As you might have noticed by now, I am a native Californian, so it’s easy to surmise how crazy “Snowmageddon” is for me. Snow itself is still sort of a foreign concept, so 30 INCHES of it is strange, indeed. This is the view from my fifth-floor window in DC:
That being said, I went to Trader Joe’s on Thursday to stock up on foodstuffs. Unfortunately, everyone and their mothers (literally) had the same idea, and the line wrapped all the way around the inside of the store and down the oils/pastas/nuts/dried fruits aisle. Yikes!
What was more pleasant for me was going to MacArthur Beverages (as chronicled in a recent post) and then to Ansonia Wines to pick up some wine. I’ve had the opportunity to have a friend or two over with whom to brave the cold, and we’ve gone through a few bottles of wine.
The first one was the Kermit Lynch CdR, which I’ve described previously as a joyous, joyful wine. Having finished that bottle (thanks, Christine!), I moved on next to a cru Beaujolais, the 2008 Domaine du Vissoux “Poncié” Fleurie ($21.99). Owned by Martine and Pierre-Marie Chermette, who are pioneers of sustainable viticulture in the Beaujolais region, this domaine produces a number of terrific wines. The Poncié was light and aromatic, smelling of violets. It was full of red fruit–think strawberry or raspberry–but ended with a nice suggestion of minerals and stone. All-around great light wine, though ultimately not as expressive as other cru Beaujolais I’ve had in the past.
The next wine, which I opened to have with yesterday’s home-cooked dinner of turkey meatloaf, roasted brussels sprouts, and mashed potatoes, was the 2007 Domaine Saint Gayan Côtes du Rhône ($12.99). Phil from MacArthur Beverages recommended this wine to me as a very good, inexpensive example of CdR. Man, what a great wine! Classic Côtes du Rhône nose of berries and herbs, tasting of boysenberry, licorice, and earth, solid acidity with pleasant tannins. Juicy but also dark. Very warming. I would HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this wine and am strongly considering going back to MacArthur to buy a half-case of this for the next few weeks of cold weather.
The snow is falling outside. I am listening to some good jazz and drinking the remainder of the Saint Gayan. Soon I’ll have leftover turkey meat loaf and mashed potatoes. Snowmageddon ain’t so bad after all.
Vinicultured: A Wine Blog 
Ooh, I believe this is my very first shout out! Love it! More tonight, hopefully if I can finish my Judge Grenadier brief.
aint so bad? – snowmageddon was the best weekend in dc yet
@Christine: indeed! I’ll have to write up the Riesling and the Rioja soon.
@Steve: seriously. This was like one big holiday. Unfortunately, tomorrow will be like one big pain in the ass because I haven’t done any work all weekend. =(
Hey Joon,
How easy it to find the wines you’ve been specifically calling out for us to go out and try? Could I just take the names down and head to the local wine shop and expect to find a bottle? Or do you have specific guidelines on how to obtain certain kinds of bottles?
This is more of a general question, I guess – as someone who doesn’t have a regular wine supply I don’t really know what to do with wine advice, and I want to change that. This CdR sounds great!
Hey James,
I’m thinking that it shouldn’t be too hard in New York! The Chelsea Wine Vault has a number of great selections, as does Astor Wines near NYU. I believe they both have online search features, or you could call them and ask whether they have a particular bottle in stock.
Or, you could look up wines on http://www.wine-searcher.com/, which is how I find some rarer wines in DC. The results on Wine Searcher for the Domaine Saint Gayan are as follow:
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/gayan/1/usa-ny
Happy hunting!
Joon