Join us at Feast Bistro…..
Our holiday feature this weekend is orange, ginger and brandy glazed cornish game hen roasted with an apple, fig and fennel stuffing. Kale au gratin with lemon, parmesan, pine-nut and crispy pancetta will pair with the spice notes and velvet tannins of the Collioure Puig Oriol from Domaine La Tour Vieille in Languedoc, France.
Their vineyards are planted on steep, schist terraces overlooking the sea, where they are constantly exposed to the fierce and wily wind known as “La Tramontagne.” This constant wind not only ensures naturally low yields, but also keeps the grapes free of mildew with little need for pesticides or copper sulfate. Their vineyards are so steep that cultivation must be by hand, and extensive irrigation canals and walls (all made from the schist rock) are their only prevention against soil erosion, although there is almost no soil left to recede! These canals snake down the hillsides, separating the parcels. At harvest, the grapes are carried up and down the mountain in baskets. This method of farming, while extremely challenging, preserves the traditions of their ancestors.