by Alex Marshall - articles and essays

The Food and Wine Articles:

In Paris, The Wine Bar Is The Place To Drink Wine - "In fact, the "Bar a Vin" seemed a step back in time. The customers, mostly in their 30s and 40s, were dressed without any fashion in particular. It had a tile floor, a pewter metal bar, and an old coat rack in the corner. A soft yellow light spread across the whole restaurant, giving everyone a soft glow. But it also had the air of a thoroughly neighborhood place. Everyone knew each other, or so it seemed. When I entered, everyone turned and looked at me, a tall, obviously foreign, stranger. They weren't smiling. The waitress behind the bar, who was pretty in a kind of timeless Gallic way, with a thin face and aquiline nose, came over and said shortly in French, "What do you want." I had hardly had time to even glance at the blackboard where the names of ten red and ten white wines were scrawled." Click on link for full article.

With Wine, Sometimes The Old Rules Come In Handy - "As a general rule, red wine and fish do not marry well. The tannins and stronger flavors in a red wine often set off a violent chemical reaction with a white fish that can be not only unappetizing but downright unpleasant. I say this defiantly, in the face of a wave of words from various wine writers who have been proclaiming of late that red wine certainly does go with fish. These nouveau trendsetters say all rules are off, that God is dead, that all is permitted. They will find a way to marry a 20-year-old Bordeaux with a mess of catfish. Don't you believe them." Click on link for full article.

Sweet Is Neat - "Sauternes are wonderful. They can also cost $600 a bottle. I'd say $70 or $80 is typical. But other sweet wines are quite affordable, and quite good. I'm excluding Port, which I consider a separate category. I'm referring to the usually white, late-harvest wines. They are nice after dinner, with a special dessert, or just a small glass late at night. You see them in half bottles usually, and costing between $8 and $15. While this may seem like a lot for a half-bottle, you don't drink the wines in large quantities so they are a pretty good deal. One of my favorites is Muscat de Beaumes de Venise. It comes from the town of the same name inside the Cote Du Rhone region in France. It has a wonderful, honey-like flavor and golden color that is similar to a Sauterne but at a fraction of the price. Most I have tried have been very good." Click on link for full article.

Searching For The Heart Of Darkness - "I smiled appreciatively at the waitress. I had never heard of the wine she steered me toward: Madiran. I was in a small, French restaurant in Manhattan, Chez Bernard on West Broadway. It had classic French food at reasonable prices – and a wine list worthy of a three-star restaurant in Paris. The waitress had steered me away from the $2,000 bottles of old Bordeauxs, and to this wine I had never heard of, Madiran, for $30." Click on link for full article.