RI Selects: “Living with Wine” Book Signing
Every oenophile who doesn’t already have a wine cellar dreams of having one—the bigger the better. Whether you’re ready to build or just a voyeur, there are dozens of juicy, jaw-dropping photos in Living with Wine, the new book by design editor Samantha Nestor and award-winning wine writer Alice Feiring, which includes a magnificent cellar by Fred Tregaskis of New England Wine Cellars in Falls Village. The authors will be signing books on Saturday afternoon at Little Gates & Co., which will offer a tasting of Viennese wines at the same time.
Living with Wine book signing and wine tasting
Saturday, November 21, 2 - 5 p.m.
Little Gates & Co. Wine Merchants
Millerton, NY
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Dan Shaw on 11/20/09 at 01:23 PM • Permalink
Spirits: At a Recent Tasting, A Local Cider Ruled!
In England, the word “cider” (and, in France, “cidre”) describes a carbonated beverage containing alcohol—as little as 3% in France, as much as 8.5% in England (wine is usually between 11% and 14%). On this side of the Atlantic, a fermented cider is referred to as “hard cider,” to distinguish it from the unfermented, non-alcholic beverage children enjoy. But who wants anything that’s “hard”? Perhaps to skirt this subtle marketing concern, Hudson-Chatham Winery has given its cider a French name, Pomme Bullé—literally, apple bubble.
“Usually in France, it’s an aperitif,” says Dominique DeVito, who, with her husband Carlo, owns and operates Hudson-Chatham Winery. “They drink it when they come in from working in the fields. In both France and England, it’s a working man’s drink—meant to be refreshing, like a beer, just not as filling.”
Because their winery does not have the capacity to bottle carbonated beverages, the DeVitos have their Pomme Bullé made for them from Northern Spy apples and bottled to their specifications at Warwick Valley Winery, an hour south of here in the lower Hudson Valley.
At a recent tasting of three ciders at Little Gates & Company, wine merchants in Millerton, participants compared Pomme Bullé to two other ciders, an apple and a pear, both from a French producer. Hudson-Chatham Winery’s was the favorite, hands down. “That’s what they told me, anyhow,” says Dominique.
“We have always offered cider,” she continues. “It’s been part of our selection from the beginning. We wanted it because we love it ourselves, and because the Hudson Valley has so many apple growers.”
Like ordinary apple cider, Pomme Bullé tastes autumnal but is much less sweet. “There’s no question, it’s more popular at this time of year,” says Dominique. “It compliments fall foods— stews with root vegetables—and seasonal desserts, especially apple pie.” It also is an ideal foil for the savory-with-a-touch-of-sweet traditional Thanksgiving menu.
Hudson-Chatham Winery
1900 Route 66
Ghent, NY 518.392.WINE (9463)
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 11/04/09 at 11:23 AM • Permalink
Think Pink: Now Is The Time To Drink Rosé
Whether he is selling a $10 bottle of wine or a $1 million house, Andrew Gates wants to see people fall in love. As both a real-estate broker at Sotheby’s in Lakeville, CT, and a shopkeeper in Millerton, NY, he cultivates clients by paying attention to their specific tastes and needs. At Little Gates & Co. Wine Merchants, the two year-old shop he co-owns with Will Little (chairman of the Lakeville Journal Company), customers are encouraged to schmooze, ask questions, and hang out. In the front of the store, there’s a round table with a chess board and piles of books surrounded by four comfortable chairs. “We talk as much about books here as we talk about wine,” says Gates. He attributes the shop’s literary bent to writer Melissa Davis, who works at the store, and her husband, the author and raconteur Peter Richmond (The Glory Game: How the 1958 NFL Championship Changed Football Forever; Fever: The Life and Music of Miss Peggy Lee), who’s a familiar presence there.
Nevertheless, the number one topic of conversation right now is rosé, and a large table in the middle of the shop holds more than a dozen different gem-colored bottles with a small sign that proclaims THINK PINK. “Rosé is a visual wine,” says Gates. “It’s a beautiful wine to have when the sun is shining.”
With rosé, you can judge the wine by its color. “If it’s pale pink, then it’s going to be light and crisp,” says Gates. “If it’s darker, it’s going to be fleshy—you’ll have a sense of biting the grape.” He doesn’t sell the sweet Italian rosés that gave pink wines a bad reputation. “I am biased toward the Provençal rosés,” says Gates, who believes they pretty much go with anything you are going to eat this summer. “I am not a traditionalist when it comes to food pairings. I think you can drink rosé with lamb, and I would love to drink rosé with the fish tacos at the Harney tea room.” He’s high on Vin Gris de Cigare ($17), a California rosé, from Bonny Doon, which has an alien seduction scene on the label and an alien avatar on the cap. “This is a beautiful wine,” he says, noting that the most expensive rosé in the shop is a $30 Vin Gris of Pinot Noir from the Napa Valley’s Robert Sinskey. “It’s probably too expensive, but it’s a special wine with a limited allocation,” he says. “And the focus of our shop is grower-producer wines with a small level of production.”
You often see the crew at Little Gates with glasses in their hands. “We are not shy about tasting wines and opening bottles with our customers,” says Gates. “I can’t imagine selling wines any other way.” He prides himself on having an attentive sales staff and laments that many restaurants and retail businesses have indifferent customer service. “I think it’s not only bad business,” he says, “it’s bad humanity.”
He opens a bottle of Col di Luna ($17), a sparkling rosé from northern Italy. “It’s heavenly stuff,” he says as Davis emerges from the backroom with a platter of cheese and crackers. She describes sparkling rosé “as grown-up soda pop—it’s yummy.” Gates takes another sip and smiles broadly as if he’d swallowed pure joy. “Sparkling rosés are so delicious I can’t stand it!”
Little Gates Wine Merchants
56A South Center Street, Millerton, NY; 518.789.3899
Monday - Saturday 11 AM - 7 PM; Sunday 12 - 5 PM
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Dan Shaw on 06/17/09 at 03:00 PM • Permalink
It’s Beneficial To Indulge at the Berkshire Museum Wine Auction
These aren’t times for hedonism—unless your self indulgence can be construed as philanthropic, too. If you’re an oenophile or sybarite, the Berkshire Museum’s Biennial Wine Auction on Saturday, May 30, in Pittsfield offers many ways to splurge on yourself while also supporting the museum’s educational programs that bring arts and enrichment opportunities to a diverse group of public school students. It’s a crucial fundraiser for the museum, which raised $242,000 at its 2007 wine auction.
There will be both silent and live auctions with James Ritchie who runs Sotheby’s wine department in North America overseeing the bidding. He will offer up 40 lots that include the “Great Guigals,” which are three different bottles of 1989 Cote Roties of Rhone from E. Guigal (value: $3,000); a red-and-white duo of Ch. Lafite Rosthschild, Pauillac, 2000, an extraordinary Bordeaux, and Ch. d’Yquem, Lur Saluces 1990, the premier Sauternes (value: $2,250); membership in the Les Trois Emme Barrel Club, which entitles you to help produce a Bordeaux Size barrel of wine at the vineyard in New Marlborough, MA, and which will result in 25 cases of wine that are yours (value: $7,000+); a six-course dinner party for six at Wheatleigh with wine pairings and grappa tastings (value: $1,850). Even if you are a teetotaler, there are other temptations on the auction block, including four lower box-seat tickets to a Red Sox game, roundtrip limousine from the Berkshires to Fenway Park and dinner at Fenway’s EMC Club, or a week in a two-bedroom townhouse at the Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club in Brewster on Cape Cod.
During the cocktail hour, as guests sample wines and Taittinger Champagne, they can view a special exhibition, “Vintage Time,” which features 18th and 19th century vintage clocks and pocket watches and a selection of shelf clocks from the collection of William I. Milham, who was a professor of astronomy at Williams from 1901-1942. After the live auction, there will be dinners in the Ellen Crane Memorial Room (tickets: $350) and on the stage of the Colonial Theater down the block ($150.) To be sure, there will be plenty of wine to drink at both dinners.
Berkshire Museum Biennial Wine Auction
May 30, 2009
Cocktails at 5:30 PM; auction at 6:30 PM; dinner at 8 PM
(1) Comments
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Dan Shaw on 05/24/09 at 04:17 PM • Permalink
A New Pear Brandy from Harvest Spirits
Update: Harvest Spirits Pear Takes The Bronze
In April, Harvest Spirits Pear brandy was awarded a bronze medal by the American Distilling Institute at the sixth annual ADI Brandy conference and competition in Alameda, California. The pear brandy/eau de vie category was the most competitive, drawing dozens of entries.
The Swedish call it “aquavit,” the French “eau-de-vie,” and the Germans “schnapps.” But since there is little tradition in this country for drinking spirits made from fruit, most Americans don’t know what to call it. The direct translation from Swedish and French, “water of life,” sounds a little over the top, at least hereabouts, so Harvest Spirits settled on “brandy” to describe the latest addition to its line.
“We had no intention of doing pear brandy but Fix Brothers Farm in Hudson had a bunch of pears that had been hit with hail,” says Derek Grout co-owner of the Valatie distillery that makes Core Vodka, recently awarded a Gold Medal by the Beverage Testing Institute, with a 92— the highest score of any domestic vodka in a tasting of more than 80. “They asked me if we could do anything with them. I could have turned them into vodka. But we decided to try a brandy instead.”
First fruit, then cider, then the alcoholic beverage: It was the middle step, the fruit-to-cider part of the cycle, that was troubling to Grout and his partner Tom Crowell. Golden Harvest Farms, the parent company of Harvest Spirits, uses a rather slow, old-fashioned, rack-and-cloth cider press. So Bob and Linda Fix proposed that they involve yet another farm, Eger Brothers, in the scheme. Fix delivered his fruit to the Egers who made it into cider in their more modern press, then the Egers delivered the cider to Harvest Spirits who turned it into brandy. “I didn’t even know Mark and Jim Eger until the Fixes introduced us,” says Grout.
The net result of this collaboration between three Columbia County farms is 500 slender bottles of a beverage simply called “Pear,” 100 of which have already been spoken for. Not to be confused with the syrupy schnapps sold in liquor stores and bars, this clear liquid isn’t sweet. It is quite similar, in fact, to the French brandy Poire William. It is designed to be drunk chilled and neat, as the Swedish do their aquavit when their host raises his glass and proclaims, “Skal!” Or it may be mixed with lemon juice plus something sweet, such as triple sec, to make a delicious cocktail.
“Once it’s gone that’s it until next year’s harvest,” says Grout. And what if there is no hale next summer, hence no bruised fruit? Grout shrugs, clearly untroubled by such an unlikely prospect. “I’m lucky that I can take an ingredient that was just going to fall on the ground and rot and be able to make something valuable out of it. But it took a lot of ‘cooperation-ship,’ as our current President would say, to make Pear.”
For a pitcher of Pear cocktails, mix together:
2 cups Harvest Spirit’s Pear brandy
1 cup Meyer lemon juice
1/3 cup triple sec
ice
Strain into 6 martini glasses.
Pear is available at:
Fairview Wines & Spirits
160 Fairview Ave, Hudson; 518.828.0934
Hudson Wine Merchants
341½ Warren Street, Hudson; 518.828.6411
Kinderhook Wines & Spirits
2967 Route 9 (Hannaford Shopping Plaza), Valatie; 518.758.8463
Little Gates & Company Wine Merchants
58 South Center Street, Millerton; 518.789.3899
On weekends, it also may be purchased directly from the distillery, which is open for tours:
Harvest Spirits at Golden Harvest Farms
3074 U.S. Route 9, Valatie; 518.758.7683
(0) Comments
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 04/15/09 at 05:25 PM • Permalink
Allium and the Mahaiwe: Their Funny Valentine Special
Local restaurateurs and chefs are letting their imaginations run wild for Valentine’s Day. Take, for example, Halle Heyman, manager at Allium in Great Barrington. As if free chocolate petit fours at the end of the meal aren’t enough to seal the deal, she has created a cocktail to get the ball rolling. “What She’s Having…,” is an amalgam of vodka, chocolate liqueur, Frangelico, and a touch of cinnamon. The name, of course, alludes to Meg Ryan’s famous deli scene in When Harry Met Sally, which just happens to be screening around the corner at the Mahaiwe that night. (Trivia: Ryan’s star turn wasn’t in the original script; it was her own contribution. And the “actress” who uttered the immortal deadpan reposte, “I’ll have what she’s having,” was the director Rob Reiner’s mother.)
“What’ She’s Having…”
1 1/2 oz Zynthia Polish vodka
1/4 ounce Frangelico
3/4 ounce of Maletti chocolate liquer
Pour ingredients over ice, shake, and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
When Harry Met Sally
Mahaiwe
14 Castle Street, Great Barrington; 413.528.0100
Saturday, February 14; 8 p.m.
Admission: $8
Valentine Dinner Specials for Two
Allium Restaurant & Bar
42/44 Railroad Street, Great Barrington; 413.528.2118
5 - 9 p.m.
Reservations recommended.
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 02/10/09 at 07:49 AM • Permalink
The Wine ‘Snob’ Next Door
David Kamp, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and author of The United States of Arugula, will be signing his latest book, The Wine Snob’s Dictionary at Little Gates & Co in Millerton on Saturday, November 29, from 2 to 5 PM. It’s the fourth in the series of Snob guides (the others are devoted to Film, Rock, and Food) that are intelligent yet ironic, educational but entertaining.
RI: How long have you been a weekender in northwestern Connecticut?
We (my wife and two children) have been Lakeville people for eleven years. Before that, we rented/mooched in the Berkshires, but this beautiful little town always beckoned us as we passed through it. And we’re too shabby for Millbrook or Kent.
RI: Does a wine snob ever order the house red?
It is the way of the Wine Snob to lament that people are too status-obsessed, and that not enough of them have come to enjoy the simple pleasure of a rustic bistro’s vin du table. Having articulated this lament, the Wine Snob will then order the $200 Rauzan-Ségla Margaux.
RI: What local restaurants have a great wine list?
Robert Peters’s list at the Woodland in Lakeville is huge and shockingly adventurous. He has things on there that you seldom see on the East Coast, like the cabernet sauvignon and merlot from A. Rafanelli Winery of Sonoma County. This winery doesn’t distribute to stores—if you want its wines, you usually have to drive up Mr. Rafanelli’s driveway in California’s Dry Creek Valley and buy them straight from the man. Or you can order a bottle at the Woodland.
RI: Have you ever found a local restaurant with a sommelier?
Like I said, we’re too shabby for Kent; I think we live north of Connecticut’s sommelier belt.
RI: When does a wine snob drink beer?
Even Hugh Johnson, the venerable English oeno-expert who writes those pocket wine guides, will tell you that beer complements spicy foods (e.g., Mexican, Szechuan) better than any wine ever will. That said, Beer Snobbery is a whole separate pathology quite apart from Wine Snobbery, and I can’t profess to understand it. A while back, I was listening to some home-brewing show on public radio while driving through Sullivan County, and they were talking impenetrably about “porters,” “doppelbocks,” and “dunkel weiss.” Whaaat?
RI: Why should people buy your book?
Its a recession-friendly stocking stuffer, priced at $12.95. And if I may shed the Snob persona for a moment, let me state that Little Gates’s staff is expert at recommending really good affordable wines, meaning bottles that are priced at under twenty bucks. We’re all getting slammed by the economic downturn, but now more than ever, it’s important, when we do spend, to patronize the local businesses.
RI: We’ll drink to that.
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Dan Shaw on 11/24/08 at 06:04 PM • Permalink
Thanksgiving, Part II: Talking Turkey with the Professor of Wine
When you hear Michael Albin of Hudson Wine Merchants expound on wine, his alter egos—writer, musician, former English professor—are all in evidence. His descriptions of his various offerings, their strengths and potential pitfalls, are impassioned and detailed, and his greatest delight seems to be in finding the perfect wine for an individual customer’s occasion and palate. In fact, when you ask him to pick wines for hypothetical situations rather than real ones, he seems not flustered exactly, but not satisfied either. To make a great wine selection, he elaborates, “You have to consider two factors: the individual person’s taste, and the event. Not knowing the person’s taste, I just have to tell you what’s most exciting for me.” Luckily, he’s excited by many wines at many price points.
The traditional wine pairings—the safe choices—for a typical Thanksgiving meal, according to Albin, are a Zinfandel, for a red, or a Riesling for a white. The common denominator is a fruity, aromatic quality. Tannins, the astringent compounds found in many wines, are a no-no. Avoiding tannins isn’t just a matter of taste; according to Albin, they can also react chemically with compounds in certain foods to produce an unpleasant metallic taste. The key, says Albin, is finding wines that are not so heavy they add to an already-overwhelming meal. But, he was quick to point out, “You can take the spirit of those two classic recommendations, and move beyond them to have a lot of fun. ” The key is sticking to a fruity nose that will match the side dishes and work with the turkey.
For a modestly-priced Zinfandel, Albin recommends Old Vines Lot 47 by Marietta Cellars ($14), which he describe as “purely made, smooth, medium bodied and not too heavy.” It also features a lower-than-typical alcohol level for Zin—13.5% rather than the usual 15%—which he says will help avoid the over-full feeling that a heavier, more alcoholic wine can contribute to an already over-filling meal. Stepping up, he suggests the Ridge Vineyards Three Valleys 2006 ($24). Blended from four different grapes, with Zinfandel predominating, this is the lower price point bottle from a high-end California producer. Albin suggests it will please people who know their wines and will recognize the vineyard.
For Rieslings, the key is finding a nicely-balanced, refreshing choice. Albin suggests Dr. Loosen Dr. L Riesling 2007 ($13). Its hint of apple will complement the sweet and savory flavors that tend to combine at Thanksgiving. Higher-end Rieslings should offer an unctuous, almost oily mouth-feel; the Donnhoff Estate Riesling 2007 ($25) embodies this quality with a deep flavor and a just-right level of sweetness.
If none of those suggestions appeal, Albin offers some less expected choices. A California Pinot Noir, such as the Calera 2006 Central Coast ($28) would be most delicious. You won’t get through a conversation about red wines, though, without some discussion of the Italian options. Albin’s a big proponent of Italian wines, and he can give you a quick, and convincing, education while you browse. He describes them as having an “appealing earthiness” that appeals to fans of both French and California wines—two camps that can sometimes be bitterly divided. Kellerei, an Italian Pinot from the northern Alto Adige region ($27), has Albin captivated. If you’re looking for a budget wine for a large group, he has a Sicilian red, Calea Nero d’Avola 2007 ($11) that has a “nice open fruit.” And if you want to bring a splashy, expensive bottle, he swears you cannot go wrong with a quality Barbera.
If you prefer white, a Chablis, made in Burgundy from Chardonnay grapes, is brighter, and less buttery-tasting, than the oaky Chardonnays typically produced in California—and therefore a better match for turkey, which would be overpowered by a traditional California chardonnay. A good bottle can be had for around $20. Even a good rosé, says Albin, can work as a Thanksgiving wine, thanks to its bright, fruity quality. “Last year, ” he says, “at our house we served Bandol,” a Provencal rosé made primarily from the mourvedre grape.
But what if you want to go outside the box? Albin is a proponent of Prosecco, sparkling rosé or traditional Champagne, which are often overlooked for Thanksgiving. They will not only compliment the traditional Thanksgiving menu, but also lighten things up a bit, thanks to their effervescence. “Sparkling wine, even a rosé champagne, would be a beautiful thing to serve as people sit down,” he says. “The fruit nose matches the food, and it tantalizes people without filling them up too much.”
Champagne is also appropriate for dessert at Thanksgiving, but again, Albin suggests some unusual alternatives. Eric Bordelet, the sommelier at Restaurant Arpège in Paris has begun bottling sparkling cider (alcoholic) under an eponymous label (it’s on the menu at Jean-Georges in Manhattan), but thanks to Hudson Wine Merchants, it can be on your menu, too, and it’s under $16 per bottle. Or you might spring for either a port or an aged sherry—he carries a Pedro Don Ximenes, 1979 that he says has “unique flavors of kumquat skin and raisin”. The owners of the Hudson restaurant Swoon flipped over this one, and have been serving it poured over homemade vanilla ice cream, but it would be divine in tiny glasses with dessert next Thursday.
And what will Michael be bringing to his in-laws for this year’s Thanksgiving dinner? He smiles. “One of my favorite things is Burgundy, so I’ll probably bring a special Burgundy—because I love it. Hopefully they will, too.”
Hudson Wine Merchants
341½ Warren Street
Hudson, New York 12534
518.828.6411
Sunday & Monday: Noon - 7 PM | Tuesday - Saturday: 11 AM - 8 PM
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Dan Shaw on 11/21/08 at 07:47 AM • Permalink
A Vodka That’s Local to the Core
Tom Crowell and Derek Grout, partners in Harvest Spirits
First, you grow the apples. Then you turn them into cider. Then you take a lot of cider—five gallons more or less—add yeast, put it into a shine-y copper contraption that looks like something out of Willie Wonka, let it ferment, and after a few days of bubble, bubble, toil and trouble, presto! You’ve got yourself a quart of vodka.
If that sounds like an awful lot of bother, then you probably don’t have an awful lot of apples. But Derek Grout does, and it sounded great to him when his friend Tom Crowell suggested it. For three generations, Grout’s family has been growing apples at Golden Harvest Farms (it of the best-on-earth cider donuts—don’t argue, I know my cider donuts).
When Derek, who went to Northfield-Mount Herman and Cornell before launching a career in web design, returned to Columbia County a few years ago to help grow the family business, he didn’t have vodka in mind. Then one day, Crowell brought it up. “My day job is with the Columbia Land Conservancy doing farm land protection work,” Crowell says. “I had seen an article about the French tradition of fruit distillation. It occurred to me that this is another route that Hudson Valley farms could take to expand their businesses and keep farming viable.”
To Grout the idea made perfect sense. “We have plenty of apples and can press them year ‘round,” he says. Soon the friends had become business partners in Harvest Spirits. They took a seminar, viewed demonstrations, bought equipment, applied for a license. And while they were doing all this the farm/distillery phenom in the U.S. was taking off. When they started, in 2005, there were only 50 nationwide. By the time they were up-and-running last April, that number had tripled, though their’s remains the only one in New York State. And presently New York is the only state where it’s legal to buy Core, as their vodka is aptly called.
Though their product is marketed as “distilled in small batches,” they obviously don’t make it a bottle at a time, as described above. But they do cook it up in sufficiently small quantities—starting with 100 gallons of cider—that each bottle merits a small paste-on label with the batch and bottle number handwritten on it. In a world of depressing, mass-produced everything, it’s a heartening and classy touch.
Now the partners are talking about taking their operation green with wind-and-solar power. And there’s even some crazy speculation about combining the methanol that’s a natural by-product of fermentation with the old donut cooking oil to make tractor fuel. Says Grout, “It’s given me the passion to continue farming.”
Harvest Spirits
3074 U.S. Route 9, Valatie; 518.758.7683
Core vodka, available at Golden Harvest Farms, at the address above, also may be purchased at Kinderhook Liquors in the Hannaford shopping plaza in Valatie (pronouced Val-aye-sha, with the accent on the second syllable).
Enjoy this post? Share it with others.
Posted by Marilyn Bethany on 11/13/08 at 04:09 PM • Permalink
Lincoln Russell’s Love Letter to Burgundy
Lincoln Russell is a baby boomer with a school-boy crush. The Stockbridge photographer has crafted a sumptuous Valentine to the object of his affection, a coffee-table book called Adventures in Burgundy (Pinot Press; $50). He has visited France twenty times in the past three years to take photographs, but it’s been a heartbreaking relationship. “It’s a dubious accomplishment to develop a taste for wines that are not accessible,” says Russell, explaining how he was treated by some of the region’s leading vintners to rare and super-expensive bottles. “In the right circumstances wine can bring tears to your eyes,” he says, smiling broadly. “These nectars bring so much joy to your mouth, but it’s all contextual. You have to have the right food and setting. Only the Japanese care as much as the French do about what they put in their mouths.”
Adventures in Burgundy is an insider’s look at the ten families and vineyards that produce some of the world’s grandest wines. Russell, who does not even speak French, gained access by earning his hosts’ trust with his enthusiasm, patience, and humility. “I was so guileless—I had no idea who was their Beethoven and who was their Tchaikovsky,” says Russell, who often makes musical analogies (and published Seiji: An Intimate Portrait of Seiji Ozawa, which chronicled the life of the longtime Boston Symphony Orchestra musical director.) “They really delighted in the crazy American.”
He delighted in discovering his latent Francophila. “There is a wonderful relationship with the U.S. and France that goes back to Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin and continues with Josephine Baker, Jerry Lewis and now me,” he says. Russell’s book has only a few pages of text, because he believes in the power of pictures to tell a story and knows the limitations of words. “There’s nothing that sounds more like bullshit than wine talk if you don’t know what someone is talking about,” he says.
He thinks that anyone who loves our rural region is predisposed to appreciate the glories of Burgundy. He believes that living in the Berkshires made him acutely sensitive and sympathetic to the agricultural way of life. “I also live in a place with animals in the woods and sophisticated people that is three hours from one of the greatest cities on the planet,” he says. 
Russell is heading to France next week for a series of book parties, and he will be signing copies at The Book Shop in Lenox on November 29. “And then I am taking a road trip to California wine country with a Chevy Suburban full of books to sell,” he says. After charming the French winemakers, winning over the Californians should be easy.
Lincoln Russell’s Adventures in Burgundy
Book Signing on November 29 at 2 PM
The Book Store
11 Housatonic Street, Lenox, MA
(0) Comments
