Recent Posts.
My recent Forbes posts include the following:
- Wines From Four Italian Regions To Sample This Summer
- (with companion Vino Voices piece with more wines, here)
- Maxi Edmond De Rothschild ‘Gitana 18’ Trimaran Includes Fresh Artwork
- Sample These Rich Red And Crisp White French Summer Wines
- The Strangely Overlooked Truth That Great Vines Make Great Wines
- 14 Delicious Bourgogne (Burgundy) Wines From Five Different Regions
Videos.
The latest Wine Cowboys – Episode 4 video is here.
Overview.
Summer is broiling and hopping and there is plenty of bicycle riding on local trails.
After more than a year, I decided to visit Vigne Vierge (Virgin Vine) wine store/wine bar/tapas restaurant in the village of Aigne, where Anne-Sophie Anache makes excellent healthy tapas on weekends. I wrote a story about this locale two years ago which became very popular. Anne-Sophie also catered for a 40 person outdoor gathering I held in the village of Babbio two years ago.
Watch a short video clip here.
Or here.
Or watch the Instagram link here.
Food.
The dishes at Vigne Vierge are delicious tapas. Anne Sophie sources the ingredients from the best local producers, sometimes driving hours away to pick up fresh foods. The aguachile below is a Mexican style dish, because she lived and worked in Mexico for years as a sommelier.
I chose the following from the chalkboard menu.
Pan con tomate, ail, huile d’olive de Ste Valière – bread with tomatoes, garlic and olive oil from Saint Valière
5 achois de l’Escala (les vraies de Mediterranée) – 5 anchovies from l’Escala (truly Mediterranean)
Aguachile de jamon Duroc de Batallé (fait maîson) – Aguachile (shrimp) with Spanish ham from Duroc de Batallé (home made)
Tarte aux abricots de Bize, huile d’olive, lavande – Tart with apricots from Bize Minervois, olive oil and lavender
Wine.
Anne-Sophie recommended a Maccabeu from Domaine Ledogar in the Corbières wine region of Languedoc (to the south of Minervois, on the other side of the Canal du Midi). These are fifth generation producers, and Maccabeu is a grape variety from the Catalan region of Spain and France. Beautiful crisp minerality.
For a take away bottle, on leaving I purchased a red 2020 Mas Bruguiere – La Grenadière, from Pic Saint-Loup in the Languedoc region. This a 90/10 Syrah/Grenache blend is a gorgeously layered full bodied wine.
Insights.
During this July and August I’ll be spending time home here in the Minervois and at my home in Caunes.
In September I’ll visit Mount Etna wineries in Sicily, then sample Lake Garda wines later in northern Italy.
Am also working to get representation for my historical fictional book River of Rome – The Flow of Long Life, which includes interlinked tales in the locations shown on the following map.
Thanks for tuning in!
