bicycle gourmet

Virtually every French Loire Chateau has -as do almost all French Chateaus – a marketable feature. A unique “something” (or something presented as such) designed to snare the attention of Chateau surfers. Something more than the age of it’s stones or how many nobles were born, died or murdered there.

Chenonceau – The rivalry between Catherine di Medici and Diane de Poitiers. Islette – The tempestuous romance of Rodin and Camille Claudel. Amboise – The Leonardo di Vinci connection.(Now the town’s major industry.) OK – you’re getting my drift. Are you not?

But, for me, the French Chateau that takes the cake(and the topping cherry) in the Chateau Marketing sweepstakes is the Chateau du Ussé.(rhymes with “Lucy”) While it’s not ON the Loire, it is in the Loire Valley in the neighbouring district of Touraine. (Pronounced “Tor- En”)Famous for it’s woodsy Gamay Wines.
Although a river does not run through it. A small but pleasant one, does run parallel to it on the opposite side of the road .

But clearly, those facts, fascinating as they may be, do not make Chateau Ussé the King of the Chateau marketing hill.The one that does begins with those classic advertising copywriting words : “Legend has it.”

And in for Chateau Ussé in particular “Legend has it” that Charles Perrault, the Author of the classic tale of the unstoppable power of love – “Sleeping Beauty” was inspired to, and did in fact, create said tome at Chateau Ussé. (You probably guessed Walt Disney, right?) )

And yes, high atop the Chateau, there is an entire chambre devoted to the re-creation of the Prince placing his Princely lips, ever so tenderly, on those of the Sleeping Beauty. Sadly, you can’t enter this glassed in scene. But you can ooh and ahh through the glass.

But wait -there’s more! A whole lot more. Continuing to vamp on the “Life in the 19th century” theme, throughout the Chateau mannequins faithfully attired in 19th century costumes are presented in a variety of scenes. From drawing room to laundry room. And beyond.

Truly one of the most imaginative and authentic representations of “Life in another time” I’ve experienced in my not unsubstantial French Chateau travels.

I think visitors(and I include myself here) reasonate particularly with these presentations, because they allow us to view “Life in another time” that is much closer to ours. Not dusty,unconfirmed “legends” from 500 years ago; that soul stirring/imagination firing as they may be, don’t make the same connection.

You can make your Sleeping Beauty connection in this video:

THROW ME A BONE HERE, PEOPLE!
What are ya thinkin’?

The Godfather of Corsican Wine – Betcha never thought there was one didya? Well DA BG is sayin’ there is. Only this Godfather is only legally French. But, emotionally and patriotically, He’s Corsican. ( Remember that little isalnd off the coast of France with a Strong Italian heritage?  Strong with a capital “S.”)

Eric Asimov of the New York Times has the full monty on the Godfather of Corsican Wine.

“PATRIMONIO, France — Antoine Arena was a promising law student in Paris in 1975 when the Corsican independence movement took a violent turn.

Hearing of armed battles between France and secessionists, Mr. Arena decided to quit law school. In protest, he would return to this small village in the northeast of Corsica, where his family had lived for generations. He would grow grapes and make wine.

“Everyone thought I was crazy,” Mr. Arena recalled as we walked along the steep slope of his Carco Vineyard last month. To the south in the distance, snowcapped mountains loomed. To the west, the cool blue Mediterranean beckoned. The sinuous Corsican coastline is among the most beautiful in the world, but almost no place on the island is immune from the baleful stare of the mountains.

“After I quit law studies, my father didn’t talk to me for a month,” Mr. Arena continued. “Nobody believed in viticulture. The only ones who stayed in viticulture were the ones who couldn’t succeed anywhere else.”

From that unpromising beginning, Mr. Arena went on to become a godfather of Corsican wine. Along with a few other influential pioneers, like Christian Imbert of Domaine de Torraccia and Jean-Charles Abbatucci of Domaine Comte Abbatucci, Mr. Arena has helped make Corsica one of the most exciting and distinctive wine regions in the world.

What makes Corsican wine so unusual? For one thing, the island culture shapes both the personality of the wine and the character of the winemakers. Corsica offers a melting pot of soils: limestone and clay primarily in the north, granite mostly in the south, sandstone and volcanic soils in the center. The climate is both maritime and continental, heavily influenced by the mountains. Winds are constant, including the famous Mistral from the northwest and the hot Sirocco from the south, countering the dampening effect of frequent sudden rains. And the people? Proud, fierce and independent barely begins to describe them.

“Corsica is very complicated,” said Yves Canarelli of Clos Canarelli, who makes pure precise wines from Figari and Bonifacio in the south. “It is French, but it is not. First we are Corsican, then we are French. When you’re an island, you think differently than the continent.”

This tension plays out endlessly on the island, where road signs are written in French and Corsican, but the French is habitually spray-painted over. And it’s evident in Corsica’s host of indigenous grapes, which bear a close genetic resemblance to mainland Italian and French grapes yet offer completely different expressions.

Niellucciu, the leading red grape in the north, is genetically identical to sangiovese, but Mr. Arena’s Morta Maio Patrimonio Rouge, 100 percent niellucciu, tastes like no Chianti. It’s a complex aromatic feast of red fruit and earth, pure, energetic and graceful, with streaks of flowers, herbs and minerals and a touch of funk.

In the south, the leading red grape is sciaccarellu, a facsimile of mammolo, a grape generally used for blending in central Italy. On Corsica, though, it is known for its elegance and complexity — “Corsican pinot noir,” in the words of Sébastien Poly of Domaine U Stiliccionu, who farms about 17 acres outside of Ajaccio in the south. His 2012 Damianu, made entirely of sciaccarellu, is simply beautiful, a savory mouthful of red fruit flavors you don’t want to stop drinking.

All over Corsica, the major white grape is vermentinu, which, of course, is Corsican for vermentino (known also as rolle in southern France). Corsican vermentinu tastes nothing like mainland versions. The 2010 Granit Blanc from Domaine de Vaccelli, not far from U Stiliccionu, is a precise, lip-smacking, stony mouthful, while the 2009 Blanc from Clos Venturi, in the interior of the island near Corte, is voluminous and rich, yet with a lovely mineral tang. From the north, on a granite-and-clay plateau overlooking Calvi, Camille-Anaïs Raoust of Domaine Maestracci makes a fresh, lightly smoky, deliciously austere vermentinu called E Prove Blanc.”

Read more HERE.

THROW ME A BONE HERE, PEOPLE!

What are ya thinkin’?