Cocoa and Lavender

February 28, 2025 5

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... [...]

October 4, 2024 5

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
In the Mood

Lust und Laune translates to Desire and Mood. Isn’t that perfect for a rosé? A desire for a refreshing sip of something pink… A laid back summer mood…

When Susan and Towny tasted today’s wine with us during a zoom dinner last week, they sat by the fireside and were definitely desiring anything resembling summer. We, however, in Arizona were coping with temperatures that continue to hover at 106°F/41°C. Oof. The mood here was not good. But the rosé was so refreshing that we forgot that the mercury was skyrocketing… [...]

September 7, 2024 4

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Feeling Guilty

Today’s wine is outstanding. It is nothing that I expected and yet everything I wanted. And I feel a little bit guilty because it’s a truly fine wine and I served it with a cod cake. Yes, a cod cake. But do trust me that it’s not a “lowly” cod cake; it’s a really wonderful cod cake. In fact, I called them Oh My Cod [Cakes]. You can get the recipe on... [...]

July 5, 2024 6

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... [...]

April 5, 2024 1

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
When the Understudy Shines

I bought a Vacqueyras several years ago to write about for this column; it was a young vintage that I put aside allowing it to mature. Then, one evening, friends came to dinner (and wouldn’t leave), and more wine needed to be... [...]

March 3, 2023 1

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Upgraded Again

Very rarely in life do you come across a Côtes du Rhône Villages so incredible that it might as well be a Gigondas. Today’s wine is exactly this. A nice upgrade.
It is big and bold, rich and intense, and it paired perfectly with my recipe for Steak with Hatch Chile Cream and Tomato-Corn Salsa. There is some spice... [...]

Photo of Clos Beylesse and pairing with scallops recipe

September 3, 2022 3

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... [...]

August 6, 2022 1

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Le Pique-Nique

Picnic, anyone? Now is the time and, even if your temperatures don’t support being outdoors these days, today’s wine and food pairing is perfect for an indoor picnic. Just spread a blanket on the floor, put on a YouTube of forest sounds for background (hold the mosquitoes), add an oscillating fan for a light breeze, and you are... [...]

January 1, 2022 3

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
He Said, She Said

There are two sides to every story, and today’s wine-and-food pairing is no different. Except that it is very different. As I begin the eighth year of writing this column, this month is the first time in which the vintner, the editor for Provence WineZine, and I have all been in the same room for the tasting and pairing. And let it be... [...]

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