The official start of the French Revolution was the storming of The Bastille, a notorious prison where political exiles were housed while they awaited their fate at the hands of corrupt, inbred royalty. Although there weren’t actually that many prisoners housed there at the time of the takeover – and the guards only put up token resistance - it was still a very symbolic event.

Of course, not nearly as symbolic as Marie Antoinette’s severed head being held aloft to a cheering, blood-thirsty mob thanks to Madame Guillotine, but, still symbolic none-the-less.

Anyway, last Tuesday was Bastille Day, the French celebration of independence. I celebrated by driving to Raleigh to taste 14 wines from Chateauneuf du Pape, one of France’s premier growing regions. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. As I have said, I am a giver; it is what I do for our customers. The only unfortunate aspect was that the tasting was held at Raleigh’s famous Angus Barn, yet there was no food served. I heard that the Barn wanted $600 for a cheese plate, which prompted me to tell Joel we need to rethink our pricing structure!

Seriously, I was not going to drink 14 wines then drive back on an empty stomach, so I headed over to the Cheesecake Factory and had a lovely Cab and some avocado eggrolls (they have this killer tamarind sauce that I could drink out of the cup!). Then I went to Godiva and picked up a little chocolate…so it was definitely not a wasted trip.

Wednesday, Liza and two others from her company came by to taste us on some Spanish wines, and it was at that point that Liza realized she was supposed to do this week’s tasting.

OK, Plan B. Liza will do the next tasting. Fortunately, I had some good stock in that most people had not yet tried, so I was able to fill in. And, of course, I killed. Although, I was lucky, because I had some good wines to work with, but, hey, that’s why they call me a wine guy. Or, at least, why I call myself a wine guy, whether other people do or not…

Anyway, Liza will be this week.

Jeremy played Friday and Saturday night, and we had good food crowds all weekend, but especially Saturday. In fact, I went into the kitchen at 11am Saturday to make the Garcias something to eat, and did not emerge until almost 5pm. Also over the weekend, two of our great Raleigh regulars celebrated their 22nd Anniversary at our shop, so we presented them with cake and a glass of champagne, to thank them for their long dedication to The Grind.

Sunday was a good day, too, but I wasn’t here. I went downtown to pour wine at the Taste of Wilmington, and was out of wine two hours into the five-hour event. Oh, well, it was my first time there, though I was told that we had the best wines and I had the best pour. Alas, there was no people’s choice category for best pour, so I won exactly nothing. But, hey, we got our name out there to a couple hundred people, and all it cost me was a case and a half of wine.

Afterward, I rewarded myself with a stop at Circa, an interesting Syrah blend followed by a Cotes du Rhone, and, thanks to some people I overheard talking about dessert, I found myself ordering a pot du crème. And I was glad I did. Chocolate was what that first wine needed to soften its rough edges, and the French wine was a nice, balanced and smooth finish.

While I was out, our friend Joy Galeotti – of One Tree Hill and Everly fame – met with a director at our shop to discuss her new project, The Notebook – The Musical. You can learn more about it here http://www.thenotebookmusical.com/

And, here we are, ready to do it all over again. So, get your thirst on, bring your appetite, and come on down to the Treehouse Bistro and let the 2 Wine Guys @ The Grind pour you a glass and fix you a plate!

Shawn