One recent evening I found myself staring into my pantry trying to figure out what to make for dinner. We’d been gone for a couple of weeks, so things were a little bare. However, I had a cold bottle of Saint Roch Vieilles Vignes and Côtes de Roussillon Blanc that needed a pairing.
A random packet of shrimp ramen kept staring at me. Yeah, ramen –– like the type you kept around in college. Not even to be put remotely in the same class as ramen from a proper ramen shop, I can’t recall the last time I’d had one of these little blocks of noodles. Nonetheless, it seemed to be saying, “Don’t underestimate me! ” I’d tasted the wine and thought it would be a solid match for Asian flavors, as long as they weren’t too sweet or too spicy.
‘Alright then ramen, let’s have some fun.’
All the same, I thought we could do better than just pouring boiling water on the noodles, so I scrounged around for bits and pieces to create something a little more interesting. The results, which we’ll come back to in a moment, were not half bad.
ROUSSILLON SNAPSHOT
The wine that was in search of a pairing is a white wine from the Roussillon region of France. This isn’t the first time we’ve stopped in Roussillon on this blog – I invite you to take a look at this post for a more in-depth look at the region, but here are some points to recap and summarize:
Roussillon is located in southwestern France and it’s a part of the larger region of Occitanie. It was formerly part of the combined region of Languedoc-Roussillon, and you’ll most often still find sections of wine stores by that name. However, these two were combined with Midi-Pyrénées in 2016 to create the new administrative region of Occitanie. That’s all definitely a little confusing, just know it’s still a pretty recent change.
It definitely has its own personality. Despite long being combined with other regions, this area is pretty distinctive. For one thing, since it is right up against the border with Spain, it’s heavily influenced by its culture, particularly that of Catalonia, as well as that of France. This can be seen in the language, the food, and even the grape varieties grown.
Mountains, ocean, and rivers, oh my. Roussillon is pretty small, but it has an extremely varied landscape. The overall area is shaped like an amphitheater that opens to the Mediterranean Sea to the East and is surrounded by three groups of mountains, or massifs: the Corbières to the North, the Pyrenees with the Mont Canigou to the West and the Albères to the South. There are also three major rivers: the Agly, the Têt and the Tech. All of this creates a lot of distinctive terroirs.
Sustainability. Roussillon has the highest percentage of organic and biodynamic vineyards in France by acreage. Those ideal growing conditions makes working in these ways that much easier.
Bask in the fabulous Meditteranean climate of France’s sunniest region! It’s sunny and hot, with around 320 sunshine days per year, but the ocean and strong winds help keep things from getting too extreme and the vines disease free. The area also typically gets enough rain in late fall and winter to provide the grapes with enough water during the hot summers. It’s pretty ideal for growing grapes.
It’s pretty tiny. The region represents 2% of the national production in volume.
Red, white, rosé, dessert –– all the types of wine are here. They produce stills wines, but for most of the last century that were best known for their dessert wines. They still produce at least 80% of France's Vins Doux Naturels (Fortified Sweet Wines). These account for about 20% of the production in the region, with dry, still wines continuing to grow in importance.
25 different grape varieties are grown in the region. Combine that with the varied terroirs and styles of production, and you get a really diverse range of wines despite the region’s small size.
Côtes du Roussillon, the AOP/AOC of today’s wine, spans over 118 communes in the Eastern Pyrenees (the western part of region is basically to mountainous for grape vines) and covers 12 000 acres. Wines under this category are always a blend of at least 2 grapes. Grapes grown are as follows.
Rosé and red wines: Black Carignan, Black Grenache, Lladoner Pelut, Cinsault, Syrah, Mourvèdre. Macabeu and grey Grenache (for rosés only).
White wines: white and grey Grenache, Macabeu, Tourbat or Malvoisie du Roussillon, Roussanne, Marsanne, Vermentino.
THE WINE
Today’s wine is the Saint Roch Vieilles Vignes and Côtes de Roussillon Blanc 2017, an estate run by Jean-Marc and Eliane Lafage. The Lefage’s also own Domaine Lafage, where they farm 160 hectares of vines located just south of Perpignan, the capital of French Catalonia. With Spain so close, Jean-Marc also consults on several projects on the other side of the border.
Jean-Marc decided to buyChateau Saint Roch with his father in mind. Jean-Marc comes from a family of seven generations of winemakers, and the first five generations had always lived in Maury. His father, in particular, loved this region and always wanted to live in a farmhouse in the middle of the vineyards (as opposed to in town) of Maury. Jean-Marc as well grew up, worked his first vineyard, and made his first wine there. Clearly, there was a lot of sentimentalities attached to this village, so, when an opportunity presented itself to buy the Chateau Saint Roch property, he jumped on it.
Both of the Lafage properties are family-run with lots of different, experimental cuvées. On the Domaine Lafage site, Jean-Marc describes the dynamic: “My focus is on the vineyards, and Eliane is queen of the cellar, but we decide on the blends together.” He later adds, “My mother and father are still actively involved in greeting our customers, and in running the cellar door, and while Eliane and I take the most important decisions, it is really important to emphasize that we have a fantastic team who work with us, rooted in the culture of the Roussillon, and are devoted our success. Our children Léa and Nicolas, even though they are still very young, have already started to show some interest in the life of the property.”
Maury has historically been known for its Vins Doux Naturels, but this is a still, dry wine made predominantly of Grenache Blanc, along with some Roussanne. On the nose, a fruit bowl of aromas drew me in with notes of white peach, apricots, pears, green melon, grapefruit, and flowers. On the palate, the rounder fruit notes like white peach, tangerine, and ripe lemons hit up front. Then things moved into more puckery citrus notes like lime and grapefruit, along with a few sprigs of herbs, finally moving into a lightly minerally finish. It’s medium-bodied, starting off round and finishing quite crisp, and has medium acidity that remains bright.
It’s really a very sunshiny wine that would be perfect for sipping outside on sunny days, but it also seemed like it would be very food-friendly, fitting many different scenarios at the table.
THE PAIRING
We already know this particular bottle was destined for an off-beat ramen pairing. Rather than make a standard ramen soup though, I decided to make a stir-fry. I had shrimp in the freezer, and since we had “shrimp-flavored” ramen, they were the first item I grabbed to add to the mix. I also gathered up bacon, carrots I turned into zoodles, peas, corn, spinach. Soba noodle soup base combined with the shrimp flavor packet created the flavoring. Some fried eggs and Togarashitopped things off.
It was just a big, crazy mix of bits and pieces. This combination (other than the number of vegetables) might seem like high/drunk people food, but you know, it was super tasty. The wine made a refreshing complement to the food, going down super easy!
I might have to start stocking ramen packets more regularly.
The winery recommends this wine to enjoy during relaxing moments with your friends, as an aperitif, or with fish, shellfish, and white meats. Sushi is particularly recommended and I can absolutely see that working.
Blend: Grenache Blanc 80%, Roussanne 20% Average Age of Vines: 50 years Farming:Practicing organic, dry farmed, hand-harvested Soil: Clay limestone, gravel Altitude: 200 meters Winemaking: Fermented in tank. Cold skin maceration. Fermentation at 16 °. Aging: 5 months in concrete, with a small percentage aged in French oak demi-muids
MONEY TALK
I bought this for $17.99 on Wine.com and I say have at it! I’d say that’s a very Solid Value, and the fact everything is done by hand and the land is farmed conscientiously just about pushes this into Overachiever territory. (Also, find it elsewhere on Wine Searcher.)
This is really a non-recipe, so take this more as guidelines. Specific quantities are not needed. It’s all to your taste and feel free to add or take away items as desired.
Ingredients:
A packet of shrimp ramen
Bacon
Spiralized carrots
Peas
Corn
Soba soup base (This has bonito in the mix, which I thought worked nicely with the shrimp flavors, but you can also substitute in soy sauce.)
Peanut oil or toasted sesame oil
Shrimp
Spinach
Eggs
Togarashi or sriracha, for serving
Instructions:
Boil water. Pour over the ramen noodles to soak until just reconstituted – about 2 minutes. Drain and aside.
Cook bacon in a large pan until browned on both sides. Remove the bacon and set aside.
Add the ramen noodles and the spiralized carrots to the pan with the bacon fat and toss to coat. Add the peas, corn, soba soup base, and a light drizzle of the peanut oil. Toss all to combine, then add the shrimp and the spinach and continue cooking until the shrimp is opaque and cooked through and the spinach is wilted.
Meanwhile, fry eggs in a separate pan.
Tear up the bacon into small pieces and toss in with the noodles.
Serve noodles in bowls, topped with fried eggs, with Togarashi chili powder or sriracha sauce on the side for a kick.
The rest of the French Winophiles Blogging Group is exploring the wines of Roussillon. If you see this post early enough, feel free to join our Twitter chat on Saturday, July 18th. You can follow us using the hashtag #Winophiles at 8 am PDT, 11 am EDT. Lynn from Savor the Harvest is hosting this month,check out her preview post here.
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There is a lot to be anxious about. The world is a little overwhelming at present with so much work to be done across so many spectrums. I’ve been trying to fill the quieter moments in between with as much softness, light, care, and coziness as possible. On my downtime, I have to admit that I’ve been looking for comfort just about everywhere these days – in food, in wine, in books and movies, and in memories. I decided to bring a bunch of different things that bring me comfort together in today’s post – a bottle full of memories from a wonderful trip paired with a fun read and a meal inspired by it.
Once upon a time in the “Before Times,” when there was no COVID to keep us from traveling, Greg and I took an amazing road trip through central and northern Italy. I’ve slowly been sharing our trip here, and today I’m adding another piece with a stop at Frescobaldi’s CastelGiocondo in Montalcino.
Montalcino was actually the very first stop on our road trip after we recovered from our jetlag for a couple of days in Rome. It is off the charts charming. Montalcino is a walled, hilltop town with a castle fortress in the Val d’Orcia. Everything about that sounds like a fairy tale! Once you arrive in the town, spectacular views of the countryside spread out around you that will take your breath away.
I’ve always seen all those paintings of Tuscan landscapes and towns that are so ubiquitous that they almost seem cliché and thought they must all be exaggerating a little. Nope. It turns out that they’re not exaggerating one bit. Walking in around in Montalcino you fully feel that you’re walking around in a watercolor painting because you pretty much are. I went on to have similar sensations in many places we went to, but this was the first spot that hit me in this particular way.
It also feels like you’re in a completely different moment in time since pretty much everything around you was built centuries ago. Here is a brief history of the town from Traveling in Tuscany:
The quiet Tuscan village of Montalcino has undergone few changes since medieval times, when it was a stronghold pertaining to the nearby city of Siena. Montalcino was once a strategic point along the road to Rome and offers a panoramic view of the beautiful Asso, Orcia and Ombrone valleys. . . . The history of Montalcino dates back to the Etruscan and Roman periods, and its name was formed from the Latin ‘mons ilcinus’ (holm-oak mountain). Though independent for a time in the 12th century, the town later became subject to Sienese rule. During the 14th century, the city’s fortress was built to better defend the southernmost border of the Sienese Republic. However, four years after Florence defeated Siena (in 1555), Montalcino landed within the jurisdiction of the Granducato di Toscana of Cosimo dei Medici.
The pairing I created for today’s wine was inspired by a novel that brought me right back to this walled city and it amazing wines. Before we get there though, let’s take a look at those wines.
BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO
The area has had some economic ups and downs over time, but its fortunes certainly rose thanks to the fame of its premiere wine – Brunello di Montalcino.
Tuscany’s star grape is Sangiovese and there is no exception here. Sangiovese is an ancient grape with many clones and biotypes and the versions particular to Montalcino helped to make it famous. The story goes that Ferruccio Biondi-Santi isolated superior clones of Sangiovese Grosso particular to the area. He first bottled a wine from this clone(s) in 1865 and gave it the distinctive name Brunello, which translates roughly to “little dark one."
Note: Sangiovese’s story is confusing and evolving as more genetic research is conducted. According to the Oxford Companionthere are six to eight different clones of Brunello and I’ve seen more cited elsewhere.
What’s interesting though is that for a very long time the region wasn’t known for its red wines. Even after Biondi-Santi first bottled his Brunello, the area was mostly known for making sweet and sparkling wines from the Moscadello grape. Brunello production didn’t really start to take off until the 1960’s and 70’s. Then it’s reputation and production kicked into high gear. By 1980 it had made a big enough name for itself to be named one of Italy’s first DOCG’s, along with Barolo in Piedmont.
Brunello must be made from 100 percent Sangiovese and aged for at least four years, with a minimum of two years in wood, and four months in bottle prior to release. Riserva wines get an extra year in bottle for a total of five, and six months in bottle prior to release. Even with all that aging prior to release, Brunello wines can age for a very long time and might take quite a few years before they hit their peak.
THE WINE
Today’s wine is the Marchesi de Frescobaldi CastelgiocondoBrunello di Montalcino DOCG 2013. As this is a long post, I’m going to save sharing a longer description of the winery and details about our trip there for another post. For now, I’ll say that the winery is one of several wineries owned by Frescobaldi. The family has been involved in wine in Tuscany for over 700 years. We spent a really delightful afternoon there and had an amazing visit during which we learned a lot about the land and terroir. I had some hesitation about opening this bottle now as it was still a little young for a Brunello. Nonetheless, we decided to go ahead and just made sure to give it a lot of air. Better too early than too late after all! (At the same time, "too late" for this wine won’t be for a long time.)
On the day we opened this bottle, we picked up notes of licorice, violet, black cherry, and prunes on the nose. All of these notes came back on the palate and were joined by notes of dried blackberries, pine forest, and cigar box.
This is an opulent wine that’s full-bodied, with medium + to high acidity, and dense but fine tannins.
THE PAIRING
Sometime last year, writer Andrew Cotto found me on Twitter and offered to send me an e-copy of his novel Cucina Tipica: An Italian Adventure. Book nerd that I am, I happily accepted. (Note: all opinions are my own and no other compensation was received.)
It’s a fun romp through Tuscany in which the main character, Jacoby Pines, heads to Italy after being fired from his PR job in New York. He ends up unraveling a family mystery and finds a new life in the process. It’s exactly the type of wish-fulfillment caper that makes for the type of escapist read that is so appealing at the moment. I mean, who doesn’t want to suddenly find themselves with a delightful new life in Tuscany?! I read it last summer, but have recently found my thoughts drifting to this fantasy.
Food and wine are major features of the story’s backdrop, which certainly helped draw me in. At one point, Jacoby takes himself on a little excursion to Montalcino and winds up falling in love with a Brunello he drinks at the enoteca inside the fortress:
From a handsome man about his age, Jacoby ordered a plate of Pecorino in three varieties and a goblet of 2007 Brunello from a producer called Il Poggione. He sipped and swirled the marvelous wine, deep yet floral, complex yet accessible, taking little bites of cheese, some soft and studded with tiny black truffles or unadorned but dripped with local honey; some aged and dappled in syrupy vinegar. When it was over, Jacoby felt a thread of sadness which he hoped to dash through the purchase of a case of the very wine he’d just drank. (Ch. 30)
While we didn’t have a glass in the castle’s enoteca on our visit, we did stroll around inside and had many meals and glasses at restaurants nearby. One of our very favorite meals of the trip was at Drogheria Franci which is across the street from the castle, and we also had a delicious dinner at Re di Macchia which is a short walk away.
Moreover, our room at the B&B we stayed at, Il Barlanzone Affittacamere, overlooked the castle, so I had a very vivid picture in my mind as Jacoby had his glass and strolled around the streets of Montalcino.
He goes on to buy a case of the wine and later shares it with his new friend, father figure, and fellow expat Bill as he is preparing a boar for a local sagra, a big town festival. When I read the book, I thought it would be fun to try to recreate a version of Bill’s dish to pair with a Brunello. Now seemed like a great time to give this experiment a shot!
In the book, Bill’s boar is slow-cooked and served with creamy polenta. On the one hand, this type of dish seems very autumnal to me – not typically what I find myself cooking at this time of year. On the other hand, it’s also a super comforting dish, and that certainly seems in order at the moment. I decided to search through the book for clues on Bill’s process:
After the gallons of brine were ladled over the meat in their containers, Bill and Jacoby carried them together, very carefully, to a walk-in storage area off the kitchen. The room was not refrigerated but dark and cool enough to keep the meat fresh, especially under liquid swimming with aromatics and seasoned with dissolved salt and sugar. The next day, they would have to be removed, the meat rinsed of the brine, dried and returned to the cleaned containers to be covered with a marinade for the last 24-hours before the sagra. (Ch 35)
The boar, or cinghiale, is then cooked low and slow. A little later there’s a further description of the finished dish:
On baking sheets, under foil cover, the meat glistened with moisture. Jacoby tried to fork some out but the meat broke on the tines. He grabbed a metal serving spoon and scooped up some meat and its flavorful broth colored by tomato and spiked by seasonings, including whole black peppercorns. He covered the polenta with the concoction and then walked slowly to the dining salon, where he placed the plate on a table. (Ch 40)
So we know that a brine with salt and sugar is used, followed by a marinade with aromatics, and that broth has tomatoes, black pepper, and additional seasonings. I also wrote down and made use of juniper berries, but for the life of me can’t find it now in the book. Still, I do think they evoke the cypress trees you see all over Tuscany, so I think they fit even if I potentially imagined reading that they were included.
Most of this was easy enough to incorporate, even though I made a few changes for home cooking. Given that I’m not likely to go kill my own boar (Jacoby provides the boar in the book after an unforeseen altercation), I always figured I’d use pork instead. I don’t typically make use of both brine and a marinade at the same time, but went ahead and gave it a shot. I used a dry brine instead of a wet one because it’s much easier to do, takes up a lot less room, and is a lot less messy. The next day, I used wine and some aromatics for the marinade and let the pork soak in it for a couple of hours before cooking. The marinade then did double duty and became part of the cooking liquid.
I prepared the polenta according to Marcella Hazan’s method, although I decided to add pork fat stolen from my braise instead of butter, and I swirled in a little cream at the end.
The results were fantastic! And the pairing with the CastelGiocondo Brunello was phenomenal. The wine matched the weight of the dish, but all the acidity cut through the fattiness of the pork in a refreshing way. The savory and herbs and spices in food complemented the wine and vice versa. Pepper notes in the wine emerged with the food, as did note of sundried tomato. Light hints of juniper in the sauce elevated floral and pine notes in the wine. I gave a happy sigh at the pairing, while Greg’s exclaimed “Oh Mama!”
OTHER POSSIBILITIES
I love Brunello, but let’s face it, it is pricey and definitely not an everyday wine, at least not around here. Luckily, there are lots of good alternatives to be found. You can easily opt for a Rosso di Montalcino, which is also made from Sangiovese and from the same area. These wines are usually made from younger vines and require much less aging than Brunello. They tend to be fresher in style, are ready to drink much earlier, and are a lot less pricey. They’re definitely a great alternative for everyday consumption!
Fuller and more structured versions of Sangiovese from elsewhere in Tuscany, like Vino Nobile de Montepulciano or Chianti Classico, and the rest of Italy should work as well. In fact, the recipe I created for thisRicasoli Chianti Classico is also a slow-cooked pork dish with some variations, and either wine should work nicely with either preparation.
If you love Piedmontese wines, Barbera and Nebbiolo based wines like Barolo would make great options as well. Actually, polenta would be much more typical of the northern part of the country where these wines are from.
The winery recommends “beef stews, braised meats, and aged cheeses” with this wine. In general, because this is a big wine with lots of flavors, it tends to work well richer dishes.
Vineyard Location: CastelGiocondo Estate, Montalcino. Well-drained soils, and southwest facing exposure.
Blend: 100% Sangiovese
Winemaking Details: 30 days maceration on the skins. Malolactic fermentation immediately done after the alcoholic fermentation.
Maturation: Completed in Slavonian oak casks and French oak barrels.
Vintage Report: The 2013 growing season saw regular rainfall throughout spring and early summer, which helped the grapevines develop perfectly. The second half of the summer was quite warm, but without the type of heat spikes that could have compromised the grape’s ripening. The ripening of the berries benefited from alternating warm days and cool nights, producing ripe grapes rich in phenolic substances – e.g. anthocyanins and tannins – whilst preserving their delicate aromas.
Alcohol by volume: 14. 5%
MONEY TALK
Brunello’s price tag will almost always be in the Baller Wine realm. The aging requirements alone make making this wine pricey. Growing grapes of sufficient quality to withstand that aging also isn’t easy or inexpensive. Not every bottle is great of course, so if you’re going to buy a bottle it’s a question of making sure it’s a good one. We really enjoyed this one.
We bought this wine at the winery, but I don’t know for how much. The average pricefor this wine across all vintages is $57, although I believe the release price was around $79. Sadly, I do not see many US retailers listed. If you can find a bottle for $57, I actually think that’s a really good price for this wine.
PRO TIPS
Definitely decant this wine. Our bottle was still a bit young for Brunello and needed the time to open up. I opened it several hours before we drank it and was very glad we did! If you’re opening an older Brunello, it is just as important to decant as it will tend to have a lot of sediment. Be gentle with the bottle as you handle it, and stop pouring as soon as you see sediment appear in the shoulder of the bottle. It helps to keep a light on this spot to help you see as you pour. Candles are traditionally used by somms in this ritual, but your phone’s flashlight will work very well too, and is probably better since you will likely already have it with you!
Prep Time: 2 H & 10 MCooking Time: 4 H & 15 MTotal Time: 6 H & 25 M, plus brining time
Ingredients:
4 to 5 lbs pork butt or pork shoulder
Brine mixture as needed to coat the pork well (I use a purchased brine mix, but you can also make an easy version with equal portions of salt and sugar. I eyeball the quantity, but about ⅓ to ½ cup total should do it.)
6 to 8 dried juniper berries
1 Tbsp whole peppercorns
1 cup red wine
2 to 3 sprigs of thyme
2 to 3 sprigs of sage
(Feel free to experiment with other herbs such as oregano or rosemary in place of the thyme or sage as well.)
2 bay leaves
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
1.5 cup stock, plus more as needed (use what you have – chicken, pork, or beef will work although each will change the flavor a bit. On this occasion, I used homemade chicken stock.)
1 onion, diced
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes (certainly feel free to substitute in fresh diced tomatoes as well)
2 to 3 carrots, diced
1 rib celery, finely diced
2 Tbsp Wondra flour
Salt
Pepper
Instructions:
(Optional) Dry brine the pork the night before you plan to cook it. Sprinkle brine mixture liberally over the pork and rub into the meat. Sprinkle the juniper berries and peppercorns in with the meat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, scrape off the excess salt, pour out any juices that have collected, and pat the pork dry. Place the pork in a 3.5-quart Dutch oven. (Pans and pots of other sizes will work as well, but may require different amounts of liquid.) Add the wine, onions, thyme, sage, garlic, bay leaves, a couple of juniper berries (these can be retained from the brine), and ground pepper into the pot with the pork. Place in the fridge to marinate for a couple of hours.
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Remove the pork from the fridge about 30 minutes to an hour before you intend to cook it.
Add the stock, tomato paste, tomatoes, carrots, and celery into the pot with the pork and wine. Place the Dutch oven in the oven and cook covered for 2 hours, basting halfway through.
Mix together 2 tablespoons Wondra flour with ¼ cup water, and mix as per package instructions. Uncover the Dutch oven and feel free to taste the sauce adjust the salt and other seasonings at this point. Mix in the Wondra flour slurry, then return to the pork to the oven and continue to cook for another 2 hours, or until the pork can easily be pulled apart with a fork. Make sure to baste halfway through, and if at any point the liquid gets too low, add a little extra wine, stock, or water.
Once the pork is super tender, remove the Dutch oven from the oven. A good amount of fat has likely collected on top of the liquid – skim the excess of the top with a spoon or ladle. (Feel free to reserve this for other cooking needs.) Remove the woody sprigs of thyme, bay leaves, and juniper berries. Check the sauce for taste and texture. Adjust the salt and seasonings as needed. If you’d like a looser sauce, feel free to add in a little extra liquid, or if you prefer it to be thicker, continue to cook in the oven or on the stove-top over low to medium-low heat. You can also transfer the pork to a plate to shred, and allow the sauce to simmer and reduce to desired consistency in the meantime. Return the pork to the pot and coat with the sauce when ready to serve.
Serve shredded pieces of pork on top of polenta, pasta, or beans with the sauce spooned on top.
Notes:
Dry bringing adds 8 to 24 hours to the prep time.
Did you make this recipe?
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