Cocoa&Lavender

July 1, 2022 6

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Strange Bedfellows

Today’s pairing is one I approached with some trepidation. I was confident that the wine was going to be good (okay, excellent), and I knew the recipe well enough to be happy with it. But together? I just wasn’t sure. I certainly didn’t expect a full-on tug-of-war, but I had no idea it was going to turn out be one of my favorite pairings in recent... [...]

September 7, 2019 7

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
At Home with the Provence WineZine

It all started with our trip to visit Susan and Towny in Portsmouth, NH, over the 4th of July. As you might imagine, food and wine are plentiful in their home, and this holiday week was no exception. Most meals were planned well in advance, the results of several... [...]

June 1, 2019 4

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Heeding the Signs

When I was trying to think what I should make to pair with today’s wine - an un-oaked Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc from Château des Fines Roches - I looked at a list of suggested foods and nothing felt right. Pork. Chicken. Seafood. Blah... [...]

October 7, 2017 10

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
You Say Rolle, and I Say Vermentino…

There is no need to call the whole thing off, because we are both right; Rolle and Vermentino grapes are one and the same. The Italians make Vermentino, while those of you in Provence sip Rolle. I truly wish I had a bottle of each side-by-side to test, because I feel they are quite different. Basically, all that folderol about terroir really isn't folderol at all. (Now THAT should be a Cole Porter lyric, even though my nod to “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” is an Ira and George [...]

December 3, 2016 10

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
An Old Friend I Had Never Met

I must tell you that I have never tasted a wine like this before, and yet there is something so familiar in every sip. It's akin to meeting someone for the first time, yet feeling in your heart that you have known her or him all your life. It's a sense of immediate warmth and comfort. That is how this wine made me feel. Having enjoyed many dessert wines, from the sublime (Château d'Yquem Sauternes) to the ridiculous (no one shall be excoriated here), this wine stands apart - my new-old friend. I truly love it! [...]

April 2, 2016 6

Provençal Pairings: Wine with Food
Something from the Riviera

I am fortunate to have good friends. Friends who travel. Friends who think about me when they travel. More to the point, friends who buy me wonderful culinary gifts when they travel. I've received mustards from Germany; Crème De Marrons from Angélina in Paris; a bar of chocolate from Guatemala [...]