Ispiring times at the moment. On the Easter weekend we were invited to lunch at Liz, Joe and Ryan’s at Domaine O’Vineyards to meet up with Danny McCubbin, the editor of jamieoliver.com. Danny and his photography assistant Anthony (both Aussies!) were travelling around the South of France and stopped by to taste some of the wines and produce from our region.
They’d been filming a luncheon the day before at the ‘La Barbacane’, a Michelin-starred restaurant in the Hotel de la Cite,
a grand hotel situated within the walls of La Cite, the medieval city located inside Carcassonne, and were now out to see what gets served at a local ‘vigneron’s’ table amidst the vineyards.
I’ve got to admit that I was quite nervous about the whole thing (and I’m not even the winemaker! – can’t imagine how Benji must have been feeling), but once we’d met up with Danny and Anthony, I felt much better! They are great guys – so sincere and laid-back yet incredibly inspiring when you listened to what they get up to for the site and in their personal time. It’s inspiring to meet people like this who are so motivated to help and educate others. I know I was shaking at the knees beforehand, but inside I had been thinking that anyone working for Jamie Oliver would have to be cool as well as full of energy, and I was right.
It was a delightful afternoon, full of delicious nibbles and dishes prepared by Liz (would LOVE the recipe for your spicy sauce Liz!)…
And all of it washed down with wines by a few of us local producers: Domaine O, Domaine de Chamans and Benji’s…
Over the course of our marathon lunch some particular highlights in the wines for me were: Hegarty Chamans Blanc Minervois 2008, Trah Lah Lah 2008 and Benji’s Minervois 2010 and his St Chinian Organic 2009.
Thanks to everyone involved in the afternoon – we had a wonderful time.
a bientot!
The Vigneron's Wife 