A Garden In Burgundy
/A chronological collection of images from a year in The Hungry Cyclist Lodge gardens. The ideal place to unwind after a days cycling and wine tasting in the vineyards of Burgundy.
Read MoreFood, Wine, Photography Cycling & Gardening. Discover more about Life in Burgundy on The Hungry Cyclist Blog
A chronological collection of images from a year in The Hungry Cyclist Lodge gardens. The ideal place to unwind after a days cycling and wine tasting in the vineyards of Burgundy.
Read MoreI like to to collect things. A brocante is my favorite place to be and I have been known to come back with more things from the tip then I dropped of. Marginal returns I like to call them. So when a good friend offered me an oak wine fermenting vat, I dint hesitate.
Read MoreFor all its 'bucolic romance' picking grapes in Burgundy is back-breaking work. Seemingly endless days are spent bent-double, snipping at sticky grapes while steadily hiking up hill. The work is relentless and monotonous and high point of each day is lunch!
Read MoreLantignié is an exceptional off-the-beaten-path terroir of the Beaujolais that faces due south on the slopes below the Avenas pass. Here the granite subsoil is full of rare and precious minerals such as quartz, fluorspar and baryte, that provide plenty of fuel to the vines and complexity to the wines.
Read More2016 hasn't been the best of years in Burgundy for the wine production, but in the garden we have been blessed with a fine year for tomatoes. The late frosts of April that devastated the vineyards, didn't get a chance to attack the tomatoes vines. A soaking wet June was followed by a searing hot summer, and with little rot and plenty of dry heat our tomatoes have thrived.
Read MoreOn August 6th we had the honour of hosting Lauren and Adam Richardson’s for their wedding at The Hungry Cyclist Lodge. Arriving from all over the world, seventy of the bride and grooms family and friends, came to Auxey-Duresses to celebrate Adam and Lauren’s special day in the heart of Burgundy wine country.
Read MoreIn our cellar a few lonely root vegetables lurk, and after months in the dark they are starting to soften a little and need eating. Butter beans and other pulses are always in stock as well, and these hearty beans always soak up plenty of flavour and add some well needed protein for the muscles after a days cycling or digging in the garden.
Read MoreBlossom flowered, birds sang, heavy winter jumpers were packed away, forgotten shorts were rediscovered and espadrilles were dusted off. Then the cold and rained returned. However this little taste of the balmy days ahead inspired some cooking. Rosmary, that survives the winter here, began to push out its pale and tender young leaves. Zesty lemons from Spain are still in the market and to help encourage the arrival of spring I set about making one of our guests favourite desserts.
Read MoreWhen I was idly daydreaming on a beach in Rio de Janeiro, after completing a two and half year bicycle ride researching food across the Americas, I sketched out a picture of what I felt my dream building might look like for the gourmet cycle lodge I was planning in France.
Read MoreA regular favourite here at The Hungry Cyclist Lodge is slow braised beef cheeks. Easy to prepare and unimaginably unctuous, they are full of flavour and the slow braise fills the house with glorious smells, perfect when returning from a days cycling and wine tasting in Burgundy. Paired with a creamy mash, flavoured with local Dijon mustard, this is a dish perfectly suited for autumn nights.
Read MoreOeufs en Meurette is a Burgundian classic. A soft-poached egg swimming in a rich red wine sauce, it's a warming and hearty dish, perfect for autumn days. However as a hot summer has come to an end I have found that the same principle work of serving a poached egg in a creamy white wine sauce flavoured with herbs from the garden
Read MoreHere at The Hungry Cyclist Lodge we keep our grilling simple and this summers' favourites are 'magret' of duck and the smoky rib of Charolais slow-cooked over 90-year-old vine stocks, both washed down with plenty of local pinot noir.
Read MoreA creative way to journal those daily snap-shots, if you want an inside view of a stay at the Hungry Cyclist Lodge or a what cycling holiday in Burgundy looks like, have a look and follow The Hungry Cyclist Instagram feed. Full of photos of food, wine, landscapes and the occasional brocante find, it's a beutiful way to keep in touch.
Read MoreThe Hungry Cyclist Lodge has now been open for three months. As each week passes we open our doors to more and more guests who have come to enjoy the best of Burgundy. Coming to this special part of the world to rest and enjoy some of the best food, wine and cycling in France.
Read MoreCorks were being pulled and fireworks exploded above the vines of the Cote D'Or in early July as the 1,247 “climats” of Burgundy were awarded the much coveted world heritage status by UNESCO.
Read MoreBoeuf Bourguignon, Oeufs en Meurette and snails all make the podium, but the often sidelined Jambon Persille is one of my Burgundian favourites. Hunks of dense ham set in a porky flavoured parsley and garlic jelly. There are few better foods to wheel out at a cycling picnic in Burgundy and the humble Jambon Persille could not be more historic.
Read MoreOne of the first plants to arrive is the glorious radish. The radish is the gardening equivalent of learning chop sticks on the piano. Easy to plant and with an almost instant reward. After only a few days young leaves appear and after two weeks the rose roots break the surface like sunburned bald heads.
Read MoreApril is exciting in Burgundy. The muted greys and browns of winter steadily make way for the electric greens of spring and as if over night the landscape of the Cote D'Or changes colour. The wiry silhouettes of trees transform into an soft mass of verdant foliage and dormant spring flowers burst from the ground.
Read MoreWalking in Burgundy in the winter you have to take care. From September to February when the temperature descends and the days shorten, Burgundian men like nothing more than to get together, drink plenty of wine, eat well and hunt wild boar.
Read MoreHardy plants, branches, watering cans, forgotten garden tools. Nothing is sparred from the sharp crystals of frost that cling to everything. The clear night sky makes way to the bluish hue of morning. A few hungry birds chatter in the bitter cold and heavy blanket of white cold is revealed.
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