The autumn wine-fair season is upon us. One of them, the Yard Festival, may be smaller than the others but has the advantage of featuring not only natural wines but also fine food. The fair’s second edition took place on Sunday, October 27, across from the Yard restaurant and cave à vin in Paris’s 11th arrondissement.
The local natural wine purveyor brought together over 30 exhibitors for a day of tastings and small-group workshops, capped off by a soirée and DJ party. All of the exhibitors are distributed in France (and some overseas) by Yard’s parent company, Les Culinaries. Among the event’s partners, the natural wine app and directory Raisin was also present with a stand.
The array of natural wines came from a number of different regions in France and elsewhere. Italy was represented by Frank Cornelissen, whose vineyards are located in the northern valley of Mt. Etna in Sicily; Serbia by a transplanted French couple, Estelle & Cyrille Bongiraud, who grow both local and international varietals in the eastern part of the country; Spain by a father and daughter team of Catalan winemakers at Clos Lentiscus; and Greece by Culinaries, which produces and exports a range of cuvées vinified by acclaimed French winemaker Patrick Bouju. More familiar French winemakers included Fond Cyprès and Jean-Pierre Robinot.
The large number of foreign producers was not the only atypical feature of this salon. It also went above and beyond in ways that you don’t usually see in open-to-the-public salons in Paris. The ambiance was extremely friendly, with winemakers gamely chatting not only with professionals but also with ordinary wine lovers.
What put this festival at the top was that you could grab a bite of some wonderful charcuterie in between glasses, thus avoiding the usual munchies that set in after an hour or so of tasting. The pâté en croûte by Jérémie Crauser (twice named world vice-champion at the Championnat du Monde de Pâté-Croûte) and porc noir de bigorre from Le Noir de Bigorre were both exceptional and generously offered (second, and even fourth, tastings were encouraged!). The tinned fish from Pirate, Cannerie de la Mer – sourced and prepared by Lucie Lesgourgues, an ambitious poissonière from Collioure with a diploma from the Ferrandi cooking school – was just the kind of thing you want to keep on hand for apéro guests.
Visitors were able to stock up on all the products from the exhibitors’ boutiques at the festival – a decided plus, since most wine salons don’t allow exhibitors to sell their wares on-site.
As such fairs go, the Yard Festival rated 10 out of 10. I recommend that all lovers of natural wines and fine foods put the next one on their calendar. In the meantime, other upcoming wine fairs include Le Grand Tasting and the Salon des Vins des Vignerons Indépendants.
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