A Sommelier's Blog - Memorial Day, the official start of Summer. The time for European white wines!

Let us have wine and women, mirth and laughter,
Sermons and soda-water the day after.
Lord Byron
Don Juan

Grape du Jour: Muscadet [meuhs-kay-DAY]
A popular light, dry wine produced in the western portion of the Loire River region. The area where Muscadet is produced is centered around the city of Nantes, not far where the Loire empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The best Muscadet wines come from the appellation of Muscadet de Sevre-et-Maine. Wines labeled mise en bouteille sur lie, meaning the wine is bottled directly of the LEES without filtering, are the best. These wines are rich and creamy with citrus notes. The best oysters in France come from this region, so you know this style of wine is perfect for anything to do with oysters, shrimp, crab, and crayfish. The French always seem to make their wine to match food from the region. Most of Europe makes wine to fit regional food specialties. We, the New World, are still figuring this out. But, we have been making wine for only 100 years and Europe, around 5000 years. so we are little behind.
So be sure to check all the funky white wines from Europe. I have listed many in past blogs. They are inexpensive, tasty, and really fun!!
Recommended Wines:
Domaine de al Quilla, Vinet, France   88 wlp

Let's talk about wine and music. The Wine Lover is lucky to have Nick Z and Friends come by and play a few times a month. I have noticed that the wonderful people who show up seem to enjoy a great glass of wine when watching the music. Nick Z and Friends play acoustical sets, all the musicians are singer/songwriters that are very talented playing their instrument of choice, mostly guitars. I guess the style of music seems to play a big role in the choice of beverage. Everyone who comes to the show say's it's The Wine Lovers atmosphere that brings out the wine drinkers. We have the music outside on a beautiful patio and people walking by can hear a few tunes before they saunter off to dinner or a movie. Most of them stop in and have a glass before moving on. The people who come watch the whole show seem to have a greater interest in the wine they drink. I get a lot of questions and give out a lot of tastes. I like that! I have 5 wines that go for $5.00 a glass, great value driven wines. They want nothing to do with the Happy Hour wines. They want to try some of the funky Euro stuff or a big Cab from Napa. I like that too! I guess what I trying to say is that our palettes are expanding exponentially. We like good wine!! So it seems my efforts to have everyone DRINK GOOD WINE!! is working, slowly but surely. Since there are usually 4 or 5 acts (all different) when Nick Z rolls around, I get to see a dichotomy of what is hip in the music world. The one thing that connects them all together is a love of wine!! Check out Nick Z and Friends Sunday June 5th at 6:00pm

Cheers and Drink Good Wine!!

Serge