A HIVE SHOWS OFF ITS HONEY: THE STUDENTS’ SUMMER ART SHOW AT SCAD LACOSTE

Posted on August 29, 2011 by BB Kuett

Alexandre Harrell of Roswell NM with art patron Cesar and his purchase of two of Alexandre's charcoal on paper

To your average visitor, Lacoste appears from afar as a tightly-bunched cluster of biscuit-colored stone structures on a steep hillside whereas viewed from ground level it is an anally precise stacking of stone upon stone on four narrow stone-paved streets with colored swatches of flowers and pocket gardens.

Patio (Chaises) Acrylic on Linen

 

 

Its nude stone structures and somnolent nature belie the buzzing activity behind doors, gates and walls: the engendering of art by students of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Lacoste on nine-week sleepovers with pretty views.

Graffiti I: Rouge, Inkjet print from digital capture, by Allen Cole, Charlotte, Vermont

Lenses were ever present. Shannon Schaefer (rt), Savannah GA, poses in studio displaying her extended-exposure digital photographs

In the old village of only 10 acres surface area, this unique campus of honey-stoned structures forms a large hive – an appropriate description for a school whose athletic teams bear the moniker “The Bees.”  SCAD’s hive mind infuses students with a communal psychic energy. It’s a cool artsy version of a getaway retreat.

Untitled (Megan Rocks), Archival Digital Print, Julia Harmon, Oviedo, Florida

Group show of paintings by students

 

During end-of-quarter expositions, SCAD peels back its protective cover to reveal the warm honeycombs of studios and the sumptuous views from shaded terraces. Among the art works on display at each exposition, some of them are brilliant and unforgettable — making you wonder what fame awaits the kid in a few years — and others are jejune and bad — the conclusion drawn that the winnowing out process is well underway.

Drinks, served on the shaded terrace at SCAD Lacoste, featured wines from the Domaine de la Citadelle

Fast-frame video of creating a painting

Last Friday and Saturday, more than 400 works – painting, gravure, photography and art history – of 59 students, who spent eight weeks in Lacoste and one week in Paris, were on display at SCAD’s summer term finale.

Monoprints, Wallis Tossi, Memphis, TN

Alex Waggoner, Gastonia, NC, showing her lithographs

Backstory: In 2002, SCAD, the world’s largest exclusively arts college where no student ever has to sweat out an organic chem final, assumed control of the art school in Lacoste, originally founded by Bernard Pfriem, an American ex-pat artist. Pierre Cardin, patron of the arts extraordinaire, purchased the Lacoste château in 2001, and subsequently more than 40 buildings, most of which are renovated and unoccupied except during the summer festival time.

When SCAD Lacoste is in session, students and a handful of professors occupying the hive outnumber the old villages’ permanent residents by a ratio of 2 to 1.

Projection of digital images on film by Nicholas Reichard, Columbus OH, an obsessive Ohio State fan headed to tinsel town

An artist born, Pfriem came to Paris on the G.I. Bill in the early 50’s and immersed himself in the Boho scene of intellectuals and artists, and the cult of the surrealists. Lacoste, and its Marquis De Sade imagery of surreal naughtiness, drew him in, and by the late 50′s, the village-in-ruin became a beloved painting that he never would finish.

The iconic free-spirited British-born socialite Maxime de la Falaise took Bernard Pfriem as a lover (she was the one who did the choosing; her list of victims is impressive), and when the ever restless Maxime moved on, Pfriem launched the Lacoste School of Arts, which became associated with his alma mater, the Cleveland Institute of Art.

 

The dilapidated houses  – they had no roofs as that exempted owners from taxes –were easy prey for Pfriem. He bought the old Boulangerie for one refrigerator. Pfriem expanded his holdings by paying $500 for twenty-odd derelict structures. And to think that Calder purchased his first home in Sache for three mobiles – what a rip-off in comparison.

Explaining digital photography techniques to curious visitor. Photos in background include those of the ebullient Michael Metzner, Wellington FL

SCAD, graced with financial resources and fundraising prowess, owns 35 buildings on the hillside below the château, recently completing a major makeover of a spacious building “the Pfriem ruins” (Pfriem is a brand at SCAD) and converting the former stables of the Marquis de Sade outside the village limits into student apartments and studios.

Mixed Media Prints by Karen Samples, Long Valley NJ

Basics:

Savannah College of Art and Design: website

Lacoste Village: website

Domaine de la Citadelle: website

Note: The fall expo of students’ works will be held on Nov. 18-19th, from 3-7 p.m.; drinks served from 5-7 p.m. on the 19th.

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THE LACOSTE CHATEAU OF PIERRE CARDIN: A PEEK INSIDE THE FORMER LAIR OF THE MARQUIS DE SADE

Posted on August 7, 2011 by BB Kuett

A pasha of fashion, Pierre Cardin has taken up renaissance-pomo things like buying decrepit Châteaux and renovating them, the primary object of this particular enterprise is the Château Lacoste, once the lair of the Marquis de Sade.

In 1772, M de Montreuil, the father-in-law of Sade, produced the only known description of the château at that time:

“La Coste is a château that looks like a fortress, without the slightest regularity. The approaches are quite steep and unpleasant because of the rockslides and the height of the mountain. There is no shelter anywhere near the château, a defect from which Provence in general suffers, there being no patches of wood and very few virgin forests of white oak, the oak of France. There is a good deal of green oak on the mountain….La Coste is not a very extensive estate, but it is most seigneurial.” (1)

The château was ransacked twice by villagers who even removed large stones for building their houses on the slopes below. Andre Bouer, a professor in nearby Apt, bought the château in 1952, firmly intent on its renovation, yet the price tag exceeded his modest means.  When Pierre Cardin first inspected the property, shown by the late professor’s wife, on a rainy dreary day, he left unmoved to buy. Upon a second visit to the château, the azure sky, fresh spring air, and the sweeping view of the valley grabbed him with emotion. A deal was cut in 2001.

Cardin desired to keep the château as it appeared from a distance with its craggy silhouette. One enters the château via a drawbridge that leads to a courtyard, which hosts a few events of the Lacoste Festival. Within the the top floors, which are now is open to public, Cardin has restored the walls, floors and ceilings of the rooms and decorated them with furniture and artifacts.

Below the top floors and off limits to public view, Cardin constructed a living area of several bedrooms, a dining room, library and a living room. Peach is the predominant color. Artifacts of Cardin’s exquisite passion for antiques, furniture and art abound: a Rodin sculpture, a Buddha, Oriental couches, 17th and 18th century chairs, mirrors, and paintings. Below the main floor, stairs descend to a guard’s room carved out of the rock.

A passionate collector of art, Pierre Cardin is displaying the works of several artists in the courtyard: Yaacov Agam, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Philippe Hiquily, Nicolas Schoffer, and Jesus-Rafael Soto.

Saturday evening, the Lacoste Festival offered its last performance of the season: The Fairy Queen, an opera composed by Henry Purcell in 1692, was performed in the Old Quarry of Lacoste by the Deller Academy, six soloists and a choir of thirty, under the direction of Mark Deller.

A grand merci to Pierre Cardin for another season of bracing cultural tonic to invigorate the senses.

The Deller Academy performing The Fairy Queen by Henry Purcell (1692) at the Lacoste Festival

Basics:

Lacoste Château: Enter village and follow signs to the top of the hill. Open every day. 7 euros admission. Parking available at no charge.

Information, memorabilia, delicacies from Maxims of Paris and postcards available at the Espace La Costa in Lacoste in the center of the village on Rue Basse.

 

 

 

WSJ Magazine, June 23, 2011, “Ever Wonder What Pierre Cardin Has Been Up To” by Tony Perrottet: web site

(1) Marquis de Sade : a biography, Maurice Lever, Harvest Books, 1991, p. 209

 

 

 

 

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ST REMY DE PROVENCE: CHATEAU DE ROUSSAN INVITES NATURE INSIDE ITS ANCIENT WALLS WITH THE POETIC WORKS OF FRANCOISE VERGIER

Posted on August 6, 2011 by BB Kuett

Françoise Vergier: "The earth is to see," wash drawing on tracing paper, gouache, neon, 2010. In the second floor library of the Château de Roussan

Entering the Château de Roussan through an alley of soaring plane trees, the austere edifice of this historical monument, which dates to the last half of the 16th century, is in full view. Captain Bertrand de Nostredame, the brother of Nostradamus, who himself resided in St. Rémy, was its first occupant.

Viewed from its park, the Château de Roussan, an upscale hotel-restaurant in St. Rémy Provence,

Encircled by arboreous parkland, streams, swans and wandering flocks of sheep, the tranquil Château de Roussan, only a minute’s drive from the center of St. Rémy, is an upscale hotel and restaurant with a wood-paneled library of rare books, overseen by Philippe Roussel et his wife Irène.

Françoise Vergier with her work "The Infernal Circle" at the Château de Roussan

Within its ancient walls, the Château de Roussan is exhibiting the mystical creations of the French artist Françoise Vergier, a resident of the Drome Provençal.

The landscape of her childhood burnished in her memory, Françoise Vergier recreates dreamlike images which find their creative force in the bond between the feminine body and the environment.

Her fascination is the gravitational pull of nature — its physical, metaphysical and mythological power. Her non-urban poetic images combine aspects of painting, sculpture and design; her multitudinous materials include blown glass, neon, charcoal, indian ink, brass, painted glazed clay, pearls, tracing paper and gouache.

A visit to view Françoise Vergier’s works, which are on display in the foyer, dining room and second floor library until August 17, may be combined with taking in the ancient splendor of the Château de Roussan, its greenhouse and park, and dining on its large graveled terrace.

 

In the park of the Château de Roussan, the serene 18th century ornamental greenhouse houses hanging sculptures of artists Jean-Jacques Dournon and Paca Sanchez.

The serene 18th-century ornamental greenhouse at the Château de Roussan

Basics:

The APART Festival exhibit of Françoise Verbier, Paca Sanchez and Jean-Jacques Dournon at the Château de Roussan runs to August 17.

Château de Roussan: Hotel and Restaurant, Route de Tarascon, 13210 Saint Rémy de Provence, Tél. 04 90 90 79 00, Located 1.2 miles west from the center of St. Rémy, consult website for directions and info.

APART Festival: website

Françoise Verbier: email, ligrecque@wanadoo.fr

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PROVENCE SUMMER PAIRINGS: STUFFED SMALL MARSEILLE PEPPERS WITH A FRUIT-INTENSE RED — AN AMIDYVES FROM OLIVIER B.

Posted on August 4, 2011 by BB Kuett

Stuffed small green peppers — Petit Marseillais  are a Provencal delicacy. From three to four inches in length — Petit Marseillais are found at the stands at farmers’ markets in Provence during the summer. If you rent a gite in Provence, this is one dish to tackle as one rarely finds it on the menus of local restaurants.

Stuffed "Petit Marseillais"

A simple recipe for the stuffing: eggs, grated gruyere cheese, garlic, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper. The challenge is carefully stuffing the Petit Marseillais at the stem. Add a bit of olive oil to a pot and cook on the stove pot on medium heat.

 

Serve with a Côtes du Rhône or an AOC Ventoux red such as the Amidyves (friends of Yves) from Olivier B. An intense color of dark cherries, the Amidyves (60% Grenache, 40% Syrah) has a spicy nose, on the palate an  abundance of lush cherries, black currants and herbs, with a clean spicy finish. A beautifully balanced drink, one of the top-rated red wines by quality / price standards in the region.

The wines: Grown in organic tradition, harvested by hand, and untreated (yeast, acid, enzyme) during the wine making process. Olivier B believes that 90% of the work is done in the vineyards (and didn’t Woody Allen quip that 90% of success was showing up). Olivier B’s talent reveals itself in his bottles that find their way to some of the better restaurant tables in Provence.

Consider the unique logo: A black silhouette of Olivier B wearing a short brim straw hat. Olivier B attended a benefit in Provence for the African country of Burkina a few years ago and bought one hat. He returned a year later and bought five of the six hats available. As PVB reported last winter, the ‘blogosphere‘ rescued Olivier B. from the abyss.

 

Basics:

Oliver B Wine Shop: Center of Villes sur Auzon, next to the bakery. Open Friday, 4-7 p.m., Saturday 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., 4-7 p.m., and Sunday 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (Hwy 942 east from Carpentras), Tel: 04-90-61-72-07 or 06-25-39-08-60, Email: obvigneron@free.fr, blog

Restaurants serving Olivier B in the Vaucluse: Le Phebus, Joucas; Les Bories, Gordes; La Bastide de Gordes, Gordes, Chez Serge, Carpentras; Hôtel Les Florêts, Gigondas; Le Montmirail, Vacqueyras; Prevoté, L’Isle Sur-le-Sorgue.

No U.S. importer at this time.

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AVIGNON: CY TWOMBLY AND INVITED ARTISTS AT THE COLLECTION LAMBERT, A STUNNING PANORAMA OF 20TH CENTURY PHOTOGRAPHY

Posted on August 2, 2011 by BB Kuett

Cy Twombly: Miramare -- By the sea, Gaeta 2005

Good news. Now that the Avignon Festival has wound up, you can find a parking space in Avignon. More good news. The fabulous survey of 20th century photograghs: “Le Temps Retrouvé, Cy Twombly Photographs and Invited Artists,” runs until October 2 at the contemporary art museum of the Collection Lambert.

A giant in the world contemporary art, Cy Twombly, a Virginia native who passed away in July of this year in Rome, forged a brilliant creative arc illuminated by his large-scale calligraphic paintings – at times which mimicked scribbling and graffiti. Twombly immersed himself in the themes and debates — abstraction/ figurative, primitive/modern, psychoanalytical, etc — of his time.

Cy Twombly: Unfinished Paintings, Gaeta, 2006

For a 1994 retrospective of his work at MOMA in New York, the late curator Kirk Varnedoe wrote that Twombly is “influential among artists, discomfiting to many critics and truculently difficult not just for a broad public, but for sophisticated initiates of postwar art as well.”

Cy Twombly: Flowers I, Gaeta 2005

In the mid-1950’s, Cy Twombly achieved artistic prominence in New York where he shared a studio with Robert Rauschenberg. He moved to Gaeta, a seaside town north of Naples, Italy, in 1957.

The art collector Yvon Lambert was one of the first to exhibit Cy Twombly’s works at the beginning of the 1970’s. The Collection Lambert possesses more than forty works of his paintings and works on paper from 1959 – 2011, the largest collection devoted to Twombly in France.

It was during a visit to Gaeta by Eric Mézil, the director of the Collection Lambert, in May 2010 that Cy Twombly suggested exhibiting his photographs, which were yet to be shown in France, along with those of other artists in Avignon.

Before reaching the seven rooms of photographs of Cy Twombly, there is an immense treasure of images and installations from artists listed below. Taking time to brief yourself with the exhibit brochure as you take the sinuous path from room to room, this excursion begs for an intermission. A careful inspection consumes two hours.

Sally Mann: Eva Alive, 1998

One room is devoted to the photographs of Sally Mann (on loan from the Gagosian gallery), a native Virginian and close friend of Cy Twombly who greatly admired her work. Another room features the images of Diane Arbus. Light splashes in from window wall onto a  Sol LeWitt wall painting of bright stripes, the last one he completed in France. And on it goes.

Diane Arbus: Girl in a Shiny Dress, 1967

What grips you is the beauty marked by the passage of time. In “On Photography,” Susan Sontag wrote that photographs are an  “inventory of mortality.” They “state the innocence, the vulnerability of lives heading toward their own destruction, and this link between photography and death haunts all photographs of people.”

Basics:

Cy Twombley: Robert Rauschenberg, Tétouan, Morocco, 1952

“Le Temps Retrouvé” Photographs of Cy Twombley and invited artists. Open everyday in August from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Closes at 6:00 p.m. on Mondays in Sept. and Oct. Runs until Oct. 2, Collection Lambert, 5, rue Violette, Avignon, 7€, tel: 04 90 16 56 20 website

Artists: Cy Twombley, Diane Arbus, Miquel Barcelo, Emile Bernard, Charles Bodmer, Pierre Bonnard, Constantin Bracusi, Jacques-Ernest Bulloz, Julia Margaret Cameron, Etienne Carjat, David Claerbout, Edgar Degas, Maurice Denis, E. Frueler, Gisele Freund, le Baron Wilhelm von Goeden, Douglas Gordon, Jaques-Henri Lartigue, Louise Lawler, Sol LeWitt, Sally Mann, Eadweard Muybridge, Victor Pannelier, Man Ray, Auguste Rodin, Ed Ruscha, Cindy Sherman, Edward J. Steichen, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Carl Van Vechten, Edouard Vuillard.

METropolitan Restaurant: Located in the courtyard of the Collection Lambert, open daily. Cuisine bistrot at reasonable prices. Website

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PROVENCE SUMMER PAIRINGS: A DAUBE PROVENCAL WITH AN AOC VENTOUX SAINT JEAN DU BARROUX BY PHILIPPE GIMEL

Posted on August 1, 2011 by BB Kuett

A Daube is a slow-cooked red meat stew which calls for marinating the meat, usually beef, for eight hours. Cooked in a “daubière,” this typical Provencal dish is served with pasta and grated cheese along with a sauce made from the juice which may be tossed with the pasta or served as a condiment.

For the dish pictured, the meat was marinated in a 1991 Pommard, Côtes du Beaune (well past its prime, 91 not a good vintage in Burgundy). Served with home-made pasta, with a bit of truffle oil added to the water, from Fattoria La Vialla in Tuscany.

In the glass the 2005 Oligocene has an intense dark cherry color with a spicy nose of garrigue and wild flowers. On the palate, crushed fruits — blackberries, cherries and raspberries intermingle — a nuanced spicy finish; well-balanced — leaning toward medium-bodied when compared to other full-bodied vintages in the region — “elegance” being the trademark style of Philippe Gimel.

The 2005 Oligocene is a blend of 75% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 5% Carignan and 5% Cinsault, which is, as of 2006, branded L’Argile.  A small production cuvée — Le Pierre Noire — was introduced in 2006 which distinguishes itself from L’Oligocène / L’Argile in that it is a blend of 85% Grenache and 15% Syrah. With no more than 300 cases of Le Pierre Noire expected to make their way to wine shops’ shelves in the states — the price at Zachy’s is listed at $48 and at 30 pounds in London — it would be wise to snap up any of Philippe’s Oligocene 2005 now — it’s a takes-your-breath-away price / quality value.

Basics:

Saint Jean du Barroux: Facebook, website

Importers: UK, Dudley de Fleury Wines; U.S., European Cellars

Pasta served: Fattoria La Vialla, via di Meliaciano 26, 52029 Castiglion Fibocchi, Toscana, Italy, (southwest of Florence on A1) Tel: 39-0575-477704, Email: fattoria@lavialla.it

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Provence Summer Pairing: Simple is As Simple Can – Tomato Tart with a Vacqueryas Rosé

Posted on July 26, 2011 by BB Kuett

Lunch in Provence: A tomato tart, a green salad and a rosé 2009 Seigneur de Fontimple Vignerons de Caractère

There is pleasure in the predicable: visiting a castle in Ireland a pig scampers across the hallway; sipping bitter served lukewarm at a London pub, or relaxing in Provence at “l’heure d’apéro,” the late afternoon early evening tradition of taking your leisure at a café or at a home, by sharing a bottle of rosé, which you have been told is a typical provençal aperitif.

Ingredients for Tomato Tart, except basil, in baking pan

At your gite or home, a tomato tart (une tarte de tomate) makes for an ideal pairing with rosé. Simple is (ingredients) as simple can (recipe): purchase dough — pate feuilleté (flaky) not brisé (pie crust) at the grocery store, and place it in a round baking pain for tarts; rub a small amount of mustard onto the dough, fill the pan with slices of tomatoes, add slices of onions (optional), sprinkle on olive oil and basil leaves, and cook at 184C or 340F for half-an-hour, then add grated cheese, emmental or gruyère, for ten minutes. Serve at lunch with a green salad and rosé, or cut the tomato tart into small portions to serve with rosé for an aperitif.

Accompany the tomato tart with a quality rosé such as a 2009 Seigneur de Fontimple Vignerons de Caractère, produced by a cooperative nonetheless, a blend of Grenache, Cinsault, and Syrah. Tasting notes: A complex nose with notes of raspberries and red fruits. On the palate, fruity and well-balanced with more texture than the ordinary cooperative-produced rosés.

Most wine cooperatives in the Vaucluse do not export their wines. Thus, it is rare to discover a wine cooperative, in this instance the Vignerons de Caractère, that produces quality vintages and whose wines find a place on the shelves of wine stores in the U.K. and in the U.S. No middling operation, the Vignerons de Caractère has more than 1,100 acres in production of vintages from Vacqueyras and surrounding appellations, including northern Rhones wines from St. Joseph and Crozes Hermitage.

Basil – the everyday provençal herb

Basics

Vignerons de Caractère: BP1, Route de Vaison la Romaine, Vacqueyras
Tél 04 90 65 84 54, website

U.S. Importers: Fruit of the Vines, Long Island City, NY; tel. (718) 392-5640; and Vintner Select, Cincinnati, OH; tel. (800) 597-1491, among others.

Nine colors of rosé wine: here

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ART AS EXTREME BEAUTY: THE OUTRAGEOUSLY FEMININE MARBLE SCULPTURES OF BARBARA SEGAL AT THE DOMAINE DALMERAN IN PROVENCE

Posted on July 24, 2011 by BB Kuett

"Flight of Fancy," White Marble & Bronze, by Barbara Segal at the Domaine Dalmeran

Art as “extreme beauty” in all its acute details is the theme evoked by the translucent marble sculptures of lingerie and dresses by Barbara Segal whose sumptuous creations marry her mesmerizing childhood memories of elegant tissues and garments with a talent honed during five years of apprenticeship in Italy chiseling and shaping marble from the quarries in Carrara.

A native New Yorker who makes frequent extended sojourns to Europe, Barbara fashions marble into delicate lace and tissue by the interplay — a gavotte mind you — of light and shadows across a velvet surface which comingles with the richness of detail to render her pieces with a lush sensuality.

"Le Corp Bustier," Marble, Onyx, Amethyst and Pyrite, by Barbara Segal on display at the Domaine Dalmeran until August 17

In the past decade, Barbara has plunged herself into several public works projects: multimedia sculpture charting the Saw Mill / Nepperham river, “Drawn to the Water” for the West Harlem Public Art fund, and, in 2006 – 2007, she created “wrapping” refuse trucks in Yonkers, NY — art wraps depicting imagery the promoted environmental awareness.

Tony Soulié's series of blown-glass sculptures of animals with their prey clamped in their mouths at the Domaine Dalmeran

Rather than nurturing plants, the greenhouse of the Domaine Dalmeran is transformed into a pictorial refuge of wild animals in the artistic crosshairs of Tony Soulié and Corine Ferté.

Gripped by a fascination of animals and their territorial conquests during a visit to the Zuni Pueblo in northwestern New Mexico, the prodigious artist Tony Soulié displays his series of blown-glass sculptures of animals with their prey clamped in their mouths; the sculpted transparent lucidity of the predators contrasts vividly with the opaque passive taxidermy of their prey.

 

Tony Soulié : the sculpted transparent lucidity of the predators contrasts vividly with the opaque passive taxidermy of their prey

Animals are at the heart of the work of the painter Corine Ferté. Inspired by the vulnerability of these creatures, Corine Ferté creates images of animals in their natural environment shown in a series oil-on-canvas paintings hung on the greenhouse walls that encircle the display of Tony Soulié.

Oil on Canvas by Corine Ferté at the Domaine Dalmeran

Viewing these paintings of Corine Ferté summons up the reflection of W.G. Sebold in his stupefying novel “Austerlitz”: a thought “anchored in his memory” that animals and humans who observe them, look at each other “across a gap of incomprehension.”

Oil on canvas paintings by Corine Ferte

The exhibit at the Domaine Dalmeran, which also features works of artists Frédérique Gauton and Claude Viallet, runs until August 17.

Barbara Segal chats with guests in front of her "Black Swan," portrait of a corset of Belgium Black Marble

 

Basics

Barbara Segal: Email, barbarasegal@optonline.net, website

Corine Ferté: website

Tony Soulié: website gallery, website prints, website older glass sculptures

Exhibit until August 17 at the Domaine Dalmeran, 45, ave Notre-Dame-du-Château, Saint-Etienne-du-Grès , Tel 04 90 49 04 04,

Email, chateau.dalmeran@wanadoo.fr, website

APART Festival: website

Note: For wine enthusiasts, the Domaine de Trevallon is on the same road.

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PROVENCE SUMMER PAIRINGS: “LA SOUPE AU PISTOU” AND A FRUITY AOC VENTOUX RED FROM THE CHATEAU UNANG OF JAMES KING

Posted on July 23, 2011 by BB Kuett

Everyone in Provence has his or her own recipe for the classic Provençal vegetable soup, “La soupe au pistou,” made from a market-fresh assortment of beans, eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes and onions along with a small amount of macaroni or pasta, and cooked slowly to imbue the soup with smooth velvety flavors.

Whatever vegetables go into the pot — and one distinction in Provence is that the soup is often prepared in a “Cocotte minute” (pressure cooker) to lock in the flavors — the de rigueur ingredients for making a pistou sauce, served cold, are garlic and fresh basil crushed in olive oil.

And without a doubt, the pistou is served as a condiment, not as a sauce (the difference between a condiment and a sauce is that the latter is added by the food preparer, whereas a condiment is added by the eater).  Breaching this tradition was a recipe on the Food Network provided by Wolfgang Puck that called for some pistou to be mixed into the soup before serving. In Provence, this would be considered barbaric as the particular amount of pistou added varies to taste of the eater — some add a drop, other go for a tablespoon or more.

Grated hard cheese – picorino, parmesan, or gruyere among others – is also served as a condiment. Interestingly, this is one dish that one consumes without a baguette.

“La soupe au pistou” may be paired with either a red or a white wine. The fruit-forward AOC Ventoux red wines with a clean finish pair nicely with the hearty flavors of la soupe au pistou.  An exemplary estate-bottled AOC Ventoux is the “Ventoux” vintage from Château Unang,  a medium-bodied red wine with fresh notes of cherries and raspberries, and soft tannins.  A blending of roughly 60% Grenache, 30% Syrah, and the rest Carignan, the wine has a dark purple color.

Nested in the verdant hillsides and enveloped by forests in Malemort-du-Comtat  in the Vaucluse, the once dilapidated Château Unang took a king to put it all back together, in this case two kings: Joanna and James King, once of Scotland, via Beijing and Brussels, who purchased the vineyard in late 2001 with grapes harvested. By 2003, they had moved south with their spawn to renovate the chateau and to nurture the vines back to form.

As for white wines, most produced in the Vaucluse lack acidity and body due to the lack of cool nights that protect acids from being lost through the biochemical process of respiration. A perfect pairing with “La soupe au pistou” is a Pinot Gris (Alsace or Oregon): a lush wine, Pinot Gris is not overall fruity, possessing flavors of peach, pear, grapefruit and a bright finish with well-balanced acidity.

One exceptional bottle from Oregon is the 2009 estate Pinot gris from The Eyrie Vineyards: a dense texture, a nose of melon, spicy florals and mineral notes and a bright finish.

Basics:

Château Unang: Cellar open Mon.- Fri. 2-5 p.m., Sat. 10-12 p.m. See website for directions.

U.S. Importer, Vintage 59: website

The Eyrie Vineyards: 2009 Pinot gris Estate, website

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PROVENCE ARCHITECTURE: THE TRADITION OF “PIERRE SECHE” AND “LA LAUZE”

Posted on July 19, 2011 by BB Kuett

A wall constructed by "pierre seche" crowned by "la lauze"

In the Luberon and the Ventoux, farmhouses, animal shelters, walls, bridges and other structures display the ancient tradition of “pierre sèche” or dry-stone – the construction by careful stacking of stones without any adhesive or binding. Practiced worldwide, dry-stone building dates back to the introduction of agriculture at the beginning of the Neolithic period.

 

“La lauze” is a term that designates the large flat paving stones used to cover a structure or to crown a wall of dry-stone. By the vertical stacking of stones of unequal size and length , “la lauze” forms a jagged silhouette.

 

Working by hand, artisans in the region carry out the tradition of “pierre sèche”, beginning with fashioning a design, and the sourcing of stones in local quarries, followed by the tedious and timely process of putting up the structure or wall.

Constructed for a property owner last winter in the Vaucluse, the “pierre sèche” wall with “la lauze” pictured here took more than two-months to complete.

This masterpiece has its price tag: $30,000. Yet what great pleasure one derives from its simplistic functionality and from its serene beauty nestled among the green oaks.

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