La Vie en Rouge

The iconic wine-red facade in Mortagne-au-Perche has found a lively new shop owner to it take over in Lou Samaha (a former chef de partie at D’une île), who, ever true to the wine village spirit, has stocked both the window display and her wooden shelves with the very best that France’s various terroirs have to offer. Her collection of 200 labels spans French regions from Alsace in the northeast to the Roussillon in the south, not to mention jaunts through the Loire valley, featuring everything from: Amassa, an Hérault cinsault-grenache blend produced by the Domaine Ribiera (€5 a glass); Renard, an Anjou red blend from Sylvain Martinez (€23); Pipieou, a Provence skin-contact wine from the Domaine de La Réaltière (€25)… And even a few international finds, including, most notably, an Austrian Graf Sauvignon by Maria and Sepp Muster (€68). In house, you can also enjoy market plates (€9-30), like hand-cut veal tartare with tonnato sauce and caper leaves in the summer, beef bourguignon when a cold wind starts to blow, or perhaps anchovies from Cantabria and sardines to devour to your heart’s content. Would you rather drink in the comfort of your own home? All of her bottles can be taken to go (for €8 less than the displayed price), as can the briny canned goods, Iberian charcuterie, tarallini crackers from Puglia and Corsican nougat. // Marie Delcampo