Members
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Chateau de Villeneuve
Chateau de Villeneuve is one of the top producers in the Saumur Champigny AOC. We popped in for a quick tasting last week with clients from New York.
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What’s on the cheeseboard this month? Trèfle du Perche
Trèfle du Perche is a relatively ‘new’ cheese from the Loire valley. Created by 7 cheese making goat farmers, it has the shape of a four leaf clover.
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Recipes from Le Tasting Room’s kitchen – super easy chicken marinade
For a really easy dinner try this really simple marinade. It works well on chicken thighs or breasts and is healthy and quick to prepare.
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Veraison – counting down to harvest
Veraison is the point at which grapes start to change colour. Black grapes that until this point are green, take on a pink or purple hue and white grapes change from green to a slightly more golden colour. It marks the transition from berry growth to berry ripening.
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Recipes from Le Tasting Room’s kitchen – easy hummus
I always thought that hummus had loads of oil added to make the smooth emulsion-like texture in the same way that you make mayonnaise.
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Wine education – what is green harvesting?
A single vine is capable of producing many bunches of grapes. The only way to make good wine is to have great raw ingredients and that means fully ripe grapes.
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Recipes from Le Tasting Room’s kitchen – simple summer salads
2 super quick simple summer salads for you. Cucumber, creme fraiche and garlic salad and kidney bean, cumin and coriander salad. Healthy, low fat, quick and tasty.
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Personal news – my life in the Loire July 27th 2018
I’m sitting in the tasting room as I write this update, escaping the heat that has settled in the Loire and indeed in many countries around the world. Days and days of very hot weather reaching up into the late 30’s (in the 90’s).
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La Grange aux Belles – natural wines from Anjou
Marc Houtin created La Grange aux Belles in 2004. Former geologist, his passion for wine led him to change career and retrain in viticulture and oenology.
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Recipes from friends of Le Tasting Room – crab and goat’s cheese filo pastry parcels
We enjoyed a lovely summer dinner with good friends John and Sheila Wilton recently. John served a delicious filo pastry crab and goat’s cheese parcel as the appetizer and he kindly agreed to share his recipe with us.
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Loire valley vineyard update – 14 July 2018
Planting at this time, with no rain and high temperatures has its problems but the team at Chateau de Fesles was unable to get onto the ground earlier.
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Recipes from Le Tasting Room’s kitchen – cooking the perfect duck breast
A perfectly cooked duck breast (magret de canard) is one of life’s pleasures and something that you can easily master. Here’s how to do it.