Provencal Pairings: Wine with Food

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

How Could I Forget?

Dining chez Susan and Towny is, well, an incredible treat. Not only due to the exquisite food, mind you, but because of the wine. Whatever I make, they have the perfect wine to pair. And this month’s selection is truly exceptional.

I made something for them which I can make in my sleep. In fact, until I made it for them, I hadn’t even written it down as... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Rose | Rosé

It isn’t often that I have the opportunity to share a very special wine of this ilk. And when that does happen, it needs an incredibly special dish to pair with it. The bottle was a magnum of Château Léoube Singulier and it is, indeed, a singular wine. Susan and I decided this would be a good Valentine’s post, so I created a new dish: Chicken Ispahan, based on a famous Pierre Hermé pastry of the same name. Flavors — perfect for your Valentine — include rose, raspberry, and lychee. You can get the recipe on Cocoa & Lavender... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

White and Red, Daube and Wine

I’ve had a couple of firsts recently — the Swiss Fondue last month (see Savoie Faire) and now my first Daube. I knew daubes were generally made with red wine, but Susan introduced me to Patricia Wells’ recipe for a White Daube. Wells suggests that making it with a white Châteauneuf-du-Pape is traditional, but I find that a bit extravagant. Happily, she offered the suggestion to use “any drinkable white without too much oak.” That worked much better for me. However, when pairing with the daube, I did serve both a white and red Châteauneuf-du-Pape and thoroughly enjoyed both. For my version of Wells’ recipe, visit Cocoa & Lavender. For more about the two wines, read on.

If someone were to ask me what my favorite wine is, I would have to say it’s a Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc. While I could not bring myself to make the daube with this wine, I knew I had to try pairing it with this wine. I chose an E. Guigal 2019 vintage, and it was at its prime for drinking. The color of golden straw, it has aromas of candied melon and marshmallow, and a complex palate that offers apple compote, orange-fleshed melon, apricot, dried mango, jasmine, and a touch of pineapple with a nice long, citrusy finish. It paired beautifully with the white daube, highlighting the rich beef, vegetable, and mushroom broth... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Club Med

One thing I love about wines from Provence is that they tend to pair very well with many Mediterranean foods. Like Spanish cuisine, for example. For today’s post, I paired a 2021 Bieler Père & Fils Bandol with an Arroz con Pollo, a cousin to Valencia’s paella. The recipe is one I watched Jacques Pépin cook on television more than 30 years ago… [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Lavender and Rosé

If anyone were to ask me to describe summer in Provence, the two things that come to mind first are lavender and rosé; I cannot imagine the area without either. But, in an unusual twist, today’s rosé comes from the Lodi Mokelumne River region of California — Acquiesce Winery’s 2022 Grenache Rosé. To accompany this wine, I created... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Take Two

In the film world, you often need at least two takes to get a scene right. It is similar with food and wine pairing. This is my second go at pairing my Fish Tacos with rosé.

Take One. The wine I chose for the pairing just didn’t work for my palate. There was no synergy between the wine and food, and the wine almost tasted sour.

Take Two. This wine worked much better and was quite good; the blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Cinsault played nicely off the spices in the tacos. I would love to try them with a Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre blend, too. The Fish Tacos are outstanding (he avers immodestly), and I hope you will try them; the recipe is on... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

I Turned Back Time

For today’s pairing, I turned back time (with a nod to Cher) to a recipe I that first tasted on Easter Island in 2019. It is a grain-forward dish that is complemented by a plethora of seasonal vegetables. I didn’t officially get a recipe from the hotel chef… just a list of ingredients. I put the rest together myself and recreated his... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Never Have I Ever

If any of you are familiar with Garagiste, you know that sometimes they offer mystery wine purchases. They give a general description, but no real idea of what the varietals are or where it’s from. If the price is right, I enjoy playing the mystery game. I think of it as my wine-centered version of "never have I ever."... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Perle Blanche

When planning our recent trip to Morocco, none of our small group (which included PWZ’s Susan and Towny) had any idea there would be a winery owned by a man from Châteauneuf-du-Pape. But there we were and there he was. Charles Mélia moved to the small village of Ounara — just 20 minutes east of the seaside town of Essaouira — in 1994, and started Domaine du Val d’Argan. 

Earlier in his life, he worked at his family’s vineyard, Château de la Font du Loup (in Châteauneuf-du-Pape) and, after exploring other wine growing areas (Argentina and New Zealand), he settled on Morocco. The climate was perfect for growing Rhône grapes such as Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Muscat, and Roussanne. Sadly, the... [...]
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