Wine

October 3, 2025 5

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
A Prize in Paraza

If you are going west on the Canal du Midi heading to Castelnaudary for some cassoulet (isn’teverybody?), make sure you stop along the way for a sip of wine at Château de Paraza. They off a variety of reds, whites, and rosés, and (from what I read online) the reviews are quite good. I would second those reviews for their 2024 Cuvée Spéciale rosé. [...]

September 5, 2025 5

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Putting the X in Excellent

Today’s wine, Mirabeau X Rosé (Maison Mirabeau), is an excellent wine, and 2022 a wonderful vintage. It was a serendipitous purchase at our natural grocer — not a store that carries a lot of rosé. Knowing that Mirabeau makes wonderful wines, I was sure I was in for a treat.

I paired it with my Grilled Halibut with Piquillo Pepper-Almond Sauce. Check out the recipe on Cocoa & Lavender . This sauce, while Spanish in inspiration, is very much Provençal in... [...]

August 1, 2025 5

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... [...]

July 4, 2025 8

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Allons Enfants!

While I am one day late for the 4th of July, we have a whole week to prepare for the Fête de la Bastille, which makes much more sense when writing about French wines, n’est-ce pas? Allons enfants! Let’s celebrate!

For the recipe this month, I combined a modern American recipe for “beer can chicken” with some very nice French ingredients, also making it a perfect Bastille Day meal. Please check out my recipe for Champagne Roast Chicken on Cocoa & Lavender. I paired it with a Famille Perrin... [...]

June 6, 2025 5

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Seeking Simplicity

I make a lot of complicated food; I enjoy the challenge. However, every once in a while, I need to kick back and make something simple. And that is just what I did this week — seared Elk Medallions with Sautéed Mushrooms. Admittedly, I complicated it a bit by adding a red wine sauce. Did I have a choice? In the words of Nathan Lane... [...]

May 3, 2025 5

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... [...]

April 4, 2025 8

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Never Have I Ever

I did something new and different this month. I actually followed someone else’s recipe to the “T.” Crazy, right? It is Pork Belly, Radicchio & Hazelnuts from Polpo by Russell Norman. You can find the recipe on Cocoa & Lavender. I could tell just from looking at the recipe that the dish would be fantastic, so I went out seeking a nice red wine that would pair well with this simple yet flavor-filled and unctuous... [...]

February 28, 2025 7

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
The Weight of Wine

For something new and different, Susan and I tasted this month’s wine together online from across the country (check out our tasting video HERE), and then I made a plan for the menu. It was a really fun way to do this and we hope to do it more in the future.

The menu ended up being for a recipe I have been working on for a while, and I think I finally got it right for this pairing. (See more below.) Lamb Steaks with Olive Sauce... [...]

February 1, 2025 5

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food A Well-Traveled Tavel

Today’s pairing was a bit tricky. At first glance, my Duck Teriyaki recipe looks like an easy shot. Many rosés pair perfectly with Asian cuisine and that is what I thought, too. But when you examine the teriyaki glaze I created, you will see three different Asian wines in the mix (sake, mirin, and xiaoxing) and, to me, that tends to wreak havoc on a wine... [...]

January 4, 2025 5

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
A Decade of Wining and Dining

Today is the celebration of 10 years of monthly wine and food pairings I have written for the Provence WineZine. I do hope you have enjoyed this journey and I invite you to reach out if you have any requests for future posts.

When I created these pairings over the past decade, I did my best to give you choices that worked. I used my knowledge of wine to create a meal that would pair well. [...]

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