The Chambourcin grape came to my attention in the 1990s when I was commuting between Bucks County and Paris as well as the wine regions of California. It was my practice to bring American delicacies to the tables of my Parisian friends among which were both California rice and American wines.
I left a bottle, in Paris, with my friends, Jacques and Fay Lecoq. Hoping that we could share it, but it wasn’t to be. I went on to another assignment in Italy, returning home to via Paris but unable to create the mutual experience of sharing that Pinot Noir.
Sometime later, the phone Splinter Cottage rang rather deep into the night, it was Fay Lecoq telling me with some excitement, that they had opened the bottle, and Jacques insisted that she call me. An emergency call from Paris.
Telling me: “My God, I had no idea that America made wines like that.”.
A blue ribbon at the California State Fair.