La Souteronne2014 of Hervé Souhaut is definitely my type of red : I could tell from the moment the sommelier poured it into my glass – the light purple with a garnet twist colour straight away sent a signal to my brain which goes : this fabulous red wine does good to my palate and my entire body . What a discover ! Thank you @woodstockholm for making it happen !
I didn’t know about this wine nor this wine producer , but I am totally seduced by everything this wine has to offer :
On the nose we can smell strawberry, black cherry, plum, fig, and smoky herbs.
On the palate , black fruit dominates with a touch of minerality.
This Gamay with its Northern Rhone influence evokes something very familiar and Beaujolais-like .
And here is what I learn about this wine and Hervé Souhaut methodology :
“Age of Vines: 60 to 80 years old non-clone vines.
Yields: 25 hl/ha 3,000 bottles annually.
Pruning Method: Gobelet
Soil: Schist.
Vinification Method: Grapes are hand-harvested & undergo a very long maceration at a low temperature—without de-stemming the fruit. The wine is fermented in wooden tanks & aged on fine lees in secondhand oak casks for eight months. The wine is bottled without filtration. Total SO2 is only 25 mg/L.”
This summer I drove from Nice in France to the Adriatic coast in Croatia and had two stops along the way where I starved for Natural wines and got lucky !
If you are in Nice , in south of France for one evening , and like me cannot drink anything else than natural beverages especially during hot weather – then your best bet is La Part des Anges in Nice , La Part des Anges website, where you can consume and take any bottle of wine away ! They have an impressive selection of wine and sell natural wines produced according to the Jules Chauvet method . The place is also stunning in its simplicity ( here don’t except quick service, only one person is dealing with the few tables ) , very intimate ,as it literally feels like having a wine tasting in a cellar.
Long comme un jour sans Morgon – Famille Marcel Lapierre
I have tried the following :
An orange wine from 2013 , Barral by Didier Barral , 35 euros : 80% Terret Blanc and Gris, 10% Viognier, 10% Roussane. Produced using an ancient method of extended pressing and skin contact for a deeply colored wine with some tannins. Satisfactory but not the most interesting orange wine I had lately.
Together with a mix of Cheese and ham platter.
Delicious food pairing : excellent cheese selection with this orange yummy wine
Together with a mix of Cheese and ham platter.
Delicious food pairing : the wine goes perfectly with the cheese selection this wine bar has to offer .
We went home with this ” valeur sure” ( a sure value) of Jean Foillard ( 35 euros) – tried and tasted at perfect temperature while spending time by the sea in Croatia : Jean Foillard Morgon Cuvee Corcelette. From a food pairing perspective, this elegant red will go well with neutral dressed sea food , tuna tartar/sashimi , or a light meaty dinner. Served at 15 degrees celsius .
My next stop was Bologna in Italy in the so-called Emilia Romagna region , the best region for food and wine in Italy .
Again, one evening only in Bologna and no plans whatsoever , and spontaneity has worked again in my favour as I ended up in this tiny wine bar which also offer food and had the immense pleasure to have drink…some natural wines of course !
Vineria Favalli in via Stefano is really recommended
This wine bar has a great selection of natural wines by the glass which is wonderful to discover new taste and new producers . This bar has very affordable prices , really cheap compared to if you want to go for natural wines in London or worst in Stockholm, so pure paradise here ! He has very good food to offer, we went for some mortadella and parmesan cheese of course with a drop of balsamic from Modena 🙂
Our big catch of the night was this unique and delicious orange wine Pithos Bianco from Azienda Agricola Cos in Sicily,Italy ; that I cannot recommend this wine enough for a warm summer aperitivo:
This delicious wine is made from 100% Grecanico which is at 11.5% low in alcohol. It has a beautiful nose and a fascinating amber colour as it has been fermented with the skins.Producers of this wine use amphora grounded in the soil , to ferment this wine the roman old way 🙂
Woodstockholm, the highlight of this post – everything about this relatively small place is perfect, the monty theme ( I reckon we are in the middle of the Aphrodisiac menu of May..you lucky foodies 😉 ) – people would say the food is rustic ..and I would say the food is typical the closest food you can get in restaurant that feels and tastes like homemade food with a touch of sophistication that you can’t achieve at home. Voila.
And as if the changing themes and the wonderful and authentic flavours were not enough..here you can drink proper natural wines…and of course the service is top-notch !
So for me, it is a win and I have tried it twice- spot-on.
@woodstockholmAnd I will be back in June with more details and photossssss, Yes !
woodstockholm.com
The other restaurant to highlight for today is Delikatessen Bistro bar ..a french bistro which is not your typical , classic boring French brasserie but just a French restaurant which serves tasty,well-balanced food , with a twist. Both starters and mains were outstanding, fish, meat and desert succulent- Bravo for this yummy food in an airy and bright setting .
I also heard that they are also now distributing natural wines – mais que demande le people ? Keep it up guys and see you soon in June !
The bar of the restaurant, Bar Hommage, is worth a visit, talented barmaid on the mix – really good cocktail list and a very good pisco sour ! @barhommage
I have just returned from a trip to Sorento and Positano on the Amalfi Coast , near Naples and I had the pleasure to go again searching for the best Agriculturismo around me . I realized that this fantastic concept , only known to food lovers hasn’t reach London and the UK yet.
What is Agriculturismo ? As the name indicates it is the combination of Agriculture and Tourism . How can we be a tourist and enjoy the local products of a country we visit. This is my own definition.
When you go to an Agriculturismo , there isn’t such thing as a Menu as the owners serve you only what is available, usually from their own farm where the restaurant is also located. You eat only what is fresh and you drink the local , natural ( if you are lucky) wine , olive oil and fruits. It is rare to be disappointed after a lunch at an Agriculturismo, although it is getting more and more popular in Italy so one needs to be aware of new potential “tourist traps”.
Usually an Agriculturismo acts as a B&B , a few rooms around the restaurant.
So one could argue that the UK has seen this concept many years ago and now similar places like the Pig in Hampstead is doing this : rooms around the restaurant, with products from the garden. But there is still a menu to choose from and the hassle of deciding which comes with it !
Near Sorento , I went to l’Angolo Di Paradiso. It was decent but certainly not the best in the region nor in Italy. Perhaps because it was too close to Sorento and the food served was too much carb related so not enough vegetables and meat or fish to my liking . The local wine was good though.
Eating with this view is fantastic and cannot be found in London – that’s for sure :
tongue&cheeks 