde department with the grape vines planted being those typical of the Bordeaux area; Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon, Sémilllon and Muscadelle. With a climate also typical to that of the Bordeaux region—high levels of humidity and a high degree of sunshine, this providing often a very mild late season in September and October—all of which proves to be ideal for the full development of the vines. Château de L’Orangerie, indeed without disowing its origins and traditional methods, uses highly efficient equipment in line with a modern and contant approach, allowing it to produce a constant level of high quality wines, of which are awarded prizes at national level. Finally the Château ambitions are to propose high quality AOC Bordeaux wines whilst looking also for new products and continual innovation.
La Vie En Rose This wine containing slight ruby red light reflections gives the sensation of red fruits. Being slightly fizzy, it also has a great sensation of freshness. L’or de L’Orangerie Chateau de L'Orangerie selects each year only a limited quantity of its Grand Sweet White wine for its "cuvee prestige”. Handpicked as the grapes ripen, all care is taken with in the cellar to give this wine its length on the palate, its aromas of roasted fruit and honey, its smoothness, its roundness, Its fatness, and its elegance. This wine, gold in color, is particularly marked by its aromas of cooked fruit which finishes by a well balanced and oaky taste. Its smoothness, its roundness, its fatness - all add to the fruit aromas giving this wine elegance and length. Pink Panther After being lovingly picked up by hand (Cabernet Sauvignon grape exclusively) and having been hidden for nearly a year in the deep limestone galleries, similar to that of Champagne, the Pink Panther Cremant de Bordeaux shines for the greatest pleasure of your eyes and taste buds. Pink Panther, a name of the movie and character, was licensed to this wine by MGM Studios
French Beer
BRASSERIE METEOR Founded in 1640, the Meteor brewery is located in the little village of Hochfelden, in Alsace, a region famous for brewing. This independent and family-run brewery brews nearly 520,000 hl per year. Michel Haag, current chairman of Meteor and representative of the 7th generation of the family owners, proudly defends the “know-how” of Meteor and its innovative spirit.Both of those ideas are obvious in the wide range of products which are distributed not only in France but also in Switzerland, UK, Italy, Hungary and even in the Christmas market of Tokyo.”
Meteor Lager Poured into a stange, it pours a crystal-clear yellow with a nice two-finger head. The smell is average with some spicy character to it. Tastes like a German pilsner, but a little thinner. Sweet malt makes its enterence before a dumbed-down spicy hop flavor intervenes, leaving a grassy aftertaste. This may be a French take on a pilsner, but that doesn't mean it has to be mediocre. Very light pale gold color. Medium white foamy head. Aroma is grassy, grainy and sweet. A light bodied pilsner. Malts are fruity and sweet. Very mild slightly spicy hops. Carbonation is very soft. An interesting pilsner, its hoppier than most pilsners and there is a slight vegetative/cardboard flavor that not as unpleasant as it sounds. Smooth taste. It’s a little sweet and there is a slightly unpleasant aftertaste, but it still drinkable. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean. Aftertaste is slightly sweet. Blanche de Meteor Poured a murky light ochre body with a tiny white head that went away fast. Extremely light nose, just some very light lemon, slightly spicy maybe. Very light sweetish taste, apple, dull chalky maltiness, mint? and/or vanilla. Odd, not unpleasant but not all that nice or interesting. What can one expect from a wheat beer containing corn. Really not bad at all. Not as bad as the ratings imply. The aroma is spicy, coriander, pepper (not overwhelming), lemon, lemon peel, wheat. The appearance is tough, a deeply hazy yellow/white color, like a melted popsicle, white head. Clear bottle, yet no skunkiness present. The flavor is just like the aroma, a refreshing lemon, cereal grain, spicy/peppery beer. Nice lawnmower beer. The finish is lemon, sweet, lemon peel, light pepper. Light in body. Not a favorite, but really not bad at all. Fair representation of this style. Grand Malt The aroma is malty, earthy, musty, sweet corn. The appearance is straw gold, crystal clear, white head. The flavor is quite sweet, malt, corn, bread. Medium to medium/thin in body. The finish is quite weak, no real hop signature to speak of. Not bad at all. Worth a try. Bottle 25cl. A yellow beer with small head but good lacing. Smell is malty and metallic. Aroma is malty and medium sweet, typical lager aroma with nuts, good hops bitterness at the finish. Different than classic meteors pils less hopy. Wendelinus Clear, filtered honey blonde (which this beer clearly is, not a BDA) with a creamy eggshell head that shrinks into a skim with a ring of tight bubbles around the glass. The aroma is mild and yeasty with some Belgian clove and spice. The flavor is light and fruity with pear and coriander notes with mild tartness in the finish. Light and highly carbonated. I would like to try this beer unfiltered but alas..this brew misses the mark set by the elite examples of the style, not bad by any stretch but not great either.
