5 Things

1) Apéro




2) Spring green

3) Homemade applesauce happened during confinement (along with banana bread and a lot of homemade yogurt!). Apples courtesy of a neighborhood shop called Paysan Vrac.

4) No filter

5) Spinach, onion, ham and goat cheese tart



Pin It

Happy New Year!

We kicked it off with a long walk through the quiet streets of Paris and ended it with the holy trinity - cheese, wine and bread. A good start to the new year!

Wishing you all a very happy 2020!


Pin It

French Cheese and Wine

Over the last (almost) 13 years I've covered a lot of topics here on Chez Loulou, and the one that I still love to talk about and am most passionate about is French cheese.
But lately cheese has been getting some competition.

My project to taste all the cheese slowly progresses and I continually nerd out with books like The Oxford Companion to Cheese and Mastering Cheese.
I always want to learn more, read more and eat more cheese.

Also, for the last few years I've had the incredible opportunity to offer a French cheese tasting workshop with Paris by Mouth. It is the highlight of my week and the most fun I ever imagined a job could be.



French cheese will always be my greatest love, but now I've fallen for something else.
I'm having a little fling with French wine.

(shhh....don't tell cheese)

Over the summer I enrolled in an intense, online French Wine Scholar certification program and I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into. I thought that after 15 years in France, enjoying the regional wines and even living in a wine making region for 8 years, I would have a pretty solid base to work from. Well....



Now I wake up in the middle of the night and my mind automatically starts listing the principal villages of the Côte de Nuits from north to south and notes which ones have Grand Crus.
I spend time on the Métro memorizing the unusual grape varieties of SW France and remembering which grape dominates which area of Champagne. Terms like gneiss, semi-carbonic maceration, Portlandian marl and sur lie swirl around in my head. I have flash cards and a dozen highlighters.

I am in awe of how much there is to learn and just how much I didn't know. And it's so much fun! I mean, my brain hurts most of the time and I'm slightly terrified of the exam I have to take at the end, but wine is a fabulous subject to study.

Here's to my new love!



Pin It

5 Things

1) When you're craving Italian cheese, especially homemade mozzarella, burrata and scamorza, head to La Maison de la Mozzarella!




2) A soggy Sunday ride home




3) You better show up hungry if you reserve a table at Bofinger




4) From the farm to the market

5) A favorite wine bar of mine



Pin It

5 Things

1) Cigarette break




2) I guess this means that no one is exempt from doing their chores?




3) Café time




4) Looking down




5) View from the river




Pin It

5 Things - Apéro Time!

1) On the terrace




2) Along rue Montorgueil

3) Aperitivo in Bologna

4) A generous apéritif dinatoire in Montmartre




5) At our neighborhood café - they could stand to be a bit more generous with the popcorn, non?





Pin It

Where To Taste Wine In Paris

Take a class.
Thierry Givone owns Wine Tasting in Paris, a charming tasting space in the Latin Quarter. I'm a big fan of this guy! He helped me arrange a private Champagne tasting for my family last year, which they absolutely loved. They came away feeling like experts and happily continue applying their Champagne knowledge today.




Head to the Seine.
Paris boasts 65 open-air markets and 13 covered markets, so assembling a picnic is a snap. Then head to your local caviste or hit the grocery store for a bottle or two. Just don't forget the corkscrew!

Go to a tasting.
Most Saturdays you can meet the winemakers while tasting their wine at one of the best wine shops in the city, La Dernière Goutte.
Additionally, its owner, Juan Sanchez, offers a fundamentals of French wine class called Elements, which I'm taking next week. You can never have too much wine knowledge!




At the café. 
They might not serve the best wine that France has to offer, but the people watching will more than make up for it.




On a balcony.
Don't have one? I'm sure you know someone who does!



"Decisions, decisions."






Pin It

Simple Pleasures

Bread, cheese and a glass of wine. Three of life's simple pleasures.


Pin It

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

What is Your Favorite French Wine? The Twitterverse Responds

Twitter is one of my favorite ways to stay connected with real friends (those of whom, like me, can't resist constantly updating their status in 140 characters or less) and virtual "friends" who share links, recipes, thoughts, jokes, restaurant reviews, travel information and news.

From time to time I like to throw a question out into the Twitterverse and see what people have to say.
Last January I asked What Dish Says "France" to You? and in March I posed the question, If you were a French cheese, which one would you be?

Most recently I asked about your favorite French wines.  Here's how you answered;

doeif  Champagne for me, please! Closely followed by Bandol, Faugeres and Viognier...

LostNCheeseland I keep wanting to contribute to this but I barely drink so my idea of a good wine is one that is slightly sweet!

cowgirlchef  Champagne. Definitely.

gitesdirect  Florenbelle, a crisp citrussy white wine from the Gers, is my favourite

BarbraAustin Champagne!

veronicafrance  Chablis of course. Or Sancerre

pro_vence  always discovering new wines...  but I do like the Côtes du Rhône Beaumes de Venise (muscat, sweet for apéritif)

LaFranglaise dry and palest brick-orange rosés for me http://www.domainedusacrecoeur.com 1998 was just lovely & very local :)

petitfranceblog  I'm really into Bandol red lately, but it's a bit heavy in alcohol content, drinker beware :)

ormiga  if can cheat, #champagne; for coolest name+taste, #criotlebatard #montrachet; else #petrus 95=1fav

foodwinediarist  Much as I love Burgundy, a southern red would be the top wine for me - Bandol.

Stocius Gevrey-Chambertin.

Idreamoffrance Pinot Noir!

KirstenStroud champagne

 

TheLittleChef Mas De Daumas Gassac, Ch. Figeac (St. Emilion), or Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes. I just can't decide

Elisabeth850 Clairette de Die!

TheWineRules  Chateau Simone

  
WeekendInParis  I love #champagne of course & toured Vadin Plateau where I fell in love w/it in France. Gr8 price & gr8 taste!

cutestmidget oooooooh Gewürztraminer vendange tardive. without a doubt. pure decadence in a bottle.

spacedlawyer  Chambolle Musigny

LYNZINTHESUN  mine a crisp Sancerre or a pudding sweet Monbazillac as an aperitif with ice x

louloufrance Viognier or Muscat St Jean de Minervois

And my favorite Tweet: 
TheBoldSoul Champagne. Yesterday, today, and always.

Pin It

Apéro Hour

I'm afraid that the apéro hour extended into apéro two hours this evening, thus la Fête du Fromage post didn't get finished.  Please have a look for it tomorrow.
Merci!

. Pin It

Wine

Pin It

Photo du Jour - Local Wine

Several bottles of Languedoc-Roussillon wine enjoyed by several people at lunch last Sunday.

Wine from les Corbières, la Clape (an unfortunate name, I know - but great wine) and from our village in le Minervois. Pin It

Photo du Jour - Minervois Barn

In addition to a jumble of various farming equipment, inside you'll find a tractor or two, several wine cuves, harvesting baskets, wine bottles, maybe an old car and most likely a couple of cats. Pin It

La Fête du Fromage - La Lauze?

It seems that there has been some confusion.

Every summer a local goat's cheese maker shows up at the Olonzac market with their mouth-watering, seasonal offerings. I stopped by their stand last week and in the midst of the pyramides, wheels and crottins I noticed two square shaped cheeses. One I recognized as Fouettard Claquemolle, which I bought from them last July. I asked what the other one was called and the young woman replied, "Fouettard Claquemolle".
Hmmm....
I told her that I had bought the other square cheese last summer and the man selling the cheese at the time had called it Fouettard Claquemolle. She insisted that the one I was currently interested in was le vrai Fouettard Claquemolle and the other one, the one we tasted last summer, is called La Lauze.

Alors.



Whatever they're called, the one thing that these two cheeses have in common is that they are both divine!

Fouttard Claquemolle's inviting aroma is warm and nutty and it has a smooth, soft and chewy pâte that could almost be described as meaty. The flavor is well balanced with mild yeast and salt, earthy mushrooms and just a hint of goatiness, and there is a nice tang and piquancy on the tongue. The combination of the soft texture and lively flavor is truly delicious!

All three of the organic, unpasteurized fromages de chèvre that I've tasted from La Ferme de Roquecave have been amazing. While I have the chance I plan on tasting their entire range of cheeses this summer.


A glass of red wine from the Minervois was a perfect match to Fouettard Claquemolle. Pin It

Summertime Sangria

Our local co-op sells Minervois rosé for the bargain price of €1.30 a liter.
We enjoy its thirst-quenching, refreshing qualities all summer long, and like to do all we can to support our local vignerons!

Husband recently decided that we should try to make Sangria with rosé instead of red so I happily mixed up this concoction late this morning and left it to sit and infuse in the fridge for a few hours. At lunchtime we poured ourselves a couple of icy cold glasses to taste.
What a wonderful flavor!
Tangy, not too sweet, invigorating and delicious. I'm so happy with the results!


Loulou's Summertime Sangria

• 1 bottle of dry rosé
• 1/4 cup Cognac* or brandy
• 2 lemons, cut into pieces
• 1 orange, cut into pieces
• 3-5 tablespoons sugar
  

Put all of the ingredients in a large pitcher and stir until the sugar dissolves. Taste and add more sugar if you like your Sangria a bit sweeter.
Leave in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight to allow the flavors to blend.
Serve over ice.

¡Salud!

*no need to use your best Cognac for this recipe

.
Pin It

Photo du Jour - Un P'tit Verre

Un p'tit vin blanc.
Délicieux et très rafraîchissant! Pin It

Photo du Jour - Minervois Wine Tasting

The range of wine available at Domaine Des Murettes in La Livinière. Pin It