Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Fun Photos, French Dragons and Wine Stories From London Wine Fair - Domaine du Dragon - the Dragon's Domain

London Wine Fair was a trade show held in London in May. Other wine trade events coming up include a Vinexpo Hong Kong wine fair in Hong Kong, 24-26 May 2016. More fun, food and wine events for your diary, even if you are not in the wine trade but a member of the public who likes food and wine:

Taste of London 15-19 June, 2016, in London, England. This one is open to the public. Website at the end of this article.

BBC Good Food Show at Excel London, Friday 20 May, Sat 21st and Sunday 22nd 2016. Open to the public.

Here's a picture of Domaine du Dragon wines at the London Wine Fair. Lisa is English. Her husband is French. The wine company is named after the mythological dragon in the area. Why would they have a mythological dragon in France? Well, we have George and the dragon in England. It makes a memorable logo for their wines. Myth says the dragon terrorised local people but was despatched.

If you must see a dragon, much larger than a little lizard, and quite dangerous, we have a komodo dragon in London Zoo. If you want to see a dragon in real life, Komodo dragons are in Indonesia.  Singapore Zoo  + Night Safari (see both on combined ticket) has a komodo dragon or monitor lizard given to Lee Kuan Yew by an Indonesian leader. Frankly, a dragon on a bottle of wine is quite enough excitement for me.

As you see from the picture, a French rosé wine with a pink dragon. Lisa Nezam and her husband are a jolly, friendly couple, as you can tell. In my picture Lisa seems to have a salmon pink jacket and red hair to match the wine in the distinctive broad-based bottle. Côtes de Provence is the Provence area. Appellation d'origins Protégée means name of origin protected.
More information from their website listed below:

This is their new rose wine. I asked about wine visits for the public and she wrote back to remind me:

 Here is our website link below with lots of history about the domaine; we welcome visitors and have gite accommodation and a shop; so feel free to send your readers down to see us!

Kind regards,
Lisa Nezam
Domaine du Dragon

On their website you can read amusing stories about the legend of the dragon, the record of the dragon story by historian Jean Nostradamus, the younger brother of Nostradamus (famous for predictions of the future).

The website also shows you the ruined church nearby whose remains you can see pictured. You can read about the man who ran off with the church's money and valuables.

Coming to modern times, you can also read about the award winning wine, which won the Gold award at Avignon. I recall the song we learned to practise French as children. I thought it went, 'Sur le pont d'Avignon, on y danse, on y dance, tout en rond ... ' As a child I always wondered why they were dancing on a bridge. Now, as an adult, I wonder whether they were dancing in circles on the bridge of Avignon before or after having a glass of wine? Maybe to celebrate a summer wine festival, or harvest festival? However, I looked up the song on Wikipedia and found the dancers were sous or under the bridge, not sur or on it.

Back to the new wine and the winery. The Domaine du Dragon winery shop is open all year, from ten to twelve Monday to Friday in low season and Saturday as well in high season, afternoons three to six in low season and until 7 pm in high season. If you want to visit the winery, phone ahead. The phone number is on their website. You can also buy their wines all over France and several foreign countries and on line.

You can have a weekly rental in their g î  t e  which is a guest house.
After some debate with my English family as to whether a gîte was in the countryside I found this explanation in Wikipedia:


Gîte

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
accommodation. A gîte is a holiday home available for rent. Gîtes are usually fully furnished and equipped for self-catering. Many owners choose to handle their own rentals, and one can find these by searching online on the multitude of listing sites or by checking with the local tourist information office.
Technically, to be called a gîte, the owner must live close by in order to provide help, assistance, and a warm welcome to guests.

www.domainedudragon.com
vinexpohongkong.com
http://london.tastefestivals.com
bbcgoodfoodshowssummerondon.com

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Follow me on Facebook, link to me on LinkedIn, watch me on YouTube talking about etiquette in France and England at table in restaurants, and read excerpts of my books or buy them from Lulu.com . Look for me at writers' holidays and food and wine fairs and I won't say no to a glass or wine or taste of delectable food.

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