WINE HAS ITS chattering classes too, and for some time now its pet subject has been something called terroir. Like entrepreneur or mise en place, terroir is a French loanword that requires a whole English sentence to convey the meaning. Narrowly construed, it’s the natural conditions prevailing in a particular spot that distinguish the wine…
All posts in February 2012
Say it . . . don’t slay it
In the introduction to his engaging and endlessly useful book “Brunello to Zibibbo: The wines of Tuscany, Central, and Southern Italy, Nicolas Belfrage maintains that correct pronunciation “is an important tool for understanding Italian wines” since “once you get the sound, the flavors too fall into sharper focus.” Though I can’t go very far in…
The difficult sport of catching (merde!) the Noire du Berry chicken . . .
A Little Lipstick for your Chardonnay?
The first edition of Oliver de Serrres’ manual on agricultural practice, Le Theatre d’Agriculture et Mesnage des Champs, was published in March of 1600. Dedicated to King Henry IV of France (of chicken-in-every-pot fame) it was reprinted many times throughout the 17th and 18th centuries and qualified the ex-soldier from the Ardèche for the title he eventually assumed: father…