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Recipes from Le Tasting Room’s kitchen – squidgy chocolate raspberry dessert
I’m calling this a squidgy chocolate raspberry dessert rather than a cake because there is no flour and it’s something you would serve as dessert rather than with a coffee in the morning or cup of tea in the afternoon (not that you couldn’t of course because it’s delicious!).
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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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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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Wine education – mildew in grape vines, what’s all the fuss this year?
Downy mildew is indigenous to north-eastern North America where it spread from wild vines into cultivated vineyards. It probably came over to Europe during the phylloxera crises when native American rootstock were being tested for their resistance to the disease that wiped out around two thirds of Europe’s vineyards.
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Recipes from Le Tasting Room’s kitchen – spicy cumin and turmeric roasted new potatoes
New potatoes roasted in the oven with cumin and turmeric. Delicious with a steak or any kind of bbq they are very moreish!
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Loire valley vineyard update June 27th 2018
The sun has finally made an entrance after 6 weeks of stormy wet weather and huge amounts of rain.
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Recipes from Le Tasting Room’s kitchen – caramelised onion tart
The most requested recipe from our guests is my caramelised onion tart. The key to this tart is patience. It takes nearly an hour for the onions to sweat down and caramelise but it’s this that gives the tart its sweet flavour so take your time. This is my own recipe that I have adapted over time.
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Loire valley vineyard update 11th June 2018
The weather has been dire over the past week with huge quantities of rain making vineyards practically inaccessible. This is worrying as the damp, humid conditions lead to mildew (downy and powdery) which requires treating on a regular basis, especially if you are working organically.
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What are we drinking this week? L’Envolée 2011 from Gérald Vallée
As it’s been warm enough to eat outside this week we enjoyed a simple dinner of home made burgers, roasted garlicky plum tomatoes and a fresh green salad. L’Envolée from Gérald Vallée was our wine of choice.
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Recipes from Le Tasting Room’s kitchen – Puy lentils with lardons and thyme
We often serve these lentils as a side to duck confit, roasted Toulouse sausages or griddled salmon. As time has gone by I have modified the recipe to make it easier and less time consuming. You can make them the day before and reheat gently when serving so they are great to do when you have people over.
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Wine Education – sediment in red wine, should I worry?
Sometimes as you pour the last glass or two from a bottle of red wine you find sediment in your glass. Should you worry about that?
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Les Grandes Tablées du Saumur Champigny 1 & 2 August 2018
For two nights in August, the centre of Saumur becomes the biggest restaurant in the world as thousands gather for the annual celebration of Saumur Champigny and its wines over a delightful open air dinner on the banks of the river Loire.