Paris-Madrid Grocery will be open on Monday, July 4th from 10 AM to 5 PM. It’s a rule that one must cook outdoors on a Seattle July 4th, even if it’s under a tent. So grab some fleece and a hat and cook up some deliciousness. Grilled sausages are a staple food on the 4th. We stock an extensive selection of grilling meats, including uncured Jamón Ibérico de Bellota Solomillo or Pluma; French-style sausages including Boudin Noir, spicy lamb Merguez, or Bistro sausage. Our Spanish embutidos include garlic-infused Butifarra, paprika-flavored Chistorra, and Chorizo, along with Morcilla (blood sausage). You may check out what’s in stock on our website Paris-Madrid Grocery – click on the orange “Order & Pick Up” button to load the menu of products. You may place an online order for pick up or shop in person inside the store.
French cheese arrivals: Some new cheeses finally arrived from France – it’s been a while since anything new has come in. Serve a plate of cheese with the grilled meats!
Belletoile Brie: This is a delightful triple cream brie made from cow’s milk, much richer than a traditional brie. With 70% butterfat, it has some mushroomy flavors initially, then notes of high-fat cream and butter take over. Luscious and almost spreadable at room temperature. This is a crowd-pleaser!
Buche Melusine: A goat and cow milk cheese with a medium-soft texture. Creamy and fresh, with a mellow tanginess from the goat cheese. It’s delicious in a salad, or with a hard-boiled egg for breakfast.
Cantal is back in stock! One of France’s oldest cheeses, it is produced from cows’ milk in the mountains of the Auvergne region. The wheels are massive, to provide enough food over a long winter. The flavor is often compared to Cheddar; Cantal has a creamy texture like Cheddar, but with a spicy note. Excellent paired with apples, nuts, or cooked into omelets.
Emmenthal de Savoie – Emmental has been made in France’s Savoie region since the Middle Ages, and this selection is a fine example. With a delicate, slightly fruity flavor, and a soft chewy texture, it is a great melting cheese. Makes a superb toasted cheese sandwich.
Saint Nectairie is back in stock: A monastery cheese made with cow’s milk cheese. Soft-textured, with a natural rind and mild flavors, reminiscent of the mountain grasses peppered with wildflowers, that the cows graze on it summer.
WINE CORNER: Spotlight on Sancerre
I remember tasting Sancerre for the first time at a seafood restaurant in Saint-Malo, France. One sip of this magnifique wine and I was hooked. Back then, I didn’t know it was made from Sauvignon Blanc (which I detested). Which is, precisely, the concept of terroir: the grapes express the unique soil geology and micro climate of each vineyard plot. Nothing else tastes quite like Sancerre, due to the ancient sea bed with Kimmeridgian or Silex (flinty) soils. thus giving Sauvignon Blanc a richness and minerality that a mass-market Sauvignon Blanc will never have. Sancerres are fantastic with cheese or seafood, or as a sipper on a hot day. Try several and choose a favorite!
Domaine Roger Neveu, Sancerre Cote des Embouffants 2020 ($27.99) Gorgeous aromatic expression of ripe fruit and white flowers and is very elegant and long-lingering on the palate. Lovely balance of freshness, suppleness, minerality, and fruit. In his 1777 history of Sancerre, the abbot Poupart wrote that “the Bouffants hillside is one of the best I know in our Sancerre area.”
Laporte Sancerre Les Boursicottes 2020 ($28.99) Fresh, with a light-bodied mix of flint, lemon pith and savory notes that echo nicely through the finish. Laporte harvests and vinifies the lots separately in order to accentuate their individual flavors and aromas. Finally, the wines are carefully blended to produce classic, balanced Sancerre.
Robert Cantin Sancerre Les Pierblancs 2020 ($26.99) The nose expresses white flesh fruits and has a good floral side. The mouth is chiseled with a wonderful homogeneity from the beginning to the end. The minerality lasts through the finish. This Sancerre “Les Pierblancs” delivers a superb richness and is surprisingly generous. A great Sancerre, typical and elegant!
Domaine Alphonse Mellot, Sancerre Blanca La Moussiere 2020 ($29.99) La Moussière is the estate’s flagship Cuvee, its richness, energy, and precision defining the Alphonse Mellot style. This 100% Sauvignon white wine has a floral and fruity nose combining white flowers with citrus fruits, a resplendent golden robe with glints of green, and a lively, refreshing palate. Organic-Certified, Biodynamic
Domaine Riffault, Sancerre Cortem A Batis 2020 ($29.99) This Sancerre is vinifed in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. Wines from different terroirs are then blended; the soil which is made of small limestone pebbles mixed with clay lends fruit and freshness while other Flint-based soils lend minerality and ensure that the wine develops well. The terroirs are blended for typical, more balanced, and complex wines. White Sancerre is a fine match for fish and seafood or enjoyed on its own as an aperitif, and of course with goat cheese.