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I'll Drink to That! What is your favorite beverage to have with a cigar? Juice? Cola? Beer? Port? Single Malt Scotch? This room is for the discussion of beverages, especially alcoholic beverages that go well with cigars!

 
 
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Old 08-23-2009, 05:00 AM   #1
jazznut
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One white and one red...

Yesterday's wine-shopping list ended up including a couple of 'try me' impulse buys. And what better way to put those never-before tasted finds to the test than at a leisurely paced dinner gathering on a neighbourhood restaurant terrace. Fortunately, the weather cooperated, the forecast rains holding off until well past the time we'd all finished our desserts and coffees, and ambled on home.

First, the white... Château Beaubois 2007 Elégance blanc Costières de Nîmes, Boyet-Mouret. I served this well balanced mélange of Viognier and Rousanne with the opening course (variously a cream of vegetable soup or a garden salad with vinaigrette), and immediately took note of its nice marriage of exotic fruits, citrus and spice. Everyone else seemed to enjoy its charms, too. Along with Michel Gassier’s Château de Nages Cuvée Joseph Torres blanc from the same region of southern France, this one’s now firmly on my repeat purchase list.

Now, onto the red… Domaine de la Janasse 2006 Vin de Pays Principauté d’Orange Terre de Bussiére rouge. This wine is, in fact, the entry level cuvee of the Domaine de la Janasse stable, which also includes properties in the Côtes du Rhône, most notably in Châteauneuf du Pape. Created back in the 1970s by Aimé Sabon, the enterprise is now largely run by son Christophe and daughter Isabelle, who are beginning to adopt organic practices in the vineyards.

The Sabon family’s red 2006 Vin de Pays comprises a blend of 55% Merlot, 25% Syrah, 10% Grenache and 10% Cabernet, and appears a brilliant purple red in the glass. The uplifted aroma emits scents of blackberries, blackcurrants and toasted oak with perhaps a hint of chocolate lurking in the background. On the palate, there is a silky smooth blast of berry fruit at the outset. Then, the wine gains greater grip as the underlying tannins and enlivening acidity take hold. The wine comes across as very fresh, clean and long. It proved a superb match for my duck confit in a raspberry and caramelized onion reduction sauce. And given that the Sabon’s Châteauneuf du Pape, widely acknowledged as one of the finest examples of that particular appellation, now fetches in excess of $100CDN locally, I see myself stocking up on more of their entry level wine!

Two very satisfying experiences, each clocking in at under $20CDN. If you happen to see either, give it a whirl.
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