Sixth experience...La Cantina

As the weather outside was reaching the 0 degrees, we decided to warm up and headed for the Corsica sun and heat! And that is why are way led us to the “A cantina Comptoir Corse” in rue Bahutiers near the famous “Place Camille Julian”. What a great way to travel in another wine region of France that some tend to forget but hides beautiful treasures.

This 100% Corsica place, holds a typical wine bar downstairs and a typical restaurant upstairs.  As we walked inside the wine bar we traveled miles away to one of this Corsica place’s we see on television. Judge by yourself:

The wine card is incredible: 27 red wines, 22 white wines and 8 rosés. The wines are all available by the bottle and 3/4^th are available by the glass: prices from 4€ to 5€ for a generous portion! In all 57 different references from the famous AOC’s: Calvi, Patrimonio, Sartene etc. To fulfill the experience, these wines can be paired with Corsica cheese and Corsica cold cuts for roughly 15€ the plate. The restaurant offers a typical and complete meal (entrée + main dish + deserts) for 27€.

As “Get it up for Love” was playing (Ned Doheny) a band was setting up for the concert of the night: Corsica band of course, just like all the bands that come here once a month. 

Our experience

1. AOC Ajaccio – Clos Capitoro (4,50€) 2010 – red

Very deep ruby color. The nose is toasted with hints of leather. To the mouth the wines tannins are soft, the wine is well balanced and light. Dark fruit aromas are found such as abundant toasted aromas. A little green pepper. Great discovery! Perfect wine for lovers of light wines.

2. AOC Corse Calvi – Domaine Maestracci E prove (5€) 2009 – red

The wines color is also very dark and ruby. Cold tobacco, spices and crystallized dark fruits are found in the nose. The attack is greedy, rich and very tannic. This is the perfect wine for lovers of very tannic wines not too fruity and light.

3. AOC Patrimonio – Domaine Santini (4.50€) 2009 – red

The wines color is very deep, same ruby color as the two other appellations. The nose is fruity while smoky. To the palate the wine is very light and fruity. The wine is a little bitter because young but shows a potential future. Will be perfect in a year or two for lover of fruity wines.

To sum: In a way this wine bar and restaurant is the perfect place to go to taste good wines we don’t usually drink. Moreover the experience is completed with the Corsica food: we highly recommend the cold cuts buy the way…but also the music. Nice place to discover the beautiful region of Corsica and warm up during winter time.

Location: 14 rue de Bahutiers 33000 Bordeaux

Concept: Corsica bar and restaurant

Budget: 20-30€

Opening Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 7pm to 1am

Telephone number: 07 87 04 28 97

Special services: Corsica wines and food, Corsica bands

Web site: www.comptoir-corse.fr

Fifth experience...Oenolimit

For our fifth Bordeaux wine bar experience we have decided to change completely this time and show you an associative wine bar: no outstanding furniture (random chairs and tables) and no high-tech machine, but what a great place we discovered …

More traditional, this wine bar has an actual wine card very rich in content: wines from Bordeaux, Grands Crus Classés, wines from Burgundy, Loire Valley, Languedoc Roussillon, Champagne, Rhone Valley, South-West of France, Rosés, Wine in Tube AND MANY MORE! All these wines can be bought online or in the wine shop to carry back home! For those who want to drink in the bar, these same wines can be drank by the glass or even the bottle for those who want a full experience! The glasses of wines are well filled for really reasonable prices going from 3€ to 8€ the glass.

The owner is very nice and he selects the music from his own MacBook, and sometimes he even lets the customers put their own music on! Usually the music chosen is a selection of Jazz and Soul which enters completely in agreement with the inside atmosphere: old stones of Bordeaux and old oak barrels which are used for the tastings. 

Finally tapas are proposed at a very reasonable price (less than 10 Euros) of “pâté de campagne”, “mousse de canard”, sausage, cheese etc.  

Not only in the back of the wine bar is a pool table for those who want to play a game! And it is also possible to play board games in this wine bar, what makes the atmosphere friendlier.

Our experience :

1. Domaine Yann Chave – Crozes-Hermitage 2010 – red

4,5€ the glass, 22,5€ for the bottle:

A unique grape variety 100% Shiraz. It is an excellent Crozes-Hermitage, supple in the mouth, fresh, fruity with a nice acidity. Its purple color and its spicy aromas remind the tipicity of the Shiraz. This wine is really well-balanced and good for ageing at least for 5 years up to 10 years.

2. Vouvray – La Richaudière 2003 – Loire valley – 3€ the glass, 12,5€ the bottle:

Half dry white wine from the Loire Valley, delicate nose, with notes of white flowers, fruits and anise. In the mouth the wine is very round due to its content in sugar. The final is fresh. Good length with some fat, elegant wine. Perfect for an aperitif or accompanied with tapas!

Location: 2 rue Ayres, 33000 Bordeaux

Concept: associative bar, wine bar, wine shop, art previews

Budget: 20€

Opening Hours: all week long 12pm to 12am

Telephone number: 05 57 88 34 19

Special services: wine by the glass, wine shop, tapas, music, wine tastings, previews

Web site: www.loenolimit.com : online purchase

Fourth experience...Bu!

After a couple days of vacation where your favorite taste buds travelled all around France: Paris, Limoges and Caen, we are now back in the beautiful wine city of … Bordeaux! Next stop the wine bar « Bu » (« drank » in French) near the place Camille Julian and the very famous Kebab place « Coluche » if you are in the mood of a good Kebab… 

This one is very similar to the “vOv” and “Aux 4 coins du vin” because just like them, "Bu" has the famous machines that allow doing wines by the glass. And just like them the same credit card is used where you can put the amount you want to spend on wine. This made us think that this machine is the future as more and more wine bars are buying it. Of course it is an expensive machine but wines last longer once opened.

Though, even if the wine bars are starting to have this machine their concept differs one from another. What is very different at « Bu » is the presence of « VINI-ettes » (in French « wine » thumbnails) that refer to the taste of each wine in order to guide the customer on which wine is the best suited for him!

32 references of wines by the glass are proposed and 100 by the bottle. The prices of wines by the glass start at 1,6€, a very attractive price, and go up to 14€.

Once the wine is ordered you can pair it with the “MIAM” products: plates of cheese, cold cuts, antipasti, “foie gras” and also meals such as fish and meat. Prices go up to 18€.

Our experience:

1. MOOIPLAAS – South Africa / Langtafel (Sauvignon Blanc – Chenin Blanc) 2009 - white

This is the first time we try together a South African wine, this one was very good with its floral nose and complexity in the mouth. The wine is thick and supple, and at the same time fresh with a vivid finish.

2. MOMO – New Zealand / Domaine SERESIN (Pinot Noir) 2009 - red

As first experiences never come alone, we also tasted a biodynamic wine: our first time! The aromas to the nose remind cherry aromas, leather and spice. This wine shows its strength by its black fruit aromas, toasted sensation and tannins. 

3. REMHOOGTE – South Africa / Remhoogte Estate (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage) 2006 – red

This wine vinified by the famous wine-maker Michel Rolland, has a fruity nose with smoked aromas and liquorices. To the mouth the same aromas are found. The wine has an enjoyable fresh finish. 

To summ: « Bu » is a modern and « laid-back » wine bar that proposes many wines by the glass at affordable prices. The concept of the « VINI-ettes » is very helpful for the customer who can in this way experience “Bu” and the wines without the help of the staff. Combined with a plate of “MIAM”, « Bu » is an experience to … experience! 

Location: 5 rue du Pas Saint Georges 33000 Bordeaux

Concept: wine bar, wine by the glass, tapas, restaurant

Budget: 30€

Opening Hours: 

At night : Tuesdays to Saturday 6pm to 2am

At lunch: Monday to Friday 12pm to 2pm

Telephone number: 05 56 52 87 48

Special services: wine by the glass, tapas, music, wine tastings

Web site: www.baravin-bu.fr 

Xmas special #3 ... Final Stop Caen !

We hope you had a good time in following us in our wine bar experience out of Bordeaux. Our final stop Caen, the capital of Normandy!

Let’s say Caen is not renowned for its high number of wine bars, in fact less than 5 wine bars are in Caen, but is hidden in these 5 wine bars an incredible place: Le Piano à Vins.

Le Piano à Vins is born of an original idea of its owner Benoit Leneveu. It is in 2008 that he decided to launch a restaurant/wine shop/wine bar: first time in the region! The idea is that a client can come in just to buy a bottle of wine, or he can come in, buy a bottle of wine open it and drink it with some homemade meals. This original place hides over 250 different wines, which makes it the restaurant/wine bar/wine shop with the most references in Caen. 250 different bottles can then be opened and on top of this roughly 10 wines are proposed by the glass: these ones change every week! On the wine-list Champagne, grands crus, wines from all the wine regions of France, Spanish wines, wines from Chili, Argentina and also Calvados!

What surprised us from all the places we went to before was the inside. In fact difference “ambiances” were conceived responding two different targets: 

- traditional tables for families
- tables for two for couples
- high-stools in front of the bar for people coming alone and wiling to talk with the owner and chef that are on the other side
- a special table in the corner of the room with sofas for those coming for the “aperitif”

We then decided to “grab a bottle in the wine shop” and went to the sofas to open it: 

Château Dubois Challon “Fleur Amandine”, Bordeaux white, 2009 (11.90€). In fact we decided to open a bottle from Bordeaux but only because the story behind it is original: this Bordeaux white wine is very particular by its fermentation and barrel ageing. Unlike many Bordeaux wines this wine is part fermented and aged in American oak barrels!

The color of this wine is light yellow the tints are silver. The nose is aromatic with vanilla and coconut aromas (due to American oak) such as white flowers, almonds, white peach and wood. This wine is very fine. To the mouth the attack is fresh, the wine has texture and a great balance. The same aromas of the nose are found in the mouth. An incredible wine very different thanks to the barrel ageing in American oak! To be tasted!

As the owner has a past as a sommelier, he is the perfect person to help you pair your wine with his homemade food. On the menu tapas, main dishes, appetizers, cheese and desserts: all home made… His suggestion with this wine: goat cheese, tuna kebab, salmon cooked with almonds, filet mignon cooked with cream (very nomand :p) and tarte tatin. The prices of the tapas are roughly 10€, 15€ for a main dish, 7€ for deserts and appetizers. Wine bottles start at 5€. 

And where is the Piano with all of this? Well twice a month a band comes in to play: jazz bands, piano players etc! Reserve before!  

To sum: very unique place in the heart of Caen. Large choice of wines starting at 5€ a bottle. Very good homemade food perfect to pair with the wines. Good advice. Great place for appetizers, lunch and dinner. Twice a month bands come to play. With all of this why wouldn’t you step inside the Piano?

Location: 11 rue de Courtonne 14 000 Caen

Concept: wine bar, wine shop, restaurant

Budget: 30€

Opening Hours: 

Tuesday to Saturday: 12pm to 3pm and 8pm to 11pm

Telephone number: 02 31 44 85 22

Special services: wine by the glass, tapas, concerts, wine shop

Web site: www.lepianoavin.com 

Happy New Year !!!!

Morgane, Agathe, Anthony and Baptiste, your local taste buds are gathering to wish you a happy new year ! May this year 2013 be filled of new wine bars, many new wines and love ! 

We will continue to guide you in our wine bar experience and be part of your happy moments of 2013. 

- Your taste bus