From the monthly archives:

May 2010

Domaine Sarabande: A ‘Flying Winemaker’
from Down Under lands in Faugères

May 27, 2010

A vineyard named after a somewhat risqué dance from 16th-century Spain that reappeared two centuries later as a stately court dance is the latest stop on The Vine Route. The Sarabande, a triple-time dance with the accent on the second beat, was originally danced by a double line of couples accompanied by castanets and tambourines. [...]

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Faugères flamboyant: Domaine de Cébène
turns northward to make unique southern wines

May 21, 2010

The two adjacent Languedoc wine appellations of Faugères and St Chinian are similar in size, grape varieties, soil types and styles of wine. Both appellations were even created in the same year–1982. But Faugères has long lived in the shadow of St Chinian; mostly because of the greater notoriety of several St Chinian winemakers. That [...]

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Chai Christine Cannac: A naturally-good wine bar

May 14, 2010

French speakers will immediately catch the play on words in the name of this wine bar in Bédarieux, a small town in the Languedoc-Roussillon’s Hérault department. “Chai” is French for an aboveground structure used for wine storage and aging. The French word “chez,” which has the same pronunciation, refers to someone’s home, or, in a [...]

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The City of Vines and Wine reveals many secrets

May 8, 2010

Located in the heart of the Languedoc vineyards, the Cité de la Vigne et du Vin offers a unique look at viticultural and oenology research being done by France’s INRA agronomical research institute. The magic “Four Seasons Symphony” greenhouse (above and right) allows visitors to discover the various vegetative cycle stages of grapevines. For almost [...]

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