Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

A Grand Vin

Winery: Mas de Cadenet
Cuvée: Grande Garde
Appellation: Côtes de Provence Sainte-Victoire
Type: Red
Vintage: 2022
Grape Varieties: 60% Syrah, 40% Grenache
Alcohol: 14%
Average Retail Price: France €30

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 Cocoa & Lavender.

This is another wine that Susan & Towny brought back from their trip to Provence in November. It was really fun having several wines to taste and enjoy with them over the course of a week. The 2022 Grande Garde Rouge is from Mas de Cadenet, an organic winery at the base of Mont Sainte-Victoire near Aix-en-Provence. As it happens, this wine has the distinction of being one of the very first Grands Vins made in Provence.

Poured into the glass, it is a lovely ruby red. The four of us had fun tasting, and we did manage to find consensus for what we were sensing on the nose and palate. On the nose, we had forest floor, licorice/anise, plum, and cinnamon. On the palate, it was very smooth, with a wonderful mouthfeel. We tasted notes of plum, blackberry, black cherry, and anise. There was a touch of cinnamon on the long and pleasant finish.

It was a fantastic pairing with the ragoût, almost as if they were made for one another. Unfortunately, or fortunately as it may be, you will need to take a trip to Provence to find yourself a bottle of this wine. To me, that sounds like a fantastic burden and a fun adventure for 2026.