Weekend in South of France
SATURDAY, March 25th 
Sat A.M: Breakfast is teeth-staining black coffee, croissant fashioned as if by a caveman and a slab of butter the size of the croissant. I understand the Chef's intention and equally match the two and wash it down with the darkness.
The drive to Domaine Charles Hours is uneventful and I actually arrive exactly on time. The final km of the drive is up a bit of a sheepherder's track. My chugging diesel Peugeot only just gets me there. You can see that Charles is a retired rugby player. In the States he would be a retired Defensive Lineman from the 60's Colts. He has been a grower I've wanted to see for years ever since Alain Dutournier turned me on to his wines 7 years ago in Paris at Carre des Feuillants. His dry wine is named for his daughter Marie, his sweet is named for his Domaine: Uroulat. Both see some time in barrels: the Second 10percent new, the Doux 20 percent. The dry wine is almost all Gros Manseng, the sweet is all Petit Manseng. His dry wine is far and away the most pleasing of the appellation ages incredibly well. We tasted 2005,04,03,01 and a beautifully evolved, complex 1986. Still fresh and great depth of fruit. Then the sweet: 2004, 03, 01, 86, 84. His manages to keep the Petit Manseng from being as austere as it sometimes can be. The younger wines are still gigantic, fluffy, plush stickies hiding good acidity. The mature wines have fabulous aromas and have melted away a little sugar and have a bit of grip. Need sheep's milk blue cheese, now!
He recommended a jolly drive (this is a set-up) through the foothills of the mountains and then lunch in a Basque border town Barcus. Restaurant Chilo. Along the way I can not count the number of switchbacks that I switched or the high-pastured sheep that I saw. Very hungry now for Agneau de Lait.
Just before Barcus is a town called Equilluile (just make 6 gutteral sounds in rapid series to pronounce correctly). Even here there are 50 year old women with purple hair and a Jehovah's Witness Hall. America your reach is now so far! It may have been my imagination, but I could have sworn I smelled hotdogs driving through the town.
~~
L'Agneau de Lait from Axuria Wines at lunch: 2003 Cuvee Marie from M. Hours. Brilliant stuff. Great depth, viscosity, acidity, amazing minerality on the nose and a whiff of tropical fruits - passion fruit actually. On the palate too, along with a tart butterscotchy quality.
Amuse Bouche: 3
- Mousse of farmer's cheese (brebis) with Saffron and red pepper mousse
- Raw beef "cannoli" filled with fresh brebis and served with parsley and tomato oil
- Pig's foot terrine en croute, banyuls reduction
Very well executed stuff. I may fulfill my sheep needs here. You know what I mean? Also killer simple still-warm- from- the -oven walnut bread with walnut oil on the plate instead of butter or olive oil. With the wine I have now, an apple, piece of brebis and a tree I could pass a happy afternoon. First plate is L'Anguille or eel stuffed with blood sausage and served with Granny Smith Apple. This is one of those funny great content/silly garnish dishes. The eel is super fresh and great flavor, cooked and seasoned perfectly. The blood sausage is rich, sweet and a little vulgar as it should be. The rest is unnecessary. Dried green apple and gooseberries are like feathers in front of a jet engine with this dish. The heart of it is killer, though. This dish is better with the white's acidity than the red Irouleguy from Riouspeyrous 2001.
Okay. I don't like when someone tarts up a classic dish. Making an elegant version and making a fancy version are very different. The elegance is an aspiration and the fancifying is a sin. Bleeck! Amazing fresh eel though. I adored this grower’s white wine last night. The red unfortunately does not please in day light. Reminds me of college a bit - I mean the wines I could afford, not the way you may be thinking…
Non-sequitur...I'm wondering about the whole mountain cheese and fruit conserve match that is omni-present here. Is that the original source of the quince paste/white cheese match in the Spanish-speaking world? Or the other way around? The white asparagus is breaking my heart, with olive oil and salt. How radical! Thank God...this requires no embellishment and doesn’t get one! There is a wonderfully loud family across the room. 4 generations, 15 total. It certainly creates ambience. More whisperers would just upset me.
The weather is a lovely change from B-more, I have to say. March can be so hard over there and here it's already green and goes from 12 to 23 degrees each day. Having lunch at the open window with first Spring veggies that are a month away for us and overhearing the scandal of Anne-Marie's pregnancy is a great treat (they want me to tell you that it's not their kid, but from another very respectable family!) Why do pink tomatoes here have flavor and in the States they taste like Adidas?
~~
FRIDAY, March 24th
Hostellerie L' Horizon
http://www.hostellerie-horizon.com/
Hostellerie l'Horizon –
Chemin Mesplet –
64290 GanFrance
Tél: +33 (0)5.59.21.58.93
Fax : +33 (0)5.59.21.71.80
Email: eytpierre-hotelresto@wanadoo.fr
http://www.hostellerie-horizon.com/
I narrowly escape another rail strike in Paris and find myself down in Montpellier by mid-afternoon. Greeted by some bored but dangerous looking soldiers, I made a speedy exit from the train station and picked up the obligatory Peugot to head West.
My plan is to discover the South-West, from Basque country to Cahors, an area whose wines I have enjoyed but a place I’ve never been. Then I’ll swing back over to Chateauneuf, because I simply can’t resist. I’ll be doing a lot of driving so please add to the blog with your thoughts and tips – it’d be good to hear from y’all!
Why am I here?
My goal is to get a sense of the terroirs as they are such good sources for fairly-priced bistro wines. I also want to find a Jurancon grower for a sweet private label wine for us. More of that later...
My second evening I eat in. Not room service I hasten to add, as the violently violet décor would not be good for the digestion but the slightly cutesy dining room of the Hostellerie Horizon in Gan. I order two wines more out of curiosity than anything else.
White Wine: Arretxea produced in Domaine Hegoxuri by Therese and Michel Riouspeyrous 2004.60 % Gros Manseng, 40% Petit Manseng. Crisp, bright, big acid, long white fruits...cuts through the very rich Cremeaux de Langoustines that I start with. There is always something pleasantly of green onions in these wines from Irrouleguy (Pays Basque).
I take a flyer on the red: Cotes du Marmandais "Clos Baquey" 1999. Recommended strongly by the grandmother at the next table. Reminds me of a more refined version of Cahors. Similar aromas of violets, dark fruits and that which can best be described as "farm-like" aromas. Aaahh, yes. La Belle odeur de France! Medium-bodied on the palate, now's the time to drink it. Probably exactly the right weight and structure for a delicate but fatty roast milk-fed suckling pig that's on the way.
For the fish course I take Seared Sea Scallops (small, size of half-dollars, very fresh) with seared cubed of foie gras served on a puree of celery root and potato with jus made from deglazing the foie gras pan with young Banyuls. There is something naughty about this dish. Not perfect, but very satisfying in a way you may not be entirely proud of.
Thank god I didn't have a sweet wine with it - I might have taken my shirt off! Only fault: scallops slightly over-cooked and lacked a little salt. But certainly good. Interesting how big the wine became with the dish as much was asked of the acidity. The combination drew out a lot more stony pear fruit in the wine and showed of the body. It needed something to bounce that acid off of. Music sounds so sweet in a room rich in fabrics and heavy with history.
The Pork is really good, no it's not that young, yes it's also a little over and needs some gros sel. Can’t help but ponder why it is that people whisper in a dining room that is slow? C'mon. Who's not trying to have fun? Take a deep breath and speak, it will be OK!
The reason the pork is so good is that he's caramelized the heck out of it and covered in a sauté of Cepes, Pork Cracklings and first Artichokes. How is he getting the Cepes at this time of year? The dish crushes the red though - shows its lack of spine and density. I'll admit I was led to expect a more delicate dish. I guess we have to open something else. C'est la vie...and they have quite the collection of old Armagnacs.
Finishing with Brebis des Pyrenees: sheep's milk cheese from the mountains. Served traditionally with a conserve of fruit, this time figs. This one is from Irraty. Pas mal. Excellent for the white.
Armagnac: 1942 Domaine Laberolive -- Huge, vulgar, cask-strength hooch from a great producer. Orange peel, tobacco, anise. Massive viscosity. Jane Russel-like spirit (based on reports of her potency c. 1942).
Sat A.M: Breakfast is teeth-staining black coffee, croissant fashioned as if by a caveman and a slab of butter the size of the croissant. I understand the Chef's intention and equally match the two and wash it down with the darkness.
The drive to Domaine Charles Hours is uneventful and I actually arrive exactly on time. The final km of the drive is up a bit of a sheepherder's track. My chugging diesel Peugeot only just gets me there. You can see that Charles is a retired rugby player. In the States he would be a retired Defensive Lineman from the 60's Colts. He has been a grower I've wanted to see for years ever since Alain Dutournier turned me on to his wines 7 years ago in Paris at Carre des Feuillants. His dry wine is named for his daughter Marie, his sweet is named for his Domaine: Uroulat. Both see some time in barrels: the Second 10percent new, the Doux 20 percent. The dry wine is almost all Gros Manseng, the sweet is all Petit Manseng. His dry wine is far and away the most pleasing of the appellation ages incredibly well. We tasted 2005,04,03,01 and a beautifully evolved, complex 1986. Still fresh and great depth of fruit. Then the sweet: 2004, 03, 01, 86, 84. His manages to keep the Petit Manseng from being as austere as it sometimes can be. The younger wines are still gigantic, fluffy, plush stickies hiding good acidity. The mature wines have fabulous aromas and have melted away a little sugar and have a bit of grip. Need sheep's milk blue cheese, now!
He recommended a jolly drive (this is a set-up) through the foothills of the mountains and then lunch in a Basque border town Barcus. Restaurant Chilo. Along the way I can not count the number of switchbacks that I switched or the high-pastured sheep that I saw. Very hungry now for Agneau de Lait.
Just before Barcus is a town called Equilluile (just make 6 gutteral sounds in rapid series to pronounce correctly). Even here there are 50 year old women with purple hair and a Jehovah's Witness Hall. America your reach is now so far! It may have been my imagination, but I could have sworn I smelled hotdogs driving through the town.
~~
L'Agneau de Lait from Axuria Wines at lunch: 2003 Cuvee Marie from M. Hours. Brilliant stuff. Great depth, viscosity, acidity, amazing minerality on the nose and a whiff of tropical fruits - passion fruit actually. On the palate too, along with a tart butterscotchy quality.
Amuse Bouche: 3
- Mousse of farmer's cheese (brebis) with Saffron and red pepper mousse
- Raw beef "cannoli" filled with fresh brebis and served with parsley and tomato oil
- Pig's foot terrine en croute, banyuls reduction
Very well executed stuff. I may fulfill my sheep needs here. You know what I mean? Also killer simple still-warm- from- the -oven walnut bread with walnut oil on the plate instead of butter or olive oil. With the wine I have now, an apple, piece of brebis and a tree I could pass a happy afternoon. First plate is L'Anguille or eel stuffed with blood sausage and served with Granny Smith Apple. This is one of those funny great content/silly garnish dishes. The eel is super fresh and great flavor, cooked and seasoned perfectly. The blood sausage is rich, sweet and a little vulgar as it should be. The rest is unnecessary. Dried green apple and gooseberries are like feathers in front of a jet engine with this dish. The heart of it is killer, though. This dish is better with the white's acidity than the red Irouleguy from Riouspeyrous 2001.
Okay. I don't like when someone tarts up a classic dish. Making an elegant version and making a fancy version are very different. The elegance is an aspiration and the fancifying is a sin. Bleeck! Amazing fresh eel though. I adored this grower’s white wine last night. The red unfortunately does not please in day light. Reminds me of college a bit - I mean the wines I could afford, not the way you may be thinking…
Non-sequitur...I'm wondering about the whole mountain cheese and fruit conserve match that is omni-present here. Is that the original source of the quince paste/white cheese match in the Spanish-speaking world? Or the other way around? The white asparagus is breaking my heart, with olive oil and salt. How radical! Thank God...this requires no embellishment and doesn’t get one! There is a wonderfully loud family across the room. 4 generations, 15 total. It certainly creates ambience. More whisperers would just upset me.
The weather is a lovely change from B-more, I have to say. March can be so hard over there and here it's already green and goes from 12 to 23 degrees each day. Having lunch at the open window with first Spring veggies that are a month away for us and overhearing the scandal of Anne-Marie's pregnancy is a great treat (they want me to tell you that it's not their kid, but from another very respectable family!) Why do pink tomatoes here have flavor and in the States they taste like Adidas?
~~
FRIDAY, March 24th
Hostellerie L' Horizon
http://www.hostellerie-horizon.com/
Hostellerie l'Horizon –
Chemin Mesplet –
64290 GanFrance
Tél: +33 (0)5.59.21.58.93
Fax : +33 (0)5.59.21.71.80
Email: eytpierre-hotelresto@wanadoo.fr
http://www.hostellerie-horizon.com/
I narrowly escape another rail strike in Paris and find myself down in Montpellier by mid-afternoon. Greeted by some bored but dangerous looking soldiers, I made a speedy exit from the train station and picked up the obligatory Peugot to head West.
My plan is to discover the South-West, from Basque country to Cahors, an area whose wines I have enjoyed but a place I’ve never been. Then I’ll swing back over to Chateauneuf, because I simply can’t resist. I’ll be doing a lot of driving so please add to the blog with your thoughts and tips – it’d be good to hear from y’all!
Why am I here?
My goal is to get a sense of the terroirs as they are such good sources for fairly-priced bistro wines. I also want to find a Jurancon grower for a sweet private label wine for us. More of that later...
My second evening I eat in. Not room service I hasten to add, as the violently violet décor would not be good for the digestion but the slightly cutesy dining room of the Hostellerie Horizon in Gan. I order two wines more out of curiosity than anything else.
White Wine: Arretxea produced in Domaine Hegoxuri by Therese and Michel Riouspeyrous 2004.60 % Gros Manseng, 40% Petit Manseng. Crisp, bright, big acid, long white fruits...cuts through the very rich Cremeaux de Langoustines that I start with. There is always something pleasantly of green onions in these wines from Irrouleguy (Pays Basque).
I take a flyer on the red: Cotes du Marmandais "Clos Baquey" 1999. Recommended strongly by the grandmother at the next table. Reminds me of a more refined version of Cahors. Similar aromas of violets, dark fruits and that which can best be described as "farm-like" aromas. Aaahh, yes. La Belle odeur de France! Medium-bodied on the palate, now's the time to drink it. Probably exactly the right weight and structure for a delicate but fatty roast milk-fed suckling pig that's on the way.
For the fish course I take Seared Sea Scallops (small, size of half-dollars, very fresh) with seared cubed of foie gras served on a puree of celery root and potato with jus made from deglazing the foie gras pan with young Banyuls. There is something naughty about this dish. Not perfect, but very satisfying in a way you may not be entirely proud of.
Thank god I didn't have a sweet wine with it - I might have taken my shirt off! Only fault: scallops slightly over-cooked and lacked a little salt. But certainly good. Interesting how big the wine became with the dish as much was asked of the acidity. The combination drew out a lot more stony pear fruit in the wine and showed of the body. It needed something to bounce that acid off of. Music sounds so sweet in a room rich in fabrics and heavy with history.
The Pork is really good, no it's not that young, yes it's also a little over and needs some gros sel. Can’t help but ponder why it is that people whisper in a dining room that is slow? C'mon. Who's not trying to have fun? Take a deep breath and speak, it will be OK!
The reason the pork is so good is that he's caramelized the heck out of it and covered in a sauté of Cepes, Pork Cracklings and first Artichokes. How is he getting the Cepes at this time of year? The dish crushes the red though - shows its lack of spine and density. I'll admit I was led to expect a more delicate dish. I guess we have to open something else. C'est la vie...and they have quite the collection of old Armagnacs.
Finishing with Brebis des Pyrenees: sheep's milk cheese from the mountains. Served traditionally with a conserve of fruit, this time figs. This one is from Irraty. Pas mal. Excellent for the white.
Armagnac: 1942 Domaine Laberolive -- Huge, vulgar, cask-strength hooch from a great producer. Orange peel, tobacco, anise. Massive viscosity. Jane Russel-like spirit (based on reports of her potency c. 1942).
posted by Moderator at 2:10 PM
1 Comments:
Yo Tony, "Enquiring minds need to know…", when in hell did you ever taste Adidas?
BTW, the eel and boudin noir sounded really interesting. Any possibility we’ll see l’anguille sometime at one of your places? I love eel but have never seen it outside a sushi bar or a bait bucket in Bawlmer. Keep us posted.
G.
P.S., I’m praying you don’t run into a new oak infestation anywhere down there. I hear it’s spreading south.
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