According to the server, the restaurant is an old gas station and we were sitting in the original building on the original wood floor. She pointed out a framed clipping on the wall if we were interested in more of the building's history. Our seating was perfect - two semi-circlular high-backed booths with a view of the holiday lights accenting the decor but enclosed enough to provide a sense of privacy. Next year, we will call early and reserve this booth!
I always pick bubbly as accompaniment to any celebration and tonight was no exception. A bottle of Toad Hollow Vineyards Vin Vivant Risque was $24 - and a seemingly familiar name as it had just been a feature at the Dupont Road’s Cap n' Cork Christmas Tasting (wine-searcher.com quotes an average retail price of $14). The wine list had little information other than the wine was from France which I thought odd as I knew Toad Hollow Vineyard was in California. Toad Hollow is based in Healdsburg, California and “makes” this wine in Limoux, France under special arrangement with a local cooperative - Elabore par les Vignerons du Sieur d’Arques. Limoux is in southwestern France and locals claim that the world's first sparkling wine was produced in this region in 1531 by the monks of the Abbey of Saint-Hilaire predating "Champagne" by about two hundred years. Local lore also says that Dom Perignon was a monk at the Abbey before moving to the Champagne region - and ultimately having the prestige cuvee of one of the great Champagne houses, Moet & Chandon, named after him.
Most exciting about the bottle is its resealable bottle top known as “Grolsch” style closure to beer drinkers. Featuring a wire bale and ceramic cap with rubber gasket, the bottle nonetheless has the traditional cork to pop when opening. I have no idea how well the Grolsch style closure works for resealing as we drank the entire bottle with dinner.
The label had additional information, such as, Blanquette Methode Ancestrale which is easily deciphered by even those without high school French classes to mean “ancient method” denoting minimal use of technology resulting in lower alcohol content and a sweeter wine. Vin Vivant means “lively wine.” The label artwork features classic risqué - a cancan dancer in rond de jambe pose. When introduced in France, the cancan became known as Le Ballet Risque so the label is a double-entendre risque.
If you are a person who choses their wine by the label, this wine is for you. In fact, their website states “We’re a fun and friendly bunch and believe drinking wine should be as FUN as the whimsical art on our wine labels.” However, its cutesy label outside bespeaks a too sweet inside for my taste.
I am also curious about the vineyard’s story of their creation illustrated with whimsical drawings of Dr. Toad and Mr. Badger in Toad Hollow. Thornton W. Burgess was one of my mother’s favorite authors and I was raised with his stories of animal characters. His first book was “Old Mother West Wind” published in 1910, and his last, #165, in 1960. Many of his stories are set in the Old Briar Patch and feature Old Mr. Toad, Grandfather Frog, Paddy the Beaver, Buster Bear, and Johnny Chuck. I also know of Mr. Toad, Esq. of Toad Hall, one of the main characters in Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows. Did the vineyard intentionally cast their story as a rip-off of these classics – an homage gone awry?
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