Bordeaux Nibbles And Fresh Markets

by Paige Donner

Bordeaux is the ideal-sized city to just wander around. In this sense, it is a bite-sized city that still offers enough funky and charming little neighborhoods to give you the feeling that you are exploring.

Chartrons is the traditional wine district of Bordeaux where, during the city's height of its centuries of wine trade with England, the wines were warehoused before being shipped out via La Garonne. Chartrons is now a charming district known for its many antique shops, lovely cafes' and trendy boutiques. Soon, it will sport a pedestrian zone as well.

Chartrons Market, Bordeaux, France

Central now to the Chartrons District is the Chartrons Market Square and the covered market. About a 5-minute walk from the city's expansive gardens, if you turn off the main street and wind your way along smaller, norrower ones, you will stumble onto this covered Chartrons Market made of stone, iron and glass and restored in 1998 from its 19th c. original building.

Its walls are flanked with outdoor chairs and tables to enjoy afternoon and evening drinks and its perimeter is surrounded by delightful choices of Salon de Thes and lunch restaurants, many of which serve dinner as well.

La  Bocca was recommended to me and when I saw the line going out the door for its Takeaway Sandwiches, 5 Euro which included a drink, I thought that was a good sign. I ordered a marinated artichoke and "Copa" sandwich (fine italian sausage), both of which were generously heaped onto a whole half baguette. About 10 diners were enjoying their lunch on premises, which is about all this Epicerie Fine can accommodate. With the business school just around the corner from its rue Notre Dame location, it does a roaring takeaway business for lunch. I took my sandwich and softdrink and walked the block down to the riverfront where there was plenty of open space and seating to enjoy my deliciously seasoned sandwich with other brownbaggers on this particularly sunny Spring afternoon.

On Sundays, if you feel like getting some goodies from the fresh market, the Chartrons Market is closed, but just walk down to the riverfront where the Sunday Organic fresh market begins from Rue Raze and along the river for a good several hundred meters. You will find the delightful French cheeses, pastries, roasted chicken and roasting pork, vegetables and crepes if you want a readymade hot lunch to eat on the spot. The other choice includes fresh oysters served with local Bordeaux white wine and crusty fresh, French bread.

The Chartrons District has lots to offer and some of the fellow American travelers I met had the notion that it was outside the city! Back in the 16th c. it was outside the walled city but it has been a bustling local neighborhood of Bordeaux for several hundred years now.

Other corners of Bordeaux city are equally as delightful and if you wander around the streets just past the Opera House you will find lots of beautiful little squares, most of which are lined with fabulous dining options. Just be sure to adjust your inner clock - after all, you are now in the South of France and you are in wine country.

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L'Avant Comptoir, Odéon, Paris

Small plates are a Spanish thing. They're known as Tapas and they're a great way to share a meal with friends. It's also a great way to do wine tastings when you can share the bottles with a group or taste by the glass.

French "small plates" dining wasn't heard of in Paris until L'Avant Comptoir opened its doors next to Le Comptoir du Relais, a restaurant that boasts a 6-month waiting list for reservations. But no reservations are needed here at L'Avant Comptoir. It's the place to come before lunch or dinner to get an "appetizer." 

Hors d'oeuvres, however, is not what I would call these small plates. Out of respect for Chef and Proprietor Yves Camdeborde, I won't call them French Tapas but I do think of them that way.

When I'm in Paris on assignment, there's often no time to sit down to a meal. So I've gotten into the habit of popping into the closet-sized, standing-room-only boudoir of Basque-and Bearnais -inspired deliciousness where I can eat a couple plates like seared fois gras on a skewer, a wooden cutting board covered with amazing Carpaccio de Boeuf, wash it all down with a glass of Saint Chinian - or whatever the chef recommends to me that day - and am out the door in under 10 Euro and less than 20 minutes. (I even ate Boudin there once - and liked it!)

Of course, when I had a friend visiting recently, a pal who can't pronounce Si'il Vous Plait to save his life but knows good food and has the charm to get what he wants, always, I had to drag him there. Compared to several sit-down, expensive meals, after an evening spent eating at L'Avant Comptoir, squashed between the elbows of our fellow gourmands-on-a-budget and up against the long pewter counter laden with fresh bread and the best butter in Paris, my Food Dude buddy couldn't stop raving. We would have been back there for lunch and dinner and snacks every day if he had had his way. Every day!

The great thing, too, for Non-French speakers is that there are pictures of all the small plates hanging right above your head, in addition to the day's specials, that you can mutely point to and you're still sure to get what you want. 

A Franco-American we chatted up there one evening confessed that L'Avant Comptoir is his favorite place in Paris because it's the only place, he said, where people will talk to you openly and unreservedly. 

This place just plain rocks. Once you go there, you will keep coming back AND it will always be on your Top 5 Paris Picks. Bon appetit!

L’Avant Comptoir, 9 carrefour de l’Odéon, 75006, Paris; 011-33-8-2610-1087. No reservations. Open daily.

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La Table du Lavoir

by Paige Donner

Read Full Article on Bordeaux Food And Wine

La Table du Lavoir is built on the 19th c. site of an old vineyard wash house the wives of the vineyard workmen would use on laundry days. It has been re-built, just across the road from Château Smith Haut Lafitte, stone by stone. Its roof beams are recovered from the 18th c. cellars of Château Lafite-Rothschild.

Photo c. Paige Donner

Its lovely glass doors - "French Doors" - are opened during the warmer Spring and Summer months to accommodate terrace dining overlooking the famous Bordeaux vineyards. During the colder months, or on rainy nights/days, the roaring period fireplace serves two functions: to heat the room and to roast the delicious-smelling meats.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Photos c. Paige Donner, Local Food And Wine

This is the "Bistro" restaurant of Hotel Les Sources de Caudalie and is run by Michelin starred Nicolas Masse. When he joined the team in 2010, on the 10th anniversary of the Small Luxury Hotel, he brought with him his philosophy of focusing on flavors concentrated in the local specialties of the region. For this, Bordeaux offers a range of both meats and seafoods, because of its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean as well as its country terrain. And, in addition, of course all the fresh produce and miraculous cheeses that the Gironde region, France is known for. 

Photos c. Paige Donner, Local Food And Wine

The menus, printed on antique wooden laundry beaters, hold delights such as Roasted Duck with Stewed Apples and Red Cabbage, a feather-light Cauliflower Puree Soup, Home Made Lemon Tart - whose meringue topping is so picture perfect that your tastebuds can't believe that it can also taste so good! Chef Masse practices seasonality in his cuisine which allows for a rich and varied menu at any time of the year. 

For Local Food And Wine lovers - Two Saturdays a month Chef Masse offers cooking classes at the restaurant. And every Saturday night, Head Sommelier Aurélien Farrouil hosts Wine Tasting Courses in the on-premise La Tour Degustation or Wine Tasting Tower. The Tower that has a part Cuban, with rich latte colored leather chairs, and part English feel to it, drawing on the Aquitaine's regal heritage, overlooks the vineyards. 

Photo c. Paige Donner, Local Food And Wine

The French Paradox Bar is a cozy place to enjoy your pre-dinner (or pre-lunch) aperitif, either facing the 1200 bottle cellar that opens up from the bar or facing out towards the terrace that overlooks the delightful pond, inhabited by swans, and the vast vineyards in the background. The bar serves white and red AOC Graves by the glass which gives you a good opportunity to taste some of the appellation's prestigious wines before continuing on with your Oenotourism.  La Table du Lavoir

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Beka's 100% Chef Eco Logic

by: Paige Donner

 After taking a series of cooking classes in Paris last Winter, I realized that it was time to have some dinner parties chez moi to show off my new masterful (!) cooking skills. So when I realized that my one pan large enough to fry one egg in wouldn't suffice for my dinner guests, I went shopping for new pots and pans.

The first thing I noticed was that since I'd last scoured the market, a whole new line of cookware had made its presence known on the store shelves. The most intriguing of these are the ceramic-lined cookware. I first did some window shopping in various department and specialty cooking stores and then placed my order with Beka whose Eco Beka line of 100% "Chef Eco-logic" line of ceramic-lined pots and pans had merited the 2009 prestigious Design Plus Award.

To really test the efficacy of the both products, I ordered one pan the identical size of the one pan I already had. My old pan was teflon-lined steel - not a cheap version but just last generation pan. The new shiny white pan from Eco Beka came lined with a beautiful slate gray ceramic. 

It heats super fast, the hollow handle, metal, stays cool when cooking, I use a tiny drop of oil for non-stick and to steam vegetables I only use a 1/3 of the water.

What makes Eco Beka so efficient not to mention aesthetic? 

• 100% environmentally friendly and worldwide exclusive treatment of eco hardened aluminum surfaces.
• PTFE and PFOA-free thanks to the water-based ceramic coating.
• No release of toxic substances - neither in production, nor when overheating.
• Natural color of the pan is preserved: no chemical dyes used
• Hollow, thermal handle: Fewer materials used which benefits the environment (this keeps the handle cool, unless used in the oven).
• Beka makes a whole range of Eco Beka. Take a look at the line of pots, pans and casseroles online.  

And two more things:  Super easy cleanup of the nonstick surface. Also, I swear that the fact that they sponsor the Top Chef  TV show had no bearing on my decision to purchase Chef Eco-logic 100%. After all, I'm not a Top Chef, I just pretend to be one when I'm cooking at home.

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Château Smith Haut Lafitte

By Paige Donner

 Read Complete Article on Bordeaux Food And Wine 

Château Smith Haut Lafitte is one of those wineries in Bordeaux that has its own helipad. Likely, it's one of the only wineries in Bordeaux that has its own helipad, actually. It also has its own weather station and its own cooperage. And, yes, mais oui!, the wine barrels are all made from French Oak.

Château Smith Haut Lafitte's owners, since 20 years, are Mr. and Mrs. Cathiard, a dynamic "Power Couple" who can count Olympic Team competitive skiing, grocery store and sporting goods retail empires and an international advertising executive career as part of their storied pasts. But that was then and wine is now.

Château Smith Haut Lafitte wines are considered one of the top 20 wines of Bordeaux. That is no small feat. Just look at the company they keep. But having reclaimed the historic Graves AOC Bordeaux Château, which, by 1990 had fallen into disrepair, the Cathiards set about doing things their own way. It worked.

To examine just two facets of their innovative approach, let's look at the 2009 vintage, both white and red.

Château Smith Haut Lafitte - 2009 Vintage

Fabien Teitgen, the winemaker, and the Cathiards believe in whole grape fermentation. Grapes are not crushed at this winery. To help achieve this, the 2009 vintage saw two revolutions here: one for de-stemming and the other for grape sorting.

Grape Sorting: they refer to it as Optical Sorting and use a Vistalys Optical Sorting machine. This sensitive machine photographs the fruit and sorts it based on color and shape characteristics. A jet of air eliminates all the detritus and unwanted bits such as debris or under ripe fruit.

Destemming: The second revolution is also grace á a "revolutionary" machine. The destemmer vibrates the grapes which releases them from their stems. No splintering of stems results and only whole grapes, then, are released into the fermentation vats. The Château Smith Haut Lafitte winemaking team is able to use "precision and reproducibility" with these machines as well as keep nothing but whole, perfect grapes for their wines.

2009 Reds are: 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc , 1% Petit Verdot, 30% Merlot  "The wines are taking on a lovely fleshiness. They are full and silky."

2009 Whites are: 90% Sauvignon blanc, 5% Sauvignon gris, 5% Sémillon "Lovely, ripe, concentrated rich wines just like a fine, sunny day. They have nice acidity that reflects the cool summer nights of 2009."

Dynamic Soil

While the term "bio-dynamic," is not used by Fabien Teitgen,  Château Smith Haut Lafitte's winemaker, there are practices on the vineyard reminiscent of bio-dynamism. For instance:

On a number of vineyard plots, we have applied the same, gradual, empirical approach, to vine protection and developed a system based solely on copper and sulphur (in homeopathic doses) combined with nettle, chestnut, and horsetail tea and herbal concoctions.

This risky step has paid off: the vines are beautiful and healthy. - Fabien Teitgen

Teitgen also credits the use of organic compost - horse manure, vine prunings, pomace - on the 67 hectares of Gunzian gravel terroir with revitalizing it and helping maintain the necessary equilibrium between soil and vine. They use an innovative (not standard) cover crop between the rows of vines which helps revitalize the soil's structure, drainage and dynamics.

So why the helipad? Well, maybe it's for their Rich & Famous friends who have dropped in at the winery, you know, like Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.

Stay at the neighboring Les Sources de Caudalie

33650 Bordeaux - Martillac  www.smith-haut-lafitte.com

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Vinexpo Bordeaux 2011

BORDEAUX VINEXPO FROM 19 TO 23 JUNE 2011

Champagne Louis Roederer, Concha y Toro and Baron Philippe de Rothschild are among just some of the world-class wines that will be represented at this year's Vinexpo, Bordeaux.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Alongside these major groups, large numbers of vigorous companies are also lining up: Symington Family Estates, Maison Louis Latour, Camus, Angus Dundee Distillers and many more.

Italy, France and Spain, which together account for nearly half the world’s production andexport more than 6 billion bottles of still light wines, are again very widely represented at thisVinexpo with national pavilions but also through well-known companies, such as Luigi Cecchi & Figli, Casa Vinicola Zonin and Gonzalez-Byass, as well as Hugel & Fils, Georges Duboeuf and Castel Frères.

The other leading producer countries have also reserved space for their national pavilions: Germany, Chile, the U.S., Austria, Portugal, Hungary, Greece, Brazil, etc.

New At Vinexpo, Bordeaux 2011

What Vinexpo visitors and exhibitors will find new this year is the promotion of a number of tasting areas branded “TASTINGS BY VINEXPO.” These unparalleled facilities are designed to really enhance all the wine and spirits tastings and presentations organised in these areas.

Thus in 2011, together with the rooms in Halls 2 and 3, the Convention Center becomes a state-of-the-art platform for high profile tastings and professional presentations with options for organising seated tastings, reception areas and conference halls. Of course, all these events are perfectly complementary with the many events and meetings organised directly on the different stands.

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La Revue du Vin de France Paris Salon 2011

By Paige Donner

La Revue du Vin de France held its wine salon this past weekend in Paris at the "ancien Bourse" which is the old stock exchange of Paris. As you can see here, it's a beautiful building. It's spacious and airy and the perfect place for wine tasting on a sunny Spring Sunday afternoon in May.

Honestly, if I have one recommendation to make to visitors to France, it's that you really must coordinate your travels with these wine salons. For a few Euro, you get to not only see the interior of a national monument, you get to drink and taste your way through the wines of France.

I was so pre-occupied with tasting wines from Bordeaux, Bourgogne, Loire and Provence that I had to remind myself to sip a few drops of champagne every so often - just to clean the palate, you know.

So many wonderful wines. It will take the rest of the month to wade through all my tasting notes.

And the crowd was super friendly. Maybe it's the sunny weather in Paris in Spring or perhaps it's simply that good French wine brings  out that "conviviality" that the French speak so glowingly of when discussing their wines. Whatever it was, the LRDVF crowd was super friendly, very forthcoming with anecdotes about the wines they were pouring and the wines they were tasting and just plain, well, welcoming.

If there is only one little note I might give it's that the Spanish wines were much too hard to find. Certainly, once I found my way upstairs, I loved the private room where the Spanish winemakers had stashed themselves, with the old stock exchange board that featured handwritten company signage such as Printemps and Paribas on it... But they were much too isolated up there. Since it's the first time the salon has welcomed foreign wines amongst its midst in its 5 year history, perhaps affording them more accessibility would be a gesture of convivial diplomacy.

By the time I left, it was with a full glass of Spanish red liqueur wine. So sweet and rich and nothing like "ice wine." I'll definitely have some words to share about that and about the Priorat wines I discovered at the Paris Stock Exchange.

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Pique-nique at French Independent Wineries June 12 & 13

By Paige Donner

For the first time this year Independent Wineries all across France will throw open their doors and uncork their bottles to welcome visitors and oenophiles to their wineries for two days of Picknicking in the vineyards.

June 12 and 13, a holiday weekend in France, has been designated the days of Pique-nique by the French Vignerons Independant association. Already a remarkably successful yearly event in Alsace, where it has been drawing 10,000 picnicking participants during the designated weekend for the past 17 years, this year the Association is taking it nationwide.

Participating regions include Champagne, Provence, Bordeaux and everywhere inbetween - a grand total of 550 wineries, 12000 hectares and 31 counties in France are participating.

Why this is a bonanza for amateurs and oenotourists? For one, the wine will be "offered" for your picnic meal and many of the wineries even greet their guests with a glass of champagne or other aperitif such as Muscat ("offered" in French means free). 

The real value, however, is in the fact that the winemakers and winery owners have set these two days aside to welcome people from all walks and levels of knowledge, degrees of enthusiasm into their world of wine. This includes winery tours, vineyard walks, in-depth tastings, explanations of what it is to be a winemaker or run a vineyard and more. The doors of the vineyards will be swung wide open, literally and figuratively, to all who wish to stop by on June 12 and June 13, 2011. 

You bring your own picnic lunch, of course!  

It's also suggested to bring a dessert that you can share, if you wish, with the other gathered guests and families who have chosen that winery to spend their pique-nique at that day. As you wish...

As Jacques Legros, of French main television channel TF1 explained at the recent press conference, Wine is like a treasure. It is at the heart of French culture. We are very proud for people to discover our wines.

The website devoted particularly to this event is easy to navigate and when you hover over the numbered indications on the map, all the contact info of the wineries pops up. Check it out here:  http://pique-nique.vigneron-independant.com.

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Quebec Independent Winegrowers Join European Confederation

The Association Independent winegrowers of Quebec (VIQ)officially joined CEVI, the European Confederation of Independent Winegrowers, on the occasion of the General Meeting of April 20, 2011. This widening of CEVI beyond the borders of Europe reinforces the influence of the profession of  the independent winegrower and its values, and allows the network of CEVI to get richer through experience sharing. 

ADVVQ was founded in 2006 by a group of vinegrowers and winemakers in the aim of gathering the producers of the areas of Quebec and of supporting the spreading of the know-how of this production in emergence. Accordingly, the ADVVQ supports the organisation of regional and interregional meetings in order to exchange on the characteristics of the production in Quebec. Since 2010, the association changed its name for Vignerons Indépendants du Québec (Quebec Independent Winegrowers).

The goal of the association is to promote the elaboration of wines made from grapes entirely grown on the Quebec terroir, by proscribing any addition of raw material coming from outside Quebec (grapes, juice and concentrates), except for alcohols required to the making of fortified wines, according to an exclusively artisanal and nonindustrial transformation. 

The association gathers 51 members, representing approximately 35 to 40% of the production of wine in Quebec. In Quebec, more than 630 hectares of vines are in production. There are 4 main regions: Estrie, Montérégie, Lanaudière and Chaudières the Appalachian Mountains (regions of the South-Quebec). The type of vines which are cultivated there are mainly rustic and semi-rustic hybrid type of vines.

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Ultimate July 1 Barbecue with a New Wine Mobile App

Game-changing technology allows you to instantly scan 150,000 wines in the liquor store

Toronto, May 12, 2011 – A new free mobile application will change the way Canadian wine lovers find, buy and enjoy wine this summer. The Natalie MacLean Wine Picks & Pairings app lets you use your smartphone camera to snap a picture of any bottle label bar code in the  liquor store. With one click, you get tasting notes, scores, and food pairings.

“You’re in the liquor store wondering if you should buy the bottle with the castle on its label or the one with the fluffy squirrel,” says Natalie MacLean, the editor of Canada’s largest wine web site at www.nataliemaclean.com. She created the tool to make buying wine easier for consumers.

“Now you just point and click to find out if that shiraz actually is a good wine to go with your pepper steak, or if the sauvignon blanc would work with your grilled veggies. No more guesswork based on castles and critters.”

No more shopping lists either since you can scan the wines right in front of you in the store. The app’s key features allow you to:

- Instantly access tasting notes, scores, prices, recipes and food pairings

- Search 150,000 wines at the LCBO, SAQ, BC Liquor Stores and other liquor retailers across the country

- Get real-time stock for every wine at the store in which you’re shopping

- Check the number of bottles in stock at nearby stores via GPS real-time inventory search

- Track your purchases in your virtual cellar with just a few clicks

- Create a wine journal with your own wine notes and pictures in the app

- Share your favourite wines and pairings on Twitter and Facebook

The new Wine Picks & Pairings app is the next generation of Natalie’s mobile app, which was selected among the top five food-and-wine apps by both Computerworld Magazine and the New York Times. It’s the only one featured on Apple’s iTunes store under App Essentials for both “Food & Wine” and “Date Night.”

Fans use Canada’s most popular wine and food app to get more than 700,000 wine picks and food pairing suggestions a month—the number of users has grown 230% over the past year. The app, designed by Fluid Trends, bundles a suite of 10 wine apps including reviews, cellar journals, recipes, food pairings, articles, blog posts, a wine glossary, a bi-weekly newsletter, a directory of wineries around the world and excerpts from Natalie’s bestselling book Red, White and Drunk All Over.

A certified sommelier and winner of the World’s Best Wine Writer award at the World Food Media Awards, Natalie wrote and vetted all the pairings and wine reviews in the app rather than relying on computer-generated algorithms and crowd-sourced material.

Natalie’s Top 10 Well-Done Wine and BBQ Pairings:

1. Juicy Steak and Shiraz

2. Grilled Salmon and Pinot Noir

3. Seared Tuna and Gamay

 4. Flame-Broiled Hamburgers and Zinfandel

5. Grilled Portabello Mushroom and Rosé

6. Herbed Chicken and Syrah

7. Lobster in Butter and Sparkling Wine

8. Grilled Veggies and Sauvignon Blanc

9. BBQ Pork Chops and Chardonnay

10. Roasted Marshmallows and Tawny Port

About Natalie

Natalie MacLean is a Canadian wine journalist and author of Red, White and Drunk All Over.She connects with more than 123,000 wine and food lovers who get her free e-newsletter. Nat is the only person to have won both the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award from the James Beard Foundation and the M.F.K. Fisher Award for Excellence in Culinary Writing from Les Dames d'Escoffier International. More bio here: www.nataliemaclean.com/bio.

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