November 16, 2008
Join Fine Wine for an extraordinary and unforgettable evening discovering the region’s wines and foods. We have selected wines which are the greatest ambassadors to the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia — the closest wine regions to Venice — Prosecco, Amarone, Soave, Piccolit to name but a few. We will concentrate on wines made from the local authocthonous grape varieties paired to local food dishes prepared using only the best and freshest local ingredients. This private dinner will take place in a beautiful Venetian palazzo, with the finest plates and glassware from the island of Murano. The dinner is hosted by a knowledgeable expert and the price includes accommodation at the palazzo (one night), breakfast, and dinner. Join us for an intelligent but hedonistic evening. Email us at venice@finewinepress.com for more details.
Click HERE for more details
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October 28, 2008
An organisation which has brought together people who both physically and spiritually make their living from being part of the Gironde estuary. They offer visitors the opportunity to enjoy this beautiful natural landscape. You can visit one of the islands, an historic lighthouse, or a riverside restaurant. You can stay on one of the charming rooms of a riverside Château , travel on a boat use a water taxi or even go sailing. For those with an interest in the natural environment coupled with good food and wine, of course. They can organise special packages for you too.
Gens de estuaire
www.gensdeestuaire.com
gensdeestuaire@gmail.com
Tel: +33 5 56 59 09 34
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September 13, 2007
Ten minutes from Epernay, this old coach house dominates the vineyard. The rooms, some of them just redecorated, have views of the vineyards and forest. Gourmet restaurant (Philippe Augé).
Bellevue
51160 Champillon
France
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September 13, 2007
This luxury residence set in a 17-acre park offers spacious, richly decorated rooms. Visits to the kitchens and cellar can be arranged. The restaurant, run by chef Didier Elena, is the best in Reims.
64 boulevard Henry Vasnier
Reims, 51100 France
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February 6, 2007
Château Audrieu
The chateau of Audrieu, as you see it today, dates from the beginning of the 18th century, but its history goes back to the time of William the Conqueror.
The Lord Percy, family of the Dukes of Northumberland, was the first ruler of these lands. He was the personal chef of William the Conqueror and it was said that he distinguished himself at the Battle of Hastings when he felled a few Saxons with a colander spoon and for this he was dubbed a baron.
It was he who among other things founded the Abbey of Juaye-Mondaye, five kilometers away from Audrieu. It would appear that, at Audrieu itself, his residence was extremely modest: it was a feudal «motte» or mound of which the site still exists on the far side of the road, beyond the avenue. A few years ago excavations disclosed the exact plan of the building. It was a half timbered building surrounded by a deep moat, and enclosing a vast court-yard and a few serfs’ hovels.
Only at the end of the end of the 15th century did the family who remained in Normandy replace the feudal «motte» with a proper castle, of which there remains an outbuilding and the two existing wings of the chateau, refurbished after the fashion of the day, when the central building was constructed in the 18th century.
Subsequently the Norman branch of the Percys died out and it passed by marriage to Guillaume de Séran, Lord of Audrieu, Saint-Pierre Canivet, La Tour au Gras, Saint-Loup, Mandeville and other places. His fief of Audrieu was created a Barony, by letters patent from Louis XIII dated 1615 and which are preserved in the archives of the Château Audrieu.
During the French revolution, Audrieu was confiscated by the Revolutionary Government, and put up for sale (the public notice dated 9 Floréal An 3, also in the archives, is evidence of this). With the Restoration, the property was recovered, although the arms on the pediment of the Chateau had disappeared. Today Audrieu has these arms as a symbol (on the left, those of the Percys, and on the right, of the Sérans, with a Baron’s coronet ). Camille Léonor was the last Séran, Baron of Audrieu. The present owners are a direct descendant of his daughter Henriette.
Like the feudal «motte» during the Hundred Years’ War, the present day Château was very nearly destroyed at the time of the Normandy landings in 1944. For six weeks, it was in no-man’s land between enemy lines, and repeatedly attacked by the British and Canadians from one side, and by a German Panzer division from the other. It was hit by twenty-seven 105mm shells. Several anti-tank shells shot it through and through. But Caen stone proved tougher, the building resisted valiantly to the punishment, and there are now only a few traces of the damage from that period.
However, many trees were seriously damaged during these engagements and had to be cut down, and many of those which remain were riddled with shell splinters. Some shrapnel penetrated the wood to a depth of 40 centimeters.
The Château has a long and varied history and now serves to welcome visitors from around the world to this beautiful and historic part of France.
[Menu] [Wine list]
Credit cards accepted
CB, Visa, Amex, Master card, Diners
Why stay here?
Because you are close to Calvados where you can taste apple brandies and ciders
The most expensive wine on the list
Château Mouton Rothschild 1989, 928€
Oldest wine on the list
Cahors Clos Triguedina 1976
Cheapest wine on the list
Muscadet Vieilles vignes 2005, Domaine Leroux, 19€
St Nicolas de Bourgueil 2003, Alain Lorieux
Wines by the glass?
Yes.
Size of the cellar
6000 bottles and 750 labels
In the know…
The main lounge is very bright and there’s an excellent view of the parc of the Château
Looking the part
Casual during the day but people like to dress for dinner.
Bar talk
The very confortable bar with comfortable sofas and tables.
Guillaume, their barman, will advise on their selection of whiskies or a glass of Champagne and perhaps later on, you can enjoy a very old Calvados or a cigar from Cuba or San Domingo.
Languages spoken
English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German
Do not go if…
..You are in a hurry and if you don’t like the countryside
Do go if…
You are in Normandy for a few days and you like 18th century architecture. Jollity and elegance are the adjectives to describe the place.
Ingestion
Cyril Haberland offers a well-balanced, innovative, seasonal and modern cuisine with top quality local products. The restaurant is open every evening except on Monday and open for lunch on Saturday and Sunday. They can open for a special lunchtime group during the week for party with a minimum of 10 persons.
Menu selections
Caramelized duck foie gras, andouille, Jerusalem artichokes cream; Local scallops cooked “à la plancha”, chestnuts juice and black truffle;
Norman veal rib cooked in stock, polenta with local hard cheese and basil; butter biscuits, milk chocolate – chestnuts and black truffle sorbet
No. of rooms
25 rooms plus 4 suites
Prices
$$
Closures
From December 9th to February 3th.
Take a tour by clicking on this link… or on any of the images below.
Chateau Audrieu
14250 Audrieu (Normandie)
France
Tel : +33 (0)2 31 80 21 52
Fax : +33 (0)2 31 80 24 73
audrieu@relaischateaux.com
www.chateaudaudrieu.com
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November 23, 2006
Daniel Cathiard, founder of the Go Sport chain, and Florence Cathiard, Vice-President of McCann Europe, started a new life by buying Château Smith Haut Lafitte. They started work on renovating the château, known as the “sleeping beauty of the Graves”. They installed two underground cellars, reintroduced traditional vineyard management methods (e.g. no chemical weedkiller), and set up their own cooperage.
The Caudalie cosmetics venture was launched in September 1993. Mathilde Cathiard-Thomas and her husband, Bertrand, were taking part in the harvest at Smith Haut Lafitte when they met the head of the Bordeaux Pharmacognosy Laboratory, who was visiting the estate. When he saw a heap of skins and seeds about to be thrown away, he remarked that they were wasting “a veritable treasure!”. In fact, grape seeds contain polyphenols, active substances capable of fighting free radicals much more effectively than vitamin E. Free radicals, generated by daylight, cigarette smoke, pollution, and stress, are responsible for 80% of skin ageing phenomena.
Mathilde and Bertrand were thus the first to have the idea of using
stabilised grape seed polyphenols in cosmetics and created the Caudalie
range in August 1994.
“Caudalie”, a term borrowed from wine-tasting, describes the persistence
of a wine on the palate: the longer a wine’s aftertaste, the higher its
“caudalie” rating.
Hot springs
Florence and Daniel Cathiard observed that a low-lying area in the
vineyard produced lower-quality grapes than the rest. A water diviner
was called in and discovered a natural spring in that spot. Analyses revealed that, 540 metres underground, there was a naturally hot spring with a high concentration of minerals and trace elements. This discovery facilitated the development of the first Vinothérapie® Spa in the world. Internationally-renowned Caudalie products are used together with water from the hot spring in a series of treatments devised by Mathilde and Bertrand Thomas.
The sub-standard vineyard was pulled up to make room for a luxury
“hotel de charme” alongside the Spa, opened in June 1999: Les Sources
de Caudalie.
[Menu] [Wine list]
Credit cards accepted
CB, Visa, Amex, Master Card, Diners
Why stay here?
Because it’s right in the heart of the world’s finest wine region and it’s good for you!
The most expensive wine on the list
La Romanée Conti - Dom. De la Romanée Conti, 1996 (red) €5382. Château Haut-Brion, cru classé de Graves, 2001 (white) €940
Oldest wine on the list
Château Smith Haut Lafitte, cru classé de Graves, 1878. €1450
Cheapest wine on the list
Château Lehoul, 2003. €31 (Graves, red).
Saumur - Domaine de Fosse Sèche, 2004. €29 (Loire, white)
Wines by the glass?
Yes.
Size of the cellar
15,000 bottles
In the know…
The rooms in the Lièvre are the most charming.
Looking the part
Casual during the day but people like to dress for dinner.
Bar talk
The French Paradox bar, with its polished parquet floor and deep leather armchairs, is a cosy, charming haven devoted to wine. La Tour des Cigares is the last stop on our tour of the gracious vineyard lifestyle. Enjoy the best Havana cigars and old Cognacs in this British-Cuban club overlooking the glorious vineyards of Château Smith Haut Lafitte.
Languages spoken
Yes.
Do not go if…
..you haven’t much time. This is a place to relax and enjoy the facilities.
Do go if…
You’re in the area for more than a few days
Ingestion
La Grand Vigne, inspired by 18th-century glasshouses, overlooks a pond where the incessant ballet of elegant swans contributes to the enchanting atmosphere. Franck Salein offers two completely different types of cuisine, both featuring subtle harmonies: The “Gourmande” menu is the epitome of sensual pleasure and its lighter counterpart, “Aux Sources de la Minceur”, may be low in calories (under 500 Kcal per meal) but is no less flavourful.
La Grand’Vigne is open from Wednesday lunch to Sunday dinner.
La Table du Lavoir, an authentic country inn built with beams from the famous cellars at Château Lafite Rothschild, serves complex, exciting “bistrot” cuisine. Everything is reminiscent of the time when grape-pickers from Martillac used to do their washing in a similar structure, even down to the laundry beaters used to display the menus.
Menu selections
Lobster with avocado sorbet and melon dressing; Sole and shellfish, young leeks, Aquitaine’s caviar cream; Cocotte of John Dory fish, baby potatoes and onions with foie gras dices; Pyrenees’ lamb, tomato tart with fresh goat cheese and basil; Hot chocolate “soufflé” and “crème brulée” with pear sorbet.
No. of rooms
40 rooms plus 9 suites
Prices
$$$
Closures
Open all year
Take a tour by clicking on this link… or on any of the images below.
Chemin de Smith Haut Lafitte
33650 Bordeaux-Martillac
France
Tel : +33 (0)5 57 83 83 83
Fax : +33 (0)5 57 83 83 84
sources@sources-caudalie.com
www.sources-caudalie.com
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