Getting Started

Well, it is a new year, the construction site that existed on the terrace has been displaced elsewhere and we can see the snow that is falling in Paris (we’re not mentioning what has completely blocked up London – please, 15 centimeters of snow?? it’s 6 inches and they’ve closed the country. New Yorkers are snickering in their sleeves; imagine what they are doing in places like Buffalo and St. Paul.), but we digress. The point was that it is time to start a new blog. Those of you who love long and twisted stories will need to continue to keep up with Eating & Drinking While Traveling.
The rest of you are here for the wine. It will be mostly a Burgundy story, but we promise to let other regions, not just in France but throughout the world, shine whenever possible. The writings will be subjective, as all blogs must inherently be but you are welcome to comment on our entries and those of your fellow readers. We hope this brings new and welcome information into your world.
The goal is to gather a club around the blog that allows us to participate in startlingly cheaper wine prices in France. Because the American system of controls on the importation and distribution of alcohol and wines is archaic to the point of idiotic (good wine was probably cheaper during Prohibition times), a vast number of people must ‘touch’ your wine before you can pour a glass and we are not even addressing the restaurant business. Eventually, this club, The Insiders’ Wine Club, will be payant, you’ll have to join like any other decent club, and, like other clubs, will offer certain perks and benefits such as:
Access to a regularly changing list of drinkable wine;
Reduced purchase prices on these wines;
Wine tastings and tasting notes;
Discounts on wine dinners in Paris and New York; and
Wine tourism,
among other things.
An important distinction to understand is ‘drinkable wine.’ Drinkable wine is wine that provides us with the sensations expected and imagined by the producer. The three most important are color, smell and taste. It is the belief of this humble blogger that consuming wine before it is buvable, or drinkable, is a waste of wine. While there is some wine, maybe much wine, that should be wasted, we will not be ‘clubbing’ around that sort. To understand wine and how and when it may arrive at the state of buvable, a fair amount of wine must be degusted, tasted, but do not think of that as waste but as entrainment.
That said, be sure to let us know your thoughts and interests for this club. We’ll be back soon to discuss a dinner tasting of California wines.
Until then….

PS: Despite what the American news channels are saying, all the snow in Paris melted hours ago. It is only in London that they are still flailing about in the slush.