We went to an sparsely attended intimate reading last night at our neighborhood wine bar, Lou on Vine, featuring hot-button wine writer Alice Feiring. We read her book about a month back, and, though we don’t always agree with what she says, in the book or elsewhere, we have great respect for both the author’s prose and her point of view. We won’t get into a review of the book here, and maybe we never will (there has certainly been enough back and forth about the tome without us throwing ourselves into the dialogue). Nor will we get into a review of Lou, which continues to grow on us (can’t get enough of the Pig Candy or Hook’s Cheddar) despite our disdain for their frustratingly compact stemware (bitching about it makes us feel a bit wine-snobby, but oh well).

Suffice it to say, Feiring takes a hard line approach to the current state of the wine world, while the approach at domaine547 is admittedly soft line, with a highly inclusive attitude to wine. Yes, we like leaner Loire Valley Cab Francs made with native yeasts. We like us some slightly oxidized Chenin Blanc and Burgundian Pinot Noir. But we also like bolder California wines, such as the Curran Black Oak Syrah, which we’re fairly certain would trigger Alice’s gag reflex (though we bet Alice would be intrigued by the Curran whites). Read more…

We love that Simon Cocks even sounds British in the way he writes (”langoustines,” anyone?). Here, he helps us get into the summer mood by picking out a great Rosé for us, for only $14.99 a bottle. Pick it up at Larchmont Wine in LA, or check Wine-Searcher for a retailer convenient to you.

Simon says:

Those of us not on expense-account fly-aways to Cannes and its lovely environs can only dream of languishing in a café by the harbor, a soft breeze in our face and a platter of langoustines in front of us waiting to be devoured…

Given the travel-decimating strength of the Euro, what to do? The sun and breezes we have, the shellfish can be arranged, the quaint cafe will have to be imagined, but you can approximate the gastronomic experience with help from this delightful rose, just like the one they’d pour for you in Saint-Tropez.

A blend of 60% Cinsault and 40% Grenache, this is a luscious, yet dry rendition of the classic Provencal rose. It has delicate ripe wild baby strawberry and juicy watermelon fruit in abundance on the nose, is light in body and cut through with mineral-laden acidity, making it a perfect thirst-quenching wine for summer-drinking purposes.

Pair with bouillabaise, grilled squid, appetizers of any stripe and even Indian or Thai fare. –SC

We’re a day late for Wine Blogging Wednesday, but hopefully you’ll forgive us since the subject is something dear to our hearts: white Rhone grape varieties. Seems we’ve been on a white Rhone kick of late, having hosted the Tablas Creek dinner last week (thanks Jason, it really was an amazing night), and having brought in close to two fistfuls of SKUs into our store that fit this subject. Okay, so ten wines is nothing for retail giants, but considering how small we are, ten is not insignificant! Read more…

I’m going to break with the d547 style and write first person singular this morning. Don’t ask me why, but it just seems appropriate in this instance. I’m also going to write something of questionable intellectual value, but that’s not exactly breaking with style… Read more…