Millésime Bio
The Vin en Vacances team is growing, we now number 6 wine crazy people and last weekend 4 of us headed for Montpellier and the organic wine show Millesime Bio. To make sure of an early start we decided to stay the previous night so where could a team of food & wine nuts head for dinner?
Kate had the answer and I’ll let her tell the story…
Montpellier is a city full of great places to eat; but there is one particular restaurant where food and wine meet that 
is truly a delight for any gourmand. The intriguingly named Trinque Fougasse Sud manages to combine wonderful food with an awe inspiring selection of wines. Their cellar covers all of the great wine producing areas of France – and even a few from further afield! Choose from themed entrée platters – duck, pork, vegetarian, pescetarian, and once you’ve made your choice, you can pop down to the bar to choose a wine to match! As we were a table of four, we opted to share the Iberico Pork platter and the duck platter, and with everything from the delicate acorn fed pork to carpaccio of duck, there was something for everyone. We opted for a lighter style Spanish wine from Empordà which was a great fit with the flavours. Our main courses were all about protein! Marcel, 
Petra & I shared the Planche Boucher – an homage to meat: steak tartare, sliced veal entrecote, duck breast, and flank steak served with frites & salad. Wendy opted for a huge steak ! Our wine pairing was from La Rectorie in Banyuls, a favourite of ours from a tour we did to the Roussillon a few years ago.
Now I’ve not got a ‘bec sucré’ or sweet tooth, but the others still managed to find room for a dessert. Tarte Tatin paired with a sweet white Maury for Petra, chocolate cake matched with a red Maury for Marcel, but it was the orange cake which truly sang when partnered with an Rivesaltes Ambré – a marriage made in heaven.
Marcel writes about Millesime Bio
Each year in the end of January Montpellier hosts the wine fair for Organic producers from all over the world: 
MillesimeBio. When I first visited, a couple of years ago, it was a tiny fair in just 1 hall of the gigantic building. Organic wine growing has become so popular as has demand from consumers so the fair now stretches over 4 halls! It is a professional fair so for producers, trade and press. Serious tasting!
For us wine professionals an exquisite opportunity to meet wine producers, taste lots of new wines and a first glance at the vintages of white and rosé now ready to be presented.
This year the whole Vin en Vacances team joined in the search for new wineries to visit on our vineyard tours this coming season. We made a tight schedule and started tasting the moment the fair opened and spent the day visiting old friends and making new ones in search of the best winery destinations for our vineyard tours.
Highlights of the day? John & Nicole of Clos du Gravillas were there and we tasted the new whites: Emmenez-moi au bout du Terret, L’Inattendu and Muscat. Although 2014 was not an easy year during harvest this domaine has made spectacular wines again! Visit them on our Saint-Chinian & Minerve Tour
David Pamies of Khakhal-Pamies, our little, mind-of-his-own wine maker from close to Minerve was there (with his wife and son, a proper family business) and he was so kind to open up all his new vintages, including a spectacular new wine ‘Deux mît le Treize’ all made from Carignan, Syrah and Grenache.
Barbara and Tim Ford of Domaine Gayda presented all new vintages for white and the awesome new 100% Syrah from old vines grapes grown in La Livinière. Spectacular! Visit Domaine Gayda
The Nôtes Frivoles Rosé 2014 from Domaine Sainte Cécile du Park we tasted gave us the Springtime feeling! So light and elegant, let the sun shine in! Brigitte Chevallier of Domaine de Cébène proved with her new vintages why she belongs at the top of the Faugères appellation. Wow, such characterful wines with layers of complexity. Deborah & Peter Gore of Mas Gabriel presented their new white made with Vermentino and white Carignan. Rich, soft and a good mouth feel – our kind of wine. We visit these wineries on our Pézenas & Faugères Tour
We are very excited about visiting our old friends again this year plus the new winemakers we met at Millésime Bio who are eager to be part of our tours. We hope you will join us and come and meet many of these fantastic, passionate people and taste their exciting wines!