Wine

Which country produces and consumes most wine ?

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Maybe not a question I’ve been asking myself, but nevertheless interesting to know 🙂

The graphic shows that Italy is nr 1 when it comes to producing most wine with more than 60% being Tuscany wines like Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino, …. But they are 2nd when it comes to consuming wines… as in that area France is the absolute nr 1.

The biggest surprise for me was the many wines made in the USA, and the locations, I thought they only made wine in California…

Please take a look at this  infographic’ in more detail via following link

Not only do you learn more about the consumption, but you also get to know new wines, waiting for you to be tasted

The last 2011 fish and wine

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Normally I wasn’t really planning on still posting something in 2011, but yesterday evening I had such a wonderful evening that I still wanted to share it with you…

What started off as an ‘Apero’ on Friday evening, resulted in an ‘apero’, diner and after diner drink 🙂 For the initial apero we went to the Vitrin bar, that you all might know from my Bordeaux wine blogpost? If not, read it 🙂

For diner we wanted something good, but not too expensive… as December is to my opinion the most expensive month of the year (with all the presents, etc….) So for me the Fiskebar seemed like a wonderful idea! As you can already imangine when seeing the name, this is a Fish restaurant, where you can eat very good fish for a very reasonable price.  You can either go for the fish on itself with a garden salad and some rice (or potatoes) or you could go for a fish prepared with a sauce and special dressing and side dishes… Tonight I took the swordfish with wasabi pesto/ puree, eggplant pickles and balsamico…

My girlfriend took salmon with the gardensalad, my friends (who actually introduced me to my girlfriend 12 years ago) took the Scampi (Prawns) with Red thai curry and rice, and the catfish with mushroom risotto.

To accompany this we had a Red wine, a Rioja ONTAÑÓN CRIANZA… which actually worked out well… the fruitiness and yet powerful wine was (to us) a nice harmony with the dishes. To finish our diner, me and my buddy took the lemon tart, my  beautiful girlfriend plum cake  and Isabelle took the crème brûlée… mmmmmm

I would advise everybody to eat at Fiskebar as it is very tasteful, cozy (especially when you’re sitting upstairs) and normally price(most fish around 20EUR) . But make sure you make reservations, as it is a hotspot!

BUT our evening didn’t stop there, noooooooo sir. After the Fiskebar we went to a brand new winebar at the South of Antwerp… A winebar that I didn’t even know it was there (we passed by it while going to Vitrine..  Vinicity it is called, but it is actually a wineshop where you can taste the wines and if you like them you can buy them … every day there is a choice of 9 wines devided in the type of wine it is…

Elegant, fruity or powerful… (between 4 and 7 EUR for glass) I went for the red elegant which was a Portugese dado… the reason, well everybody else already went for the Fruity and powerful and this was we could try them all :-). And he said that it was good 😉 I liked all three wines, although I would have liked them more powerful, but I just should have picked/asked for a much stonger wine… but don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a sacrifice to drink the glass I had 🙂

When you are sitting here you get in instant home feeling, the interior of the shop/bar is so relaxing that you could sit here all day… for the people who would want to eat something here, this is also possible, they serve a nice lunch (not too much, just a few dishes…)

I’m pretty sure this isn’t the isn’t the last time Vinicity has seen me  (Fiskebar neither) The perfect ending of a wonderful evening

So now only 1 thing left to say HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! ALL the best for 2012

Restaurant Fiskebar:

Address:

Marnixplaats 12

2000 Antwerp, Belgium

Phone n°: +32 (0)3 257 13 57

Wineshop Vinicity:

Address:

Karel Rogierstraat 40

Leopold De Waelplaats

2000 Antwerp, Belgium

Phone n°: +32 (0) 3 345 33 44 .

A true discovery

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As you could read in yesterday’s post, my weekend was filled with food!! It already started on Friday evening, where I prepared dinner for a lovely lady. I really like spoiling people and I always try to do the best job ever cooking things my guest likes even if this is not always my  favorite dish. You don’t always have to think of yourself…

In this case the lovely lady liked ‘Foie gras’ lamb meat and ‘gratin dauphinois’. So I decided to give as a starter some foie gras and afterwards make some amb filet with a honey thyme sauce with gratin dauphinois. I got my inspiration for the Lamb from Start to Cook and for the gratin it was Roger van damme who gave me the idea and when cooking  I gave it my own twist. With a satisfying result (I think). This dish got accompanied by a nice bottle of Barbaresco by Batasiolo

But my food filled weekend didn’t stop here, it only just got started. Like many people, this weekend I did some Christmas present shopping:

Normally I would do this alone, but this time I asked my mom to join me 🙂 . You know what I like about going somewhere with my mom, I just know that  we’ll be going somewhere for lunch . Like  every time, we’re doubting  where we would go. And then suddenly we made a discovery (literally), we saw Enoteca ‘La Scoperta ‘ (which means the discovery). Apparently my mom had already been here a few times  (and she didn’t tell me)… So I HAD to try it. An enoteca is actually a place where you drink/ taste and buy wine, but you can also have a little something to eat like ham, cheese, maybe a panino . In La Scoperta it wasn’t any different… This shop/ enoteca had a nice assortment of wines, ham, cheeses mostly from Tuscany  and Piemonte.

I’m sure if you still need to find some Christmas presents, that ‘La Scoperta” might have something for you! Our first reason for entering was actually have something to eat, so that’s what we did 🙂 Both me and my mom took the ‘panino con prosciutto, mozzarella and pesto’ and as we are in an enoteca I just had to take a glass of wine (life can be hard). I choose a glass of Nebbiolo d’alba by Due corti, I really lilke wines made with the Nebbiolo grape… This one was also very lovely.

When looking around, I saw something that every time I see it I just wanna have it (also the ham on top of it), A Berkel cutting machine… Look at the picture below… isn’t she a beauty? If I ever have a kitchen big enough I just have to have it!!

When looking around, I saw something that every time I see it I just wanna have it (also the ham on top of it), A Berkel cutting machine… Look at the picture below… isn’t she a beauty?

For singles or a whole family

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This dish is good for single people, but you can easily make it for a whole family, just by doubling, tripling, etc…  the ingredients. This one is made with chicken, but y ou could also replace it by another meat or even use some fish, or sometimes change the salad, or add tomatoes or a forgotten vegetables, replace the herbs by cumin, or the Guacamole by sour cream. Like every dish you should try to make it until like it 100%

Ingredients:

  • 1 chicken filet
  • Iceberg salad
  • Olive oil
  • Guacamole (you buy it or make it yourself, I’ll give you the recipe anyway)
  • Cucumber
  • 2-3 pita/kebab breads
  • ½ lemon
  • Rosemary
  • Salt, pepper, paprika powder
  • Honey

FYI:

You might ask, what the hell do I do with all the left over ingredients? Well Here are some tips… again for single people, as we don’t throw stuff away.

  • The pita breads that remain, you can just put in the freezer and heat them in a toaster or oven next time you might need them
  • The iceberg salad and other remaining vegetables, you can just use the next day (or two days after)  with maybe canned Tuna in olive oil or with salmon, etc… and use the remaining guacamole as sauce… or you can also make a dressing with the remaining lemon (and add some honey and mustard)
  • In case you prefer buying a whole chicken instaid of a filet, you just put the pieces in the freezer for the next time you might wane use chicken
  • As for the Rosemary, I usually put my fresh herbs in my top freezer drawer, and every time I need it, I just take a bit and put it back (be quick, because once it melts … you cannot put it back in freezer)

Get started:

  • Cut the chicken in small pieces.
  • Heat the pan with some olive oil in it. Once oil is hot you put bake the chicken.
  • Add some of the rosemary (this is upon taste), add a pinch of salt, pepper and paprika powder.
  • Bake chicken cubes until they are golden-brown on all sides.
  • Add the juice of ½ lemon and a drizzle of honey (again, this is upon taste, the more honey, the sweeter it gets).  Cook it until half of the juice is gone. Turn off the heat.

To fill the bread

  • You could add some Guacamole (to make it, just use 1 or 2 soft  avocado’s, squeeze them until they are all puree (youcould also use blender), add some fresh mint and coriander, salt, peper, a glove of garlic and a drizzle of olive oil. Mix it and voila)
  • Cut up some ice berg salad (or you could also use rucola or any other type of salad that tickles your fantasy)
  • I add some cucumber, but you could again replace it by carrots or tomatoes, etc…

You heat the pita breads in the toaster (or oven or pan)

Cut them open and stuff them 🙂 .

A perfect wine to go with it was Piceno superiore La Rocca by Costadoro

My Christmas present list part 2

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For those who were not inspired by my post of yesterday, maybe today you’ll have more luck?

I know it is not easy to find suitable presents for everybody… you always need to keep in mind which budget you want to spend….On top of that you also have to find the time to buy all your gifts.

I already started my Christmas shopping because the rush has not started yet 🙂

If you don’t feel like shopping the regular way, there is always the possibility to use eBay for example. You would really be surprised how many beauties you can find here. Cookbooks, Wine, Cookware, etc…  eBay also uses Paypal to ensure that you can safely shop on eBay!

The infographic below illustrates the most important conclusions of a yearly survey conducted by eBay on Christmas trends. 1 out of 5 Belgians will do their Christmas shopping online and this will not only happen on their computer. Smartphones and tablets are becoming more popular devices for online shopping. Did you also know that 1 out of 4 Belgians receive unwanted gifts and that 39% of them decide to keep it… Let’s try to avoid this and choose the right gift for our loved ones!

Something that I don’t mind receiving and/or giving are food & drinks.  I know, there’s a lot out there….

Christmas is also about giving something special (to me it is). Something that fits right in that criteria is for example a bottle of Duvel Tripel Hop. Tripel Hop is a special beer made by Duvel Brewery made out of 3 high quality kinds of hop and is a real pleasure to drink!! But you’ll have be quick to buy some as the production of this beer is limited and doesn’t get made a lot (last time was in 2007). Or maybe you could go for the De Konick Cuvée Modeste?  This is again a limited edition, but this time by the Brewery that is actually located right in the center of Antwerp. One thing is for sure, you’ll have to be quick!

Another great gastronomical present for Italy lovers would be an assortment of sauces or wines from Fattoria la Vialla. Olive oil, fresh pasta sauces, tapenades, fresh pasta, wine, honey, etc… The famiglia La Franco makes it all. And may I add that all the products they make are very good. I’ve already tasted some of their sauces: the peperonata, Melanzane alle parmigiana, pesto and napolitana. I also had some of their fresh pasta and Olive oil… eating their products is like being in Italy. The olive oil is a bit more spicy. FYI softer olive oils in Italy are from the region around the Garda lake and Imperia (around San Remo). The more you go south, the spicier and stronger the oils get. The wine I cannot judge, as I didn’t try it yet… but rumors say that they have some nice Chianti wine. If you would try it, let me know. BTW, the delivery fee is free!

You can either choose yourself for an assortment or you can buy one of the prepared baskets.

The thing about this kind of present, you’ll also be able to enjoy it 🙂

If you want to buy some Wine, Whiskey, Porto, etc.. but prefer tasting it before buying it to give it as a present,  I would advise you to make a little trip to Herentals (sorry for all the foreign followers, but I’m sure you’ll have a shop like this in your city).  As in Herentals you can find Van Eccelpoel, but again, I’m sure you’ve read all about them in one of previous blogposts. I’m sure the Van Eccelpoel team will be able to guide you to find the best gift assortment.

Still didn’t find something… don’t worry I’m not done yet 🙂

Stay tuned.

Wine discovery at the aperos de bordeaux part II

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In the surveying eyes of  cyclist Stanneke Ockers I went to the last Aperos Vintage de Bordeaux in Antwerp or better. I must admit that I liked this edition a lot, even better than the one from last week!!

I don’t  know what it was that made this better, but there was something that gave me a great feeling from the moment I walked in café Mombasa . Like I come here every week … the place was really packed! Café Mombassa is a corner bar right in front of the city hall of Borgerhout with an interior  you would see in weekend issues  of Weekend Knack magazine or or some other interior magazine… It doesn’t get more vintage than this. With one remarkable item, namely the original bicycle from Stanneke Ockers  ok and maybe also the very large picture of him :)….

After a few minutes the South of border band featuring Bruno de Bruxelles started playing, they played a mix of jazzy, Latin American and bluesy music. This made the evening even smoother.

But ofcourse this was a wine event, so the main thing I was here for, was wine 🙂

I first started off with a nice glass of bubbles, a Crémant de bordeaux blanc –Cuvée Andrea by La réserve de Pabus, a very nice refreshing starter to loosen my taste buds (for who wants to know, almost 100% use of Sémillon grape).  You can’t stand on one leg (or not long)… so I continued with a glass of Crémant de Bordeaux Brut Rosé by Jaillance, an immediate taste of red fruits. A real harmony in my mouth. This rosé crémant was made entirely out of Merlot grapes (that you might know is one of my preferred grapes). So far my evening was only going crescendo… it looked promising for what was to follow.

As you might remember from last  I wasn’t really crazy about the white Bordeaux wines… but the Graves by Château Pont de Brion  that I had this time did have everything  to convince me. You could taste that this was a wine that had been in a barrel for a while, also it was a very full taste in your mouth… some might call it a more complex flavor. In the “technical” details it said taste of pineapple, but I didn’t really taste this (but that could just be me 🙂 ). Le moment supreme of the evening was the red Fronsac by Clos du Roy a wine with a lot of character and 90% Merlot which gives it a notions of red fruit (but I’m sure you remember this from my post from last week).   All 4 wines would be wines I see myself adding to my collection of wines …

So conclusion, I passed a very nice evening and I hope that the organisation will have some more of these great after work Aperos vintage de Bordeaux, maybe in Gent ? If they do, all you guys should check this out! What more do you need than a good bar, nice wine and good music (and I have to admit, nice young ladies 🙂 )

For all of you who would want to buy some of the wines , you can do so via www.bordeaux-coups-de-coeur.be

A night at Aperos vintage de Bordeaux

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I finally managed to get to the Aperos Vintage de Bordeaux in Antwerp at Café Vitrin last week. I really like the concept of Aperos Vintage, they looked for great locations that change every week. On top of that they always manage to have great music live music or Dj’s , this week’s musical part got done by Bent Van Looy (Das Pop) and last but not least a wide variety of Bordeaux wines.  Also the vineyards that introduced their wines change every week. So basically all the ingredients for a successful event! I must really say that they succeeded in their aim.  The location was really great, I had already passed by Café vitrin lots of times, as the name might already reveal that there are a lot of windows 🙂 and this actually made the café look bigger. Another reason why they can call it a success is because there were a lot of people, I even bumped into some old friends of mine 🙂 which is always great.

But ofcourse the Key element of this event is/were Bordeaux wines. My first question would be, what do you guys actually know about Bordeaux? Besides maybe a few names like Margaux, Saint-Emilion, Pomerol…you might have picked up. Did you know that there are also white, rosé and sparkeling Bordeaux wines?  Something that I personally find very important is at least knowing where Bordeaux is located

And also what the different are in this region vineyards  or ‘Terroires’ like the French  call them.

Don’t worry I’m not going to stuff your heads with tons of information about wine. But I’m convinced that there are always things that one should know… This way you’ll be able to jump into the conversation when the wine topic comes up next time :-).

Red Bordeaux wines are mostly made from 3 kinds of grapes  Merlot, Carbernet-Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc (some also add some Malbec or Petit verdon). For those who want to know more about grapes, check this website . Personally I do prefer the wines that have a higher percentage of Merlot, as they are more fruity. A Cabernet for example would be much more powerful and herbal like.

For the white wines the grapes that are mostly used would be Sauvignon, Sémillon and Muscadelle (some also add for example Merlot Blanc). For the white wines the Sauvignon will mostly give a more citrus kind of flavor to your wine, so basically it gives the wine some freshness.

I think that will do for the moment 🙂 I could keep telling you guys more things, but I have to stop somewhere. But for those who are interested, let me know, and I’ll get you some more info.

Back to Aperos. The best part of the evening, trying the wines 🙂

I tried following wines:

White wines:

–          Château Merlet – Cuvée Les Collines Fleuries by Cordier

–          Château Montfollet – Le Valentin by Chateaux Solidaires

Red Wines

–          Château Le Clairiot by UniVitis

–          Château La Grosse Pierre – Cuvée la fontaine  by Tutiac

–          Château Beauséjour Hostens

–          La source de château Goubau

My preference went to the ‘Beauséjour’ and ‘La Source’, both stronger wines (I like). The La source was more fruity and then the beauséjour and had a nice aftertaste. This thanks to the higher percentage of Merlot. My personal nr 1 would be the La source. The other 2 wines Grosse Pierre and Le Clairiot are lighter wines and are more as apero.

Overall very nice wines for a great budget and a wonderful concept!! Looking forward to explore next week’s Aperos Vintage wines!

Aperos vintage de Bordaux goes Antwerp!

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All you people that were not able to taste the wonderful Bordeaux wines in the streets of Brussels, don’t feel sad! First of all because tomorrow you still have the change of going. Secondly because  starting from  November 9th the Aperos Vintage story continues, but this time in Antwerp!!

The Brussels event has already been a huge success, will you help to make the Antwerp edition an even bigger success?

In case you don’t remember about this event (shame on you), you can read all about it in one of my previous blogposts

The first dates for Antwerp are already available:

Wednesday  9 november at Café Vertigo

Draakplaats 3, 2018 Antwerp

www.cafevertigo.be

Wednesday  16 november at Vitrin Café

Marnixplaats 14, 2000 Antwerp

www.vitrin.eu

Wednesday  23 november at Café Mombassa

Moorkensplein 37, 2140 Antwerp

www.cafemombasa.be

 

But those who still want to expierence the Brussels edition:

Wednesday  26 october at Bar du Matin

Chaussée d’Alsemberg 172, 1050 Brussels. Metro Albert 3

Concert van Jack Fire

 

See you in Antwerp!

And yet we went to another vineyard

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Today my aunt asked my something I have never heard before… she wanted to invite us to a restaurant???? She never did this, as she makes everything better herself. So not accepting it is not an option. Apparently lately she does this more often together with some friends 🙂 (which is really great)  She invite us to this very nice restaurant near the Slovenian boarder, Azienda agricola Stanig aka “Al vecchio Gelso” Which is also a vineyard 🙂 (I like). She actually wanted to take us to Stanig, as she had already been here a couple of times and liked very much. But also because she knows my brother is really crazy about the local wine called “Ribola Gialla” which you have in the form as a regular white wine and as a kind of spumante that I actually didn’t know also existed. So she wanted us to taste it and when maybe even take a few bottles for my brother. When I arrived at this restaurant I immediately knew this was something I liked, surrounded by vineyards, apple trees, etc…. lovely.

We first got offered a glass of this famous “Ribolla” or as they call it “Ribollicine”, and I can guaranty that it was indeed good. The grape has a realy nice smooth taste with tones of citrus in it. Really worth trying!!

But ofcourse we didn’t only come to drink :-)!We also had some delicious food. Do you remember my blogpost from Piemonte when I talked about restaurant Gemma? Well this was the same kind of restaurant, everything homemade, with love, very friendly people and more food than you can eat. As an antipasto, we started light with some San Daniele ham and some local cheese. We then took a Trio from pasta (as we couldn’t choose) Orzotto with the first broccoli from the season (like risotto, but with orzo instaid of rice), a kind of lasagna with pork sausage sauce and tagliatelle with porcini.   To accompany this we had a local red wine “Schioppettino“, an interesting taste, a more herbal kind of wine… I don’t think it would match with everything, but the bottle was empty at the end, so it couldn’t have been bad. (btw if you don’t finish your bottle, they give it to you to take home) We didn’t finish eating yet 🙂 as ‘secondo’ or main course we took the ‘involtini di’anatra’ (duck roll), roast and rabbit. They all came with a slice of white polenta and for the whole table we took some “zucchini”, “potatoes baked in the oven with rosemary” and some spinach. There was NO more room for dessert, only for a coffee.

As we were at the vineyard and I had wanted to take a few bottles of “Ribolla” for my brother I also took the liberty of buying an extra box of wine for me and my brother with an assortiment of the regional wines… And may I just say that the wines from Stanig have a nice tase. One of my preferred red wines from this region would be “Merlot’ (more than Cabernet’, for the white wines my preference would go to the Tokai Friulano (previously known as Tokai), but the Malvasia and Sauvignon are also very nice.

And may I also add that I like the look of the bottles (I know what is in it is more important, but they really look nice)

After our diner and wine purchase we did a little walk across the vineyard and set sail to go back home (to eat some more in the evening) after having a wonderful and tasty lunch.

FYI, as this is an agriturismo they also have rooms available…. Just a suggestion

Beni di Batasiolo

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As you could read in my previous posts, I’m currently visiting a longtime friend (Fiorenzo) from my father, who owns together with his family the ‘Batasiolo’ vineyard. But that is not the only reason this wine house is close to my heart, also for products they offer and produce.

Already being the 3rd generation (4th and 5th are also already ensured), you can be sure that the Dogliani family knows what they are doing. The name Batasiolo was only given to the ‘Azienda’ or vineyard around 1978, before they used to call it “Cantina Chiola”.

What really keeps surprising me is that eventhough Batasiolo is exporting to more than 63 countries worldwide, they are still able to keep the same high level taste and still have the same respect for the traditions of making wine.

MY personal favorite Batasiolo wines are:

La Corda della Briccolina, Barolo DOCG (red)

Sovrana, Barbera d’Alba doc  (red)

Bricco di Vergne, Dolcetto d’Alba doc (red)

Langhe Doc Rosso (red)

Granée, Gavi DOCG (white)

Bosc dla Rei, Moscato d’Asti docg (dessert)

Langhe Chardonnay DOC (white)

Ofcourse the most famous wine they are producing is without any doubt the Barolo (and I’m sure everybody knows this wine) that is a monovitigno wine. The reason for that is that they only use 1 kind of grape, the Nebbiolo. Barolo is also one of those wines you keep in your winecellar for years, 20 years easily. As you might already expect, this is a stronger kind of wine J not your every day table wine 🙂 .

The other day I had a tour around the ‘factory’ to see how the wine gets made, because what better moment then during the vendemmia??

Staying right in the middle of the vineyards, I got to see the workers picking the grapes.

But being a bigger wine house and making sure being able always stay at the same level, Batasiolo searches for the best new techniques and machinery to make this possible.

What I didn’t know (and I already know Batasiolo a lot of years), is that they also make special “Kosher” wine for the local Jewish people, who at the moment I was there were checking if the making respected the Jewish traditions. And as Batasiolo is already doing this for some years I think they are indeed respecting them 🙂

Basically first the grapes get squeezed to get the juices out (for the precious Barolo Nebbiolo grapes, the machine even separates the fruit from the pit and for the white wine it even peels it??? Wow, what a machine.

I just needed to add the next picture, because I really like engraved wood.

And as I said I really really find it amazing the machines like the one on the below picture, that clean the bottle, fill it, label it, close it, put it in a box, but the box on a pallet, etc…. I admire the person who invented this!!

And I’m sure it will not surprise that I tasted wine that morning (yes, at 10 o’clock), we tried 3 Barolos, from different vineyards from Batasiolo… and they all 4 tasted different… what could be seen a strange,, as they are from the same grape and treated in the same way… but in fact it is nature who helps a hand to give them all something different. I also tried the Sovrana (that I really like a lot) and the Barbaresco… (I just had a sip from the wine, I didn’t drink it all 🙂

If you have the chance, you should really taste the Batasiolo wines as they are really Worldclass!! (let me know when, then I’ll join you guys 😉