Wine Evenings at Restaurant 114 Faubourg St. Honore

By Paige Donner

At the epicenter of chic, where rue Fbg. St. Honoré meets Avenue Matignon in the shade of Paris’s Élysée gardens, is where you will find the restaurant 114 Faubourg.
As part of Le Bristol Hotel, but with a separate entrance and in an adjoining building, the lunch and dinner restaurant headed up by chef Eric Desbordes along with his chief Sommelier, Marco Pelletier, is altogether a destination unto itself.

Tomes can and likely will be written about the talented young chef’s French cuisine, but focus here is on the restaurant’s once-monthly Wine Tasting Evenings, held the first Monday of the month, to be precise.

In a city that gathers the best wines of one of the best wine-producing countries in the world, there is an unexpected and surprising dearth of good wine-tasting evenings organized for the amateur/enthusiast and/or the visiting tourist. A once-monthly excellent wine and tailored food-pairing evening open to 25 guests is hardly going to make a dent in what should be a huge demand for this type of food and wine evening event, but, at least it’s a start…

Marco Pelletier, an adoptive Parisian whose authentic Canadianisms pepper his oenological descriptions and explanations, shines as the evening’s champion organizer. He not only invites the winemakers to Paris so they can talk about their “treasures,” but also curates his wines with that delicate care that only a professional with great passion and reverence for his metier can muster.

Evenings start at around 7:30 with a tasting flight of four wines during which the winemaker shares tales about the vintages he’s pouring. The 114 Faubourg team takes care of hosting duties, which allows these extraordinary cultivators of French wines to simply elaborate the stories of their wines in the company of the people who have come to sip and savor their particular expressions of terroir.

According to Pelletier, there is no commercial element to the evening. The winemakers are not honored guests invited to “sell” their wines. “They just come to share the story behind the wines and vintages being poured for the evening. The winemakers are often small producers that I’ve usually already chosen to feature and work with or who have already worked with Le Bristol for a long time,” explains Pelletier. “These are the ‘Haute Couture’ of winegrowers.”

Article Author: Paige Donner 

Writer, Journalist, Filmmaker. Life Enthusiast. Paris Editor for BlackBook City Guides.

Read more: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/travel/article/wine-evenings-at-restaurant-114-rue/#ixzz1w6g4Kbg5

Plaza Athénée’s Alpine Pop-Up Restaurant

From the 28th of February to 10th March, Paris’s Hotel Plaza Athénée invites you to experience their Alpine-inspired Pop-Up restaurant.

Cuisine is inspired by the Rhone-Alpe region of France known as the Haut-Savoie with its Savoyarde regional cuisine. Think hearty, mountain cooking for cold nights and white winters!

Cognac For ♥ Valentine’s Day

by Paige Donner

Cognac for the most important ♥ holiday of the year!? Yes! And not just for your fella, but for your Lady (love) as well. 

Scenes from Cognac

 all photos by and c. Paige Donner 2012 

Click Here for Slideshow Hennessy, Courvoisier, Remy Martin and Paul Giraud (in that order)

Women love things that are smooth, warm, that glide just the right way and yet still have that appropriate touch of femininity. You might think that I’m describing lovely lingerie. But, No! I’m talking about cognac. That’s right!  Cognac can be YOUR dreamy passport to love and pleasure this Valentine’s Day!

Wine And Climate Change In The International Herald Tribune

Dear Readers and Wine Lovers: Please have a look at my recent article which originally appeared in the International Herald Tribune. It is also online at NYTimes.com with full LINK HERE.

by Paige Donner

The Wine Yacht

“We wanted to put our own unique spin on traditional food and wine pairing concepts” says Chef Natasha Harris.“Clients who book the yacht will be able to show their guests Vancouver from a new perspective, while learning about interesting wine and food combinations using local ingredients. It’s a great opportunity to showcase our city and what we are privileged to have here.” 

Created by Sunset Bay’s ISG accredited Executive Chef Natasha Harris, The Wine Yacht’s interactive group tasting sessions are designed to provide clients with an informative and unique custom tasting event while on board the “Sunset Bay II” private yacht. Each tasting station features premium wine varietals from BC and around the world, paired with small plates inspired by the corresponding wine’s region.

St. Emilion Jurade Inductee Henri Leconte Interview by Paige Donner Local Food And Wine TV

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♥Chérie Du Vin

St. Emilion Jurade, Jean-Francois Quenin, Interview by Paige Donner, Local Food And Wine TV

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Champagne Bars In Paris – Top Picks On Black Book Magazine by Paige Donner

By Paige Donner 

[Originally published on Black Book Magazine]

Black Book – Best Champagne Bars Paris by Paige Donner screenshot Oct 4 2011

Read More On  Black Book Magazine

Bordeaux – Left Bank, Right Bank

 

By Paige Donner

For most of us wine lovers, the word Bordeaux evokes Mecca-like dreams and memories of some of the world’s best and most prestigious wines.

Click Here For Slideshow

For the Bordelais, there is a pronounced distinction between “Left Bank” and “Right Bank,” each with their own Bordeaux sub-cultures and each laying claim to world-renowned chateaux.  The Left Bank and its famous Medoc region boasts Mouton Rothschild, Margaux and Pichon Comtesse Lalande, while the Right Bank with its idyllic St. Emilion and Pomerol lays claim toPetrus and Cheval Blanc. 

It’s Biodynamic Flower Day

Courtesy of Organic Matters, Ireland’s Organic Magazine

BIO-DYNAMIC GARDENING

Bio-dynamic gardeners, followers of the principles of Rudolf Steiner, believe that the movements of all theheavenly bodies, moon, planets and stars have an influence on the growth and development of all plants 5A4GDJUACK64 . So the time you chose to sow, plant or even weed your plants will affect their progress. The moon, the stars and the planets all affect the development of our plants. 

Gérard Bertrand Annual Jazz Fest Weekend, Sud de France

All photos by Paige Donner c. 2011.

The Gérard Bertrand annual Jazz Fest took place August 4th – 8th this summer at Château l’Hospitalet in Narbonne.  These photos are taken at Château l’Hospitalet just outside Narbonne.

To read more about Gérard Bertrand wines, his annual summer Jazz Fest and hisL’Art de Vivre Les Vins Du Sud, click on Gerard-Bertrand.com.

Watch the Local Food And Wine TV interview of Gérard Bertrand at his Cigalus Estate HERE.

Full Slideshow on Local Food And Wine.

Château l’Hospitalet. Festival de Jazz. Photos by Paige Donner c. Local Food And Wine.

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Interview With Rothschild S.A.’s Adrien Laurent, USA-Mexico Export Manager

Interview by Paige Donner, Editor, Local Food And Wine

Contact Local Food And Wine for our Culinary Tours and Rates.

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Le Baron Rouge

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by Paige Donner

As wine bars in Paris go, this is both authentic and on the beaten path.  For years, when ever you’d search out wine bars and Paris, it is this one that would come up. It is nestled right next to the famous (and super cheap!) Marché d’Aligre.

Which is a good thing. Because after – or before – you buy your fresh cheeses, your ripe fruits, and your roasted chicken, you can buy your wine by the liter and enjoy a glass of it while doing so.  And yes, you buy your liter of wine straight from the barrel.

Le Baron Rouge. It’s a bit on the beaten track but every bit worthy of a drop-in.  Plus, what better way to start off a Sunday morning but with a glass of good, country, French wine?

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The Men of Vinexpo, France’s Biannual Wine Bonanza

By Paige Donner

Read Complete Article on Black Book Magazine

A biannual affair, France’s monumental, just-wrapped Vinexpo Bordeaux has, once again, firmly established itself as the world’s leading exhibition for the wine industry. A few numbers: there were approximately 50,000 attendees at the Bordeaux Convention Center; overall wine consumption between now and 2014 will reach a whopping 2.729 billion cases of wine, most of that light and sparkling; the US, China, and Russia are the countries primarily fueling this growth; in 2009 alone, this retail market already represented $389 billion. Indeed, people really enjoy knocking back a glass of the good stuff.

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While women buy more than half of the wine that ends up on your table, according to Wine Enthusiast, men still dominate the somewhat fusty, very-serious-despite-the-intoxication Vinexpo, which isn’t to say that there aren’t a slew of younger, more internationally-minded budding sommeliers to enliven the crowd. We spoke with 10 of the expos most insider-y insiders – from Baron Philippe de Rothschild to the Mayor of Bordeaux – to get the scoop on what’s new in the world of the vine.

Adrien Laurent, Baron Philippe de Rothschild
Nevermind that three bottles of Château Lafite Rothschild sold not too long ago at Hong Kong’s Sotheby’s auction house for a record $232,692 – each!  Adrien Laurent, Baron Philippe de Rothschild’s U.S. and Mexico Export Manager, doesn’t rely on pretention when discussing his house’s eminent wines. In fact, if you can get him to talk about the history of the Rothschild family and how Baron Philippe turned Bordeaux’s wine world upside down back in the 1920s, when he was a mere 20 years old, you’ll really see the Oeno-lover take off his gloves.  I’m just praying that the taste of ‘98 Château Mouton Rothschild that he poured me (and that I spit out) won’t be something he remembers me by. “I never spit out Mouton Rothschild,” he confides. I must add, in the interest of full-disclosure, that he did graciously pour me another splash of this legendary cuvée, which I fully savored.

Pascal Boyé, Nicolas Feuillatte
Boyé can be authentically described as a kind of dashing figure in a romantic novel. The French champagne executive lives in NYC, spends his weekends in Aspen, and takes business meetings in Epernay and Bordeaux. “We are the youngest of the big champagne houses,” he explains. Started a mere 36 years ago in Epernay, France, the heart of AOC Champagne, the house prides itself on its modernity. “We are the pyramid of the Louvre,” says Boyé. The number one champagne house in France is number 5 in the U.S. Within the next year, according to Mr. Pascal Boyé, Feuillatte’s North and South America Export Manager, the world’s third largest champagne house will move to the number four position in the U.S.’ 22 million bottle-a-year market.

Alain Juppé, Mayor of Bordeaux
There isn’t a resident in Bordeaux and its environs who doesn’t sing Mr. Juppe’s praises. He took over as Mayor of Bordeaux in 2006, and has since carried out remarkable beautification and restoration projects. The modern, efficient tram system that whisks you around the mid-sized city is another thing to write home about.

Read Complete Article on Black Book Magazine 

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Monaco Royal Wedding Chooses Local Cuisine

It was in the kitchens of the Louis XV in the Hôtel de Paris, along with the executive chef of the kitchens of the hotel, Franck Cerutti, that Alain Ducasse received the confirmation from the Palace.

«H.S.H Prince Albert IIand Miss Wittstock’s decision honours me. It honours also Mediterranean cuisine,a sincere and fair cuisine that pays tribute to a rich and generous land. A cuisine that is respectful of its environment. Prince Albert and his future wife have thus expressed their attachment to nature and to the attentive work of the men and women who wisely nurture it. On this very special day, I cannot help myself remembering with emotion the tasty moments the Prince spent with his family at our table.

Monegasque since 2008, it was in 1987 that Alain Ducasse discovered Monaco,when Prince Rainier III called upon him to take over the direction of the kitchens of the Hôtel de Paris, Monte-Carlo SBM’s prestigious establishment, with the mission to make the Louis XV the first hotel restaurant awarded three Michelin stars, a distinction that was granted in 1990. Located between Nice and Liguria, it is at the Louis XV that Alain Ducasse brings cachet to Mediterranean cuisine. A cuisine of freedom, of emotions and of passion but also of rigor, sobriety and method; it gives the best role to each ingredient -from the modest vegetable garden plant to the most sumptuous crustacean- for the greater pleasure of the senses. At the very heart of this Mediterranean soil that so inspires him, he has found, in twenty-five years of professional partnership and personal implication, a staunch support. Today, Monaco is the essential anchor point in his profession as chef-creator. From the Louis XV, he trains most of his chefs, the very same ones who then carry his work across the globe.

The Princely wedding dinner, held on the terraces of the Salle Garnier, will be executed from the kitchens of the Louis XV at the Hotel de Paris, with the