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continued from page 25 Though this term is not terribly new, it will


not be going away any time soon. As a matter of fact, you will most likely begin to hear the title more and more. The bar chef is the equivalent of your favorite gender-bending drag illusionist. Instead of blending male and female looks while lip-syncing a rendition of “I Did It My Way,” a bar chef bends time-honored culinary techniques with classic cocktail crafting (only slightly less entertaining). Immersion circulators, robot coupes and molecular gastronomy, once the province of chefs, have now become playthings for mixologists and epi-curious bartenders alike! On the sommelier front, I won’t be discussing


orange wines [white wines produced more like reds, with prolonged maceration of crushed grape skins], the Jura [a wine region that stretch- es from just north of Arbois to some kilometers south of Lons le Saunier in the western foothills of France’s low Jura mountain range], Pét Nat [short for pétillant naturel, an age-old method of low-tech wine making, so-called “natural wines”] or Method Ancentral [sparkling wines produced by spontaneous fermentation]. We will however, talk about all of the amazing sparkling things available to drink (that aren’t Champagnes), the Loire Valley, the Portuguese and our responsibil- ity for preserving Heritage grapes. Recently, I attended a tasting with an amazing


line up of wines from Etna, Sicily. Wine geeks have been espousing the virtues of Etna for sev- eral years now, but I think it’s time for everyone else to begin evangelizing these wines, born of a volcano. Who knew a nearly tropical Mediter- ranean Island, could produce sparkling wine to rival Champagne? Terrezze dell’Etna’s Blanc de Blanc is a marvelous example, of what happens when you allow a secondary fermentation to happen in the bottle. For those of us who like pink things, the Rosé is as pretty (and delicious) as they come. Wine is no different, when it comes to objects


While doing so, take a good look at your bartender, he may be dressed in a toque [chef’s signature hat] and apron. Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce you to the “Bar Chef.”


26 RAGE monthly | NOVEMBER 2015


once “in fashion,” coming of age again and the Loire Valley is an example of one of them. Kings and queens once traipsed through the multi- tudes of vineyards that crowd the region’s river- banks. Its castles and otherworldly beauty still remain and are a large part of the Loire Valley’s re- surgence. It’s “hot,” ya’ll. From Muscadet, Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, the wines of the Loire Valley can do no wrong and all of them have never met a food they didn’t like. Check outChâteau de Brézé, Clos de la Rue and quite possibly experience Chenin Blanc’s like you never have before.


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