by Paige Donner There’s a lot to love about the Cité du Vin in Bordeaux. 1. The structure : Divine Photo by Paige Donner © FoodWine.photography 2. The infrastructure : modern, lots of digital technology, full of bells and whistles. Photo by Paige Donner © FoodWine.photography But the elephant in the room is the…
Veuillez dîner au Château d’Yquem à Sauternes?
by Paige Donner When the gold-enclosed invitation first arrived, my initial thought was, ‘I need to frame this.’ It’s a dreams-do-come-true moment when you find yourself sitting down to dinner at the mythic Château d’Yquem in Bordeaux’s Sauternes region in the company of about 400 other invited black-tie guests. photo by Paige Donner copyright 2019 …
Episode 46: Eulogy to Dad, Notre Dame, Clos St. Patrice, Cuverie des Ursulines, Clarendelle
by Paige Donner This episode of Paris GOODfood+wine, April 2019 is dedicated to my father, Eugene Martin Donner. He passed away on April 11th. It was his love and passion for life, and his appreciation for fine wines and good food that started me on this path discovering exceptional terroirs of the world. Thank you,…
Episode 42: The Feast Is In The First Bite – Chefs Ludo Lefebvre & Nina Métayer
Originally posted on Chérie Du Vin:
by Paige Donner The feast is in the first bite. I came across this phrase recently listening to a science program on the radio about how human taste buds function. Click on the Above Picture or HERE TO LISTEN TO THE PODCAST It was scientifically explained that in…
Alice Waters – L’Art de la Cuisine Simple
Originally posted on Local Food And Wine:
West Coast USA’s culinary ambassador of slow food never went to a cooking school. Instead, Alice Waters taught herself by doing, by watching and by absorbing. Her sojourns in France, namely in Nantes and en Provence, were also great leaps of culinary evolution for this auto-didact. Now, in…
Oh For The Pleasure of Wine…
by Paige Donner There’s a new sheriff in town… Or, well that’s what it felt like anyway at the brilliant wine dinner hosted by Oenoteam, a wine consultancy based in Libourne, Bordeaux, France. The dinner was organized here in Paris in the understated chic neighborhood of the 7th arrondissement in the fabulous Atelier Eiffel. …
Episode 41: Natural Wines, Wine Calling and Sustainable Seafood podcast by Paige Donner
by Paige Donner LISTEN TO EPISODE 41 of Paris GOODfood+wine HERE Standard Definition: Natural wine is wine made with minimal chemical and technological intervention, both in growing grapes and making them into wine. The term is used to distinguish such wine from organic wine and biodynamic wine because of differences in cellar practices. This…
Soupçon de Graman – Crémant de Bordeaux
by Paige Donner Harvested by hand this dry rosé, full of bubbles which exhibit finesse and fine acumen, makes a good showing for the rising star of Crémant de Bordeaux. The vines are cultivated in Landerrouat, an appellation bordering on the Southwest of France that is authorized to make AOC Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur and Crémant de Bordeaux….
Episode 36: 2017 Bordeaux, Chef Sylvestre Wahid & Boneshaker Doughnuts Paris
by Paige Donner Episode 36 Paris GOODfood+wine For our April in Paris Goodfood+wine show, we take you this month to the city’s first freshmade doughnut shop, Boneshaker Doughnuts; we bring you with us on a tête-a-tête with a 3rd generation Bordeaux château wine expert who tells us about her 2017s just in time for En…
French Wines With Soul Château Coutet AOC Barsac and Deux Sauternes
by Paige Donner Christmastime is the perfect time to enjoy a bottle of AOC Barsac, a French appellation devoted to the production of sweet wine, with a distinguishing accent of freshness. Château Coutet is one of the region’s outstanding wine producers and what’s more, this French wine has soul. Mind you, many French wines do. Have…
a flask of Chateau Haut-Brion wine
by Paige Donner (all photos copyright 2017 Paige Donner) As Bordeaux’s very first wine château, is it any wonder that Haut-Brion still ranks with such stature in the world’s profile of wines and wine estates? Well, a measured answer would be both yes, and no. It’s not a given that a wine or a wine estate with…
La Mission Haut-Brion, A Château With True Soul
by Paige Donner (all photos copyright 2017) Château La Mission Haut-Brion’s chapel for me sums up the essence of the property. It has been for centuries, and still is, a family home. A home where people have worshipped, where they have begun their lives and taken their last breaths, where meals have been shared, verses…
Dinner At Château Latour Bordeaux Grand Cru Classé en 1855
Bordeaux, June 18, 2017 by Paige Donner (all photos copyright 2017) On a hot summer evening in the Médoc’s Pauillac, Bordeaux guests arriving for the 1855 Grands Crus Classés dinner held this year at Château Latour were greeted with a marching Scottish-sounding band and flutes of Roederer champagne (who happens to own the closest neighboring…
From Bordeaux to Château Margaux
All photos by Paige Donner copyright 2015 I’ll close with a quote from Oscar Wilde, that great lover of our wines, who remarked quite rightly: “The French are so proud of their wine that they have even named some cities after their great growths.” From Bordeaux to Margaux, he couldn’t have put it better… –…
Episode 16 GOOD food+wine
by Paige Donner This episode 16 of Paris GOOD food+wine focuses on Wine Tourism in two of France’s most famous wine regions: Burgundy and Bordeaux. To round out our show this month, Episode 16 of Paris GOOD food + wine, I was able to catch up with Wine Spectator’s sr. Editor, James Molesworth, as he…
From Paris to Bordeaux And Back Again
by Paige Donner This episode of GOODfood+wine airing on World Radio Paris is all about Bordeaux. Well, nearly. In honor of the bi-annual Bordeaux Vinexpo extravaganza (opento the trade only) we did some pre-tasting at two of Bordeaux’s most prestigious chateaux – Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande and Château Lafleur. And there I spoke…
What Tops Wine Tasting in Pauillac & Pomerol…?
by Paige Donner What Tops Wine Tasting in Pauillac & Pomerol…? Wine tasting with Dad in Pauillac and Pomerol! FULL SLIDESHOW of BOTH CHATEAUX HERE (All photos by Paige Donner © 2015) These two châteaus, Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande on Bordeaux’s Left Bank and Château Lafleur on Bordeaux’s Right Bank are two of…
Bordeaux Nibbles And Fresh Markets
Originally posted on Local Food And Wine:
by Paige Donner Bordeaux is the ideal-sized city to just wander around. In this sense, it is a bite-sized city that still offers enough funky and charming little neighborhoods to give you the feeling that you are exploring. Chartrons is the traditional wine district of Bordeaux where, during the…
Bordeaux’s Musée du Vin et Du Négoce
Originally posted on Local Food And Wine:
By Paige Donner Read Full Article on Bordeaux Food And Wine Bordeaux’s Musée du Vin et Du Négoce is resplendent in its devotion to the history of this region’s cause celèbre; it is humble in its presentation; and it is welcoming in the way it greets its guests. A…
Bar á Vin, Bordeaux
Originally posted on Local Food And Wine:
Bar á Vin, THE wine bar in Bordeaux, is shamelessly easy to find and as user-friendly as an iPod app. If you’re even a little bit like me, Bordeaux is, well, it’s intimidating. It is the heart and epicenter of W I N E. In La France. Are…
2016 Right Bank Bordeaux’s + Margaux Silky Tannins
by Paige Donner The first question I asked Oenoteam’s Stephane Toutoundji after tasting some 40 of his 2016’s- primarily from Pomerol and St. Emilion – was, Are these silky tannins yours and your enologists’ influence or is it the signature of the 2016’s? His quick answer to me was that it’s 2016 for Right Bank…
Cap Ferret-Sand Dunes, Oyster Beds And The Untamed Atlantic Ocean
Far from the snooty reputation it has garnered in the past decade, since celebrities like Marion Cotillard and Philippe Starck have snapped up houses in this sequestered and chic enclave on the French Atlantic Coast, Cap Ferret is natural, rugged and oozing with a shabby chic unpretentiousness. ALL photos by Paige Donner ©2016 If…
Ha(a)itza, Pyla-sur-Mer (Bassin d’Arcachon)
THE place to be in Bordeaux this summer is at Ha(a)itza, just by the beach in the Bassin d’Arcachon. More than just a brand new 5* Star, Starck-designed hotel, this is a full-blown by-the-beach resort that transforms the exclusive upscale enclave that is Pyla-sur-Mer into a destination getaway ranked in the category of world-class. Bordeaux…
Marché des Capucins Bordeaux
Summer is of course the best time for fresh stone fruits, melons and vegetables. But any time of year is a great time to visit this covered fresh market, a Bordelais institution. If you go at mealtime or during the afternoon when an afternoon snack is in order, be sure to find the stalls serving…
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT 2015 BORDEAUX?
I’ll tell you what the big deal is – this is clearly a vintage to rival the already-legendary 2010. The Association de Grand Crus Classés de Saint-Emilion held its annual wine tasting yesterday at Paris’s Shangri-La Hotel. Nearly all of the 63 producers present were pouring their 2010’s side-by-side with their 2015’s. That’s how bright…
