wine of the month

Domaine Alain Gras St.-Romain Rouge 2009

by Diana RiceDiana Rice

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French Wines: The Art of the Struggle

It may surprise you to learn that the most intriguing and distinctive French wines are produced from vines that have “struggled” to produce...

Ayala Brut Majeur

by Diana RiceDiana Rice

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French Champagne: Rites of Passage

A fine champagne is the most festive and exalted of all French wines. Just open a bottle and friends will inevitably ask: “What are we...

Domaine la Garrigue, Vacqueyras 2009

by Diana RiceDiana Rice

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Rhône Wines in the Fall: Romancing the Season

Classic French wines, especially ones from the Rhône, remind me of the Louis Armstrong song “A Kiss to Build a Dream On.”...

Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard, Bourgogne Rouge 2009

by Diana RiceDiana Rice

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French Wines: Bourgogne a Ses Charmes!

There are days when a simple Bourgogne rouge strikes me as too rustic, and, heureusement, there are French wines such as the Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard,...

Château le Puy 2005

by Diana RiceDiana Rice

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French Wines: The Road Less Traveled

The American poet Robert Frost famously described taking the road less traveled as having made all the difference. Among today’s makers of French wines,...

French Wine au Naturel: Domaine de Durban, Muscat de Beaumes de Venise, 2007

by Diana RiceDiana Rice

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Every spring as children we would patiently wait for the honeysuckle in our backyard to bloom so that we could work over the bush like hummingbirds, diligently extracting droplets of...

French Wines Worthy of Indulgences: Château Pape Clément Blanc 2009

by Diana RiceDiana Rice

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In the Middle Ages, Pope Clément V reformed the Catholic Church’s practice of granting indulgences, in which some priests may have implied that sins could be forgiven for generous contributions...