Monday, December 17, 2018

Episode 42: The Feast Is In The First Bite - Chefs Ludo Lefebvre & Nina Métayer

by Paige Donner

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The feast is in the first bite. I came across this phrase recently listening to a science program on the radio about how human taste buds function. It was scientifically explained that in fact with each subsequent bite of food, there is a diminishing sensory enjoyment insofar as the taste explosion in your mouth. So in this season of joyful excess, we can reassure ourselves that the feast is indeed in the first bite.

INTERVIEWS:

  • Nina Métayer, Executive Pastry Chef, Café Pouchkine: Start Time - 7' 30 seconds

Nina Metayer Experience-Vignettelarge

  • Chef Ludo Lefebvre of Trois Mec, Los Angeles: Start Time - 25' 49 seconds

Ludo Lefebvre 20150214_quote_banner

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

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As I sit here at my desk in my office in the Marais recording this, I realize that this 2018 holiday season here in Paris will go down in history as the Yellow Christmas.

This month of Saturday protests of the GiletsJaunes, the Yellow Vests, here in Paris have marked the season with closed shops and whole shopping districts such as the Champs Elysées, Saint Germain des Prés, and even here, in the normally bustling Marais, shuttering their doors and boarding their windows.

Even as I write this, a parade of protesters are marching in the street just below my window.

But perhaps the timing is truly right on message, because when many of us can celebrate a time of plenty and abundance, with joyful family members, lots of good things to eat and drink, and happy times all around, it's important to remember that for an ever-growing segment of the French population, indeed the world's population, this is not necessarily the case. Not during the holidays, and not during the rest of the year.

This is what we have come to call the Working Poor. People who don't sit idly by or accept handouts but in fact put in full work weeks and still cannot make ends meet for themselves or their children or their elderly dependents.

This holiday show, then, is dedicated to all those mothers and fathers and adult children of elderly parents whose desperation has brought them to the streets of Paris these past weekends to demonstrate and protest in what can only be called a desperate cry for help.

As we raise our glasses and forks in good cheer this year, let's generously remember all those who may be less fortunate than ourselves.

***

Episode 42 cover photo dhristmas

Another theme of this show is traditions.

As an avid listener of US Public Radio, I heard interview excerpts and snippets following the Thanksgiving holiday of people in the US who eschew the traditional holiday meal of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and what we call "the works."

And while there is no obligation to respect the traditions of your own country or your adoptive country, I do feel that there is great value in upholding traditions and that this can offer a kind of anchor to our ever-increasingly fragmented society.

Culinary traditions are a big part of culture. They play an important role in cultural identity. That's something I've learned quite well here in France.

To this effect, I interviewed one of France's top young pastry chefs for this show. Here in France, the Christmas Cake, le bûche de Nöel, plays a central role in the traditional holiday Christmas meal.

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One of the themes for Chef Nina's 2018 bûche de Nöel: 

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* MORE PHOTOS OF Nina Métayer's Christmas Cakes on Instagram @PaigeFoodWine *

As such, the country's talented pastry chefs put great thought, creativity and love into their cake designs, often planning them a year in advance, as we hear Nina Métayer, of Café Pouchkine, explain to us. She's been singled out as one of the Top Under 30 culinary stars to watch by the French media. She is the Executive Pastry Chef of Café Pouchkine, which is owned by a Franco-Russian family.

The next talent we hear from for this Christmas and holidays 2018 show, is a Los Angeles based French chef; Ludo Lefebvre. He tells us how his childhood memories of the Family Christmas meal here in France are even more vivid than his memories of what toys Santa brought him. His main talking point is that very French sense of the Art de Vivre.

ludo_and_krissy_lefebvre

He emphasizes that enjoying a holiday meal is mostly about spending time with friends and family, where any sense of hurry or watching the clock is thrown out the window in favor of spending quality time with one another.

He has shot to fame with his fabulously successful Trois Mec restaurant and also his cooking shows Ludo Bites America and now Ludo à la Maison. As you'll hear in this telephone interview, Chef Ludo hails from Burgundy and has strong and fond memories of the traditional family Christmas meals he enjoyed as a child.

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One more interesting tidbit to pass on for this holiday season, is that for the first time ever, Americans are spending more on eating out than on their groceries. So, to this effect, in the show notes, you'll find links to Holiday Meal Kits that can be delivered both here in Paris and also in the US. Note that in keeping with American traditions, the link for that meal kit includes a honeybaked ham, and the link to the Paris meal kits includes delivery of fresh oysters by Maison Rostang.

Wishing all of you, listeners and friends and family, a peaceful, joyous holiday season, full of love and good cheer. May food be the fabric of our harmonious coming together and the commonality that binds us as human beings, each one of us a child of God.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and Joyous Blessings this Holiday Season

LINKS

Café Pouchkine Paris & Pastry Chef Nina Métayer, Executive Pastry Chef

https://ninametayer.com/

https://cafe-pouchkine.fr/

Chef Ludo Lefebvre

https://www.ludolefebvre.com/

Holiday Meal Kits Delivered

USA – Cracker Barrel https://crackerbarrel.com/order-online/holiday-meal

Paris - Maison Rostang Oyster Kit recommended by Marie Claire https://www.marieclaire.fr/reveillon-services-livraison-domicile,1246215.asp

Americans Spending More On Eating Out Than Groceries

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-26/first-time-americans-spend-more-eating-out-food-home

AND truth be told French chansons (#music) are some of my favorites. Here is some French holiday listening pleasure: https://www.talkinfrench.com/christmas-songs-free/

And Garou: Joyeux Noel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVe-znmgL7Q

Music by Jingle Punks thanks to Youtube Audio Library, Free of Rights. 
Deck The Halls
We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Paris GOODfood+wine intro and outro music by BenSound, Groovy Jazz. 

Production, Hosting and Sound Editing by Paige Donner

Merci Beaucoup to all who helped make this show possible!

Wishing you and all of Earth's Children Peace, Love & Joy this season and for 2019

***

BOOK your wine tasting with Paris Food And Wine !  In Paris, we take you on a 2+ hour wine and food pairing tasting romp through the heart of the city, visiting wine bars, cheese and wine shops, with generous gulps and nibbles all the way!  GREAT HOLIDAY GIFT!   Contact Paige directly for bookings PaigeDonner.info  Or on the website:

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*****

 

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Sunday, November 18, 2018

Episode 41: Natural Wines, Wine Calling and Sustainable Seafood podcast by Paige Donner

by Paige Donner

LISTEN TO EPISODE 41 of Paris GOODfood+wine HERE

 

Standard Definition: Natural wine is wine made with minimal chemical and technological intervention, both in growing grapes and making them into wine. The term is used to distinguish such wine from organic wine and biodynamic wine because of differences in cellar practices.

natural wines episode 41 head photo valued-food

This sort of sums up the ethos of the Natural Wine Movement. 


LISTEN TO THE LATEST PARIS GOODFOOD+WINE PODCAST, ALL ABOUT NATURAL WINES AND SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD. BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAIGE DONNER AND IOTSHIPPING.XYZ 

 

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As we roll into the festive holiday season of 2018, where food and wine feature central, we bring you this rockin' interview with the filmmaker, Bruno Sauvard, of Wine Calling, a film all about natural wine makers here in France. He's joined by Hervé Lethielleux, owner of one of Paris' original wine shops specializing in organic, biodynamic and natural wines, located on Île Saint-Louis in the heart of Paris called L'Etiquette.

Episode 41 PGf+w title slide with wording Grapesandsoil

What you'll hear throughout this friendly discourse and banter is a sort of nostalgia for a sweeter life and time. One where real human connection meant more than a mobile phone or facebook page. In essence, after listening to these two men, you can't help but come away with the feeling that this natural wine movement is about wine, certainly, but also about life and quality of life and the ties that bind. To paraphrase, natural wine is about love and passion and rock-n-roll and rebellion and simply living life on your own terms.

Now in our 5th season, Paris GoodFood + Wine is still proudly independent. We are 100% listener supported and none of our featured guests or stories are overtly nor covertly branded content. Clear, clean and pure, 100% Paris GOODfood+wine.

Season 5 of Paris GOODfood+wine is generously supported by IoTShipping.

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Track and trace your shipped assets with our smart sensors throughout the transport process.  Real-time monitoring via temperature, movement and geo-location using internet of things technology.

 

 

wine calling poster downloadThe documentary film by Bruno Sauvard about Natural Winemakers in South of France.

 

In this episode, you'll also hear about the mobile application, RAISIN, that tells you where all things Vin Naturel are to be found in Paris.

Then we finish up with an interview recorded last spring, with one of the executives of R&O, a well established seafood and gourmet company who now specializes in delivering care packages of seafood delectables such as caviar, Madagascar shrimp, tarimi and other festive treats directly to your home or office, ready to serve for your dinner party and holiday get-together. They stock over 500 different kinds of fish and shellfish, so you are sure to find something for every guest's tastes.

But before we start on this newest Paris GOODFood+wine episode, I feel obligated to pay respects to an extremely talented film composer who happened to be French, Francis Lai. His credits include the soundtracks for Love Story and A Man And A Woman , two of the greatest film classics of the last century. Francis Lai passed away on November 8th.

He also composed one of my favorites, Vivre pour Vivre which translates to Live to Live. This song is very à propos considering our topics today…

Wine Calling – The Film

https://fr-fr.facebook.com/winecallingdoc/

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CatRgWd6GnQ

L'Etiquette Wine Shop (Paris)10 Rue Jean du Bellay, 75004 Paris https://www.letiquetteparis.com/

Raisin – mobile application https://www.raisin.digital/fr/lapplication-vin-naturel/

R & O Seafood Gastronomyhttp://www.rno.fr/Reynaud since 1924http://www.rno.fr/produits-marques.php

Francis Lai 'Vivre pour Vivre'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc621zyqnUs


Monday, October 29, 2018

Houndsley, Idéale & Île St.-Louis

Île Saint-Louis, Paris 

We've pushed the clocks back - this weekend - and the Indian Summer temperatures in the 70's that have spoiled us all Autumn-long disappeared this week, too, along with the daylight.  Winter is fast approaching and with it, thoughts of holidays and the gift-giving season. 

Top on your lists, of course, is your beloved D-O-G  (God spelled backward, don't forget). 

Idéale and I were gifted a Houndsley dog walking bag and leather leash-collar set for our birthdays this year and now we don't go anywhere without them.  Join  us on one of our favorite walks around the Île Saint-Louis....

Idéale and Houndsley photo by Paige Donner copyright 2018 IMG_8338

THE HOUNDSLEY BAG

The Houndsley dog walking bag is made of showerproof heavy-duty canvas with the finest leather trim and quality brass fittings.  The unique detachable front pocket is an easily accessible receptacle for when your pooch has been busy and there is no available bin. It can also be used as a handy pocket for doggy treats. It can be removed, easily emptied and washed. The handy side mess bag dispenser allows quick access to bags and the inside pocket allows you to store two or more rolls.



BEST OF BRITISH

Workmanship and quality of product is of upmost importance to Houndsley. Therefore, when selecting a British based manufacturer, we wanted to work with someone who shared this ethos. John Chapman, founded in 1980 and based in Cumbria, use high quality materials of British origin wherever possible and were the perfect choice to help bring the Houndsley Bag to the market place.

For more gift-giving ideas, you can click on over to our Paris Food And Wine site. And be sure to catch our podcast on iTunes and Soundcloud



 

For MORE Dog Walking Tips, pick up the Paris On 4 Paws guidebook. 

Idéale à Paris, A Dog Lover's Guide To The City of Light

 

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Episode 40: Two Chefs on The PRASAD Project; Master Class in Austrian Wines

by Paige Donner

Season 5 of Paris GOODfood+wine is generously being brought to you by IoTShipping.

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Two Chefs On The PRASAD Project and Austrian Wines with Willi Klinger

For October 2018's episode of our show, we celebrate this warm and welcoming Autumn here in Paris with two chefs and a Master of Austrian Wine.

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The lead-in topic with Chef Avi Szapiro of Roia in New Haven Connecticut and his longtime friend and colleague, Chef Indra Carrillo of La Condesa, here in Paris is the Prasad Project.

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[caption id="attachment_7528" align="alignnone" width="1935"]La Condesa 10BEST photo by Paige Donner copyrigh 2018 IMG_6877 (2) Chef Avi Szapiro Left, Chef Indra Carrillo Right at La Condesa Paris 75009 photo by Paige Donner copyright 2018[/caption][caption id="attachment_7529" align="alignnone" width="2272"]La Condesa 10BEST photo by Paige Donner copyrigh 2018 IMG_6879 (2) La Condesa Paris supports the PRASAD project. Chef Indra Carrillo. photo by Paige Donner copyright 2018 Paris 10BEST restaurants SoPi district Paris[/caption]

The Prasad Project is a philanthropic expression of the Siddha Yoga Path. PRASAD (Philanthropic Relief, Altruistic Service And Development) is a not-for-profit organization committed to improving the quality of life of economically disadvantaged people around the world. Its primary philosophy is one of self-reliance.

La Condesa 10BEST photo by Paige Donner copyrigh 2018 IMG_6879 (1)

The PRASAD Project's outreach programs help people to achieve lives of self-reliance and dignity by offering assistance in health, education and sustainable community development in India, dental care in the United States and eye care in México.

The word PRASAD originally comes from the Sanskrit. This is something that the Colombian born Avi and the Mexican born Indra will explain more to us about during our interview.

langoustines-rc3b4ties-avec-fenouil-et-citron-cc3a9drat-bouillon-aux-aromates.jpg

We sat down with the both of them together at Indra's delightful new restaurant La Condesa in the SoPi district, that's short for South Pigalle, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Chef Carrillo was named as one of Paris's top young chefs in 2016 by Gault & Millau and between the two of them, Avi and Indra have worked in such exotic places as India and Mexico City as well as mythical culinary lands like Lyon and Paris.

***

Willi Klinger of Austrian Wine Board photo by Paige Donner copyright 2018 IMG_1587

For the second half of our show, get ready for a Master Class with the renowned Willi Klinger of the Austrian Wine Board.

Austrian wines offer much more than Grüner Weltliner, delicious as it may be.

In fact, at an Austrian Wine Tasting here in Paris I was frankly surprised and delighted to discover their red wines.

[caption id="attachment_7530" align="alignnone" width="1056"]Willi Klinger 2 of Austrian Wine Board photo by Paige Donner copyright 2018 IMG_1584 Willi Klinger, of the Austrian Wine Board. Master of Austrian Wines. Pictured above. Photo by Paige Donner copyright 2018 taken at the Petit Palais, Paris.[/caption]

Crisp, light and elegant, these cold climate reds can stand up to the best and are well worth discovering especially while they still maintain their very accessible price points. So have a listen as Willy Klinger, this masterful wine professional discusses everything from Grüner Weltliner to Wolfgang Puck. And lots of Austrian wines in between.

So sit back, pour yourself a glass of whatever is chilled or whatever you've been tempted to open thus far but have been waiting for just the right moment, and relax into this international episode of Paris GOODfood+wine where all culinary roads seem to lead to Paris.

Host Paige Donner 2018 IMG_1607

I'm Paige Donner. Thank you for joining us today.

austrianwine.com/team/

prasad.org

© Paige Donner 2018 All Rights Reserved

Paige Donner is Creator, Host-Producer of Paris GOODfood+wine. Contact her at PaigeDonner.info   Please leave a review of the show on iTunes and/or Soundcloud. Also @ParisFoodWine

 



 

I'm thrilled to have you with us on this season 5 of Paris GOODfood+wine.

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Season 5 of Paris GOODfood+wine is generously being

brought to you by IoTShipping.

Internet of Things = IoT  IoTShipping tracks and traces your value assets throughout the transport process using the internet of things technology. Industry focuses include wine, agriculture, medicine and other high-end valuables. Smart sensors monitor your assets by temperature, geo-location and movement.

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Saturday, July 28, 2018

Episode 38: Tribute Show To Bourdain and Gold, Best of Season 4 Paris GOODfood+wine

by Paige Donner

This episode of Paris GOODfood+wine is a tribute show to Anthony Bourdain and Jonathan Gold, both great figures in the world of culinary criticism and food journalism. who recently passed away. 



 

ON SOUNDCLOUD LISTEN NOW HERE

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feast-bourdain-jonathan-gold

This is what Bourdain said about Jonathan Gold: 

Bourdain wrote about Gold, who was then at L.A. Weekly. (Gold subsequently moved onto the Los Angeles Times.) "Jonathan Gold, the food writer for L.A. Weekly, is a hero. I'm hardly the first to notice. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his dedicated and pioneering coverage of all those places in the L.A. area that nobody had ever covered before. (His award was the first for a food writer.) He gave them respect, treating little mom-and-pop noodle shops in strip malls with a degree of importance they hadn't enjoyed before."

Bourdain added, "He helped give a 'legitimacy' to serious critical analyses of Thai, Vietnamese, inexpensive Mexican, and less appreciated regional cuisines, which hadn't really existed before. He put them on a par with fine dining and wrote about them with as much — if not more — enthusiasm, helping to usher in a (very useful) kind of reverse snobbism, a skepticism about fine dining that has only been helpful and a good thing in the long run."  MORE HERE 

(Read USA Today's Obituary HERE)

And HERE for Bourdain

Episode 38 of Paris GOODfood+wine features a few of the Best of Season 4. In this show we hear excerpts from my original interviews with Jamiee Anderson , the wine director from La Reserve Hotel & Spa here in Paris, who talks to us about food and wine pairings; then from Dirty Dick's Tiki bar owner, Pigalle's very own Scott Schuder; we then go to Steven Spurrier, a fixture on the French and English wine scene, and a consultant editor for Decanter ; then we switch to Victoire de Taillac who, along with her husband, opened the Grand Café Tortoni in the upper Marais last fall; and lastly (but not least!) is an excerpt from my interview earlier this year with two Michelin star chef, Sylvestre Wahid. 

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This episode of Paris GOOD food+wine is a tribute to two of our finest culinary critics who recently passed away : Anthony Bourdain and Jonathan Gold. Bourdain, of course, was the host of No Reservations and Parts Unknown,  food and travel shows that became embedded in people's hearts. That Bourdain passed away here in France, makes it all the more poignant. And then only just a few days ago, Jonathan Gold of the Los Angeles Times and Good Food radio show fame, also left us. He was a Pulitzer prize winning food journalist and a staple on the Los Angeles restaurant scene.

CityOfGoldWidePoster

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So for these two accomplished and respected members of our profession, here is a show curated just for them. It is comprised of a few of the best from Season 4 of Paris GOOD food+wine. I hope you enjoy it, dear listener and I also hope that they may hear and enjoy it, too, wherever in food heaven they may be.

tly passed away : Anthony Bourdain and Jonathan Gold. Bourdain, of course, was the host of No Reservations, a food and travel show that became embedded in people's hearts. That Bourdain passed away here in France, makes it all the more poignant. And then only just a few days ago, Jonathan Gold of the Los Angeles Times and Good Food radio show fame, also left us. He was a Pulitzer prize winning food journalist and a staple on the Los Angeles restaurant scene.

So for these two accomplished and respected members of our profession, here is a show curated just for them. It is comprised of a few of the best from Season 4 of Paris GOOD food+wine. I hope you enjoy it, dear listener and I also hope that they may hear and enjoy it, too, wherever in food heaven they may be.



 

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Monday, July 9, 2018

Vins de Bergerac Southwest France

by Paige Donner

It seems that everyone these days can't get enough of the wines from the Southwest of France, namely the Bergerac region. It's likely just a coincidence that Wine Enthusiast named it their region of the year for 2018, since it has definitely been on its own upswing for quite awhile now. 

Gamme-Belingard

When I communicate with fellow wine appreciators from abroad visiting France, I emphasize that for quality:price ratio you can't beat the wines from Bergerac & Duras. Probably its most famous appellation (outside of France, at least) is Monbazillac, which produces the sweet wines full of botyritis-induced honey-stewed apricot notes. 

Of course, nestled in the Périgord region famous for its gastronomic food culture, you would expect the wines to match up to that. Still, for the last several centuries the region has been a bit overshadowed, at least on the export market, by its neighbor just to the northwest, which you may have heard of, called Bordeaux. However, the regions share such close proximity that the far eastern edges of Bordeaux's appellations actually touch up against Bergerac. 

The average, every day wine enthusiast in either France or abroad is not the only type of wine drinker who has become infatuated with this promising region that tends to overdeliver. The English have long staked their claim here as a retirement haven and now even landed wealth from elsewhere has been moving in and renovating chateaus and replanting vineyards as organic. 

Case in point: 

 

Chateau Monestier La Tour

monestier-la-tour-3

This fully refurbished and renovated chateau produces a wide range but one that is fairly standard for the region: red, white, rosé and sweet.  Their wines carry the appellation (AOC) designations of Bergerac, Côte de Bergerac and Saussignac.  The vineyards of the chateau literally touch right up against the frontier to the Gironde. 

This idyllic wine producing chateau was bought in 2012 by the Swiss family (Scheufele) who owns Chopard. They just simply fell in love with the region. Since purchasing the historic estate, they became passionate about converting their 27.5 hectares into not just organic but bio-dynamic vineyards. Their efforts are bearing fruit. The winemaker is also advised by the well respected Stpéhane Derenoncourt. 

To try: Côtes de Bergerac Rouge 2015  & Côtes de Bergerac Rouge 2016

Each are blends of Cabernet Franc and Merlot with the 2016 getting a 5% dose of Malbec, too. 

 Château Monestier La Tour

 

Chateau Bélingard

Maison-43

If the château described just above is sort of this region's Cheval Blanc, then Château Bélingard could be its Figeac. Owned and operated by Laurent and Sylvie de Bosredon, the estate has been in the family since 1820. Their 75 hectares are situated in the Périgord, just a few kilometers from Bergerac. 

The château produces reds, whites, rosés and sweet wines. The traditions that allow them to make such fine and elegant wines - their white Reserve 2015 for example is fresh, light and crisp - have been anchored in the family's cellars and methods of elaborating their wines for generations. The Réserve Sec is 70% Sauvignon and 30% Semillon with its freshness belying its 13.5% alcohol level.  

To try:  Château Bélingard Réserve Bergerac Sec 2015;  Ortus de Château Bélingard Côtes de Bérgerac Rouge; Blanche de Bosredon Monbazillac  (perfect with foie gras and/or roquefort).

Belingard.com 



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