Le Lézard Vert, Epeigné-les-BoisLe Lézard Vert in Epeigné-les-Bois sold
The café-épicerie, Le Lézard Vert, in Epeigné-les-Bois is changing hands with the new proprietors, who are from Paris, taking over from Clémence Bordet in early August. The new owners are from Paris and apparently intend to turn the current café-épicerie into a restaurant, café and épicerie. This is potentially very good news for the village as it has been a struggle for Clémence to look after her young son – born in November 2008 – and keep Le Lézard Vert going, while living in Montrichard.
Although Epeigné-les-Bois has only around 375 inhabitants, it still has its own café-épicerie, post office and more recently own library. There was a time during the early 1980s that the village shop closed. Fortunately the then mayor, Jacky Marchais, and his comité had the vision to set up a shop funded in part by the commune, assisted by regional grants. Sadly there are many French villages with no facilities – villages where it must be very difficult to have any community spirit as there are no meeting places; villages where, to get the bread in the morning, you have to drive four or five kilometres to the nearest bakery, depôt de pain or supermarket.
The terrasse of Le Lézard Vert
A few years ago, when Anita, the long-time owner of the village bar, retired, the commune bought the licence. Otherwise it would have been lost. The village shop was then merged with the café, whose premises were renovated.
Michel Mergot (left), the current maire of Epeigné-les-Bois carrying on the legacy of his predecessor, Jacky Marchaux (right)
I wish the new venture well – it will not be easy but the village needs it to succeed. Further posts once I have more details.
Le Lezard Vert, 8 Rue de la Fontaine, 37150 Epeigné-les-Bois Tel: 02.47.23.87.84
The café-épicerie, Le Lézard Vert, in Epeigné-les-Bois is changing hands with the new proprietors, who are from Paris, taking over from Clémence Bordet in early August. The new owners are from Paris and apparently intend to turn the current café-épicerie into a restaurant, café and épicerie. This is potentially very good news for the village as it has been a struggle for Clémence to look after her young son – born in November 2008 – and keep Le Lézard Vert going, while living in Montrichard.
Although Epeigné-les-Bois has only around 375 inhabitants, it still has its own café-épicerie, post office and more recently own library. There was a time during the early 1980s that the village shop closed. Fortunately the then mayor, Jacky Marchais, and his comité had the vision to set up a shop funded in part by the commune, assisted by regional grants. Sadly there are many French villages with no facilities – villages where it must be very difficult to have any community spirit as there are no meeting places; villages where, to get the bread in the morning, you have to drive four or five kilometres to the nearest bakery, depôt de pain or supermarket.
The terrasse of Le Lézard VertA few years ago, when Anita, the long-time owner of the village bar, retired, the commune bought the licence. Otherwise it would have been lost. The village shop was then merged with the café, whose premises were renovated.
Michel Mergot (left), the current maire of Epeigné-les-Bois carrying on the legacy of his predecessor, Jacky Marchaux (right)This news should have resonance beyond the limits of the commune of Epeigné-les-Bois. If the commerce of a village dies, the elderly are left isolated as few villages in the French countryside are served by public transport and car use is inevitably increased. Years ago the French government recognised the dangers of rural depopulation, especially in remote areas like the Lozére.
I wish the new venture well – it will not be easy but the village needs it to succeed. Further posts once I have more details.
Le Lezard Vert, 8 Rue de la Fontaine, 37150 Epeigné-les-Bois Tel: 02.47.23.87.84
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The more time you spend in the Loire, the less you know?
This morning I got a message from Bob Parsons of Alberta, Canada. Like me Bob is both a member of Tom Cannavan’s wine forum on his wine-pages site and has a considerable affection for Loire wines. He mentioned the Langlois-Chateau 100% sparkling Cab Franc. I have to admit that I didn’t know that that Langlois made such a wine, which they call Cuvée Carmin. They have certainly never shown it to me on their stand at the Loire Salon (which is not to say it wasn't there) nor on visits to their premises in Saint-Florent.
I have drunk the sparkling reds from Gratien-et-Meyer (Cuvée Cardinal) and Bouvet-Ladubay (Cuvée Rubis). Fun and pleasant enough but curiosities. They have to be labelled as a vin mousseux de qualité as there is no appellation for sparkling red Saumur. I have no idea how long Langlois have been making Carmin.
Perhaps I had assumed that as Langlois-Chateau is part of Bollinger they were too serious a company to make a sparkling red Loire!
This morning I got a message from Bob Parsons of Alberta, Canada. Like me Bob is both a member of Tom Cannavan’s wine forum on his wine-pages site and has a considerable affection for Loire wines. He mentioned the Langlois-Chateau 100% sparkling Cab Franc. I have to admit that I didn’t know that that Langlois made such a wine, which they call Cuvée Carmin. They have certainly never shown it to me on their stand at the Loire Salon (which is not to say it wasn't there) nor on visits to their premises in Saint-Florent.
I have drunk the sparkling reds from Gratien-et-Meyer (Cuvée Cardinal) and Bouvet-Ladubay (Cuvée Rubis). Fun and pleasant enough but curiosities. They have to be labelled as a vin mousseux de qualité as there is no appellation for sparkling red Saumur. I have no idea how long Langlois have been making Carmin.
Perhaps I had assumed that as Langlois-Chateau is part of Bollinger they were too serious a company to make a sparkling red Loire!
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Grapevine: Les Caves de Pyrène
As I have commented here before Douglas Wregg's Grapevine blog on Les Caves site is frequently well worth reading. Here are some relatively recent thoughts from Douglas:
'Fighting for the honour of France
Caparisons are odorous, he malapropped wisely. When I read the admonition “Watch out France” I bridle, because I know that some whippersnapper country or region, inebriated on a surfeit of self-administered puffing, is trying to provoke a particularly pointless argument. All this stems from man’s predilection for creating lists, establishing hierarchies and gnawing on statistics like a ravenous capybara.
You could drown under a Niagara of Nielsen stats. I am so bored with who is top and who is not. Like politicians at election time, the export boards of each country spin the figures to claim success. Everyone’s a winner. But everyone takes a different relative starting point to develop their respective claims. France is caricatured as the arrogant frog king out of touch with the citizens of his realm; having lived for years in the chateau on the hill he is not aware that the divine right to be number one has been usurped.
By all accounts France isn’t France in all its shining diversity; it is fustian, the stain-glassed parliament of privilege, pomposity, posing and laurel-resting. One accusation leveled against France is that growers and journalists propagate the quasi-religious notion of terroir, suggesting that their vineyards are therefore somehow nearer to godliness and that the French are somehow more in love with the mythology of how unique their wines are. Come on, terroir isn’t up there or out there; it is as real as the rocks beneath your feet and every country seeks to promote its own strong regional and microclimatic identity for its vineyards and growers.'
You could drown under a Niagara of Nielsen stats. I am so bored with who is top and who is not. Like politicians at election time, the export boards of each country spin the figures to claim success. Everyone’s a winner. But everyone takes a different relative starting point to develop their respective claims. France is caricatured as the arrogant frog king out of touch with the citizens of his realm; having lived for years in the chateau on the hill he is not aware that the divine right to be number one has been usurped.
By all accounts France isn’t France in all its shining diversity; it is fustian, the stain-glassed parliament of privilege, pomposity, posing and laurel-resting. One accusation leveled against France is that growers and journalists propagate the quasi-religious notion of terroir, suggesting that their vineyards are therefore somehow nearer to godliness and that the French are somehow more in love with the mythology of how unique their wines are. Come on, terroir isn’t up there or out there; it is as real as the rocks beneath your feet and every country seeks to promote its own strong regional and microclimatic identity for its vineyards and growers.'
Continued here
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I'm happy to go along with much of what Douglas says here, especially about the realty of terroir, which should surely be self-evident to any gardener even if they only have a couple of window boxes. To an extent the French bear part of the blame by giving the impression that terroir ends at Calais.
I'm less in full agreement with Douglas when he comments: 'the lack of a coherent marketing plan is what the critics are really having a pop at. I, for one, say thank god.' D'accord over the marketing plan but I can certainly do without the recent synthetic and misleading hysteria over the EU's proposal to permit the blending of red and white wines to make rosé. And week after their victory French producers are bleating that they should be allowed to distil excess wine ...
Of course, the French producers imported by Les Caves de Pyrène are far too good to worry about competition.
Douglas remarks that 'so some of the appellation regulations are a bit bonkers (the intention to protect and promote regionality is a laudable one)'.
Again I would agree that protecting and promoting regionality is laudable as is the protection of a name. However, I increasingly believe that some of the most bonkers examples of appellation law has nothing to do with regionality or typicité (whatever that may mean) but is down to politics – down to an established appellation ensuring that newly promoted ACs to do not provide unwanted competition. How else can you explain the bizarre appellation rule for the Coteaux du Giennois that prohibits them from making a 100% Pinot Noir, which had previously been their best red when they were a more humble VDQS?
I'm less in full agreement with Douglas when he comments: 'the lack of a coherent marketing plan is what the critics are really having a pop at. I, for one, say thank god.' D'accord over the marketing plan but I can certainly do without the recent synthetic and misleading hysteria over the EU's proposal to permit the blending of red and white wines to make rosé. And week after their victory French producers are bleating that they should be allowed to distil excess wine ...
Of course, the French producers imported by Les Caves de Pyrène are far too good to worry about competition.
Douglas remarks that 'so some of the appellation regulations are a bit bonkers (the intention to protect and promote regionality is a laudable one)'.
Again I would agree that protecting and promoting regionality is laudable as is the protection of a name. However, I increasingly believe that some of the most bonkers examples of appellation law has nothing to do with regionality or typicité (whatever that may mean) but is down to politics – down to an established appellation ensuring that newly promoted ACs to do not provide unwanted competition. How else can you explain the bizarre appellation rule for the Coteaux du Giennois that prohibits them from making a 100% Pinot Noir, which had previously been their best red when they were a more humble VDQS?
