Pestle and Mortar

I’m not sure if it was my idea or Rowley’s. A bit of both probably. It was certainly hatched over a fine lunch with some good bottles open for inspiration. The concept was pretty simple really – to host a Provençal feast partnering classic dishes with local wines. Obviously, this was to be a summer celebration and we had to select a date before schools broke up and mass migration from the capital began. So last Friday lunchtime some 40 diners sat down for the inaugural ‘Grand Aïoli’at Le Café Anglais. In fact we started off standing up, enjoying a glass of a white Coteaux d’Aix 2009 from Domaine des Oullières, that was served as an aperitif with some excellent sardine pâté, saucisson sec and black Niçoise olives. This dry, herb-tinged wine is a new discovery of ours that is grown at altitude on the southern slopes of the Chaînes des Côtes and it is fresher and fruitier than many of its peers. It hails from an unusual blend of Grenache Blanc and Rolle and is très Provençal. The same estate bottles a decent rosé too but it is the scrub-scented white that really transports one to La France Profonde.

As we were seated a second wine was being poured – the Cassis: Clos Sainte Magdeleine 2008. This inimitable white wine comes from the Mediterranean coast between Bandol and Marseilles and is produced, by the Sack family, from a blend of Marsanne, Clairette and Ugni Blanc. It made for a marvellous foil to pungent bowls of freshly-made aïoli that accompanied hard boiled eggs and crudités of thinly sliced fennel, peppers and carrots along with peppery radishes and sticks of celery. My lunch guest, outspoken, wine-writer extraordinaire, Malcolm Gluck kindly provided me with his tasting note: ‘This is one of France’s great undiscovered ‘secret’ whites, preferable to many a soi-disant ‘great’ white burgundy in feel and fruit. It is beautifully textured, like ruffled silk, and it has a genteel finish of gooseberry and citrus.’

The enviably well-appointed Clos Sainte Magdeleine vineyard at Cassis.

Things took on a distinctly piscine theme with the next two dishes to be served. Large platters of lightly-salted (wonderfully flaky) cod with new potatoes, and sea bass cooked with artichokes and olives were passed around all accompanied by lashing more aioli and a delicate,coral-pink Côtes du Luberon rosé from Château la Canorgue. Fortunately we were blessed with a lovely warm day and the high-ceilinged, light and airy dining room and friendly chatter really helped evoke a Provençal ambience to this most relaxed of lunches.  

Some more robust cuisine was called for to partner a chest-thumping red Bandol: Mas de la Rouvière 2003 that, with bottle-age, was beginning to show the forest floor scents and game and mushroom tastes that define a good Mourvèdre. Le Café Anglais rose to the occasion with beef brisket served with chickpeas, and a superb roast ham with French beans. Once again Malcolm waxed lyrical: ‘Astonishing coal-edged tannins, quite remarkably gorgeous and roasted, clinging to fruit which is seems as if it has been pressed in a coffee grinder. There is a herby element, perhaps cinnamon, certainly a touch of white pepper, but more sensually there is chocolate. Altogether a wine of momentous, almost heady, richness.’

Fortunately, I still had the stamina to toy with some lovely mature Brie de Maux

(chef’s licence: ‘there aren’t many cows in Provence’) and a budget-busting glass of Domaine de Trévallon 2006 that was just beginning to show its full potential and earthy garrigue flavours.

While we could have all departed fully sated at this juncture a divine peach and almond tart proved irresistible. Not too sweet with a nice grainy texture, served with small glasses of cold, golden Muscat de Beaumes de Venise 2007 from the peerless Domaine de Durban. A perfect finale to a perfect repast. Those wishing to attend next year’s event would be prudent to contact us and get their names added to the waiting list!

Cows at Chaintres

On our recent Yapp sortie to see our French vignerons in Burgundy and the Loire, I became very aware of the huge range of weird and wonderful creatures that we encountered along our travels. Normally, of course, vineyard domaines are essentially agricultural places therefore one would expect to see cats and dogs and the occasional chicken wandering freely around. A few of our growers still practice polyculture, so we were fairly certain to come across the local bovine breed of Charolais, and plenty of sheep. Polyculture is historically a simple way of insurance for a small domaine – a way of spreading ones risks as a safety measure just in case any of the harvests fail totally due to adverse weather conditions. Ideally one would have a few hectares of vines, a small cereal crop maybe, some vegetables as well as livestock. It’s the perfect way not to have all your eggs in one basket – although if you had a lot of chickens…

However, there were several other creatures that featured. Firstly, when visiting the tufa chalk cellars of Vouvray and Montlouis; painstakingly hewn out by hand and ideal for keeping an ambient temperature of 12ºC; one had to be very aware of low flying missiles in the shape of swifts and swallows which were constantly arriving and departing to feed their nesting young.  Others were the pigeons that we dissuaded from roosting on our window ledge in Tours, the cockerel at Menetou-Salon that seemed to have mistaken twelve noon for dawn and the wonderfully realistic home-made “birds of prey” that were dotted all around the cereal fields of Oiron (Thouarsais) that acted as very effective scarecrows while fluttering menacingly in the wind.

But now the creatures started to get a little more bizarre. At Chateau de Ligre, (Chinon) during our vineyard tour, where one could clearly see the effect of the soil on different parcels of vines (the sandier soils producing a lighter, earlier drinking style, while those vines grown on the heavier clay-based soils give a much fuller, richer and more tannic style); we were treated to an amazing early evening orchestra of sound by countless numbers of crickets in the nearby long grass. I was immediately reminded of a similar experience in the Dentelles de Montmirail in Gigondas some five years ago, when the Provencale crickets (cicadas) were also fully on song.

Le Crocodile

Still at Chateau de Ligre, after a comprehensive and detailed tasting of their range conducted by Pierre Ferrand in their pristine and stylishly modern on-site shop premises, we walked the short distance back to our vehicle, and we heard the most amazing symphonic clamour emanating from what seemed to be the next field. Pierre said the racket was the croaking made by hundreds of bull frogs in a lake some half a mile away. I couldn’t believe the decibel level of the cacophony of amorous amphibians with their arsenal of mating calls.

Probably the strangest creature was found inside the collegiate church of Saint-Maurice in the picturesque town of Oiron where, as previously mentioned in past Yapp catalogues, we found an eight foot stuffed crocodile mounted on to one of the walls. The explanation for this is that the jaw of the crocodile, a reptile which at that time was deemed to hold mystical powers, was ground up to form a paste (hopefully the croc was dead at this stage) to make a magical potion which would cure the townsfolk of the dreaded plague. Certainly different! As we left the sacred church we noticed, in Latin, an inscription on top of the arched entrance which read, ‘Here is the End’!

And then there were 4…setting off up luz ardiden

Having developed an unhealthy interest in cycling the legendary peaks of the Tour de France over the past few years and having my friend Paul Bottrill entered in to this year’s Etape du Tour (see August 2009 posting ‘Etape in Cotes du Rhone’), I chose to spend a long Bank Holiday weekend on ‘recon’ in the Pyrenees.  Six good men and true scaled the Col du Tourmalet on Saturday 29^th May following in the footsteps of Merckx, Bahamontes, Coppi, Millar and Van Impe (all leaders over this 19km, 7.4% average gradient climb).

We had warmed up on the Thursday and Friday with picturesque valley rides to Cauterets and Garvanie both ending in climbs up to ski stations, as we waited for the major Cols to clear of snow (Tourmalet at 2110m, amongst others, was initially closed) and as we found our mountain legs.

The successful ascent of the Tourmalet was celebrated with a visit to Pascal Labasse’s delightful Domaine Bellegarde in Jurançon, where the residual sugar in the sweet Manseng wines seemed to serve as ideal recovery fuel.  Pascal generously sent us on our way with the remains of a bottle of his late (December) harvest Sélection DB from the 2000 vintage – a handy addition to one’s bidon, if ever there was.

Sunday wasn’t a day of rest as we hauled weary limbs up another Hors Catégorie climb, Luz Ardiden (13km @ 7.7% average), a ski station finish that has been won by legends such as Indurain, Armstrong, Delgado and Virenque.  This climb couldn’t be ignored as it started at the front door of our hotel.

I finally met my nemesis on Monday half way up the Col de Marie Blanque which had lulled me with a gentle opening 4 km, before averaging 12% for the second half.  Having swore blind that I was done for the trip, a finally sally up the Col du Soulor (13 km climb @ 7 %) was rewarded with meeting the Astana team and reining Yellow Jersey holder, Alberto Contador, at the top – although he didn’t seem impressed by my retro gear and road-weary countenance.

So on Sunday 18^th July I shall be raising a glass to Paul and giving thanks that I am not setting out to ride 181km and scaling the Marie-Blanque, Soulor and Tourmalet on the way.  If you achieve it, Paul, a bottle of Selection DB is on its way!

Constantine in the Palazzo

The Eternal City is a great destination for a Spring break with the family. April doesn’t guarantee good weather but it does ensure that you don’t swelter too badly as you tour the sights of the Centro Storico. A good starting point is to buy a Roma Pass (widely available at stations and tabacchi) for 25 euros. This is valid for 3 days and entitles adults to free admission to the principal historic attractions such as the Colosseum, Forum and Capitoline Museum and soon repays the investment. It also entitles you to by-pass some hefty queues (invaluable with kids in tow) and includes free underground, bus and tram travel. Entry for children under 12 is usually free – a rare concession in the tourist driven city centre.

The Colosseum is a sure-fire hit with blood-thirsty youngsters and the giant body parts from the colossal staute of Constantine in the Palazzo dei Conservatori are similarly jaw-dropping and provide an unparalleled photo opportunity.    

Tourists in Rome need to be thick-skinned and cautious as there are numerous touts and hawkers vying for your custom selling sunglasses, tripods, chestnuts, guide-books, plastic swords and silk scarves. The crowds also attract pickpockets and bag snatchers so personal belongings need to be kept securely about your person.

Three days of fairly incessant sight-seeing is enough for anyone and so on our fourth day we headed for the green open space of the Villa Borghese where we hired bikes for a pleasant morning’s cycling with pit stops for capuccini and gelatti.

Technotown 3D Faces

That afternoon we headed out of the city centre to the Villa Torlonia a charming park, albeit that it once housed Mussolini’s Ducal Palace, that is now home to Techno Town – a science-based interactive museum for 11-17 year-olds. Although intended for native Italian speakers the enthusiastic student staff gamely improvised an English tour for Alfred (10) and William (8) who declared this the highlight of our trip. Souvenirs don’t come much better than a life-size 3-D image of your face cut into polystyrene by a robotic drilling arm. Amazingly these were included in the bargain 4 euro admission price.

One of the great joys of visiting Italy is, of course, the food and our M.O. was to avoid the tourist traps in the middle of town and visit the less obvious but welcoming eateries a little further out. Delicious tramezzini (crust-less sandwiches) and cut to order pizza in myriad flavours cost about 2 euros for a generous portion, so eating out needn’t break the bank. A pasta dish in a local restaurant costs about 10 euros and this does all mount up over a family holiday. When in Rome one should certainly do as the Romans do and drink, coffees, beers and soft drinks standing at the bar as this is at least 30% cheaper than table service. n.b. Public lavatories are few and far between in Rome (although conversely excellent drinking water is universally available from ever-flowing drinking fountains) so one needs to opportunist in bars, cafes and museums.

Villa Adriana

Another recommended excursion is a trip out to Tivoli, which takes just under an hour by train, to visit the Villa d’Este and the Villa Adriana. The former is by far the easier to access and consists of a fresco crammed Renaissance villa set in fountain rich water gardens. This is more child-friendly than one might imagine as there is plenty of space to play hide and seek amongst the hedgerows. The Villa Adriana is a short bus ride and a long walk out of Tivoli and (considering it is a UNESCO heritage site) is terribly sign-posted and hard to locate. It is well worth the effort though as here one can see the substantial remains of Hadrian’s personal palaces giving incredible insight into his power and wealth and the might of the Roman Empire. This is a great place to wander casually making new discoveries and is ideal for picnicing so one should really allocate at least half a day for a visit.

A pensione is probably the best bet for family accommodation, although we stayed with our friends Maura and Elena, whose generosity was tested to the limit when our return flight was cancelled due to the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud.

As we were forced to extend our trip we caught a train 70 miles south of Rome to the attractive Mediterranean resort of Sperlonga. Shallow clear water and empty sandy beaches were an ideal tonic after the stress of cancelled flights, and al fresco meals of local seafood soon restored our spirits. Perhaps the optimum week-long break would be to spend 3 days in Rome another 3 in Sperlonga and then have 1 day for a final fling in the Eternal City before departure.

Oh yes. The wine wasn’t bad either. We drank some particularly good organic Nebbiolos from Sicily that Maura and Elena had carefully sourced but that is another story…