Le Prince De Courthezon

Description on the bottle:  Our cellar was founded in 1924 in Courthezon, a historic town rich in medieval history that was once governed by the Princes of Orange.  Our Cotes-du-Rhone blanc is comprised of the three main white grape varieties of the region:  Grenach Blanc (65%), Clairette (25%), and Bourboulenc (10%), harvested from prime vineyards on the clay and sand soils that bring the local wines such complexity.  2012 was an excellent vintage for white Rhone and Prince de Courthezon is a wine with considerable freshness and depth of flavor.  The wine displays gentle floral notes with hints of peach and apricot on the nose and palate, underpinned by the attractive minerality, which leads to a well-rounded, complex finish.  This is the perfect wine to enjoy on its own or as a partner for fish, seafood and out local goats' cheese.

Sarah says:  There is something about wine with white grapes, I never enjoy them as much.  They have such a strong flavor that it is overwhelming.  It's almost painful to swallow.  Not because it's bad, but because you it feels like it's burning as it goes down.  It's hard to explain, but I don't love it.  I won't dread finishing the bottle, but I wouldn't seek out another bottle of this either.

Overall rating:  Thumbs down.

Sarah says:  It's three days before Halloween, and I'm dumbfounded.  What's wrong with women?  We judge other women based on their size so quickly.  I almost wish I was from the medieval times in France, being larger wasn't such a horrible thing.  Here's my observations:  a larger woman says she wants to loose weight, we encourage her.  A thinner woman says she wants to loose weight, we laugh at her.  A larger woman successfully looses weight, we encourage her to eat fattening foods again, thus gaining the weight back.  A thinner woman puts on 5 lbs, we talk about her behind her back.  We encourage others to be thin, as long as we are the thinnest.  We want to remain thin, but give off the impression that we can maintain it with little to no effort. 

It makes no sense.  Personally, I'm semi-in-shape.  Nearly 4 years, I worked really freaking hard to loose weight, and it worked.  I am by no means skinny, but I'm a lot healthier than I used to be.  I'm anticipating eating a larger than normal amount of candy this weekend (thanks to my kids hard Trick or Treating work!), so I'm trying to eat a little better than normal this week to prepare.  People look at me like I'm crazy.  Why crazy?  I don't want to gain back the 20 lbs I lost.  Eating bad this week, eating bad this weekend, I would just be setting myself up to fail, and I get the impression that is what the ladies want me to do.

I think we need to find the right balance between encouraging each other and just staying out of each others business.  Weight is personal.  You don't need to know what I'm eating or how I'm working out.  You don't need to know my size or that my pants are feeling tighter this week.  It's my body, stop staring at it.  Feel free to tell me I look good, but only if it's sincere.  I'm pretty sure a day doesn't go by where the word calories or fat doesn't pop into my mind.  We women should be trying to keep those words out of our vocabulary, but the pressure to be thin makes that impossible.

In the midst of candy bowls, caramel apples, pies, & lattes, I don't know what your staying healthy strategy is, but mine is to block out the rest of the world and just focus on me.  Salad & wine today, kit kat & wine tomorrow!