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The WINE WRITER: George Medovoy
FRENCH BARGE CRUISES, WINE
EVENTS IN CALIFORNIA AND B.C., PLUS A SPECIAL VICTORIAN INN!
By George Medovoy
There's a great deal of
wine-and-travel activity coming your way, both domestically
and internationally, plus a great Victorian inn when exploring
Monterey County wineries. Let's take a look!
AUTUMN BARGE CRUISE IN
FRANCE
eWaterways.com, the
comprehensive Internet site for canal barges and riverboats,
is offering an autumn package aboard a selection of deluxe
barges -- the Litote (20 passengers), the Mirabelle (24
passengers) and its newest addition, the Marguerite (20
passengers).
Spend seven days and six nights
floating lazily down the canals of Burgundy, enjoying the
exquisite French countryside, dining on the regions delectable
specialties and sipping its world-renowned wines.
The regular price of the cruise
alone is $1,999 -- but just nine dollars more will create an
unforgettable and affordable vacation package that includes:
- the 7-day/6-night barge
cruise
- round-trip flights between
most U.S. cities and Paris
- two nights in a 3-star
boutique hotel in Paris including continental
breakfast and hotel taxes
- transfers to/from the barge
from a specified point in Paris
- all meals aboard the barge;
all bar drinks; local wines with lunch and dinner
- daily sightseeing, and use
of bicycles.
This price is valid for
departures from the U.S. on Nov. 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 - per
person based on double occupancy.
For reservations and further information, visit www.eWaterways.com.
You can also contact:
eWaterways.com
140 E. 56th St., Suite 4C, New
York, NY 10022, or call 1-800-217-4447.
E-mail: sales@eWaterways.com
JEWISH HERITAGE BARGE CRUISE
IN FRANCE
eWaterways also has a Jewish
Heritage Luxury Barge Cruise
in Alsace-Lorraine, France, scheduled for Nov. 9-18.
This area is one of the most
picturesque regions in the country.
The comfy sun deck of the 22-passenger (11-cabin) Lorraine
will glide along the Canal de la Marne to the River Rhine,
maximizing the full impact of the lovely fall foliage and the
charm of the villages scattered at the base of the Vosges
Mountains.
Six day/seven night canal
cruise, at the special price of $2199, will include :
- Round trip airfare from
almost any major airport in the U.S. to Paris
- 2 nights accommodations in a
boutique, three-star hotel in Paris
- Round-trip rail transfers
between Paris and the barge
- All meals on board prepared
by a talented chef featuring local wines and produce
- All bar drinks
Special Jewish heritage
sightseeing program in Strasbourg will include:
- The Synagogue de la Paix,
dedicated in 1958
- The Alsatian Museum, rich
collection of Judaica
- La Petite France, charming
neighborhood of
400-year old houses
- The Jewish Museum in
Bouxviller
- The private Judaica
collection in Colmar of Frederic Auguste Bartholdi,
sculptor of the Statue of Liberty
- American Airlines AAdvantage
mileage.
(Itinerary subject to change.)
For reservations or more
information, visit: www.eWaterways.com.
For special, all-inclusive fall
packages, visit www.bargespecials.com, or call 1-800-676-6613.
B.C. FOOD AND WINE
CELEBRATION
Meanwhile, preparations are
underway for Cornucopia, Whistler, British Columbia's Food and
Wine Celebration Nov. 8-11.
Epicurean enthusiasts from
across the continent will gather for the four day Tourism
Whistler event, which features wine tastings, food and wine
seminars, celebrity chef showcases and winemaker dinners.
Picturesque Whistler Resort,
nestled in the Coast Mountains, offers a perfect atmosphere to
savor and learn about the fine culinary arts of the region.
"Whistler is a haven for
five star dining and Cornucopia provides a venue to experience
the beauty and excitement of the mountain resort, along with
the food and wine specialties of the West coast," says
Gwen Young, Manger, Festivals Experience at Tourism Whistler.
"The event features
presentations by some of the area's most acclaimed chefs, and
wine tasting by more than 50 select vintners from the wine
regions of British Columbia, Washington, and California."
Cornucopia opens Thursday, Nov.
8 at the Westin Resort & Spa with a Preview Grand Tasting
featuring wineries such as Summerhill (BC), Mission Hill (BC),
Chateau Ste. Michelle (WA), and Bonny Doone Vineyards (CA).
The weekend continues with the
Crush! wine tasting event on Friday at the Westin. Host to
1,000 guests, this gala is a marriage of food and wine,
combining a grand tasting, gourmet grazing, live
entertainment, and a silent auction. The evening continues
with a Wine Rave at the Bearfoot Bistro, featuring live
entertainment, party atmosphere and boutique B.C. wine
tasting.
A-la-carte seminars on Saturday
are led by industry experts, showcasing food and wine trends
and topics such as a coffee, cigar, and truffle seminar at the
eclectic Havana Room; a bread workshop by Vancouver's Ecco Il
Pane; a chocolate and dessert wine seminar with Roger's
Chocolates, B.C.'s original
chocolatier, and Comaraderie Cellars; and many other food and
wine sessions to learn, taste and enjoy.
The weekend will serve up
favorites from previous years including Chocolate!, Rustic
Breads from Scratch, and The Art of Sushi. Seminars will take
place in various venues in the village, including the popular
new Whistler Cooking School.
Cornucopia presents a Chef Cook
Off, with chefs from the Table Top Group of restaurants, which
include Araxi (Whistler), Ouest (Vancouver) and Blue Water
(Vancouver). A wide array of Winemaker Dinners will take place
Saturday night at Whistler restaurants such as the Aubergine
Grill, La Bocca and Araxi.
There will be various levels of
dinners - bronze, silver, gold,
and platinum - to appeal to varied tastes and audiences. The
festival wraps up with Sunday Brunch events, including one at
the Fairmont Chateau Whistler Resort, famous for its brunch.
Cornucopia weekend packages
start at $439 (US$299) per person, including two nights
accommodation, ticket to Crush!, admission to two seminars, a
Winemaker Dinner (Silver), and brunch.
Call 1-800-WHISTLER, or visit
www.tourismwhistler.com/cornucopia.
THE MARTINE INN IS A GREAT
ESCAPE WHILE IN THE MONTEREY AREA
PACIFIC GROVE, CALIF. -- It’s
not exactly what you might think from outside appearances, but
this spacious Mediterranean house on the Pacific welcomes you
with comfortable lodging to complement any tour of Monterey
County’s many vineyards and wineries.
The true story of the Martine
Inn is on the inside, where a Victorian mansion filled with
all the trappings of a bygone era awaits you. And that’s not
all. Out back in the garage, you’ll discover the sheer
whimsy of innkeeper Don Martine’s collection of vintage MGs.
Combine all of this with a
pleasant seaside location -- you can walk, bicycle or roller
skate along a seven-mile shoreline recreational trail across
the street, going all the way to Cannery Row -- and the
proximity of nearby Monterey County vineyards and wineries,
and you have the makings of a memorable weekend getaway.
Perched on a hill overlooking
Monterey Bay and down the block from historic Cannery Row, the
Martine Inn was constructed in 1899 and, in 1901, purchased by
Laura and James Parke -- of Parke Davis Pharmaceuticals -- as
their family home.
Laura Parke gave many regal
parties in this spacious house, which the Parkes for some
reason stuccoed over to suggest a sunny Mediterranean look.
Laura’s husband, James, who was fond of exotic woods, added
Siamese teak for
the outside gates, mahogany trim in the parlor and dining
rooms, and Spanish cedar for the staircase.
The Victorian mood is evident
as soon as you walk in the front door and see the antique
grandfather clock and the 19th-century wicker baby carriage.
Would you like a cup of coffee
or a piece of cake? Help yourself to some on the nearby
antique hutch. The snug parlor room, with pictures of the
Parke clan, is filled with books, board
games, and, by the window, a William Knabe piano. At night,
the ruby red light shade with black tinsel adds a strange glow
to the room.
Out back, there’s a game room
with a 1917 nickelodeon, an 1890 white oak pool table and, in
keeping with innkeeper Don Martine’s love of old MG’s, the
original stained glass windows from the MG factory in England.
The adjoining spa room,
originally the conservatory, has a six-person hot tub to
soothe your limbs.
The inn’s 19 bedrooms conform
to the Martine vision for the house: “We attempted to
recreate,” notes Don, “the environment of a very wealthy
person’s home at the start of the century, and to treat our
guests the way they would have been treated had they been
invited to the house.”
Thus, when your reservation’s
confirmed, it’s done by hand.
“Nobody does that anymore,” says Don. “Nowadays, it’s
all done by computers.”
Bedroom furnishings in the
house are charming, to say the least, filled with pieces going
back to the early 1800’s.
Mornings at the Martine Inn are
great, with a nice big breakfast waiting for you in the dining
room. Antique tables are covered with crocheted table cloths,
and fine china is served. The menu includes warm blueberry
muffins, a vegetable quiche, cantaloupe, coffee, apple juice
and tea, all served by a very friendly wait staff.
Handy binoculars give everyone
a chance to spot the sea lions having their own breakfast on
the rocks offshore.
But fast forward to the
present....
After breakfast, Don Martine
let me see his MG’s. These cars, all in mint condition with
fine leather upholstery and steering wheels on the right side,
include two stunning, fire-engine-red
models: a 1929 speed model that can do up to 80 mph, and a
1950 von Neuman TD Special, which won the first Pebble Beach
Road Race that year. Only 25 1929’s were built -- and only
six are left. The model originally sold for about 500 British
pounds, but today can fetch between $100,000 and $200,000.
Martine, ever the gracious
host, took the von Neuman Special out of the garage for us to
inspect more closely. The car, looking brand new, started up
right away. You could tell from the determined roar of
the engine that it was raring to go.
Martine then struck a rather
comic pose in his dream car -- the
best-known MG in the United States -- wearing his antique
raccoon coat and his grandfather’s ill-fitting gloves with
leather flares. Martine said he has raced the aluminum-body
von Neuman six times, capturing two wins, two seconds, and two
third-place spots.
An inn staffer confided: “When
Don comes down the street in his MG, you can feel the
vibrations from the engine even before he gets on the
property.”
“It’s an extremely quick
car,” says Don. “It does not have the greatest top speed,
but I’ll beat an awful lot of cars that have a higher speed,
because the car will handle better through the corners.”
It’s a rare experience, I
must say, dividing your time between a charming Victorian and
red-hot MG’s. But then, the Martine Inn, like its owner, is
no ordinary experience.
IF YOU GO...
The Martine Inn is located at:
255 Oceanview Blvd. in Pacific Grove.
For information and
reservations, call 1-800-852-5588.
Pacific Grove, population
16,000, known as “The Last Hometown” for its small-town
feeling, is also called “Butterfly Town, USA” because of
the thousands of monarch butterflies that return to its pine
trees each October.
There’s plenty to do and see
nearby, including the famous 17-Mile Drive to fabulous homes
and coastline along the Pebble Beach Golf Links; the
four-block walk to the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium; John
Steinbeck’s renowned Cannery Row; and Pacific Grove’s
quaint Victorian Tour of gingerbread homes.
Of course, you will want to use
the inn as your base for touring the many vineyards and
wineries of Monterey County.
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