Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
It’s a Family Affair
by David Scott Allen
Winery: Domaine Font-Freye /Château La Tour de l’Évêque
Cuvée: La Source Gabriel
Appellation: Côtes de Provence
Type: Rosé
Vintage: 2014
Grape Varieties: Grenache (50%), Cinsault (30%), Syrah (20%)
Alcohol: 13.5%
Average Retail Price: U.S. $16.00, FR €12.50
It isn’t often – at least, I don’t think it is – that I get to taste a premier vintage from a vineyard. But that is exactly what I did this week. It’s a new wine from a debut vineyard, yet created by a family that is a leading producer of some of Provence’s best rosés. It is a joint effort by Château la Tour de l’Évêque (Régine Sumeire) and Domaine Font-Freye (Régine’s nephew, Roger Blanc Sumeire). La Source Gabriel was named, aptly, for Régine’s grandfather/Roger’s great grandfather, founder of Château la Tour de l’Évêque, and “la source” refers to the spring on Font-Freye, formerly property of Chateau la Tour de l’Évêque, that the senior Gabriel ingeniously linked to Chateau la Tour de l’Évêque.
Wine making is in this family’s blood; you may even remember my review of Château La Tour Sainte Anne (which is an earlier name for Chateau la Tour de l’Évêque). While I might have been apprehensive about a first generation wine from any other new producer, I was actually very excited to try this rosé. All fingers pointed to excellence.
For a pairing, I chose a recipe from Régine’s cookbook (in English) entitled Wine Grower and Food Lover, Régine Sumeire… 50 Family Recipes. I thought it would be fun to pair one of her family’s wines with one of her recipes. The first recipe that spoke to me was the Parfait of Sweetbreads, a recipe she received from a friend in Québec. I love sweetbreads, and a parfait? Wow! Please check out my updated version of the recipe on Cocoa & Lavender. The flavors in this recipe are simple: sweetbreads, port wine, onion, butter, and a splash of lemon. The end result is very delicate and extremely rich – almost a flavored butter.
We opened the wine, and found the nose to be lightly floral. The first sip was of ripe peaches, honeysuckle, and azalea. Yes, azalea. Not your standard wine-tasting descriptor, right? When I was young, we used to pull the stamens of azaleas through the blossom and out the bottom end to get a small drop of nectar. That is one of the flavors I tasted. After sampling the parfait, our next sip of wine shifted the peach to apricot and the floral notes to honey. The mouth feel was soft and round, and the finish was really quite lovely. “Complexity in simplicity” makes no sense, but that is how we felt sipping La Source Gabriel. We all loved it. If you can find it (New Yorkers can get it at Sherry-Lehmann), do yourself a favor and grab several bottles.
Other pairings include grilled meats and fowl, fish and seafood, and cheeses.
Sounds absolutely lovely. And you are right, azalea, that’s something. Isn’t this an interesting illustration about how each person experiences a wine uniquely? If you hadn’t had that intimate interaction with the azaleas, that scent wouldn’t have been familiar to you…and would have likely been missed. Such a poetic moment.
Thanks, Jill – I hope you find an azalea this summer so you can try this!
David,
I absolutely adore sweetbreads, though we have never prepared them at home. Now I will nudge my better half Bénédicte toward having a go at your tantalizing recipe.
Jerry – I am so glad you are a fan. They are so good, and I have rarely had a bad version! Our new favorite is a Argentinean version – grilled with chimichurri sauce. Amazing! I hope you and Bénédicte enjoy this as an apéritif someday soon.
Chimichurri unknown sauce to me. From what I see on google it can include cumin or cilantro, which are no-no’s for Ben’s palate. But I will get her to whip up one without either of those two. For my part, I love spicy.
Jerry – happily for you, my chimichurri has no cilantro in it. In fact, most Argentinean recipes do not. Here it is:
Green Chimichurri
1 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
½ cup fresh mint leaves
½ cup fresh oregano leaves
½ cup light olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 roasted shallots (can be done in the microwave)
sea salt, to taste
Using a mortar and pestle, combine all the ingredients and work into a smooth paste. This can also be made in a food processor.
Hi David. Surrounded by azalea growing up, I never knew they could be sipped like honeysuckle. When I taste this wine, will search for the Je ne sais quoi and voila, that will be your azalea!
Pam – you will have to try it this spring! A lovely nectar!