BYRRH, it's a drink.
I think on my 'mission statement' - yes I've done the 'time management', the 'team building away days' etc - this blog was to incorporate food and drink but it doesn't get many mentions, so time for a change.
I think the world has gone mad with everyone thinking they are restaurant critics, recently I was looking on trip advisor for the 'best' places to eat and when you visited their pages there was picture after picture of plates of food I don't want to spoil the surprise of how the food is presented (although you can currently bet your bottom dollar that there will be dots of this, a streak of that and it won't come on a bog standard round plate). I would appreciate photos of the room, hopefully giving a feel of the ambiance....I've gone off on a mini rant, back to the subject in hand BYRRH.
I'd never heard of it or seen it up until last week, I was immediately captivated by the vintage looking label. I always like to experience something unique to an area I am visiting, (you think I would have learnt after the pike dumpling disaster in 2011 - look up the archive). But is Byrrh French?, when looking for a picture of the label via google I found one pronouncing 'vin du Malaga', having read up some history it is decidedly French, created by the delightfully named Violet brothers in the town of Thuir. We drove through Thuir on our recent road trip, if only I'd known! a visit to the cave would have been an absolute must. But at this stage we'd already purchased our bottle of Byrrh.
The other drink that cropped up again and again on the trip was Banyuls, not the wine of the area but the aperitif. So arriving in Amelie les Bains and spying a good looking wine shop we ventured in and asked the 'cavist' exactly what the Banyuls served as an aperitif was like.
There is only one solution to a question about wine in France - you have to taste a whole load of wine. This is not by request or choice, I just wanted one sip of the aperitif, no, no, no it doesn't work that way. To appreciate fully what you want you have to 'go on a journey' through the various stages that got the wine to where you want to be.
So, first sample - basic white banyuls wine.
2. Better, stronger white banyuls wine.
3. Red banyuls wine.
4. Stronger, sweeter red banyuls wine - very nice we bought 2 of those
I stated we lived in Bushmills the home of whisky, but don't like whisky, my husband is a fan of cognac, so...
5. Marc du Banyuls, that's 40%
OK we'll have a bottle of that too.
Now as all this is going on a French couple, innocent passers-by, are also being plied with all this drink and buying nothing, are they onto a good thing or what, completely free drink under no obligation to buy, we're taking care of that.
Finally I get around to asking about the Byrrh and for some reason no sample was forthcoming, I'm guessing that having made 'the journey' there is no going back, once you're up to 40% unless there was a 50% Byrrh it's pointless to try and stimulate a taste bud with something of a lower level, it would not/could not be appreciated properly.
So I have my very pretty bottle and as yet Byrrh is yet to pass my lips, after the dumpling and sauce Nantua I'm a bit worried that the taste may be..... no nothing could be as bad as pike dumplings and sauce Nantua.
I think the world has gone mad with everyone thinking they are restaurant critics, recently I was looking on trip advisor for the 'best' places to eat and when you visited their pages there was picture after picture of plates of food I don't want to spoil the surprise of how the food is presented (although you can currently bet your bottom dollar that there will be dots of this, a streak of that and it won't come on a bog standard round plate). I would appreciate photos of the room, hopefully giving a feel of the ambiance....I've gone off on a mini rant, back to the subject in hand BYRRH.
I'd never heard of it or seen it up until last week, I was immediately captivated by the vintage looking label. I always like to experience something unique to an area I am visiting, (you think I would have learnt after the pike dumpling disaster in 2011 - look up the archive). But is Byrrh French?, when looking for a picture of the label via google I found one pronouncing 'vin du Malaga', having read up some history it is decidedly French, created by the delightfully named Violet brothers in the town of Thuir. We drove through Thuir on our recent road trip, if only I'd known! a visit to the cave would have been an absolute must. But at this stage we'd already purchased our bottle of Byrrh.
The other drink that cropped up again and again on the trip was Banyuls, not the wine of the area but the aperitif. So arriving in Amelie les Bains and spying a good looking wine shop we ventured in and asked the 'cavist' exactly what the Banyuls served as an aperitif was like.
There is only one solution to a question about wine in France - you have to taste a whole load of wine. This is not by request or choice, I just wanted one sip of the aperitif, no, no, no it doesn't work that way. To appreciate fully what you want you have to 'go on a journey' through the various stages that got the wine to where you want to be.
So, first sample - basic white banyuls wine.
2. Better, stronger white banyuls wine.
3. Red banyuls wine.
4. Stronger, sweeter red banyuls wine - very nice we bought 2 of those
I stated we lived in Bushmills the home of whisky, but don't like whisky, my husband is a fan of cognac, so...
5. Marc du Banyuls, that's 40%
OK we'll have a bottle of that too.
Now as all this is going on a French couple, innocent passers-by, are also being plied with all this drink and buying nothing, are they onto a good thing or what, completely free drink under no obligation to buy, we're taking care of that.
Finally I get around to asking about the Byrrh and for some reason no sample was forthcoming, I'm guessing that having made 'the journey' there is no going back, once you're up to 40% unless there was a 50% Byrrh it's pointless to try and stimulate a taste bud with something of a lower level, it would not/could not be appreciated properly.
So I have my very pretty bottle and as yet Byrrh is yet to pass my lips, after the dumpling and sauce Nantua I'm a bit worried that the taste may be..... no nothing could be as bad as pike dumplings and sauce Nantua.
Great old photo
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