Château Miraval is hidden away in its own valley in the old village of Correns - by the way, France's oldest organic village - and encompasses 500 hectares. The magnificent castle lies in a valley basin surrounded by ancient forests, olive groves, vineyards and an abundant water supply. The unspoiled wildlife combined with the beautiful Provençal climate and the quality of the Mediterranean lifestyle make it an enchanting oasis. Miraval's exclusive location embodies an exceptional terroir. Terroir is the expression of the soil, the climate and the history of the land - the essence of the wine. The vineyards are located at an altitude of 350 meters and enjoy warm, sunny days and cool nights. It brings freshness and balance to the wines. Today, Château Miraval is owned by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and the cultivation, production, quality control and distribution of the wines are carried out by the Perrin family of Château de Beaucastel. The release of Miraval red and white is planned for September 2013, and in the following year, 2014, there will be a Grand Vin in both white and red. The natural clay and limestone soil composition allows for important water retention while at the same time allowing excess water to drain away. This is very important for healthy grape ripening. Miraval is located at the foot of the Via Aurelia - an extensive route built to facilitate Roman expansion in the 3rd century BC - symbolizing centuries of history. After Celtic settlement and Roman occupation, the estate served as a refuge for monastic practice and as home to members of the French court in the 14th century. In 1970, the famous jazz pianist and composer Jacques Loussier bought Château Miraval and turned it into the recording studio Le Studio de Miraval. A number of famous musicians came here, such as Pink Floyd, Sting, Sade, The Cranberries and the Gipsy Kings.

The 12 steps to preserve good sardines in a tin. Delivery and brining » The fish are unloaded, inspected and weighed. Only then can we determine exactly how much time will be required for brining and cooking. The sardines are then completely submerged in brine as they are. Gutting » The sardine workers process each sardine individually, head it and carefully gut it. They are then arranged on a rack and gently sprayed with water. By the way, 100% of the fish waste is recycled. Some goes to sport and professional fishermen, who use it as bait. The rest is collected by a specialist company. Drying » The sardines are dried in a tunnel with a ventilation system for several minutes. Frying » The sardines are fried in pure sunflower oil, which is regularly replaced to guarantee the consistent quality of the product. The used frying oil is collected by a professional recycler and then used to heat greenhouses. Draining » Still lying on their rack, the sardines are now drained. Draining is a very important step in the entire quality process. Seasoning » Depending on the recipe, the empty sardine tins are now filled with the appropriate spices and seasonings. Canning » The sardines are now removed from the rack one by one and carefully selected. Only the best make it into the tins. The heads and tail fins are then cut off before the fish are placed in the tins in opposite directions. This step requires great care from the sardine workers, as they must be able to tell at a glance which sardines will make a nice tin together. The most experienced of them also remove the main backbone at the same time, resulting in completely boneless sardines. Adding the oil » Depending on the recipe, the tins are now filled with oil: fruity or semi-fruity extra virgin olive oil or pure peanut oil. Sealing the tins » The tins are now hermetically sealed. The lid is crimped by a machine, which seals between 300 and 500 tins per hour in this way. Cleaning and dating the tins » The sealed tins are passed through a tunnel where they are first pre-rinsed and then thoroughly cleaned. They are then marked with the various dates (best before date, etc.) to ensure their traceability. Sterilization » For each such cycle (from delivery to sealing the tins), the duration and temperature parameters are documented and systematically verified. Every sterilization process is checked in the laboratory by our quality assurance service. Final inspection of the tins » The tins are inspected to ensure that they meet our standards, are dated, properly sealed and undamaged. 

Louis Lefebvre and Béatrice d'Anselme, Rhône winegrowers, are coming to visit and will pour a selection of their wines. Their son Marin, an aspiring winemaker himself and currently part of Maître Philippe & Filles, is actively helping out. In addition to the "Carpe Diem" and "Trilogie" red wines, which are already part of our range, various white and rosé wines will also be available for tasting. A tasting dedicated to wine and family traditions – it simply has to be good!

Cassoulet is a type of stew from southern France, traditionally made with white beans, bacon, salt-cured meat, and sausages. Cassoulet takes its name from the “cassole,” a stoneware or earthenware pot in which it is prepared. If you haven’t yet ventured into this hearty dish, now is the chance to finally discover this rich delicacy.

On July 14, the French national holiday, we don't sing "aux armes, citoyens!" but rather much more peacefully, fraternally and sisterly "auf fourchettes, les copains!" (to your forks, friends!) and, in celebration of the day, we fire up the grill in true fashion.We'll be grilling merguez and French sausages, as well as delicious vegetarian alternatives. There will also be pastis and wine, just as it should be.Come by and raise a glass with us!

What can make even grey days shine in a friendly light? A really good breakfast! It will be especially delicious with the tasty trout from the Pyrenees, which we are serving at the trout breakfast on Saturday. It quickly becomes clear that it doesn't always have to be salmon. The table is set from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – while supplies last! We look forward to your visit!

Finding really good honey is easier said than done (read more about it here) ... But since we – like you? – are real honey fans and believe that it should have a permanent place in any well-stocked range, we have enthusiastically set out to discover a new "honey source" for you. After extensive research and numerous tastings, we have finally found a new producer who has completely won us over: Julien Bourrette and his beehives ("Mes ruches" means "My beehives" in German). The honey from "Mes ruches" comes from Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France, which stretches from the Pyrenees to the Provence-Côte d’Azur along the Mediterranean coast. The region includes several larger cities (Montpellier, Nîmes, Perpignan), but is otherwise very rural. Famous sights and excursion destinations include the Canal du Midi, the Pont du Gard, and numerous caves and stalactite caves. In this beautiful landscape, Bourrette and his partner Johanne Baux have a wild stock of 100 beehives with a total of 350 colonies. Julien has been passionately involved in beekeeping as a hobby since 2006 – since 2010 he has been dedicating himself to this task professionally and full-time. For Julien and Johanne, the bees are the main focus. They move their beehives to areas where intensive agriculture is not practiced and only the best flowers grow. This method is called transhumance. In this way, they keep their bees away from pesticides and intensive agriculture. Since the work is time-consuming, sometimes difficult, and also costly, the two have launched a kind of crowdfunding scheme in which sponsorships for the beehives are awarded.  In addition to the wonderful certainty of supporting Julien and Johanne's beekeeping through such a sponsorship, the bee sponsors also benefit from lower honey prices. That is something to think about ...  "Mes ruches" produces the following types of honey, depending on the season and the condition of the flowers and trees in question: lavender, grey heather (bruyère cendrée), chestnut, Causses du Larzac, garrigue (miel de garrigue), mountain honey (miel de montagne). We were lucky enough to be able to taste them all and are completely won over by every single variety. The consistency of the honey is sensationally crystalline and creamy, and the respective aromas stand out individually and very clearly. This is really something different from supermarket honey!  To taste the honey "properly", it is best to take a small amount and simply place it on your tongue. The honey begins to melt on your tongue and dissolve into its individual crystals due to the saliva. In doing so, the aromas are released, which you can now taste through the taste buds on your tongue, but also through your nose. A real experience! For now, we have added the following 3 varieties to our range: Lavender, Grey heather (bruyère cendrée), Mountain honey from the Ardèche.  The others are – due to seasonal peculiarities – only available later in the year. We are already looking forward to the first 3 new additions to the honey shelf and soon to the ones that follow!

Massal selection, parcel purity of the cuvées, immediate and gentle pressing of the grapes, fermentation and aging of the base wines in barriques, and minimal dosage … All this makes the champagnes of Laherte Frères so special: Each has its very own character, reflecting the terroir of its respective parcel.

Cidre, French apple wine, is the perfect drink for spring and summer. It is refreshing, sparkling, and light, versatile in its pairings, low in alcohol, and rich in flavour. We visited François Huet of Cidrerie Pierre Huet at his estate in Cambremer, Normandy. 

Champ Divin’s Crémant du Jura has been the undisputed favorite of our team for about three years. So it was finally time to visit the winemaking couple Valérie and Fabrice Closset at their estate. In addition to Crémant, we were able to taste many other very distinctive and typical Jura wines.

In early June, our whole family went on a little wine tour from Champagne through Burgundy to the Jura and visited several winegrowers.You simply learn best when you can see, hear, feel and taste where the wine comes from. Besides, nothing beats personal connections! A highlight of the five-day trip was our visit to Champagne Moutard in Buxeuil, one of the smallest communes in the Côte des Bar in southern Champagne. Read and see here how warmly the "Buxeuil Boys" welcomed us, and immerse yourself with us in the "Champagne Feeling"!

As part of our visit to the SIRHA food trade show in Lyon, we recently paid a visit to our cheese supplier, Paccard. The family-run business with 12 employees is based near the picturesque village of Manigod in Haute-Savoie, which can be reached by car via winding mountain roads. Although we had not made an appointment, the owner, Jean-François Paccard, took a lot of time out for us. For an hour, he guided us through all the aging cellars and showed us the various other departments where the very fresh cheeses are delivered or prepared for shipping. The perfect finishing touch was a tasting of different cheeses, with which we were served a glass of Crémant de Savoie to celebrate the occasion – it was Philippe's birthday.