L'ART DE VIVRE

The end of the week is always a pleasant moment and nothing beats celebrating the start of the weekend with an After Week evening at the Domaine de la Baume. La Baume is part of the Grand Chais de France group which owns a dozen estates and is present commercially all around the world. They are best known for their wine J.P. Chenet, which is the most widely distributed French brand in the world. Domaine de la Baume is situated in near Pézenas, just along the river La Baume, h

Hidden away in the middle of the Corbières lies one of the most spectacular abbeys I have ever seen. Located west of Narbonne near the town of Bizanet, the Abbaye de Fontfroide is truly a monument worth visiting. The sheer size of the edifice is breathtaking and wonderfully restored, definitely worth a detour. I was lucky enough to visit the site on a wonderful sunny day. The thick walls and cool interiors were a pleasant reprieve from the scorching sun outside. The enormous

On my recent trip to Burgundy I had the opportunity to visit the Chateau de Marsannay. Named after the little village which it calls home, Chateau de Marsannay has a long history. The first vines of Pinot Noir were cultivated by the Saint Benoit monks. At this time the vines covered 400 hectares of the slopes surrounding the village of Marsannay-la-Côte. Like many other european wine regions, in 1885, an attack of the Phylloxera parasite decimated the vines. Winemakers were f

Everyone has a wine wishlist, you may have not thought a lot about it, but what is sure is that if you're the slightest bit interested in wine than you've had that thought cross your mind; "I wonder what it would be like to taste..." or "I bet you ... would taste amazing!!" The back to school season is starting and it's always a time when I like to look at my New Year's resolutions and see how far I've come and set new goals for the upcoming academic year. With this in mind,

Spring is coming with longer days and perfect weather for evenings on the terrace. So it’s the perfect time for aperitifs and discovering some new wines. To start off with, you must decide which wines you’d like to discover. Personally I love discovering wines from other regions with different varietals and landscapes. It’s a time when you can share and discover wines in a laid back setting. In my case I love tasting wines from small wineries which for the most part are excel

Riesling is an emblematic German varietal known for its lightness and fruity taste. It’s also very well known in the east of France, in Alsace, with the appellations Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru and Crémant d’Alsace for its notorious sparkling wines, see previous article. The terroir has a deep impact on the wine and reflects a lot of the characteristics found in it. Moreover this varietal is very fragile and sensitive to illnesses and the cold notably due to its very thin skin.

Vinisud is a reunion of sorts where producers and buyers get to meet one another and taste wines from the whole of Europe and beyond. During this edition of #VINISUD2017 I got to meet some producers and taste their up and coming wines. Domaine de Médeilhan Domaine de Médeilhan is a winery located in Vias, near Béziers. It’s thanks to them that I got to discover the grape variety Petit Verdot. It can be described as full bodied with a good tannin structure which allows for a