Holiday Sparkling Cocktail - Crémant de Bordeaux with Tea Infusion

by Paige Donner (sponsored post)

Looking to liven up your holiday season party-hosting scene? Try this newest sparkling tea wine cocktail recipe suggested by a savvy mixologist here in Paris...

Start with a Crémant de Bordeaux (you can also use your sparkling wine of choice).  Leave at room temperature while you infuse the glass of sparkling with a tea bag such as ginger-lemon for a demi-sec or red fruit infusion for a sparkling rosé.  Let the tea bag infuse the cocktail for several minutes. 

Ingredients

• Bottle of sparkling wine - Roche Mazet
• Tea bags (red fruits for Rosé, ginger-lemon for Demi-sec)
• Ice Cubes
• Optional - tea infusded simple syrup
• Garnish-Cranberries (rosé); Candied ginger (demi-sec )

Take out and swirl the glass of sparkling with several ice cubes to chill the liquid. Remove the ice cubes (or leave them in if you choose). Garnish with a sprig of cranberries or candied ginger. 

As a slight variation to this recipe, prepare a tea-infused simple syrup beforehand. When you mix the cocktail, add a dash of the syrup just as you are chilling the liquid. The syrup can be lightly sweetened or more exuberantly sweetened, depending on personal taste. 

The best sparklings to try this cocktail recipe with this season are Roche Mazet sparkling wines, Crémant de Bordeaux. Their newest is the Crémant de Bordeaux Malésan which is a blend of Sémillon and Cabernet Franc. 

Some stats here in French: 

Avec un marché des vins effervescents en pleine ébullition et à l'approche des fêtes de fin d'année, CASTEL a développé un réel savoir-faire par des nouveautés qui répondent aux attentes des consommateurs. Tour d'horizon sur les marques et leurs marchés avec Roche Mazet, Villa Veroni, Maison Castel et sa dernière nouveauté Crémant de Bordeaux Malesan. 

--- Crémant de Bordeaux : la nouvelle AOP effervescente qui monte ---
CASTEL accompagne le développement du terroir bordelais en matière de Crémant de Bordeaux avec le lancement du Crémant de Bordeaux Malesan, une marque reconnue par les consommateurs.
Un crémant brut qui allie gourmandise et fraîcheur avec un assemblage de Sémillon majoritaire et Cabernet franc. Disponible en GMS au tarif indicatif de 7 €.

--- Les autres effervescents de terroir ---
Le terroir est un critère de sélection de plus en plus important pour le consommateurs qui se tourne vers des origines reconnues. C'est le cas pour les 4 AOP de Crémant mais aussi pour les effervescents du Languedoc et d'Italie avec le Prosecco.

Roche Mazet propose 3 cuvées aux caractères singuliers : Chardonnay Brut, Syrah Brut rosé, Muscat Demi-sec.

Villa Veroni, le spécialiste de l'effervescence italienne, innove avec le lancement de sa gamme de cépage 100% itailen : Pinot Grigio en Brut et Rosato.

To contact Paige Donner for speaking/hosting/producing paigedonner.info
For more info about Paris GOODfood+wine and a complete show lineup go to localfoodandwine.wordpress.com
And our website parisfoodandwine.net
Instagram @paigefoodwine Twitter @parisfoodwine

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All photos (where noted) copyright 2017 Paige Donner 

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Prints available by contacting http://PaigeDonner.info   

Episode 32: Caféotheque, Caféologie, Terres de Café by Paris GOOD food+wine

by Paige Donner

Episode 32 of Paris GOODfood+wine is all about coffee. But not just any coffee - these are two of Paris' premier specialty coffee roasters and their passion for coffee transcends the everyday ordinary cup o' joe...

Click HERE to WATCH VIDEO 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhXBk5ifRgU

 

Cafe. Coffee. Cafeotheque. Cafeologie. Terres de Cafe. Terroir du cafe...

These are terms, some of which you've frequently probably already have heard, and a few which might sound new.

NO matter. This episode of Paris GOODfood+wine is all about the coffee renaissance that has taken place here in Paris these past oh, decade or so.

We'll be speaking with the matriarch of this Parisian specialty coffee cult who is, in fact, the former Guatemalan Ambassador to France. She and her daughter run the much loved Caféotheque right on the quai de l'Hôtel de Ville, just across the bridge from Île St. Louis in the center of Paris.

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photos by Paige Donner / FoodWine.Photography © 2017

 

Gloria Montenegro and her lovely daughter, Christina, have just released a book they co-authored together about coffee. It's called Caféologie and they wrote it not just in French but also on a strict deadline that has the book out just in time for holiday gift giving. By the time you're done listening to my conversation with them, all of those coffee terms will sound like old hat.  You can find more information about La Caféotheque by going to their website or facebook page at La Caféotheque. 

We'll also hear from Lionel Pinot who is one of the principal team members of Terres de Cafe. That's a café that has quickly earned its cult status reputation here in Paris for its premium sourced specialty coffees.

 

Lionel has a background in wine, which serves him perfectly well when it comes to tasting coffee. He'll explain more about that during our interview.

So, as we coast into yet another Parisian winter and Christmas holiday season, snuggle up by the fire( or at least the heater) with your hands cupped around a nice steaming mug o' joe, and listen in on how Paris became the capital of supremely sourced, specialty coffees and micro-roasters.

 

This episode of Paris GOODfood+wine has been brought to you by Paris Food And Wine. You can find out more about our events and food+wine pairing seminars like Perfect Pairings food+wine by visiting the website, parisfoodandwine.net.

If you have an event, a restaurant opening, a story to tell in pictures, contact us at FoodWine.Photography.  We're happy to provide you with a quote for photography services. 

I'm Paige Donner, the host and producer of Paris GOODfood+wine.

Here's wishing all our listeners a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hannukah and Kwanzaa and anything else you and your loved ones celebrate at the end of the year.

See you next in 2018!

 

Enjoy yet another delicious episode here of Paris GOODfood+wine.

All music free of rights courtesy FreeSoundtrackMusic.com "Mocha Guitar" by Rick Dickert and Groovy Paris Jazz by BensoundMusic.com for show Intro and Outro.
To contact Paige Donner for speaking/hosting/producing paigedonner.info
For more info about Paris GOODfood+wine and a complete show lineup go to localfoodandwine.wordpress.com
And our website parisfoodandwine.net
Instagram @paigefoodwine Twitter @parisfoodwine

Listen to Paris GOOD food + wine on :

All photos (where noted) copyright 2017 Paige Donner  Photo Bookings  FoodWine.Photography

iTunes – Paris GOODfood+wine /  

Prints available by contacting http://PaigeDonner.info   

 

Episode 31: Fat.Paris And People of Its Small Plates & Wine Bars - Paris Podcast

by Paige Donner

The leaves are falling, the clocks have been turned back...Autumn is here in all its colorful beauty with Winter just on the horizon... A poem I saw recently by Toulouse-Lautrec goes something like this:

Autumn est le printemps d'hiver, or Autumn is the springtime of winter...

For this episode of Paris GOOD food+wine, we bring you a glimpse into some of the wine bar and small plates culture of Paris. This season, so full of harvests, and the enjoyment of those harvests, easily gets us thinking about glasses of good French red wines shared over plates of savory morsels of meats, sausages and slow-stewed vegetables.

Two young men, both firmly entrenched in the city's fabric of restaurants, bars and wine, speak to us candidly about their businesses and their newest endeavors.

First up we hear from Max Paton Williams, an Englishman who's grown up his whole life here in Paris, making him a thorough Franco-Anglo hybrid. He found his passion for wine and food early on in life and is already making his mark on the local culinary scene. He's currently the manager at Wim à Table which is the celebrated Belgian chef, Wim van Gorp's, newest small-plates and wine bar in the Batignolles district of Paris.

Then we hear from Terence Schweitzer, who's a Franco-American mix. He also spent his entire life in Paris, save for a few years when he lived in Brooklyn. With a couple of buddies he's recently opened a bar/event space/ art gallery in the upper Marais district. It's called Fat. Paris.

[caption id="attachment_7281" align="alignnone" width="2272"] photo by Paige Donner copyright 2017

Both of these guys are under 30 and offer that fresh perspective on where they may be taking the city's culinary landscape in the coming years, starting now.

So, sit back and relax with me, Paige Donner, your host and producer, as you enjoy yet another delicious episode of Paris GOODfood+wine.

All music free of rights courtesy FreeSoundtrackMusic.com 'Daily Dosage' byRob Belfiore and Groovy Paris Jazz by BensoundMusic.com for show Intro and Outro.
To contact Paige Donner for speaking/hosting/producing paigedonner.info
For more info about Paris GOODfood+wine and a complete show lineup go to localfoodandwine.wordpress.com
And our website parisfoodandwine.net
Instagram @paigefoodwine Twitter @parisfoodwine

Listen to Paris GOOD food + wine on :

All photos (where noted) copyright 2017 Paige Donner

iTunes – Paris GOODfood+wine / 

Prints available by contacting http://PaigeDonner.info

 

Caviar Macaron by Petrossian and Pierre Hermé

by Paige Donner

Just when you're starting to think about the Christmas Cakes that will be the upcoming 2017 holiday season's stars, a little silvery-black treat comes onstage and steals the entire Parisian culinary scene. 

Enter Stage Left - the Macaron Caviar Petrossian 

It is a collaboration between world's best chef patissier, Pierre Hermé and the caviar king himself, Armen Petrossian. 

This little cookie with its delightful ganache center is famous for its elaborate flavors, one of Hermés most famous being litchi-rose. But this one, his newest collab, is made with Caviar Petrossian and Eau de Noix. 

There are tiny seeds of the mouth-watering caviar whose flavors are highlighted by dried fruit aromas and green walnut essence. 

The macaron will be available starting on November 4th at Pierre Hermé boutiques.   pierreherme.com 

And Petrossian Caviar is always available at the boutiques in Paris and worldwide and also online at Petrossian.com 

Read More on Paris Food And Wine

Listen to Our Podcast on iTunes, Paris GOOD food+wine

Book your Perfect Pairings food+wine 2-hour tasting workshop today on

Paris Food And Wine

Episode 29: Perfect Pairings food+wine by Paris Food And Wine

by Paige Donner

This episode of Paris GOOD food+wine, our season 4 kick-off, is devoted to my very favorite topic, food+wine pairings.

When I'm walking my clients through my food+wine pairing seminar, Perfect Pairings food+wine here in Paris, I always tell them that together, when you do a proper food+wine pairing, The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts, to borrow a phrase from Aristotle.

Meaning, in simple English, that the wonderful tastes of both wine and food, when served in the right combination, are amplified, sometimes exponentially.

However, before we get to the good stuff, namely my interviews with Jaimee Anderson, the newly appointed Wine Director at Paris' La Réserve Palace Hotel followed by my conversation with David Boileau, France's Cognac Bureau's Wine Ambassador, I'd like to start off with some of the Do's and Don'ts, of wine and food pairings....

There are three basic rules of thumb for successful food+wine pairings: 

Those of harmony (where acidities, sugars and weight in the food and wine are equal) and those of opposition (where a wine of high acidity cuts though fatty meat or an off-dry wine goes with spicy food).'

The third thing to remember is, "If it grows together, it goes together."

So join us on this Season 4 kick-off of Paris GOOD food + wine, our September 2017 show, episode 29, as we delve head-long and deep into the world of fine food and wine pairing.

To sign up for one of our Perfect Pairings food+wine 2-Hour seminars here in Paris held 7/7,  late afternoons and early evenings, please Contact Us HERE or use the form below:

 

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All music  - Jazz Bolero  - used is free of rights and royalty-free courtesy FreeSoundTrack.com. Show Intro/ Outro Theme Jazzy Paris background courtesy of BenSound Music.
This episode has been generously brought to you by Paris Food And Wine@ParisFoodWine http://parisfoodandwine.net and also Bordeaux Food & Wine @bordeauxfoodvin http://bordeauxfoodandwine.com

For sponsorship and advertising, contact Paige. Also for hosting, events, and speaking engagements and for media collaborations: http://Paigedonner.info

More Info @ParisFoodWine
Instagram @PaigeFoodWine

Listen to Paris GOOD food + wine on :

All photos copyright 2017 Paige Donner

iTunes – Paris GOODfood+wine / 

Prints available by contacting http://PaigeDonner.info

Episode 28 : Branding Out of The Box - Paris GOOD food + wine

​by Paige Donner

Host-Producer  Paris GOOD food + wine 

Looking to inspire the next generation of food+wine entrepreneurs, Paris GOOD food + wine takes a closer look at French and European food + wine companies that began as single-visionary entrepreneurs.

A rural English potato farmer who turned his potato chips into a global brand (Tyrrell's); a Bordeaux wine company started by a few brothers in the late 1940s that has gone on to be Europe's biggest wine-selling brand and whose market is 80% French (Castel Frères) ; a cookie and snacks company whose founders got their pastry-making degrees while in business school (Michel & Augustin); a cabaret and restaurant that has been resurrected from the ashes of its 1930's glorious past (Le Bal Blomet); and a fine foods grocery shop that retains its Mom & Pop Provençal feel (Maison Brémond 1830).

This episode has been brought to you by the generous support of Paris Food And Wine. Follow us on Twitter @parisfoodwine, Facebook @ParisFoodAndWine and you can find me on Instagram@PaigeFoodWine

Find this and more episodes of Paris GOOD food + wine on Soundcloud,Stitcher, YouTube, Tune IN Radio and also on iTunes.

Paris GOOD food + wine is the first (and still only) English language radio program and podcast about food and wine produced in Paris, France. This episode, Branding Out of The Box, seeks to inspire budding, next-generation entrepreneurs who might have an idea or a dream and simply require the confidence to pursue it. In an era where big companies are only getting bigger and fast becoming monoliths, the entrepreneurial, small-business dream is still real and still scalable.

Sprouts is a weekly program that features local radio production and stories from many radio stations and local media groups around the world. It is produced in collaboration with community radio stations and independent producers across the country.

All music used is free of rights and royalty-free courtesy FreeSoundTrack.com. This episode features Attacked by Cherubs and also the Sprouts soundtrack Torpedoes on Tuesday by Poison Control. Show Intro/ Outro Theme Jazzy Paris background courtesy of BenSound Music.
This episode has been generously brought to you by Paris Food And Wine@ParisFoodWine http://parisfoodandwine.net and also Bordeaux Food & Wine @bordeauxfoodvin http://bordeauxfoodandwine.com

For sponsorship and advertising, contact Paige. Also for hosting and speaking engagements and for media collaborations: http://Paigedonner.info

More Info @ParisFoodWine
Instagram @PaigeFoodWine

Listen to Paris GOOD food + wine on :

All photos copyright 2017 Paige Donner

iTunes – Paris GOODfood+wine / 

Prints available by contacting http://PaigeDonner.info​

Paris Food And Wine Parisfoodandwine.net

iTunes - Paris GOODfood+wine /  Paige Donner / 

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a flask of Chateau Haut-Brion wine

by Paige Donner (all photos copyright 2017 Paige Donner)

As Bordeaux's very first wine château, is it any wonder that Haut-Brion still ranks with such stature in the world's profile of wines and wine estates? Well, a measured answer would be both yes, and no. 

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It's not a given that a wine or a wine estate with such deep-roots and a glorious past would be sheparded forward through the centuries in a fashion that continues to uphold what is best of the property and best for the wine. 

On a recent visit to Château Haut-Brion, my first visit, in fact, I was told by the lovely Turid, the château's press relations manager who has been with the property for 17 years, that Château Haut-Brion is rightfully considered the very first Bordelais wine-producing château as they have come to be known through the ages. Meaning: vineyards, wine production area, chai, vat room, cellars and in Haut-Brion's case, even a cooperage. 

As many French, and it's said the Bordelais in particular, tend to wax eloquent about the history and cultural significance of their properties, I had always taken this singular claim as the original Bordeaux Château with a grain of salt. BUT, I stand to be corrected. As the charming Turid pointed out, and later I was able to verify through my own research, indeed, it was as far back as 1533 that Jean de Pontac bought what was then considered to be a mansion that sat on the locality known as Haut-Brion in the commune of Pessac and united it with his surrounding vineyard land-holdings. 

Thus, it can rightfully be claimed, through historical land records, that Château (& vineyards) Haut-Brion came into existence in 1533. 

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But that is not all that Jean de Pontac did. By 1549 he started building and enlarging on the very site that is still the château today and in fact the north-eastern part of the current château still constitutes this edifice. 

Fast-forward a century or so and the château, always owned by illustrious men of power and King's servants, has gained immeasurable repute for its terroir and its resulting wines. So much so that in 1677 a (famous) philosopher by the name of John Locke, on a visit to the estate, is quoted as saying, 

"The wine of Pontac, so revered in England, is made on a little rise of ground, lieing open most to the west. It is noe thing but pure white sand, mixed with a little gravel.  One wold imagin it scarce fit to beare anything...."

That is probably one of the most remarkable things about Haut-Brion, a Gascon name that derives from its ancient Celtic origins of "Briga," meaning rise or mount, that traces of wine production here date back to the 1st c. AD. Hence as far back as Pax Romana times, this little hillock with its characteristic small white stone gravel soils has been recognized as being especially conducive to growing grape vines. 

First Growth, Bordeaux Grand Cru

On the 25th of May, 1787, America's great lover of wine, Thomas Jefferson, who at the time was the 2nd American Ambassador to France, visited Haut-Brion during a tour of Bordeaux.  According to historical record, this is what Mr. Jefferson had to say about Haut-Brion: 

READ MORE ON  https://localfoodandwine.wordpress.com/2017/07/05/a-flask-of-chateau-haut-brion-wine/

For photos contact:  PaigeDonner.info

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