On my way to Vinisud

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Brett, the Wine Maestro

I have been invited to be one of the UK Ambassadors at Vinisud, in Montpellier. This annual wine fair encompasses wines and spirits from throughout the Mediterranean coastal region. This is tenth fair, and the fourth I will have been to, but this time with the added innovation of embracing web 2.0.

For the very first time and throughout the event, VINISUD will devote a whole area to digital communication on wine. Pavilion 2.0., located in the heart of the Fair, will propose various workshops and presentations on the converging interests of the Web and Mediterranean wines. It will form a veritable platform for exchange, and will also act as a special area for meeting wine bloggers, including ambassador bloggers from France, Spain, Italy, England, Germany, the United States and China, who will participate in animating Pavilion 2.0 throughout the wine fair.

I wanted to spend a few extra days around Vinisud to make more visits in the region, so I left St Pancras on a busy Friday on Eurostar.

Eurostar St Pancras ready for Olympic Games 2012

Eurostar, St Pancras station ready for Olympic Games 2012

Found an excellent food shop, Sourced Market, which reminded me of a farmer’s shop with all sorts of good things, so was able to select a healthy lunch. Well, the Leon Scotch Egg was imbued with garlic, which enlivened my carriage…

A healthy lunch – salt packet unused and only there to show

I was able to do a lot of homework for my visit to Vinisud, so was pleased to notice that my neighbour was equally enagaged in his preparations (and training) for his weekend in Belgium.

Beer and Belgium

It won’t be beer for me in Montpellier, but lots of wine to taste and discover!

Wines from mountains and steep slopes

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Brett, the Wine Maestro

Last weekend we visited an exhibition for vertically-challenged winemakers; or, rather, ‘heroic’ winemakers with vertically challenging vineyards!

We went down to Chambéry to attend the first Biennale des Vins de Montagnes et fortes pentes. Organised by Chambéry Promotion, Le Comité Interprofessionnel des Vins de Savoie and Plaisirs du Vin; their local manager, Sébastien Toursel, provided an excellent guided tour of the stands, introducing us to the producers.

Also involved was CERVIM, Centre for Research, Environmental Sustainability and Advancement of Mountain Viticulture (an international organisation set up for the specific purpose of promoting and protecting the heroic viticulture), whose criteria for participation were used for this event:
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Vineyard sites at altitudes over 500 meters (1600 feet).
Vines planted on slopes greater than 30%.
Vines planted on terraces or embankments.
Vines planted on small islands in difficult growing conditions.

The sixty wineries at this event were from the local regions of Savoie, Bugey and Jura as well as others from France. Banyuls – terraces; Limoux, Roussillon, Madiran and Jurancon – altitude; and Beaujolais…

Beaujolais, I hear you exclaim? Indeed yes, they have steep slopes where the western vineyards of the region abut the Massif Central.

The other well represented country was Italy, namely Aosta (where CERVIM was founded in 1987), Valtellina and a couple of very small regions in the north.

There were two producers from Switzerland, who seemed to be the odd ones out as both were big, each with more than 120 hectares of vineyards, and one from Germany, from the vertiginous slopes of the Mosel.

Here is a list of all the exhibitors.

Our two days were well spent at this well run event and, as ever, we discovered some new winemakers and wines of a generally good standard and quality. I do hope that this will be a continuing biannual tasting show, and will include wineries from other heroic regions such as Cinqueterra, Galicia and the Douro.

See my video of the first Biennale des Vins de Montagnes et fortes pentes here:

And here is my Flickr album.

How to prepare tartiflette

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Brett, the Wine Maestro

The impression you get up here in the mountains of Haute Savoie, France is that the classic dish consumed by the locals since time immemorial is tartiflette.

However, this dish was was developed in the 1980s by the Union Interprofessional Reblochon to promote sales of the local eponymous cheese! This modern recipe was inspired by a truly traditional dish called péla: a gratin of potatoes, onions and cheese made in a long-handled pan called pelagic (shovel).

I have enjoyed tartiflette in many local restaurants, always using different recipes. So when Janet stayed with us last week I watched how she prepared her version of it – thank you Janet!

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A Savoie wine tasting in Chinaillon

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Brett, the Wine Maestro

Roll up, roll up! Come and taste Savoie wines at the Cellier du Chinaillon.

It had been a sunny day with lots of fresh snow to enjoy on the pistes of Le Chinaillon, with a sunset influenced by Turner.

The last rays provided a peaceful backdrop.

Wink and Philippe, the owner of Le Cellier du Chinaillon, set up their stall outside this innovative food store.

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Organic wines from Sud de France

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Brett, the Wine Maestro

The Languedoc-Roussillon is proving to be one of the most dynamic wine regions in France at the moment. Last week this was shown once again when a selection of organic and biodynamic producers came to London to present their wines to the trade and press. It was a chance to catch up with some old friends and make new ones.