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You are here: Home » Food + Drink » Archive » December 2007-1
Food and Drink Archive: December 2007-1
Food and Drink Archive: Dec. 1-19, 2007
2005 Bordeaux Tasting: A Great Vintage
WineSpectator. Dec. 19, 2007
The Wine Spectator’s critic tasted close to 900 young 2005 Bordeaux
wines during a 12-day trip to France. “What a vintage. I can't believe
all the wonderful wines, from first growths like Margaux and Haut-Brion
to simple petite châteaux, or even wine merchants’ blends. It the sign
of a great vintage when quality is high across the board. Moreover, the
dry and sweet whites are excellent.”
> More
Marseilles: a Bouillabaisse Odyssey
TraveandLeisure. Dec. 18, 2007
Marseilles has one of europe’s most picturesque harbors, a vibrant
street life, and a pretty cool soccer team. Its number one tourist
attraction, however, is bouillabaisse,
a Provençal fish boil teeming with up to six kinds of poisson, served
in two courses and enlivened by the garlicky smack of rouille, a
terracotta-hued mayonnaise.
> More
Pernod Ricard to Buy Stoli Vodka
Forbes. Dec. 18, 2007
French drinks group Pernod Ricard is close to deal to take over full
rights to the Russian vodka brand Stolichnaya, for 1 billion euros
($1.45 billion).
> More
Hennessy releases €150,000 Cognac
Decanter. Dec. 17, 2007
Hennessy has released a new Cognac cuvee for the record price of
€150,000. Beauté du Siècle Hennessy Cognac is a limited edition blend
which comes in a Baccarat crystal bottle, housed in a special chest. It
was blended by cellar master Yann Fillioux from Hennessy reserves which
are up to 100 years old.
> More
Snail caviar anyone?
AFP. Dec 15, 2007
Snail’s egg caviar may sound like a challenge to the taste buds, but
the salty, pink-white delicacy could be gracing hundreds of French
tables this Christmas. A couple of snail farmers from Soissons, in the
Picardie region northeast of Paris, found a way to roll two delicacies
into one: their snail caviar, called "De Jaeger", hit the shelves in
October. The Pierrus recommend serving the caviar on a sliver of toast,
at room temperature, lightly peppered with a touch of sour cream - and
naturally a glass of chilled champagne.
> More
A requiem for Bordeaux
GlobeandMail. December 15, 2007
Wine Spectator magazine's cover story on the top-100 wines of 2007
reads like a eulogy for Bordeaux - and a triumph for the Rhône. An
update from an appelation which some critics feel has become better at
cultivating dollars and gullible trophy-label hunters than grapes.
> More
Spain's “ethical foie gras” has French flapping
AFP. Dec. 15, 2007
Spanish farmer Eduardo Sousa cannot cope with the worldwide demand this
holiday season for his "ethical" foie gras, produced without
force-feeding the geese -- a success he puts down to a French outcry
over his methods. When he won an award at a Paris food salon last year,
French producers protested, arguing that "foie gras" must come from the
traditional "gavage" or force-feeding method. The publicity that
generated led to massive orders this year.
> More
Interviw with Chef Pierre Gagnaire
Japan Times.Dec. 14, 2007
For one of the world's most illustrious chefs, Pierre Gagnaire keeps a
remarkably low profile. On a recent visit to his Japanese restaurant
Pierre Gagnaire a Tokyo, the chef broke his customary aversion to the
media to meet with The Japan Times. He nots how French “haute cuisine”
is doing well and there are many very good restaurants, but “cuisine
modeste” is not in good health.
> More
Tap water beats top designer brands in taste test
Decanter. December 14, 2007
A glass of British tap water has been rated superior to mineral waters costing thousands of times as much in a blind tasting.
Decanter magazine's tatsting panel voted the tap water supplied by utility company Thames Water third best out of 24 waters. French bottled water Vittel placed second, Evian 15th, and Volvic 20th. Editor Guy Woodward said the tasting demonstrated the 'outrageous' prices charged for mineral waters.
> More
Police question Beaujolais five in illegal sugar probe
Decanter. Dec. 13, 2007
Police suspect about 70 French wine growers or wine co-operative
members of adding the sugar to their unfermented wine musts to bring
alcohol levels above official set limits. Five people suspected of
involvement in the supply of the sugar, including a truck driver and a
retired wine grower, were taken in for questioning last week by police.
> More
Best Wine Bargains of 2007
FoodandWine. Dec. 13, 2007
A selection of the year’s top wines, representing a wide range of
regions and grape varieties, from Lebanese reds to Mâconnais whites.
> More
The Rise of Rosé Champagne.
New York Times. Dec. 12, 2007
In 2006 more than 1.9 million bottles of rosé Champagne were exported
from France to the United States, up from 227,336 bottles in 2005,
according to Office of Champagne, USA, a trade organization. The pink
stuff was once scorned but now is in great demand, and costs more than
regular champagne. Here are some holiday recommendations.
> More
China set to move up in rankings of world wine consumers
Decanter. Dec. 12, 2007
China and Hong Kong will be the eighth biggest wine consumer in the
world by 2012, according to research commissioned by Vinexpo. At
present France and Italy, with 12.7% and 12.6% of the world market
respectively, are the world's top consumers. France is still the
biggest supplier of wine to Asia, but Australia, Chile and the US are
rapidly increasing their market share.
> More
French Winemakers consider plastic bottles
Decanter. Dec. 11, 2007
Bordeaux wine producer Castel has said it will consider using plastic
bottles if the glass supply problem continues. Concerns about bottle
supply in 2008 are mounting. 'If supply difficulties persist, and
prices increase, we could imagine replacing glass bottles with PET
[polyethylene terephthalate] ones,' said Castel Group's communications
director.
> More
Robert Parker: Rhone wine recommendations
Businessweek. December 9, 2007
Côtes du Rhône wines sit at the bottom of France's Rhône Valley
hierarchy. Perhaps that's because a lot of the wines made there are
oxidized, overly alcoholic, and just plain out of balance. Even so,
some worthy wines are produced in the region. Here are a few of them,
all ready to drink upon release; they go well with a wide variety of
cuisines.
> More
China and rap stars drive Cognac boom
UK Telegraph. Dec. 8, 2007
The price of cognac, once an unfashionable drink associated with portly
businessmen in expensive restaurants, has risen by as much as 350pc,
driven by a surge of popularity for the drink in China and a cool image
promoted by rap stars such as P Diddy. Over the past year a record 163m
bottles of the increasingly trendy brandy were sold, according to the
French National Cognac Board.
>More
French Cuisine on the Space Shuttle
AFP. Dec. 7, 2007
Quails cooked by star French chef Alain Ducasse are among the 10 items
on the menu for the seven crew due to take off on the US space shuttle
Atlantis this weekend. Ducasse is supplying the gourmet fare as part of
an agreement with the European Space Agency and France's CNES space
centre.
>More
Absinthe Is Back
Time. Dec. 6, 2007
After nearly a century-long ban on absinthe in the U.S., a federal
agency has begrudgingly allowed two European distillers to sell the
mysterious liquor Stateside. Renowned for its supposedly hallucinogenic
effects, the anise-flavored alcohol was rumored to have caused an
epidemic of psychosis in France in the late 1800s.
>More
Dinner Etiquette in France
Condé Nast Traveler. Dec. 5, 2007
France gave us the word etiquette and faux pas. Getting along in this
ancient European culture is relatively simple. You just need to play by
the rules. Chef André Soltner, a dean at the French Culinary Institute
and longtime chef at the famed Lutèce, tells us how to navigate a
French dinner.
>More
Ethical foie gras hits shops for Christmas
Telegraph. Dec 1, 2007
The first "ethical" foie gras to be made in Britain is being launched
by supermarket chain Waitrose next week. The so-called “faux gras”
goose liver and duck liver pates have been made without the traditional
French method of force-feeding the birds, which animal rigths activists
condemn as cruel.
>More
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