“Having a bad Christmas market is worse than not having one”, admits, fatalist, Jean-Paul Paquet, at the head of area of the Cloître Wall , in Haute-Contz. This Christmas 2020 would however have marked its 17th year of presence in downtown Thionville. For 17 years he has been gratifying friends, colleagues, lovers of his incredible mulled white wine, made from the first white juices of his production, but also “acacia honey, real syrup of plum, lime and … that I won’t tell you, ”he laughs. “We took years to develop this recipe that we will not divulge like that! For him, the Christmas market in Thionville was also an opportunity to sell his production, boxes and gifts. Obviously, it’s a shortfall. “We would have lost all the festive spirit, with people seated. Frankly we gave up on it, hoping that we will have the time to catch up next year. “
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250 liters of drink per weekend
Sarah Leisen, of the Stromberg domain in Sierck-les-Bains , she also recognizes that the cancellation of the Christmas markets in Sierck and Thionville where she runs two chalets with her partner Thierry Caboz will impact her turnover. “To give you an idea, in Sierck, we sold 250 liters of mulled wine per weekend! To try to compensate, Sarah has diversified by offering this year gourmet baskets to town halls and businesses. “I told myself that the old-timers’ meals and the end-of-year celebrations in clubs would inevitably be canceled. So I sent emails to everyone. ”
His pride ? Include only local productions, such as Régalpote beer, Sierck honey, foie gras from Porten farm or sausage from Kieffer farm in Ritzing. And of course wines and eaux-de-vie from its production, from the mignonette to the large volume. “I’m going to be around 1,200 baskets,” she says. Above all, she decided to offer mulled wine to take away. “The wine is already in the vat, I took out 200 liters, which should make us around 180 bottles. All that remains is to add apples, oranges and lemon, star anise, cinnamon sticks and cloves and let everything macerate for 48 hours. The bottle will be sold in our boutique in Petite-Hettange, for around € 10. ”
At the Mur du Cloître estate , we had the same idea, “even if we are still thinking about the different modes of conditioning”, indicates Emmanuelle Paquet, the adorable daughter of her father, who promises to communicate very quickly on the subject. In short, Christmas is saved!
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