Christian Businessmen

I've been attending local meetings of the Christian Businessmen's Association, which meets at the establishments of its members. Last month's was at Aligro, a Costco-like wholesaler and this month was at Le Daley, Alain Chollet's vineyard - a pristine, rugged spot high-up in the hills overlooking the lake.
The association president (speaks 12 languages) opened the meeting...
then Alain gave a talk and tour of his 25,000 bottle a year operation.

The corner display featured various wines, along with a nicely calligraphed rendering of the 15th chapter of the gospel of John.
After that, it was party! The chardonnay was especially nice - Swiss really favor whites - with a spread of cheeses and cured meats. I learned a thing or two about presentation. They cut a cheese block into 3/8" by 2" sticks, then stacked them into a Jenga-like tower, from which you picked-off a stick one at a time. Ingenius.

I bought a small case afterwards, served a glass to Michelle Langford (the Pepperdine French prof) who visited us later in the week; recreated the Jenga cheese tower.

BTW, last month's Aligro affair raised much rumbling, since the refreshment fare was paltry (the wholesaler stocks a wealth of food downstairs!). I don't know much French, but I know a bad spread when I see it. I'm used to such offerings at Pepperdine, but was surprised to see this kind of Protestant severity and suspicion of gastronomy in a European setting (little more than a big basket of potato chips!).

After the Aligro affair, we hit a local Spanish restaurant and dined on starters: squid, Serrano ham (my Spanish friend declared, "prosciutto is nothing"), & grilled shrimp. I learned that Spain consumes the second most seafood per capita in the world.

#1 is Japan.