Wednesday, February 10th

Right paper, possibly right photo. I'm praying my cell phone dosen't ring.

Still trying to get that form filled out. So glad there is a wine tasting tonight.

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Wine tasting was so much fun. Learned hour to smell, taste and evaluate wine. Very fun and very relaxed. Hillary, our wine expert, is such a lovely, bubbly person.

One wine was very smokey tasting and all Isaac and I could think of was how good it would taste with a medium-rare steak from the grill.

What I learned:

-French wines are labled by region, not by the type of grape used.

-Most are a combination of the grapes from the region. It's rare to find a wine that isn't a blend.

-The top 3 roses in the world are made in/around Aix.

-Alcohol content is lower in most French wines than in American wines

-Rose is made from red grapes, but the skins were only left in for a few days to give it the pink color

-Blush is leftover white wine that have had red skins soaked in it (aka not good)

-Box wine in France is as good as the bottled wine

-wine + pears = mmmmm

-restaurants in France usually have different sized bottles of wine you can order

What we tasted:

Domaine du Paternel (Cassis)

--white wine

--not to dry, not too sweet

Chateau du Seuil (Coteaux d'Aix-Pce)

--rose

--very fresh tasting, common summer drink

Domaine Coillot (Marsannay-Bourgogne)

--red, smokey wine

--steak cravings

Domaine de Cassan (Gigondas-Rhone)

--dark red wine

--really really good with dark chocolate

Domaine des Bernardins (Beaumes de Venise-Phone)

--possible the sweetest wine I've ever tasted

--can't get it in the US

--most vineyards are pre-sold out of it for the next 3 years