Sunday at the Salon des Vins.

If the theme of Friday night is always purchasing restraint, Sunday's theme can only be described as "well, then we have it." 

Sunday was the final day of the Thoiry Salon des Vins 2014, and as per usual, it was a bit of a free for all for us. We started out at the market, picked up some food, picked up some blooms, and then headed over to the Salle de Fetes. It was warm, and we were fast approaching a missed nap time, but being the last day, we made a quick stop to round out our Salon des Vins weekend. 

We started out at a new stand, one that was not only new to us, but also new to the Salon des Vins. Le Pere Jules came down to the salon from Normandy, and specializes in Calvados, Ciders, other apple based liqueurs, and the one that grabbed our attention, a Pear Cider. It's funny how you end up at the stands that you do, as the only reason we actually stopped there was because we saw some friends the night before with a case from this stand, and I trust their wine tastes. We were not left disappointed, nor did we leave empty handed. A case now sits in our cave, waiting for the right time to indulge in this pear effervescent beverage. 

We made a short stop at a beer stand, one that we've had in the past, but never at the salon. Brasserie Gessienne is a brewery not far from here, just a town over from where we used to live in Ferney-Voltaire, called Ornex. They only had one beer available to taste, their Blanche, but we were told that they would be celebrating their two year anniversary this coming weekend, and won't we be so kind as to attend the party? Yes, yes I believe we will see you this weekend Brasserie Gessienne. 

Our final stop for this salon des vins, was Chateauneuf du Pape. Never one to disappoint, we spent a good 45 minutes at their stand. We talked to the vintners for awhile about their trip to the US to see the Grand Canyon, about the speeding ticket they received while there, and the big hat the State-y who pulled them over was wearing. The two people who run the stand are always so nice, even when we only buy a bottle, and not a case. It's been a tradition of ours to always get a bottle of 2010 something or other from them, as that's the year we were married. We typically have to wait to drink them until they're ready, but we're excited that we can open one of our bottles this January to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary. Sunday's purchase will go away for a year or two, but it's always so nice to have a really good bottle of red to celebrate with on a cold January night. 

So the total damage for this weekend:

Friday night: 7 bottles

Saturday night: 8 bottles

Sunday afternoon: 7 bottles 

Stands visited in total: 7 out of 48

You can see why people get super serious about Salon des Vins, right? Unless you stick to a very specific schedule, and dump a lot of the wine you're tasting, there's no way you can get through all of the vendors. Long gone are the days of spending 5 hours at a time at the salon, but with quick one hour to one and a half hour visits, Oswin proved to be a most worthy Salon des Vins buddy. Efficiency is key when Salon des Vin-ing with a wee one, that's for sure. 

I like that we have certain vendors that we go to year after year, and make sure to get our orders in for them before trying new ones. It's a balance. Get your standbys and still expand your repertoire. A difference this year however, and one that I was disappointed about, was that there were no Cerdon sellers. Bummer. Looks like we might have to make the drive to Cerdon to stock up. Who's in for a little fall roadtrip?

Au revoir Salon des Vins 2014. You were good to us. Until next time...

A la prochaine friends...

Honey   

Saturday night at the Salon des Vins.

Last night at the Salon des Vins, Les Duggans were all business. 

Again, like the previous night, we were only able to attend for the last hour or so, but we made quick work of our time there. We hit one stand, but it was THE stand. Our favorite. A vintner worth dropping some dough on. 

I present to you: Hubert Clavelin et Fils. 

The Jura wines that they sell are amazing. They are greatly influenced by the soil and what grows in it, as all wines are, but I never realized how much this influences the taste of wine until this vintner came into our lives. Jura wines are known for a walnut taste that resonates within the wine, due to the large amount of walnut trees in the region. It gives the wines such a unique taste, it's not something that can be easily missed. 

We tasted most of their wines before they closed up shop. We ended up coming home with three bottles of their 2012 Traditional blend (Chardonnay/Savagnin), three bottles of  2010 Savagnin, one bottle of the best Cremant du Jura (Blanc) that I've ever tasted (not kidding, it tasted like maple syrup to me, so it's obviously being used for brunch), and, a bottle I've been waiting to purchase for the last five Salon des Vins, a 2006 Vin Jaune (Cotes du Jura). 

Vin Jaune is a regional Jura wine that must meet very specific requirements to be called Yellow Wine. It comes from the Jura region, and again has a very strong walnut taste to it. We were both a little giddy about finally adding it to our cave.

Another motivation for stocking up at this stand? It's the one Salon des Vins that Hubert Clavelin et Fils attend all year, so it was really our only chance of getting a hold of their wine until next year. This is unlike Chateauneuf de Pape, which attends 35 Salon des Vins festivals a year. It felt good to stock up for the coming months of melted cheese and potatoes.

And so we headed home. We had one more afternoon to hit up a few stands after the Sunday Market, and we intended on making the most of it. 

A la prochaine friends...

Honey 

Opening night of the Thoiry Salon des Vins 2014.

We went, we drank, we purchased. It was a quick go round for our first night at this year's Salon des Vins des Thoiry, as we were operating around little miss Oswin's schedule. Our goal was to hit three stands (out of 48), and come home with just 1 or 2 bottles of wine. We ended up hitting three stands and bringing home 7 bottles of wine.

That's just kind of how Salon des Vins goes. 

It was more crowded than I thought it'd be for the last hour or so of the first night. People were out with their dolly carts in full force. Trunks and back seats of cars were completely full in the parking lot with cases of wine. We are very much small potatoes when it comes to Salon des Vins, but one day, one day we will have our car packed to the gills with Jura whites, Beaujolais, Muscat, Chat de Pape, Eau de vie...one day.

What three vendors did we go see last night? I'm so glad you asked. Our first stop was to Chateau d'Excindre, where we came home with a nice Gres de Montpellier 2011, and two bottles of Muscat de Mireval. They also have a bottle of spirits called Garhiofilatum, which, although we didn't purchase any, was very interesting to try. Next stop was to the stand of Domaine Saint-Denis, a stand we frequent each year, where we bought one bottle of 2011 Bourgogne. Last but not least,  was to one of my favorite stands at the Salon des Vins, Regnie, for three bottles of their amazing 2003 Beaujolais that is oak aged for 10 years. 

And how could we not buy Beaujolais from a man who looks so good in shorts shorts? It was a necessary.

Oswin handled her first night at the Salon like a pro. She loved watching all the people, trying to lunge at our wine glasses, and being close to Papa in the sling. Fingers crossed that tonight goes smoothly, as we're hitting two of my favorites tonight: Hubert Clavelin and Chataeuneuf de Pape.

A la prochaine friends...

Honey 

29th Annual Thoiry Salon des Vins

{Pic via here.}

It's here, it's here, it's really here! One of my favorite weekends of the whole year!

Tomorrow begins this year's installment of the annual Thoiry Salon des Vins, and I cannot wait to attend. We went last year, but I was unable to partake in the festivities, as I was oh so pregnant. Waddling around a hot tent with a bunch of slightly tipsy people when your feet are swollen and the baby is kicking and all you want to do is lie down in an air conditioned room until the baby decides to arrive wasn't as much fun as it sounds. So this year I'm pretty stoked to have Dan carrying the baby (see what I did there?) while Mama gets her wine tasting on. 

{Pic via here.}

Vintners, producers of cognac and armagnac, and Lac Leman Brewers come from all around France (and a bit of Switzerland and Italy), to provide tastes of their wares for free. Really, it's free. Free good wine is the best kind of wine, is it not? 

This is typically the time when people in our area stock their caves, and they take it seriously. People will purchase the wine and leave it in a special area until the end of the weekend to pick it up, you know, once they've finished shopping. There are dolly carts all around to help people load cases upon cases of wine into their cars. Check books are out in full force (yes, they still write checks in France, I like to think of it as a lost art form). The whole family comes out for the event. The family that wine shops together, stays together, am I right?

We always get more than we plan on. It's part of the fun. In our earlier days of the Salon des vins, it would lead us to walk home with 18 bottles of delicious wine, over a mile, in the dark. It was kind of fun. And then of course we'd always open one of the bottles once we got home to celebrate, and realize, "we need to go back tomorrow to replace this bottle!" It's a cycle. A glorious cycle. I guess it's good that the salon is only three days long. 

And so tonight we will plan our strategy. There are always a few mainstays that we get each year, as this is the only chance we have to purchase them, unless of course, we go out to the winery. What are some of our tried and true must haves? Well I'm so glad you asked! Here are a few of our favorites from the last few years:

1. Vin jaune: a rare wine that is specific to our area, and has to meet very strict requirements to be named a yellow wine. There is a really strong walnut taste as a result of all of the walnut trees in our area.

2. Chateauneuf du Pape: I don't think I really need to explain this one. As Sterling Archer would say, "duh and or HELLO."

3. Beaujolais: it's a specific vendor that I never remember their name, but I always recognize the bottle

4. Bollenberg: They are from the Alsace region and not only have some very good white wines to pair with Thai food, but also have a great selection of eau de vie and liquers.

5. Chardonnay from the Jura region: again, more walnut tastes in the wine

6. Cerdon: somewhat of a local sparking pink wine...I'd compare it to pink champagne, but somewhere some frenchman would end up having a heart attack (but it's kind of like pink champagne)

7. Macvin: another regional drink, served as an apertif. A little sweeter, and served in a liquer glass.

I know, I know, the above descriptions don't exactly make me a wine critic extraordinaire, but it's the best I've got for now. This year I'll actually show the results of this weekend's bounty, which is probably a lot more helpful for any of you who would like to track down the wines and try them yourselves. 

Have you ever been to a french Salon des Vins? Well here's a how-to I wrote last year following the event, if you're interested:

10 Things to Survive Salon des Vins

Here's to a weekend of great wines and stocking up the cave! 

A la prochaine friends...

Honey 

Cave Ouvertes 2014

Saturday was a good day. 

Cave Ouvertes is a big weekend here in SwitzerFrance, and I'm more than a little bit embarrassed to admit that this was the first time we've gone. Every year we are always either back in the United States for our annual spring visit, or sitting on the Y bus heading home from the airport and realizing that our jet lagged selves would probably have one glass of wine and fall asleep in the vineyards, only to be found by a vintner two days later. But this year was different. We were here. We weren't jet lagged. And did I mention that it was a beautiful day? 

We arrived a little late, as it seems that it takes us longer to get out the door these days, but we were still able to spend a few hours walking around the Swiss vineyards, tasting wine, and catching up with old friends that we hadn't seen in quite some time. Oswin, who loves being outside at all times, was in her supreme happy place. So many things to look at! So many people to listen to! Drinks to try to grab! Being so close to Papa all afternoon in the sling! It was her little blue heaven. 

I was surprised initially at how different Cave Ouvertes was then say, Salon des Vins. But then I reminded myself that I was in Switzerland and not France. At all of the salon des vins I've been to in France, you're more often than not poured 1/3 to a 1/2 glass of wine, as a "taste." Some people spit it out or pour it out into the top hat bucket, but most do not...at least most that I have seen do not. At Cave Ouvertes, you're poured a tiny amount, more appropriately named a "taste." 

After you've tasted the vintner's wares, you then either move on to another cave (which in this case means small winery...a "cave" also means wine cellar), or buy a bottle and enjoy it with friends at the tables they have set up. Of course, you could always set up shop in the vineyard with your bottle too...

{"But I didn't order a bottle of breast milk! I ordered Gamaret!"} 

We had so much fun walking through Bourdigny, finding new paths and new little cafes to try...it's amazing how you can live almost right next to a town and never experience it for years. Cave Ouvertes opened up new walking trails for us, new scenery, and new potential picnic places for this summer, and we're pretty excited about it. 

A few hours tasting, picture taking, and socializing, and it was soon time to head home. But with a happy baby girl and three bottles of wine in tow (A Gamay from Satigny, a Chasselas, which we've been told is the original wine that was grown in the region, and a Sauvignon Gris), we headed home for a quiet Saturday night. 

Because anymore, those are my absolute favorite. 

A la prochaine friends...

Honey