> Have you tried these Lebanese wines?

It's no secret I am a wine lover and have been so for many years, ever since I met Salim. There are more than 250 wine labels in Lebanon, more than 60 wineries, young passionate winemakers who are changing the scene, terroirs as varied as our people, 10 million bottles produced and 5 million exported and many gold medals, every year! 
Watch this video to discover a few of them, and different ways to drink them, like for example the "Rosé en Piscine":

 

Wines mentioned in this vlog:
http://atibaiawine.com
http://www.domainedestourelles.com
http://www.domainedebaal.com
http://chateauqanafar.com

#FashionFriday: Meryl Streep in 'Out of Africa'

"I had a farm in Africa once..."
This is the sentence I remember as a child when i sneaked into my mother's room while she was watching this movie on VHS.

You know I'm always inspired by fashion & film, so today I wanted to talk to you about this epic one.

"Out of Africa" is a 1985 drama movie by Sydney Pollack, based on the novel by Danish author Karen Blixen.

It tells the story of a strong woman of the early 20th century, who takes on a plantation farm in Kenya. As her husband is more of a "wanderer",  she is the one to take care of everything despite all the obstacles, meeting Denys Hatton (Robert Redford) along the adventure. 

The great performance of this amazing duo is tripled by the performance of the movie wardrobe, designed by Milena Canonero.

She did a marvelous job with the costumes, which are of a timeless style, and are still wearable today!

In fact this film inspired lots of collections in the late eighties by Yves Saint Laurent, Ralph Lauren, Mugler and others...

I wish i could tell you more, but that would be Spoiler Alert :-)

So what are you waiting for ? Go rent it, or download it!

> Composing a picture gallery wall

 If you look around you these days, many homes, restaurants and fancy boutiques feature a beautiful wall of pictures in their deco. 

This vintage trend is not so difficult to recreate, and gives a personal and cozy touch to your home.

Here are a few ideas to inspire you...

You can keep it simple and sleek for a fancy symmetrical look, all frames are alike of course in this case:

Or draw an imaginary line in the middle of your wall and compose over and under, still fancy but a bit more dynamic. 

Frames are alike but of different sizes:

My absolute favorites are however eclectic & whimsical walls with all sorts of frames and objects:

If you like the whimsical option but are afraid to compose, here is a pattern for example:

Let your inspiration flow, and don’t be afraid as there is no wrong or right in this. It’s all about your own taste.

Look at this last fun example, beautiful ceramic plates scattered unevenly, giving a huge effect:

Simple yet with bold character!

You can check all those picture sources and much more ideas in a pinterest board I created especially for you right here. Enjoy, and start creating...

> Chateau Biac or a little Lebanese magic near St Emilion!

This summer we went on a family road trip through the French Vignobles... From Bourgogne (Burgundy) and its "climats" to Bordeaux, St Emilion, Langoiran, Bergerac, Monbazillac...
It was quite a trip! I even let the kids taste the different "terroirs"! Don't gasp, just a sip ;-)

But the highlight of our journey was definitely our magical visit to the Biac Vignobles!
Thanks to our oenologist friend Diana, we were delighted to meet Youmna Asseily, who is the sparkling lady, with her charming husband, who gave back Biac all its glory, and much more...

These are the different cépages at Biac, as as you can see they have a exceptional location on a small sunny hill over the Garonne! A unique Terroir indeed... And an enchanting land to live in.

Mrs Asseily was so kind to give us a full tour to show us the grapes, the new renovated "chai", the tasting room... And all these spaces have one thing in common: Passion! 

You cannot be so much involved in an estate ~some grapes are picked grain per grain!!~ without reflecting your religious adoration on the wines... Biac is truly a "GRAND VIN" de Bordeaux...

About the wines:

Chateau Biac, my preference, a modern Bordeaux Wine that ages gracefully...

B de Biac: from the same plots, but ready to be enjoyed directly, a good companion for relaxed encounters... 

For both these wines Mrs Asseily chose her family crest as label: Felix the Royal Cat.

Which brings us to Felix: The playful wine of the family, with Kufi type inspiration. Can be even chilled in summer...

And Secret: the sweet golden nectar Cadillac wine. This is the one collected grain per grain, on various days depending from each maturation. Truly the gold of the gods...

The tasting room has oriental accents, with pieces from Images d'Orient, Nathalie Fallaha, and other artists, and it is really the "bouquet final" after the crescendo of the visit..

It is not a surprise that a family coming from our piece of the planet took this estate and renovated it, we have a history with vineyards and grape culture that goes back to the Antiquité. Bacchus was originally Lebanese!! ;-)

To know more about Chateau Biac click here for their lovely website that truly depicts their magical spirit and history. And make sure to taste their wine: it is available in Lebanon.

Last but not least, a small "secret de Biac": the Asseilys have three guest houses that you can rent if you are a true wine lover. But schhhh.... keep it confidential.

BIFEX 2015 Conference & Pop Culture GALA dinner

I can't believe it's been three weeks we finished BIFEX, the yearly conference of LFA, Lebanese Franchise Association!
As usual, my job was to create this year's conference branding, all the animations that passed on the screen, as well as all the prints.

Concerning the closing Gala, the theme was the "Lebanese Pop & TV Culture" of the seventies.
Tonight I will be on #BalaToulSire - Future TV to talk about it, as Zaven is also very interested by this theme and is actually publishing a book about the subject!

Here are a few pictures; first the preparations of the giant TV screen:

The hundreds of TVs in the Deco...

The old soda bottles with carnations, the "in" flower at the time:

Having a laugh on the vintage TV set:

The Diffa Ladies, totally in the theme ;-)

Pierette Katrib, the perfect MC

Souad el Achi " As3ada allahou masakom..."


Allo hayété... Pierette and Mr Majzoub:

 8eme Art performing Allo Hayété:

George Khabbaz paying a tribute to all the late stars...

Zaven & Rima Karaki with the 7up bottles ;-)

Chou batariytak? Vintage ads played by 8eme Art..

Yanasseeb dour w seeb... The real Lebanese Lottery Wheels!


After that, the awards started, and then we fired up the dance floor, in good LFA tradition...

Huge thanks to Mr Makdessi for the TL archives, IAA for the advertising archives, Rita Moussalem & her team who found solutions to produce all my ideas. Sultan Touma, Omar Youssef and all the Screen-Lighting-Audio-Video-Photo team, 8e Art for a wonderful performance, Bassam Abou Zeid, Rita & Jean Aoun, Joe Alam who made BIFEX a trending hashtag on social media this year...

We were about 50 people striving to make this event a success and it was even more. Thank you all!

Little update! Here's the sequence with Zaven!

> Fresh & sunny, from the RJ archive

I bumped into these today ;-)
They were from the time I didn't have a blog, a twitter account, pinterest and the likes but I decided they were worth sharing. Photos by Roland Poux, styling by Bernard Martinez, art direction, design  & doodles by myself...