Blog
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What’s going on in the Loire valley vineyards in July?
More scorching weather and no rain for weeks. Young vines are dying and grapes are sunburnt. July has been another trying month for growers in the Loire.
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Loire growers start to worry as soaring temperatures start to burn grapes.
It’s 42 °C here in the Loire today. The third day of intense heat that is seeing growers in the Loire start to worry about their grapes.
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A new member of Le Tasting Room
Say hello to our new kitten Pesto! She arrived a week ago and seems to be settling in nicely.
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Le Van – a mobile wine bar in our village!
We have a mobile wine bar that comes to the village every Wednesday evening. The wines are interesting and include wines from the Loire and elsewhere in France.
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Technical vocabulary demystified – dosage
After the sediment has been removed, the bottle is topped up with a mixture of wine and sugar. This is the ‘dosage’ and the amount of sugar varies.
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Recipes from Le Tasting Room’s kitchen – spicy pork kebabs
These delicious, smoky, pork kebabs can be prepared in advance and then popped on the barbecue or under the grill when you want them.
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Recipes from Le Tasting Room’s kitchen – crunchy prawn and spring onion fritters
I made a batch of these last week and they are really delicious. You can halve the recipe to make fewer fritters but they’re so moreish I’m sure you’ll find them hard to resist.
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Poached chicken with Pernod and tarragon mayonnaise
Poached chicken with Pernod and tarragon mayonnaise. Perfect for a hot day in the garden, it can be done in advance and put together at the last moment.
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What’s going on in the Loire valley vineyards in June?
Well it’s been a strange month. For the first three weeks of June the weather was rather dull and cool and then we got a shock!
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What’s on the cheeseboard this month? Petit Troo
We were delighted to find a local cow’s milk cheese that’s produced just half an hour away from us. Petit Troo is going to make a regular appearance!
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Recipes from Le Tasting Room’s kitchen – crunchy tomato and parmesan crust with cool mozarella and Italian cold meats
A simple summer recipe from Nigel Slater that makes a great warm summer evening dinner. It serves 2 generously or 4 if you have a pud afterwards.
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Art Is An Ale – a new craft brewery in Amboise
Franco/American couple Matt and Katie Perradeau are brewing American craft style beers using French ingredients. We popped in yesterday to have a taste and to wish them good luck.