Bon soir, mes amis. I am back... reporting on my first wine class! It turns out that my course began yesterday (not the 15th as I had previously reported). It's wet and chilly here in Paris, and as the fates would have it, the central heating at the Cordon Bleu had broken down that morning. That was one bitterly cold classroom! As I had anticipated, about 95% of the student were American, quite a few of whom were taking this as just one of many classes in a year-long course at the Cordon Bleu. There were 2 francais students, 1 asian and 1 colombian; if you're looking to meet locals, this isn't the place to do so. Mr. Deluc is an engaging and interesting lecturer. Much to my surprise and, initially, my horror, he began speaking but paused after every single sentanc so a woman at his side could repeat what he had said, in English. At first, this was annoying as it was difficult to follow the train of thought and, of course, repetitve. However, I soon became used to this method and actually came to appreciate the fact that points which were hard to grasp were stated twice, albeit in different languages. The first class outlined what we were to learn during the 6-class course, and then we dove into our first subject: pairing wines with food. The ideas were clearly stated but not simplistic and the final hour was spent trying 4 different wines and 4 different cheeses, then discussing what our preferred combinations ought to have been. I was wrong on all 4 of my choices! Oh well. Better luck next time... Mr. Deluc was kind and gentle with us; not dismissive and cross the way many sommelier's can be when faced with wine novices hailing from The New World. I look forward to the next class. In case you're curious -- and most of you probably are not -- he gave us the following wines and cheeses. Do you know which goes with which? WINES Jura: Cotes de Jura/Arbois; Loire: Sancerre; Alsace:Gewurztraminer; Bourgogne:Givry CHEESES Epoisses; Crottin de chavignol; Compte Fruite; Munster Good night! Freckles
