A wine cellar in the states is a true luxury. But in the Burgundy countryside? You wouldn’t dream of not having one, usually the real (underground, stone) thing. Even modest farmhouses will have a stone cave, (pronounced kav), the French word for cellar. You’ll find them in the basement or a former cistern; or if you’re lucky, you’ve got a true vaulted stone cellar, not an uncommon thing here.
Think you don’t need a wine cellar? Let’s give this a bit of thought. How many bottles of wine do you drink in a year? (We don’t dare divulge that figure, even as moderate drinkers. Must be our visitors who run those numbers up). So maybe you polish off half a bottle at dinner with your family (and maybe you should; red especially is good for the health). That’s 182 bottles a year. Then think about dinner parties, visitors, holidays, maybe the odd cocktail party. Better double that figure. Now if you’re going to get ahead of the game and buy some bottles to age in your cellar, you’ll need even more. You can see the numbers add up quickly. Buying wine in large quantities and ahead of time, to age, is truly an economical thing to do. Having une cave, then, makes a lot of sense if you're a wine lover. If you were looking for an excuse to add one, you may thank me now. Photo: a corner of our cave.
We buy most of our Burgundy wines from a couple of our favorite caves cooperatives in the area (wine-making organizations that buy grapes from local vignerons, then market and sell the wine). Then 
we always stock up with a few cases when we travel around France or Italy. Photo: Barrels at a cave cooperative.
Ron’s corner: “In the states, they say most wine is bought to be drunk by 7 p.m. that evening. It’s bought by the bottle. Even if you go to a US wine store, you might get a shopping basket or even a cart for your wine. Go in a cave cooperative here for some wine, and at the door you grab a 4-wheeled heavy-duty flat bed chariot that is something like you might find at Home Depot for hauling heavy lumber. You buy wine not by the bottle or case, but in multiple cases, and it goes home to your cave. The frugal (and thirsty) French know that this is the thrifty way to do it”.
Now let's dust off a bottle for our recette du jour. When one thinks of cooking with wine, it usually brings a long-simmered stew to mind. But what about dessert? Here’s a recipe for a grown-up sundae, made with a summery rosé that is reduced to a rich syrup.
RECIPE: Peach and Rosé Sundae
Serve these sundaes, with their minty chapeaux, on a hot summer day on a shady terrace with a glass of chilled rosé.
For the rosé syrup:
Pour one bottle of rosé into a saucepan. Add ½ cup sugar, 2 cinnamon sticks, and 4 cloves. Bring to a boil, stirring well to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture is reduced and thickened but not quite syrupy, about 20-30 minutes (it will thicken up a bit, to a syrup, as it cools). Cool, then stir in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Makes enough syrup for about 8 servings.
When ready to serve, slice peaches into a bowl, pour syrup over them and toss. Put ice cream into 8 glasses, divide peaches and syrup among them. Crumble an amaretto cookie over each (or any crunchy nut cookie) and garnish with mint.
Favorite Reads: We really like Andrew Jefford's book The New France: A Complete Guide to Contemporary French Wine, a sort of wine atlas that is an entertaininbg read but also a good guidebook if you like to incorporate wine-tasting into your vacations. A very different sort of book about wine, which all the expats here have enjoyed and passed around, is Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure
In the Comments: Good question, Julie, and good answers from Linda and Laura, and I chimed in too. Emily and Jane have more entertaining ideas. Ino, we're happy to bring you a little pedacito of France!
Unless otherwise attributed, all POSTS, PHOTOS and RECIPES on this blog copyright ©2011 Lynn McBride. All Rights Reserved.
8 thoughts on “Into the Depths: Stocking ‘La Cave’”
hi, I think it’s chapeaux in plural. Love your blog 🙂
I’m going to miss Missouri peach season when I’m in France so I’m definitely saving this recipe to try when I hit Dijon. You said crumble a nut cookie on top. How would a ginger cookie work with that syrup? Many peach crumble recipes in the States have you make the crumble top with gingersnaps (but then again they’re not made with wine).
“La Cave”is something I would really love to have in a house one day! Not to mention a cave cooperative around the corner 🙂
Oh, if only I had a cave! How might one do this in a 3 bedroom apartment that is already crammed to the rafters with cooking stuff??? Buy a case for me!
UPDATE on RADISH SOUP: Oh, Lord it was delishhhhh! And…here’s a tip for leftovers: I made salad dressing! I added, in roughly equal parts, the soup (cold of course) mayo and plain yogurt…a little lemon juice and zest, some garlic powder and some very well chopped onion (chives? scallion? shallot? Sure!) (Too thick? Put in some olive oil…) It was fabulous and then, I tried it on a chicken sandwich and was quite overcome with bliss! How can something so simple be sooooooo good? TRY IT!
AND: Next time, I am going to make the soup with spinach, which I think will be even better than the zucchini and peas would also be worth a try.
Lynn, You have really inspired me!
Go buy radish greens, everyone! Yum – o.
As always, thank you for this wonderful blog!
Love, love the recipe, definitely will try it. I don’t know a lot of wines, should I ask at the liquor store for just a rose wine? We have a cave in our house, unfortunately we use it to store junk.
Thank you for this great post.
XXXX Ido
Lynn, your recette du jour sounds like heaven!
Particularly when those gorgeous peaches are at their sweetest! Can’t wait to try! Yum! Thank you!!!!!!!
I totally agree with your suggestion about having a cave. Ours is not a large one,but fits our needs,
and is a constant source of delight for the important decision of choosing which selection will be on tonight’s menu.(Always a fun adventure!)
Your blog is wonderful and the pictures beautiful!
Merci!!! Bon journee!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Y’all,
Merci to all for the lovely comments! Julie, I think ginger snaps will be great with the peaches, a fine idea! Ido, I don’t think you need a fancy rose wine for this; the other flavors are going to come through, so it’s not too important.
Julie, Eliane is going to be thrilled about your comments about her radish soup. Now aren’t you the creative one, making it into a sauce for a chicken sandwich. I could learn a thing or two from you!
LYNN,
I SAW THE ARTICLE IN THE FURMAN ALUM MAGAZINE AND LOVE YOUR BLOG.I WAS IN THE CLASS OF 1970 AND HAD MADAME BROWN’S FRENCH CLASS. YOU MUST HAVE LEARNED A LOT MORE THAN I DID.I WENT TO ENGLAND IN 1969 WITH FURMAN’S FIRST STUDY ABOARD AND PLANNING TO TRAVEL A LOT WHEN I RETIRE. BEST OF LUCK,JIMMY CORLEY