Blog Designer

Imagine that you are at the airport ready to board your flight, having paid coach fare. You step onto the plane only to be surprised by the flight attendant; you have been upgraded to First Class. That is exactly how I felt when I took my first sip of this 2013 Château La Tour Sainte Anne rosé. The price was coach ($12.99) but the luxurious taste and velvety feel in my mouth told me I was in the First Class cabin. For my previous posts, I learned about the wine and then made a meal that I felt would be complimentary. This time, I needed a wine to go with a tricky dish: Oysters Rockefeller. Oysters, on their own

French Lessons. There they are again on my list of goals for 2015. I shudder to think how many years...

In most tourist books about Provence, rarely is more than a small paragraph devoted to the charming village of Ansouis. In some popular books—notably Rick Steves’ Provence and The French Riviera—the village is not even mentioned although, remarkably, the old standard Michelin Guide: Provence includes a full page about Ansouis.It’s no wonder this beautiful village is also referred to as “sleepy and “quiet.” (Read: surprisingly few tourists.) Selfishly, I would like to keep it that way, but having spent a week there this past summer, I could see that it was not the somnolent...

Henri Bungener, proprietor of Le Clos de Caveau in the Vacqueyras appellation of the Rhône Valley wine region, reported that 6 inches of snow fell on his vineyard overnight on Tuesday.

Have you ever had a dream that you really wanted to follow? One that tugged so hard at your heartstrings that you resorted to cold showers to quell those feelings? Stephen Cronk did. And, now, after harboring this dream for some 25 years, this handsome man with

I can't think of anything I enjoy more than lamb with a rich, full-bodied red wine by its side. A bottle of 2007 Éternité has been sitting in our caves (okay, it's a wine rack) waiting for the right meal. It's Christmas, and Provençal lamb shanks have been braised; the Éternité joined the celebration. With its blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre, this Rhône wine was perfect for the earthy, tomato-y, citrus-infused lamb. The nose was deceptively light, but the first taste was full, fruit forward (blackberry and cherry), and spicy. After a taste of the lamb, the intensity diminished only

Regular readers of The Modern Trobadors know that thirteen desserts—Les Treize Desserts de Noël—are traditionally served on Christmas Eve in Provence, after the big supper—Le Gros Souper—which, actually, is more lean than “big” with its emphasis on herb-laced broths, seafood, and vegetables rather than meat. Ah, dear TMT reader, you can probably recite to your clueless friends what the thirteen desserts consist of and why there are...

Oysters are everywhere in Provence this time of year. Often likened to the American turkey at Thanksgiving, oysters—along with foie gras and caviar—are an integral part of the holidays in France. Half of the country’s annual production of oysters is consumed between

This morning I spoke with Stephen Cronk, proprietor of Mirabeau in Provence, who told me that he and winemaker Jo Ahearne just wrapped up the final blending session of the Mirabeau 2014 rosés. Woo-hoo!

“Is there alcohol in that [wine]?” was a common question when Gérard Bungener, Henri’s father, first adopted organic practices in his Vacqueyras vineyard. Now, twenty-five years later, it is hard to fathom such a question.