Book Review: La Vie en Rosé by Jamie Ivey

A Culinary Travelogue About an English Couple in France

Feb 5, 2009

Playing with the title of the classic French song, La Vie en Rosé carries the reader to a summer in Provence among picturesque locations, fine wines and foodie delights.

La Vie en Rosé chronicles the adventures and misadventures of Jamie Ivey, his wife Tanya and their friend Peter Tate – three Londoners fondly in love with France and its culinary delights – as they spend the summer trying to learn the tricks of the trade and grow from amateur wine lovers to confident sommelliers while running variously successful rosé wine festivals at several locations including fashionable spots like Aix-en-Provence, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Cannes, Saint-Tropez, Juan-les-Pins, Montpellier, and Nimes, or hidden gems such as Uzès, La Cadière, L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, and Lourmarin.

Dreaming of a Rosé Bar in the South of France

In the first volume of the saga, Extremely Pale Rosé, Jamie, Taya and Peter had recounted the quest for the palest rose wine in France which they had counducted the previous year following a chance conversation with a Provencal vigneron (grape grower).

After quitting their jobs and selling their London home over the winter months, the English couple and their friend go back to France and try to convert their passion for pink wine into a living by running a Rosé Festival in a variety of picturesque settings across France's Midi, Provence and the Cote d'Azur.

Not Just Pink Wine

If pink wine is the supreme hero of the book, food also plays a major role on the agenda of Jamie and his partners in business. Watch them visit a duck farm and source top quality foie gras to serve as an amuse bouche (snack) alongside a peculiarly sweet rosé, or experiment wth an intricate recipe for the traditional bouillabaisse (Provencal fish soup).

Among vivid tales of brocantes (antiques markets), games of petanque (the Provençal version of boules, or bowls), Irish bars, exclusive beach clubs and Medieval festivals, La Vie en Rosé is a must-read for any gourmet in love with the spirit and flavors of France's sunny south.

Resources for Culinary Travelers

The book also provides a few appendixes in which the author and his companions share not just the sources of their Rosé Carte des Vins (wine list) and the list of the bars – from beach clubs to village bars – which hosted their Rosé Festival, but also details about their favorite restaurants and hotels.

About the Author

Jamie Ivey is an ex corporate lawyer from London. Jamie and his wife Tanya, a former drama teacher, live with their daughter in a country house near the village of Lourmarin in the Luberon area of Provence in the South of France. La Vie en Rosé is Jamie Ivey's sequel to Extremely Pale Rosé, which won the 2006 Gourmand Award. Jamie's gourmet saga continues with Rosé en Marché.

Jamie Ivey's blog about living in the Luberon is part of the website of Blue Sky Living magazine.

Jamie Ivey's Books (in Chronological Order):

The copyright of the article Book Review: La Vie en Rosé by Jamie Ivey in European Culinary Travel is owned by Maddalena Delli. Permission to republish Book Review: La Vie en Rosé by Jamie Ivey in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.