Provencal Pairings: Wine with Food

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Strange Bedfellows

Today’s pairing is one I approached with some trepidation. I was confident that the wine was going to be good (okay, excellent), and I knew the recipe well enough to be happy with it. But together? I just wasn’t sure. I certainly didn’t expect a full-on tug-of-war, but I had no idea it was going to turn out be one of my favorite pairings in recent... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Pink Wine of the Earth

Pink wine of the earth. That is what Randall Grahm calls his rosé. Its official name is Vin Gris de Cigare.  The reference to “cigare,” a French term for flying saucer, is a nod to the 1954 law in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation which outlawed flying saucers from flying over the vineyards. Vin Gris typically refers to a very, very light rosé wine that results from next-to no maceration time (compared to the traditional rosé methods).

Seven grapes come “to the table” to create this wine; together, they make a unique and delicious rosé. But I am getting ahead of myself… [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

When White Is Pink

I was in a local, high-end wine store recently, looking (as I am wont to do) for Provence wines. That day, I was specifically looking for a red wine, though my expectations were low as Provence wines — other than rosé — are not generally stocked here in Tucson. The store manager confirmed that he had nothing red, but he had a really highly-rated Provence white for a great price ($21.00!). I took him at his word, without really looking at the bottle, and bought two. Now, I wish I had ... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Gruntled with Grenache

Pleased. Satisfied. Contented. Those are quotidian words describing one of my favorite not-so-quotidian words: gruntled. And I was fully gruntled with this 2017 Grenache from Kitá Winery in Lompoc, California. Sadly, I am disgruntled to have learned recently that this winery is closing.

They are the makers of the one and only Sauvignon Blanc that I have actually liked. No, not liked — loved! Their Chardonnay is truly excellent. I think Kitá vintner Tara Gomez is brilliant, as are her wines. And this Grenache is no exception. The good news is that I was able to find quite a few bottles of this wine still available... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

He Said, She Said

There are two sides to every story, and today’s wine-and-food pairing is no different. Except that it is very different. As I begin the eighth year of writing this column, this month is the first time in which the vintner, the editor for Provence WineZine, and I have all been in the same room for the tasting and pairing. And let it be... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Sharing is Caring

After a long year and a half, our good friends and neighbors Ursula and Bob returned to the neighborhood from their other home is in upstate New York, in the Catskill Mountains. It’s really nice to have them back.

To celebrate their return, we had them over to dinner and wanted to share a... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

1958: It Was a Very Good Year

It’s not often that I’m able to consider bottles from a “big box” wine store for this column. With the exception of a few quality rosés I have gotten (and written about) from such stores, their selection of rosé wines is generally geared towards the Carries and Mirandas. Pretty bottles/labels, intense pink colors, low price points, high sugar content, and a devil-may-care... [...]
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