Do you drink wine with your meal, and how often—every day, just on weekends, or only occasionally for special events?
What are your favorite wines, from which country, and what grape variety?
I drink wine with my evening meal every day. I’m particularly fond of wines from Australia and Spain—I really like grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.
Well, of course I do!!!!! But only in the evening at dinner (or *supper*, as the Quebecois say).
Water’s for when I’m traveling.
I’m the one who cooks at home, and I often plan the dish around the wine I feel like drinking. I’ve got about 500 bottles from all over in the cellar—plenty of choices.
Preferences? Not really, except for a few wines I don’t like: Gros Plant from Nantes, Muscadet—basically, wines that are too acidic—and Champagne (I’ve never understood why people put bubbles in wine).
I’ve had good wines everywhere, and bad ones too. I don’t know much about Australian wines; the only ones I’ve tried were on a plane, and they weren’t great (but then again, French wines served on planes aren’t great either).
The worst wine I’ve ever had was in Syria, in Maalula. I visited a convent (St. Thecla) where the nuns made wine and offered me a taste. It was pretty much pure vinegar…
When you talk about grape varieties, in France, wines aren’t classified that way because most are blends of several grapes. The only place where wines are really labeled by variety is Alsace (Riesling, Gewürztraminer, etc.). Some small producers in the Languedoc also sell single-varietal wines. They’re unpretentious, but you can sometimes be pleasantly surprised.
Shiraz is the same grape we call Syrah in France—it’s used in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Côte-Rôtie (Rhône Valley).
The women of Quebec will envy yours 🙂, she’s lucky to have a foodie like you.
He adds bubbles to the wine to help digestion 😉 I also don’t like champagne—too expensive for what it is. Here, a bottle of champagne costs at least $60, so I’d rather buy several bottles of wine with my $60.
The wine served on planes is really basic, like table wine (plonk). If you ever get the chance to try an Australian wine, I’d love to hear your thoughts—do you think you can find any where you are?
One of my uncles used to make his own wine—disgusting, really not good. In my opinion, it’s not worth making your own when you can get great bottles for little money.
In Australia, they can’t pronounce "syrah," which is why they call it "shiraz."
Like Christian, I really love wine and always have 300 to 400 bottles in my cellar.
I drink it almost every evening with dinner, mostly red wine.
I enjoy all kinds of wines and regularly visit my favorite wine merchant to taste them, which lets me discover new wines and sample others that are too expensive for my budget.
Because of the prices, I no longer buy Burgundy and much less Bordeaux—I’ve switched to wines from the Southwest and the Rhône Valley.
Due to my location, I also have quite a few Loire wines.
For aperitifs, I like sweet wines, such as Coteau du Layon (Loire) or Jurançon (near Pau).
As Christian mentioned, in France, we don’t classify wines by grape variety but by appellation.
Appellations are quite complicated—there are geographic appellations (Bordeaux, Burgundy, Alsace, etc.) and official appellations.
The most prestigious is AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée), which is assigned to a defined area with specific constraints (yield per hectare, chaptalization, etc.).
AOCs are managed by the INAO.
There are two other less prestigious appellations: VDQS (Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure) and *vin de pays*.
More info here (among others): http://fr.parisinfo.com/rub1146.html&id_article=856
I also drink wine every day, in moderation.
But I only drink good wine—I have a wine merchant who selects his bulk wines with as much care as his grand crus.
I’m right near famous wine regions, except for Beaujolais. I love them all, but my preference goes to Burgundy wines.
I’ll leave the technical side to the guys on the forum. I haven’t finished my oenology courses yet, so for now, I’ll just talk about flavor, pleasure, and, as the Americans say, "the French paradox." We drink wine, in moderation, and it protects us from heart issues..........pleasure and health—what could be nicer?
I also really enjoy drinking champagne. I find it makes women’s eyes look more beautiful and gives us a kind of confidence, a certain ease..........
Rereading myself, I realize my sentence might make it seem like I’m interested in women’s eyes—far from it! It’s just poetry.
There you go, josaline—did I answer your question?
I have some Québécois friends who aren’t opposed to it either...........
As for foreign wines, I’m clueless.
I know Spanish Riojas, which remind me of Bordeaux,
but honestly, for now, I won’t buy foreign. Our winemakers need support.
That was my little civic moment!!!!!!!!!!!
Without wanting to sound protectionist, we should support French winemakers who are going through a tough crisis... Why not try the wines from Languedoc? They’ve really upped their quality game, and the idea of *terroir* still means something there!!
Otherwise, there’s good wine everywhere, but a lot of it tastes the same and lacks "personality"... some wine-makers are churning out the same stuff from Napa to Mendoza, via Bordeaux!!
Thanks for the link, I’ve saved it to my favorites.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the space for a wine cellar, but it’s something we’ll consider for our next house.
I imagine you buy about three bottles of the same kind—one to enjoy now and the other two at intervals of a few years. You probably have a book where you take notes to track how your wines evolve.
We only drink wine on weekends or during celebrations—it’s really exceptional for us.
My husband and I mostly go for Merlot (our first choice) and Bordeaux wines. We love red wine.
However, for our French friends, here’s a site where you can see the prices we pay for our wine. Don’t try to compare it to what you’d pay in your country versus ours—after all, you live with the value of the euro, and we live with the value of the dollar.
www.saq.com
You’ll be shocked by some of the bottle prices.
And now, a site where you can convert the amount to euros:
http://www.atmonde.com/convertisseur.php
Some people like boxed wine (cartons with a bag inside that hold the equivalent of maybe 4 bottles).
On the other hand, my husband makes his own wine (which is trendy here in Quebec) using kits—it’s way simpler than dealing with grapes and all that. We make Merlot, and I can tell you it’s really good—even visitors of French descent love it.
Oh, and we’ve had a habit for years: when we buy a bottle, we go to the SAQ website, print out the descriptive sheet, and put it in a book along with our impressions and the occasion we drank it. It’s a lot of fun!
I don’t agree with you—you say it’s trendy to make your own wine here. If that were the case, explain to me how there are 400 branches across Quebec, plus agencies for remote regions and places like La Maison des Futailles where you can bottle your own wine. I don’t think there’d be so many stores if it were really as trendy as you say to make your own wine.
Real wine lovers don’t drink homemade wine.
Here in Quebec, more and more people are drinking wine, and we’ve got a lot of wine connoisseurs—some even have wine cellars.
I’m not judging how you drink homemade wine, but let’s not say it’s trendy here to make your own. I think it’s just a minority of people, that’s all.
When I say it's a trend, everyone should understand that it doesn't concern all Quebecers. It's like low-rise pants (also called "muffin top" fashion)—not everyone wears them, but you can't forget that they exist and are part of a wave.
I can tell you that in my circle, there are *a lot* of people who do it, and when you ask around at work or elsewhere, there's always someone who has a relative who makes their own wine.
Oh, some succeed, and others don’t. I’d say there are *so* many.
I can even tell you that some people have wine made for weddings or other receptions. There are places where you prepare your wine, and they handle the brewing, etc...
At the liquor store (SAQ), you can even bottle the wine you choose.
Oh, that doesn’t stop people from buying wine too—you go out sometimes ;-) You give it as gifts, you bring it when you go out to eat at a restaurant or elsewhere, etc...
It’s true that people buy a lot of wine, but you can’t turn a blind eye and say it’s not common to see people making their own.
When I say it’s a trend, it also means it’s a new craze that’s arrived here in Quebec.
I can tell you that the wine we make... it’s equivalent to many of those little bottles under $15 that you buy at the SAQ.
And don’t think that the French drink grand crus every day either...
Yes, the "wine makers," including the infamous Michel Rolland who imposes his tastes—and particularly those of Mr. Parker. You can see the latter at home in the film *Mondovino*: his personal tastes are, well, *toilet-level* (sorry for the expression, but I can’t think of anything else). This man has become the guru of wine. The result? Wines that all taste the same, from one end of the planet to the other, and the pressure on some producers to bend to his will or risk not being able to export.
The latest idiocy, this time from those who govern us: allowing wood chips in vats to give the taste of oak barrels. The next step will probably be replacing the chips with liquid extract. We usually say a wine with this overly woody taste is "barrel juice," but soon it’ll be literal.
Anyway, thankfully, there are still plenty of winemakers (in fact, the majority) who do things the right way.
I stand by what I wrote earlier unless you’ve got stats to prove me wrong!!! The only info I have is the number of places where you can get bottles of wine. If there were a trend like you say, I think there’d be a lot of closures.
I can tell you that this wine we make... it’s equivalent to many of those little bottles under $15 that you buy at the SAQ.
Here again, I don’t agree with you—a homemade wine isn’t the same as a bottle bottled at the producer’s. First, the must or powder used to make homemade wine contains way more sulfites and preservatives, so it’s a lot more chemical.
Don’t believe that the French drink grand crus every day either...
I don’t believe anything—I never even brought up this topic. You’re the one talking about it, not me.
Yes, sodium sulfite—everyone uses it now. I use it to make my own photographic developer.
No, we don’t drink grand crus every day, but personally, I buy wine and wait several years before drinking it. If we’re talking about wine prices, a bottle I bought for 7–8 € five years ago would cost 20–25 € today.
It’s a better investment than stocks, but I drink my investment.
I know they make some wine in Canada, and I tried "ice wine" a long time ago—brought back by friends who’d been to Toronto—but I only have a vague memory of it. But when you talk about "Making your own wine with kits"...
I don’t get it.
I’m from West Africa and I’d love to introduce a Russian friend to a traditional product from my region: soumbara.
For those who don’t know, soumbara is a condiment made from fermented néré seeds. It has a pretty distinctive smell and a very strong, salty, fermented, umami-rich flavor. In West Africa, we mainly use it to add flavor to sauces, with rice, vegetables, meat, etc.
I’m curious to know, from Russian cuisine lovers: which traditional Russian dish do you think soumbara would pair particularly well with?
I’m looking for a real Russian dish where the combination could be interesting—not just rice or an adapted African dish.
Hi there, we’re heading to Cagliari for one night in April, staying at a hotel without a restaurant. Would you happen to know of a restaurant near Via Giuseppe Garibaldi for a typical dinner that’s not too pricey? Thanks.
I’m looking for typical Catalan restaurants in Barcelona! Any suggestions for areas or little hidden spots?
I know to avoid places like La Rambla, the beachfront restaurants in Barceloneta, and anywhere where they greet you with a menu asking if you want to eat, but are there any specific restaurants to avoid? Any bad experiences or unpleasant surprises?
I’m heading to Barcelona in early May—it’s my first time there. I’d love to hear your suggestions for restaurants (ideally near the tourist center, Las Ramblas). That said, I’m happy to travel if needed. I’m looking for a place renowned for its gastronomy, a spot serving typical Spanish or Catalan food, or somewhere with a unique vibe you wouldn’t normally find... In short, which restaurant did you love most during your stay in Barcelona?
Maybe you already use it in your recipes? Just to let you know that here in Quebec, the maple water harvest has started in several regions. The next step will be to boil this water to turn it into syrup. A sweet nectar, it works well in salad dressings, desserts, with salmon, and more. 😋
If you ever pass through here, don’t miss the chance to visit one of our wonderful sugar shacks. You can taste maple taffy on snow, among other things. 😄
Leaving in 15 days for Brittany, specifically the southern Finistère and Bénodet...
Tourists expected to boost the culinary restaurant industry!
Haven’t read the guide for latecomers yet, and I’m really wary of online reviews.
Where can I eat without getting ripped off, enjoy quality food—crêperies, seafood, nice atmosphere...
Thanks to all you savvy foodies!
The title might surprise you, but you’ll understand my point of view.
1/ MEAL STRUCTURE
I’m talking about the standard meal, not the one for those who have to budget for financial reasons (generally fewer in northern and central Italy than in France, but more in the south, which makes up 35% of Italy—Eurostat figures), nor for those (mostly women) watching their figure.
The tradition (once the meal of the well-off, widespread among the general population in the 1950s) starts with soup or pasta (or rice, gnocchi, ravioli, lasagna)—this is the *primo piatto*.
Next comes meat or another animal-based product (fish, cured meats, eggs, etc.)—the *secondo piatto*, which can be replaced by cooked vegetables (the only known example in France: eggplant parmesan).
If the meat dish doesn’t already include vegetables, one is served. Salads, whether green or tomato-based, are side dishes, not starters.
The meal ends with dessert—no difference from French habits: cheese, fruit, or sweets.
*Antipasti* (appetizers) are reserved for festive meals or receptions and are served *in addition* to the main courses at the start.
4 practices unknown in France:
- If the menu includes pasta and ham, you start with the pasta.
- If the menu includes pasta with a meat sauce and fish, you start with the pasta too.
- Pasta is never a side dish for meat.
- It’s not unusual for Italians to start with pasta in a meat sauce and then have a meat dish—most do this several times a week.
Modern adaptations:
- People eat pasta less often (on average 5 times a week, according to recent figures) and soups, which are being replaced by *antipasti*.
- The main meal is now mostly dinner, so it’s much heartier, while lunch isn’t usually eaten at home.
2/ THE CUISINE
What do we know in France? Pizza, pasta Bolognese, carbonara, arrabbiata, ravioli, and lasagna. Fried scampi, Milanese or Bolognese cutlets, carpaccio, and finally tiramisu.
In short, a few basic dishes, but nothing of the gastronomy—whether regional traditions or high-end restaurants.
2 anecdotes:
**Bolognese sauce**
In Italy, the most common homemade sauce is a meat-and-tomato-based sauce called *ragù* (pronounced *ragoo*). Every region, even every town and family, as well as every restaurant, has its own recipe. *Ragù alla bolognese* is just one of these countless *ragù*—and no one in France knows the real recipe (I can share it with those interested). The name *bolognese* given abroad to any *ragù* comes from a canned sauce manufacturer who once branded their product that way. Until the early 1960s, it was called *sauce à la viande* (meat sauce).
**Pizza**
Before World War II, it was practically unknown north of Rome.
Today, Italy is one of the countries where it’s eaten the least (twice as much in France, four times as much in Germany).
Top 15 Brazilian eating habits that surprise the French 😮
Brazil is a multicultural country, and its history has shaped a very unique cuisine, influenced by European, African, Japanese, and Indigenous traditions. Its food culture is quite different from what we’re used to in France, and Brazilian eating habits often surprise French travelers exploring the land of samba and soccer.
We live in Réunion and we're looking for places where we can learn to cook authentic Réunionese Creole cuisine.
We're based in Saint-Denis and are searching in that area.
