Independence Day – July 4, 2014

Happy Independence Day, everybody!  Welcome to Cépage et Cuisine, Mary’s and Brian’s blog about wine, food, and culture.  And for our readers in France, here’s a serving of American culture for you.  July 4 is a holiday when Americans celebrate our independence.  It usually includes parades, picnics with traditional foods, and families getting together to have fun.

Mary and I began our day by attending the July 4 parade where we live in Plymouth, Michigan.   It’s a classic small town American event on Main Street, a combination of patriotic and quirky.

Here is a series of photos and short videos from the parade.

Plymouth residents waiting for the festivities to begin.

Lots of kids on bikes to literally get things rolling.  

Click on the videos to enjoy.

Here’s Uncle Sam.

And behind Sam is the Plymouth Fife and Drum Corps.

Unicycling club.

Paws is the mascot of the Detroit Tigers.







Bagpipe band.

Rosie the Riveter was honored since the famous Willow Run bomber plant was nearby.  Willow Run produced many of the B24 Liberator heavy bombers during World War II.  

Here are a couple of Rosies who actually worked at Willow Run.  Once again for the benefit of our French readers, Rosie the Riveter is a term used to describe women who worked in munitions factories during World War II while many men served in the military.

Our favorite part of the parade was the Boingy People.  Yes, that's what they're actually called.  This definitely falls into the quirky category. 

Steve King and the Dittilies performed vintage rock-n-roll.

Every Independence Day parade has a beauty queen …

… and a marching band.

Our own picnic lunch was on our deck at home.

Beautiful weather, nice temperatures, blooming flowers.  

Quite a contrast with this image taken from the same spot back in February.

Lunch was a delicious collection of cheese, charcuterie, melon, and a refreshing rosé.  

It wasn’t exactly all American.  The prosciutto di Parma and soppressata are Italian and the Comté and Doux de Montagne are French.

The wine was La Vieille Ferme Ventoux rosé 2013, a refreshing blend of Cinsault, Grenache, and Syrah from the Southern Rhone Valley of France, aromatic of roses, berries, and melon.  In the mouth it is brisk and racy with light flavors of orange and grapefruit citrus, raspberries, strawberries and melon.  It’s beautifully balanced, surprisingly complex, with a medium finish.  At $8 it’s a terrific value and widely available.

What’s July 4 without something grilled?

Grilled burgers, red onions, Roquefort or Jack, and the fixings, Mary’s homemade potato salad, and a Napa Valley Syrah was the ticket.

The wine was a Lagier Meredith Syrah Napa Valley Mt. Veeder 2005.  

Our back yard on July 4, 2014.

Steve Lagier and Carole Meredith grow Syrah at their mountaintop estate on Mt. Veeder.  Relatively cool growing conditions produce a wine that has the boldness of a New World Syrah, but still some of the savory and peppery notes of the Old World.  

This wine has exuberant blackberry and blueberry characteristics with a spiciness to keep things more interesting than just another fruity California red wine.

That’s our post for today, a heaping helping of American culture along with a little help from our culinary friends in France and Italy.  We hope you enjoyed it.  Keep checking back for more wine, food, and cultural adventures at Cépage et Cuisine.  In the meantime,

Cheers!

Mary♥Brian