We are snowed in – no cycling today!
Filed under: Cahors wine, Cycling centre based home views
We have plenty of food in the freezer and about 50 litres of local Malbec wine – so we won’t starve or die of thirst….
Xmas drinks & nibbles
Filed under: black wine, Food and Wine, France, gastro, Malbec, Malbec wine, Rosé wine
Busy with Aileen preparing for our small soirée tomorrow night.
There appears to be enough food to feed an army….
An entertaining email from one of our recent cycling guests
Filed under: black wine, Cahors wine, cycling holidays France, Malbec
Dear Aileen & Desparate John,
Just beginning to settle back to the mad world of the working for a living again.
As you know I can not speak too highly of your splendid establishment but I thought I’d let you know ‘what happened next’ after you left me in Bergerac.
I poodled about doing the tourist bit and about 2.30 landed in the Riverside Restaurant and had a most beautiful Entrecote Steak & a carafe of Rose. Superb !
As I paid the very reasonable bill of 22 euros I asked the proprietor if he could recommend a bar to watch the tour at which point he went and got a 40 inch flat screen and plonked it down on the table
in front of me, plugged it in and we were on count down for the last 10 – job done another carafe ! I was then surrounded by half a dozen young men in giant pink baby grows and big ears - the
local boxing fraternity on a stag doo – so I had to join in with the festivities ( and the Vodka & Red Bull ) and another carafe – by which time Wiggo was 2 mins up and I was decidedly damaged.
Stage over Wiggo is set for the promenade to Paris a cognac is required ! - a seriously impaired but joyous englishman is accosting all and sundry in what is now a quite full restaurant with shouts of
‘c’est magnifique’ vive la France – vive les anglais en France ‘ – I then realised I needed a flight and it was 7pm – back up that hill to the Hotel Bordeaux pick up my bag and a no show from the taxi but the receptionist at the hotel understood my predicament ( which was a surprise cos I could not have made any sense in English but maybe that’s the solution when I am full of fluid I am fluent in french ! )
So job done back in blighty and immediately bought myself a new bike !
So thank you so much – it was splendid I have resurrected my love of cycling and now go looking for Malbec – found 2 bottles of Cahors to teke to my connoiseur brother in Yorkshire and he liked it and he does not like much !
Thanks again
Alan
Note:
Alan came on our special Lot Valley Tour including watching a stage of the Tour de France.
Cahors 100% Malbec Wine
Filed under: black wine, Cahors wine, Malbec, Malbec wine
Château Haute Borie – the owner
Had a quick visit to a new (for us) Cahors AOC Château.
Haute Borie, fabulous 100% Malbec wine aged in oak for 18 months.
10€ a bottle, bought 6 and given one free by the owner. Will definitely add this château to our favourites list.
Easter Bike Tour Menus
Filed under: Coffee, gastro, Gastronomy of south west France, Malbec, Rocamadour cheese
Menu for Thursday 5th April 2012
Tasting plate of locally reared duck:
Magret séché, fritons, rillettes, foie gras,
gésiers en salade,
fig and walnut chutney, aperitif de figues
Fillet of beef with Cahors red wine sauce
Dauphinoise potatoes
Green beans, carrots,
roast garlic and herb crusted tomato
Cheese Platter
Crème Brulee
Coffee and Armagnac
Wine: AOC Cahors – Château Chantelle
Menu for Friday 6th April 2012
Asparagus, mozzarella and Serrano ham
Rocket salad
Pan – fried fillet of cod
Saffron, mussel and leek risotto
Braised fennel
Cheese platter
Chocolate and chestnut cake,
Vanilla crème fraiche
Walnut wine
Wine: AOC Cahors – Château Chantelle
Menu for Saturday 7th April 2012
Ricotta herb and pepper stuffed squid
Peperonata
Spiced lamb stuffed aubergine
with Manchego cheese
Fennel, chicory and ornage salad, tahini dressing
Patatas bravas
Rocamadour, honey and walnuts
Vanilla panna cotta,
roast spiced plums,
cantuccini
Rataffia
Coffee
Wine: AOC Cahors – Château Chantelle
Menu for Easter Sunday 8th April 2012
Pea and leek cappuccino
Gruyere and thyme twists
Pork medallions
Agen prunes steeped in Armagnac
Cider cream sauce
Celeriac mash, Savoy cabbage in mustard dressing
Cheese plate
Apple crumble cheesecake
Calvados
Coffee
Wine: AOC Cahors – Château Chantelle
A Hearty French Red for a Cold Winter’s Night – Cahors Malbec
Filed under: Cahors wine, Cahors wine tours, Malbec Days, Malbec wine, Mas de flory, wine tours France
Cahors is the ancestral home of the Malbec grape, but the wines made there are much different from the plush, fruity versions from Argentina that are so popular now. Lagrézette is a modern winery, with superstar consultant Michel Rolland (who also works in Argentina, among many other countries) advising, so you might expect a wine in the “international” style.
But whether terroir overrides the winemaking, or age brings out the truth, this was a very traditional Cahors. It was thick on the palate, with firm, almost gritty tannins, and dark flavors of iron, earth and tobacco.
Yet the wine still showed a core of bright cherry fruit, and a lively acidity kept it fresh. It had endured more than improved, resembled a solid workman more than a brilliant virtuoso, but it matched well with the gamy meat and warmed our souls from the winter’s cold. I rated it 89 points, non-blind.
Château Lagrézette Cahors 2000
Read the whole article – wine spectator
Growing success for the wines of AOC Cahors
Filed under: black wine, Cahors wine, Cahors wine tours, France wine tours, wine tours France
TheAOC Cahors is celebrating its fortieth anniversary. After a long period of declining sales figures, the succes of the “black wines” of Cahors is growing again. The combination of increased sales efforts, leaving fallow 568 acres of vineyards and less abundant crops resulted in higher export figures in 2010.
The Scent of Black
Filed under: Cahors wine, Cahors wine tours, Foodie cycling, Truffles
Fantastic video of the Lot area and it’s food and wine.
Great video, sums up the area wonderfully. It’s difficult to describe to others the wonder of the area – this does!
GrapeRadio is proud to present a look at the Cahors region, as rightly famous for its black truffles as it is for its Malbec, a wine that exemplifies the scent of black.
http://www.graperadio.com/the-scent-of-black/
Last nights soirée
Filed under: black wine, Cahors wine, Food for cycling holiday, Foodie cycling
A visit to the annual Rocamadour cheese festival
Filed under: Rocamadour cheese, Rosé wine, wine tours France
Rocamadour wine! Not bad so we bought some lovely rosé.
Later that night – Rocamadour cheese with our rosé in the evening sun.
