July 3rd, 2007
Freedom to drink French
Five years after the term Freedom Fries was coined, I’m glad we can once again enjoy French food and drink without Ann Coulter accusing us of supporting terrorists. In fact, I’m going to celebrate the 4th of July by throwing a copy of Treason into Boston Harbor and drinking a bottle of 2001 Chateau Larrivet Haut Brion.
Usually, you can find me lurking among the bins of under-$10 wines, searching for that gem of a rustic red from Spain, Italy or Portugal. But on a recent trip to the Wine & Cheese Cask in Somerville, I decided to splurge and spend forty whole dollars on a bottle of Bordeaux. I wanted something nice to bring to a friend’s birthday dinner. The staff at the Cask is really astute about recommending wines, and when I pointed to the bin of the Chateau Larrivet, I didn’t even have to ask the question before being assured that, yes, the stuff was worth every penny. It was. I’m not even going to attempt to re-create the flavor with descriptions of fruit, herbs and cigar wrappers. Put it this way, there was a lot going on in that bottle. It was delicious and complex. And the five other treasonous freedom-haters at the dinner party agreed.
July 4th, 2007 at 12:56 am
I love your 4th of July idea–but make sure you don’t actually go out and buy a new copy of that trash–you know, royalties and all.
I miss the Wine & Cheese Cask from my days living in Somerville. Too bad I was a poor grad student then and couldn’t properly take advantage of it.
July 4th, 2007 at 3:43 am
Rachele, good point. A used copy will do. When you’re flush and in Somerville, meet me at the Cask and we’ll splurge on Bordeaux. Santé.
July 5th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
I think French-bashing by Americans is patently ridiculous, especially if you care about food and wine.
As Bill Maher so aptly put it: “…like any country, France has its faults, like all that ridiculous accordion music. But their health care is the best in the industrialized world, as is their poverty rate. They’re completely independent of Mid East oil, and they’re the greenest country. And they’re not fat. And they have public intellectuals in France — we have Dr. Phil. They invented sex during the day, lingerie and the tongue. Can’t we admit we could learn something from them?”
July 5th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
D’accord!
July 6th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
There is no reason to pollute the harbor with that trash.
September 24th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Is it possible is Massachusetts, the place where we supposedly celebrate diversity, to have a civil discussion when it comes to something as simple as wine? I guess not. The petty comments about Ann Coulter are better left on a political blog than a website such as this.
By the way, the French elected Sarkozy, a conservative candidate, who expressed his admiration for the United States and promised closer cooperation with us. I guess they’re not so bad after all.
September 24th, 2008 at 12:24 am
“The petty comments about Ann Coulter are better left on a political blog than a website such as this.” Good point, Jim — I utterly degraded drinkboston.com by allowing the words “Ann Coulter” to appear on it.