Wine And Food Pairing Tips From The Minervois

Overview Video—

Domaine de la Senche wines paired with Dutch/French fusion cuisine

This month's Winemaker's Dinner held at L'Atelier Restaurant in Caunes-Minervois featured five wines from Norwegian winemakers Arnstein and Tove Hernes, owners of Domaine de la Senche, based in La Liviniere in the Minervois. They presented their wines paired with five dishes prepared by Petra and Marcel Van Balen of L'Atelier.

The Norwegian couple have lived in the region for seven years, after having resided in Paris and Cognac.

You can either choose to select dishes, then choose wines to pair with them, or choose wines and then create your menu. In the case of a winemaker's dinner, the wines lead, and food follows.

Because wines may take three years to make, and dinner dishes may take three hours to cook, Marcel and Petra created specifically tailored dishes based on the selection of wines. For example, L'Or de la Senche white wine has a buttery roundness but also a crisp herbaceous edge, given by the Vermentino grape. To match this edge, the chefs added a pastis sauce to the cod—adding a hit of licorice that resonated with the Vermentino.

Did it matter? Hugely. One person at the dinner told me they were not interested in a particular wine, until they ate it with a dish.

Remember, high acidity wines are generally food friendly, while tannic wines pair best when food includes notable fat and protein. Wines should be as sweet, or sweeter, than dessert.

Pairings typically are either contrasting (such as the first dish below—risotto and rosé—where acidity cuts across creaminess) or complementary (such as the third dish below—shredded duck and old vine red wine—where weights/intensities, fruit on fruit and savory on spice match).

Menu—

[All L'Atelier dishes paired with Domaine de la Senche wines.]

Queues de Crevettes Risotto ou Safrane [Shrimp/prawn tails risotto with saffron]

• Paired with Midi Rosé. Syrah and Cinsault. 2025.

Dos de Cabillaud Courgette avec Sauce au Pastis [Cod fillet with zucchini and pastis sauce]

• Paired with L'Or de La Senche Blanc. Barrel aged 70/30 Grenache Blanc/Vermentino. 2025.

Effiloché de Confit de Canard avec Sauce à L'Orange [Shredded duck confit with orange sauce]

• Paired with Vielles Vignes. 70/20/10 old vine Carignan/Grenache/Syrah. 2022.

Filet de Boeuf avec Sauce aux Morilles [Beef fillet (tenderloin) with morel mushroom sauce]

• Paired with Cuvée Somi. Barrel aged 80/15/5 Syrah/Carignan/Grenache. 2021. [In the old Occitan language of southern France, 'somi' means 'dreams.']

Soufflé de Vieux Amsterdam [Cheese soufflé with Vieux Amsterdam—an aged Dutch Gouda cheese)

• Paired with Hibou. 85/15 Syrah/Grenache. 2024.

"Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars - Season 2" by Apple TV

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I have been provided advanced screenings of this series from Apple TV for "Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars - Season 2". Episode 6 will be publicly released on October 23rd and features two restaurants in Stockholm, Sweden. I'll include a review, and a preview video this coming Friday in a Vino Voices Special Edition release. Tune in!

Wine of the Week

The Flying Solo range of wines is produced by Domaine Gayda (located about a half hour drive southwest of Carcassonne). This 60/40 Grenache/Syrah blend with 13.5% alcohol is supple and quenching, with blackberry and blackcurrant flavors. This easy drinking wine sells for a reasonable price. The name celebrates the French Aéropostale pilots who transported mail in the 1920's.

Free Recipe from The Winemakers' Cooking Companion Cookbook

My cookbook titled The Winemakers' Cooking Companion was compiled over a ten year period. It includes 108 recipes from 18 countries—contributed by winemakers, winery chefs and winery owners. The book launch dinner took place on September 16th in my village in southern France, as described above. Fifty diners joined. There will also be an event at the Green Cat art gallery in December.

Recipe—

Below is a free recipe from my cookbook for a scrumptious recipe from a stellar winemaker family in South Africa.

More Free Chapters From The Book Vino Voices: Wine, Work, Travel, Life

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Below are final chapters from the book. Next week I'll share the concluding chapter, and in future editions of Vino Voices I'll include pdfs of past Forbes articles I've written that relate to food, wine and travel—beginning with a winery road trip in Tuscany in a Fiat 500 car.

Click below to download the final book chapters—33 and 34, about a winemaker working against the odds (and weather) in Ireland, and about a flying winemakers in New Zealand comparing winemaking to classical music.

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