Dans mon premier billet sur la confrence Enterprise 2.0, j’crivais ces lignes : Intressant aussi le fait qu'il mentionne que le march de l'Entreprise 2.0 est estim 4,3 milliards de $ d'ici cinq ans, soit 2013. Pas pour rien que tous les grandes firmes se convertissent aux vertus du 2.0, de Microsoft IBM en passant par SAP, Oracle, Alcatel-Lucent, Novell, OpenText, Vignette, etc. s'y mettent Je parlais alors de Dion Hinchcliffe et son atelier.
Je notais donc la prsence en force, la confrence, de tous les dignes compagnies reprsentantes de Web 1.0, reconverties aux bienfaits du Web 2.0. Et j’oubliais alors Sun et EMC2 … En fait, la partie Expo de la confrence, o elles taient toutes prsentes avec leurs gros kiosques, m’a fait penser ces confrences o je me rendais fin des annes 90 et dbut 2000, des confrences sur le KM et les intranets o l’on pouvait assister un spectacle bien particulier avant que n’clate la bulle techno.
Les gros d’un ct, les petits de l’autre…
Un spectacle o ces grosses botes Ti ctoient une foule de petites solutions essayant de se frayer une rentabilit Des dizaines de petites startup dans leurs petits kiosques 10X10 et qui tentent d’intresser des clients corporatifs leur brillante ide de solution alors que les gros navires comme IBM et Microsoft, pavoisent dans des espaces cinq fois plus vastes, avec dmos live et cadeaux la cl ! Toutes ces petites entreprises sont disparues avec l’clatement de la bulle ou ont t rachetes par les gros. Demandez aux gens de RedDot, qui justement taient Boston mais plus sous leur bannire originale. Achets tout d’abord par Hummingbird, ils sont ensuite passs avec leur acheteur sous la frule d’Open Text et c’est leurs couleurs qu’ils arboraient au salon d’exposition.
Ce qui me fait penser que bien des petites compagnies, prsentes Boston, risquent de subir le mme sort. Boston, j’en ai dnombr 41 avec des noms aussi vocateurs que Mzinga, Jive, Acquia, Igloo, nGenera, WorkLight, Box, Awareness, expresso, Mindjet, GROUPSwim, openwater, Tomoye, etc. Du lot, trois se dmarquent par leur notorit dj acquise et la porte de leur solutions. Il s’agit de AmazonWebServices, la division Cloud Computing du gant de Web 2.0, de Zoho, une entreprise californienne plus spcialise dans le CRM et la gestion de projet et que le copain Pascal Veilleux dcrit comme un mini-Google en termes de services Web et aussi vtran du Web 1.0 ainsi que SocialText, le leader mondial du wiki d’entreprise mais qui se dfinit maintenant comme un Business Social Software.
Le fondateur et CEO de l’entreprise, Ross Mayfield, tait sur place tout au long de l’vnement. Il a donn une confrence o il en a profit pour lancer un nouveau produit appel SocialCalc. Il s’agit en fait d’un Excel/wiki, chaque cellule pouvant tre explose et pouvant ainsi devenir source de multiples informations connexes ou supplmentaires sur le donne et celui qui l’a cre. Fly mais utile… Bref , Ross a t prsent tout du long, animant une journe barcamp gratuite, et donnant volontiers des informations sur ses produits au kiosque. Un gars vraiment sympathique, accessible, intressant, facile d’approche. Trs diffrent de bien des stars du Web 2.0 qui auraient des leons d’humilit prendre de lui (et je ne nomme personne).
Pour en revenir aux petites entreprises qui mon avis, risquent de faire une perce, je retiens trois noms : ThoughtFarmer, GoLightly et BlueKiwi. Les trois vont probablement se comptitionner car leurs solutions se ressemblent en cela qu’elles tentent d’offrir aux entreprises une suite complte d’outils collaboratifs : Blogues, wikis, calendriers, annuaires, fils RSS, intgration du courriel et de la messagerie instantane, SSO, engin de recherche et tagging, forums, multilingue, outils de statistiques, vidos, etc.
Tous trois sont compatibles, entre autres, avec SharePoint mais j’aime bien les rcents dveloppements chez BlueKiwi, prsents Boston par son PDG, Carlos Diaz. Ainsi, BK offre une toute nouvelle approche pour identifier les communauts mettre en oeuvre. Il permet aux employs de s’inscrire et au dpart de signifier leurs intrts. Comme il se cre ainsi un genre de nuage de tags d’intrts, l’administrateur de communauts (un nouveau rle en mergence dans les entreprises) peut ainsi diriger son attention vers la cration de communauts dj identifies comme viables par ces tags. Trs original et efficace !
Mais la plate-forme franaise n’offre pas encore tous les outils collaboratifs. On a bien rajout les Ateliers, espaces wikis collaboratifs, une recherche amliore et des outils pour l’administration et l’analyse, ce qui a t bien suffisant pour intresser Alcatel-Lucent. En effet, cette entreprise a annonc Boston, qu’elle allait intgrer BK dans sa solution OmniTouch My Instant Communicator. Mais il n’en demeure pas moins que ses deux comptiteurs l’un amricain et l’autre canadien offrent encore plus d’outils et en fin de compte la possibilit de devenir un intranet 2.0 complet. En tmoigne ainsi ces deux schmas qui se ressemblent :
Le modle BlueKiwi
Le modle GoLightly
La plate-forme GoLightly est plus complte en termes d’outils, intgrant blogues, forums, vidos et en termes de connectivit avec les systmes d’entreprise tels que CRM, CMS et services Web. De plus, elle offre aussi une couche suppmentaire. En fait les deux plates-formes offrent les couches de connexion, de collaboration, de socialisation et d’administration. La plate-forme cre par Sarah Golightly (non, non, ce n’est pas une blague) offre en plus la couche de transaction.
Et ce que j’aime des deux plates-formes et que certains gros fournisseurs n’offrent pas ncessairement, c’est la couche d’administration avec des outils intgrs d’analyse et de reporting. C’est habituellement le point faible des solutions Web 2.0 : l’impossibilit de bien grer la croissance et le dveloppement, l’absence d’outils de travail pour les futurs administrateurs de communauts.
Pour ce qui est de ThoughtFarmer, qui vient de lancer sa version franaise et qui vise, entre autres le march qubcois, elle est la seule se prsenter comme tant un vritable intranet 2.0. Cette plate-forme est un produit de la compagnie vancouveroise Openroad Communications et une co-cration de Chris McGrath et Darren Gibbons. Je vous en reparle dans un autre billet.
Je voulais aussi crire quelques lignes sur un autre mchant gros fournisseur qui a eu le dos large durant toute la confrence et dont les reprsentants ont eu faire face aux railleries et aux quolibets des participants. Vous vous doutez de qui ? Microsoft, bien entendu. Juste quelques mots pour vous souligner qu’ils ont aussi profit de la confrence Boston pour lancer leur nouveau service appel Podcatsing Kit for SharePoint. Les mauvaises langues ont tout de suite insinu que c’tait pour stimuler les ventes de Zune…
Je termine cette srie de billets sur LA confrence mondiale sur l’Entreprise 2.0, qui aura lieu l’an prochain au mme endroit soit au Westin du Boston Waterfront et ce, du 22 au 25 juin 2009. Et un gros merci son directeur-gnral Steve Wylie pour son travail d’organisation et surtout pour sa programmation. Merci galement aux amis Pascal Veilleux et Isabelle Lopez, compagnons de voyage, de networking et de discussions passionnantes.
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Cet article a été publié le Vendredi 20 juin 2008 à 11:37et est classé dans Entreprise 2.0, vnements.Vous pouvez suivre les réponses reçues par cet article grâce au fil RSS 2.0. Vous pouvez laisser un commentaire, ou faire un trackback depuis votre site.
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Your photographs are gorgeous and the spider-webby one so appropriate for October. I'm glad you did a post on Cognac. I was curious about it of late especially after Kanye West was drinking so much of it prior to his insult of Taylor Swift at the award show last month. Thanks.
I'm really sorry I didn't get to make any of your SF appearances.
Wow this is so informative - I never knew you should drink cognac out of those glasses. I really hate spiders tho - don't know if I could have made it the entire time there!! Thanks for the info! :)
Like my pre-poster, I adore your photos, not just these ones. Are there bigger versions somewhere available? I tried to use some of your pictures as desktop wallpapers but unfortunately they turned out rather grainy :-(
Berit: I host my pictures on Flickr, and if you click on them, it takes you there. I don't host larger images there mainly because often I have a lot of shots and the download time takes forever (especially with my pokey internet access.)
mindy: At least he didn't blame the Cognac for being a knucklehead. The good news is that she'll likely be around a long time. Longer than others..
Jessica: I never used those glasses either. They gave me one to bring home, so I need to get a few more. I would imagine liquor stores have them. I did see some online, which weren't cheap, but I'm sure one could pick up a few for not a lot of money. Lavinia in Paris likely has them, and I may check later this week.
I'm really glad to know that they ask about the spider fear before, As appealing as old cognac would be, I think I would pass :) .
But from here where there's no spider, I can admit that I find cute and interresting this story of les demoiselles taking good care of the wood parts by eating the parasites. I also want to thank you, David, for not posting any of those demoiselles here, and only their work :D.
This was so interesting! I've been to Portugal and done a series of interesting tours of the port cellars, learned so much, and really enjoyed it. This looks right up my alley and something I never would have thought to do. Thanks!
My itinerary for my still non-existent future trip to France just keeps getting longer and longer!
excellent photos and story!
Have you tried cognac with an ice cub and Pérrier? gorgeous !
I like the way your Aunt Bunny thinks..and they way you think, too! It's true, there is a time and place for everything, from the wine in a box (at the most fun picnic I attended with a group of good friends in my 21'st year) to the long-laid away bottle of Ridge Cabernet (on my 20th aniversary dinner with the man of my dreams) to my current favorites for whichever seems to fit with what I'm serving at a dinner party. It's all (mostly) good sometime! I've enjoyed this series on cognac!
Great post, photos & the skinny on cognac. Hope you are keeping a file for a new book (heavily illustrated) called 'David's X Rated France', something along the lines of Caesar's Conquests...Food/Chocolate/Booze & Sex really are a winning combination, especially in Gaul.
Thanks for this post. I've always been a little hesitant when it comes to the harder alcohol of France (especially eau de vie). Now I really want to try some cognac — à la David Lebovitz with a tablet of chocolate!
great story and fascinating too-I just visited one of the oldest vineyards in California–Ridge Vineyards–and we were amazed to see all the mold growing in the original cellar; the winemaker said that they say (in France) it adds to the wine's character, so they let it go (now over 100 years old).
There is something about the age old practices and traditions, whether accurate or not, that are riveting. Let's hope they don't go to the wayside like some of the old cheeses, and what not. I mean those spiders-that's wild!!
and who knew about the stemware.
Wow, thanks for all the great info! Love all the pictures--especially the ones from the cellar.
My favorite thing to do lately with cognac is drizzle a little into potato leek soup right before serving. Flavors are great together and it's extra warming on cold Boston nights.
I just love you. Thank you for your wisdom, and your Aunt Bunny's. I drink wine in a box, because it's fine, it's more ecological, and I can drink one glass with dinner without the whole bottle going bad. It's nice to hear an 'official' foodie give the thumbs up to this practice.
But don't worry, I don't like Lawry's Season Salt either. :-P (However, Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning will have to be pried out of my cold, dead hands.)
Wow. I think I just figured out who I want to come back as in my next life: David Lebovitz. Not for the experiences, although those would be nice, but for the talent. I've been following for a while and I can only wish I'd found you sooner. Living under a rock sure sucks.
The photos are amazing. This is a very interesting and informative post on cognac. I haven't gotten into cognac or armagnac, but appreciate knowing the process of how each is crafted and aged.
I'll have to keep in mind your Aunt Bunny's quote as well when I start tasting cognac. If that happened to me, I'd probably shoot back a look that says, 'You have no idea what you're missing out on.' Heck, I'd probably say it out loud!
I'd be interested in a tasting trip one of these days, I love to scare myself and visiting one of these spider filled caves is just the thrill seeking remedy. Although, starting the tasting at 9:30am is tough!
David, I adore this post. I have a strange fascination with any information regarding the production of liquor. I love to know the differences between them, where they come from, the traditions surrounding them. What can I say, I love booze. I thought this post did just that! Thank you.
Lovely post David. Thank you. I recently purchased a bottle of Courvoisier for making Julia Child's Coq au Vin. (Yes, I loved the movie and went right out and bought Mastering the Art of French Cooking!) I chose the VSOP - a splurge for me - and I don't think there will be any left for the next recipe that requires ignition of cognac! Yum.
I love your Aunt Bunny's advice!
This was an excellent posting David. It was so informative, but fun to read also. Can't imagine being in those cellars with all of the spiders. Thanks for such a great post.
Katy: Thanks! It was interesting for me, too, because I don't know a lot about how liquors are made. Another thing I found interesting was that since they can't reuse the Cognac casks for Cognac, some places sell them to rum distillers since they like the residual flavors left over.
Jessie: I add some to soup as well, especially pumpkin or butternut squash soup, as a rule. Also it's quite good tippled over vanilla ice cream, just a little. (If you mix and churn it into the ice cream, you lose quite a bit of it's character.)
Romney: I was surprised about those little glasses, too. Which is a good thing because I have two brandy snifters and they always hit my big nose when trying to drink out of them!
David:
This was a fascinating description of your adventure, with lots of news for me, including staying out of such spidery places. I'm sure your tastings were great, but really can anything beat aged cognac with you & Jacques Genin in his chocolate
workplace at 11:00AM?? Thank you for providing such experiences for us. So glad I saw you even briefly at Charles Chocolates.
Until next time, Lynn T.
Like for everything else, it is nice to get educated. I am not into booze but at least I now know more about Cognac. (Farrah Fawett loved Armagnac).
Oofa, that second photo, added with stories or eight-legged critters and mold, made me hesitate but what an intriguing read. I've never had Cognac but you certainly made it interesting! Ah, the Sweet Life indeed for David!
How interesting, I had no idea how Cognac was made and it was fascinating to learn. I hope it's not too gauche to admit that in 38 years of living, I've never tried it and have no idea what it tastes like!
I, too, thank you for not posting pictures of the industrious spiders who are the keepers of the Cognac.
I'd definitely have to do the tasting before the tours - but maybe tipsy AND scared of spiders really wouldn't go well together.
I didn't realize there was so many of you out there afraid of spiders! I thought the mold was going to give some folks pause.
To be honest, I didn't see all that many spiders...just a lot of their handiwork.
I've have been enjoying your Blog for the last several months since our mutual friend, Shiela Kneiss, of SF recommended your delightful book The Sweet Life in Paris. Shiela and I are taking a French class in Healdsburg together and your wonderful descriptions of Paris, food, cognac etc are inspiring me to study more so I will enjoy France even more on my next trip. I love the WTF moments as well.Of course loved you writing about SF. I'm going to try every burger!
Many thanks, Janice
David, I think the photos in this post are some of my most favorite that you've ever posted. They tell a wonderful story, even if you had not written a word. Really great. Of course, your descriptions make the story even better! How cool it must have been to taste Cognac in a 250+ year old building. Wow, my whole country isn't even that old... ;)
Merci David. Now I am no longer afraid to drink cognac if I don't happen to have the right glass, which turns out not to be the right glass at all! Now, as far as the ice cubes dropped in there, pardonne-moi, mais je ne pourrais jamais le faire!
Next time, try Calvados ! We were cycling through France in the late 70's and it was a cold rainy day and we were soaked. We spent our daily food allowance on a great lunch in a little country restaurant, frequented by truck drivers and locals. They dried our clothes and francs over the fire and at the end of the meal we saw everyone drinking an amber liquid. We asked for 'two of those' and were knocked out by the aroma and taste. Calva! Sublime!
Thank you for this great story. I am really enjoying your coverage of this artisan process, and I love the accompanying photographs in both 'The Coopers of Cognac' and this post.
-Michaela
David: I don't usually comment, but this post compelled me. Thanks for the education about the cognac and I will rethink my snifter glasses...hmmm...interesting. But the photo of your laptop with the cognac and the chocolate is priceless. I got a good chuckle out of that. I loved it, for some reason. Thanks.
This was one of your best posts ever--and the photos are spectacular!
Although I don't drink spirits very often, I do like single malt scotches (thanks to a trip to Edinburgh too many years ago to count when we spent an entire afternoon drinking our way around the pub's kegs). A good cognac or armagnac is now my preference as an apero and after dinner disgestif. My favorite is Sempe's Vieil Armagnac (15 years old) which was recommended by one of the wine sellers at La Grande Epicerie. Try it sometime--it is a lovely honey color with a peaty taste. Yum.
This is great information. I had a conversation just a few weeks ago with someone trying to get more information on cognac. They were not helpful. This is extremely helpful. I'm glad they didn't ask me to go to the creepy cognac cellar. I'm really afraid of spiders and would have run the other way. Thanks for taking one for the team and tasting them too.
I also wanted to say I really enjoyed your comments at the BlogHer Food Conference and for being so kind to take a photo with me and Elizabeth Falkner. It was a great event.
Great to see a down to earth article about cognac for a change. Aged cognac is 'better', but it is something which should be treasured and sipped on special occassions, in my view. For regular old drinking nothing beats a good VSOP or VS (or equivalent) cognac.
David, sweetie, next time in the States, look in high-end thrift or vintage stores for tulip glasses, they're awash in gorgeous styles.
Cognac for cocktails, I approve. Chocolate with cognac, wooie. Cognac, chocolate, plus writing, too Faulkner for me. But you do go on, seems to work out beautifully.
Lovely photos. So difficult to photograph glass, and you do it well, so translucently.
Whilst cognac learning is always good, and the photos you post are beautiful (though I'm still chuckling at the racy prison graffiti of yore) - what I'm really most curious about is the wee square green-topped cake - what is it, please?
LB: Yes, a lot of folks get worried that their tastes are too 'downscale'; people confess to me, apologizing, that they like Nestlés Crunch bars. And I'm, like, 'So do I!' It's really not about how much you spend, it's what you like.
When I was in Cognac, I went to the Cognathèque and saw bottles that costs upwards of €6000 (about $8800). I'm sure they are extraordinary, but I'm pretty confident that people can find a bottle for a little...or a lot less, that they'll enjoy almost as much.
Thea: I hit a few thrift stores in San Francisco during a recipe trip, mostly scouring for Tupperware, and didn't see any Cognac flutes. I think they're a bit of a specialty item, but as you can see, for some of the tastings, we used ordinary wine glasses, which the Cognac makers themselves chose. But I will keep looking...
S: Don't recall what the green cake was (perhaps because I finished that glass before I dug into dessert), but I would imagine it was a pistachio bavarian-style (mousse) cake.
Janice: So glad you liked the book and that Sheila from the bookshop recommended it to you. Keep up that French...and good luck with all those verbs! ; )
David, tes photos sont magnifiques et ton etude sur le Cognac tres interessante !
Dans la plupart des familles francaises, nous avons des verres-ballon speciaux pour le cognac, meme si nous n'en buvons que tres rarement ! mais, a ta prochaine visite, nous t'en offrirons.. promis !!!
Oh pooh. I started a comment here and got so distracted with other links and recipes, I forgot to complete it! Rats. Then I accidentally refreshed the page, lol.
I sat down to read this in the morning here in P-Town (*snort* I can imagine its hating me call it that), and was really captivated by this post. As others have commented, this is such a gorgeous post; from the photos to the writing to the humor it is very well-done, David, as always. :)
The sentence that jumped out to me the most, and the one I remember I was waxing prosaic on before I got so distracted was this: '3-4% evaporation a year, called 'The angels share'' That has got to be one of the loveliest concepts ever, and the idea of slightly tipsy angels with halos askew has stuck with me all morning!
Oh and I remember what also got me going. That tray up there with special places for the Cognac, café expresso, and those desserts? OMG, totally foodgasmic. That tray makes me want to weep! I bet that's the stuff angels eat when they are getting their angels share of cognac!
Thank you for this beautiful and informative post.
'I thought the mold was going to give some folks pause.'BTW, about this: yes it did. It grossed me out quite a lot, actually, since I have pretty intense mold allergies! I about started sneezing and wheezing just looking at the photo, my stomach churning. Ugh!! Those mold pics freak me out, lol. *going back to rest of post to contemplate angels, dessert, and cognac some more*
Wow, and I was just thinking the other day, as I sipped a glass of cognac (nothing super-fancy, just a Hennessy - I'm on a cognac kick as of late), gee, I wonder what goes into making cognac? And now I know. I am not sure I could hang through tastings like that, all day - I don't have a good level of alcohol tolerance, but I think I'd definitely try! Lovely photos and thanks for letting us know about the glasses - I need to find some!
Excellent article. Having just developed a taste for cognacs (VSOP in particular), it was timely to get an education in the development and differences in the making and tastes of the various products. I must add however, that it would take quite a few 'tastings' before you'd ever get me into that arachnid filled, fungus covered enclave. Kudo's to you!
Question? I noticed that all the bottles, even the web covered ones in the cellar, are standing straight up. Did they say why cognac doesn't need to lay on it's side? Doesn't the cork dry out over time?
Very informative. I always wondered what the difference was between cognac and armagnac. Would you tell us about marc? Merci, David.
Thanks for being so charming and informative David. I second the request of barknot. What is the difference between marc (and grappa and eaux de vie for that matter)?
Hmmm I love Cognac!! Really interesting post!
David, I never read anything about your work in the restaurant, long hours, how you managed the kitchean and created recipes... I would love to read about that!
Great blog! Thanks for the post!
My father has always been a big Cognac after dinner drinker and I never understood his love of the fiery liquid I tried a few times. Your post has given me the desire to give it another try. I love your reassurance that you are not a rube for using ice cubes or liking two buck chuck as well as Aunt Bunny's quote! I had the pleasure of meeting you at BlogHer and you were kind enough to autograph my copy of the Sweet Life in Paris. I just reviewed it on my blog. I can't wait for your next book and will be reading this blog religiously until then.
I found this to be very interesting followed up with the pictures I can almost taste it. The problem with me I have the rich man's taste but the poor man's budget. I found to price my tastes in my budget is to buy aged brandies. For me an XO brandy will normally taste better than VSOP cognac. In reality cognacs are normally superior, my value buy is Maison Prunier Cognac 20 Years Old, $90 750ml.
David, it was such fun hearing you speak at BlogHer Food 09 - belated thanks for that.
And an additional thank-you for the info in one of your past posts on Art-Home. I'd been trying to reserve ever since minuit Paris time, thinking they'd start taking reservations at the crack-o-day. Silly me. That's what would happen in the U.S. The French are a tad more civilized (or irrational - take your pick).
Some of the best cognac glasses I have found came with a bottle of Henessy XO some years back. Little stemless 'short tulip' glasses, absolutely fantastic. They seem to bring out the best in Alsacian riesling too.
David, I'm not one for posting on people's blogs but just had to say....it pleases me no end to read you're demystifying the world of spirits & wine and telling people to drink what they like and not to be embarrassed by their taste buds. Your tasting cognac course reminds me of a wine tasting course I took 17yrs ago where we went through different grapes, oak & non-oak, why certain regional wines went with their counterpart produce and gave me the confidence to discover what my taste buds liked or disliked such as oaky Australian chardonnay yuk! The important lesson I learned was how to taste the wine, and this in turn gave me the confidence to order wine in top restaurants and I think more importantly to ask the sommelier if I don't know a wine.
My head starts to hurt when people start to talk endlessly about wine growers, terroir, first wines...a bit like when OH starts to talk about which pipes are the best for his motorbike....!
My first love is food but hey a nice glass of wine can sure round off the meal :-)
barknot & Andrika: Eaux-de-vies are clear liquids, distillations of the grapes (although it can be any fruit, and sometimes vegetables, herbs, or other things.) Cognac, and other liquors like armagnac, is made by aging the eaux-de-vie in wood, which gives it that characteristic amber color and flavor.
Here's a pretty good article about grappa, which offers an explanation about marc-based distillations as well. Marc and grappa are made from leftover grape skins, after the juice is pressed out for wine-making. And I also wrote about kirsch a few months back, which is a clear eau-de-vie made from cherries.
Gayle: You have to be online at 10am (Paris-time) to get a reservation at Art Home. Lunch reservations are much easier to come by than dinner ones. Good luck!
azelia, craig & vanessa: Since taste is so subjective, it's always interesting to see and hear other people's opinion. For example, I drink wines that cost €2-€6, but I don't like that 2-buck stuff. Trader Joe's used to have a 'French market merlot' for a dollar more than was much better. But that's just me.
I think it's good just to taste as much as you can to determine what you like. From chocolate to olive oil, and not necessarily listen to the experts. Because what they like, you might not.
Speaking of wine sold in bulk, DeLoach Vineyards introduced a program to put mini-casks in restaurants, obliterating the need for bottles, and extra storage and trash (or recycling). It's a pretty great idea and hopefully decreases the cost of wine to both consumers and restaurants, as well as reduces the amounts of glass, corks, and boxes that wine traditionally is schlepped around in.
This has to be one of my favorite posts from a visual perspective. The fact that we're prepping for Haloween may have something to do with that but I'd have loved it just the same in April. The rich color of the different cognacs, the juxtaposition of creepy cellar to elegant tasting room? Delicious, all of it.
Next time you're visiting the US, check out Germain-Robin from Ukiah. Amazing stuff - you'll enjoy it.
love the photos here, david. as an avid scotch and cognac drinker, i've been looking for such photos to frame and put up. is there a way to buy?
Mike: They are quite good, I've tried them. Thanks for reminding me and giving Germain-Robin a shout-out.
Kay: Because sometimes, like in this post, I have a lot of photos, they're not formatted for downloading I'm afraid. They're mostly for people to enjoy on the site.
P.S. - by the by, I am surprised no one has commented about your NEXT BOOK! You snuck that into this post so discreetly, or perhaps everyone was distracted by the photos? You are a busy boy these days. Looking forward to the new book... soon!