Travel Report

We are back from eleven days at sea and a week of touring the North of France. In the course of that time we sampled eighteen wines, some cheaper ones which were included in the cruise fare at both lunch and dinner, some more expensive which we ordered from the wine list, as some we ordered in French restaurants, and a few we bought in supermarkets at roughly fifteen dollars each. As it happens, only a single one of these wines is available in PA. As I was in no way making deliberately arcane choices, this seems to defy the odds, but there you are. It would be pointless to review the others as this blog is intended mainly for PA residents and we unfortunates can't buy them due to the PLCB' purchasing policies. (By the way, whatever happened to the Governor's announced intentions in that regard?) Anyway, the one available wine is a Jose Maria de Fonseca 2008, made from the Periquita grape. This Portuguese red is a thoroughly pleasant but unpretentious product, fairly priced at $7.99.