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Recently, I was invited to the home of Grey Goose in France, Le Logis Grey Goose for the Atelier of Taste, a vodka food pairing experience.

Le Logis Grey Goose

Le Logis Grey Goose is situated 2 hours away from Bordeaux in the Cognac region. It is a fabulous mansion from the 16th century, decorated with the colors of Grey Goose. We spent 2 days in Le Logis Grey Goose where we had the opportunity to learn more about the origins of the Grey Goose Vodka and meet the cellar master François Thibault. We also tasted some drinks and food creations made by some of the best barmen and chefs in Europe.

I totally fell in love with Le logis Grey Goose so that I would like to share some pictures of the house with you.

Grey Goose, a french Vodka

François Thibault, the cellar master

To understand where the Grey Goose Vodka comes from, it is important to meet François Thibault, the man behind Grey Goose.

François Thilbault studied wine in Bordeaux before working as a cellar master for a cognac company. Cognac is only produced in the Cognac region that is special for it’s  very acid grapes, the “uni blanc”. It is the perfect grapes to create a liquor. The work as a master cellar for Cognac is very important as he decides of everything.

François Thibault developed a cognac for Sidney Frank who years later asked him to create a premium vodka.

Indeed, most vodkas are created industrially and are not of very high quality. François Thibault, with his A to Z knowledge decided to create a vodka based on the best ingredients.

What is Grey Goose made from?

Most vodka are made out of potatoes. From the start, vodka was made out of wheat so this is why François Thilbault decided to use this ingredient again. The wheat used is the best from France, it comes from Picardie and is used by the best French bakers to do their bread. Remember the Boulangerie François event organized by Grey Goose I have been to?! I already talked about the 100% French high quality ingredients used to do the Grey Goose Vodka.

Also, to create the vodka, no sugar is added. It is only wheat and water from Gensac that comes from a very calcareous soil and that is therefore of good quality because it is high in calcium.

Grey Goose flavors

We did a tasting later on of the different Grey Goose vodkas available on the market. All made with the best ingredients. We tasted the different Grey Goose flavors, all made from the best ingredients from France. Melon de Provence, lemon from Menton, Pears from Anjou, cherries from the Basque country. The only exception is the vodka flavored with oranges from Florida as they are the best in the world.

How to taste vodka

As a tip, to taste a vodka, always order a dry martini. Indeed, to taste the quality of a vodka, it is best to taste it at room temperature, between 0 and 4 degrees. Most people put their vodka in the deep freezer so that it does not taste too strong. But a good vodka, like the Grey Goose vodka is sweet and fresh even at room temperature.

 We also tasted the Ducasse vodka created in collaboration with Paul Ducasse made out of toasted wheat and the NX Vodka made out of cognac.

Grey Goose Vodka Food pairing

As I wrote, it is really important for François Thilbault to have the best ingredients to create the Grey Goose vodka. Therefore it also makes sense to drink the Grey Goose Vodka with the best products.

If you are interested in foodpairing, do not miss the Grey Goose Atelier of Taste events!

Caviar and Vodka

One of the classics, is to drink Vodka with Caviar. We tasted the Caviar de Gensac, a local caviar producing company that grows its esturgeons in the same water that Grey Goose uses to produce its vodka.

Grey Goose recipes

Finally, the best chefs and bartenders from France, Italy and Germany worked on the concept of foodpairing, a method for identifying which foods go well together. It is based on “the principle that foods combine well with one another when they share key flavor components” and created a variation drink of the Grey Goose Le Grand Fizz cocktail and a food recipe based on a taste profile.

For the profile taste “bitter”, The French team composed of Sébastien Misseri as a chef and Frantz Heitz as a bartender created :

Le Grand Fizz Amer made out of :
2 cl Grey Goose
1.5 cl Martini bitter
1 cl Luxardo maraschino original
3 cl Cranberry juice
6/8 cl Perrier
1 dash Angostura bitters

The drink was served together with a canapé made of a potato Shotgun, surprise Raspberry, strips of scallops marinated in vanilla, coconut cream and zest of lime.

For the profile taste “salty”, the Italian team composed of Luigi Taglienti as a chef and Luca Angeli as a bartender created :

the Salted Goose
4,5 cl Grey Goose
2.0 cl St Germain
2.5 cl Pink Grapefruit
a spray of Sea Water
a slice of Cucumber
Black Pepper

The drink was served together with a Lemon and Marjoram Financier, a classical pastry embellished with lemon pulp, Parmigiano Reggiano, marjoram and Grey Goose

And finally, for the profile taste “sour”, the German team composed by Sebastian Frank chef and owner of the Michelin restaurant Horvath in Berlin and Nouri Elmoussaoui bartender at Schumann in Munich created

Petites Gorgées made of :
30 ml Grey Goose
20 ml Verjus
20 ml Roséwine
15 ml St-Germain
Pop Rocks
Ascorbic acid

The drink was served together with oysters and ham-caramel canapé made out of chopped oysters with mint-aubergine and smoked-vinegar onion in ham-caramel stock garnished with radish blossoms and salt-celery

I dare you to recreate those creations at home!!

Bisous
Amandine

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