Allô, allô, Bonjour!

Voici, brand new adventures from the south of France where spring is tentatively dropping her veil. Also in this issue of Slurp! the results of our 'free wine' action.

Allez, à l'attaque!

Bordeaux has 1724 restaurants. Above and beyond the best one of those is located in an unsightly little alleyway behind the Place du Parlement.

Here is where you enjoy all the best of what the sea has to offer.
The sun seems to be aware of this too, because in the morning she rises exactly at the top of the lane, and in the evening she bathes the entire length of the little street in a golden orange glow.
The kitchen of our favourite hang out therefore only closes for a few brief hours in the middle of the night.

Le Petit Commerce proves that a restaurant benefits far more from serving fresh products and having a capable chef, than from fancy table linen and silver cutlery.

This spot is exactly the right level of messy. A blind horse would have to try pretty hard to do damage here. But the menu is written up fresh on the mirror every day.

The couteaux are doused with a hit of fresh garlic and thrown onto the plancha. Add a little more garlic butter and you're good to go. Order an ice cold Pouilly Fumé to go with it.

The oysters arrive daily, fresh from the nearby coastal towns of Arcachon and Cap Ferret. The tiny little white shrimp are fished straight from the Dordogne. They are so soft you don't even need to peel them.

For the diehard: Bulots (L) en Oursins (R).

The écrevisses grillé with garlic and parsley are actually a little too tasty. It is only by summoning her iron willpower that the wine grower's lover manages to refrain from ordering a second helping.

Le Petit Commerce.
Adresse: 22, Rue Parlement Saint-Pierre, 33000 Bordeaux, Téléphone +33 5 56 79 76 58

In spite of all the romantic notions, a vineyard is really nothing more than a cultivated plot of agrarian land used to grow grapes as effectively as possible.
In order to exploit a high- yield grape plot, it is advised to rid the surroundings of all excess vegetation

As you can see from the above image, taken in central France, this advice is taken to heart in many wine-producing regions. However, because of this deforestation, wildlife is driven from its natural habitat.

As per usual we do things differently at Château La Tulipe. We maintain broad areas of shrubbery alongside our vineyards, for the animals to shelter in, build nests and burrow at their leisure. And of course; procreate to their heart's content.

In this way we stimulate biodiversity and know ourselves surrounded by happy deer, chilled out pine martens, gleeful bees and industriously shagging rabbits.

Always curious to see if he can spot a piece of wildlife in the wild, the winegrower rummages around the undergrowth. Unawares that his movements are being followed closely from the vineyard.

Et voilà! The entrance to an extensive badger sett; inhabited by a family of badgers who, according to maître de chai Philippe, has resided there for dozens of years.

Spring has arrived, without a shadow of a doubt. Not long now until the grapevines will begin to bud.
While they await this event the first bees are buzzing around the mimosa.

Bees are little animals that whir themselves a way through the sky as they plot their indecisive routes from flower to flower. Many people fear being stung by one if it approaches, but alarm is rarely necessary.

Bees hardly ever sting. And if you do get stung, it will be in style because it is only lady bees that sting, gentlemen bees don't do such a thing.

All this appears very Walt Disney-esque and harmless, but hang on! Pretty much every single plant species on our planet can only exist thanks to pollination by bees.

These softly humming floral tourists are the engine of our ecosystem. They play a crucial part in the food chain and, even more importantly, they take care of the pollination of the grape blossoms.

The last decade or so, due to monoculture and pesticides, bees have become threatened with extinction. Albert Einstein said on the matter: "If bees disappear from the earth, mankind will have another four years to live."
So do what the winegrower does and lend a helping hand to the bee. Plant plenty of flowers and put up so called 'bee hotels' all around your garden.

It doesn't have to be anything fancy like the Bee-Ritz pictured above, a simple bee-motel will do just fine.

Our love for bees is so strong that we have designated an entire bee-chamber at our Château.

An act for which the wine grower is exuberantly kissed, every morning again, by his enthusiastic grape pollinators.

But those industrious vineyard bees do even more for their benefactor: they make sure that he and his equipe can produce a wine that will make you hum deep and low after the very first sip.

We wanted to give Slurp readers a taste of our new white wine, so last month we sent a hundred bottles of La Tulipe Cuvée Blanc Réserve out into the world. Below are a few of the responses.

Beautiful clear coloration, with a hint of green. Clings nicely to the glass (nice tears after swirling!). Aroma: apricot, mango, a little grassy. Taste: citrus, butterscotch (Muscadelle?), vanilla, wood, beautifully fresh and lively acidity.
Nice and buttery, perfectly balanced. Delicious white wine, suitable for everyday as well as special occasions!
- Rosa Hornung

Already quite the voluptuous lady. Because of her fruit and a lovely smooth finish, this wine is definitely worth getting to know a little better.
Served with a meal she is a perfect companion that adds something special to your evening with close friends.
The combination of fruitiness and the light scent of wood makes her into a tantalising yet fiery lady with great potential!
- Sander Boden

Full bodied, very friendly, fruity, crisp and aromatic, lingers in the mouth. Knows how to handle strong dishes (important criterion for me). In short: delicious!!
- John Croezen

A small selection of the wine selfies we were sent: Stefan Scheffer and family, Tim Obbink and John Croezen.

Cliquez ici to order La Tulipe Cuvée Blanc Réserve.

Personally we like to accompany Cuvée Blanc Réserve with a:

Wine grower's mackerel rillette

Needed to serve four:

4 mackerel fillets, fresh or steamed.
Crème fraiche, 1 red onion, mayonnaise, lime, capers

Doen:

0) buy four freshly steamed skinned mackerel fillets. If you can't find those, buy 2 fresh mackerels, have them filleted by the fishmonger and steam them yourself in a steamer.

1) Pick off the flesh, take out the bones and mash in a bowl

2) Add the chopped red onion. Add a couple of spoonfuls of crème fraiche. Not too much, you can always add more later if you need to. Then a tablespoon of French mayonnaise, a squeeze of lime juice and some freshly ground black pepper. Mix everything together well.

3) Pack it tightly in a jar, cover and refrigerate.

4) Two hours before serving: take it from the fridge so it'll be lovely smooth and spreadable.

5) Serve with toasted bread and capers.

6) Liven up with a flower from the garden, a prawn, an onion ring or whatever else you can come up with.

We are at the London Wine Fair (May 18th - 20th), at the Wines Unearthed part.

Wines Unearthed will be a section of the London Wine Fair dedicated to introducing producers seeking representation to UK and international buyers.

If you happen to be at this fair and you would love to try some of our amazing wines, don't hesitate and come to table number 135 in the Wines Unearthed part.

You can find Château la Tulipe de la Garde Bordeaux Superieur exclusively at Sainsbury's supermarkets.
Cliquez ici for more information.