DiscoverVin at Soirée Bleue de la Bastille

Zette Rouge featured at the Bastille Ball

Can Can dancers, Tahitian dancers, and Plastic Bertrand with a gourmet French menu and French wines from DiscoverVin made for a fabulous event in Brisbane to celebrate Bastille Day.

DiscoverVin supplied wine for Soirée Bleue de la Bastille at Sofitel Brisbane on Saturday 13 August 2013. The sit down gala dinner featured a gourmet four course menu showcasing French gastronomy at its best.

Can Can Dancers bring the Moulin Rouge to Brisbane

 Domaine Ancienne Cure Bergerac Sec was a popular as the white wine and was a perfect accompaniment with the Smoked Pork and Duck breast terrine or the poached rainbow trout.

Elegant island dancers

For red wine drinkers complimentary Zette Rouge, a light Malbec from Domaine Lagrezette, Cahors also matched with the terrine and the coq au vin.  Many guests also appreciated the supple, delicious and fruit driven Merlot from Chateau Lagarde.

View from the Sofitel Brisbane

 

---

Bathers Pavilion South West Wine Dinner

A cold and wet evening did not deter diners from enjoying the tastes of South West France at Bathers Pavilion.  Over forty guests enjoyed four courses matched with wines from Jurançon, St Mont and Cahors. Diners were warmly welcomed by Serge Dansereau from Bathers and Mary and Helen from DiscoverVin.

The menu was perfect for the evening and for the wines.  Diners were able to watch the waves on Balmoral Beach and simultaneous be transported to the French Pyrenees.

Rabbit and foie gras terrine.

The wines of South West France are diverse and made from indigenous grape varieties.  Petit Manseng and Gros Manseng are used to make both a crisp dry white and a rich dessert style wine. Both styles were perfectly show cased during the meal.

The first course of terrine of rabbit, foie gras and lettuce served with a verjuice jelly was a lovely match with Chateau Jolys Jurançon Sec 2010. With both floral and fruity aromas: honeysuckle, jasmine, grapefruit, citrus and fresh grape and  fresh, fruity  flavours on the palate the wine was enhanced by the texture of the terrine and the acidity of the verjuice jelly.

 



Poached duck egg with white bean, ham hock and anchovy.

The second course was also matched with a wine from Jurançon, Domaine Bellegarde, Selection DB, 2008. The minerality of the wine was perfect with the complex flavours of a poached duck egg served with white bean, ham hock and anchovy.

Perfectly pink pan roasted duck magret served with chestnuts and prunes was matched with two red wines.  A tannat from St Mont and a malbec from Cahors. Both wines are made to accompany food, especially braised and meaty dishes, making them an interesting match with the duck. The UK Guardian recently described Cahors as the rarest of all wines, both a rising star and a timeless classic.  The Chateau Lagrezette 2005 demonstrated this. The rich savoury flavours of the Monastere St Mont Rouge 2006 from Producteurs Plaimont  with its scents of stewed fruit was enjoyed by all. 

Pan roasted duck magret served with chestnuts and prunes and paired with a Malbec and a Tannat wine from South West France.

Tourtière des Landes with Cuveé Thibault dessert wine.

Dessert was apple tart, a superb Tourtière des Landes with Armagnac ice cream.  It was matched with another Jurançon wine, Domaine Bellegarde, Jurançon Moelleux Cuveé Thibault 2007. The rich golden colour of the wine was gorgeous with the tones of the tourtière.  The wine was lush, but with a crisp finish, enhancing the tartness of the apple.

 

La Brasserie Bordelaise, Bordeaux

Still wishing I was in Bordeaux.  So while having a biodynamic tomato sandwich for lunch is an Australian thing to do on Australia Day, I’m dreaming of heading to my favorite Bordeaux restaurant, La Brasserie Bordelaise, for dinner.

 La Brasserie Bordelaise offers “le goût de  sud-ouest” – the taste of the southwest.  It’s a typical French brasserie, friendly, welcoming all, with good local food and wine.  You can settle at the bar for a drink, a chat over a glass of wine at the time sampling from the range of charcuterie and cold cuts. The food reflects the simple and generous culture of the southwest.  The menu showcases the regional products with wonderful pork, beef and duck dishes and oysters and an array of cheeses.

The food is seasonally based and selected from local, small producers.  There is an emphasis on meat, predominantly beef, but also chicken and duck and of course cassoulet. The Charolais entrecôte platter offers superb beef, cooked perfectly.

Tables are close to one another, offering Australians the opportunity to practise their outrageous French with the reserved Bordelaise sitting nearby. Discussing "les soldes", especially the shoe sales, is always a bonding conversation, no matter what the language.  La Brasserie is welcoming and all the patrons have wine as a shared passion.  If you are lucky a group of vignerons at a large table will share their wines and their stories with you.

La Brasserie Bordelaise is located in Rue St Remi in the bustling Saint Pierre area of Bordeaux, not far from the main shopping precinct of Rue St Catherine.  Bright red awnings provide a colourful welcome.  Inside the décor reflects Bordeaux, upturned wine barrels, wine bottles lining the walls and wooden wine boxes, all ready for drinking.

Being in Bordeaux, while food is important, La Brasserie Bordelaise places emphasis on wine, with a well-chosen list of value for money and premium priced wines, from small independent producers and grand cru chateaux. The list presents wines from all the Bordeaux appellations, but also from other French regions such as Chateau Lagrezette from Cahors.  The list extends into other European countries and beyond to the new world– even Australian wine.  

La Brasserie Bordelaise also hold food and wine events, such as a dinner last December presenting the wines of BernardMagrez.  Bernard Magrez is a French entrepreneur, the owner of thirty-five vineyards in France and around the world, including Château La Tour Carnet and Château Pape Clément, producers of Les Clés de Pape Clément.  The wines from M. Magrez feature on the wine list and fortunately for the Australian wine drinker, wishing they too were in Bordeaux,  can be purchased here through DiscoverVin. 

If you can’t make it to La Brasserie Bordelaise for Australia Day, throw some meat on the Barbie and open a bottle of  Coonawarra cabernet or adopt a French approach with some agneau or boeuf on the grillade and a bottle of Médoc such as the Legende de Tour Carnet.

The menu from the Brasserie Bordelaise

Heard at the Rosé Revolution- Border Wine Room Albury

 "The Irresistible is irresistible!"

"McLaren Vale Rosés are my favourite"

"I'm looking forward to Summer and more Rosé"

"A very generous interesting evening at The Wine Room, thank you" 

"Wonderful colour in the La Rayre"

"I prefer the blush style of ZETTE"

" Thanks Discovervin's, Mary, Helen & Craig, for the opportunity to sample some of your gorgeous French Rose' at the Border Wine Room last night. It was fun being a part of the Rose' Revolution. We are looking forward to our case of Bergerac arriving. Thanks again."

" La Croix- sounds like a fashion designer darling"

"Loved the Irresistible Rosé from Domaine de la Croix, but loved the bottles even more - they are so sexy!" 

"Where is ZETTE"

 

Le Guide Hachette 2011 Reviews wines from DiscoverVin. Part 2 Cahors

Le Guide Hachette 2011 – the French wine bible has reviews for 10,000 wines. The South-West chapter reviews wines from several of our suppliers.

The “jury” – a team of wine professionals from around the world, tasted each wine blind, described it in terms of colour, aroma and taste and then scored  each from 0-5.  A score of 3 is needed to be give a star, 4 for 2 stars and 5for a wine to be given 3 stars.  

Cahors

Chateau Lagrézette

A world famous and critically acclaimed producer from Cahors in the South West of France, Chateau Lagrezette has five centuries of winemaking history.  Entrepreneur Alain Dominique Perrin, the former president of Cartier, has transformed Chateau Lagrezette.

DiscoverVin stock three levels of wine from Chateau Lagrézette.  Zette is the every day quaffer;  Zette Red, Zette White and Zette Rosé. A great bargain at  $20 per bottle.

The Chateau Lagrézette 2005 is an award winning Malbec for $36 per bottle. It was given a citation in the 2008 Guide Hachette.

The Dame d’Honneur is a super premium Malbec and the 2003 vintage is available for $90 per bottle.

The review of the 2007 Dame d’Honneur in the 2011 Guide Hachette gives us and Australian wine drinkers something to look forward to. Awarded two stars the Guide describes the wine as follows:

“The wine is, as often, an excellent expression of its heritage. Adorned with a deep purple color with hints of black, it reveals a delicious and exuberant nose of ripe fruit, licorice and menthol. Ample, sweet, well-structured and always very aromatic, it can be appreciates with duck or game. One year or two years of cellaring are possible. The 2007 Cuvée Dame Honor good structure and wood our two, wait at least three years to soften.”

 

Le Pigeonnier

In french the word  pigeonnier means dovecote. It is also the name of the rarest wine produced by Domaine Lagrezette in Cahors.

Dovecotes dot the landscape throughout southwest France, often in the middle of a field, or as at Lagrezette in the centre of a vineyard. 

Pigeonniers are located away from trees that may harbor birds of prey and from prevailing winds. They have smooth walls with a protruding band of stones to stop climbing predators. In France in the middle Ages, owning a pigeonnier was the privilege of the lord of the manor. The bird poo (known as colombine) was an excellent fertilizer.

The Lagrezette pigeonnier is an exceptional building on six columns.  The Lagrezette Pigeonnier wine is an exceptional wine.  Production is limited to about seven thousand bottles per year.  The vineyard is only 2.7ha and the yield is limited to between 15-20 hL/ha. The Malbec grapes are harvested and destemmed by hand.  Vinification occurs in large oak casks and the wine is aged for twenty-eight months in new oak casks. With favourable reviews from Parker (95 points for the 2001), Le Pigeonnier has become expensive and exclusive, selling at close to $1600 per case in America.

Australian wine drinkers can purchase Malbec wines produced at Domaine Lagrezette from DiscoverVin - Cuvée Dame Honneur, Chateau Lagrezette and Zette rouge. 

DiscoverVin_ CahorsDiscoverVin_Lagrezette

Yet another media review of Cahors, Madiran and Jurançon exclusive to Discovervin

The team at DiscoverVin is thrilled to receive more favourable reviews of our wines. We know that we have good value, interesting wines on offer. We love it  when experienced wine professionals validate that view. Below we have reprinted a review by Kerry Skinner, Assistant Editor (Special Publications and Letters), Weekend Editor and Wine Writer for the Illawarra Mercury, writing in the Illawarra Mercury Weekender August 11, 2011:

These wines are exclusive to Discovervin. Click here to go to our online  shop.