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 Arrogant Frog in love Arrogant Frog souhaite une bonne St Valentin à tous les amoureux et à toutes les amoureuses !  Arrogant Frog Red Syrah Viognier  Arrogant frog Sparkling rose wine Et si vous êtes chanceux, vous pourrez célébrer ce jour avec une bouteille édition limitée ! Arrogant Frog wishes a happy Valentine day to anybody who is in love! And if you are lucky, you may celebrate with a special edition wine! Let’s do a bit of reading together. A couple of days ago, I read an article in one of France’s most famous newspaper, and I’m dying to share it with you! The article is called “What does it mean to be French – Qu’est ce qu’être français-“; it is an attempt to summarize the opinion of some of the most renowned French writers. But SACRE BLEU! This is what the Humble winemaker –Jean-Claude Mas- has been doing with me since I was born, make you discover France and French people! Through my wines and labels, limited editions and blendings, I am conveying a little bit of French way of life, and I’m in some way (and in total modesty) a certain representation of France and French people! So, let’s start. Here we can read a writer describing the charm of the regions and “the long countryside roads, edged with poppies, where we could stop to visit some Roman churches”. Another writer describes the “extraordinary patchwork of landscapes”, a “constant wonder”. Of course, there is no doubt that France is the most beautiful country in the world, and my dear South of France a jewel in the “hexagone” (this is how we –French people- geographically and geometrically describe France). Another writer shares the same view: “few territories offer such a historical or geographical diversity. Our language too includes many words from other languages”. “I love French landscapes, the countryside, the trees, the cities, the villages, the mountains…”.
Here, I had great fun reading this writer talking about “art de vivre”; I think he expresses a vision that is the nearest to mine when describing France. I The following words could be mine, but they aren’t. “I also feel French for its ironical sensibility. Arrogance too, which we inherited from centuries of elitist culture”. Those are another writer’s words: “The mocking mind of French people makes them often forget to be proud of their country”. He is right in many cases, but I tell you what, I am so proud of my country of my wine! I am so happy to make people discover and learn about French wine in a nice way, with reasonable prices! The 7th writer, French with foreign origins, tells us that “When a French person is abroad, he is different from the others, but he is so attached to his “Frenchness”. He is really interested in the other culture he is in contact with”. Just ask Jean-Claude Mas, whenever he travels he meets so different cultures, and he just gets passionate telling them about our country and his dear South, and his dear good wines. But anytime he comes back, he will take into account all his experience he brings back from abroad, to make the wines, packaging, limited edition, evolve and make them even closer to what you want to keep you a Frog enthusiast.
 Je vous invite à une pause lecture…. J’ai récemment lu un article dans un quotidien français bien connu… et je meurs d’envie de le partager avec vous. Cet article intitulé « Qu’est ce qu’être français » essaie de résumer la pensée de quelques écrivains français contemporains -parmi les plus connus- sur le sujet.  Jean-Claude Mas Mais la réponse à cette question, c’est ce que mon Humble Winemaker, Jean-Claude Mas, cherche à vous faire découvrir depuis quelques années déjà ! Au travers de mes vins, étiquettes et éditions spéciales, assemblages et histoires : Arrogant Frog est fière d’être française et au-delà du vin, je suis d’une certaine façon, et en toute humilité, une représentation de la France et des français ! Ici un écrivain parle du charme provincial et de ses « longues routes départementales bordées de coquelicots et de bornes kilométriques, où l’on s’arrêtait pour visiter des églises romanes ». Là un autre écrivain décrit « l’extraordinaire mosaïque de paysages », « source constante d’émerveillement ». Vous savez bien que pour
Là encore, et je m’éclate, on parle de l’art de vivre ! Cet écrivain est sûrement celui qui touche de plus près à ma représentation de la France. Cet art de vivre dont je fais la promotion à chaque déplacement, dans chaque bouteille : bien boire (avec modération) et bien manger, notre Ici, ne vous méprenez pas, ce ne sont pas mes mots mais ceux d’un autre écrivain. « Je me sens française également par une certaine sensibilité ironique. Une arrogance aussi, transmise par des siècles de culture élitiste […]». LE ROI C’EST MOI ! Voici ce que nous livre le 6ème écrivain : « L’esprit persifleur des français fait qu’ils oublient souvent d’être fiers de leur pays. » Il a malheureusement bien souvent raison, mais moi je suis si fière de mon pays et de mon vin ! Je suis si contente de pouvoir faire découvrir ou redécouvrir le vin français, d’une façon sympathique, et avec des prix raisonnables.  La bonne parole à Hong Kong Le 7ème écrivain, français d’origine étrangère, nous rapporte que « Un français, quand il est à l’étranger, se distingue par sa curiosité, tout en restant attaché à la francité. IL s’intéresse vraiment à la culture avec laquelle il est en contact ». Demandez donc à Jean-Claude Mas, à chaque voyage il rencontre des cultures si différentes, pour leur parler de notre pays, de notre cher Sud, et de nos bons vins. Mais à chaque retour en France, il compose avec ce qu’il a vécu et en tire des enseignements, pour que mes vins soient un peu plus proches de vous.  Arrogant around the world Vous savez quoi, il me fait du bien cet article, et j’espère qu’il vous aura détendu pendant quelques instants. Pour finir, une petite phrase reprise d’un écrivain :
 Yes we can Article tiré du site internet du Figaro  ribet red arrogant frog
 Happy New Year The year started in South of France with typical winter weather, fairly cold. But what a surprise this morning to see our vineyards under the snow! This is maybe the only day in the year, so let’s enjoy it and keep enjoying the Xmas atmosphere with Arrogant Frog.
 Montagnac, Nicole Vineyard under the snow
 Olive trees and rosemary under the snow! L’année a commencé avec un temps hivernal typique, et nous gâte aujourd’hui avec un petit épisode neigeux (ils ne durent jamais longtemps dans le sud !). Alors profitons de ces instants blancs…C’est peut être le seul jour de l’année ou nous verrons de la neige, alors prolongeons, comme Arrogant Frog, l’ambiance de Noël !
 Travail de la vigne Après un millésime 2009 extraordinaire (rapport de millésime bientôt en ligne), la vigne prend ses quartiers d’hiver, et notre équipe la bichonne. On défonce (arrachage et préparation pour les futures plantations), on taille, on retend les fils, on attache les baguettes, on brûle les sarments et racines…Voici quelques vues de notre paysage typique d’automne, sous l’œil vigilant de notre Arrogant Frog…
 Travail de taille de la vigne (photos : Domaine Nicole, Domaine Les Tannes, 7 décembre 2009)
 Working in vines After an outstanding 2009 vintage (vintage report soon on line), our vine is taking a deserved winter rest, and our team is taking good care of it. “Défonçage” (old stocks are grubbed up and we prepare the ground for new plantings), pruning, tensing, disposing of the old canes…Here are a few pictures showing our typical landscapes in autumn/winter, with our little Frog spying around…
 Part of the team (pictures: Domaine Nicole and Domaine Les Tannes, Dec 7 2009)  Arrogant Frog in China  Arrogant Frog in China A couple of days before heading to Hong-Kong, humble winemaker Jean-Claude Mas was the host of a winemaker’s dinner with our Chinese partners in Xiamen (Fujian Province, South of China). Arrogant Frog has already been distributed in China for 2 years, and is developing its distribution in mainland China to Beijing, Canton, Chengdu, Shanghai and many other places. Gan Bei!  Discovering Arrogant Frog Arrogant Frog has made its debut exclusively onto the shelves of Wellcome and Market Place by Jasons in Hong Kong.  Arrogant Frog in Hong Kong On November 19, the “Humble Winemaker” (Jean-Claude Mas) hosted Hong Kong’s first “Cooking Class Winemaker Dinner” with Senior Executive Chef Simson Kwan (“Chef Simson”) exclusively for customers of Wellcome. The event took place at Lawry’s the Prime Rib on Thursday 19 November, 2009, with an assistance of 140 guests, including 20 journalists. Wine instructor Mr. Damon Yuen (“Damon”), one of only a few sommeliers in Hong Kong, Macau and China given Certified Sommelier status by the Court of Master Sommelier, helped bridge the interaction between participants and Jean-Claude Mas by providing Cantonese explanations. Don’t miss Arrogant Frog on the shelves and expect a special limited edition label very soon ! |
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promote our “art de vivre” every time I travel, or in any bottle: drink well (in moderate quantity) and eat well, our best desired secret. “It is when I am abroad that I feel more French than ever. I believe I am a good defender of France. I defend its nonchalance, its spirit, this kind of lightness, frivolity and elegance, the taste for luxury and good eating. But then, when I’m back in France, I spend my time criticizing France, and this is also very French.”…”I love the way we live in France, a kind of softness, we develop an art for conversation, a taste to dress up, which cannot be found anywhere else, except in Italy.”
Guess what, this article made me feel really good, and I hope you enjoyed taking a break reading my summary. I will finish with that sentence: “The French bullshit (sorry for this word, it is in the article) is to believe that we are the only one in the world to make something good, or the only one to think we don’t do anything good at all!”. But there, I don’t fully agree with the writer. It is true that I was born thanks and in reaction to this French “connerie”, to the myopia of those French wine producers who didn’t care about what the consumers wanted and were still thinking they were doing the best wines in the world; this is why the Humble winemaker dared doing something different and introduced a bit of self-derision in this very serious French world of wine. But I totally disagree to read the last part of the sentence, because I am deeply convinced to make something good and to do the right thing!”.
Arrogant Frog
Paul Mas
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