Jul 2011
Bordeaux Lunch
28 July 2011 Filed in: Travel Miscellaneous
Last Friday in Bordeaux the weather was doing a quickstep between snippets of sunshine and cascades of rain. The former showed the city to perfection, gloriously restored and barely recognisable now from the drab, sad metropolis that presented a tired face to the world in the 1990s. The latter sent the crowds scurrying for shelter under awnings and umbrellas or, more effectively, the portico of the splendid opera house. There I stood, peering grimly across to the Regent Hotel, as the Porsches and BMWs divested guests and luggage for a short, wet sprint to the lobby. Read More...
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Fire at Château de France
23 July 2011 Filed in: News & Views
I am currently visiting the Graves region of Bordeaux, arriving last Tuesday, just after a serious fire at Château de France near the village of Léognan. Though not as well known as the heavyweight names of the region, such as Haut-Brion, de France is an immediately recognisable property because of the distinctive, yellow-painted château that catches the eye as you drive south from Léognan on the D651. Read More...
Ma Cuisine - Beaune
Any lady who has successfully negotiated the cobblestones of Trinity College Dublin’s Front Square in high heels should have no difficulty making her way along the Passage Sainte-Hélène in Beaune (off the Place Carnot) to dine at Ma Cuisine. Others may wish to approach from the Rue Poterne end where the traverse across the cobbles is but a few paces. Either route shouldn’t be too much of a trial for the gentlemen and both will lead you to this gem of a restaurant, long-time favourite of wine producers, merchants and writers. Read More...
Bastille Day Food & Wine
What to eat and drink on Bastille Day, or ‘quatorze juillet’ as the French usually refer to their national holiday? You could spend a whole year debating that topic, and I suspect that some people do, but for me it is a no-brainer: it has to be a poulet de Bresse with haricots vert, ratte potatoes and, dare I say it, my own wizard gravy, made with a half-litre of frozen stock extracted from the bones of the last poulet. It is a simple meal, without much elaboration or ‘make up’, so the basic ingredients have to be top-notch, starting with the poulet de Bresse.
Read More...Lunch in Beaune
The Wednesday market in Beaune, wine capital of Burgundy, is not the grand affair that takes over the heart of the town every Saturday. Come Wednesday, it has shrunk back on itself, out of the adjoining streets and the Place Carnot, and huddles outside the Place de la Halle, venue for the annual Hospices de Beaune wine auction. For the auction the hall is robed in scarlet, and every Saturday it is crammed with stalls, but yesterday the solitary butcher’s stall belonged to Pascal Gravelais, the best butcher in town. With a steady drizzle falling from a pewter sky we were not tempted to linger; the necessary purchases were made and after a brief confab under dripping brollies it was agreed that we should cheer ourselves up with a light lunch in Le Gourmandin. Read More...
Bonjour Aligoté
14 July 2011 Filed in: Burgundy Cellar Notes
Aligoté is a rubbish grape – correct? That is a point of view to which I largely subscribed for many years, until I had the chance to taste and drink numerous examples more recently. As with everything Burgundian the mantra when searching for good Aligoté is: ‘Producer, Producer, Producer.’ (Just like the equivalent phrase from the property world.) Three of the best are Pierre Morey, Bernard Moreau and Marc Morey and I have never failed to be satisfied with the wines they produce from this humble grape. Read More...
Rugby Wine XV
09 July 2011 Filed in: Miscellaneous
In anticipation of the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand later this year I was commissioned recently to ‘select’ a World Rugby Wine XV and here is the result. The subs’ bench has yet to be filled and competition for those places is expected to be stiff, so get your suggestions in quickly…
1 Loosehead Prop
St Hallett, Old Block Shiraz 2005 14.5% Australia
Resisting the temptation to make quips about ‘a chip off’, we welcome the selection of Old Block in this key position where his experience and dogged application of the basic principles of scrummaging will prove invaluable. His contribution goes largely unnoticed by spectators but that doesn’t bother Old Block who contents himself with the high esteem in which every front row forward in the world holds him. It is worth noting that he was selected in preference to his Italian cousin Amarone who, it was felt, had bulked up too much in the gym, leaving him perfectly competent in the set pieces but unable to get from one end of the pitch to the other in any sort of acceptable time. Read More...
