One Wine at a Time

     As some of you know, we are part of a group who make and sell one-of-a-kind soft sculpture dolls to help raise funds for building schools in Mali.  At this year's first meeting of the doll-makers, we served a new Chateau Julien wine called "French Kiss." With its tantalizing slogan of "You never forget your first French Kiss," how could we not try it!  
      Chateau Julien recently released this fun wine for a very modest price of $15 a bottle.

Apparently, it was an instant hit across the country--the winery sold over 4,000 cases before the wine's release, based on the marketing campaign alone.  And it proved to be a hit with all of us. 

        It's a light, refreshing, easy drinking white wine made of 70% Chenin Blanc and 30% Viognier grapes.   We all jumped into the description frenzy with words like "lean, crisp, grapefruit-y, melon-y, refreshing, has a bite and then smoothes out nicely."  Chateau Julien also adds that "the flavors of peach, melons and blooming flowers... contribute to its aromatic enjoyment."  A perfect Spring wine.

        We served it chilled, with savory almonds (from Earthbound), dark chocolate (from Trader Joe's), and strawberries (from Whole Foods.)  The wine was a good companion for all of the nibbles.  Chateau Julien suggests serving it with seafood or salads.  That sounded perfect, too.

        You can buy your very own French Kiss at Chateau Julien or through their website. They might even be serving it with their flights (call ahead, though, to check this out.)

        Chateau Julien has many other wonderful wines, too, which we will go back to taste soon.  But it was a fun escapade to just focus on one wine, especially one whose name and slogan had us at the get-go.