After tasting two of Loire Valley's finest French wines, here's what we liked

France's Loire Valley's most famous winemakers, Bouvet Ladubay, has just brought in some of their high-end wines into India. Dhiman Chattopadhyay 'test drives’ two of them

If the main course in front of you is a ‘Le Choux Farci’, then what else could you pair it with but a fruity, sparkling wine that sounds French and tastes equally royal?

Marie (left) and Juliette (right) Monmousseau, the fifth generation owners of Bouvet Ladubey winery

Juliette and Marie, the Monmousseau sisters, fifth generation owners of the iconic Bouvet Ladubey winery from France’s Loire valley are treating me to a wonderful French meal so that I can try out two of their latest offerings to India.

The Farci (Cabbage leaf stuffed with mushrooms, pork, duck, chestnuts and foiegras) goes delightfully well with the Bouvet Brut Zero, a sparkling white wine from the Bouvet Ladubay family that is now available in India, thanks to their collaboration with the UB Group, which acquired majority stake in the French winery in 2006.

“The sparkling wine market is growing rapidly in your country. You have so many celebrations, festivals in a year and uncorking the bubbly has become the norm hasn’t it?” asks Juliette.

The Tarte aux Fraises that Marie serves (she is a qualified chef who is about to open a restaurant in France) is sweet and mildly intoxicating. This pastry has fresh strawberries, cream and elderflower liqueur and pairs well with the Bouvet Brut Rose, a mildly fruity rose wine.

Juliette, a sommelier, who is in charge of exports of the company, says the association with Four Seasons winery (a part of the UB group) has worked wonders. At Baramati, with Bouvet collaboration and technology, Four Seasons is coming up with wines produced with French grape varieties.

“We hope to create further awareness about the provenance of Loire Valley and the food and wines paired with it,” she tells me. Marie adds that the entry of such high quality and luxury range of French wines would probably see a rise in the popularity of French cuisine too, among Mumbai’s swish set. We drink to that.

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