2011

First of all we want to renew the best wishes for 2011. We hope everybody had einen guten Rutsch into the New Year on Friday night. After a white Christmas it was lovely weather for the start of the new year.




Especially for those of you who can still enjoy wonderful food and wine even after the perhaps at times "heavy" end of year celebrations
I would like to start the blog in the new year with a very interesting report on Cahors wine and truffles. It is called "The Scent of Black". The documentary is mostly French spoken with English subtitles.

Just enjoy. And we hope that it gives enough pleasure or calls back memories to (re)visit the region (again). Cahors here we come (again).





Some background information :

In the Cahors region of France, black truffles are almost literally as valuable as gold in the culinary world. Prized for their glorious scent, black truffles are fungi that grow exclusively on the roots of oak trees. Found in late autumn and winter, the truffles cannot be seen since they grow under the ground. Pigs, or specially trained dogs have been used to search for these elusive truffles. About 20% of the French production comes from southwest France, which possesses the limestone soils and dry hot weather that truffles need to grow.

In the late 19th century, an epidemic of phylloxera destroyed many of the vineyards in southern France. Large tracts of land were set free for the cultivation of truffles. Thousands of truffle-producing trees were planted, and production reached the peak of hundreds of tonnes by the end of the 19th century. Wars during the 20th Century decimated the fields. After 1945, the production of truffles plummeted, and prices rose dramatically. In 1900, truffles were used by most French people, and on many occasions. Today, they are a rare delicacy reserved for the wealthy, or used on very special occasions.

Originally a common grape in Bordeaux, Malbec has lost popularity as one of the five varieties in the Bordeaux blends. Meanwhile, Malbec increased its status in the French region of Cahors, an area southeast of Bordeaux, where it creates distinctive wines that now require 70% of the variety.