Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food

Springing into Spring!

Winery: Château Sainte Roseline
Cuvée: Cru Classé
Appellation: Côtes de Provence
Type: White
Vintage: 2021
Grape Varieties: 100% Rolle (Vermentino)
Alcohol: 13%
Average Retail Price: France €21

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 steak in the summer, or a rosé in the dead of winter. But there is something about the feeling of rebirth in the spring that just begs for a white wine like the Château Sainte Roseline Cru Classé.

For this wine, I created a very special spring menu (spring is coming, right?): Seared and Roasted Salmon with Morel, Asparagus, and Pea Ragoût. It is a really delightful combination of spring flavors, and — as we get closer to the equinox — all the ingredients should be fairly easy to source. (The one difficult one might be the fresh morels — but you can always use dried morels and rehydrate them.) Please visit my blog, Cocoa & Lavender, for the recipe.

The color of the wine is a very pale straw color, but it’s paleness is no sign of what is to come. The nose is floral with hints of candied orange peel. On the palate I tasted peach, pear, clementine, rose, honeysuckle, and a bit of oak. It has a very round mouthfeel and it is medium-bodied with good minerality. The finish is delightful with orange peel and rosemary.

It was a perfect pairing for the salmon, vegetables, and morels — each bit in perfect harmony with the flavors and textures of the wine. The little bit of cream in the vegetables really played well with the oak.

The wine is truly lovely, and a great way to start your spring pairings. In addition to this salmon, I suggest any fish and most seafood, roasted chicken, spring lamb dishes (navarin), and chèvre and other young cheeses.