Latest news with #SudOuest
Times
6 days ago
- Times
Bordeaux revives light, chilled red wine that gave claret its name
The English developed a penchant for Bordeaux after Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry II in 1152. Their preference was for fresh, clear-coloured reds that did not need to age for years before being drunk, and Bordeaux's winemakers were only too happy to satisfy their tastes. Historians say the trend lasted for almost three centuries before England's defeat in the 100 Years' War coincided with a fashion for darker, heavier wines. Now some of Bordeaux's vineyards are seeking to revive the medieval reds beloved of the English. They call it clairet, sometimes translated as claret, although the translation is confusing. Claret initially designated the pale red wines made in Eleanor's time but ended up being used in England as a generic term to describe all Bordeaux's reds. Clairet, on the other hand, continues to be a separate category of wine somewhere between red and rosé. Proponents view it as a response to a crisis caused by a 38 per cent fall in red wine sales in France over the past five years. At least 15 per cent of Bordeaux's vineyards have been abandoned or given over to other crops since 2019, according to the agriculture ministry. Vines have been replaced by kiwis, olives and hemp. Yet critics say all is not lost for Bordeaux so long as it moves away from the full-bodied reds with a high alcohol content it has been producing in recent decades. Sud Ouest, the influential regional daily, said clairet represented a potentially popular alternative. The newspaper quoted Jérôme Gagnez, the wine critic, as saying clairet had 'serious assets to seduce a new generation of consumers as well as enlightened drinkers.' He said it was fruity, supple and served chilled at 12C, all of which went down well with today's drinkers. Clairet is made by leaving grape juice and skins to macerate for between 24 and 72 hours. The period is shorter than for reds, but longer than for rosés. It is fermented at a low temperature and can be drunk within a couple of years. The official Bordeaux wine website says it has a strawberry and blackcurrant bouquet with notes of rose and peony. Les Echos, the French financial daily, said Bordeaux would have to cast aside some of its cherished etiquette if it was to win back drinkers, including the use of ice cubes to cool red wine. The newspaper said connoisseurs 'trembled' at the thought of such a practice, which 'dilutes the wine and breaks the tannins'. But demand for chilled wines was such that qualms were being swept aside. Even the powerful Mouton Cadet brand launched a red to be drunk at between 8C and 10C this summer. • When is it OK to drink chilled red wine? Les Echos said clairet met the requirement for refreshing wines to quench thirst in an era of global warming. 'Clairet is a good answer to this evolution', said Antoine Carteyron, the owner of Château Penin, which makes a clairet with merlot grapes that sells in France for less than €10 a bottle. There have been multiple attempts to relaunch the medieval-style wine since the middle of last century but it was shunned by drinkers who preferred Bordeaux's heavy reds, or rosés from Provence. Sud Ouest said there were fewer than 1,000 hectares of clairet-producing vineyards in the region, with bottles rare in restaurants. Merchants are said to be reluctant to buy it for fear of being unable to offload commentators say production is rising, with clairet enjoying critical acclaim again. Château Penin, for instance, first started producing clairet 40 years ago. 'It was a family wine that we didn't sell. When my father first put it on the market in 1982 people looked at him as though he was from outer space,' Carteyron told Le Figaro. Now the vineyard is being hailed as visionary. Even the illustrious Château Grand Corbin-Despagne in the Saint-Emilion area of Bordeaux has started making a clairet, called Heritage Vinum Clarum. It sells for €12 a bottle.
CBC
28-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
Montreal community organizations facing eviction after school service centre terminates leases
Two community education centres, the Carrefour d'éducation populaire de Pointe-Saint-Charles and the Comité d'éducation aux adultes de la Petite-Bourgogne et de Saint-Henri (CÉDA), both located in Montreal's Sud-Ouest borough, are facing eviction after receiving lease termination notices last week. Their landlord, the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal – the province's largest school service centre – is asking the groups to pay $300,000 in unpaid rent and vacate their respective locations in the next 30 days. Adult literacy is a core component of the programs offered by the centres, but after more than 50 years of existence, their services have expanded and they function as community centres, playing an important role in the communities they serve. Hélène Gadoury, director of the Carrefour d'éducation populaire de Pointe-Saint-Charles, described those spaces as "free" and "[where] you can have community, [where] you can have services all at the same place." "It's really important," she said, adding there's a daycare and services for seniors too. WATCH | Montreal community groups want stable source of funding: Montreal community groups try to pressure government for more stable funding 3 minutes ago Community groups are speaking out over what they describe as unstable and unreliable funding from the Quebec government. Alix Marchaut, who works at CÉDA in human resources and accounting, worries about what will happen if the groups are forced out. "If we close, what happens to the food bank? If we close, what happens to the people who want to learn French?" she wondered. "If we close, what happens to the people who just need a space to live and to share and to be supported?" Where it started Rent became an issue after the CSSDM, under financial pressure itself, decided in 2017 to increase the rent of its surplus buildings to reflect market value more closely. However, there was a five-year grace period, so up until 2022, the CSSDM only charged the centres a symbolic rent of $1 per year. Under the lease agreement, the amount for the following year was set at $3.23 per square foot, or $3,082.77 a month for the Carrefour d'éducation populaire de Pointe-Saint-Charles, and $13,459 a month for CÉDA. But since then, it has been indexed annually, with the CSSDM setting the price to be in line with the Consumer Price Index. CÉDA's monthly rent is now $15,084, Marchaut told CBC News, but like the Carrefour d'éducation populaire de Pointe-Saint-Charles, it says it can't afford it. In Quebec, school service centres and school boards receive funding from the government for their school buildings, including for maintenance, renovation or construction of new schools, but that doesn't include surplus stock. Earlier this year, though, Quebec school service centres and school boards were told by the provincial government to put renovation projects on hold due to budget cuts. In the notices served to the Carrefour d'éducation populaire de Pointe-Saint-Charles and CÉDA, the legal team for the CSSDM reiterated the school service centre is a public body responsible for the largest public school network in the province and that it doesn't receive any funding for the maintenance of its surplus buildings. "Although accommodating, our client must account for its finances and act expeditiously in the administration of its income properties," the notices indicated in French. "You will therefore understand that it cannot tolerate, in its income properties, a tenant who refuses or neglects to remedy this situation." Educational mission must remain top priority, Quebec says Last year the Education Ministry came through with emergency funding for the centres, but this year they said they haven't heard anything from the government. "We're just here, stuck in a very bad situation because we don't have the money, but we need to keep going. We need to keep going for the community," Marchaut said. The Comité Social Centre-Sud (CSCS), another community education centre located in the Ville-Marie borough, is facing a similar situation with the CSSDM. The CSCS received a formal notice at the same time as the other centres saying that its lease could be terminated if it failed to pay rent within 10 days. In a statement to CBC News, Bryan St-Louis, a spokesperson for the Education Ministry, said the CSSDM is the owner of the buildings and is therefore responsible for their use. St-Louis also said that school services centres, whose main raison d'être is to educate students, are facing more pressure as the number of students continues to grow, "in particular due to the increase in temporary immigration." If the service centres need the space for students, he wrote in French, their educational mission must always take precedence. St-Louis added, however, that the ministry is in contact with the CSSDM to ensure the best solutions are put in place. But all three groups say it's up to the education minister to fix this. They argue that they are recognized by the government as educational centres and want to be treated like other educational institutions and have access to a space. "It's a right for all adults to keep learning all through their lives," said Gadoury. The community education centres are hoping to sit down with Education Minister Bernard Drainville to find a lasting solution, but are prepared to go to court if necessary. The CSSDM is already embroiled in a legal battle with 13 community organizations in Ahuntsic-Cartierville, which are housed in another of its surplus buildings.
CTV News
21-07-2025
- CTV News
2 injured, 1 arrested after stabbing in Montreal
An SPVM police shoulder patch is seen on an officer in Montreal, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi Two men are injured and a third has been arrested after a stabbing in Montreal's Sud-Ouest borough on Monday. Montreal police (SPVM) received several 911 calls at 11 a.m. about 'a fight involving several people' on the corner of Atwater Avenue and Delisle Street. 'On arrival, police located two victims, a man aged 35, and another man aged 48, with significant upper body injuries,' said Manuel Couture, a spokesperson with Montreal police. They were transferred to hospital, and officers are awaiting updates on their situations. A 23-year-old man was arrested nearby. 'Initial reports suggest that, for unknown reasons, an altercation broke out between three people,' said Couture. 'The suspect [allegedly] stabbed the two victims with a sharp object of unknown nature.' A security perimeter has been established to allow investigators to canvass the scene.
CBC
21-07-2025
- CBC
2 men stabbed, 1 arrested after fight in Montreal's Sud-Ouest borough
Montreal police say a 23-year-old man stabbed two people in the Sud-Ouest borough on Monday morning. A police spokesperson said multiple people called 911 around 11 a.m. to report a fight at the corner of Atwater Avenue and Delisle Street, near Lionel-Groulx Metro station. At the scene, officers found two men, aged 35 and 48, suffering from significant upper-body injuries. They also located and arrested a 23-year-old. Police say witnesses told them the three men were involved in a fight that escalated, leading the 23-year-old to stab the two other men with a sharp object. The two victims were transported to the hospital. Their health status is currently unknown.
Local France
17-07-2025
- Local France
French phrase of the day: Ivre, il
Why do I need to know Ivre, il? Because it's sort of the French equivalent of Florida man. What does it mean? Ivre, il - roughly pronounced as eve-ruh-eel - means drunk, he. This is not grammatically correct French - the noun ivre (drunk) is usually paired with the verb être - je suis ivre, tu es ivre, il est ivre etc. Where you will see ivre, il is in newspaper headlines - it's a shorthand way of saying that a drunken man did something, and will be followed by a description of what happened. The convention is that the headline is written in the present tense. Advertisement For example - Ivre, il perturbe le bal des pompiers et insulte six gendarmes des Deux-Sèvres - Drunk, he disrupts a fireman's ball and insults six police officers in Deux-Sèvres. Because this is such a common formulation in headlines it has become a bit of an in-joke and there's various social media pages and websites collating the best ' Ivre, il ' headlines - giving the lie to the notion that all the French are civilised drinkers. Although ivre, il is the most common formulation it can be used for women - ivre, elle - or groups - ivre, ils/elles - and the formula is sometimes also known as ivre, virgule (drunk, comma). It's somewhat similar to the Florida man joke in the US, where headlines might read something like "Florida man steals alligator and dresses it in bow tie". This isn't one you would use in conversation, if you want to talk about being drunk, you will need to conjugate it with the verb in either the present ( il est ivre - he is drunk) or the past ( il était ivre - he was drunk). Examples Ivres, ils promènent un lama - Drunk, they take a lama for a walk Ivre, il propose de la drogue aux policiers - Drunk, he offers drugs to police officers Ivre et perchée sur un toit en pyjama, elle s'attaque au mur du voisin - Drunk and perched on a roof in her pyjamas, she attacks her neighbour's wall These are all real headlines, you can find more in this collection from the French regional newspaper Sud Ouest.
