Wine with Leslie: The best of French wine - and a €10 Portugese red for the weekend
A selection of reds, including budget bottles at Dunnes and your local off-licence
In my early 20’s I visited France for the first time as an adult and stayed with family friends of my girlfriend (now wife - you may know her soubriquet ‘The Engineer’ from my restaurant reviews). Over that weekend in Brittany I realised that my obsessional interest in food and wine seemed perfectly normal to the French - I had found a sort of spiritual home.
Helping Zaig (an old Breton name) make fresh mayonnaise with just a wooden spoon and judicious drops of olive oil is a special memory. We talked in detail about the wonders of Kouign-Amann (Breton Butter Cake) which I had tasted for the first time that morning at the market. She explained how I really needed to go to Finistère in Northern Brittany to taste the best ones and it’s likely true as this extraordinary buttery wonder cake originates in the coastal town of Douarnenez.
