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You are here: Home » Food + Drink » Archive » November 2007
Food and Drink Archive: November 2007
A Tough Season for French Vineyards
Bloomberg. Nov. 29 , 2007
Fine weather during the harvest rescued the 2007 vintage for many
French wine producers, who had to contend with summer rain in Bordeaux,
Burgundy and the Loire, hail in part of Alsace and abnormally dry
conditions in Provence. Crop quality should be similar to, or better
than, 2006 in many regions, although the volume may be lower, according
to growers.
>More
Book Review: Smith’s “Questions of Taste - the philosophy of wine”
Times Literary Supplement. November 28, 2007
The authors collected in this book are great champions of
self-improvement, address themselves to questions of subjectivity and
taste, quantifiability and pleasure, perception and its objects, the
role of knowledge and judgement in perceptual discernment, and the
possibility of expertise in the arena of fine wine.
>More
Depp Buys French Vineyard for Girlfriend
Homes.com. Nov. 28, 2007
Film star Johhny Depp has bought his long-term French girlfriend
Vanessa Paradis a vineyard in Plan de la Tour, a 2000-population
village an hour from Saint Tropez, where the couple live in a luxury
villa with their two children. The gift celebrates the release of her
new album. Depp has previously said of living in France: ‘I love the
simple things: the sunrise, the trees, the countryside." It is not
clear what kind of wine the vineyard will produce.
>More
Wine may calm inflammation in blood vessels
Reuters Noc 27, 2007
Adding to evidence that a little wine can do a heart good, a new study
in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that women who
drink moderate amounts may have less inflammation in their blood
vessels.
>More
Sampling the Best Cortons
Bloomberg. Nov. 26, 2007
For a wine with a big reputation, there may be too many Corton
appellations to make it as familiar as other prestigious Burgundies.
The Corton region is spread over 715 acres of France's Cote de Beaune
and produces a generous 1.5 million bottles a year. So the best way to
buy Burgundies, and Cortons in particular, is to stay with the best-
known producers. These would include names like Bouchard Pere et Fils,
Joseph Drouhin, Antonin Guyon, Louis Jadot, Louis Latour, Leroy and
Tollot-Beaut.
>More
The Unstoppable Alain Ducasse
Financial Times. Nov. 23, 2007
At 51, Ducasse is one of the most famous chefs in the world with 27
restaurants strung across the globe from Rio to Singapore. His new
80-seat London restaurant has caused some disappointment, and he has
just been usurped as the world’s most-Michelin-starred chef by fellow
Frenchman Joël Robuchon. But he is opening new restaurants at the St
Regis Hotel in New York and in the Eiffel Tower. He has created a
template for the international fine-dining experience, but he is no
snob. “I like McDonald’s chicken McNuggets with curry sauce,” he tells
the FT.
>More
Russia and China Gobble Champagne
Washington Post. November 24, 2007; D01
French champagne prices in the USA are up 30 % over last year due to
lousy exchange rate, so American sales volumes are expected to tank. On
the other hand, bubbly sales to Russia rose 158 percent and to China by
74 percent in the first six months of the year.
>More
A gastronomic river cruise in France
UK Times. November 24, 2007
Hedonists revel in a three-day river cruise, gorging on old-school
French meals such as foie gras under puff pastry hats, creamy lobster
velouté, and chicken with morel mushrooms, but the 20 Brit and 50
French guests tour in separate buses, and eat at separate tables.
>More
Beaujolais Nouveau That’s Worth a Try
New York Times. Nov. 19, 2007
November 15 is the day that Beaujolais nouveau can legally be sold. New
York Times chief wine critic Eric Asimov confesses he is “not much of a
fan of Beaujolais nouveau. In the hands of the big producers it tends
to be a marketing ploy first and foremost. In the glass, it’s a
cloying, candied affair.” But he has found two excellent Beaujolais
nouveaus -- a 2007 Terre Dorées from Jean-Paul Brun and a Cédric
Vincent -- and among the trash.
>More
Tokyo Garners Most Michelin Stars
Bloomberg. Nov. 19, 2007
The Michelin Guide's inaugural edition for Tokyo awarded 191 stars to
the city’s eateries, the most of any city in the world. The guide gave
three stars (top rating) to five estabishments including Joel Robuchon,
two stars to 25 restaurants, and one star to 117 eateries.
>More
French vintners in snit over warning logo on labels
Washington Post. Nov. 18, 2007
Beginning this month, elegant French wine labels also includes a
mandatory warning - a silhouette of a pregnant woman holding a glass
with the universal red slash mark, meaning "no," across her bulging
belly. At a time when French wines are facing growing competition from
new wine-producing countries, and with domestic wine consumption
dropping, producers are angry at what they see as yet another attack on
their industry.
>More
Top Chef Re-opens Eiffel Tower Restaurant
AP. Nov 17, 2007
Alain Ducasse , one of France's most decorated chefs, is unveiling a
revamped Jules Verne restaurant in the Eiffel Tower in December 2007.
Ducasse and Sodexho, the French catering services giant, took over
management of the tower's restaurants earlier this year. The iconic
Verne restaurant, overlooking Paris from the second level of the
1,024-foot tower, underwent a makeover that Ducasse said he hoped will
attract Parisians and tourists alike.
>More
Artisinal French WineMakers Innovate and Thrive
IHT. Nov.16, 2007
France has an ever-increasing number of passionate artistes-vignerons
who are determined to make great wine - no matter where their vineyards
are. One, Élian Da Ros, uses biodynamics, a form of organic
viticulture, bottles his own wine rather than deliver it to a local
cooperative, and now sells to ambitious wine bars as well as to a Who's
Who of Michelin-starred restaurants.
>More
Germany Has Most Michelin Stars Next to France
Bloomberg. Nov. 14, 2007
The Michelin Guide to Germany elevated three chefs to three-star status
in its 2008 edition, ranking the country second only to France in the
number of restaurants with the highest accolade. The new awards,
bringing the three-star count to nine, may help change perceptions of
dining in Germany, which is rarely viewed as a gourmet paradise.
>More
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