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The famous Bordeaux wines of St.Emilion and Pomerol are predominantly based on Merlot. Here it produces full bodied wines with plum characteristics to the flavour and aroma; similar to Cabernet Sauvignon in many ways but generally less tannic. It is often blended with Cabernet Sauvignon. Several regions of Bordeaux see Merlot dominate the plantings. In the wines of Graves , Bourg, Blayes and Fronsac Merlot predominates. While in the South West of France Buzet, Gaillac, Cahors and Bergerac the classic variety adds softness to the local varieties with which it is blended.
Merlot grapes produce generously plummy, medium-bodied reds
Goes best with roast poultry, peppered steak, rich tomato sauces, pork chops
Merlot grown in: Bordeaux , Languedoc , Bergerac, South West France .

Along with Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, is the key ingredient in the white wines of Bordeaux both dry and sweet including the famous wines of Sauternes and Graves. Semillon is also grown elsewhere in the South West most impressively for the sweet wines of Saussignac, Monbazillac, Cadillac, Loupiac and Barsac.

As a grape it tends to be soft and fruity, and sometimes lacking in acidity - which is one reason why it works well when blended with the more acidic Sauvignon Blanc in Bordeaux, Bergerac etc
Semillon is an easy-drinking white grape with lime and creamy toasty flavours
Goes with white fish, light chicken dishes
Semillon Found in Bordeaux and South West France

VILLERS-SUR-MER (14 Calvados, Normandie - see map), a pleasant seaside resort on the Côte Fleurie, and annnually celebrates the Fête de la Coquille Saint Jacques, a regional speciality, and organises a big market selling Coquilles St-Jacques, seafood, local products – all in a festive atmosphere and with a different foreign country invited to participate each year - this year it is Belgium - and don’t snigger, because in terms of gastronomy the Belgians know their stuff! - this year the festival takes place on 28 and 29 October 2006. As the tourist office says “Shells by thousands, big market of the scallop,d emonstrations and tastings of receipts (recipes) of scallops, Parade of the brotherhoods, enthronements and maritime songs” - all very French!!
There is also a summer rail service until early October (which runs from Dives/Cabourg to Deaville/Trouville via Villers-sur-Mer (with onwards connections to Paris) which runs through the “bocage” - the rolling Normandy countryside.
Villers-sur-Mer is twinned with Wickham in the UK.
For more info on Villers-sur-mer see www.villers-sur-mer.fr/

As autumn approaches it is time to start planning for the Wine Fairs (Salons) of the Vignerons Independents. This is a federation of independent wine makers (no co-operatives, negociants or multi-nationals) which exists to promote small independent wineries in France, and organises a series of wine-tasting events throughout the year. These are open to the public, but are also frequented by professionals from both France and overseas - as it is a great opportunity to taste a bewildering array of wines from all parts of France (including Corsica).
The wine fairs vary in size from just a 100 or so exhibitors to around 1000 in Paris - but they are spread out around the exhibition hall - so if you just want to taste Chablis you’ll have to work out where the stands are, as there are no regional sections - so a Chablis may be next to a Cahors and a Cognac!
All of which prompts me to urge you to plan what you want to taste - you’ll being doing well to do justice to more than a dozen or so stands over a couple of hours. Without a plan you may only get to the random first stands near the entrance and miss something special further back. So get a catalogue or check the website (see below) and work out where you need to go.
The other advice is to get there early - avoid the weekend if you can - and take something to move your purchases from the stand to the car - wine gets heavy. You can usually get a pass-out if you want to leave the show and return later.
The winemakers will happily take your order (and payment) and hold the wine for you to collect later in the day - but do remember to keep your receipts and make a note of the stand numbers - one of my group did forget to collect a case of wine he’d ordered and paid for - although it was an excuse for a trip to the Loire the following year when he was able to collect the wine from the vineyard.
The other thing to bear in mind is that because not all stands are connected to the telephone system the handheld terminals sometimes reject foreign credit and debit cards. This was a major problem a few years ago which has improved, but it still happened again last year. In Lille and Paris there is a cash dispenser within the building if you need it.

The atmosphere is convivial, you get the chance to meet the winemakers and their teams, to talk and learn about their wines - and the prospect of finding some great wine at vineyard gate prices!

The dates for this autumn are:-
Lyon 2- 6 November 2006
Reims 10-13 November 2006
Lille 17-20 November 2006
Paris (Porte d’e Versailles) 23-27 November 2006.

(There is also usually a Spring Salon in Paris just before Easter)

Nearer the time we hope to have some free tickets to offer in a prize draw.

For more info see www.vigneron-independant.com

Recommendations for stands to see at Lille (stand numbers in brackets):-
Domaine Octavie for Touraine Sauvignon (B30)
Domaine des Huards, Cheverny (C36)
Chateau Eugenie, Cahors (F62)
Chateau d’Aydie, Madiran (C49)
Chateau Gibalaux-Bonnet, Minervois (J37),
Chateau Ricardelle, Coteaux du Languedoc (B44)

On 17 September the Côtes du Brulhois celebrated its Fete des Vins at Donzac (82 Tarn-et-Garonne, Midi-Pyrenees - see map). Styling itself the “black wine of the South West” (Le Vin Noir du Sud Ouest), this is a VDQS appellation (i.e. between a Vin de Pays and a full Appellation Controllée) which stretches along the banks of the Garonne river near Agen (in the Oc language “Brulhès” means wooded riverbank. This is reputedly an ancient vineyard, which got rather lost in the 20th Century and today remains a small and little-known region covering only about 200 hectares. They are known as “Black Wines” because of the deep coloration of the reds, made from cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, fer, merlot, cot et tannat. They also produce rosé wines from the same grape varietals.

The more famous black wine is that from Cahors, where the Auxerrois or Malbec grape dominates. In truth I suspect both Cahors and Brulhois wines were used in Bordeaux in earlier times to add body to poor vintages.

There appears to be no importer of Cotes du Brulhois wines into the UK, and I cannot recall having tasted them - bit suspect that they are not dissimilar to the wines from adjacent Buzet.

The other claim to fame of the Côtes du Brulhois is that they organise and host the annual Grape Picking World Championship (Championnat du Monde des Coupeurs de Raisin) Apparently 80 pickers took part, the winner being a 20-year old local girl. The pickers are judged not only on the volume/weight of grapes picked in the allotted time, but also on the lack of damage to the grapes, absence of leaves and other debris. I’m not sure if they are allowed to use the electric secateurs these days which would certainly help to make the task easier, but it remains a skilful task to pick fully and cleanly.

However, you have to admit these French are clever - hold the competition and get your vines picked for free!!

For more info see www.vigneronsdubrulhois.com

In my earlier life as a wine merchant specialising in French Regional Wines, one of the most interesting and useful posters we had on display was a relief map of France. This was fascinating and helped to explain the geography of France and its wine regions - esepcially the influence of rivers and mountains - much more clearly than the otherwise invaluable Michelin maps.

Now a new book “France from the Air” has some wonderful images of France from a different perspective than we usually capture.

“When seen from the air, the appearance of France changes radically, revealing astonishing curves and harmonious lines. These images reveal the varied faces of France, with the colourful mosaic of its fields, with steeples and church towers scattered with gray slate and red brick roofs, with handsome coasts worn by the sea. In “France from the Air”, you will recognise some of the most famous of French landmarks: the Pont du Gard, Notre Dame, Loire Valley castles, and the Bordeaux vineyards, but you will also explore the less known forest of Compiegnes, the Vanoise National Park, and the villages of Brittany and Normandy.”

Amazon UK stocks IGN Satellite Relief Map of France or direct from IGN (the French Ornance Survey)

Honfleur (14 Calvados, Normandie - see map) is a delightful small harbour town on the Normandy coast just west of the Seine river estuary and Le Havre, now reached after crossing the elegant Pont de Normandie.

After the industrial and concrete-dominated arrival in Le Havre this comes as a welcome breath of fresh air and you start to feel that you are in the real France (as long as you ignore all the British yachts in the harbour - Honfleur being a favourite weekend cross-channel destination from the south coast marinas).
For the weekend of 30 September and 1 October 2006 they celebrate the 12th Annual Fete de la Crevette et de la Peche (shrimps and fishing) - with music, fireworks, cookery, parade, marine crafts etc. For more info see www.ot-honfleur.fr .

There is plenty of scope for confusion amongst novices on the naming of these crustaceans (in English almost as much as in French) - shrimps, prawns, scampi, crayfish.. Without going into the detailed classifications and natural history we’ll try to summarise..
Crevettes grises (grey) are shrimps - the larger ones also known as Gambas, whilst Crevettes roses (pink) are prawns - tending to be a bit bigger than the shrimp.Ecrivisses are crayfish, whilst langoustines are scampi - Langoustes being larger, more like a small spiny lobster. At the top of the pile is Homard, the lobster.

An aromatic white grape varietal which is the sole variety authorised for use in the Cour-Cheverny Appellation in the Loire Valley - south of Blois.
The wines produced tend to be very dry, with good mineral extraction ( especially from older vines) with citrus (lime), honey and acacia tones.
See Domaine des Huards

Personally I have never liked the idea of investing in wine as a financial game - if a wine is good it should be drunk not kept in dark cellars and mainly featuring on someone’s spreadsheet or auction catalogue.
But many of us do harbour the dream of having our own vineyard and living the bucolic or stylish life we assume goes with it. My experience suggests that you need to be a chemist (and an alchemist), farmer, labourer, mathematician, warehouse operative with some business and marketing acumen thrown in. You do need to know what you are doing; it can be back-breakingly hard work; the stresses of the uncertainties of the weather, the market, pests and diseases could dent the otherwise attractive liefstyle choice.

Another way is to invest in vines. Several companies offer the opportunity to “rent a row of vines”, Wineshare is one such company, offering rather more than the nominal ownership of vines on some distant vineyard - they actually offer real opportunities to get involved and feel as though you are a part of it - visits, tastings and events at the vineyard and tastings in the UK make this more than just a financial investment - it could also make a great gift for any wine lover (prices start at £75).You can even go and pick the grapes!!
Wineshare has vineyards in Italy(Tuscany) and three in France:-
Chateau de Pizay in Beaujolais
Château Constantin-Chevalier in Provence
Domaine du Grand Mayne in the Côtes de Duras, South West France

For more info see

It seems a strange combination - a northern French city embracing the exotic sights, sounds and smells of India over the winter.
But that is what the Lille 3000 celebrations are all about - A cultural event on an international scale, Lille 3000, from 14 October 2006 to 14 January 2007, will bring India to you. Aromas, colours, and spices will wake up your senses in a city which has been completely refurbished for the occasion! “The multiple facets of India - at the crossroads of art and modernity - represent the heart of the first edition of lille3000. We will be able to enjoy metamorphoses in the city, artists’ installations, exhibitions, cinema, performances and parades, tastes of Bangalore, Bombay (Mumbai), Brick Lane… and Finland.
Another recurrent theme of lille3000 is the avant-garde, with visions of the future interlinking with the Indian events. Examples include Les modernités recyclées, La Maison de l’Energie Vitale and the Futurotextiles exhibition, where innovation and technology come together in interaction with contemporary art.”
Sounds great fun - and although on one level it seems a little bizarre, you do have to admire the enthusiastic approach to cultural diversity and innovation which such events are about - actively supported by the local authorities. Although Lille gets enlivended in December with its Christmas market and Big Wheel, any northern French town can be a bit grim in the cold depths of winter, and this event should warm the spirits.
For more info see www.lille3000.com