So, a week in France (plus one night in Italy). With laptop stolen between
CDG and Paris, I didn't take notes, other than writing down the wines and
maybe a couple of words of comment later that night. This was actually first
true family holiday (as opposed to trips that included family or Betsy
playing) we've ever taken in 6 years of marriage. Betsy and David were very
tolerant visiting a couple of wineries in Burgundy (separate brief
comments), but I was trying to be non-geeky. Plus with the weak dollar I was
aiming for bargains on the winelists:

At Bofinger (we were taken by our friend Muriel on our first night in
Paris), we had a very decent choucroute (I was a little worried that it
would be too touristy for good food, but it delivered). We chose a 2000
Lorentz GC (vineyard I didn't know, started with a K) Riesling; they brought
instead a
2002 Lorentz "Kanzlerberg" Riesling Grand Cru. OK, we'll try. Pretty good-
just a hint of sweetness, all about citrus fruit, good acidity, goes well
with the choucroute. B

Night number 2 we ate at a little Moroccan restaurant in Le Marais, lamb and
chicken tagines and couscous (we shared our dishes), along with a nice salad
with merguez. Simple (but good) place, very basic list. The 2005 Domaine St.
Roman Cotes du Rhone was something like 14 euros, and provided decent value
at that price. Sweet cherry and raspberry fruit with a light tobacco touch,
enough acidity to stand up to food, fine for the purpose. B-

David went off on his home Tuesday, and Betsy and I crossed the river to
Allard. I had heard this well-known old place had had some off years, but
was back on track. Food was very very good this night- I started with
escargot, Betsy with a salad of green beans and smoked duck; we then shared
the poulet de Bresse with mushrooms and potatoes. Really tasty. The 2002
Gaston & Pierre Ravaut "la Corvee" Ladoix 1er Cru was pretty good for the
village. Rich fruit, balanced acidity, alittle minerality, just a hint of
toasty oak. Nice midmodern middleweight. B+

Our first night in Beaune we ate at Le Cluny. Unimpressive "designer" food
(I had a variation on coq au vin) all looked better than they tasted. All
the most interesting under 50 euros wines had Xs next to them indicating
sold out, I decided to try a new producer to me, the 2005 Baptiste *** "Les
Vergelesses" Pernand-Vergelesses 1er cru. I kept thinking "this can't be the
wine, it'll get better." Nope. Fruit concentrate, like drinking some
grape/cherry frozen mix. Overextracted, overoaked, overugly. C

Next night we went to Piqu'Bosc, kind of a family/steak restaurant,
suggested by Marc Dupin at Jadot. I had eggs in red wine and a hunk of
Charolais; wine was the 2001 Alain Gras Auxey-Duresses Vieilles Vignes.
Pretty nice wine, bright red cherry fruit, citrus peel, enough body for the
steak without too much weight. B/B+

After a gorgeous drive through the Rhone-Alps region, Val'Aoste, and
Piedmont (ok, the Piedmont part wasn't gorgeous, we were east of Alba), we
had dinner Friday at Agrodolce in Imperia. Tasting menu with very good
seafood- eggplant/pepper flan with mussels, a crudo of white fish (hake?) ,
baccala, calamari stuffed with buffalo mozzarella, clams in a squid ink with
pasta, plus another white fish with couscous and fried leeks. Very good
food, though the staff was a bit overwhelmed this night. Filippo and Luca
chose the wines:

2006 Terre Rosse Pigato- bright, minerally, with a real core of fruit. I
kind of expected a good Ligurian white to be very light and high acid, but
this is more structured. Good acids, but not sharp. Lots of depth and
minerality, I'm quite impressed. Probably my favorite bottle of the trip.
A-/B+

(?) Neris Pinot Grigio
Ordered because they were out of this producer's Tocai Friulano. Perfectly
acceptable inoffensive white, but lacking the interest of its table
companions. A little too round for me. C+/B-

2005 Arcagna Rossese di Dolceacqua
Bright red fruit, a little pine undertone, medium length. Develops nicely
over an hour or two. Someone says it's like a good Nuits St George- not
quite to my tastes, but it would do very well in a contest of Mercurey 1ers.
B+

On our last night we joined Nils Gustaf and Christina Lindgren at their
apartment in Nice. Nils made an excellent dinner, showing off the local
specialties. We started snacking on some ****aladiere, while Nils poured
from a wrapped bottle. I did my damnest to win this game of Stump the Chump,
but remained the chump. I thought Alsace (bottle helped), but couldn't
quite pin down grape. A little muted at first, then opens and becomes more
floral. Nice balanced white, tiniest hint of sugar, apple edged with smoke
and herbs. Not Gewurz or Muscat for sure. Didn't seem Rieslingish. Thought
about Pinot Gris, but decided as he was trying to stump me maybe it was
Chasselas. Nope. Pinot Blanc? PG? Nope. Auxerrois? Sylvaner? Nope. Wait,
what's left? Definitely not Chardonnay. Nils says it has grape name of
bottle. What white grape is left? Well, it's the Dirler.......Pinot Noir.
Vinified without skins, it is a clear bronzey yellow. Actually better than
any RED Alsace PN I remember. B+/B

I'm afraid I neglected to note the names of the Bellet blanc and rouge
served with dinner. The white (with excellent salad Nicoise) was acceptable,
but not really exciting. A little bit of RS, somewhat anonymous white pit
fruit, a tad soft. B- The red (served with a delicious local stew that
reminded me of brasato, but with citrus peel, as well as gnocchi and
tomatoes stuffed with ratatouille- Nils is some cook!) was a different
level. A little tannic at first, but smooths nicely with time. Ripe round
red fruit, good balance, good length. Blind I might have guessed a Southern
Rhone but more Syrah than Grenache driven. Very good. B/B+

I think these were all the bottled dinner wines. One would think on Bastille
Day in France we'd have some great 1er cru, but in fact we were happily
chowing down in a vegetarian Italian place in the Nice harbor, with a pichet
of good local rose and another of not so good local white. Between Imperia
and Nice we stopped for lunch in Bordighera , food was great (stuffed
sardines, calf liver, pesto lasagna) but the quartino of local white showed
that the excellent Pigato the night before might not be your typical
Ligurian white.

All in all, we had a great time, even if budget kept us from any superstar
wines.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine,
B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a
party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of
objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency




--
Dale Williams
Executive Director
Midnight Run, Inc.
http://www.midnightrun.org
97 Main Street
Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
(914)693-7817 Fax (914)693-9447
Midnight Run is a not-for-profit that has been bringing together volunteers
and the homeless poor since 1984.

oops, should read France and Italy!
Plus I obviously figured out name of Alsace vineyard for the Lorentz at
Bofinger.

"DALE WILLIAMS" > wrote in message
...
> So, a week in France (plus one night in Italy). With laptop stolen between
> CDG and Paris, I didn't take notes, other than writing down the wines and
> maybe a couple of words of comment later that night. This was actually
> first true family holiday (as opposed to trips that included family or
> Betsy playing) we've ever taken in 6 years of marriage. Betsy and David
> were very tolerant visiting a couple of wineries in Burgundy (separate
> brief comments), but I was trying to be non-geeky. Plus with the weak
> dollar I was aiming for bargains on the winelists:
>
> At Bofinger (we were taken by our friend Muriel on our first night in
> Paris), we had a very decent choucroute (I was a little worried that it
> would be too touristy for good food, but it delivered). We chose a 2000
> Lorentz GC (vineyard I didn't know, started with a K) Riesling; they
> brought instead a
> 2002 Lorentz "Kanzlerberg" Riesling Grand Cru. OK, we'll try. Pretty good-
> just a hint of sweetness, all about citrus fruit, good acidity, goes well
> with the choucroute. B
>
> Night number 2 we ate at a little Moroccan restaurant in Le Marais, lamb
> and chicken tagines and couscous (we shared our dishes), along with a nice
> salad with merguez. Simple (but good) place, very basic list. The 2005
> Domaine St. Roman Cotes du Rhone was something like 14 euros, and provided
> decent value at that price. Sweet cherry and raspberry fruit with a light
> tobacco touch, enough acidity to stand up to food, fine for the purpose.
> B-
>
> David went off on his home Tuesday, and Betsy and I crossed the river to
> Allard. I had heard this well-known old place had had some off years, but
> was back on track. Food was very very good this night- I started with
> escargot, Betsy with a salad of green beans and smoked duck; we then
> shared the poulet de Bresse with mushrooms and potatoes. Really tasty. The
> 2002 Gaston & Pierre Ravaut "la Corvee" Ladoix 1er Cru was pretty good for
> the village. Rich fruit, balanced acidity, alittle minerality, just a
> hint of toasty oak. Nice midmodern middleweight. B+
>
> Our first night in Beaune we ate at Le Cluny. Unimpressive "designer" food
> (I had a variation on coq au vin) all looked better than they tasted. All
> the most interesting under 50 euros wines had Xs next to them indicating
> sold out, I decided to try a new producer to me, the 2005 Baptiste ***
> "Les Vergelesses" Pernand-Vergelesses 1er cru. I kept thinking "this can't
> be the wine, it'll get better." Nope. Fruit concentrate, like drinking
> some grape/cherry frozen mix. Overextracted, overoaked, overugly. C
>
> Next night we went to Piqu'Bosc, kind of a family/steak restaurant,
> suggested by Marc Dupin at Jadot. I had eggs in red wine and a hunk of
> Charolais; wine was the 2001 Alain Gras Auxey-Duresses Vieilles Vignes.
> Pretty nice wine, bright red cherry fruit, citrus peel, enough body for
> the steak without too much weight. B/B+
>
> After a gorgeous drive through the Rhone-Alps region, Val'Aoste, and
> Piedmont (ok, the Piedmont part wasn't gorgeous, we were east of Alba), we
> had dinner Friday at Agrodolce in Imperia. Tasting menu with very good
> seafood- eggplant/pepper flan with mussels, a crudo of white fish (hake?)
> , baccala, calamari stuffed with buffalo mozzarella, clams in a squid ink
> with pasta, plus another white fish with couscous and fried leeks. Very
> good food, though the staff was a bit overwhelmed this night. Filippo and
> Luca chose the wines:
>
> 2006 Terre Rosse Pigato- bright, minerally, with a real core of fruit. I
> kind of expected a good Ligurian white to be very light and high acid, but
> this is more structured. Good acids, but not sharp. Lots of depth and
> minerality, I'm quite impressed. Probably my favorite bottle of the trip.
> A-/B+
>
> (?) Neris Pinot Grigio
> Ordered because they were out of this producer's Tocai Friulano. Perfectly
> acceptable inoffensive white, but lacking the interest of its table
> companions. A little too round for me. C+/B-
>
> 2005 Arcagna Rossese di Dolceacqua
> Bright red fruit, a little pine undertone, medium length. Develops nicely
> over an hour or two. Someone says it's like a good Nuits St George- not
> quite to my tastes, but it would do very well in a contest of Mercurey
> 1ers. B+
>
> On our last night we joined Nils Gustaf and Christina Lindgren at their
> apartment in Nice. Nils made an excellent dinner, showing off the local
> specialties. We started snacking on some ****aladiere, while Nils poured
> from a wrapped bottle. I did my damnest to win this game of Stump the
> Chump, but remained the chump. I thought Alsace (bottle helped), but
> couldn't quite pin down grape. A little muted at first, then opens and
> becomes more floral. Nice balanced white, tiniest hint of sugar, apple
> edged with smoke and herbs. Not Gewurz or Muscat for sure. Didn't seem
> Rieslingish. Thought about Pinot Gris, but decided as he was trying to
> stump me maybe it was Chasselas. Nope. Pinot Blanc? PG? Nope. Auxerrois?
> Sylvaner? Nope. Wait, what's left? Definitely not Chardonnay. Nils says
> it has grape name of bottle. What white grape is left? Well, it's the
> Dirler.......Pinot Noir. Vinified without skins, it is a clear bronzey
> yellow. Actually better than any RED Alsace PN I remember. B+/B
>
> I'm afraid I neglected to note the names of the Bellet blanc and rouge
> served with dinner. The white (with excellent salad Nicoise) was
> acceptable, but not really exciting. A little bit of RS, somewhat
> anonymous white pit fruit, a tad soft. B- The red (served with a delicious
> local stew that reminded me of brasato, but with citrus peel, as well as
> gnocchi and tomatoes stuffed with ratatouille- Nils is some cook!) was a
> different level. A little tannic at first, but smooths nicely with time.
> Ripe round red fruit, good balance, good length. Blind I might have
> guessed a Southern Rhone but more Syrah than Grenache driven. Very good.
> B/B+
>
> I think these were all the bottled dinner wines. One would think on
> Bastille Day in France we'd have some great 1er cru, but in fact we were
> happily chowing down in a vegetarian Italian place in the Nice harbor,
> with a pichet of good local rose and another of not so good local white.
> Between Imperia and Nice we stopped for lunch in Bordighera , food was
> great (stuffed sardines, calf liver, pesto lasagna) but the quartino of
> local white showed that the excellent Pigato the night before might not be
> your typical Ligurian white.
>
> All in all, we had a great time, even if budget kept us from any superstar
> wines.
>
> Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
> wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink
> at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of
> objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency
>
>
>
>
> --
> Dale Williams
> Executive Director
> Midnight Run, Inc.
> http://www.midnightrun.org
> 97 Main Street
> Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
> (914)693-7817 Fax (914)693-9447
> Midnight Run is a not-for-profit that has been bringing together
> volunteers and the homeless poor since 1984.
>
>

Can you share your incedent with Laptop being stolen to safeguard those of
us that travel with laptop.

Was it stolen from hotel, at coffee shop while unattended etc.

Thanks.


"DALE WILLIAMS" > wrote in message
...
> So, a week in France (plus one night in Italy). With laptop stolen between
> CDG and Paris, I didn't take notes, other than writing down the wines and
> maybe a couple of words of comment later that night. This was actually
> first true family holiday (as opposed to trips that included family or
> Betsy playing) we've ever taken in 6 years of marriage. Betsy and David
> were very tolerant visiting a couple of wineries in Burgundy (separate
> brief comments), but I was trying to be non-geeky. Plus with the weak
> dollar I was aiming for bargains on the winelists:
>
> At Bofinger (we were taken by our friend Muriel on our first night in
> Paris), we had a very decent choucroute (I was a little worried that it
> would be too touristy for good food, but it delivered). We chose a 2000
> Lorentz GC (vineyard I didn't know, started with a K) Riesling; they
> brought instead a
> 2002 Lorentz "Kanzlerberg" Riesling Grand Cru. OK, we'll try. Pretty good-
> just a hint of sweetness, all about citrus fruit, good acidity, goes well
> with the choucroute. B
>
> Night number 2 we ate at a little Moroccan restaurant in Le Marais, lamb
> and chicken tagines and couscous (we shared our dishes), along with a nice
> salad with merguez. Simple (but good) place, very basic list. The 2005
> Domaine St. Roman Cotes du Rhone was something like 14 euros, and provided
> decent value at that price. Sweet cherry and raspberry fruit with a light
> tobacco touch, enough acidity to stand up to food, fine for the purpose.
> B-
>
> David went off on his home Tuesday, and Betsy and I crossed the river to
> Allard. I had heard this well-known old place had had some off years, but
> was back on track. Food was very very good this night- I started with
> escargot, Betsy with a salad of green beans and smoked duck; we then
> shared the poulet de Bresse with mushrooms and potatoes. Really tasty. The
> 2002 Gaston & Pierre Ravaut "la Corvee" Ladoix 1er Cru was pretty good for
> the village. Rich fruit, balanced acidity, alittle minerality, just a
> hint of toasty oak. Nice midmodern middleweight. B+
>
> Our first night in Beaune we ate at Le Cluny. Unimpressive "designer" food
> (I had a variation on coq au vin) all looked better than they tasted. All
> the most interesting under 50 euros wines had Xs next to them indicating
> sold out, I decided to try a new producer to me, the 2005 Baptiste ***
> "Les Vergelesses" Pernand-Vergelesses 1er cru. I kept thinking "this can't
> be the wine, it'll get better." Nope. Fruit concentrate, like drinking
> some grape/cherry frozen mix. Overextracted, overoaked, overugly. C
>
> Next night we went to Piqu'Bosc, kind of a family/steak restaurant,
> suggested by Marc Dupin at Jadot. I had eggs in red wine and a hunk of
> Charolais; wine was the 2001 Alain Gras Auxey-Duresses Vieilles Vignes.
> Pretty nice wine, bright red cherry fruit, citrus peel, enough body for
> the steak without too much weight. B/B+
>
> After a gorgeous drive through the Rhone-Alps region, Val'Aoste, and
> Piedmont (ok, the Piedmont part wasn't gorgeous, we were east of Alba), we
> had dinner Friday at Agrodolce in Imperia. Tasting menu with very good
> seafood- eggplant/pepper flan with mussels, a crudo of white fish (hake?)
> , baccala, calamari stuffed with buffalo mozzarella, clams in a squid ink
> with pasta, plus another white fish with couscous and fried leeks. Very
> good food, though the staff was a bit overwhelmed this night. Filippo and
> Luca chose the wines:
>
> 2006 Terre Rosse Pigato- bright, minerally, with a real core of fruit. I
> kind of expected a good Ligurian white to be very light and high acid, but
> this is more structured. Good acids, but not sharp. Lots of depth and
> minerality, I'm quite impressed. Probably my favorite bottle of the trip.
> A-/B+
>
> (?) Neris Pinot Grigio
> Ordered because they were out of this producer's Tocai Friulano. Perfectly
> acceptable inoffensive white, but lacking the interest of its table
> companions. A little too round for me. C+/B-
>
> 2005 Arcagna Rossese di Dolceacqua
> Bright red fruit, a little pine undertone, medium length. Develops nicely
> over an hour or two. Someone says it's like a good Nuits St George- not
> quite to my tastes, but it would do very well in a contest of Mercurey
> 1ers. B+
>
> On our last night we joined Nils Gustaf and Christina Lindgren at their
> apartment in Nice. Nils made an excellent dinner, showing off the local
> specialties. We started snacking on some ****aladiere, while Nils poured
> from a wrapped bottle. I did my damnest to win this game of Stump the
> Chump, but remained the chump. I thought Alsace (bottle helped), but
> couldn't quite pin down grape. A little muted at first, then opens and
> becomes more floral. Nice balanced white, tiniest hint of sugar, apple
> edged with smoke and herbs. Not Gewurz or Muscat for sure. Didn't seem
> Rieslingish. Thought about Pinot Gris, but decided as he was trying to
> stump me maybe it was Chasselas. Nope. Pinot Blanc? PG? Nope. Auxerrois?
> Sylvaner? Nope. Wait, what's left? Definitely not Chardonnay. Nils says
> it has grape name of bottle. What white grape is left? Well, it's the
> Dirler.......Pinot Noir. Vinified without skins, it is a clear bronzey
> yellow. Actually better than any RED Alsace PN I remember. B+/B
>
> I'm afraid I neglected to note the names of the Bellet blanc and rouge
> served with dinner. The white (with excellent salad Nicoise) was
> acceptable, but not really exciting. A little bit of RS, somewhat
> anonymous white pit fruit, a tad soft. B- The red (served with a delicious
> local stew that reminded me of brasato, but with citrus peel, as well as
> gnocchi and tomatoes stuffed with ratatouille- Nils is some cook!) was a
> different level. A little tannic at first, but smooths nicely with time.
> Ripe round red fruit, good balance, good length. Blind I might have
> guessed a Southern Rhone but more Syrah than Grenache driven. Very good.
> B/B+
>
> I think these were all the bottled dinner wines. One would think on
> Bastille Day in France we'd have some great 1er cru, but in fact we were
> happily chowing down in a vegetarian Italian place in the Nice harbor,
> with a pichet of good local rose and another of not so good local white.
> Between Imperia and Nice we stopped for lunch in Bordighera , food was
> great (stuffed sardines, calf liver, pesto lasagna) but the quartino of
> local white showed that the excellent Pigato the night before might not be
> your typical Ligurian white.
>
> All in all, we had a great time, even if budget kept us from any superstar
> wines.
>
> Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent
> wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink
> at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of
> objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency
>
>
>
>
> --
> Dale Williams
> Executive Director
> Midnight Run, Inc.
> http://www.midnightrun.org
> 97 Main Street
> Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
> (914)693-7817 Fax (914)693-9447
> Midnight Run is a not-for-profit that has been bringing together
> volunteers and the homeless poor since 1984.
>
>

On Wed, 18 Jul 2007 09:06:48 -0400
"DALE WILLIAMS" > wrote:

> So, a week in France (plus one night in Italy). With laptop stolen between
> CDG and Paris, I didn't take notes, other than writing down the wines and
> maybe a couple of words of comment later that night. This was actually first
> true family holiday (as opposed to trips that included family or Betsy
> playing) we've ever taken in 6 years of marriage. Betsy and David were very
> tolerant visiting a couple of wineries in Burgundy (separate brief
> comments), but I was trying to be non-geeky. Plus with the weak dollar I was
> aiming for bargains on the winelists:
>
[]

Hi Dale,

Sounds like a great trip! Glad Allard worked out, and you didn't listen to me.

Next time, come out Loire way!

Sorry about the laptop. RER theft is a classic. You really have to keep a hand
on the laptop at all times.

-E
--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies
Questions about wine? Visit http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

"Emery Davis" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Dale,
>
> Sounds like a great trip! Glad Allard worked out, and you didn't listen
> to me.
>
> Next time, come out Loire way!
>
> Sorry about the laptop. RER theft is a classic. You really have to keep
> a hand
> on the laptop at all times.

Apparently one of the old owners (who had let Allard slide) passed away,
other sold, there has been new owner-chef since 2004 (this was on another
forum).

Yes, as we were on RER to Paris at 8:30 on Sunday AM, I had suitcase in
front of me and backpack beside me (I was on aisle, it was on window). I was
replacing something in suitcase, a man from behind grabbed my backpack and
leaped off train at a suburban station (Sevran). I followed and caught door
(another man held it as I went out), but he jumped onto tracks and into
tunnel! I couldn't leave family (and mistakenly thought of a 3rd rail).
Laptop, change of clothes, books. Laptop was a heavy 2 yr old, just
irritating having to go to cybercafes to keep up aty work when I had booked
mostly hotels with wi-fi. The 2 things I really was peeved about was my
cellphone (which won't work in France, just had for JFK) and our car keys.
Had to get someone to pick up keys and meet us so we could get car from long
term lot at JFK.

But trip was great. Paris was rainy, but it was still Paris (and Betsy and
David's first visit). Saw the last day of the Anselm Kiefer installation at
Grand Palais (as Mike T suggested)- best contemporary art I've ever seen,
and probably never to be seen again. Stayed in the most beautiful place I've
ever stayed anywhere in Liguria (will post in trvel at some point). Had some
good times in Liguria and Nice with w/Nils, Mike, Filippo, Luk. But best
part was being together. We got married in 2001, but almost all of our
"vacations" have either been at least partly visiting family, or Betsy
playing (like Japan). Great to be together (and probably last time ever with
Dave going to UK for college).


>

On Jul 18, 2:06 pm, "DALE WILLIAMS" >
wrote:
> So, a week in France (plus one night in Italy). With laptop stolen between
> CDG and Paris, I didn't take notes, other than writing down the wines and

Thank you for a lovely meander, next time come and see us in the
Auvergne.

Judith