Champagnes

4-5 December 2009 in the heart of Paris offers an opportunity to taste and learn about wines from many well-known names and most wine regions of France.

Over the 2 days you can taste wines direct from the producer and attend numerous masterclasses to enhance your appreciaton of wine. Unusually there is also a selection of Italian wines available to try. Bordeaux Chateau such as Chateau Laroze (St Emilion) will be there as well as producers from Alsace, Burgundy, Champagne, Corsica, Loire and Rhône etc.

Carrousel du Louvre , 99 rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris – see www.grandtasting.com

French Food and Drink specialists will be at the Hawarden Estate Farm Shop’s Food Festival “Passion for Food and Drink”.

Passion for food and drink – February 14th 10am – 4pm

We’ll have a selection of our products on sale and will be offering samples of the Clos de la Fonatine Hugo Cider and for those of you will have forgotten about the romantic occasion, we will have some Rosé Champagne sale to save your bacon.
The Hawarden Estate Farm Shop is in Hawarden, North East Wales, not too far from Chester.

On their website they are also running a competition to win a French Flavour bag (see above) by answering a question based on an article about Champagne on their website.

For more info see www.frenchflavour.co.uk/

For more info on the Hawarden Estate Farm Shop see http://www.hawardenestate.co.uk/

North Berwick-based French specialists Devigne Wines and Confit Direct have some interesting Christmas offers on Champagne and some lesser-known French Sparkling wines such as Cremants from Burgundy (Cremant de Bourgogne Chardonnay), Jura (Cremant de Jura Rosé made from the Poulsard grape), Gaillac in SW France (Mauzac and Len de l’El grapes), a Methode Traditionelle from the Cotes de Duras (unusual, in that it is a white wine made from two red grape varieties (Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon) and a low alcohol Petillant de Muscat from St Sardos in the Midi-Pyrenees.

So you could try something a little different for your festive fizz. 10% off a mixed case of sparkling wines,

The other half of the business specialises in gourmet foods from SW France and beyond, including duck and goose products such as confit, rillettes, patés, cassoulet and soups, jams, bottled fruit, tapenade and anchoiades and even snails!

Devigne Wines and Confit Direct

Michael & Patricia Robertson, PO Box 13748, North Berwick
EH39 9AA

Tel: 01620 890860 Fax: 05600 756287

Reims (Marne, Champagne)  is famous for Champagne, its Cathedral and its Christmas market.

A weekend here between 21 Nov and 28 Dec 2008 will offer an opportunity to indulge in all three.

During the run-up to Christmas, Reims’ Christmas Village combines street entertainment, magicians, carol singers and market stalls selling Christmas gifts, decorations and food.

110 wooden huts form the Christmas Market inPlace d’Erlon and along the rue Condorcet and rue Théodore Dubois. There will be numerous events held each weekend including parades, as well as orchestra and brass band concerts. You can also listen to live jazz performed every Wednesday and Friday afternoon. There will be a special visit with St. Nicolas on the 6 December, but Father Christmas welcomes the children every day in his chalet. For more information, visit the Reims tourist office website at www.reims-tourisme.com.

Domaine le Fort

For the first time this November there will be a French Wine Growers Fair in London (21-23 November 2008 at the Barbican). The Salons des Vignerons Independents (Independent Winemakers Fairs) are well established in France and we usually try to get to one of the fairs in Lille, Strasbourg or Paris which take place each November/December. (for more info see www.frenchduck.com) – these tend to be huge events with up to 1000 winemakers attending and offering the public the opportunity to meet the people who make the wine, do some tastings and stock up for the winter.
London’s French Wine-Growers Fair attempts to replicate the format in London from 21-23 November 2008 – with 130 traditional wine makers showing their wines – more than 500 wines on taste – and the opportunity to buy at vineyard gate prices (although regrettably with UK excise duty and VAT payable).
One of the exhibitors is a favourite of mine – Domaine le Fort from the little-known appellation of Malepère AOC near Carcassonne in the Languedoc. This is a small but beautiful domaine which is centred around a building which looks as though it was a fort for the French Foreign Legion, where Stephanie and Marc Pagès make delightful wines such as the Tour du Fort, a blend of Merlot, Grenache and Cabernet Franc, aged in oak. Not otherwise available in the UK, this could be a rare opportunity to taste and buy wines which seldom get to our shores, often because the volume of production is insufficient for the supermarkets and other importers.

Half-Price tickets (£10 reduced from £20) available from www.frenchwinegrowersfair.com – Domaine le Fort is on stand 22
For more info on Domaine le Fort see www.domainelefort.com

Waitrose (online and in its stores) launches its French Wine Showcase on 26 March 08 – running through to 27 April 2008 this will feature a total of 48 wines.

As well as our usual French favourites, the showcase will also see the launch of four new wines to the range, including the delightful Taittinger Rose NV and the excellent value Domaine des Eyssards Bergerac Rouge.

Unusually for a major supermarket (and greatly to be welcomed) Waitrose will be featuring 13 specially sourced small parcel wines from a wide range of less well-known appellations such as:

Quincy (crisp Sauvignon Blancs from the Loire), Provence and Lirac (Southern Rhone) and the wonderfully unusual Pierre Boniface Domaine des Rocailles Apremont de Savoie 2007 and La Bastide Blanche Bandol (rich Mourvedre red from east of Marseille).

Waitrose Wine Direct