R.I.P. : DON MERLOT

Ron Alonzo

Ron Alonzo

De Gustibus non est disputandum

To us at The PJ, he was "Don Merlot," our resident epicure. For several years, Don sliced and diced — and uncorked — the best of dining for the blog. He reminisced. He mused. He longed for other times. And, from his base in New Orleans, he also unraveled the international intrigue of cuisine, bringing personal experience and erudition to his critique. (He was a member of Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin). Readers admired Don's ability to link a palate, developed over more than fifty years in Europe and in North and South America, to modern tastes.

Don/Ron was also friend.

We will sorely miss him!

By Rod Alonzo

We lost my father, Ronald Thomas Alonzo Ratcliff, earlier this week after a very brief illness. All who knew him are reflecting on the joy he brought to their lives. He grew up in Mexico City whose rich mosaic of culture infused his sense of music, food, and history and whetted his appetite for further adventures.

Both of his parents (Alice Ratcliff and Rosendo Alonzo) grew up in Topeka, Kansas and, as a result, he grew up with a cosmopolitan sense of the city along with a breadbasket vibe of the Midwest. Having an Anglo mother and a Mexican father created a lifelong dialogue about identity.

Our houses were always decorated with Aztec calendars and sarapes (even though he was half Scottish). When he was fourteen, his parents sent him to Staunton Military School in Virginia. His history teachers captured his imagination and inspired him to learn more about the wider world.

FOOD & WINE — AND OTHER OBSERVATIONS

MARCO POLO AKA DON MERLOT

Fly on the wall – by Don Merlot aka – Ron Alonzo Notes & thoughts on food and wine from Ron Alonzo aka Don Merlot[1]

 In June I traveled out of town and left New Orleans for the first time since COVID hit in 2020, and we left on my birthday (and Paul McCartney’s birthday too) – June 18 (1942) – he born in Britain, and I born in Mexico, so we were both 79 on this day; and I say since he was born first that he got first dibs on everything, but as I look back, I cannot complain I have had a great life, great family, great experiences, traveled the world – became a Marco Polo & a Renaissance Man, so no complaints.

We took I-10 and here I was escaping COVID captivity; traveling East to Florida, and on the first day we went as far as Tallahassee. We are on our way to spend some time in Florida: see friends and Denise has a family reunion and I am working and thinking on how to go forward with my wine journey – Fly on the Wall - and taking a 2021 perspective. But first let’s comment on my birthday: we found an OUTBACK in Tallahassee and had some Aussie wine and beef steak from the barbie. 

The drinks menu was presented, and my experience of wine from my visits to Australia made me think of my Wine paradigm: and I looked at the wine offering to make the selection: a glass of Chardonnay, a glass of Medium red – Shiraz & a glass of Moscato – which went with dessert, an excellent chocolate cake dessert. It was a good repast & birthday celebration. (This is an escape after the hip replacement, rehabilitation, & physical therapy: re learning how to walk - avoiding a Parkinson’s gait I developed and get out of our COVID stalag encampment, so rather than just flying – ( I flew for 43 years, and now I try to avoid flying & we decided to rent a car and drive to see old chums along the way. “This was easier said than done”… n’est pas? - Cars for rentals are very scarce because rental companies sold their car stock because one could not travel & their useless autos were not rentable; because of the covid shutdown; the foodservice outlets are not at full staff so there is a labor shortage either; but as my famous historical line goes, “other than that Mrs. Lincoln did you enjoy the play?” We laughed it up & muddled through everything… 

A Funny Thing

Zero Mostel

Fly on the Wall

TRIPPING TO THE FORUM

WITH DON MERLOT

By Don Merlo

[aka Ron Alonzo]

 

Notes & thoughts on food and wine [1]

 

“A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum” – a line from Zero Mostel[2],  a comedian from 1960s and a line I wanted to borrow for this edition of the “Fly on the Wall;” it is my reaction to what is happening now in 2021 that struck me of that statement some 50 years ago. The coming of 2021 emerging from 2020 Covid pandemic. When I was young to now,  how did I go from drinking jug wine:  Gallo- Hearty Burgundy,  Liebfraumilch in brown bottles, and Lancers Rosé  (and Mateus Rosé) in ceramic bottles in th 60s to drinking Burgundies of the Cote d’Or, Bordeaux’s of Médoc and  Pomerol, & traveling to Paris eating in restaurants and drinking pichet’s of Sancerre and Beaujolais on Champs Elysée in 1969 & in the 70s? I absorbed and picked up an awareness of fine wine with fine food: I found out what Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling meant to  fine wine and they paired with fine dining. I was selling Ice Makers to a French Distributor (importer of our ice makers) that distributed our products in France, Switzerland, Spain, and Germany and all were bastions of fine food, liquor, and wine. My education came from  casual experiences, and I read books on wines, and was lucky enough to travel and taste many local wines and eat the local specialties. In my transformation,  I never aspired to become  a sommelier and over time I concluded that I just did not have a fine tongue or nose that would make up the requirements to be a professional wine taster, with a discriminating palate as I observed that the sommeliers had.  

FLY ON THE WALL by Don Merlot

WINE ME UP BUTTERCUP

Notes & Thoughts on Food and Wine from Ron Alonzo aka Don Merlot

Written and completed - October 17, 2020

New Orleans

Summer has come and gone, Autumn has arrived; we are in the middle of Hurricane season here in New Orleans; in July the COVID crisis that had consumed the country had peaked and local New Orleans hospitals opened up to non Covid activity so I took the opportunity to have surgery and I had my right hip replaced. I call it this economic social period: “Corona Virus 2020 the great unknown” and during stage 1 it was impossible to shop for wines because the new store openings were delayed until it was safe to allow customers to personally shop; but the paradigm of an open society I sensed was definitely changing and as I convalesced & recovered from my surgery the city retail markets opened up and by September I felt safe and was finally able to personally visit a wine purveyor that was new to the New Orleans market - & that is new in town to buy a selection of Summer wines by Labor Day. Finally, I could visit the wine shop in town – Total Wine – and see what the New Orleans offering was. I had my list of recommended 2020 wines, grabbed my new walking cane, and walked down the new store aisles in search of all selection of wines. I can imagine for a new store in a new market for them, it is hard to forecast what wines would be available for this COVID 19 Summer & they would only have history on New Orleans wine sales.

FLY ON THE WALL

Notes & Thoughts on Food and Wine

from Ron Alonzo aka Don Merlot¹

Sometimes I do not listen as intently as I should. I was talking to my friend Ruben, a companion on my Marco Polo travels, it dawned on me that this was going to be one of those days and I should listen carefully and not challenge him or seem like I am talking back to him. Listen. Pay attention to what his views are & perspectives are; forget what my perspectives are. Do not give any indication that am trying to be contrarian to his conclusions. He has just told me that he does not like Cabernet Sauvignon with Steak. Period. He finds that the wine overwhelms the beef he is eating, and he prefers a wine with less tannin; his preference is other red wines – Shiraz & or Pinot Noir from Oregon. We are good friends, but so this is not a good moment to be a smart ass and get technical, so I retreat and do some homework.


I searched my memory cells to remember how I approached my experience with Cabernet Sauvignon and matching it with food and comparing it to matching it with food experiences. To me the Conundrum was Shiraz because that was an Australian grape derived from the Syrah grape which came from France. My experience when I started was slightly different because I preferred the Pinot Noir of Burgundy over the Cabernet Sauvignon² of Bordeaux of Medoc – so would that be comparing apples and oranges? That was at totally different argument altogether – the argument between Bordeaux and Burgundy (Cote d’Or). I began to wonder if this had something to do with the tannins. The best way to explain tannin I found is that tannin tastes like a cold cup of tea – a taste of the dark brew - cold liquid in a teacup that has a bitter taste and that is tannin at its worst- bitter taste. This is a taste found in red grapes as they are picked and have tannin in their skin and as they vinify and age, they become softer and mellow. A Great Bordeaux must age so 12 years + in a bottle before you pop the cork.

FLY ON THE WALL

Notes & thoughts on food and wine
 from Ron Alonzo aka Don Merlot¹….

As we are locked in due to the Corona virus (COVID 19) – I thought how I would jump in to 2020 wine world and get myself up to speed with where the wine world is. I looked at my pile of wine magazines and food & wine books/notes were to see how I want to go forward. The December edition of “Wine Spectator” reviewed the “2019 top 100”² wines (of the world) 2019 and included the top 10 wines of the previous decade - good examination of finding out where wines of the 50 years have appreciated. I have a current perspective that I own now, so what is the world appreciation? I accept that it is different than other amateur or professional oenologists. I recognize that other perspectives have their truths also, and I respect that as well. My sense is that I have been absorbed into a “renaissance” of wine following the second world War and the rebuilding of Europe and Asia and the industrial/economic world in the twentieth Century. My wine template grew as I went as I traveled from market to market tasting and dining with each customer’s and studied their local culture. Soon I found wine magazines; became global and wine interests became global and over the 50 years and patterns evolved; basic concords & agreements were accorded. To me the fundamentals & rituals of wine culture that were just more than the local daily wine consumption or national consumption: it became the special wines for special occasions and I learned from the classic French wines that were the most rewarding as I traveled from France & Britain and to other parts of the globe; so I became familiar with Bordeaux’s (Red) Red & Whites (Burgundies, Loire’s). Eventually in the USA California wines came up to vita vinifera expectations and as I traveled European Wines excelled as did other wines from major vineyards from around the world. Of course, on a personal note I was limited because I had to be careful because I had expense account spending limits for personal and business expenses, so these were kept to the personal and company guidelines. Sure, a customer would occasionally pull a bottle out of his cellar and or order a special bottle out of the restaurant cellar for me that I could never expense and shared it with me; I remember one time being with the big boss when I was at my first company when he was with his old customer who invited out for dinner in London that ordered a wine, -- it was a Ch. Lafite-Rothschild (premiere wine in the world). I almost fell out of my chair. What a treat an unexpected pleasure for me. On the same trip a few days later we were in Lausanne, Switzerland doing business with our European representative who hosted us and he ordered a Rhone wine -- a Hermitage which was to me a phenomenal red, (also a Premier French wine); a first for me It went with a roast beef dinner – magnificent meal, an exceptional meal. On other trips I had similar experiences in Spain and Italy when customers who were proud of their wines would dig deep in the restaurant cellars or their cellars and pull their favorite red wines. (In Spain I had Riojas/Tempranillos. In Italy, the Barolo/Nebbiolo which at one time was considered the king of the Red Italian wines.) World Wine rankings not popular at this point for the cognoscenti, but the customers were knowledgeable of their country’s wine and knew of my bent-on learning about wine, so they gave me a taste of what was available at that time where we ate. So, my taste buds were opened to the local classics, but that was then times past and move on so now let us get on with the present.

DON MERLOT SPILLS FORTH

Notes & thoughts on food and wine

from Ron Alonzo aka Don Merlot¹….

3 April 2020 New Orleans.

My Perspective, I find it is a like a fly landing on fly paper and it sticks to it just as you want it to get trapped ; it is just like an idea that you want to get across. When you think you thought it up and captured the idea and then you find someone else has an idea and has trapped it fly on paper; You find your idea is not unique anymore. The idea has changed & your thinking has taken a different direction. Suddenly, the idea is accepted and accepted as their idea. That is the way I grew with wine over the years and my travels - always chasing new wine ideas like flies on the wall, elusive flies on the wall, ideas and wines.

So, now my daily task is to see what wines I should have with my main meal, given the conditions that I must consider now that I have reached the ripe old age of 77 and have diet and calorie restrictions, n’est pas? I know I cannot have more than two glasses of wine per day – 4 ounces each – sometimes I have one red and one white for me: Denise likes Carmenére (red) and I like Malbec (red) so I buy a liter and a half of Chilean Concha y Toro which lasts a week for each . And for the white we both like Sauvignon Blanc Concha y Toro, no argument there, so we get a liter and a half of that; start with a maybe two ounces of white and then have a red depending if we have Shrimp or fish as a starter or in a salad. Denise does weight watchers and I am doing a bariatric diet tied in to controlling my diabetes guidelines(under control the last two years – lost over 50 pounds the last 18 months.[ I miss my carbohydrates, corn products – tortillas, tacos, tamales, corn bread, pozole, pasta, linguini al pesto, baguette bread, etc. My daily calorie intake is 1200 calories which is controlled daily with “calorie counter”. I go to the gym daily – well almost and burn off 600 to 800 calories but the COVID 19 Scourge is killing me; no gym- its closed and no exercise –so we are locked in].

DON MERLOT UNCORKED

By Don Merlot 


Id-so-facto: Thoughts on food and wine

March 10, 2020

Don Merlot

Ralph Carreño

This last Christmas 2019 my Daughter Micaela gave me the new edition of Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book 2020. Johnson has been one my favorite wine guides since the 1980’s, albeit,  not my only wine mentor;  but when as I traveled I could stick his pocket sized edition in my attaché case and when I was alone I pulled it out and I could read it as a novel of untold adventures of places I have visited, wines I had drunk, repasts I had consumed and/or places I had visited or was about to visit. I learned to understand the definition of varietals, flavors, smells, colors, cultures, and vocabulary. I now understood why every wine growing country believes that they grow and produce the best wine on earth, and probably rightly so, including states within the United States of America, & wine producing countries:  Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Peru. Why not?, I have been to all of them and they produce quality wines and in a blind tasting it is hard to taste the regional differences sometimes of the vin ordinaire as the  heart and soul of the vintner that is in the nectar of their wine. In looking over my Library I found my first book the vintage Wine Book by William S. Leedom 1963 (Vintage Books Random House) and back in 1970 it cost me $1.95.  My first career boss and bosses had lived in France or Europe and had the savoir faire of wine and food and the culture and as a neophyte it was passed on to me as I joined the company and started my career. 

As I started my journey, I really had to differentiate between what the learned wine experts – connoisseurs said were the best and what wines I tasted and liked, and I preferred. I had to learn not to like something because it was recognized as the best but because it pleased my senses, as I was lucky enough at that stage to be able to afford it and taste it. I kept logs and noted my comments and saved the labels and kept several books by country and regions. Prior to starting a career, I had encountered several occasions of having wine, as a participant. When I grew up at home, we had Wine with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. In College my roommate Bob Lightfoot introduced me to MATEAUS – a sparkling rose from Portugal. And post college on social occasions we had Gallo wine - Hearty Burgundy. 

I recently recollected how I started going down my wine path and who my mentor at my first job was, and there is no question it was Ralph [Carreño],* my first boss who piqued my curiosity in wine, and let me decide for myself what was my taste and not focus on what was famous etc.; written up so I should like it but make my own mind up. We lived in St. Joseph, Michigan, and had a wine purveyor who was lucky to have the whole corporate group to supply their daily needs if they did not run into South Bend or go to Chicago to buy wines, which was technically against the law, but I never knew anyone that was caught.

FLY ON THE WALL—IT'S BACK!

Better Red Than Dead

Notes & thoughts on food and wine from
Ron Alonzo aka Don Merlot

When would be the best moment to be a fly on the wall for me? I thought about it and thought about it and it had to be a story I read when I started my wine journey. Had I been given the choice it would have been when deciding what wine was best between Bordeaux and Burgundy during the Ancien Régime, Yes, were I there, I would have wanted to be included in that exchange, and if I were included then I would have been invited to the next rendezvous of the connoisseurs to join at chez madams to savor her next wine tasting - the best French reds because no conclusion could be reached that evening and another gathering for tasting those reds was to be scheduled. I thought that was a great story. I think that in most classic wine circles up until the 1970s that discussion was the paramount discussion, and there are several more claimants and varietals today.

I am sure some great oenologist has died concluding what red wine is the best, but overall there is no winner, no superior one wine that takes all the medals, so, is this a discussion between these Frenchmen since the 18th Century and continues today? But still not settled; because other cultures and interlopers have butted in? Or other varietals want to be included? In the post WW II culture local tastes feel left out; regional differences vary; Gastronomy is regional and varies too. The senses like umami have been added to the 5 senses, and wine is not just European Culture but global that includes the old classical World and the New World?

I remember this story as I heard from friends and read in wine stories and tales; colleagues and oenologists from all over my French and European wine travels refer to this story. “Which nation’s vineyard produces the finest red wine?

EATING IN SPANISH. DRINKING IN FRENCH.

 

DUALITY OF CULTURES

By Don Merlot

[WCNews Service]

My first trip to the outside world started in New York in 1968 when working with our international advertising agency and the account people. I met them face to face and  worked with them to carry out my responsibilities. 

I had grown up in Mexico City. My parents were American; and we spoke English at home.

I attended the American School which was a primary school and junior and senior high.  Classes would be half day in English and half day in Spanish. Most students had similar backgrounds; mostly Americans; or European or Mexican parents who wanted to have the children have a bilingual education.

Many fathers worked for American companies or the U.S. Government. There were also Canadians, and Europeans. We were part of the Anglo-American community of Mexico City. When we visited friends, we would walk or ride our bikes to see each other. As we matured we could take busses if we went beyond our neighborhood.

 

One day I was with a friend on city bus and we were talking in English when an older woman asked us,  Por que no hablan en Cristiano? ( “Why are you not speaking in Christian?”  She meant Spanish, of course.) I remember being startled by that. We knew other passengers we interested in our answer. I was instantly aware that we were in an awkward situation. We apologized and talked in Spanish. Mexico’s language is Spanish and “in Rome do what the Romans do.”

Fly on the Wall, A Memoir

THE BEGINNING OF MY CAREER 

Notes & thoughts on food and wine

 

“Life is a heavy burden; take it one step at a time." – Eiyasu Tokugawa, founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan. (17the century). 

 

By Don Merlot

[WC News Service]

Our daily office coffee break ritual started at 9 am. The department heads had two groups: sales and engineering. The directors would walk out of their offices into the office bays to collect us, and we would be joined by the rest of the departments and go to the company cafeteria where several dining tables would be full of office staff. We would take our morning coffee together. Our group consisted of the international division. Our directors would be in the center of the table and the staff would surround them. 

 

On my first day I was thinking as I walked through my first business rite of passage to my first job that here I am with my new family. I recently graduated from Thunderbird (American Institute for Foreign Trade). I was newly married, and had just relocated to southwestern Michigan and my new job was in international advertising and sales promotion at Whirlpool Corporation. 

This day was also the first day for a fellow graduate from Thunderbird, who was recruited at the same time as I. Not, that I was overwhelmed, but there were so many people coming over from other tables to meet us too. I knew I would never remember all the names and the roles they had, but I felt welcome to my new life. 

In Training

 

MAD MAN

By Don Merlot

[WC News Service]

The flight from Michigan to New York City was on a clear night. I could look out the plane windows and see the towns and villages. We were traveling from Chicago to New York City.  As we came into New York’s air space, we cruised over the metro area and saw the Statue of Liberty and the buildings on Manhattan: The Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building were front and forward. The ribbon of street lights looked like gold necklaces. After landing we took a taxi to the hotel in Manhattan. It was late so we settled in for the day to prepare for the next day.

 

The excitement was high for me. This was my first business trip with my first job. This was not my first time to New York. My earlier visits were when I went military prep school in Virginia in 1958 to 1959. One trip was to visit my school roommate’s home in Short Hills, New Jersey, and the other was to catch up with a childhood friend that I had known from the American School in Mexico City, whose father had moved and worked in the city. He commuted from Roslyn, on Long Island. The other two trips were interviews for jobs when I was at Thunderbird (1967).These experiences prepared me for the massive size of the greater metropolitan area; the cosmopolitan culture; the skyscrapers, and the blaring noise of the traffic that was constant from day break to nightfall. These visits were a test to see the big picture for business, and the global world as well: The preparation to see the world: the big picture. It reminded me of the movie Auntie Mame, and I was the bronco being busted to become a worldly executive.

 

This trip was tremendous boost for my persona and very emotional. I was in the throes of the beginning of my international career and on the road to become a world savant and traveler.

  

FAST-FOOD, BLUE JEANS, AND ROCK 'N ROLL

FLY ON THE WALL
Facing Down the Ugly American

By Don Merlot

[WC News Service]

New Orleans

Back in 1968 I started my international career in February and took off for my first international trip in June. When I stepped off the plane to experience my first foreign culture exchange and to pursue an international global career, my expectation was, as a recent college graduate, that I could handle anything and everything. 

One of the things that I was told about seeing a new culture was, do not judge a culture or compare it to your own. You do not have to like it, nor comment about it publicly. You are a business ambassador doing business and be polite and diplomatic.

Maybe as I look back, that was true; in the American Culture of the 1960s we were the Baby Boomers out represent the USA and its interests but it was not practiced by all American travelers that I had met or known. And there I was, starting my first business trip in June 1968 surrounded by an anti War movement, racial discord, political division.  My new business group consisted of Americans who wanted to sell excess manufactured goods. There was a common feeling then that Americans were exporting “fast food, blue jeans, and rock 'n roll." 

Fly on the Wall

YOU DECIDE

By Don Merlot 

[WC News Service]

 

Chacun  a son goût.

To each his own taste.

When it comes to wine, the French categorization of red and white (Bordeaux and Burgundy) in the 19th century have dominated  oenophile and epicurean palates until the end of World War II, when Europe had to be rebuilt and the Pax Americana renovated France in the post war period.  American G.I’s who returned from VE- Day who had learned about and had savored the wines of France became acquainted with the wine habit and formal dinners with family, friends and social associates. The historical epitome of a dinner was guided by the French who influenced the British on wine with dinner. 

Fly on the Wall

 

Sicilian Wine Makes a Come-back

AN OFFER YOU CAN'T REFUSE

By Don Merlot

[WC News Service]

NEW ORLEANS -- This column starts the completion of the three stages of wine learning for me. My first stage is where have I been; the second stage is where am I and the final stage is where am I going. This article is going to open the future of wine and food and what I perceive is developing or opening up. I have chosen Sicily as the theme to kick off the journey to the future.

During my first trip to Italy (1972) I had an opportunity to speak at a sales conference about my products. During the social exchange after the presentation one of the prominent Hotel/catering officials was telling stories (In Italian as I found most Milan business men spoke some French but not a lot of English at that time. The English was “British English” and not American English.  He mentioned that Sicily was given the Nobel Peace prize in 1967 for being the only Arab country that had not declared War on Israel. The group of Italians customers thought that his was hilarious.

An Arab Spring?

 

Fly on the Wall

Sicilian wine: A Renaissance with Arab Roots

 

Notes & thoughts on food and wine from RON ALONZO aka DON MERLOT

 

This column starts the completion of the three stages of my wine education. The first stage is where have I been; the second stage, where am I; and the final stage, where I'm going. This article is going to open the future of wine and food. I have chosen Sicily as the theme to kick off the journey to the future.

 

During my first trip to Italy (1972) I had an opportunity to speak at a sales conference about my products. During the social exchange after the presentation, one of the prominent hotel/catering officials was telling stories (in Italian as I found most Milan business men spoke some French, but not a lot of English at that time. Their English was “British English” and not American English). He mentioned that Sicily was given the Nobel Peace prize in 1967 for being the only Arab country that had not declared war on Israel. The group of Italians customers thought that his was hilarious.

 

I accept and understand the concept “that the truest things are said in jest,” but here I am seeing that Italians had their own profile of fellow Italians. Although I had studied European history and had an idea of where Italy fit into the Western World, I did not know that the Italians differentiated themselves by their own DNA. I guess I was quite naïve. I thought about it and thought how little I knew about Sicily versus the concept of homogenous Italians. (To me Americans are very quick to judge cultures in a homogenous formula. Yes, I had talked to my Italian-American roommates in college (really, other than some conversations with other Italian-Americans was about the Mafia, and I did not want to throw that in that ring because Mafia means different things to various groups).  

Fly on the Wall

Done and Done

Photo: WC News Service/Don Merlot 

Continuing notes & thoughts on food and wine from the WC News Service's Ron Alonzo aka Don Merlot       

RENAISSANCE OF CLASSIC WINE

 This year has been busy one visiting the past, finding out what we know about wine and what do with wine and or what we have learned about wine, and guess about what the future of wine will be with what we have learned. It reminds me of the old saying my parents discussed with me to see if I was on the right road to a successful life.

       Tell me where you have been?   

       Tell me where you are?

       Tell me where you are going?

      
    In March, I saw some friends in Florida who started the journey of wine with me back in 1969 when we lived Michigan. My original bias was red wine from Burgundy and white wine from the Loire. The French Bordeaux was the most respected and prestigious wine in the USA and globally recognized as well.     
      
    Our intentions were to visit our favorite food tastes and wines that we have enjoyed.  We set our expectation on having two home prepared meals and we sipped six bottles of wine that were matched to the food. We only had two nights to enjoy this.    

      In a sense it reminded me of where I had been in my wanderings these past 46 years. The wines came from different regions and countries and were presented to accompany special favorite dishes we had enjoyed. It is something we have done since 1969. Before dispatching the empty bottles to oblivion, I took a photo with my I-Pod to remind me of our souvenir.  

DON MERLOT

Facing Physical Challenges, Our Food and Wine Critic, Fly-on-the-Wall Don Merlot, is About to Embark on a Wine Tour that Might be His 'Last Tango in France.'

  

NEW ORLEANS

WritersClearinghouse News Service

Don Merlot

In January 2015 I am taking a trip that will be 'My last Tango in France' because it is too difficult for me to travel and it is summing up my love affair with French wines. Originally I planned my visit for April of 2014 but I had the misfortune of slipping on some wet tile in my bathroom when our hot water heater blew off the water line in February, and I developed a bad case of bursitis in the right hip. It became very painful to move, sit up and or walk. The pain was so bad that I could not find a non-narcotic pain killer.



Finally my doctor sent me to a specialist, who was coming to the conclusion that if physical therapy did not work, I should schedule a hip replacement. So for six weeks I did physical therapy. Exercised that hip every day and by the end of the therapy, I had really improved and I felt ninety-five percent recovered, so initially I postponed my travel plans and then rescheduled my travel to January 2015.

Fly on the Wall

Somm Wine, Somm Movie

By Don Merlot

[WritersClearinghouse News Service] Posted 30 August 2014

New Orleans

As soon as I heard that the documentary movie called Somm was released I wanted to see it. I looked for a cinema house that would carry this and found none in my area. At the time, as now, there were so many events going on my splendid life and thoughts, it just slipped away. The magic of the digital world came to me with Netflix and I searched for that movie, and found it and saw it. 

 

After I saw it I read the reviews of the cognoscenti, I came to the conclusion that the movie they saw was not the same movie I saw. The question remained, however, does it have something to teach and can it advance one’s knowledge and appreciation for wine?

 

That mentor I had who directed my first steps into the world of the global stage said that as you muddle through everyday life, try and learn something new every day. He also offered the unique thought (because he was a New Yorker at heart), never eat at the same restaurant twice. If you liked it the first time, you will be disappointed the second time. There is no second time for a restaurant that did not pass the test the first time, because it should have been right the first time. He recommended that wines should be treated the very same way. There are so many good wines and types that one should find as many of the wines he or she like to drink and stay away from the ones that their taste does  not please them: red  rosé white, tannin, dry, sweet, fruity, so on. Back when I first started, the French were known for saying that wine is like women: there are some women (or bottles) that are more beautiful than others. But that was then. Now is now, 50 years later. 

 

Fly on the Wall Sips Wine

Château Grillet:
Rare Bliss Shared by Thomas Jefferson

By Don Merlot

[WritersClearinghouse News Service]

New Orleans

Château Grillet from the Rhone Valley in France is a fascinating white wine. Wine lovers may or may not ever taste this wine, because its availability is so scarce. In 1991 it attained its present size of 9.4 acres along the Rhone River, and it produces up to 10,000 bottles of wine a year. When it first became recognized as an elite wine it was one of three of the smallest foot prints of a premium French wine obtaining an appellation contrôlée status for the property. A few properties in Burgundy are smaller and have the AOC status: such as La Romanée Conti.

 

Coming south out of Vienne on the road into Rhone’s Northern section, the highly prized Rhone wine names pop out like a constellation in the sky: Côte Rôtie, Condrieu Château Grillet, and St. Joseph. The red wines come from the varietal Syrah and the white wines from Condrieu, and Château Grillet are white wines that come from the Viognier grape. In the 19^th century as it wafted its great heights of the great white wines of the world, this wine had become among an elite white wines: It enjoys a lofty status and was found in the cellars of kings and the European wine consuming aristocracy. The name “Grillet” may refer to hillsides “grilled,” or burnt by the sun.