One of the highlights of living in my beautiful Morbihan is that gastronomy and wines are tops, whether locally or folks coming in , we are serve the best of France, And that is saying a lot me think, We have jump on the wagon sort of speaking early on in our stay here,and participated in these events, One we go every year since 2014 is the Salon de vins et de la Gastronomie or its variants names over the years, Let me do a recap condensing older post with fresh text and links for you and I, Hope you enjoy it as I.
The Salon des vins et de la Gastronomie 2014 was held on November 28-30,and Dec 1st . 5€ adult admission, and on the wonderful Chorus expo center of the Parc du Golfe, exposition expo Hall A. Hours were from 10h to 19h with Dec 1 to 18H. Of course ,we grab our basque cheeses and cherry cakes, the Champagne for the end of year from Verzenay, near Reims ,Champagne Gdome pére et fils, and wines from our neighbors in the Loire at St Nicolas de Bourgueil, Vignobles de la Rodaie, , and of course our plate combination for the raclette!!!
We moved on to the Salon des Vins et de la Gastronomie 2017, again held at the Chorus, parc du Golfe of Vannes. And we visited Ets Radigue on pots and pans and utensils we purchase; one pot and one pan with cover all French made both for 140 euros. We found ouir steady supplier by now, the Maison Castellou from Saint Jean Pied du Port ,and we got it all, and gifts given to us too. Not to leave out the Les Saveurs Catalans for their wonderful sausages, the L’Oliveraie with its olives and tapenades , the local honeys and soaps from honey of the Miellerie de Huelgoat with 18 different kinds of honey! ,Atout Fruit Sec with all fruits in dry form or gelly , There were wine producers came from Alsace such as Domaine Fleischer, Beaujolais (where we met a wonderful couple of Le Bourlay Patrick and Odile) we purchase Juliénas and Brouilly. The big daddy Bordeaux from Chateau Dillon,and La Rose Pauillac, Chateau Mercier, etc , Champagne was here with some local producers such as Robert-Allait, and Godmé Sabine pére et fils; Charentes region with its cognacs, Languedoc-Roussillon with the Banyuls and Mas Amiel and many others. My favorite Sud-Ouest region with Domaine Lamothe wonderful Gaillac (we had on my wife’s father side home turf); the Vallée du Rhône had its many with the Condrieu and Côte Rotie of Domaine de Boisseyt-Chol,and the Châteauneuf du pape of Clos Val Seille. the Vallée de la Loire. You have the Vouvrays of the Caves Rougebec Vouvray , and Earl Bergers Fréres with the wonderful whites of Montlouis-sur-Loire ,and by now our friends of Earl Cousseau Boireau vignobles de la Roudaie and its Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil reds and rosés!
And came back again with the Salon Vins et Gastronomie, 2018 and this year proves to be an even bigger success, this was the 26th edition. The Salon is open February 17-18-19 from 10h to 19h except Monday to 18h. Admission is 5€ or 4€ if purchase on the internet; once you receive and invitation from a producer is free as it is for us. All is held at the exposition center Chorus in the parc du golfe of Vannes. Right away we got into it as this was sadly the last came with my dear late wife Martine as she passed away from cancer on April 30 2018 19h never to forget my mamie bleu ! Of course with her we went into the sweets /sugar pastries shop by renown pâtissier or pastry maker Alain Chartier who has store in city center Vannes as wall as pastrychef school and teams up worldwide with many organisations as well as French chocolate maker Valrhona (as in valley of the Rhône). We went to our regular of many years and even have visited in their locale, this is the Maison Gastellou originally from Saint Jean Pied de Port in French Basque country. Wonderful Bayonne hams, sausages, and ready made sandwiches of Bayonne ham and ewe milk cheese. Also , the famous basque cake and jellies. We got them all, We came back to see Christel and now his wife Claudine of the Domaine Cousseau Boireau wonderful rose and red wines of Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil in the Loire valley : This are very good wines at affordable prices (who said French wine is expensive?) the wines here are from 5-8 euros per bottle all made from Cabernet Franc for the red and rosés. We stop by an old reliable Domaine de Lamothe, Gaillac red , whites, roses, moelleux etc . The story here is that on my wife’s father side they are cathars from this region, Lavaur, Toulouse, Gralheut, Montans, Gaillac, and the family used to sent us this wine to us back while living in Florida USA. We came to live permanently in France in 2003, and got this wine in the property with the owners directly that knew the family; now here at Vannes their daughter is send to showcase the wines of the property, wonderful tradition, We stopped by Domaine Sanzay, and were pleasantly surprise by their Domaine 2016 and Vielles Vignes reds of the appellation Saumur-Champigny. They were there with the owners Didier and Céline, and the property can be visited and tastings done on site as well. We try some saucissons of the Saveurs Catalanes on their stand for the good price and had them before here in Brittany ,in fact they have a depot by Rennes even if the family of the recipe is from Girona Catalonia Spain, We, also got some nice sticks of chocolates from the Le Comptoir du chocolat who are nearby at Quimper and were in the salon as well; great varieties on the tablets just delicious We got our dry fruits at the by now usual place who also have a store in Rocheport-en-Terre in the Morbihan 56 (our dept). L’Art Gourmand, and of course here we got a bushful and tastings galore,
And closing out last but not least we were in the Salon Vins et Gastronomie of 2019 held over this weekend again at the Chorus expo center in the Parc du Golfe. the 27th in my area! The show was on March 9/10/11 from 10h to 19h with Monday to only 17h. Admission is 5€ adult but as I go often we get invitation for free from growers. There is free parking, lending of wheels caddy with proper personal ID, restaurant on site even to drink the bottles you purchase there, and tasting glasses with a deposit of 1€ (you can keep the glass or get the refund at end). I can recall the Domaine Fleischer of Alsace, Domaine des Gaudets Morgon of Beaujolais, Chateau Mercier of Bordeaux, La Rose Pauillac, Bordeaux, Domaine Fillon of Burgundy, Champagne Godmé Sabine pére et fils, Champagne Robert-Allait, Roxane et Cyrano, southwest France, Domaine des Sanzay, Valley of the Loire, also from the Loire, Domaine Hérault, Vignobles de la Rodaie(Cousseau-Boireau), Domaine des Liards Berger Fréres, Alain Chartier chocolatier from our area, le Nougat de Montségur, Les Saveurs Catalanes, Maison Gastellou, Miellerie de Huelgoat, and Coutellerie Moret.
Of course once again we loaded up with goodies and thank them for coming close to home, As it is over the years good rapport has been created and now they either ship to me at no freight cost or do deliveries in our areas on site or sometimes to our home ! All in the name of gastronomy and wines , the best in the world me think ; this is France,
There you go folks, my world, and you are welcome, This was a recap condensing some posts find repeated but keeping the wonderful history of them all, Hope you enjoy the post on fair of gastronomy and wines of Vannes as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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