July 9, 2005
Cuvee Juveniles
The Torbreck 2003 Cuvee Juveniles is a luscious blend of grenache, mataro and shiraz from Australia's Barossa Valley made specifically for Tim Johnston, proprietor of a popular bar and wine shop in Paris called, you guessed it, Juveniles.
Winemaker David Powell asked Tim's 19-year-old daughter Caroline to design the label. (She'd done her first one at the age of 12.) Torbreck is named for a forest in Scotland, hence Caroline's stylized purple trees.
"It makes you understand that eventually, all this will be taken over by our children," Tim told me by phone just now. I could visualize him, standing behind the bar at Juve in the midst of his Saturday night crunch, uncorking bottles, pouring wine, wiping glassware, tasting bits from the kitchen. In the tiny room, adorned with Caroline's precocious drawings, a merry, effervescent crowd: anglophone tourists, international wine makers, journalists, sophisticated Parisians, good wine, tasty tapas.
It just could be the most perfect wine bar in the universe.
July 8, 2005
Out of the Cellar
Worth noting that Seattle Cellars "graduates" continue to make news, making owner Dave Woods justly proud.
Most recently: Jared Heber, who left the store after five years to become the number two sommelier at Canlis (behind Shayn Bjornholm, who aced the Master Sommelier competition in San Francisco earlier this year; you read about it here on Cornichon) ... Jared's moving on again, this time to the French Laundry in Yountville, where he'll work with superstar chef Thomas Keller while preparing for the Master Sommelier competition himself.
Meanwhile, back at Canlis, another Seattle Cellars grad, Nelson Daquip, was singled out by Food & Wine for an article on the nation's best sommeliers under 30. Here's the link to Lettie Teague's article in the June 2005 issue, The Young and the Restless.
Still think the dude at your neighborhood wine shop is just an ignorant clerk? You could be making a big mistake!
July 7, 2005
Crazy thinking about wine
They call themselves "ThinkWine" and maintain a wacky website that pokes fun at wine snobbery. In full regalia, they took their irreverence to the Thursday tasting at Seattle Cellars last week.
Sporting a giant afro, "Alfanso" (actually Travis Scarborough, sales rep for Acme Wine Company) poured wines from Joel Gott and Torbreck, while his buddies, dressed as "The Gorilla," "Manny Shevitz," "Mister" and "Lord Claret Pennyworth IX" sipped, posed and mingled. Sideways in Belltown!
Good business, this casual attitude. Sales were way up, reports store owner Dave Woods.
July 6, 2005
Independence Days
Fourth of July: great weather, warm clear night, fantastic fireworks over Lake Union.
Coming up next, the French national holiday, Bastille Day. True, it's technically on the 14th, but the ceremonies this year--part of the Festal series of international cultural events--will be at Seattle Center on Sunday, July 10th. Lots of free stuff plus nominally priced French food. Online details about the official celebration.
And if you're still hungry for something traditionally French, all three French restaurants in the Pike Place Market, Campagne, Le Pichet and Maximilien, are doing special Bastille Day dinners on the 14th.
July 4, 2005
Snip, snip
It's Seattle's most recognizable haircut, sported by the young Argentinian tango dancer Eva Lucero. You may have caught sight of her in a recent Taco Bell TV spot, dancing with partner Patricio Touceda. As Cornichon readers know, they perform regularly at Buenos Aires Grill and maintain a full teaching schedule as well.
Eva's distinctive hair is the creation of multi-talented stylist Ludmilla, who just returned to Seattle from advanced training at the TiGi Academy in LA. Her fresh new techniques, trendy cuts, edgy styles and polished classic looks, available by appointment at the Lewis Fox Salon in the downtown Macy's.
To book a haircut by Ludmilla, call 206-332-0755. Then listen to her play jazz piano like nobody's business, Thursday evenings at District Lounge in Seattle's University Tower Hotel.
