Have you ever put a glass of wine up to your nose and noticed prominent aromas of flower, and wondered those notes come from? I can, with good conscience, confirm that floral scents in wine DO NOT come from a winemaker dipping an extra-large tea bag of dried flower petals into their tank or barrel of wine. The answer to the question, “Well, from where then?” is chemistry. I know that your eyes are now glazing over, and you are being flooded with memories of high school lab, and the smell of burning sulfur is filling your nostrils and making you cough. Bear with me, okay?

Have you ever heard the phrase “money doesn’t grow on trees”? If you would have asked the Mayans and the Aztecs back in 250 AD, they would have said, “Yes, it does!” The cocoa bean was their form of currency, and only the upper class could afford to drink their money. What they discovered then is what we still love about chocolate today, Its perceived ability to increase stamina, endurance, mood, romantic arousals … LUST!

July 14th, le Quatorze Juillet, marks the date that we know by the name “Bastille Day,” or as known in France as “La Fête Nationale.” In the City Vino's 2019 Facts About Bastille Day Blog, we provided some facts about the events that occurred on that date in 1789, in Paris, and about the celebration itself. Every year, we use this day to provide a tasting of French wines to you, our local customers. While we don’t need an excuse to do this, it’s always fun to associate a tasting with a somewhat, sorta, kinda, and perhaps notable date, right?

Father’s Day is once again upon us, and to that we say, “Choose Red for ‘Fred’.” Pun totally intended. Whether your father is named Fred, George, Paul, Ringo, or John, this year consider the gift of a red wine, or two or twelve.