You know what I love about the natural wine world? Everyone in it is so nice and it's so small, it's easy to make connections. And there's a lot of French people.
I met Fabien at The Punchdown and talked with him further at Terroir and we immediately became friends. He comes from Basque country, which I am always a fan of and married to this great woman, Heidi and they live on my side of the bridge.
They came to visit me one hot, Sunday and we spent the evening talking of wine, mushrooms, Basque country and France. You know that feeling when you just click with people, when it is completely effortless and you share passions? Meeting these two was soul satisfying.
Just yesterday, was our first rain in months. I spent all day mapping out my mushroom foraging plan in my head when Fabien texts with mushroom and fall leaf emoji's. Enough said!
He said, "Let's do like back home in France, gather our friends and a nice bottle of wine and a picnic and go foraging together!"
France is, after all, where I learned the hunt. I had learned that all pharmacies in France had to let you bring in mushrooms for identification. So, I would harvest everything that looked interesting and go to the small village pharmacy and learn about each mushroom with my mediocre French. I then taught my first good Basque friend to forage in Alaska. So for me, mushrooms, basque and French are a feel good combo!
Now time for just a little more rain.....