Seriously good wine makers

Today was all about meeting Bob and Lynne for a little wine tasting, and trying out a new restaurant, but just before B&L arrived both the dogs went missing. After about 20 minutes, Max responded to calls and turned up on the other side of a boundary fence, but we had to use quite a bit of subterfuge to trap him because he was clearly very excited at having 'escaped'.
Minnie, on the other hand, had totally disappeared and so with Max under control, we went off in search of her. We toured the village in the car and on foot shouting her name. Nothing. My thoughts turned to someone having taken her because she is quite valuable and very friendly, so getting hold of her would not be a problem. After 40 minutes we returned home and had to assume that she would turn up. She did, in exactly the same place that Max had 40 minutes earlier. We then spent some time trying to find their escape route and blocking the hole. The little darlings.

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When Bob and Lynne arrived, only I was ready, so the 3 of us set off for a little wine tasting but before that they very, very kindly gave us each a birthday present. Fabulous, I've always wanted a beret and together with my new stripy jumper (Marks and Spencer!) I think that I am at least starting to look a little French. Thank you B&L, you are very kind.

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First stop for the tasting was the cave at Crespian to taste their Bois d' Elene, Grand Reserve (amongst others), then onto Mas de Plan at Serignac for some of their reds, where we also discovered a delicious bag-in-box white. It's funny that both my white wines of choice, from around here, come in boxes. Last stop was Quissac for a tasting in the front room of the owners of Domaine de Baubiac. These people are seriously good wine makers but what made the tasting so atmospheric was Raul's insistence on making it a bit of an apero (I think he fancied the company) by offering us some sausage and olives and leaving the television blaring out, whilst France beat Wales at Rugby. You couldn't pay for moments like this and to quote a MasterCard advert - it was priceless. As Jan said some time ago, "It sure beats buying wine at Sainsburys."

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As our luck was riding high, the new restaurant was bound to be good. WRONG, at best the food was mediocre, with a style straight from the 70's, it was not particularly cheap, and the wine was ok but poor in comparison to what we had been tasting earlier (if you want to avoid it, it was Hotel Restaurant L'Esquielle in 30190 St-Genies de Malgoires). A disappointing end to the day, but the rest of it was pretty damn good!