December 29th Thursday, Dec 29 2011

Paris Grocery News

December 29th, 2011

New Years Eve in Paris is a time when the city turns from its romantic nostalgia and looks towards the future. Chic, trendy, bubbly, and bright, the streets are filled with revelers calling out ‘Bonne Anée’ and the Eiffel tower lights up the city each hour with a stunning light show. It’s a time to embrace youth, fresh ideas, and new beginnings. And no matter how you plan on bringing in the new year, we think your preparations should definitely start at the Paris Grocery. Of course this is the perfect time to pull out all the stops on your appetizers. Get creative! have fun! Use a few specialty ingredients like duck bacon or escargot to make the night special, serve up macarons and improbably light butter cookies, and dig in to the creamiest, most sumptuous cheeses . And don’t forget the champagne! Here are a few of our favorites right now, but come in to see all our options!The Paris Grocery’s handy guide to effervescent celebration   Bubbles under $15 Perfect if you’re entertaining a group of people!     Trocadero Brut Rosé $9.99 A vivacious sparkling rosé. Fruit forward, tasting of strawberries and cherries, with immense effervescence, this wine combines the best qualities of rosés and sparklers. Trocadero Brut Blanc de Blancs $9.99 This elegant wine is characterized by fine bubbles, crisp minerals and and a touch of toast. Floral aromas blend with citrus and pear flavors. This is our driest sparkler under $10. Marquis de Perlade $9.99 Made in the traditional method, this sparkling wine is ideal for festive gatherings. It is a blend of Pinot Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Macabeu, and Chardonnay from the wonderful Alsatian producer Pierre Sparr. Crisp, with lovely notes of green apple and a touch of honey and toast, this sparkling wine complements cheese platters, fruit and nuts beautifully. Aimery ‘1531’ Crémant de Limoux brut rosé $14.99 with an attractive peaches-and-cream color, this cremant is a blend of chardonnay, chenin blanc and mauzac. Stone fruit flavors with a hint of hazelnut, the decent acidity balances out slight sweetness to bring together an uncomplicated but elegant sparkler. $15-$30   This is the perfect price range to get a high-end champagne half bottle for an intimate celebration. Try a big name like Taittinger, Piper Heidsieck, or Drappier, or our favorite that we wrote about last month, the sweet, pink Duval-Leroy. $30 and up Margaine Cuvée Traditionelle N.V. Brut Champagne The NV Brut Cuvee Traditionelle is an exceptional wine at this level. Notes of ash, chalk and crushed rocks dominate this taut, focused Champagne. Medium in body, the wine reveals tons of clarity not to mention significant pedigree. The NV Brut is mostly 2005 juice, with the addition of 40% reserve wines from vintages 2004, 2003, 1999, 1996 and 1994, 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir. The relatively high amount of reserve wines undoubtedly contributes to this Champagne’s complexity…Arnaud Margaine’s wines..are Champagnes of extraordinary purity and sheer elegance. Margaine farms 6.5 hectares, 90% planted to Chardonnay, the rest Pinot Noir.” 90 points Robert Parker  Champagne Henriot NV Brut $40.00 “Firm and toasty, with hints of tropical fruit mixing with notes of quince, lemon zest, smoky mineral, ginger and white pepper. This finds a balance between its fresh, lively character and a sweet, juicy component, ending with a long, mouthwatering finish. Drink now through 2021” 93 points, Wine Spectator   Champagne Bollinger NV Brut “Special Cuvée” $64.00 Bollinger is the one Champagne from a big house that we brought in this year; if it’s good enough for the British royal family, well, it’s good enough for us. “A rich, smoky Champagne, with hints of marzipan and fennel seed accenting honeyed malt, bread dough, baked apple, and gingersnap flavors. It’s all focused by intense acidity and refined texture, with a lingering finish.” 94 points Wine Spectator we also love this Perrier Jouet gift set that just came in. For the same price as a bottle, get the gift bag with two signature glasses. $45.00 Non Alcoholic don’t forget about your guests who don’t drink, your designated drivers, and the kids! Duché de Longueville French Sparkling Cider $8.99 Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple-Cranberry $1.99 Roland Sparkling Apple and Blackcurrant juice $5.99 We hope this helps to get you started, and remember, you can always call ahead to get us started on cutting cheeses and slicing meats for your party trays!

For the latest Paris Grocery news and musings, join us on Facebook! Archives of this newsletter and other articles can be found on our blog.

Thanks for reading, stay warm, and we’ll see you in the shop!

Ellen

and
Steve Winston and Sharon Baden
Owners, Paris Grocery

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Paris Groce… Saturday, Dec 17 2011

Paris Grocery News December 13th, 2011 Vin Chaud If you’ve been to Paris this time of year, chances are you’ve walked through a Christmas market and smelled the cauldrons of vin chaud sold for a few euros a glass. Maybe you’ve warmed up with a hot paper cup of mulled wine while you shopped, or had it in a glass at a cafe, watching the snow flurries in the street through a window. Hot, sweet, and spicy, vin chaud is perfect for the cold nights we’ve been getting lately. There are a lot of different recipes floating around, but generally speaking you should start off with a light, juicy wine like a Gamay, although I also tried using our boxed Cotes du Rhone with excellent results. Make a sachet of whole spices like cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom, and nutmeg, add orange and lemon zest and simmer for at least 20 minutes. Don’t forget to sweeten to taste with either sugar or honey (about 1/4 cup per bottle of wine for me). Left: 1.5 L box of 2009 Domaine Clos des Lumieres Cotes du Rhone. $14.99, absolutely delicious. Right: 2010 Marcel Lapierre Raisin Gaulois Gamay. Charming, grapey, and fresh with spicy black cherry notes and overall light, bright taste. $12.99 And more wines!   Little James Basket Press $12.99 Louis Barruol of Saint-Cosme made this Grenache after his son. Like his father, young James has an affinity for grapes bursting with fruit, and his namesake is packed with the lush, opulently ripe red fruit characteristic of top grenache gr own in the Rhône Valley. Neither fined nor filtered, this delicious wine is best decanted to allow its full flavors to emerge. 2010 Domaine de la Becassonne Cotes du Rhone Blanc $14.99 This estate is owned by Andre Brunel, of Les Cailloux, one of Chateauneuf du Pape’s most forward-looking proprietors. Undoubtedly one of Brunel’s finest inexpensive offerings, this tank-fermented and aged blend of 50% Roussanne and the rest Grenache Blanc and Clairette would embarrass many white Chateauneuf du Papes. The malolactic has been blocked to preserve the wine’s vibrancy and acidity. It offers terrific floral, rose petal, honeysuckle, and apricot aromas, gorgeous fruit, medium to full body, wonderful purity, and a lively, zesty finish. This is about as good a white Cotes du Rhone as readers will ever find. 2009 Notre Dame des Pallieres Gigondas $16.99 Vivid ruby. Highly perfumed aromas of red and dark berry preserves and potpourri, with an exotic apricot nuance in the background. A smoky quality builds with air and carries onto the palate, which offers sweet raspberry and blackberry flavors. A deep, chewy wine that possesses unlikely finesse, finishing with very good clarity and spicy persistence. 90-92 points Wine Advocate Sweets! Route des liqueurs $24.49 A perfect party gift or other special treat, we love this box of chocolates. Designed as a tour through the liqueurs of France, it contains 27 Armagnac, Marc de Champagne, Kirsch, Mirabelle, Calvados, Cognac, and Pastis filled dark chocolates in adorable foils. Swiss chocolate sampler $7.99 For something a little more intimate, try this darling collection of Swiss chocolates including one each Grand Marnier, pistachio, espresso, hazelnut, mandarin orange, passion fruit, white truffle, and truffe Marc de Champagne. Croquant de Cordes $10.99 Maison Bruyère has been perfecting its savoir-faire for over three generations and offers delicious cookies without any artificial coloring or preservatives. Made with only four ingredients: sugar, almonds, flour, and egg whites, these really emphasize craftsmanship with simple ingredients perfectly arranged in a light and crunchy cookie.   Queijo de Ovelha Curado Amanteigado is made in AlentejoPortugal and, like its cousin Queijo Serpa, it is made with the milk of merino sheep. The milk is     coagulated with thistle rennet which gives the cheese its characteristic tangy citrus notes. These small wheels areaged six months and rubbed with olive oil throughout their  curing. Amanteigado is consumed in two styles-when it isyoung the top is cut off and the oozy interior is scoopedout. As the wheel matures, it becomes a bit more cohesive with a sharper flavor, developing sweet, soft caramel notes. The savory herbaceous flavors of Amanteigado reflect the sheep’s diet in this arid interior region. Normally $22.99, we’re offering them right now for $19.99. Raw Milk Gouda Aged 5 Years This raw milk 5-years-aged gouda stays good nearly forever–it just keeps getting better! It’s a favorite with the local chefs at the Latona Tavern and Portage Bay Café. The cheese is a deep orangey-gold color with long lasting caramel, toffee, and brown sugar notes. The texture is similar to a five-years-aged Parmigiano-Reggiano: smooth and firm with crunchy protein deposits. It makes a unique and contrasting variation on a cheese platter, and tastes amazing paired with almost anything. One of our favorite and most diverse cheeses, we’re thrilled to offer it at this astounding price! $15.99/lb, $3.99/quarter lb. It takes some serious effort to cut… … but the results are gorgeous, and delicious! Last but certainly not least, I’m excited to say that we’ve started offering individual macarons for a treat while  you shop at $1.99 each. For the latest Paris Grocery news and musings, join us on Facebook! Archives of this newsletter and other articles can be found on our blog.Thanks for reading, stay warm, and we’ll see you in the shop! Ellen and Steve Winston and Sharon Baden Owners, Paris Grocery Links Paris Grocery Paris Grocery Facebook Paris Grocery Blog The Spanish Table The Spanish Table Newsletter About Us A wine and cheese shop with a french mood1418 Western Ave Seattle, WA 98101 206.682.0679 Monday-Saturday 10 to 6 Sunday 11 to 5

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