2 Rhones of interest

So, I'll restrain myself :)

Actually looks nice. Given choices, I'd say: Go with the Loupiac for first course. It's a waste going with a good Sauternes/Barsac with as an appetizer. Loupiac is still sweet, but usually lighter/less complex.

As to main course wine., which Usseglio (P or R)?. In any case, I'd go for the CdP over Musar with duck.

HTH! Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

Personally, I can handle foie gras and Sauternes at any time of the meal.

Hell - come to think of it, I'd be game to try it for breakfast!

Bill (who is working up to another foie feed - it also goes very well with some Alsatian VT wines)

Salut/Hi Bill Spohn,

le/on 04 Sep 2003 16:50:59 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

Breakfast is a GOOD time for foie gras and Sauternes!

And we all know your entirely immoderate gluttony for the stuff. When are you next coming over to France to try the delights of the real stuff "Mi-cuit" with a top monbazillac?

Agreed, and better, IMO if one _must_ serve it to start the meal.

I too could eat foie gras any time of the day. I agree with Ian that eating a goodly amount of it tends to squash one's appetite for whatever is served thereafter. Once when visiting the Dordogne area I ate so much I became dizzy.

Its great for Breakfast. Eggs and Foie Gras is also great. Just don't check cholestrol for 2 weeks.

Ahh - not soon enough!

But if I do, I'll get in touch so we can 'chew the fat"!

Salut/Hi Larry,

le/on Thu, 04 Sep 2003 19:14:15 -0400, tu disais/you said:-

Welcome. I hope you come to be a regular here and find it fun and informative.

Well, unlike many here, I don't often describe meals I've cooked/eaten. That's more the speciality of Dale Williams or Bill Spohn.

reading about your

Chuckle. Don't think we never get to eat a burger, or sausages! I just don't tend to write here about it if I do.

Sort of. I worked as a free-lance chef, cooking in peoples' homes in London for many years, specialising in French Haute Cuisine. One thing led to another and I also worked as a wine consultant. In 1989 we (my wife is an ex-French teacher) moved to the middle of France with the intention of retiring, and a few years later, quite by accident, opened a B&B in the house next door which we had bought mainly because it had a wine cellar, and we were silly enough not to have thought of such matters when we bought our house here.

"A lot" is hard to quantify. When we visit my brother back in the UK, he tends to have racked up 4 or 5 places that he's been waiting for us to come back to visit. That's about once a year. When we're here, we don't often eat out during the holiday season as I'm too busy cooking for my guests here. However, during spring and autumn we do feel it our duty to a) check out new places in the area so we can recommend them to clients if they're good, and warn about them if not and b) make sure that places we know already are keeping up to scratch. While they're not all Michelin starred places, the overall quality is pretty high.

Jacquie is an excellent pastry cook and does vegetables excellently and most other types of cooking very well. But in principle, it's I that does most of the cooking for guests, one way or another. I'd say we complement each other very well.

Bang!!!

John,

Just got around to reading the thread; funny how afw twists around.

I too like the ide aof something other than Sauternes with a bit of foie gras -- which I am not adverse to serving at the beginning of the meal, but rarely take myself in the classic mi-cuit form; I prefer just slightly pan-seared -- and I suppose a Loupiac would be appropriate. But why not something with a little more acid, that you've got in cellar?

e.g. a noble chenin, like a Layon? The palate will recover much more quickly. ;)

As for the confit, I'd pick the CdP to stand up to the fat and salt, but of course that surprises no one. Personally I think the Musar would show less well under those circumstances.

-E

f) Ian is all all of the aboveand more ;-)

Mike

as an on-the-side to this interesting topic, why is it that the foie gras is served with sweeter wines? how would it go with something like a brut champagne at the begining of a meal.. ? ..Chris