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[The Gourmand Next Door] The Price of Fame/Infamy
Support neighborhood news with our Southpoint Summer fundraiser on GoFundMe! Our wine trip in France continues with the infamous Beaujolais (BO-zho-lay). Beaujolais has the unfortunate luck to be stuck between two absolute powerhouses of fine wine, Burgundy and Northern Rhône. Though technically in Burgundy, Beaujolais is an outlier in many respects; soil type, grapes, and vinification…
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[The Gourmand Next Door] Steep
Following our adventures in the southern Rhône valley, it is now time to turn our attention up. Up the map, up the elevation change, and up the scrutiny to which we appreciate the wine. You dig? Northern Rhône extends from Vienne to Valance. A mere 75 km (44 miles, or from Durham to Clayton) marks this tremendous…
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[The Gourmand Next Door] A River, The Wind, and An Old New Chateau
Support Southpoint Access News in Our Summer Fundraiser! As our travelogue continues, we make our way toward the Mediterranean coast and the wines of the Rhône valley. There are two distinct regions (North and South, how convenient) of the valley, and two defining characteristics shared by them, the river and the wind. These influences will…
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[The Gourmand Next Door] Alsace: A Place Like No Other
We’ve had some time to digest (insert groan here) what it means to taste wine in isolation and as best expressed as food. Now it’s back on the road for us again, moving to the outskirts of France. About a 4-hour drive from Paris east and south is the départment of Alsace (pronounced “ALL-sauce”). Alsace is…
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[The Gourmand Next Door] The Language of Taste
Our circuitous journey has taken many turns to understanding our appreciation and knowledge of wine. This is a slight deviation from our tour de France, but I will not leave you wanting. On that note, we’ll remedy a glaring issue I’ve skirted, taste. Let’s correct that oversight. While I can appreciate wine solely on its…
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[The Gourmand Next Door] AOP – Yeah, You Know Me
By Preston Wilson, Special to Southpoint Access Whilst we have been focusing on the Loire Valley (and there is still so much to discuss), it is but a taste of what is available from France. Let’s take a bit of time to look at some aspects of the wine culture of France that I have made…
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[The Gourmand Next Door] Wild by Nature: Tasting the Two Faces of Sauvignon Blanc
By Preston Wilson, Special to Southpoint Access We embark on a voyage of discovery, and that discovery is the wooliness of Sauvignon Blanc. In our short study, we will examine how a single grape can make such a scene. There will be similarities and divergences, but it is still the same grape. As promised, we will end…
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[The Gourmand Next Door] Beyond Organic: The Art and Controversy of Biodynamic Wine
By Preston Wilson, Special to Southpoint Access There’s a word that has come up in passing in earlier articles that deserves a deeper look: biodynamics. It’s an agricultural approach, a philosophy, and yes, a controversy. Like terroir, biodynamics is wrapped in myth, rigor, and a certain “French-ness” that makes it both compelling and confounding. So…
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