Sommelier

BONJOUR SPARKLES AND SPARKLERS.

Sommelier

Etymology (from wikipedia)

This modern word is French. It derives from Middle French where it was referred to a court official charged with transportation of supplies. This use of the term dates to a period when pack animals would be used to transport supplies. The Middle French probably finds its origin in Old Provencal where a “saumalier” was a pack animal driver. “Sauma” referred to a pack animal or the load of a pack animal. In Late Latin, sagma referred to a packsaddle.

Very interesting…

I truly believe, being a sommelier is an art.

What is the role of a Sommelier in restaurant?

Choosing the right wine with your meal? Sommeliers’ don’t only serve wines, they are in charge of their stock, storage, training other staff in all of the intricacies of wine. They should be able to describe the region, vineyards, and vintages. Sommeliers will often decant wines, decanting will be usually done with red 10 years or more old that will allow the wine to breathe and separate from sediments.

Providing the wines in a restaurant can be very difficult, it doesn’t matter how much the wine cost? You have to talk with your clients. I think it’s all about experience and sharing the wine. (Imagine….BYO CASK ONLY….Enjoy your guns party…)

I do remember the night when everyone was bringing their cellar into the restaurant where I once worked, I was very, very pleased to look at some great vintages and great names, I tasted the customer’s wines, I smell it, and I live it.

One night a customer stood up and challenged me vividly, and said:

“Are you drinking my wine”? I just reply to him politely, I was checking his wine; there might be cork, or any wine fault. Pardon me my French, but he was little bit “Pooi”…

This just showed me, for some people it is very personal and emotional…

By the end of his dinner, I did serve his dessert wine without trying it,” thank god” that was corked… he called me and said: “Can you please pick a desert wine for me and try it”? I was very pleased by his reaction.

I can understand some patrons may be intimidated by the Sommelier; we are here to try and give you a great time within few hours.

Embrace the Sommelier; she/he is your friend, your partner in your journey, your help and knowledge.

THE KWAFR TEAM

www.lartduvin.com.au

Great spirits, Australia!

Bonjour Sparkles and Sparklers,

I’m not here to tell you about my own life, I want to tell you how I feel about Australia and how proud I’m to be Australian.

Just after my arrival in Australia in 1993 I did say to myself “this is my country” Why???

My reference is how we are reacting toward the Victorian tragedy. Such a fantastic country with an amazing spirits towards humanity. We are opening our heart to any tragedy to the entire world with our flair.

Australian’s giving you that spirits of sharing, love, great understanding of you are, with a great simplicity and a good laugh.

I’m so proud to be Australian.

Steph

Welcome to 2009 Sparkles and Sparklers!

BONJOUR SPARKLES AND SPARKLERS,

Firstly I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, New Year and of course plenty of interesting good drops. Thank you very much for people who leave their own comments.

My humble apologies for writing this blog so late, as you all know I’m running my little “niche” and had a very busy last 6 weeks.

As you all know I love to have few bottles of wine, and match the food to go with it. Only for you sparkles and sparklers! I do have a very special match: I loved music, especially jazz and I came across an album’s called KIND OF BLUE by Miles Davis, just a masterpiece, that album was recorded in 1959, and my brain went to 1959 vintage. ☺

I read recently that a “Dom Perignon Rose 1959 vintage reaches a record price of US$84,700 at a historic rare champagne auction in New York last year.” They were saying 1959 was never been commercially released and will be estimated at US$5,000 to US$7,000.
Matt: Wow – $87,500 is a lot of coin! I’d bet there won’t be too many more sold at that price this year!

Dom Perignon chef de cave comments: “Rare, superlative, mythical vintage. Powerful and solar, its light will inspire the creation of Dom Perignon rose forever.” Very interesting!

We didn’t try that one, in fact we did have a Sparkling NV Brut Rose from Dominique Portet, Coldstream, Victoria. Fantastic sparkler, fresh strawberry, great structure for $26.00 a bottle.

By the way next month into our regular chat, Dominique will join us, with of course my two great mates from the Hunter, Wasa and Matt. Looking forward to having a sip!

Hopefully by the end of this month L’ART DU VIN will start to do the Newcastle Farmers Market. Hope to see you there!

See you all for the next!
Steph from L’Art du Vin

Welcome Back!

Welcome to 2009. We’re back … well, not quite. We’re working on what we will do with the blog and the podcast this year, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, check this out: Steph was lucky enough to have the Nett Online Magazine guys give his website the once over. You can read their advice here.

Nice one, Steph! And I’m glad you kept the name “L’Art du Vin“. Saying “Art of Wine” in your accent doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, I’m afraid!

M@

Joyeux Noel et bonne annee 2009 de Kwafr!

BONJOUR SPARKLES AND SPARKLERS,

It’s that time of year again when it’s seems we are going to one long party. Many of us are celebrating the Silly Season with colleagues, friends, and family. When I think celebration one variety comes to mind: Champagne, a symbol of celebration, sharing joy, a feast of happiness. Sparkling wine and Champagne are made from Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier.

Chardonnay will give you finesse, structure, toasty character, very versatile. Pinot Noir, sexy, delicate, will give you some black fruits flavour. Pinot Meunier, will give you perfume, fruit character, that gives you weight and intensity to your Champagne.

My pick for this Christmas will be only three colours: Whites, Reds, and Roses. And you can call me a French drunk!

Another brilliant drop from Dominique Portet, a cooler climate wine, Victoria, Yarra Valley, fresh red fruits, great balance and finesse. A pure moment of joy. You can put your glass to your ears and learn the music. Antipasto or canapés will be great to start with.

I’ve discovered that great methode traditionnelle Pierre’s Wines from Branxton, in the Hunter Valley. Green straw colour, nose of strawberries, and lemon, toasty, very elegant, rich. It is a really great methode traditionnelle at a great price.

And to eat – oysters with salmon roe and Australian Native Finger Lime (merci to Warwick and Matt), plus a seafood terrine and scallops. A brie will be very good too!

For our regular fans you can hear Peter on the podcast. And my word I do have a funny accent! Especially by the end of it – which may just be because of all the Pierre’s Wines we drank.

If there’s one thing that I love in wine, it’s the moment when you are sharing the time with your loved ones, and you can talk about everything. I do remember when my father was alive, I brought him back a bottle of Rockford Sparkling Black Shiraz NV from South Australia. Dad looked at me, moved his head a little and said “This is Australia in the glass!” How good is that?! Black fizzy and sexy, a very unique experience.

I do love the Seppelt Original Sparkling Shiraz 2005. It’s a dark, purple, very complex, rich, fresh red fruits, great mousse, well balanced and good acidity. You need to get your roast of Lamb out, duck salad, to finish with a choc tart. Very Yummy!

I would like to say many, many thanks, for our fans that have supported us this year. Please come to Kwafr and leave your comments. And course my two great mates from Hunter (Matt and Warwick) – you are rocking!

Merci,
Have a safe Christmas, and Happy New Year. Joyeux Noel et bonne annee 2009,
And Happy Kwaffing!

See you all next Year,
Steph from L’Art du Vin
And the Kwafr Team

What’s in the box…

Bonjour or Bonsoir….. Sparkles And Sparklers,

When I drop my son at school I have always questioned myself “What sort of lunch do those little pumpkins have?” They all have a great looking bags but what’s for lunch?

Last time I dropped him later than normal, guess what? That was right on lunch! Of course discreetly I was looking at their little hands to try to find their goodies, I was strutting with vivacity… oh my god… to be honest I was very disappointed and scared to see 95% was processed food, no point having a great bag if you fill it up with junk food…

Come on people; vegetables, fruits… they are very, very good, it will take you 5 minutes to cut them in the morning. Don’t be lazy!

As you all know I do love the juice (red,white,rose,spark,even green…) I don’t give a half bottle to my sun for his lunch… water at this stage is plenty for the young ones.

But please Fanta or Coke that is not really a good look?

See you all next week

THE KWAFR TEAM

http://kwafr.wordpress.com/

www.lartduvin.com.au

Liveblogging while podcasting ep #006

We’re recording episode #006 right now. If you get the chance, check out this recipe:

If I’m not mistaken, it’s lychee and bacon!

Seriously, that has to be the most ridiculous recipe I have ever heard.

M@

Steph and Lulu Talk About Wine

Here’s Steph talking to someone who knows almost as much about wine as he does!

Kwafr Podcast #005

This makes it Episode #5 of Blame the Shiraz. We had a hiccup getting all of the content uploaded to iTunes (I had to take a remedial class in RSS formatting), but we should be good to go now.

If you are new to Kwafr, then our basic format is to get together over Skype and drink a bottle of wine. Sometimes (as is the case tonight) we even get the winemaker to help us out.

In fact, we are very lucky to be joined this week by Peter Went from Pierre’s Wines. Pierre’s Wines is in Branxton, in the Hunter Valley of NSW.

Check out the podcast to hear the interview, or look up “Kwafr Podcast” on iTunes.

We hope you enjoy it,
M@

PS: Continuing the amateur-hour theme of BTS, the current audo file has the intro and outro for the interview with Peter stuck onto the end of the podcast, and not book-ending the interview as you might expect. We hope to get the audio fixed up ASAP.

The Newcastle Farmers’ Markets

Bonjour (or bonsoir) SPARKLES AND SPARKLERS,

In my home town of Dieppe France, one of the most important days of the week is Saturday, because the Grand Rue, transforms into an amazing outdoor market. It is both functional and a social event, and something I truly miss about France.

The farmers, cheese makers, fisherman, etc set up stalls and sell their fresh seasonal produce directly to the public. Most customers are loyal and set up life long relationships with the same fisherman/cheese makers/growers, always returning to them to buy their courgette or carrot.

I am very excited therefore about the growing trend of Farmers’ Markets here in Australia, especially the one 2 km’s from where I live.

Maybe you should drop in at the Newcastle Farmers’ Market that has been held on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month at Newcastle Showground, Broadmeadow. The farmer’s markets comprise several tiny producers from around NSW, especially featuring the areas around The Hunter Valley.

Their primary focus is to bring you their product at their very best, straight from the growers to the public cutting out the middle man, so fresh comes at a very decent price. They are very committed people and very passionate.
What a great way to do your shopping and also what a way to start your Sunday morning – you know it’s fresh as and it’s seasonal. Not been put in cold storage for months on end like many of the product on our supermarket shelves.

One thing I do love when I walk into that market, it’s the smell of the food, the freshness of the produce, the colour of the vegies and fruits, and of course the smile of the consumer and farmers too.

I don’t really have an order, I love using my own instinct and cruising around. Here are a few of my favourite producers:

First stop: I don’t have a particular order but I love to be over the moon. Over the Moon, great dairy product, yummy Jersey butter.

Second stop: Arc-En-Ciel Trout Farm. I’m using their trout to do my own pate just fanstastic! And Rainbow Trout Caviar, with some freshly shucked oysters. Great sentiment of freshness.

Next stop: Saltbush Lamb. The sheep graze free range on paddocks planted with old man saltbush which gives a finer richer flavour to the meat. It just melts in your mouth. On your barbie with some green bean, you just can’t get better than that. And of course a nice cold beer. Then you need to twist my harm for a nice glass of …

Next stop: Hunter Valley Premium Meat is situated in Muswellbrook. Try their beef – all cuts – just a great feeling in your mouth. So tender. Also have a go at their pork; you can use the left over for sandwiches the next day.

Next stop: Capparis Cheesemakers. Capparis Farm is situated on 200 hectares of land 26km from Gloucester. The breed of goat in use is the Anglo-Nubian, a breed developed in Great Britain which is fantastic for dairy products because it has a high fat content, thus giving rich full flavoured goats cheese. Or Chevre, as we say in my native France.

Next stop: Hunter Belle Cheese. These cheeses live up to their name, they certainly are beautiful. They have won numerous awards including six Gold medals at the Australian Specialist Cheesemakers awards. Unique flavoured cheese handmade exclusively from Brown Swiss cows’ milk. My favourite, Goldenbelle – a golden wash rind with a golden colour and earthy flavours. Tell me your pick!

Only one more stop: Finfarm: Great baby Barramundi, we had ours in “Papillote” in alfoil ! With plenty of herbs of your garden, and of course a nice bottle of your choice.

Next market will be on this Sunday, come along and enjoy. We are hoping that the market will soon be held once a week.

See you all next week
Steph