Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Days of Wine (and Bread) and Roses

Winery: Château Vignelaure
Cuvée: Château Vignelaure Rouge
Appellation: Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence
Type: Red
Vintage: 2016
Grape Varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon (60%), Syrah (40%)
Alcohol: 14%
Average Retail Price: U.S. $27.00-$36.00

September was very temperate in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We had been visiting friends in Massachusetts and then stopped up north to see Susan and Towny. We were greeted by their beautiful roses, climbing up their porch, in their lush back garden. What a scene for our arrival!

Within the next few days, we would be sharing a meal or two, and it goes without saying that there would be wine. The meal that I chose to make for this pairing is one of Judy Rogers’ recipes from the Zuni Café Cookbook. It’s one of those simple recipes that seems much more complicated than it is. You can get my version of the recipe on Cocoa & Lavender.

The Château Vignelaure rouge from 2016 is a beautiful wine — deep garnet red when poured  into the glass. The nose is resinous and redolent of black cherry.

The wine is a full-flavored and medium-to-full bodied, which complemented the chicken salad dish beautifully. On the palate, dark fruit took center stage with flavors of black cherry, tart, red cherry, and licorice. With the chicken, the blackberries remain, but a certain darkness took over that we all felt tasted like prunes.

The wine has very pleasant tannins and a long, luxurious finish. While we paired this with the chicken and bread salad, it would easily go beautifully with steak on the grill or a long-simmered daube.

If it’s a fantastic wine, I am grateful to Susan and Towny for choosing it. It’s always nice to play with other people’s nice toys!