To sense the way we are thinking and tend to build our wines you should take a close look at the understanding French of cuisine and food. They believe indeed in a sort of hierarchy of taste appealing to the intensity, finesse, complexity and originality of a dish. However, the rarity of the ingredients, as well as preparation and cooking also play a major role.

TRUFFLES are a good example of this culinary world view “à la française”. Their dependence on soil, climate and vintage make it a rare product. After finding them by using the sensory apparatus of a dog, a pig or a fly and carefully digging them out, you should act quickly, because its limited shelf life (you also freeze them, but a thawed truffle loses the solidity of the tissue). You should also proceed with caution when cleaning the fungus with a little brush to remove even the last grain of sand from the rough surface to avoid damage to the firm, yet soft tissue. However, there obviously are only few people who are able to refine its taste by cooking as the flavours of the fungus seem to vanish by heat. Hence, simply slicing them over an omelette, buttered mashed potatoes or a pan-seared pheasant remains the best way to enjoy this wild “crop”. A genuine taste of nature!

Let’s stay with the mushrooms and have a look at MORELS. Although less rare than the enigmatic truffles, yet they offer amazingly complex and generous tastes and flavors. Just like truffles, their fruit has remained completely wild, cultivated only by nature. Consequently gourmets of this world have to reconvert into a primeval “hunter-gatherers” if ever they ever want to satisfy their zeal for its unique perfume. Delicate winged game combines well with their finesse and a simple and creamy risotto gives some body to the flavours of this precious mushroom.

A creature from the forests, stout and solid! BOLETUS appeals to the most powerful of tastes, the Japanese “UMAMI”, translated best by “TASTY” or “SPICY”. Freshly cut and fried it provides a complete meal. But once it has been dried, it develops its almost overwhelming aromas that confer impressive depth and length to all kinds of sauces and stews. A strong personality, proudly representing noble country kitchen on the finest tables in the world.