Inspiring Winemaking Story From New Hampshire, USA; Also—Catalan Wild Boar & Wine

Overview

This week includes an interview with Amy LaBelle of LaBelle Winery in New Hampshire (fascinating story! Click and enjoy) as well as a description of a wild boar dinner in the foothills of the Pyrenees peaks in southern France.

Lawyer Is Hit With Vacation Epiphany To Make Wine—

Below is a fascinating video interview with Amy LaBelle of LaBelle Winery in New Hampshire. Amy contributed a recipe for Blue Cheese Wine Fondue (featured below) for my cookbook The Winemakers' Cooking Companion.

This is an interview well worth viewing!

Mountain Terrace Dinner in Castelnou, southern France

Castelnou (population: 280) is classified as one of the most beautiful villages in France. It is located in the Aspres peaks, which form foothills of the eastern Pyrenees mountains of southern France. This is in Catalan country—where local food includes salt rubbed ham, Collioure anchovies, escargot and wild boar.

I sat on the terrace of Restaurant L'Hostal in Castelnou with a beautiful view, and enjoyed a small bottle of red wine (Domaine Mas Camps, a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Carignan from Côtes du Roussillon Villages). With this I ordered an appetizer of bread, tomatoes and Serrano ham, followed by a main course of Civet de Sanglier et Taglietelles—wild boar and tagliatelle pasta stew.

Champagne Sales Lowest in 70 Years

My friend and ally and wine TV personality Gabrielle Vizzavona (she endorsed my cookbook; I wrote about her for Forbes) from Paris was recently on BBC speaking about low wine production in Champagne this year. Check out the episode below, and tune into minute 27 through minute 31, 4 seconds.

BBC Radio 4 - PM, Number 10 halts plan for local government reform

Proposals to merge councils to form larger authorities in four counties are withdrawn.

BBC

Ferrari Trento now Associated with 50 Prime Hotels in the world

I spent some amazing times with the the Lunelli family in Italy (who own Ferrari Trento sparkling wine) both at their estate, and also when I ran into CEO Matteo at the wine auction in Naples, Florida, and met his cousin Camilla when their chef served a delicious lunch at VinItaly a few years ago. Ferrari have sponsored Formula 1 and are dynamically determined to associate excellent quality with their brand. I wrote about Ferrari for Forbes when they announced their partnership with Formula 1, as well as when their winery was named best by Gambero Rosso. (Just days ago, for the sixth consecutive year, Ferrari was named “Sparkling Wine Producer of the Year” at The Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships.)

Just FYI— for the third consecutive year, Ferrari Trento is the Official Sparkling Wine Partner of The World’s 50 Best Hotels, the coveted ranking which will be unveiled during a special evening on 15 September in Paris.

“Hospitality is one of the most authentic expressions of a country’s identity: it is a way of welcoming people and building relationships. This is a value we feel deeply connected to, because a toast has always been, first and foremost, a gesture of welcome and conviviality,” says Matteo Lunelli, President and CEO of Ferrari Trento.

Free Recipe from The Winemakers' Cooking Companion Cookbook

My cookbook titled The Winemakers' Cooking Companion was compiled over a ten year period. It includes 108 recipes from 18 countries—contributed by winemakers, winery chefs and winery owners. A book launch dinner will take place on September 16th (tomorrow!) in my village in southern France at La Cantine du Curé wine bar/restaurant, when winemakers from two wineries and chefs from three restaurants cook up a storm of recipes. Fifty diners will join! There will also be an event at the Green Cat art gallery this autumn.

Recipe—

Below is a free recipe from this cookbook, which was contributed by Amy LaBelle of LaBelle Winery in New Hampshire, USA.

More Free Chapters From The Book Vino Voices: Wine, Work, Travel, Life

I'm continuing to provide all chapters from my book Vino Voices: Wine, Work, Travel, Life for free here. Originally written over a decade ago, this book has been revised and is available as an e-book. It is 230 pages long and includes interviews with more than 45 professionals in a dozen countries who work in the world of wine, and explain why they love their work. It includes more than 100 photographs.

Click below to download chapter twenty three ('Couple') and chapter twenty four ('Chef'). Chapter twenty three is about a young couple in Kansas who started a winery in the countryside, while chapter twenty four is about a chef based in the state of Washington has worked with sommeliers and wine bars.