Côtes de Provence

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

A Grand Vin

How can it possibly be February and I’m just now writing about the wine we enjoyed for Christmas? Today’s winery is a favorite of Susan & Towny, and it’s easy to see why when you taste their products. We paired this Grande Garde Rouge with a very simple Braised Pork Ragoût, which had been cooking all afternoon, tempting our taste buds every time we turned the corner. We could hardly wait to pop the cork on this wine and get to the table. You can get the recipe, as always, on... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

C’est Si Bon!

«C’est si bon!» — French for, “It’s so good!” — is the perfect saying for this homophonous vineyard, Clos Cibonne. The wines they produce are quite wonderful, and today I was tempted by their cuvée, Tentations. (See what I did there?) I was looking for a rosé to pair with my Sweet Potato and Scallop Napoleons, and this particular wine seemed promising. You can get the recipe for the Napoleons on... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

The Blue Oak

I picked up a bottle of Chêne Bleu Aliot recently. I have known about the experience of Chêne Bleu Winery — the wine, the food, the hospitality — for a long time but have never had the opportunity to take part. At least until now. While I am not sitting beneath their eponymous blue oak, I can happily imagine it. I called Towny, my culinary copain, to ask his thoughts on a pairing for this wine. The two of us went right to... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

A Winemaker and Her Recipes

I enjoy pairing a winemaker’s wines with their own recipes; obviously, they know what works. I’ve done pairings like this several times on the Province WineZine — I think of Sue Tipton’s Pork Chops Gratinées paired with her Belle Blanc, and Régine Sumeire’s Parfait of Sweetbreads that I paired with her Rosé, La Source Gabriel. And, speaking of Madame Sumière, I’m back to share her recipe for Osso Buco with you paired with her Rouge Cuvée Classique. You can find the recipe on... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Judging a Book by its Cover

Speaking with the young and very knowledgeable woman in the wine department of a boutique grocery here in Tucson, I inquired about Rolle wines, as Rolle (a.k.a. Vermentino) has become very popular. She had one Vermentino from Corsica (which I will discuss in a future post) and a rosé that included Rolle. She warned me, “The wine is really good but don’t let the bottle design turn you off.” Okay, I thought, while I do love a good label, I don’t think I have ever been turned away from a wine because of its label... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Rose | Rosé, The Sequel

Here I am again pairing rosé with rose flavors, even though there is no correlation. Today’s preparation could not be more different from my Chicken Ispahan back in February. While the rose flavor in that dish was front and center, it is incredibly subtle in today’s recipe and I highly recommend that you give it a go. It is Cailles aux Roses... [...]

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

Springing into Spring!

As we turn our thoughts to spring, there are foods and wines that come to mind immediately. On the food side of things, my mind turns to spring vegetables: asparagus, peas, fava beans. For wine, I find it time to leave the wintry red wines for a while and focus on the crisp, bright, floral whites. That isn’t to say I don’t enjoy a red with a... [...]

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Rhapsody en Bleu

Five months ago, I wrote about a rosé bottled in green glass, and how that was — and still is — unusual for a rosé. Today’s wine, to take this one step further, is bottled in blue glass. The colored glass provides an ultraviolet filter to preserve the wine’s quality as long as possible. I’m glad for this blue glass, as the wine is quite... [...]
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