Summer is still here so let’s enjoy a yumi summer cocktail…. Supertini

Let’s make a wine-based cocktail. Which one should I use? The idea of Moscato came to me directly as it is fruity, fresh, light and a tiny sweet. It will be perfect for my cocktail. I am sure you can use different spirits with the Mosacto; dark rum would perfectly go with the apricots and pear notes of the St Supery Moscato. However my choice went to Vodka. Let me give you the recipe:

• 1 part of Vodka
• 3 parts of Moscato, St Supery Moscato recommended
• 2 regular lemon twists
• Ice

Shake it and pour it into your cocktail glass. The acidity of the lime will cut the sweetness of the Moscato without removing all the flavors of the wine. It is refreshing and so delicious. I did a In-store tasting with my Supertini last weekend and had a huge success.

Now you have everything in hand to make your own Supertini, enjoy!!!

For me it will be more simple and so delicious…… let me give you a description:

A Pâté made by my parents: porc meat a bit spicy; with a peace of bread it is unbelievable. You should come over haha

On my way back home I stopped by my grocery store and bought some cheeses:

• 4 Years Old Gouda: bit creamy and salty in the same time with beautiful flavors in the finish
• Blue cheese: not too strong; the non moderation is recommended :p
• Saint Albrey if you like strong cheese you should go for that. Creamy with its own character, strong!!!! Sensible palet it is not for you

Sometimes the advantage to come back from an In-store tasting is that you can have few samples. I had a successful tasting in Brooklyn with my Rhone Valley wines from France and also with my St Supery wines from Napa Valley, CA. I brought back the St Supery Cabernet Sauvignon 2005. Let me tell you something: The wine by itself is already super good, but with cheeses and a pâté from home arhhhhhhh I do not want anything else. Well let’s have some old school rock music…. Dire Strait, Police, Journey “don’t stop beleive in” (love this song).

Rock, wine & cheeses. We sometimes try to make complicate dinner to impress friends; but this one is the best ever!!!!! A least it makes a French guy SUPER happy in NYC tonight :-)

Ho by the way DO NOT LEAVE your Saint Albrey alone in the fridge: Wrap it well!!! It could avoid you some funny surprise when you will open the fridge hehehe bad smell!!!!!!!!!

As my dear friend Georges would say: “What else?”

Cheers my friends

Yesterday all the French people celebrated the French Independence Day. We call it Bastille Day: do you know why? In 1789 we had a big revolution in France. At this time we were under a Monarchy and the King was Louis XVI. One of the symbol of the French Monarchy was “La Bastille”; famous prison located in Paris.

During the French revolution, the people took “La Bastille” to the King and it was the end of the Monarchy.  The revolution gave the power to the people and the 1st Republic has been created!! In July 14th 1789 is borned the French Republic and we celebrate since this Bastille Day.

This year I wanted to make something original for Bastille Day. In collaboration with the restaurant Le Bateau Ivre, located on 51st Street between 2nd & 3rd in NYC, we decided to celebrate Bastille Day under the Corsican specialities!!! Where is Corsica? Small Island in the South of France located in the Mediterranean Sea. The most famous person from Corsica is…….. Napoleon Bonaparte.

The Skalli family owns a Vineyard , 550 acres, in the North East of the Island.  Robert Skalli and his family developed the vineyard year after year since the 60′ in repecting their environment (biodiveristy & land). It is such a beautiful island.

25 acres of the vineyard is reserved for the production of one of the finest Corsican wines: “Clos Poggiale” white and red. I poured these 2 wines yesterday at Le Bateau Ivre and it was a great success.

The Clos Poggiale white is a 100% Vermentino, elegant, well balanced with a nice acidity and minerality. It goes perfectly with all kind of sea food…. excellent we had Oysters yesterday

The Clos Poggiale red is a blend of Syrah and Niellucio; 50/50. Niellucio is known in Italie as Sangiovese. We actually can find some similarities between my Clos Poggiale red and some famous red Italian wine as Chianti: nice fruits and spice, supple and elegant. The Syrah gives a very nice colour to the wine and a beautiful spiceness. A great pairing would be lamb or some prosciutto ;)

I had the chance yesterday to share my Clos Poggiale white and red with friends, coworker, clients o the restaurant, managers and sales people from my NY distributor. We had such a great time for Bastille Day! To continue on the Corsican specialities we shared some cheeses and charcuterie, Mhmmmmm delicious. We also had the chance to taste few beers from Corsica and it was a great surprise. The Colombar and Pietra were very yumi: nice flavors, refreshing. I recommend them.

Bastille Day at Le Bateau Ivre was excellent!!! Another great event in NYC. When is the next one?

Join me for the “Bastille Day” tasting at Red White & Bubbly in Brooklyn!!! I know Bastille Day is July 14th, but we make it earlier in Brooklyn

Location: RWB is located in the heart of Park Slope on 5th Avenue just off Union Street

211-213 5th avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215

718-636-WINE (9463)

Hours: 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Topic: French wines tasting. 5 or 6 different producers will let you taste their wines.

I will be part of it, ready to let you discover my wines from the South of France. Sounds like a great Saturday afternoon!!! See you tomorrow ;-) 

Stay around as another event is coming in Manhattan on July 14th…

As soon as I arrived in the restaurant I could enjoy the warm and classy atmosphere. I had first a look at the wine list…. and it looks pretty good: St Supery Cab, also some of the Skalli wines (Maison Bouachon Tavel, Cotes du Rhone and Robert Skalli Pinot Noir) and many other nice wines.

I was even more excited when I saw the menu. Everything seemed so Yumi. As I was there for lunch, Luc, the waiter, recommended me the Smoked grilled chicken Salad: fresh and tasty. The pairing with my glass of Tavel rose was fantabulous.

The time for the dessert arrives and Luc told me the “Souffle” is excellent. I usually go directly for a coffee or some cheeses. He convinced me and I had a try… OMG sooo good. I may be not a big fan of dessert but as you can see below I had not too much rest on my plate The hot souffle with the raspberry coulis just added in the middle: ahrrrrr, fantastique!!!!

You have to stop by Capsouto Freres resrautant. The restaurant is there for 28 years!!! The food, the wines, the atmosphere; everything is super good. I even had the chance to discuss with Jacques Capsouto, one of the owner; what a great and nice person.

I recommend this place without moderation

What do I do right now? I am still discovering America And you know what? It will be soon an important date… 2 years in the US, but let’s talk about that next time.

I had a nice experience few nights ago in NYC. I participated at a beautiful event. What??? I did not tell you I was living in NYC? OMG it seems I have been away for too long and it means I have even more stories to tell you…

What’s happen at this event? Shooting with my bottles of St Supery Sauvignon Blanc 2009 and Maison Bouachon Tavel 2008 made by a professional: Rock star baby ;) It was host by LaSeven and Hampton Sheet magazine. OMG what a great event. People were talking about real estate or design. I added “a wine touch” to all these discusions. lol

Of course wine is an art: modern, post modern, contemporain or old school. Winemakers create and design. I really think winenakers should be considered as artists. What do you think?

Cheers,

Nico 

Flagship family wine producer from the South of France, Skalli, is celebrating after winemaker Jean Philippe Trollet was named Red Winemaker of the Year by the International Wine Challenge (IWC).  The announcement was the crowning glory for company president Robert Skalli who was in London to collect the unprecedented four trophies and special awards for Skalli wines in the latest IWC and the Decanter World Wine Awards.  

Robert Skalli comments: “This has been the most fantastic year for Skalli with outstanding international recognition for the quality of our premium and fine wines.  I’m particularly pleased for Jean Philippe that his expertise has been singled out in this way.  Since joining us in 2003 he’s been instrumental in building the reputation of our wines and I congratulate him heartily.   Jean Philippe epitomises the new generation of French winemakers: educated and trained in France, but with significant experience gained in the New World.  This is a key part of our winemaking policy at Skalli: every year we send our head winemakers to different wine-producing countries, for example New Zealand or Napa Valley these past few years, so that they can learn and share new ideas and be at the cutting edge of modern winemaking techniques, while building on our unique French “savoir-faire”.” 

As chief winemaker for the outstanding Skalli: Maison Bouachon Rhone Valley wines, Trollet is a leading member of Skalli’s winemaking team that produces award-winning single estate, premium and fine wines from the top vineyards in the South of France and Napa Valley.   These include Clos Poggiale and Terra Vecchia in Corsica, Domaine du Silène in the Languedoc Caves Saint Pierre in the Rhône Valley,  and St Supery in the Napa Valley. The Robert Skalli Reserve range covers all the South of France regions, including Provence.

Of the four special awards and trophies won by Skalli, one recognizes the outstanding quality of emerging premium Languedoc brand, Famille Skalli, whilst the other three trophies crown the remarkable success of Maison Bouachon Rhône Valley wines, especially for super premium and ultra premium crus.   

Robert Skalli says: “Since acquiring a century-old Rhône Valley winery in 2001 and moving our company headquarters to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, we have increased our winemaking skills and focus on this exceptional region.”

Robert Skalli comments: “The share of branded volume in the French category is decreasing, partly because AOCs have yet to evolve to become more consumer-friendly. There is a real gap in the market for a brand with strong investment and a consumer-led approach to drive the category and the reputation of Southern French premium wines.”

This year, I am back in France, in my village, for the holidays and what did I get? Snow!!!! I woke up this morning, had my coffee, took my camera and went into my family’s vineyard. At this time the sun started to warm up a little bit; I had a huge sensation of peace, it was awesome–a beautiful and quiet environment, perfect to relax.

It is a bit exceptional, because we do not have snow every winter in this area (Bordeaux, Entre deux Mers). It is time for pruning in the vineyard. You can see that some are done (picture in the middle) and some not yet. You have several techniques to prune your vines. In this area my family practices the simple or double Guyot pruning for the Cabernet and Merlot grapes. In the South of France, we practice more the Gobelet pruning, especially for the Grenache grape.

During my trip around the vineyard, I was accompanied by two very good friends:

There are so cute!!!! I could not bring them with me; Vania (left), she is quiet, very nice and is always ready to play. However Vupsy (right), he is big traveller (lol). You take your eyes off of him for just few seconds and he disappears. The problem is if one leaves, the other follows.. Not good! They stayed around the house but when I came back I gave them a huge hug and some kisses and everything was alright

Happy holidays!

I don’t need to tell you I am passionate of wine–LOL. However, I can let you know that I am equally passionate about history, especially, the period that includes World War II. I have seen and read a lot about it. However, this was the first time I was able to learn how people saved one of the greatest treasures the French people had (still have) during the war.

Thanks to millions of people, the wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne and, of course, the South of France have been saved!!! Wine & War is a beautiful book, very pleasant to read and full of anecdotes. Let me tell you one:

“The famous and prestigious restaurant La Tour d’Argent in Paris is home to one of the greatest wine cellars in the world before World War II. As soon as the Germans started to move to France, Andre Terrail (owner), his son and a few friends decided to do something in order to save his cellar. But how can you do it when you have more than 100,000 bottles of the most prestigious wines in your cellar? Move everything? No time for that, Germans were too close (6 hours from Paris). They decided to select the best 20,000 wines! Andre could not imagine losing everything after all these years building his cellar. After having selected their very best wines they…. they walled it in and let them rest. A Few hours later, Paris was occupied. Then one month later on June 14th 1939, Field Marshal Hermann Goring did a stop at la Tour d’Argent, visited the cellar and of course took all the 80,000 bottles.”

For the other anecdotes you will need to get the book ;) It will make a beautiful present for Christmas!!!!

Have a good reading!

It is correct Marc, Fortant de France are very good value wines (under $10); the wines for everydays. “Non Oak” wines, full of flavours and very fresh, just Yummi!!!

What?? You missed the tasting??? Ok don’t worry; a 2nd round will be organized at the beginning of December, probably on Friday December 10th… Hope to see you there

From now if you think about South of France you can think about me and if you think about wines from the South of France, the answer is definitely Skalli Family wines.

Happy Thanksgiving