Recently, a friend of mine and I came up with an idea to pair food and wine. I know, I know, we’re not revolutionizing anything, but in this case, we thought we’d make it a bit more interesting than usual.
My friend picked seven bottles of wine that I had never tried. He gave me all of the information about them: varietals, winemaker, region. And then I had to come up with a bite-sized dish to pair with each one.
It. Was. Awesome.
The first wine was a white wine from Cévennes (“Les Alisiers” from Domaine Sollier). It was a 60-40 blend of Viognier and Chardonnay, so I knew I wanted to do something that would stand up to the flavor of these two rounder white wine grapes but also have the brightness they needed.
My original plan was to make crab cannelés, but after the mixture stuck to my cannelé molds, I resorted to little crab beignets (which I baked in a muffin tin rather than cannelé molds). I piped tarama on top and served a salad of white cabbage, grapefruit, and chives on the side.
This was one of the pairings that was most well-received. Without the salad, the cakes themselves didn’t have the umph they needed to stand up to the wine, but with the salad (which even my citrus-hating husband enjoyed), this was one of the most successful pairings.
I may have been off to a good start right out of the gate, but pairing number two was a bit more of a miss. The wine was a Côte de Provence White (“La Manuelle” from Sainte Croix). With a 50-50 split of Rolle and Ugny, I was hoping for some caramelized, vegetal flavors, so my original plan was to roast whole baby artichokes and serve them with pesto, parmesan peelings, and balsamic reduction.
The first problem I encountered was the dearth of baby artichokes in Paris. I briefly considered subbing rounds of zucchini, but then I decided to go for jarred artichokes which, while I rinsed them, retained the lemony flavor of their brine and therefore weren’t quite what I was hoping they’d be. Add to this the fact that most of the Ugny I’ve ever had was Italian, which would have stood up better to the stronger flavors in the pesto, and this was a miss.
For wine number three, we enjoyed a Languedoc rosé (“Minuit” from Domaine de la Cendrillon). This is a rosé type I know very well, with a combination of Mourvèdre, Grenache, and Cinsault grapes, so I thought this pairing would be a no-brainer. I went for a rich grilled cheese made with mozzarella, goat cheese, and anchovy paste.
Unfortunately, this one didn’t tempt everyone. They liked the dish and the wine, but thought the cheese would have actually paired better with wine #2. I started to get nervous that my first pairing would be the only winner of the night.
Luckily, I was mistaken, as pairing #4 was the winner in everyone’s books. (It’s also unfortunately the moment we went inside, and the photos began losing in quality).
For wine #4, we enjoyed a Burgundy from Domaine Bart. I wanted to do something a bit surprising (and, quite frankly, attempt to deviate from French food), so I went with a barbecue pork belly. I took strips of pork belly and seasoned them with paprika and garlic, then roasted them in a low oven until they rendered their fat. I basted them in homemade barbecue sauce and served them at room temperature. They were an incredible hit, particularly with the cherry notes in the pinot noir.
(I heaved an enormous sigh of relief).
Wine #5 was a varietal I had never tried before: pineau d’aunis. This Côteaux du Vendomois wine from Patrice Colin demanded something rich in flavor, and I decided to bring out the natural cherry flavors in the wine by pairing duck confit with butter-poached cherries and a touch of grape must mustard, which I first discovered at Martin. I assembled the ingredients in puff pastry shells, which may have been my least favorite part of the dish – it was just too much dough. But by and large, this one went over quite well.
Image redacted.
I can’t. I know these pictures aren’t great, but the photo of the mini-sliders I made to accompany wine #6, a delicious Languedoc blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Cabernet Sauvignon, are just too terrible. Just believe me when I say that the rich flavor of beef, Comté, and caramelized onions spiced with ginger were the perfect match for the “Les Creisses” we enjoyed. If only I could have found slider buns, I wouldn’t have had to resort to squares of too-chewy baguette, which kind of took away from the experience.
Wine #7 was a super intriguing fermented red, with a natural sweetness reminiscent of port. Naturally, I decided to bite off way more than I should and pair it with two dishes.
First, I served some of Laurent Dubois’ excellent Roquefort with fresh figs and grainy muesli bread. The piquant of the cheese went wonderfully with the tannat from Chateau Laffitte Teston.
Unsurprisingly, the wine gained completely different nuances with these dark chocolate fondant cakes, which even the non-chocoholics among us enjoyed.
I loved this challenge – I hope to do it again!