A Brief Visit in Cornwall

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My best friend, ok really she is more like my sister, lives in England. In fact we met there. Living directly across the hall in a dorm in central London. I was spending my year abroad at the LSE. She, amazing lady that she is, was just starting her PhD.

Fast forward six years, I have lived in Boston, California and now, France. She has stayed in England, gotten engaged and moved from London to Cornwall. Due to the distance, being poor students and the cost of international travel – we normally only get to see each other once a year. And typically I go to see her in London – cause, well it’s London.

Despite living one country apart – ok that sounds far but its only about an hour and fifteen minutes on the plane – we haven’t yet had a chance to visit since I moved to France. School, work, life and death have all intervened. So Easter weekend I boarded a plane and got to see A for the first time in 18, yes 18, months. (PS. A. never again!).

We spent one night in London, followed by a kick-ass, whirlwind shopping day on Oxford Street. If you don’t know Oxford Street – I’m sorry, you are missing out. And then wine and noshes in tow, we boarded a train for Cornwall. Not enough wine later, we arrived.

I spent a lovely – if not nearly long enough – weekend in Cornwall! Complete with Cornish Pasty and local gin (what can I say, I am studying wine and spirits after all). Now Miss A, it’s your turn to come to France and I’ll be headed back soon….

Check out the awesome photos of this beautiful countryside here!

A Shakespeare Update

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A little belated, but in honor of what we think is the Bard’s 450th Birthday, I thought I would post an updated on my posts from January and September about Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Clearly it hasn’t been a priority, but I was incredibly excited to hear that the organization has met its goals and will be offering a 2014 season.

The new Santa Cruz Shakespeare, will be offering As You Like It and The Merry Wives of Windsor this July, under the leadership of the new co-Artistic Director Mike Ryan.  For those familiar with Shakespeare Santa Cruz productions, Mike Ryan has long been a favorite actor and community participant.

While I am thrilled that amazing outdoor Shakespeare performances will continue in Santa Cruz, I will admit that this is tempered with a bit of wistfulness. I will not be in the United States this year to watch any Shakespeare performance. Perhaps, I’ll just have to return to England and catch a play at the Globe.

Interesting Updates in the California Wine Industry

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As promised, I am going to start blogging more about general wine news, information, tasting notes, etc. In following a greater number of industry news sources I came across two very interesting articles about California. While I may be a French wine convert, I am also a Cali girl at heart and it’s always interesting to keep up with what is going on back home.

First and foremost, French spirit producing giant Pernod-Ricard has announced it is purchasing Kenwood Winery. With a huge stable of international brands, like Absolut Vodka, Glenlivet, Kahlua, Malibu, and Mumm just to name a few, Pernod-Ricard is an international giant, the second-largest wine and spirits producer in the world. The acquisition of Kenwood just adds to this international domination and adds to the P-R presence in the USA market. However, it is an interesting choice as it is the first US still winery and the first property in Sonoma County to be added to the portfolio. With a huge pool of resources, it will be interesting to see what this industry giant makes of Sonoma County’s largest premium brand.

In other interesting news, San Francisco Chronicle critic Jon Bonné has released a new book, The New California Wine,  about the changing wine industry in California. Long a hot bed of innovation and exploration, California’s impact on the international wine industry dates to the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Moving away from large scale brands, small California winemakers are continuing to explore new varietals, new trends and new styles. In fact, in a recent Chardonnay tasting it became readily apparent that even the largest Napa Valley estates are moving away from the heavily oaked, buttery Chardonnays that have long been the backbone of the region’s white wine production. California producers are embracing the concept of terroir and are looking to highlight quality.

It will be an interesting year to watch in Calfornia, given the recent drought problems. But with great summer weather, there the potential for another amazing harvest. In the mean time, I’m going to try to hunt down some Grüner Veltliner, one of California’s newest rising varietals.