Le Cordon Bleu Paris Past – Professor Ramage

Bonjour!

Look who I met at Cafe de Flore this past week! This is Professor Ramage whom you have read a few excerpts about. We met for coffee and had the most lovely catch up session. He is now operating a complete educational company on wine geared towards professionals and tourists. We had plenty to exchange and catch up on… his company is Kira Consultants if you want to check it out.

Here are a few pieces of the memoir with Ramage in them…

Saint Emilion, France

The next day was Monday. I had already survived a full week meeting an array of new people, participating in winemaking, navigating heavy language barriers, and living on a vineyard. I was proud of myself. One week to go. I smiled in anticipation of what the next week would bring. If it was as eventful as the previous week had been, I was in for some major fun, surprises, and a roller coaster of emotions. Cedric and I immediately got to work and reminisced about Biscarosse.

Later that day, I had my head down, picking apart grapes at the sorting table, when I looked up to see none other than my professor, Monsieur Franck Ramage, standing in front of me. He gave a large smile as I looked up, and he asked how I was. He was perfectly poised and put together in black slacks and a cashmere scarf. He wanted a tour of my vineyard, my living quarters, and wanted to ask me some questions regarding what I was learning about the winemaking process. I was shocked to see him and was a bit nervous, as I was not expecting him to show up.

Blind Tasting – Final Exams

Before I swirled the wine in my glass, I wanted the first aroma to have zero aeration. I saw Ramage write on his sheet of paper. He must have given me a point for that. Most forget how important it is to smell wine before the classic sommelier move of swirling the glass and allowing air in. I ruled out Chardonnay immediately. There were no butter notes, no oak notes. Purely fruit.

I took the wine away from my face and now swirled it in the glass. I watched it move intently. I had said nothing yet. I knew I would have to start speaking; I just wanted to gather some thoughts to myself first. I stared at the wine, not the judges; wine was calming me on all fronts at that moment.

Professor Ramage seemed to be pleased with my description. He started writing on his sheet of paper with a confident nod.

Intro Day of Somm School – A Quote I will never forget …

“Wine is an integral component of gastronomy,” Professor Ramage began. “Wine has a place at the table. It is the heart of the meal. We are going to be following the Latin module for tasting. We are going to be experts at expressing the emotion and the sentiment of a wine to allow others to enjoy the pleasures of the mouth.”

Also, I am playing around with the cover photo for the book … and the title. This is not determined … I have many ideas 🙂 Just want to share as I am envisioning and creating…