Les Meilleurs Vins du Canada by LRVF

Be sure to pick up February's issue of La Revue du Vin de France... British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario wines and wineries are featured in a multiple-page spread. 

For the Okanagan some beautiful highlights of Osoyoos Larose and also Quail's Gate, among others. Similkameen received due attention, though Naramata Bench didn't even get a mention. Well, the printed page can only hold so many words... Report prepared by Pascal Patron, a professor at Quebec's ITHQ.

Here's what the cover looks like so order your issues now!

FOLLOW US ON TUMBLR  * FOLLOW US ON TWITTER * LIKE US ON FACEBOOK

♥Chérie Du Vin

SHe in Las Vegas - by Morton's (and Eva Longoria)

Opened on NYE '13 in Vegas, Eva "Desperate Housewife" Longoria says her new restaurant is designed to cater to the ladies: small plates and a catwalk.

Female-only restaurants are trending right now with another new one set to open on London's Frith Street on Feb. 1st. 

Relax, though, girls - SHe's "behind the scenes video" below features a few delicious-looking guys too. 

FOLLOW US ON TUMBLR  * FOLLOW US ON TWITTER * LIKE US ON FACEBOOK

♥Chérie Du Vin

Figaro French Bakery and Bistro - Now Open In Downtown L.A.

Figaro on Broadway, brand newly opened and just across from the historic Los Angeles Theater,  serves a full French Bistro menu and boasts a full on-site French bakery (boulangerie / patisserie) with fresh breads, pastries, croissants and other fabulously Frenchy treats to enjoy at Figaro, or pickup to go. Breakfast, lunch, fine dining for dinner, plus beer, wine, and cocktails. It's like having a taste of Paris in downtown L.A.

French bistro,Figaro (from Los Feliz), soft opened yesterday [Dec. 17th] in a massive ~18,000 square foot restaurant space — an historic 2-story edifice built for Schaber’s Cafeteria in 1928...The restaurant sits on a block along Broadway between 6th and 7th Streets, a few doors down from the venerable Clifton’s Cafeteria, which is slated to be reborn next year after a major revamp by local restaurateur Andrew Meieran...Figaro’s new flagship space at 9,000 square feet on the ground floor alone (including another 8,600 square feet on the second level), is a stark contrast from their much smaller original location on Vermont Ave in Los Feliz — basically going from “cutesy” to “grand.”  - Brigham Yen   [All photos courtesy Brigham Yen]

An official grand opening / ribbon-cutting will be held with Councilmember
Huizar and Bringing Back Broadway in a few weeks.  Until then, Figaro
Bistro is enjoying a "soft open" daily 8am-11pm (midnight Friday and Saturday.)

Figaro Bistro WILL BE OPEN on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve
and New Year's Day, and they are taking dinner reservations for those
holidays: 213-622-2116. 

 Joyeux Noël et Bonnes fêtes de fin d'année tout le monde!!!

Follow us On Tumblr  * Follow Us On Twitter * Like Us On Facebook

♥Chérie Du Vin

 

Yannick Alléno's * 1947 * At Cheval Blanc, Courchevel France

by Paige Donner

• WHEN: December 12, 2012  until April 7 2013

• Where:  1947, Yannick Alléno's new Pop-Up Gastronomic artistic culinary odyssey of a restaurant at Cheval Blanc in magical winter playground Courchevel, France

Please find here excerpts from the Press Release with my running commentary in red italics. 

Five Michelin-starred French Chef Yannick Alléno begins his winter season at Cheval Blanc Courchevel's 1947 restaurant when it opens on December 12th. 

[OK, this is the Super-Uber-Chef-Extraordinaire Alléno, the same mastermind behind Terroir Parisien which I wrote about here. Note to self* Find someone to explain to me how a mere mortal (human being presumably) gets 5 (five!!) Michelin Stars. I mean, even one signifies you've walked through a dozen or more culinary rings of fire. Right?]

The wine: creating a closer alliance

Moving away from traditional food and wine pairings, 1947 offers guests an entirely new way of experiencing wine, by blending the DNA and raw materials of the wines with the ingredients of Alléno’s dishes to create extraordinary results. 

A loin of veal  is  marinated in the barrels from Château Yquem and cooked using chalk from the Ruinart quarries, whilst the vegetables are fermented in vine leaves from Krug’s Clos du Mesnil. The serving temperature of Dom Pérignon Oenothèque 1996 is regulated; perfectly suiting the artichoke and black truffle…it is with these intricacies that Alléno is laying the foundations of a new modern cuisine

[Wow. Quelle Magnifique. Ruinart Crayères and grape leaves from Clos du Mesnil - love this Cradle to Cradle conceptual approach and implementation. Not to mention Yquem's botrytis sweet-soaked barrels and Dom Pérignon Oenothèque 1996. OMG. Amazing! ; ) ]

The product: distilling ingredients to their essence

“The culinary experience involves tasting exactly the right part of each product in 
successive sequences. At the end of the day, cuisine is only a question of concentration, 
and I have tried to extract the quintessence of the product through a selection process 
resulting from a long investigation,” explains Yannick Alléno.

The service: true mise en scene

Bucking the trend of pared-down service, at 1947 Alléno revives this pillar of French culinary history to offer guests a team of experts that echo the quality of the dining. The scene is set with assistants, sous-chefs and wine waiters that ensure that every aspect of the culinary journey is accompanied by knowledge and passion.

[Ahhh. Niiicce. Back to a bygone era... I'm feeling waves of nostalgia for an era I never even experienced.]

Every evening until 7 April 2013, up to twenty five guests will have the opportunity to  experience Alléno’s new culinary  concept – Cuisine Moderne. The master Chef will create French cuisine that fuses proud Gallic tradition with innovative creativity to define this new foundation. Main course is shared by all 20 guests.

[*Note to LFAW readers - please (please, please, please)  send in your impressions if you have the good fortune to enjoy Alléno's 1947 culinary odyssey this winter season in Courchevel.]

@LocalFoodAndWine

Follow us On Tumblr  * Follow Us On Twitter * Like Us On Facebook

♥Chérie Du Vin

 

 

 

As a Thank You we’re giving you a Holiday Bonus Perk

We’re optimistic that we’ll reach our film production fundraising goal for Wine & Climate Change, but we can’t do it without people like you.  Word-of-mouth and shared links have really helped and we truly appreciate your support.

IndieGoGo.com/WineAndClimateChange

AS A SPECIAL HOLIDAY GIFT, WE’VE ADDED THE BONUS PERK OF A 3-DAY 2-NIGHT VACATION IN CHAMPAGNE, FRANCE.

Yes, that’s right. A Champagne Vacation for two.

To Qualify:  

1. Click Like on our Wine & Climate Change Facebook Page. You’ll find it here:  http://www.facebook.com/wineandclimatechange

2. Go to IndieGogo.com/WineAndClimateChange and click on Contribute, for a minimum of $20 or higher.  Add in the comments section that you wish to qualify for the chance to win the Champagne Vacation.

 

It’s that easy. You may contribute more than once to increase your chances.  We will choose One Winner the week of January 16th, 2013. Winner will be chosen randomly.

 

What YOU Get

A 3-day, 2-night vacation for two to Champagne, France. This includes two nights’ lodging in a luxury residence, a Tour and Tasting at Veuve-Clicquot Champagne Cellars in Reims, France, a visit and lunch to Hautvillers, where the monk, Dom Perignon, first invented champagne.

@LocalFoodWine

*Transportation/airfare is not included. Some meals not included. Must be of legal drinking age to participate in the Tasting at Veuve-Clicquot Cellars. Must be 18 yrs. or older to participate.

 

 

Champagne Ernest Remy

If you ever find yourself for a day, or, better yet, a weekend, in Champagne during the Autumn season, use this as a sample daytripping itinerary and you won't go wrong.

Make your main destination Champagne Ernest Remy which is a long-held family champagne house located in Mailly, in the heart of the gracefully sloping hills of the Montagne de Reims. During the Fall, the play of colors - auburns, oranges, eggplants, deep reds, rusts, yellows, golds - is breathtaking so be sure to stop along the way and take pictures of the fleeting richness of nature while you're witness to it.

The Montagne de Reims is one of the most classical viticutural areas in France, famous for its Pinot Noir. The house of Ernest Remy Champagne makes its champagnes using only Grand Cru Pinot Noir from Mailly, harvested from their 15 hectares. Interestingly, for this harvest year 2012, Mailly enjoyed an abundant harvest, according to Ernest Remy's Tarek Berrada, who explained that it was perhaps due to the village vineyards' north- northwest sun exposure. In any event, they did not experience the limited harvest that most of the rest of Champagne did this year.

As with many wineries, this is a husband-wife team who have taken up the family business. But here is where any "typical" winemaker background ends, as both husband and wife come from the world of Art and Art history. It just so happens that she was born into a land-owning Champenoise family.

Evidence of these artistic leanings can be discovered in the labeling, packaging and design of their champagnes. For example, when you buy a bottle of their Rosé de Saignée Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru there is a small pink metallic medallion embedded into the top of the cork, hidden just under the champagne cap. A keepsake and a souvenir - for a memorable champagne whose hints of violet reveals itself on the long finish, after it has flirted its delicate wild strawberry and raspberry aromas before you. This Mailly rosé has a mere 6g. of sugar for its dosage and is aged a minimum of 20 mos. It is a rosé that could accompany meals, such as roast chicken, duck, lightly spicy asian dishes as well as red fruit desserts. It's available in Magnums and bottles, and in cases of 3 Magnums and cases of 6 bottles. *Tip: "Saignée" in French means that this rose has acquired its color through maceration and not blending.

With the rest of the day ahead of you, you have any number of wonderful restaurants nearby, all located in storybook beautiful little Champagne villages, one as lovely as the next. Top choices for lunch (or dinner) are L'Assiette Champenoise in Tinqueux, a two-Michelin starred restaurant that has a set menu starting at about 150 per person. Champagne Ernest Remy is on their menu.

Other choices in the vicinity include Le Relais de Sillery, Le Grand Cerf (Michelin starred), Le Château de Rilly (also a hotel) and then there's the small local favorite that you can easily pass if you drive along the Route du Champagne just a bit too fast - so be sure to keep a scenic pace and watch out for Le Mont Joly in Rilly, big steaks served on wooden cutting boards and very reasonable prices.

Lastly, it wouldn't be a trip to this Montagne de Reims region if you didn't stop in at Le Phare de Verzenay, an old windmill that has since been turned into a museum. But I'll let you do your Tourist Office legwork for this one as it's one of those sites you'll see displayed and described in most guidebooks and certainly at all the tourist offices.

Champagne Ernest Remy

@LOCALFOODANDWINE

@♥CHÉRIE DU VIN

 

 

LA City Council Unanimously Endorses Yes on Prop 37 "Right To Know"

[re-posted from Press Release]

For Immediate Release: October 24, 2012

Los Angeles -- As supporters rallied in front of Los Angeles City Hall today, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting Proposition 37, the Right to Know ballot measure that would label genetically engineered foods in California. California would join 61 other countries that already label genetically engineered foods, and Prop 37 would also prohibit such foods from being marketed as “natural.”

“It's not often that the LA City Council votes unanimously to support a measure, but Prop 37 was a no-brainer. We have the right to know what's in the food we're eating and feeding our families," said Councilmember Paul Koretz, the resolution's author. "I'm proud to be a part of this true grassroots campaign in our struggle against the biggest pesticide and junk food companies in the world."

 “We’re thrilled that the Los Angeles City Council voted to join our people’s movement today,” said Tom Fendley, political director of the Yes on 37 California Right to Know campaign. “The Council joins millions of moms, dads, family farmers, doctors, scientists, and grocery store owners in saying, very simply, that we have the right to know what’s in our food.”

The Los Angeles City Council joins the California Democratic Party, Senator Barbara Boxer, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Congressmen Brad Sherman and Howard Berman, and dozens of other California city and town councils, elected officials and candidates in endorsing Prop 37.

And in a Related Press Release, Oct. 22, 2012 -

Chefs’ Petition In Support of Prop 37 Endorsed by Over 400 Nationally Renowned Chefs

Supporters Incude: Dan Barber, Mario Batali, Cat Cora, Joyce Goldstein, Deborah Madison, Jacques Pépin, Charles Phan, Nora Pouillon, Andrea Reusing, Barton Seaver, Bill Telepan, Alice Waters, and more.

Oakland--Alice Waters, chef, author, and proprietor of Chez Panisse, has called on her fellow chefs nationwide to join her in supporting California’s Proposition 37 – The Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act – which requires clear labels letting consumers know if foods are genetically engineered. Over 50 countries worldwide already require labeling of genetically engineered food.

In her recent letter, posted online at http://www.carighttoknow.org/chefs, Waters urged her colleagues and friends to stand together as chefs, restaurateurs, and people who care about food to support Proposition 37, stating: “On November 6th, the future of food is at stake at the ballot box… this is our moment to do something really important for everyone on this planet…. People around the world are watching to see how we respond."

*LOCAL FOOD AND WINE *

TWITTER.COM/LOCALFOODWINE

FACEBOOK/LOCALFOODANDWINE

Follow us On Tumblr  * Follow Us On Twitter * Like Us On Facebook

♥Chérie Du Vin

Montmartre Wine Harvest

This video shot by the prolific Parisian, Eric Tenin, founder of the Paris Daily Photo site and man-about-town extraordinaire, captures the annual Montmartre grape harvest with charm and flair.

I just love that "New York, New York" is being crooned in the background with that fabulous Parisian accent in Montmartre, one of the most historical neighborhoods of Paris.

 

@LOCALFOODANDWINE

AB 1616 The California Homemade Food Act

by Paige Donner

For the longest time, in fact, up until just a week or two ago, folks in California were committing a crime when they made bread or apple sauce, say, at home and took it to the market to sell. It was illegal. But now, with the recently passed “California Homemade Food Act,” people can cook, bake, stew and roast to their heart’s delight at home, and sell their goods wherever they can get them in the door, under the tent or on the shelf.

AB 1616, which was signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown on September 21st and will take effect as of January 2013, is a real milestone for artisanal food makers, especially those who don’t have the capital or the funding to rent commercial food processing facilities which was previously a requisite in any food preparation meant for sale. Yes, even, technically, those church bakesales. [Who knew "Aunt Betty" was a cookie criminal!?]

But no more.  This new law allows Californians to sell
 “non-potentially hazardous goods” they produce at home such as breads, jams and preserves, pickles, pickled vegetables, granola, nut mixes, coffees
 — but NOTHING that contains meat or dairy. The NO MEAT OR DAIRY clause is in there to protect consumers from the potentially hazardous bacteria like botulism.

Also, AB1616 
caps the earning revenue of these businesses at $35,000 this year. That 
increases to $50,000 in 2015, significantly higher than in other 
states. For many small food producers, this will give them a good start and some are even already eyeing the Williams-
Sonoma Artisan’s Market as a place to take their treats. If nothing else, it gives people a cottage industry outlet, keeps them legal, and might even be the germinating platform for the next Famous Amos or Newman’s Own. One never knows!

“Providing people with the opportunity to make and sell these foods directly to their neighbors at the local farmer’s market or through the specialty shop up around the corner is a matter of access to opportunity,” said Gatto. “I am happy that the Governor has joined me in my efforts to restore economic activity to our neighborhood economies and to the state of California by allowing people to produce and healthy, nutritious or culturally relevant foods in their homes.” – Assemblyman Mike Gatto

It’s thanks to Assemblyman Mike Gatto of California’s 43rd District who sponsored the bill that people now have the way cleared to pursue their artisanal food production dreams. Read More about the bill HERE.

@LOCALFOODANDWINE

*LOCAL FOOD AND WINE *

TWITTER.COM/LOCALFOODWINE

FACEBOOK/LOCALFOODANDWINE

Follow us On Tumblr  * Follow Us On Twitter * Like Us On Facebook

♥Chérie Du Vin

Cognac Charity Auction Raises €136,800 ($177,046)

[From Press Release]

The prestigious annual Cognac Awards were presented before the auction, going to two Americans. Ann Tuennerman, Founder of Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, was presented with “Cognac Personality of the Year Award”, and acclaimed spirits writer David Wondrich was awarded “Cognac Writer of the Year Award.” The Cognac Awards celebrate personalities in the trade and media who have championed Cognac through their work.

The 7th Annual “La Part Des Anges” Cognac charity auction raised a record sum of €136,800 ($177,046), donated entirely to charity.

This new record perfectly illustrates the loyalty of collectors for Cognac, a spirit that embodies the values of passion, generosity and solidarity shared by its growers and merchants. All proceeds went to the Order of Malta—France.

 

The auction took place on Thursday, September 20th, in the magical setting of the Château Chesnel in Cherves-Richemont near the city of Cognac. 650 people from around the world gathered for the special event. Under the hammer of auctioneer Vincent Gérard-Tasset, 26 rare bottles of Cognac, along with a sculpture, were sold for a record total of €136,800 (last year’s sales totalled €100,600). A Martell lot received the highest bid of €21,000, followed by lots from Hennessy and Prince Hubert de Polignac (€14,000 and €10,500 respectively). See Appendix below for a complete list of sales.

PART DES ANGES – THURSDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2012 

LIST OF SALES

 

COURVOISIER, Réserve Edward VII : 4 500 € 

LOUIS ROYER, Cognac Grande Champagne Reserve Royale : 900 € 

HARDY, Caryota / Privilège : 6 000 € 

CHÂTEAU DE MONTIFAUD, Millésime 1972 : 2 200 € 

FRAPIN, Frapin Baccarat Aigle Royal : 6 200 € 

MEUKOW, Nec Plus Ultra : 4 500 € 

LEYRAT, "Partage" - Exemplaire n°01/52 : 4 800 € 

DELAMAIN, Cognac Grande Champagne 1972 40 ans d'âge - Bouteille n°1/1 : 6 200 € 

PIERRE FERRAND, Memorable : 3 200 € 

HINE, Monnet Extra Capiello Collector : 3 700 € 

REMY MARTIN, Coupe Historique Extra Porcelaine : 5 000 € 

MARTELL, Coffret Martell Cordon Bleu - Edition du Centenaire : 21 000 € 

DUPUY - BACHE-GABRIELSEN, Borderies Millésime 1971 : 2 500 € 

A.E. DOR, Vieille Réserve Limitée - N°9 et N°10 : 2 500 € 

BRAASTAD, Stetangen : 4 800 € 

PRINCE HUBERT DE POLIGNAC, 888 Trunk : 10 500 € 

HENNESSY, Hennessy "Réserve Spéciale" : 14 000 € 

LEOPOLD GOURMEL, Petite Champagne 1972 : 2 200 € 

NORMANDIN-MERCIER, "La Péraudière" : 1 300 € 

OTARD, Exception - La Part des Anges : 2 000 € 

A. DE FUSSIGNY, Vintage 1970 : 1 400 € 

ABK6, Famille" - Carafe N°01/27 : 4 000 € 

CAMUS, Cuvée 2.105 - Family Legacy - N°1228/1228 : 4 200 € 

GODET, Trésor de Guerre : 4 700 € 

LA COGNATHEQUE, Collection Privée : Millésime 1840 Pinet Castillon : 8 000 € 

DE LUZE, De Luze Extra Single Barrel Finish Grande Champagne : 2 000 € 

ELEVATION : 4 500 €

@LocalFoodAndWine

@FOLLOW♥CherieDuVin