Travel

Restaurant Eléonore

April 1, 2017 No Comments

It was our last night staying in Monpazier and we decided to have dinner at Restaurant Eléonore. It was a short walk from the house we were staying at, which makes it so nice to be able to enjoy yourself and not worry about the drive home.

I had the à la carte menu with a selection of three plates while Jo Ann had the menu du jour so we were able to have a sample of both menus.

Everything we had that evening was superb and the restaurant has a good (albeit limited) selection of wines from the area and Bordeaux and which were reasonably priced.

The service was outstanding and totally matched the quality of the food and the wine. We strongly recommend this restaurant.

For more information about the restaurant you can check out their website, The Michelin Guide or TripAdvisor.

Mimosa with Quail Egg, Citron Confit and Cavier, a wonderful Amuse Bouche.

Queues de Langoustines, with a condiment of mangue-papaye and crème coco au ccombawa.

Foie Gras Mi-cuit Eléonore, wiht fine créme carottes and walnut oil dusted with a red wine sea salt. Very Yummy!

Choco-Caramel-Café, with a creéme glacé sirop d’érable and noix pécan.

Filet de bœf with racines de persil au beurre noisette, white asparagus and a sauce of port and Péridord truffes.

Dos de Saumon with perles de Savoie à l’encre de seiche, leeks and ginger done in papillote and a watercress sauce The Perles de Savoie à l’encre de seiche is pearls of black ink pasta

Pears poached in wine with a speculoos ice cream and an almond cookie.

Château Terre Vieille Pécharmant 2010, an excellent choice for the night’s meal.

Menu de Restaurant Eléonore à la carte

Menu Edward the menu of the day

Sainte-Foy-de-Grande Samedi Marché

February 18, 2017 No Comments

Our first day in the Sainte Foy Bordeaux appellation and we decided to head off to the Saturday market. The marché in Sainte-Foy-de-Grande is extensive, full of people and had many vendors that we do not get in the marchés in the Dordogne.

Not only was there extensive produce and fruits available, but there was excellent fish, meats, sausages, and my favorite dried fruits stuffed with foie gras. These little delicacies were so tasty and sweet, it was like candy from heaven.

Bottom line if you are visiting the Sainte Foy Bordeaux appellation, you must make time to go to the Saturday market in Sainte-Foy-de-Grande.

The dried fig stuffed with foie gras and the prune stuffed with foie gras.

The dried fig stuffed with foie gras and the prune stuffed with foie gras.

Fresh Mussels

Yummy looking mussels.

Here is a mixture of the dried figs stuffed with foie gras as well as some prunes stuffed with foie gras. We have both for tonight.

The highlight of the day, these dried figs were filled with foie gras. Such unbelievable flavor!

A French speciality, Radis Noir. I just can’t get my head around eating a black radish.

We just could not make up our minds on what we wanted to prepare and eat tonight.

Oh the prunes were so good at the marché

Yummy garlic, shallots and onions.

Very interesting way to present and sell Endive. The plant was still attached to the roots in a holder with some dirt. The vendor just broke off the vegitable when you bought it.

The marché at Sainte-Foy-de-Grande is extensive and almost every street has at least a couple of vendors. However we found one that was still empty.

The oranges were looking so fresh and tasty today.

Giuseppe Giusti aceto balsamico

February 10, 2017 No Comments

We have been buying aceto balsamico from Guiseppe Giusti for many years but this is the first time we actually got to stop in to see how the balsamico is actually produced and to learn more about the history of this firm.

The tour was first rate and we got to taste many different versions of the aceto balsamico from the top of the line 25 year aged produce to the younger versions that are not sold as the traditional aceto balsamico.

Definitely worth a stop to explore.

When one cask starts leaking they do not remove it, instead they build a new cask around the old one. They do not want to lose all flavor that has built up over the many years of production.

Various casks for the production of aceto balsamico. They are never retired, they just keep getting enhanced with more flavor.

Tools of the Master

Various metals awarded for the aceto balsamico from Guiseppe Giusti.

One of the original casks which dates back to the 1700s.

A mixture of the products offered by Giuseppe Giusti.

Mercato Albinelli

February 8, 2017 No Comments

During our stay in Modena Italy, we stopped into Mercato Albinelli to do some culinary shopping. We had spent the morning visiting some balsamic producers. When we arrived at the Mercato Albinelli were blown away with the architecture, the quality of the products and just about everything else about the Meercato Albinelli. My only regret is that we did not get there in the morning and came in as the venders were starting to close up shop. Morale of this store is to visit the mercato early in the day and leave yourself at least two hours.

The entrance to the Mercato Albinelli

Inside the beautiful Mercato.

One image of the many wonderful vendors at the Mercato.

Beautiful topinambour

Cavas Sol y Barro

March 28, 2016 No Comments

The drive up to Cavas Sol y Barro.

Cavas Sol y Barro Winery

The tasting room of Cavas Sol y Barro is very nice.

The Tasting Room at Cavas Sol y Barro

The first wine we tasted was the Solybarro Grenache Cabernet Sauvignon 2013. Sorry for the blurry photo, it was not because of all the previous tastings.

Solybarro Grenache Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Retail price: MX$330
Grapes:Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon
Comments: Ruby Red, good legs
Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

The next wine was the Solybarro Barbera Nebbiolo 2013.

Solybarro Barbera Nebbiolo 2013

Retail price: MX$420
Grapes:Barbera and Nebbiolo
Comments: Light legs, dark ruby red, musty, yeasty, dry but young to the taste.
Rating: 3.0 out of 5.

The final wine was the Malvoiste (Pinot Gris) 2015.

Solybarro Malvoisie (Pinot Gris) 2015

Retail price: MX$270
Grapes: Pinot Gris
Comments: Very young, aroma very floral, somewhat sweet, with a little blush.
Rating: 4.0 out of 5.

website: www.cavasolybarro.com.mx but this does not work
facebook: None
Telephone: +52 (646) 118 5313
Wine maker: Aimé Desponds
Address: Carretera Ensenada – Tecate Km. 87

Vinícola 3 Mujeres

March 28, 2016 No Comments

3 Mujeres is a very interesting winery which Ivette Vaillart started 17 years ago and 10 years ago they started selling them to the public.

The current portfolio of wines from 3 Mujeres and a nice art piece made by Ivette

The first wine we sampled was the La Mezcla Mestiza 2012.

La Mezcla Mestiza 2013

Retail price: MX$ 250
Grapes: Genache, Zinfandel and Carignan from France
Comments: Light, fruity but a bit young.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The second wine was the La Mezcla del Rancho 2013

La Mezcla del Rancho 2013

Retail price: MX$250
Grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon and Garache
Comments: Dry, slight fruit, alcohol, lighter color.
Rating: 3.0 out of 5.

We also sampled the ISME 2013, but I did not get a photo of the individual bottle.

Retail price: MX$250
Grapes: Merlot
Comments: Light color, fruity , smooth, Elegent, similar to a Sonoma County Merlot.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The current portfolio of wines from 3 Mujeres

website: None
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/3MujeresVinicola/
Telephone: +52 (646) 171 5674
Wine maker: Ivette Vaillart and Eva Cotero
Address: Km. 87 Carretera Tecate-Ensenada

Malva Restaurante

March 28, 2016 No Comments

Malva Restaurante is a small location that seats only 24 people or so. The chef Roberto Alcocer has done a great job in developing this restaurant which is focused on food native to the Baja California area. The only difficult thing we encountered with the restaurant is that when you are coming to the entrance off of the main highway you need to take a left turn across a very busy and what looked like dangerous curve. Luckily for us there was no other cars coming down the hill so we were able to enter quickly and easily.

The restaurant is a very open layout with basically only one wall, which is adorned by some beautiful street art or murals, however you would classify it.

Beautiful Street Art on the only wall in the restaurant

Viñas de Garza

March 28, 2016 No Comments

You arrive at Viñas de Garza in a beautifully maintained facility. We were very impressed by the commitment to eco-friendly techniques as well as the architecturally elegant design of the entire location.

The parking lot at Viñas de Garza

Through out the winery there are signs from the older generation of farming and agriculture.

Some old Farm Implements at Viñas de Garza

Plus if anyone really knows Jo Ann they know that she loves her rototillers.

Jo Ann loves her rototillers

2 km/h 2013

The first wine we sampled was the 2013 2km/h.

Retail price: MX$280 (MX$200 at the winery)

Grapes: 70% Tempranillo and 30% Grenache

Comments: Ruby Red, a little cloudy around the edges, big nose, fruity, spicy but a little dry.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Tinto del Rancho Mogorcito 2012

The next wine was the 2012 Tinto del Rancho Mogorcito.

Retail price: MX$400 (MX$300 at the winery)

Grapes: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot

Comments: Good legs, cordovan chocolate color, dark fruit, a little spice, little tannin, but dry.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Colina Norte 2009

The third wine was the 2009 Colina Norte.

Retail price: MX$560 (MX$500 at the winery)

Grapes: 60% Tempranillo, 25% Cariñena and 15% Grenache

Comments: Lots of legs, deep ruby color, some floating sentiment. Dark fruit aroma, raspberry, a little smoky. Elegant, smooth, vanilla and dry taste.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Amado IV 2009

The final wine was the 2009 Amado IV.

Retail price: MX$620 (MX$500 at the winery)

Grapes: Cabernet, Merlot, Tempranillo, Zinfandel

Comments: Dark Ruby, many but small forming legs, dark plum, very dry, lots of tannin, black pepper. My belief is that this wine will need to be decanted for 20 to 30 minutes prior to drinking.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

We truly loved all four of the wines and bought some of each to have shipped home. Also the staff at the winery were very pleasant as well as Amado Garza who we talked with for a while about his wines.

As you leave the property, you will see these two interesting buildings. We kept wondering what was housed there, the owners or….

Some very interesting buildings down the road from Viñas de Garza

the owners wine cellar?

Some very interesting buildings down the road from Viñas de Garza

website: www.vinosdegarza.com
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vinosdegarza
Telephone: +52 (646) 116 7365
Wine maker: Amado Garza
Address: Carr. Ensenada – Tecate, km 87, Valle de Guadalupe, Ensenada, Baja California

Alximia Vino Elemental

March 23, 2016 No Comments

After our great visit at Rancho Cortés, we stopped in to Alximia, which uses the concept of Alchemy in the name of the winery and various elements in the naming of their wines.

Alximia Vino Elemental

Jo Ann have always had a special place in our hearts for Paris and seeing the winery made us both remember the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

Alximia Vino Elemental Tasting Room and Production Facility

The Tasting Room of Alximia and Some Old Farm Equipment

I enjoyed some of the artistic placement of the old farm equipment and the machines for crushing and de-stemming of the grapes.

Waiting to be used again.

We never asked what la Terrace was, but we believe it is the restaurant that is on site. We never visited it so we can not comment on the quality or the offerings.

La Terrasse San Roman

Alximia has a very extensive wine list. The prices at the winery are less than what you can buy them for on the web site so I have included the retail price below from the web site, but you can see there is a slight discount if you go to the winery.

The Wines of Alximia

Talisman 2014

Retail price: MX$220
Grape: 100% Viognier
Comments: Spicy, long legs, straw like aroma.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Senda 2013

Retail price: MX$349
Grapes: Petit Verdot (Valle de Santo Tomas), Zinfandel (Valle de Guadalupe), Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo (Valle de Guadalupe)
Comments: Alcohol 13.9% Pairs with meat, earthy with long legs. Aged 12 months in French oak barrels. Intense violet red color.
Rating: 3.0 out of 5.

Magma 2012

Retail price: MX$625
Grapes: ⅔ Carignana, ⅓ Grenache
Comments: 13 months in French oak barrels. Balanced, sassy but classy. Deep red, long legs, less tannins, won a double gold metal.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Pira 2012

Retail price: MX$625
Grapes: 100% Barbera
Comments: Long legs, but a short finish. 15 months in French oak barrels. Deep ruby red color.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.0

website: www.alximia.com
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Alximia
Telephone: +52 (646) 151 9363
email: info@alximia.com
Wine maker: Álvaro Alvarez Parrilla
Address: Tercería al Tigre km. 3, San Antonio de las Minas, Ensenada, Baja California

Organic Farmers Market at El Mogor

March 23, 2016 No Comments

On Saturdays and Wednesdays there is an organic farmers market head at El Mogor which starts around 11a. The farm is beautiful and well maintained and the selection of produce and other prepared foods is very nice. We stopped in on both Saturday and Wednesday and did not see any real difference in the availability of the products.

Especially if you are staying in a home where you will be able to prepare your meals, this is an excellent farmer’s market to stop at and pick up your produce, breads, cheese, etc.