Wine in Provence

Last night I went to a wine and cheese tasting...so french I know! I feel so cultured now. We drank five different wines: two rosés, two whites and one red. I took extensive notes and ranked each one. Being that I prefer red wine the Joseph Drouhin La Foret from Bourgogne was my favorite. Coming in a close second was the dessert white wine Domaine de l'Alliance from Sauternes. Surprisingly, I enjoyed one of the rosés which is what Provence is known for. We learned all about the wine making process and the different rules for making wine. For example, in France you will never find Cabernet Savignon or Merlot on a menu, rather, you would find the region that it is made in (Merlot grapes are produced in several regions including Bordeaux. So if you wanted this kind of wine you would look for a Bordeaux on the menu.) We were given a handy-dandy map that shows which regions all of the wines are made. American wines ain't going nothin on French wines. Along with each wine was paired the most perfect cheese to compliment the taste. Naturally I liked all of them because I am now a huge cheese lover. I enjoyed the two different types of goat cheese which is perfect for my dream of owning goats one day. I especially loved the Epoisse cheese which is a oozy cheese very similar to Brie (my all-time favorite). Going in to the wine tasting I was told that a lot of times you don't swallow the wine but you spit it out so you do not ruin your pallet. False. The last of the 5 S's is "Savor" and I definitely savored all 5+ glasses of the wine. But don't be too quick to judge (MOTHER TERESA) because the pastor's wife of the church that I have been attending here was the host (see normal Christians do drink)! "Wine in Provence" is her company that she started several years ago. When I first met her I thought she looked oddly familiar and when I get to her house there were pictures of her and her husband everywhere. I told her that I have been going to her husband's church and she was so happy to finally meet me (even if it is almost the end of my stay). I love how things like that just fall in your lap!