Category: Food & Wine

Fine French wine auctioned to help Covid-19 care staff

High-end fine French wines are being sold at auction to raise money in support of healthcare staff working on the frontline against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The specialist website iDealwine has been running the auction since April 27. It will last until May 7. It had been aiming to raise €100,000 overall; but managed to raise €60,000 in just a few days, so may yet exceed its target.

All the money raised will go to medical charity “Protège Ton Soignant” (Protect Your Carer), which helps healthcare personnel.

The auction catalogue features almost 1,000 bottles, including prestigious wines from Bordeaux, Alsace, Bourgogne, and Champagne. The list also includes a number of Italian and Portuguese wines, as well as varieties of Scottish whisky.

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France told to eat more cheese to save dairy industry amid coronavirus

Fromagissons,” which means “Let’s act for cheese.”

The citizens of France have been told it’s their patriotic duty to eat more cheese.

After a fall in sales due to COVID-19, the dairy industry has put out a collective call for French people to increase their consumption of brie, camembert, reblochon, and more. 

According to a press release by France Terre de Lait, the French dairy industry, sales of certain cheeses in France have dropped 60%. This is largely due to the closure of markets, cheese-mongers, and restaurants, and quarantined people denying themselves their most pleasurable foods and instead only buying the basics.

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10 Top-Rated Rosé Wines, From Provence to Your Couch

Spring has sprung and that means it’s time for rosé all day. Here are our picks for choice bottles from the French region that started it all, Provence.

Rosé season is upon us. The best way to transition into warmer weather is with a bottle from Provence, the French region that started the pink-wine craze.

Delightfully fruity, yet impeccably honed by crisp acidity (and sometimes tangy minerality), rosés from Provence are often considered the top in their category. While usually made from a mix of red grapes—the roster can include Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Cinsault, Grenache and Mourvèdre—some bottlings can even include the white grape Vermentino, or Rolle, as it’s called locally.

Here are some of the top-scoring Provence rosés from across the region that are hitting shelves and online shops. Scoop them up and enjoy a bit of Provençal sunshine in a bottle.

Château Vignelaure 2019 Rosé (Coteau d’Aix-en-Provence); $22, 93 points. Produced from organic grapes, this ripe wine is well structured and richly elegant. It has depth and concentration as well as a touch of tannins from the Cabernet and Syrah in the blend. The wine is just ready to drink, although it will be better from late 2020. Monsieur Touton Selection Ltd. Editors’ Choice. –Roger Voss Continue reading “10 Top-Rated Rosé Wines, From Provence to Your Couch” →

Go for Rhône — the classic French wine that’s also great value

Given that 2018 is the fourth great rhône vintage in a row, it’s time we all stocked up on what is the best-value classic French wine region. What’s weird about the Rhône, despite its stellar whites and reds, is just how few of us put it on a par with Bordeaux and Burgundy.Perhaps what confuses drinkers are the dozens of wine styles made along the Rhône valley, from Lyons in the north to Provence in the south. They broadly divide into two camps: the cooler northern Rhône’s steep, granite, terraced slopes produce peppery, syrah-spiced reds, while the sunbaked south is known for heady, herby grenache-led gems. As so often, the 2018 vintage is a game of two halves [ . . . ]

Read full story at THE SUNDAY TIMES: Go for Rhône — the classic French wine that’s also great value | Weekend | The Times