Photo du Jour - So Many Choices

An organic wine fair, the 18th annual Millésime Bio, kicked off In Montpellier on Monday, offering an impressive selection of wines from 12 different countries. I spotted producers from France (of course!), Spain, Egypt, Italy, Hungary, Austria, the US, Germany and Greece.
While making the rounds, the things that impressed me the most were the passion and the knowledge of the producers and the sophistication of their wines.

Of course we didn't have a chance to taste them all in just one day, so here are a few of the highlights: 
Erbaceo white wine and Selvato red from Puglia
The wines of Domaine Allegria and Château Pech Redon from the Languedoc-Roussillon
The Rieslings from the Domaine Bernhard Reibel in Alsace
A Saumur Blanc from the Domaine du Pas Saint Martin in the Loire Pin It

Mon Panier Bio (My Organic CSA Basket)

Last winter I was offered the chance to subscribe to a weekly organic CSA basket, which I would have loved to do. However, the pick up station was 40 minutes from our house and it seemed to me that the amount of fuel I would use up driving back and forth would cancel out all the good I was doing for the environment by buying organic - called BIO in France - in the first place.

I also wanted to support the farmer who offered the service, but economics were also an issue. The basket was 13€ a week and it would have cost me about 10€ a week to drive back and forth, so those would have been some seriously expensive veggies!



Last weekend I discovered that a woman in a village just a few miles away was starting her own CSA basket subscription service.
Actually, it isn't that formal yet. You show up and she picks her organic vegetables, herbs and fruit while you wait, then charges you for a crate. No subscribing for months at a time and the cost was only 7€.

Even better, our friend picked up our crate on his way through her village last night (he comes to our village café to play bridge with my hubby every Thursday) and delivered it right to us. Talk about service!
Now I can get wine and garden fresh, organic produce delivered to our house. Almost like living in the city. Now if we could just get some Chinese food delivered...

As you can see, this first week's offerings are green, green and more green.
And it looks like we'll be enjoying zucchini at virtually every meal until next week's panier is delivered.
Which will probably include more zucchini!

This week's basket contained a few kilos of different varieties of zucchini, 2 varieties of lettuce, 2 green peppers, fresh fennel and mint.

To subscribe to your own CSA basket:
In France: mon panier bio
In America: local harvest Pin It