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France, Wine Recommendations Sophia Longhi France, Wine Recommendations Sophia Longhi

Tasting note: Fleur de Mer Rosé

Ah! The summer is here and this very bottle makes me think of skipping across a lavender-flecked hillside, white dress billowing, hair flowing behind – perhaps I am carrying a basket of flowers or – even better – freshly picked herbs to make dinner with later in my stone-cobbled kitchen overlooking the sea? How Provençal indeed! It’s amazing what a label can do and this one has a dreamy, curly script across it, spelling ‘Fleur de Mer’, flower of the sea. And, if you ever visit the website of this wine, you are greeted with pretty watercolour paintings of lavender loveliness.

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A weekend in the Languedoc - Part Deux: Every wine has a story
Wine Travel, France Sophia Longhi Wine Travel, France Sophia Longhi

A weekend in the Languedoc - Part Deux: Every wine has a story

One of the fabulous things about the Languedoc is that you are never far away from wine. There are vines everywhere you turn and in every village there will be someone making their own wine (in Liausson, it’s the village mayor, as introduced to this story in Part One). There are also larger wineries and shops where you can see big production close up and, of course, try and buy the wines.

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A weekend in the Languedoc - part one: Liausson Rouge
Wine Travel, France Sophia Longhi Wine Travel, France Sophia Longhi

A weekend in the Languedoc - part one: Liausson Rouge

It’s always very fortunate when you have friends who live in wonderful places, especially when you can go and stay with them for a few days. It is even more fortunate when said places are located between 30-50 degrees of latitude (where the grapevines grow) and home to lots of lovely, lovely wine. Chris and Ian live in Liausson, a small village in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in the South of France. It’s a beautiful, historic little place with Lac du Salagou to the north (or just a fifteen minute walk down a dusty road from Chris and Ian’s house) and vineyards in every other direction.

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Sud de France Annual Tasting 2018
Trade Tastings, France Sophia Longhi Trade Tastings, France Sophia Longhi

Sud de France Annual Tasting 2018

I love visiting the South of France and there are three things that never fail to make it a wonderful trip – the weather, the food and the wine. Visiting small local vineyards is always part of it; making an afternoon of it and taking a tasty, inexpensive bottle (or three) back to enjoy with a home-cooked supper and friends. The charm of this part of the world keeps its devotees coming back time after time, living their dream of buying crusty baguettes in the morning and local wine in the afternoon, but now it seems they have even more reason to stick around (and sip around), as the region’s reputation for high quality wine is skyrocketing.

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