An Evening in Provence: Food and Wine

By Stephanie Ninaud

Lovers of good food and travel would sooner eat their way through Provence than read about it. Your chance to do more than read about it is the Enological Society's version of a Provençal festival. Food designers have created the menu. We are also working on tasting of other foods and preserves not on this menu. There is contact with the local French community on entertainment to lend an air of authenticity to the ambience. One's imagination can always run to images of Cezanne's paintings of craggy hillsides dotted with stucco farmhouses with red tiled roofs, or the sunflowers and starry nights of Van Gogh. Don't forget scents of garlic and lavender!

The Wines of the Sun
The wine management team is combing through local warehouses for the best selection possible. Some 25 different estate bottlings will be available for attendees' tasting pleasure. The Hollywood Schoolhouse venue will be fully utilized, both the lower and upper levels, for tasting your way through the vines and microclimates of Provence. Don't miss fabulous French products for sale and door prizes from an exclusive list of local importers. Keep in mind that a limited amount of the wines tasted will all be available for sale that evening at the BEST PRICE IN TOWN!

Both the making and the drinking of wines are integral parts of life in Provence, being natural companions for the distinctive regional cuisine. Coming down from the north of France, there are a number of places where you will see vines with the Mediterranean Sea just beyond. There are also numerous small valleys where a wanderer can drive around among small farms and end up on an unpaved road. It is in these places many of the true wines of Provence are created. By people who have mixed farms who do not go to the corner grocery every time they want something. They scratch out their living and sustenance from the rocky soil, where water is considered a precious thing. The sunlight is ample and generous, filling the huge blue sky.

Many of these growing areas (Provence was considered second only to Bordeaux) were absolutely ravaged by phylloxera, that louse which kills the vines by infecting the soil. This was well over 100 years ago, and it took decades for the replanting to turn out the high quality wines we know today from this region. For instance, take the appellation Bandol. Here Mourvedre is king, as it was in pre-phylloxera times. It is the meantime that we have to take note. By 1941 a lot of mediocre wine was being made from varieties with fairly high yields. A few bottles of the sturdy wine made before the vines became diseased had survived. It was discovered that the wine was an example of true vin de terroir, which merited a drive to define a new appellation Bandol contrôlée. The Mourvedre vines (which had originally been brought from Spain) were replanted and bylaws enacted with percentages to qualify as wine from the new appellation.

Plan to try a white, dry rose and red from Bandol, the wine region named for a once-sleepy, charming fishing village on the sea. There will be examples from none other than the famed Domaine Tempier. The red from this property is touted as the greatest and longest-lived red wine from this area. A very small amount of white is made here and this will also be on the tasting card.

The Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence is another area where some very good wines for the money are made. One of the universally acknowledged top producers is Domaine de Trévallon. From out of the craggy hillsides near the medieval town of Les Baux a robust and exciting wine is created. The 1998 vintage (a stunning year for the southern Rhone and Provence) will be open for tasters to savor with their lamb sandwich.

Not forgetting the white wines that go so well with the fish soups, bouillabaisse, and local specialties such as sea snails (I believe my husband ordered them!) with garlic mayonnaise. One of the most distinctive would have to be the Clos Ste.-Magdeleine from the seaside town of Cassis. The vineyard is on a strip of limestone soil that literally nearly falls off into the Mediterranean. This wine has a distinctive character that is lent by the blend of Ugni Blanc, Marsanne, Clairette with a little Sauvignon.
From the Coteaux Varois appellation, which was created only in 1993, the Château Routas is one of the best producers. Traveling about an hour east of Aix, you will see a huge old basilica from the roadway. It is in the hills behind that some old and interesting vineyards can be found. The estate was purchased with the intent of restoring the vineyards and seeing what the Grenache and Syrah could become. The swashbuckling 2000 Syrah will be open for tasting.

Here's a full list of the wines. Your ticket price INCLUDES all foods and wine tasting.

Hopefully the menu and the wines mentioned will get you moving to purchase your tickets. The venue is not large enough to accommodate more than about 200 people. The Spanish event sold out last spring, so act soon in order not to miss out on this very special event. Advance ticket sales only.

A Bientot!

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