There are only 3 wineries in Palette! We took them to Henri Bonnaud which has 25 acres in total, 14 of which are AOC Palette. Since the rest of Henri Bonnaud’s acreage lies outside of the boundary lines of Palette they have to put “Côtes de Provence” or “Vins de Pays” on the labels for their other wines. The regulations in France are very strict, dictating rules for irrigation, pruning, harvest dates, and blending percentages, just to name a few. While quality control in France can be tedious, we continue to enjoy French wines which are guaranteed to be good precisely because of the many rules!

Henri Bonnaud is a third generation winery. The first Henri Bonnaud vintage was in 2004, but long before that Stéphan and his grandfather were growing grapes and selling them to the local co-ops.

We recommend a visit to this winery not only for its wines (white, rosé, and red), but for the stunning views of vineyards along the base of famous Mount Sainte Victoire from their terrace.

On Saturday, May 26th 2012, Opera Australia will host 200 high-net worth distinguished guests (including many corporate contacts, Members of Parliament, opera patrons, selected media, etc.) to this black tie event. The National Events Manager recently contacted us in hopes of partnering with WineInProvence for this year’s event entitled “A Night in Provence”! We just sent off a ton of our brochures and business cards that they will distribute during the event, and one of our wine packages, a WineInProvence Wine Tour, will be featured in the live auction that evening.

As in previous years, they will have a celebrity guest chef devise and prepare a signature menu especially for “A Night in Provence”. This time it’ll be Guillaume Brahimi (an award-winning French chef) of Guillaume at Bennelong creating this culinary journey. The evening will feature a gourmet dinner matched with premium wines, exquisite performances by acclaimed stars of Opera Australia, a silent auction, and an exclusive live auction (featuring unique wine and gourmet experiences) with prominent wine figures such as Andrew Caillard (Master of Wine) and Rob Geddes (Master of Wine). The purpose of this event is to raise essential funds for the continued work of Opera Australia’s singers and creative teams.

Here is some more info on the evening…

“We will showcase one luxurious ultimate international holiday to France. This is always the most desired auction item at the event, and becomes the pinnacle moment of the evening. In the exclusive live auction, two guests will have the opportunity to embark on the ultimate France holiday, staying at the Dorchester Hotels in Paris, Alain Ducasse’s boutique hotel and guest house in Provence, as well as at Chateau de Sours in Bordeaux.

This package is designed to showcase ‘the best of’ and encapsulate the elegance and cultural offerings of France. This will be packaged with premium wine and gourmet experiences, including Alain Ducasse’s acclaimed Le Louis XV restaurant in Provence. With this in mind, I would like to know if you would be interested in becoming involved…”

One of WineInProvence’s packages will be a part of this live action package and they explained in the email that an auctioneer will talk about us, give a description from stage, actively engaging with guests, and then for 12 months we will be acknowledged as a Corporate Friend in all nightly opera programs (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane- circulation approx. 280,000). We are pleased and honored to take part in this event in Sydney, spreading our love of French wine internationally!

OPERA HOUSE info:
The Sydney Opera House was declared a World Heritage Building in June 2007 by UNESCO, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, but has long been a cultural landmark, not only for Sydney, but Australia as a whole. Developed by Danish architect Joern Utzon, the Opera House was a source of much controversy in its early years, but eventually fourteen years after the start of construction, the House was finished and opened by Queen Victoria the II in 1973. This fascinating and intriguing construction, well known for its “sails”- the bizarre architecture created to interpret that of a ships sails- houses hundreds of art shows, musical performances and plays every year. Apart from this original purpose, the Opera House is associated with the larger spirit of Australian culture- and all that this encompasses. Surrounding this magnificent landmark are enticing restaurants,

Hilary and I are very excited for this upcoming season where we will be welcoming visitors from around the globe and helping them discover the best food and wine destinations that Provence has to offer.

Here’s just a few of the exciting changes we’ve made from last year to provide an even better experience to our clients:

• Our Best of Aix package is now three days per week (instead of two) on Tuesday, Thursdays, and Saturdays
• We’ve added special packages that are just for Groups of four or more people.
• Our French Riviera Wine Cruise is our most exciting new package that combines incredible wines, amazing views, and gourmet food into a one-of-a-kind Provençal experience!

Take a look around or newly designed website and discover all of the possibilities that WineInProvence can offer you in 2012!

Up next on the agenda, we have a Wine & Cheese pairing night on March 14th. Check out the WineInProvence Student Tastings webpage to find out more information on these exciting upcoming events.

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Pasta Cosy Cave, Student French Wine Tasting (September 2011, WineInProvence)






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Pasta Cosy Cave with Bottles, Student French Wine Tasting (September 2011, WineInProvence)






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Pasta Cosy Cave, Student French Wine Tasting (September 2011, WineInProvence)








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Pasta Cosy Cave, Student French Wine Tasting (September 2011, WineInProvence)






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Pasta Cosy Tapas, Student French Wine Tasting (September 2011, WineInProvence)






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Pasta Cosy Cave, Student French Wine Tasting (September 2011, WineInProvence)








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Pasta Cosy and Fiochetti, Student French Wine Tasting (September 2011, WineInProvence)






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Pasy Cosy, Student French Wine Tasting (September 2011, WineInProvence)






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Pasta Cosy Cave, Student French Wine Tasting (September 2011, WineInProvence)








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Pasta Cosy Crousti Coco, Student French Wine Tasting (September 2011, WineInProvence)






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Pasta Cosy Cave, Student French Wine Tasting (September 2011, WineInProvence)






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Pasta Cosy Cave, Student French Wine Tasting (September 2011, WineInProvence)

Instead of Robert Parker traveling from tasting room to tasting room in each region (like we were doing on this day), naturally, the wines are brought to him at “La Maison du Vin”. This is an event/conference room named “The House of Wine”- they have one in each village. And, of course, each winery presents him with their best bottles. Of the three wine regions we visited that day, each person who received us mentioned in hushed tones that Robert Parker had just been in their area doing blind tastings. They had just dropped off their highest end wines to the local event room for him to try. We had no idea when we got into the car that morning that we’d literally be chasing Robert Parker all over the Southern Rhone!

Mr. Parker travels all over and gets served a portion of some of the world’s most amazing wines. Just imagine a man in a room full of bottles…he alone will decide for the rest of us which are the best, all depending on which bottles his palette approves of the most. You can understand why some people disregard his notes-after all, he is just a human with a little more refined palette and a very well known name. But the people of Châteauneauf-du-Pape, Gigondas, and Vacqueyras all seem to respect and admire him, and they have reason to as he is HUGELY responsible for bringing about the hype to these tiny villages in Southern France. For example, we sometimes visit places that can barely be called “tasting rooms”- they’re more like garages; no tree lined driveways, no candlelit caves. Just a garage attached to the winemaker’s house with cars parked next to the barrels. These hard to find tasting rooms belong to families that have been producing wines for generations and Hilary and Brian would never have found these places without the high ratings from Robert Parker. In fact, he gave one bottle of red wine from “Domaine du Pegau” a high rating a couple years back and now it’s selling for 150 euros a bottle!

Don’t forget to enjoy this dish with a crunchy baguette- it’s perfect for sloping up the yummy garlic butter sauce!

Ingredients

1. Chop the onion
2. Mince the garlic (or use a garlic press)
3. Dice the tomatoes into small portions
4. Remove the beards from the mussels & if there are any open mussels, close them by knocking firmly on the shell with another mussel
5. Put the frying pan on high heat & add olive oil to the pan
6. Sweat the onions (you don’t want them brown or burned)
7. Add tomatoes and garlic, cook for only 1 minute
8. Add white wine & reduce for a few minutes
9. Mix in cream
10. Add the mussels and IMMEDIATELY cover the pan with a tight fitting lid
11. Only when steam starts seeping out of the edges, then you can briefly check to see if the mussels are open. If they are, then they’re done! Don’t over cook