Isautier Douceur d’Arrangé Cahouète    

Let’s start this column off with dessert: a creamy drink. The intriguing treat is a dressed-up rum, a traditional recipe from the island of Réunion. The maker chooses to macerate either leaves, or fresh or dried fruits, or grains or bark, which he then infuses for a long period to increase the aromatic subtlties.

The oldest rum distillery of Réunion, Isautier, here offers an Arrangé de Cahouète (cacahouète – peanuts). In it one finds, of course, the aroma of grilled peanuts, but also of jammy fruit, toffee, and almond paste. While quite smooth and buttery, the mouth is suave without being too heavy.

A liqueur which can also play as an aperitif for ramping up your coconut punch, for example.

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Librandi Critone 2022    

A little find from Calabria – at the point of the Italian boot.

The “Critone” of the Librandi family is adroitly put together with international grapes: chardonnay (90%) and sauvignon (10%). No makeup slapped on here: the stainless steel vats put forward the chardonnay on aromas of Asian pear and white peach. The sauvignon is aromatically discrete, but contributes through its freshness.

A perfect fit with the less-calorie-ridden January menus.

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Nicolas Grosbois Gabare Chinon 2020    

A winemaker who uses biodynamics has, as their superpower, a hypersensitivity to nature. With his Chinon sensitivity, Nicolas Grosbois communicates with his environment through polyculture (market gardening, livestock farming). He uses the interaction of the activities surrounding grapegrowing and measures its incidence on each parcel of terroir.

The Garbare vintage results from the connections among twelve parcels of cabernet franc. Their individual particularities harmonize and create a generous chinon with aromas of cherries, black currants and venison. Freshness and suppleness dominate a mouth featuring field berries and pleasant tannins.

A wine of connections, a red for pals.

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