Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Lunch at the Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte Restaurant La Grand’ Vigne (Chef: Nicolas Masse, 2 Stars Michelin) - Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France

Picture: Lunch at Restaurant La Grand’ Vigne, prepared by Chef Nicolas Masse (2 stars Michelin). The lunch coincided with our 40th Wedding Anniversary.

We visited Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte in the morning. Following the visit and tasting we enjoyed lunch at Restaurant La Grand’ Vigne, prepared by Chef Nicolas Masse (2 stars Michelin). The restaurant is part of the Les Sources de Caudalie, a complex comprising a hotel, several restaurants and a health spa, which the owners of Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte constructed next to the Château.

I already posted about the visit of Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte here: Visit and Tasting: Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte, Pessac-Léognan, Grand Cru Classé – Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), France

This posting covers the outstanding wine lunch at Restaurant La Grande Vigne.

Picture: Walking over from Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte to Les Sources de Caudalie

Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte and Florence and Daniel Cathiard

The noble Bosq family started growing grapes here as early as 1365. The property was purchased in the 18th century by Scotsman George Smith, who gave the estate its present name. Current owners are Florence and Daniel Cathiard. Both Florence and Daniel were professional skiers belonging to the French Olympic ski team in the mid-1960s (with triple gold medal legend at the 1968 Winter Olympics Jean-Claude Killy). After their career in sports, Daniel built a supermarket and sporting goods store imperium and Florence an advertising agency. In 1990 they bought Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte with the wealth generated by the sale of all their assets. They brought the quality of Smith-Haut-Lafitte wines to the level for which they were once renowned.

Pictures: At Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte

La Grand’ Vigne (Worldtoprestaurants.com)

Worldtoprestaurants.com: Inspired by 18th century ornamental greenhouses, the restaurant La Grand' Vigne invites you to discover a sincere and generous cuisine which evolves with the season. La Grand’ Vigne is in a refined setting overlooking a small lake with swans, and it features a small terrace on which enjoy meals, weather permitting.

The decor and the 18th century fireplace that dominates the dining room recall the various shades of red wine grapes as they ripen in order to create a warm, comfortable ambiance that enhances the pleasure during a romantic dinner, or a business meeting in a private room.

2 Stars Michelin

Michelin: The cuisine in this charming 18C orangery is steeped in the flavours and colours of nature. The work of a young inspired chef, Nicolas Masse, who is a past master at combining flavours and textures with flawless accuracy to regale our senses. Deliciously sumptuous, down to the impeccable service.

2 stars: Excellent cuisine, restaurant worth a detour.

4 folks and knifes Excellent standard. Particularly charming or characterful.

Chef Nicolas Masse

Telegraph.co.UK: Chef Nicolas Masse is considered one of France's great rising talents, gaining his second Michelin star in February 2014. He shows off seasonal produce from the hotel's own vegetable garden, local farmers and the nearby Atlantic, using ingredients such as pigeon, Aquitaine caviar, lobster, wild turbot, in gastronomic restaurant La Grande Vigne. There’s an appropriately grand wine list. He also creates simpler, bistro-style cuisine in the Table de Lavoir, in a reconstructed washhouse, or wine and tapas-style snacks at the Rouge wine bar.

Pictures: Lunch at Restaurant La Grand’ Vigne

Worldtoprestaurants.com: Nicolas Masse, Born in Cherbourg is an English Channel region chef. He won his first star at the Michelin Guide in 2007 and 2010. Son of an engineer of the nuclear industry, Nicolas Masse started his training as a cooker as novice at the Hotel Sofitel in Cherbourg. He got his CAP degree in Cherbourg, then he obtained his professional certificate in Hérouville-Saint-Clair (Calvados) working in the same time at the Deauville Casino. Then he learnt with Alain Lamaison at La Cabro d’or at Baux-de-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône), then at la Villa Belrose at Gassin (Var).

Picture: Chef Nicolas Masse (Photo: 20 minutes)

He tried his luck abroad, in England, in London in particular, he was Chief of Party at the Landmark in 1997, then at the Kingston Lodge. Then he joined the Beaufort in the Luxembourg. In 2002, he flew on its own leading the kitchens of the Rosewood restaurant at the Grand Hotel in Saint-Jean-de-Luz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques). He got his first star at the Michelin Guide. In 2009 he joined the restaurant La Grand’Vigne des Sources de Caudalie in Martillac. One year later he got back his star in the guide.

Pictures: 40th Wedding Anniversary.

Sommelier Aurélien Farrouil (Winespectator August 7, 2015)

Winespectator: Growing up in Bordeaux with no family ties to the wine industry, Aurélien Farrouil, 32, nevertheless found himself drawn to wine at a young age. He worked at his first Vinexpo—a massive international trade show held in the region every two years—when he was still a teenager, and quickly gained an understanding of how extensive the world of wine could be.

Picture: Sommelier Aurélien Farrouil and Christian Schiller

Farrouil attended hotel school in Talence, earned a diploma in wine and spirits marketing, and staged in many hotels and restaurants in France, including Michelin two-star recipient Michel Rostang in Paris. Les Sources de Caudalie, a luxury hotel owned by the Cathiard family of Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte in Pessac-Léognan, finally brought him back to his native Bordeaux. He has been with their high-end restaurant, La Grand’ Vigne, a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence winner, for more than 10 years, moving from assistant sommelier up to head sommelier.

Aurélien Farrouil was on leave and Simon Renaud was our sommelier.

Picture: Simon Renaud

The Wine Luncheon: Expression d'un Terroir


Greetings from the kitchen

Squid
Oyster on cucumber mousse
Beef carpaccio stuffed with seaweed


All about tomato from the garden
Sweet and sour


The farm egg
Swiss chards, chlorophyll juice


The wild sea bass
Girolle mushrooms, smoked livèche herbs sauce


Pigeon from Miss Le Guen
Poivrade artichoke, cardamom jus


Caramelised hazelnut
Cacao sherbet and biscuit


Coffee


Postings on the Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France (Posted and Forthcoming)

Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France

Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), France

Bordeaux Wine Tour 2013 by ombiasy

Bordeaux Wines and their Classifications: The Basics

Bordeaux - En Primeur, Negociants, Courtiers, the Quai de Chartons and the Place de Bordeaux – A Short Introduction

How Does the Negociant System in Bordeaux Work? Tour and Tasting at Millésima - Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France

Dining and Wining on Boulevard Montparnasse in Paris: La Rotonde, Le Dôme and La Coupole, France – Pre-Bordeaux Wine Tour 2016 by ombiasy WineTours, France

Tour and Tasting from Barrel at Domaine de Chevalier, Graves, Appellation Pessac-Léognan, Grand Cru Classé, with Owner Adrien Bernard - Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France

Dinner with a View: At Restaurant L’Estacade in Bordeaux City - Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France

Schiller’s Favorite Wine Bars in Bordeaux City - An Update

Schiller's Favorite Seafood Places in Bordeaux City, France

Saint Emilion Wines and their Classification, Bordeaux, France

Schiller’s Favorite Wine Bars in St. Emilion, France

The Wine Empire of the von Neipperg Family in France, Bulgaria and Germany

Tour and Tasting at Château Canon La Gaffelière, Appellation Saint-Emilion, Premier Grand Cru Classé – Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France

Tour and Wine Pairing Lunch at Château Beauséjour, Appellation Puisseguin Saint-Emilion, with Owner/ Winemaker Gérard Dupuis - Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France

Tour and Tasting at Château Figeac, Premier Grand Cru Classé B, in Saint-Émilion – Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France

Tour and Tasting at Château Beauregard, Appellation Pomerol – Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France

Tour with Dany Rolland: Château Le Bon Pasteur in Pomerol – Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France

Wine-pairing Lunch at Château Le Bon Pasteur, Pomerol, with Dany Rolland – Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France

Tasting were it all Started: At the "Garage" of Jean-Luc Thunevin, Owner and Winermaker of Château Valandraud, Premier Grand Cru Classé since 2012 - Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France

Charcuterie and Fromage at Chez Pascal in Saint Emilion - Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France

Tour and Tasting at Château de Fargues, Sauternes, with Prince Eudes d’Orléans - Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France

Wine-pairing Lunch at the 1-star Michelin Restaurant Claude Darroze, with Marie-Hélène Lévêque, Owner of Châteaux Chantegrive - Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France

Visit: Château de Chantegrive, Appellation Grave, with Owner Marie-Hélène Lévêque - Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours 2016, France

Visit and Tasting: Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte, Pessac-Léognan, Grand Cru Classé – Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), France

Wine Pairing Lunch at the 2-star Michelin Restaurant La Grande Vigne (at Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte)

Tour of the new Musee du Vin in Bordeaux City

Seafood lunch at Pinasse Cafe in Cap Ferret

Tour of the Earl Ostrea Chanca Oyster Farm and Oyster Tasting in Grand-Piquey, with Oyster Farmer Ralph Doerfler

The 5 Premiers Grands Crus Chateaux en 1855 of Bordeaux, France

What is a Bordeaux Cru Bourgeois? France

Tourt and tasting at Château Palmer, Margaux, 3ième Grand Cru Classé

Tour and Tasting at Château Pichon-Longueville-Baron, Pauillac, 2ième Grand Cru Classé

Wine Lunch at Château Pichon-Longueville-Baron, Pauillac, 2ième Grand Cru Classé

Tour and Tasting at Château Lafon-Rochet, Saint-Estèphe, 4ième Grand Cru Classé, with Owner Michel Tesseron

At the Invitation of Owner Michel Tesseron: Private Dinner at Château Lafon-Rochet, Saint-Estèphe, 4ième Grand Cru Classé

Tour and Tasting at Château Sociando Mallet, Appellation Haut-Médoc

How a Barrel is Made: Visit of the Cooperage Berger & Fils in Vertheuil

Lunch were the Locals eat: At Le Peyrat in Saint-Estèphe in Saint Estephe

Tour and Tasting at Château Léoville Poyferré, Saint-Julien, 2ième Grand Cru Classé, with Anne Cuvelier

Tour and Tasting at Château Margaux, Appellation Margaux, 1ière Grand Cru Classé

Tour and Tasting at Château Kirwan, Appellation Margaux, 3ième Grand Cru Classé, with Owner Nathalie Schyler

Picnic Lunch at Château Kirwan, Appellation Margaux, 3ième Grand Cru Classé, with Owner Nathalie Schyler

Tour and Wine Dinner at Château Haut-Bailly, Graves, Appellation Pessac-Léognan, Grand Cru Classé, with Daina Paulin 

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