blog
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Paris Visual Gallery
Take a look at these breathtaking photos of France as the Tour de France passes through! Read More... -
Gilles in France February 2020 | Epilogue
The last 2 weeks in France certainly felt like a roller coaster for me. Starting with a deep plunge straight from the Charles de Gaulle Airport into the heart of Paris. Read More... -
Gilles in France February 2020 | Dordogne
From early 1920, the Monteil family was a company who employed mushroom harvesters to collect wild mushrooms, they paid them after delivery and weighting. Read More... -
Gilles in France February 2020 | Aquitaine
South-West of France in the Aquitaine region there is a delight to the eyes (and the palet), the Bovetti Chocolate factory. Read More... -
Gilles in France February 2020 | Auvergne part 3
The Livradois cheese makers company has been a family-run business for 3 generations that keeps alive the traditional dairy and farm production of many Auvergne cheeses. Read More... -
Gilles in France February 2020 | Auvergne part 2
At 7.30am, I met Jean Baptiste from the Jeune Montagne Dairy Cooperative at the local square by the Aubrac Bull. And of course... Read More... -
Gilles in France February 2020 | Auvergne
La Société Laitière de Laqueuille is were Mr Antoine Roussel first discovered the process of growing and developing a bleu mould and introduce it inside a cheese in 1820. Read More... -
Gilles in France February 2020 | Maison Fossier
It is difficult not to spend all my time visiting and tasting the famous prestigious labels when visiting Reims, the capital of champagne. Read More... -
Gilles in France February 2020 | Rungis International Food Market
“ If you want to see something interesting come early “ said my contact in Rungis. I can drive you inside the market, just call me when you arrive at the Station Read More... -
Gilles in France February 2020 | Confrerie Dinner
Last night I had dinner at La Guilde Internationale des Fromagers - Confrérie de Saint-Uguzon. The event took place at the Musée du Vin ... Read More... -
Gilles in France February 2020 | Salon du Fromage
Gilles Mereau has gone to France to meet cheee producer and bring back new cheeses! Follow his journey around France! Read More... -
JC in France January 2020 | Epilogue
Epilogue | Last day of tastings before heading off to Paris to catch up my flight to NZ! Emilie will be staying few days with my Mum before catching up with her sister Read More... -
JC in France January 2020 | Day 14
Day 14 | We are coming to an end of our tour! We won’t be going further South than Valence on this trip. Read More... -
JC in France January 2020 | Day 13
Day 13 | Oulala! Much colder this morning – A nasty Northern wind going down the Rhone Valley! I got the good news overnight that my TGV has been confirmed. Read More... -
JC in France January 2020 | Day 12
Day 12 | We were saying this morning how lucky we have been with the weather! It is cold but no sign of rain or even worse snow! Read More... -
JC in France January 2020 | Day 11
Day 11 | SAD NEWS! Michel Lafarge, a leading vigneron in Burgundy, died a few days ago at the age of 91. Read More... -
JC in France January 2020 | Day 10
Day 10 | Mr Donald Trump is on everyone lips and mind at the moment as he’s threatening to put the import tax for French wines up Read More... -
JC in France January 2020 | Day 9
Day 9 | Our third day in Burgundy and the weather forecast is for beautiful blue sky. I must admit it makes a huge difference to go through the full day of tastings ... Read More... -
JC in France January 2020 | Day 8
Day 8 |Beautiful blue sky this morning! Coolish of course (4degrees) but should warm up a bit during the day. Read More... -
JC in France January 2020 | Day 7
Day 7 | We are still in the Jura wine region for the day after the most amazing day yesterday in the village of ‘Les Rousses’. Read More... -
JC in France January 2020 | Day 6
Day 6 | After a good night sleep and an healthy breakfast we head towards the hills. At the heart of the Natural Park of the haut Jura, Les Rousses Read More... -
JC in France January 2020 | Day 5
Day 5 | Still in Chablis this morning but checking out from our modest but very adequate Hotel Le Moulin de la Coudre. First time I stayed there but I will stay again. Read More... -
JC in France January 2020 | Day 4
Day 4 | Very depressing day on the weather front – Wet, cold and foggy! BUT on the work sheet some of my favourite Chablis producers and the very best of the Appellation! Read More... -
JC in France January 2020 | Day 3
Day 3 | Beautiful morning! Cold but blue sky. We did then the long drive (over four hours) from Alsace to Chablis. Read More... -
JC in France January 2020 | Day 2
Day 2 | Jet lag? What jet lag? Too many things to do, people to see and so many wines to taste! Our three best Alsatian producers are on the sheet today – A real treat. Read More... -
JC in France January 2020 | Day 1
JC has gone to France for the annual buying trip, this time accompanied by Emilie! Follow them on a journey around France! Read More... -
Famille de Boel France
New kids in the cellar! Just landed 'Les Voraces' which is virtually a stone throw from the orginal Maison Vauron Read More... -
Scott in France June 2019 | Final Day
A couple more visits this morning before we hop on the train back to Paris. First up a new one (under wraps), great wines and not just the fizzy stuff, Read More... -
Scott in France June 2019 | Day 12
The penultimate day, I’m starting to tire, luckily we only have a couple of appointments. Another one of those beautiful no cloud days which made for a glorious drive Read More... -
Scott in France June 2019 | Day 11
Champagne here we come. Most people don’t realise that the Cote de Bar in Southern Champagne is closer to Dijon in Burgundy than Reims. Read More... -
Scott in France June 2019 | Day 10
What a beautiful morning, not a breath of wind or a cloud in the sky. As we drove north to Vosne Romanee with the Cote and vines to our left it was hard not smile, it felt perfect Read More... -
Scott in France June 2019 | Day 9
Really looking forward to today and not the least because we start at one of my favourites, and that’s Jean-Marie Fourrier in Gevrey-Chambertin. Read More... -
Scott in France June 2019 | Day 8
Overcast and chilly, Lydias “I told you to bring more warm clothes“ is ringing in my ears.We’re starting in Rully on the Côte Chalonnaise Read More... -
Scott in France June 2019 | Day 7
It’s a public holiday in France today so only one appointment. An absolute joy to drive and quite eerie as the roads are completely empty. Read More... -
Scott in France June 2019 | Day 6
What a beautiful morning blue skies not a breath of wind or a cloud to be seen. In fact you can clearly see Mont Blanc and the Alps more than 250km away . Read More... -
Scott in France June 2019 | Day 5
A cool but fine day and we’re off to Chermette. Here we meet up with Pierre-Marie, Martine and their son Jean-Etienne Read More... -
Scott in France June 2019 | Day 4
Stayed the night at le Pres de Moulin in Serignan-du-Comtat, beautiful, plus a very good meal. Read More... -
Scott in France June 2019 | Day 3
A beautiful Mediterranean morning, the sky couldn’t be more blue, and a lovely breakfast with Anne and Francois Read More... -
Scott in France June 2019 | Day 2
On the road early, we have to cover a lot of miles today starting with Ch Negly at La Clape. Read More... -
Scott in France June 2019 | Day 1
After a dreadful arrival day at CDG, Lydia, Gavin and I made it to Banyuls-sur-Mer. Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 - Vidéo with Jean-Christophe
Thank you to everyone that followed #jcinfrance, if you’re just tuning in you can discover his whole journey on our blog and social pages. Merci et à bientôt! Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 | Day 16: End of tour
We’ve finished our first trip for 2019 (Scott will be heading back to France towards the end of May for the second round). We are extremely pleased how things went and hoping to have secured some pretty amazing new domaines. Watch this space! Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 | Day 15
The Loire Valley is an enormous appellation stretching from the village of Sancerre at the Eastern side to the Atlantic Ocean on the Western side. Which means of course more time in the car and less winery visits. This is our last day of tastings Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 | Day 14
It's Sunday and we have no winery visits. Unfortunately the weather has turned into rain (the first time actually since we have arrived). It is not terribly cold but they have predicted some snow for next week. Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 | Day 13
First up we head to the village of St-Jus-sur-Dive which is a good drive from where we are staying - pretty much following the Loire River, and a catch up with Romain from Domaine Guiberteau. Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 | Day 12
Our first stop was at Domaine Champalou in the village of Vouvray, alongside the Loire river. Celine with her parents Catherine and Didier run this estate producing almost exclusively the white wine of this part of the Loire: Chenin Blanc. Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 | Day 11
Another cool sunny morning takes us to our first visit of the day where we met with Sebastien at Domaine Dampt. Another family business run by father Daniel and sons Sebastien and Vincent producing exclusively Chablis wines. Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 | Day 10
This morning we head towards the Cotes de Beaune and more particularly the village of Volnay – going the circuitous route via the lovely villages of Pommard but also Meursault and Puligny-Montrachet. We were meeting with Thomas Boulay in Volnay. Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 | Day 9
We have a big day ahead with five winery visits, all on the Cote d'Or. It is pruning season here at the moment and dotted all over the vineyards you see little curls of smoke rising into the sky: many of them still use the old method of burning their prunings Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 | Day 8
We hit the road for Burgundy and an hour and a half later saw us at our first visit of the day in the village of Fixin (very close to Gevrey-Chambertin) at - hopefully at some point in the future - a new domaine for us, Domaine Denis Berthaut. Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 | Day 7
Early start on the road this morning as we headed towards the Northern Rhone. We have about 1h30 of driving into the land of Syrah. Our first visit is at Equis based just outside Tain Hermitage, where we met with Thomas! Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 | Day 6
Saturday morning sees us bright and early at the doors of Domaine Gerin, our only visit today as we're spending the remainder of the weekend with my family, where they have been wine merchants since 1879! Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 | Day 5
The Mistral, the Mistral and still the Mistral… You can easily appreciate why this wind can drive people nuts! We have our first meeting with a negociant in Chateuneuf-du-Pape where we buy our supermarket brand 'Leon Perdigal'. Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 | Day 4
The Mistral is still blowing from the North the 100kph winds – we're wrapping up well today. Our first visit is to the Appellation of Beaumes de Venise where we are meeting with Thierry and Marina, owners of Domaine de la Pigeade. Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 | Day 3
After a quick breakfast with the Fayard (Ch Sainte-Marguerite), we drove early morning to Domaine Hermitage St-Martin, owned and run by Enzo, the middle son of the Fayard. It is based near the Provençal village of Cuers Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 | Day 2
Chateau Roubine is one of only 18 domaines to have the Cru Classé status in the predominantly rosé area of Provence. We spent part of the morning re-visiting their vineyards, along with the newly equipped winery. Read More... -
JC in France January 2019 | Day 1
For my first buying trip in 2019, I was lucky enough to persuade my wife to join me. We arrived in Nice to the most beautiful weather – We were able to have lunch on a terrace next to the Mediterranean sea, before heading to our 1st destination – Chateau Roubine Read More... -
JC in France May - June 2018 - Vidéo with Jean-Christophe
JC is back in the land of the long white cloud and sharing the pits and peaks of his journey. Thank you to everyone that followed #JCINFRANCE Hear from the man himself about his unforgettable moments Read More... -
JC in France May - June 2018 | Day 18
This is the big day! First, it is Saturday and every Saturday morning Beaune (a beautiful Medieval township) offers a superb market of fresh produce but also bric a brac and handcrafted goods. As the weather is great a lot of people are around which makes the market very vibrant and colourful. Read More... -
JC in France May - June 2018 | Day 17
While yesterday we concentrated on the Cote de Beaune subregion, today it is all about the Cote de Nuits. After picking up the troops from their hotel we driving north from Beaune we took the 'Route des Grands Crus". Read More...
