I Love French Wine and Food - A Midi Viognier

I Love French Wine and Food - A Provence Bandol

If you are looking for fine French wine and food, consider the world famous Provence region in southeastern France. You may even find a bargain wine in this sun-drenched ideal tourist location, marred only by the number of tourists. I hope that you'll have fun on this fact-filled wine education tour of this French candidate for paradise in which we review a local red wine based on the red Mourvedre grape.

Among France's eleven wine-growing regions Provence ranks ninth in acreage if you include the island of Corsica, which most people do in spite of their considerable differences. Provence is synonymous with rose wine, and although its percentage is declining, happily according to many wine lovers. Over 50% of Provence wine is rose, or as some might say, pink. Many of its wines are pink and flabby, but others are not. The region is home to dozens of grape varieties, often not found elsewhere. With an average of three thousand hours of sun a year, a lot of Provence wines taste baked.

I Love French Wine and Food - A Touraine (Loire Valley) White

If you are looking for fine French wine and food, consider the Loire Valley region of central France. You may find a bargain, and I hope that you'll have fun on this fact-filled wine education tour in which we review a white Sauvignon Blanc-Chardonnay from Touraine in the eastern part of the region.

Among France's eleven wine-growing regions the Loire Valley ranks third in total acreage devoted to vineyards. Given that France's longest river the Loire runs for 620 miles (one thousand kilometers) across the country, in many ways it could be thought of as a series of regions. Here they are running from west to east: Nantais whose primary grape is the white Muscadet, Anjou-Saumur whose primary grapes are the white Chenin Blanc and the red Cabernet Franc, Touraine whose primary white grapes are Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc and whose primary red grape is Cabernet Franc, and Central Vineyards whose primary white grape is Sauvignon Blanc and whose primary red grape is Pinot Noir. We will try to review at least one wine from each of these four areas.

I Love Italian Wine and Food - Northern Veneto

If you are looking for a European tourist destination, consider the Veneto region of northern Italy on the Gulf of Venice. Venice is of course its best-known city and one of the most popular tourist destinations on earth. But the Veneto region has a lot more to offer. You'll find many, many excellent tourist attractions and you won't have to fight huge crowds. With a little luck you'll avoid tourist traps and come back home feeling that you have truly visited Italy. This article examines tourist attractions in northern Veneto. Be sure to read our companion articles on southern Veneto, on that Shakespearean city of Verona, and on the university city of Padua.

We start our tour of northern Veneto in Marostica, northeast of Vicenza and northwest of Venice. Then we head basically east, first to Bassano del Grappa, on to Asolo, and finally southeast to Treviso.

I Love French Wine and Food - A Rhone Valley Crozes-Hermitage

If you are looking for fine French wine and food, consider the Rhone Valley region of southeastern France. You may find a bargain, and I hope that you'll have fun on this fact-filled wine education tour in which we review a Crozes-Hermitage red wine from the northern Rhone Valley.

Among France's eleven wine-growing regions the Rhone Valley ranks second in acreage. The region extends 125 miles (200 kilometers) along the Rhone River. This region is actually composed of two parts, the north and the south whose wines tend to be quite different. The northern Rhone Valley is quite narrow. Its major red grape variety is Syrah, while its major white variety is Viognier. The northern Rhone Valley produces some of the best red wines in all France, and according to its fan club, some of the best red wines on earth. The southern Rhone Valley produces about 95% of the Rhone Valley wines. This is the kingdom of grape blending. For example the famous Chateauneuf-Du-Pape AOC wine may be made from up to thirteen different grape varieties.

St. Patrick's Day All Year Long

Once during a St. Patrick's Day pub crawl, I saw a bruiser of a man swagger down the street wearing an ill-fitting dress and a lopsided wig, his face painted bright green. When some revelers on a balcony howled at him, he turned, lifted the back of his skirt and mooned them. We all discovered that his face wasn't the only thing he'd painted green! The partiers on the balcony roared with approval and raised their glasses filled with green-dyed beer to salute what they perceived to be his Irish chutzpah.
This didn't happen in Ireland, and quite frankly, none of it had anything to do with St. Patrick's Day. Not really. The Irish don't spend the day getting knee-walking drunk on green-dyed beer. In fact, they're not prone to paint anything green on the occasion that honors their patron saint.
Traditionally, the Irish celebrated St. Patrick's Day as Americans would Thanksgiving. Families began the day at church, then gathered at someone's home for a special meal. While the day has metamorphosed into a celebration of national pride, for the Irish it's still about the food and the fellowship.

I Love French Wine and Food - A Bordeaux Rose

Regional food of France

Mexican Cuisine- The many Moles of Mexico

I personally love moles, but honestly I like some of them better than others. My favorite is the Mole Blanco (white mole) not very famous or popular yet, then the Mole Negro, (black mole) which is one of the Oaxacan varieties, Mole Poblano.

You may have a recipe for a mole but each time one is prepared each chili and seed gives the mole its own flavor, aroma and thickness. No two moles are ever alike or taste exactly the same. The chilies in the sauce are not going to have same "picante", (spice or heat). Chilies of the same type may be hotter, bigger or thicker so recipe amounts do not produce the same results.