Consider this video a public service for all of us here in the Northeast/mid-Atlantic who are elbow-deep in snow. Look at that view…enjoy, guys!

Saturday night’s Spin the Bottle launch event at Heights Chateau was, if I do say so myself, quite the success. There was a great crowd, the folks at Heights were so kind to let me host my event there, Sarah’s flowers were lovely, and oh yes, the wines.

Even in a place as beautiful as Bandol, winemaking is really hard work. Our visit to Castell-Reynoard, a small, family-owned, property, was a great reminder of what a tough job this can be.

This picture pretty much sums it up: grapes, sunlight, and the Mediterranean.

My contribution to our beach weekend, aside from some very competent food styling work for this tomato tart, was a selection of Bandol. Whenever I have a vineyard vacation planned, like next month’s trip to Provence, I like to test-drive some wines beforehand.

I made a tactical error with my vacation planning this year: because of work and other obligations, we decided to forego an August getaway in favor of a late September trip. Right now I’m seriously regretting that choice. My office is a ghost town, New York is sticky as all get-out, and Paul and I feel like the only suckers left in the city. However, there is one big silver lining here: end of September is right around harvest time in Bandol, a town in Provence where we’ll be spending part of vacation.