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Looking for something light and fresh that looks lovely on the plate and makes a delightful summer lunch or dinner?

Radishes have really grown on me since we moved to France. Traditionally here they’re eaten with butter, salt and crusty bread as a simple seasonal appetizer.

Well, here’s an unusual cheese for you. Lou Claousou – a raw sheep’s milk cheese from the Occitanie region in the south of France.

Vines here in the Loire are now in full flower. As you pass the vineyards and the wind is blowing in the right direction you can smell the delicate scent.

Mothais sur feuille is one of our favourite goat’s cheeses and it makes a regular appearance on our cheese board.

Hail damage is ghastly. It’s random, localised and destructive and can wipe out a crop in minutes. That’s what happened here last week.

Fermenting wine in an egg shaped vessel is nothing new. It goes back thousands of years but in recently, we’ve seen a resurgence of them.

In the 1980’s when I was working in London selling wine to hotels and restaurants, Muscadet was the Pinot Grigio of its time.

As the weeks go by, we have a clearer idea of the level of frost damage in individual parcels here in the Loire.

Vincent & Tania Carême have planted a new parcel called Les Granges in the village of Noizay this past week.

That’s what they call it isn’t it? Pivoting. Swinging around as if on a pivot. Trying different things.

Well. There’s Chaource and there’s Chaorce. You’ll understand what I mean if you get a really good one. This week we hit the jackpot!