Harrowing times @ Little Bedwyn

The Harrow @Little Bedwyn

On most occasions it is sad to say Goodbye and this is certainly the case with the closure on Saturday 28th March of the Michelin starred The Harrow restaurant in Little Bedwyn. The Harrow has been one of the UK's most exciting restaurants – great food and service and a remarkable wine list. After 21 great years Roger and Sue Jones will be moving on to new projects. Understandable that after 21 years it makes sense to turn the page, while you are still on top of your game but it is still of course a big loss.

With so many good memories we naturally had to go one last time and managed to secure a table for three last Friday (28th February) for lunch. An occasion to go the whole hog, so we went for the top menu @£85 for eight courses and selected two fine wines to form a partnership.

2018 The F*****g Marvellous Chenin, Ken Forrester
Ripe and finely concentrated
a top South African Chenin

 

  

Fine bread with delicate tasty hummus

Foie Gras and Salted Caramel Macaron

Cured Kinglas Salmon, Wasabi Pearls, Crème Fraiche

Welsh Beef Tartare, Indian Spices

Shrimp Burger, Foie Gras, Black Pudding, 1927 PX Caramel– an amazing dish(not yet available thru Burger King.....)

2015 Kupe Single Vineyard Pinot Noir, Martinborough
by Escarpment. Larry McKenna 

Having finished Ken's FMC it was time to move onto Larry McKenna's lovely, complex and delicious NZ Pinot Noir from the southernmost part of North Island New Zealand. As Sue Jones said 'a classic NZ Pinot Noir'. 

Wild Orkney Skrei Cod, Champagne Beurre Blanc, Spinach

Guineafowl Ravioli, White and Black Truffles, Artichoke

Optional dish: Five British cheeses

Harrow's signature dessert dish:
soft meringue with mango sauce

Raspberry soufflé

All in all worth every penny!!

Still European and hoping for
EU Associate Citizenship – svp M. Michel Barnier !! 

La vignoble d'Epeigné-les-Bois: la taille et la mise en bouteille: 7.3.2020

Epeigné's community vineyard

Last April some 150 vines were planted on the coteau that overlooks the Route du Coteau on the D81 between the centre of Epeigné and the hamlet of Les Bergers. Today the vines were pruned for the first time under the watchful eyes of  Vincent Beaumont, the winemaker, and Lionel Truet of La Grande Foucaudière. A further 150 vines, which have already been ordered, will be planted later in the Spring. The plan is to plant a further 150 vines in 2021.

At the same time Epeigné's 2019 Sauvignon Blanc was racked and then bottled. These grapes from Jean-Marie's Domaine des Champs Gonneau by a community team last September and vinified by Vincent at Le Moulin du Bourg in Epeigné-les-Bois.   

       

The professionals gather early on Saturday morning

La pause café avant commencer

Vincent, Epeigné's stellar wine consultant (centre), 

outlines the day's programme....

No need to employ Michel Rolland!!

The 2020 recolte awaiting racking and la mise en bouteille 

Lionel Truet keeping a watchful eye on proceedings 

Cleaning the new bag-in-box before racking

Adding a small dose of SO2 before racking

 

Racking underway

(above and below)

 La taille

 (above and below)

Epeigné's chef de culture....

The bottling line

A corking wine!

Some of the bottled 2019 Sauvignon Blanc

A spectator sport! 

Such is the fame of Epeigné's wine that
it attracts visitors from Columbia.....!! 

 L'équipe 

(above and below)

A highly trained nose.....

un nez ideal pour la dégustation.... 

Vincent with two fans.....

Notre 2019 Sauvignon Blanc – Santé !! 

Epeigné-les-Bois – Les élections municipales 2020: two lists of candidates

Le Mairie d'Epeigné-les-Bois 

(Indre-et-Loire)

The 2020 French municipal elections will be held on Sunday 15th March and Sunday 22nd March when a new set of maires and their conseil municipales will be elected. 

There are two lists of candidates for Epeigné-les-Bois' 11 places on the conseil municipale. The number of places on the conseil depends upon the population of the commune. Epeigné (population 436) has 11 because it comes into the 100-499 inhabitants category. Rules regarding the conseils and the elections are different for communes with less than 1000 inhabitants and those with more than 1000. 

From Le Monde:

Épeigné-les-Bois 37150
Résultats aux municipales 2020

: consultez l’intégralité des listes, des candidats, les résultats du scrutin et les données-clés de la commune.

• Maire sortant : Christian PERCEVAULT
• Population : 436 habitants
• Circonscription : 2^e d’Indre-et-Loire
• Intercommunalité : CC de Bléré Val de Cher
•  

Listes des candidats

Jean-Marie THIREAU

Fabienne SOMMÉRIA

Odeh RISHMAWI

Michèle PRIEUR

Aurore NIBAUDEAU

Stéphanie MAGHISSENE

Daniel LAUMONNIER (Maire-Adjoint)

Julien LAMBERT

Dominique HISBERGUE

Ludovic GUILLON

Fabrice FOUANON

Viviane FÈVE

Claire DUPRÉ

Frédéric CHEVALIER

Michel CARATY

Jean CANDIAGO

Amélie BORGNIET (Conseiller)

Amélie BOGUET

Francis BENOIT

Yellow: Dominique, Michèle and Jean's list
Green: Amélie's list

Amélie and Daniel are on the present council.

 

From La Nouvelle République - the announcement of the two lists of candidates:

Épeigné-les-Bois : un trio de tête pour les municipales

Épeigné-les-Bois : un trio de tête pour les municipales Powered by Novactive L’idée est originale : ce n’est pas une tête qui conduit la liste pour les élections municipales de mars mais un...

The trio are holding a public meeting at Epeigné's Salle des Fêtes this evening (Thursday) starting at 8pm.

••

Amélie Borgniet dévoile sa liste

Amélie Borgniet dévoile sa liste Powered by Novactive Conseillère municipale sortante, Amélie Borgniet avec, à ses côtés, Daniel Laumonnier, adjoint sortant et six co...

 

Extract from the rules published by the French Ministry of the Interior:

'Les suffrages sont décomptés individuellement par candidat, y compris en cas de candidature groupée, c’est-à-dire lorsque plusieurs candidats ont manifesté leur volonté de présenter leur candidature ensemble sur un même bulletin de vote.

Pour être élu au premier tour de scrutin, le candidat doit recueillir la majorité absolue des suffrages exprimés et un nombre de suffrages au moins égal au quart de celui des électeurs inscrits sur les listes électorales. S’il est nécessaire de procéder à un second tour de scrutin, la majorité relative suffit, quel que soit le nombre de votants. En cas d’égalité de suffrages, le plus âgé des candidats est élu (art. L. 253).'

(Translation: The votes are counted individually by candidate, including in the case of a group candidacy, that is to say when several candidates have expressed their desire to present their candidacy together on the same ballot.

To be elected on the first ballot, the candidate must obtain the absolute majority 

of the votes cast and a number of votes at least equal to a quarter of that of the 

voters registered on the electoral lists. If it is necessary to conduct a second ballot, 

the relative majority suffices, regardless of the number of voters. 

In the event of a tie, the oldest candidate is elected (art. L. 253).)

Thus if there are two or more lists of allied candidates it is possible that the final result may see a mix of candidates elected from the various lists. Equally it is possible that all of the candidates on a particular list will be successful and none from the other lists.   

The full guide from the French Ministry of the Interior to these municipal elections can be downloaded here.