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What are we drinking this week? Clos de L’Etoile 2010 from Arnaud Lambert
We’re big fans of Arnaud Lambert’s wines. Last night we enjoyed a bottle of his top red, Clos de l’Etoile 2010 which is a Cabernet Franc from the Saumur appellation.
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What are we drinking this week? Domaine Giachino Persan AOP Savoie
We always try to drink some different wines out of season and last night enjoyed this rare and tricky to grow grape, Persan from Domaine Giachino.
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Anjou-Villages Brissac Appellation to lose the mention ‘Villages’
The appellation Anjou-Villages Brissac was created in 1998 and covers a dozen communes around the market town of Brissac making quality reds for ageing.
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What are we drinking this week? Tue le Boa from Jean-François Merieau
Off-beat to say the least. Jean-François Merieau’s Tu le Boa is an extraordinary wine. In 2000 he made just 1500 bottles from tiny yields (around 20hl/ha) of Sauvignon Blanc.
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What’s going on in the Loire valley vineyards in August?
Harvest has officially started here in the Loire with the first grapes being picked on Monday, the 27th August. Chardonnay destined for Crémant is first in.
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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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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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La Grange aux Belles portes ouvertes
We tasted a very interesting range of wines today at La Grange aux Belles in Soulaine sur Aubance about half an hour from us here at le tasting room
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Le Mans 2018 – a day of food and wine from the Loire
Every year we have a group that comes over from the UK to the Le Mans 24 hours race. They’re all interested in cars but they love good food and wine too and a day with us makes a change of scene. Le Mans is only an hour from Le Tasting Room so it’s an ideal day out.
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What’s going on the Loire valley vineyards in June?
Well, what a month we’ve had since I last reported from the Loire valley vineyards. Huge amounts of rain during the first 2 weeks of June caused chaos around the region. On the 11th June Amboise had 80mm of rain in just 2 hours.
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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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Recipes from Le Tasting Room’s kitchen – sweet pastry
Sweet pastry that crumbles in your mouth like shortbread. This is the pastry I use to make all our sweet tarts here at Le Tasting Room and it freezes like a dream.
