Photography

La Table de Leo

April 16, 2017 No Comments

Located in a small town called Saint-Avit-Sénieur, located between Monpazier and Belves in the Dordogne, is a wonderful restaurant called La Table de Leo. It is a very contemporary looking restaurant that prepares excellent cuisine. The menu was very creative and we both had the Menu du Jour, which is only available for lunch during the week.

Everything about the meal was excellent, starting with a beautiful amuse bouche, followed by an Entrée, a Plat and then of course Dessert. We also had a glass of wine at lunch which perfectly complemented our meal.

You can find more information about La Table de Leo at TripAdvisor or Michelin. Alternatively you can also contact them via their website.

La Table de Leo

Salade de Chevre Chaud, very yummy and I liked the cheese wrapped in the filo packets.

Pigeon with a chestnut purée on artichoke hearts.

Twelve hour roasted pork on a bed of home made sauerkraut and potatoes.

Exotic Fruits with a Mango Sorbet.

Deconstructed Couer du Café.

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

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

Beauty Can Be Bland But Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream Always Saves The Day

March 27, 2016 No Comments

Yesterday we set out to make this wonderful looking open faced lasagna with melted cheese and sliced asparagus, all topped with an asparagus salad. The finished plate is shown below.

The assembled meal, looks beautiful but tasted bland

First we made pasta for the lasagna sheets by hand, which is something I find so peaceful to make. The nice thing is that we only needed six sheets so we were able to make enough other pasta that it will last us a week or two.

Then we moved on to slicing the parmesan and the asparagus.

Shaved Asparagus and Parmesan

While I was doing the above, Jo Ann was making the asparagus salad that will top the lasagna as well as buttering the cookie sheet we will bake them on.

Asparagus Salad

We then preheated the BBQ for almost 20 minutes to get it up to 500° so we could cook the lasagna sheets and asparagus as well as melt the cheese.

Open Faced Lasagne with melted cheese and asparagus

The end result was a beautiful looking meal, but one that I will never make again. Very bland although we can see a number of alternative toppings to use on the grilled lasagna sheets.

The assembled meal, looks beautiful but tasted bland

Of course after so much work, we were feeling fairly down. However earlier in the day we had made both home made Vanilla Ice Cream (thank you David Lebovitz for the wonderful cook book “The Perfect Scoop”) and Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Torte from Food 52. Thankfully, chocolate and vanilla ice cream can save just about any down day!

Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Torte with Home Made Vanilla Ice Cream

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.

The Organic Farm at El Mogor

Rancho Cortés

March 22, 2016 No Comments

We had been told by many people that we needed to visit Rancho Cortés to sample their cheese and olive oils. However there is no one person who seems to know exactly where this rancho is located. Driving around Mex4 we finally talked to someone who knew where it was and gave us good directions.

This is a family owned farm dating back 40 years ago. The father who started this farm, actually went over to France to learn the art of cheese making as well as to buy French cows to be used in the cheese making process.

The Cavas of Rancho Cortez

We started with some of their Queso Fresca, which is aged in the cava for one month. It is a soft cheese but very good.

We then moved on to trying their Gouda cheese. These use cultures from Europe and are a much firmer cheese.

The Queso de Gouda at Rancho Cortéz

The third cheese we based was Queso de Guadalupe which uses a mold aging process, is more flavorful and also uses cultures from Europe.

Queso de Guadalupe at Rancho Cortés

We then moved on to the Queso Añejo which is the gouda but aged much longer. Excellent.

Queso Añejo at Rancho Cortés

The final cheese we tasted was the Queso de Parmesan which is aged 8 months, although in most years it is aged one year. The reason that this was less than the normal aging time is just because the cheese has been in such demand that they sold out of the last production batch and they felt that the cheese had aged sufficiently. It was excellent.

Queso de Parmesan

So after buying a number of these pieces, we then tried their olive oil, which we found to be very good and very reasonably priced.

Misiones de Baja California, the olive oil of Rancho Cortez

Rancho Cortés

Phone: +52 (646) 113-4425

Clos de Tres Cantos

March 22, 2016 No Comments

Clos de Tres Cantos is a relatively new vineyard in the Valle de Guadalupe. From the main road you are greeted by their sign.

The entrance to Clos de Tres Cantos

As you drive up to the winery, you see some very unique architecture. We were later told that the owners a big supporters of the local artists and that every two years or so a different local artist can use the facility for presenting their art. You see that in the building below on the left side were there is a large mural on the roof of the building.

The winery supports local artists by having them paint part of the winery or install their art inside the winery.

Here is some more art from the local artists that is hung inside the winery.

Art Hung by Local Artisians

As you walk up to the winery, you first enter the tasting room.

The entrance to the tasting room at Clos de Tres Cantos

The views of the Valle are beautiful from up in the winery.

View of the Valle from Clos de Tres Cantos

We have a special placer both dogs and wine, so what is not to love about this winery when you see the “guard” dog at attention.

Wine and dogs, what is not to enjoy.

We first took a tour of the winery and as the images below show, it has been designed with some very interesting touches.

Some very interesting and unique architecture.

They even installed alters in both the bottling area and the room where the wines are stored in barrels.

Another alter this time in the bottling area

Some very interesting and unique architecture.

Plus there is some nice art pieces dedicated to the Virgin de Guadalupe.

Pray Alter in the Cava

The storage area is well maintained and very cool. They do have to run air conditioners at times during the year but when we were there in March it was very cool inside the caves.

Petite Syrah and Tempranillo in barrels

The room where they store the wine in barrels usually for 12 months.

They also have recycled used wine bottles as “window treatments” to let in natural light based on the position of the window.

A different view of how the old wine bottles defuse the light.

Holding Vats

View of the vats in the cave and how the old wine bottle glass lets in some natural light.

They use the old wine bottles to create a unique obscure window treatment

After the tour we visited the tasting room and sampled all of their wines. In general we found them all to be very nice and we of course left with a number of them.

The Mezcla de Tintos is aged 12 months in barrels and 12 months the bottle. 13.5% alcohol. Smokey bouquet with long legs. Good finish, fruit taste. Earthly, ruby red color. Our rating: 3.5 out of 5. Please note that this wine is only available at the winery.

The Clos de Tres Cantos “Mezcla de Tintos”.

The 2013 Noesis is 100% Tempranillo. It is aged 12 months french oak, 12 months bottle. The wine has good legs, is a lighter red color, with a musty or yeasty aroma. The wine is smooth but not as bold. Our rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Clos de Tres Cantos “Noesis” which is a pure Tempranillo.

The 2013 Resilencia is 100% Petite Sarah. It is aged 12 months in French oak and 23 months in the bottle. 14.5% alcohol. Dry, fruity, good finish with a red fruit aroma. Our rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Resilencia is a 100% Petite Syrah.

I forgot to shoot an image of the wine Nada which is a 2013 vintage. It is 100% Tempranillo. It is aged 12 months french oak, 12 months bottle. The wine has good legs, is a lighter red color, with a musty or yeasty aroma. The wine is smooth but not as bold. Our rating: 3.5 out of 5

Address: Carretera Tecate – Eseada, km. 89m Rancho Santa Lucía, San Antonio de las Minas, Baja California.

website:www.closdetrescantos.com
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Clos-de-Tres-Cantos-1498521527058077
Telephone: +52 (55) 8568 9240
Wine maker: Maria J. Benitez Cantarero y Joaquín Moya Cussi

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Next ›

La Table de Leo

Giuseppe Giusti aceto balsamico

Mercato Albinelli

Malva Restaurante

Viñas de Garza

Beauty Can Be Bland But Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream Always Saves The Day

Alximia Vino Elemental

Organic Farmers Market at El Mogor

Rancho Cortés

Clos de Tres Cantos

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