I think I’ve made my appreciation of France’s Loire Valley known. It produces an incredibly diverse array of food-friendly wines, many at very reasonable prices. This region, with its plethora of romantic chateaux (I sooooooo want to visit), is also a treasure trove for wine drinkers interested in sustainable, organic, biodynamic, and natural wines. About 30% of Loire Valley vineyards today are farmed sustainably or organically, with the numbers increasing each year. Moreover, many of the country’s most celebrated and earliest adopters of these practices come from the banks of the Loire River.

Map borrowed from WineFolly.com.

Today we’re opening a bottle from one of those celebrated OG’s of organics/biodynamics – Domaine Huet. This domaine has been a standard-bearer for Vouvray, and by extension Chenin Blanc, for a very long time. They make wines in the spanning Chenin’s full range – sparkling, dry, semi-dry, and dessert styles. I’ve never had a bottle from Huet that wasn’t freak’n delicious!

The domaine was founded in 1928 after Victor Huët, formerly a Parisian bistro owner returned from World War II with shattered nerves and lungs. He resettled in Vouvray and purchased the first of the domaine’s famed vineyards, Le Haut-Lieu. Victor’s son Gaston worked with his father from the very start and built up the winery’s reputation for quality over the next 55 years.He eventually brought on his son-in-law, Noël Pinguet, and 1979 by chef de culture, Jean-Bernard Berthomé. As Gaston got older he decided he needed a partner and ultimately brought on New Yorker Anthony Hwang. Today the domaine is owned and operated by his children, brother-sister duo, Sarah & Hugo Hwang, who have worked hard to preserve the legacy by maintaining key members of the team.

The vineyards at Domaine Huet have always been worked without chemicals, but in the late 1980s Gaston Huët, Pinguet, and Bertholmé heard grape grower François Bouchet extolling the benefits of biodynamics at a conference, and decided to try it out for themselves. They put the principles into practice in 1988, by 1990 all of their vineyards were being farmed biodynamically, and they received their Demeter certification in 1993.

Sarah Hwang described the domaine’s history with biodynamics in a 2019 article for SevenFiftyDaily:

“Never in the history of the estate have we used chemical fertilizers or pesticides . . . After the Second World War, there was a harmony that was lost,” says Hwang. “Biodynamics offered the possibility of reconnecting with nature. For us, the philosophy is really about balance.”

Map borrowed from WineFolly.com.

THE WINE AND PAIRING

Name: Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin with Citrus Gastrique and Roasted Carrots with Kale and Blue Cheese
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h 10 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 1 pork tenderloin; ⅛ tsp white pepper; ⅛ tsp ginger; ⅛ tsp onion powder; 2 to 4 sprigs of thyme; lemon and/or grapefruit zest, a generous pinch, optional; Salt, as needed; Olive oil; 1 bunch of medium carrots, about 8, sliced into approximately ½” pieces; 2 to 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, or as needed; 1 tsp Dijon mustard; 1 shallot, finely minced; 2 to 3 sprigs of thyme; 2 cups chopped kale; ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese, or to taste; Olive oil; Salt; Pepper; ½ cup of sugar; 2 Tbsp of water, or as needed; Juice of 1 lemon, reserve the zest for use on the pork and as garnish; Juice of ½ a grapefruit (about ½ a cup), reserve the zest for use on the pork and as garnish, optional; 1 or 2 sprigs of thyme; Pinch of salt

For this post, I decided to open a rather special bottle of Domaine Huet that has been in “my cellar” for quite a while – the Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux Première Trie 2006.

Chenin’s high acidity makes it a good candidate for aging in general, and when made by a winery of the caliber of Domain Huet’s, it’s very likely that you have a bottle that can be easily laid down for a very long time. Sugar is another preservative, and moelleux is among the sweetest styles of Vouvray. (If you see the term liquoreux, that’s the sweetest style, but this is up there.) All together this 2006 was alive and kick’n – no sweat. In fact, we accidentally left the bottle out overnight after opening it, not realizing there was a little wine left in the bottle – the wine was still totally fine when I tried it the next morning.

Moelleux styles are also typically botrytized wines and showed the honeyed character and complexity that goes with noble rot. (Check out this post for a more in-depth description of botrytis.) Because noble rot affects grapes unevenly, growers working with botrytized grapes will often collect them in various “tries” or passes through the vineyards. Première Tries, therefore, means “first selection” and essentially indicates that the wine is made from the best grapes of the vintage.

Huet has three principal vineyards – Le Haut-Lieu, Le Mont, and Clos du Bourg. All three are located on Vouvray’s “Première Côte” (or “first slope”), home to the majority of the region’s best vineyards – basically, the Grand Cru of the area. Today’s bottle comes from Clos du Bourg, an ancient, walled vineyard. Gaston Huet believed it to be the greatest of all Vouvray vineyards as it has the Première Côte’s shallowest, stoniest soils. The wines tend to balance intense minerality and generous texture.

On the day we opened this bottle, I picked up notes of candied grapefruit, tangerine, ginger, and honeysuckle on the nose. The wine was very layered on the palate. The tangerine and honeyed grapefruit notes were joined by bruised golden apples and dried tropical fruits. This is definitely a sweet wine, but the sweetness is balanced by a pleasant hint of bitterness like grapefruit pith was mixed in, as well as earthy notes of straw and stones, and even a touch of chamomile. Greg compared it to pink grapefruit lemonade sweetened with honey.

Although this is a dessert wine, I thought I’d try to create an entrée to pair with it. I immediately thoughts of duck a l’orange. The tiny hint of bitterness I picked in the wine also made me think of gastrique, which blends sugar and a sour element like citrus juice or vinegar. That’s the idea I ran with and chose a mixture of grapefruit and lemon juice to create a version of this sweet-and-sour sauce.

The sauce topped simply prepared sous vide pork tenderloin. I really think sous vide cooking is ideal for preparing pork tenderloin since it makes this otherwise easy-to-overcook cut pretty foolproof. To complete the dish, I roasted some sliced carrots which were glazed in a bit of the gastrique and tossed with wilted kale and a little blue cheese.

It was a very good match as the flavors in the wine and the dish mirrored each other nicely. The blue cheese made for a great salty contrast. In fact, I liked how those two worked so well that I cut a couple of additional slices of cheese for us to enjoy with the wine after dinner. The wine also wasn’t half bad with dark salted chocolate with almond, complementing the chocolate the way it might work with candied oranges.

GEEKY DETAILS

The current average price on this wine is $99. The release price is usually in the $60-$70 range.

Alcohol: 12.5%

If Vouvray is new to you, I invite you to check out this post where you’ll find a cheat sheet on the background and details of the region. Here's an infographic from WineFolly.com that shares the basics on Vouvray.

I couldn’t a find tech sheet describing the winemaking for this wine (neither for current nor past vintages) but you can find additional information on the winery and its wines the Rare Wine Co. and Polaner Selections.

One more quick note, Domaine Huet has always held back a good percentage of wines, so it’s not uncommon to find library vintages out in the world. They’re a good bet if you’re interested in older vintages since both the house and the grape are known for their ageability.

OTHER POSSIBILITIES

As I mentioned above, I think this would be fantastic with duck à l'orange, as well as with Peking Duck, and other sweeter Asian dishes.

It’d also be perfect with strong cheeses and fruit desserts, particularly those featuring peaches, apples, pears, or candied citrus. I’m conjuring up images of apple strudel.

For a dessert pairing, consider this Cinnamon Apple Crème Brûlée. I think you could easily swap the wines and pairings in these two posts.

LoireValleyWine.com recommends sweet styles of Vouvray “as an aperitif, or with desserts featuring apples, pears, nougat or almond paste; blue cheese such as Fourme d’Ambert, Roquefort and Bleu d’Auvergne.”

*****

sous vide, pork tenderloin, gastrique, sweet-and-sour

dinner

French

Servings: 4

By: Nicole Ruiz Hudson

Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin with Citrus Gastrique and Roasted Carrots with Kale and Blue Cheese

Prep Time: 10 MinCooking Time: 1 H & 10 MTotal Time: 1 H & 20 M

Ingredients

For the pork:

1 pork tenderloin
⅛ tsp white pepper
⅛ tsp ginger
⅛ tsp onion powder
2 to 4 sprigs of thyme
lemon and/or grapefruit zest, a generous pinch, optional
Salt, as needed
Olive oil

For the carrots and kale:

1 bunch of medium carrots, about 8, sliced into approximately ½” pieces
2 to 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, or as needed
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 shallot, finely minced
2 to 3 sprigs of thyme
2 cups chopped kale
¼ cup crumbled blue cheese, or to taste
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

For the gastrique:

½ cup of sugar
2 Tbsp of water, or as needed
Juice of 1 lemon, reserve the zest for use on the pork and as garnish
Juice of ½ a grapefruit (about ½ a cup), reserve the zest for use on the pork and as garnish, optional
1 or 2 sprigs of thyme
Pinch of salt

Instructions

Set up sous vide immersion circulator and preheat water to desired final cooking temperature–In this case, I set it to 129°F for medium-rare. (Searing the pork at the final stage brought it closer to the medium by the end.)
Preheat the oven to 375°F
Prepare the Pork. Place the pork tenderloin in a heavy-duty, food-grade zipper bag. Season with the white pepper, ginger, onion powder, and salt, as well as a pinch of citrus zest if using. Drizzle with a little olive oil and add in the sprigs of thyme. Seal the bag using a vacuum sealer or via the water displacement method. Cook for 1 hour. (Note: To use the water displacement method, zip up the majority of the bag leaving just an inch or open at the end. Lower the bag into the water–as you do so, the water on the outside of the bag will push out the remaining air in the bag. Once the bag is lowered the majority of the way into the water, zip up the remainder of the bag.)
Prepare the carrots. Place the sliced carrots in a medium roasting pan – the pan just needs to be big enough to be able to arrange the carrot slices in roughly a single layer. Toss with the a generous pour of olive oil (about 2 tablespoons), apple cider vinegar, the Dijon mustard, the shallots, and generous pinches of salt and pepper. Add the sprigs of thyme. (You can pick the thyme leaves, but I find they tend separate from the sprig on their own while roasting.)
Roast the carrots in the oven and roast for about one hour total, stirring after 25 to 30 minutes. I’d recommend checking on them after 45 to 50 minutes to gauge their doneness. They’re ready when a knife or fork inserted into them slides in with little resistance, but you can let them go longer if you prefer them softer and/or more caramelization.
Make the gastrique while the pork and carrots are cooking. Stir together the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium to medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture turns deep caramel to amber (about 6 to 8 minutes), gently swirling or stirring occasionally to make sure the sugar is fully incorporated. (Don’t stray too far away, once the color begins to turn, it darkens quickly.) Reduce the heat, and mix in the citrus juices to the caramel – be careful and stand back just in case the mixture spits and splatters. Add the thyme sprigs and a pinch of salt, and allow the mixture to continue to reduce for a few minutes until it reaches a syrupy consistency. If the mixture becomes too thick, add a little more water or juice to loosen it up again. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Once the carrots have cooked to the desired level, pour just enough gastrique on top to lightly glaze them once tossed, then set the rest aside again and keep warm. Toss the kale on top and place it all back in the oven for a couple of more minutes while the kale wilts. Toss and taste, and keep warm until ready to serve.
Finish the pork. Remove the pork tenderloin from the bag and pat dry with paper towels. Heat a small amount of olive oil (or cooking oil of your choice) in a large pan over high heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the pork and sear until golden brown on all sides. Transfer the pork to a cutting board. Brush the tenderloin with a little gastrique and slice.
Toss the carrots and kale with blue cheese crumbles just before serving. Serve the pork sliced on a bed of the vegetables, with a little gastrique spooned on top or on the plate, and the rest of the gastrique on the side. Garnish with extra citrus zest if desired.

https://www.sommstable.com/2021/04/domaine-huet-vouvray-clos-du-bourg-and-pork-loin.html

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Posts related to the Loire:

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This month, join the French Winophiles hosted by Gwedolyn of Wine Predator, as we explore organic Loire:

Susannah Gold brings “Vouvray – A Wine In Many Styles” to Avinare.
Jane Niemeyer suggests “Tasting and Pairing Loire Valley Wines” on Always Ravenous
Linda Whipple shares “Organic Muscadet and must-have oysters” at My Full Wine Glass
Terri Steffes invites you to “A Tasty Dance: Red Beans and Rice with Les Parcelles Mark Dupas Sauvignon Blanc” on Our Good Life
Andrea Lemieux offers “Pascal Jolivet & Sancerre the Way Nature Intended” on The Quirky Cork
Cam Mann has “Porc aux Pruneaux (Pork with Prunes) + Chateau de Parnay Le Blason de Parnay 2018” on Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Host Gwendolyn Alley on Wine Predator shares “Loire’s Biodynamic Manor Tete de Rouge For Unusual Reds”

Additional Reading and Sources:

Life happens.

For better or worse.

I always think of food and wine as being embedded in the fabric of life. No matter what is going on, you have to eat, and if dinner is happening there is probably a bottle at our table. Bacchus-loving, epicurean, bon vivant that I am, I try to create as many of the “for better” situations as possible. Even if it’s just a quiet evening at home with Greg, I want dinner to be GOOD. It only goes up from there–dinners with friends, celebrations, holidays. So many of the good times in life revolve around the table.

Lately, however, I’ve been reminded (a little too often for comfort, actually) that there’s another half to that equation. Nonetheless, when those “or worse” moments roll around, the table is still there. You still gotta eat. If I gotta eat, well . . . there’s still probably something in the glass, and yeah maybe it’s doing double-duty as a nerve-elixir. At these times, the table is probably even more important. It’s where we go to take comfort with family and friends, to nurture ourselves, to stay sane.

This isn’t the post I intended to write. I love Cru Beaujolais. I was really excited when the French Winophiles picked this topic for the month–it is Beaujolais Nouveau week after all! Beaujolais wines are go-to’s for us both at home and when we’re dining out because their really food friendly and tend to be affordable. (I covered a few others here.) I love their mix of fruit, herbs, and earth. They pair easily with a million things.

As luck would have it, I was sent some samples of three different Crus by Stéphane Aviron, a producer whose wines I’ve often purchased. Moreover, they were all from 2015, which was a really great one in Beaujo. I’d planned to taste two of the Crus–Fleurie and Chénas–and then write a recipe pairing for one of them, as per usual. Since I’m more familiar with the third Cru–Morgon–I intended to put it away for a bit to see how it developed.

It all started out as usual. Greg and I sat down to taste and take notes on the wines on a Thursday. I stored the wines in the fridge for the next day. I went shopping and bought everything we’d need for dinner the next night.

The thing about emergency situations, though, is that they really don’t give a shit about what you have planned. Just as I was getting things started for dinner on Friday, my brother called. My dad had had a really serious heart attack. We had to get a flight right away. Greg got on the phone to find us a flight, while I stared blankly at the wall paralyzed for ten minutes, and then struggled to think clearly enough to figure out what normally goes in suitcases.

These wines got caught in the middle, like friends pulled into an awkward situation. In a strange way, each ended up being there for me at various points of a difficult time:

•    The Fleurie was the wine I sipped (ok, gulped) to calm my nerves while waiting for it to be time to go to the airport to catch a flight I didn’t know I was taking an hour earlier. It was still cold from the fridge and not half bad with a chill, even if I wasn’t thinking clearly.

•    The Chénas was the wine I drank the night I first got back, nerves frayed but relieved that my dad was doing much better. I was on my own as Greg had to head directly out on a work trip. The wine was still waiting for me in the fridge (I let this one come up to temp), albeit a little oxidized after a week–but hey, it was there to keep me company.

•    We drank the Morgon our first night both back home together. The wine I had not intended to open just yet, became the wine we drank with the dinner we’d planned to have over a week before. Plans change! (Somehow, most of the produce was fine and I’d thrown the pork in the freezer.) My dad was now doing MUCH, much, much better. This dinner was a thankful celebration of a return to blissful normalcy.

There were several other wines that played a role at gatherings at our family dinners while away as well. Each time we sat down together he was doing a little bit better, so we all could connect and let a little more tension go. Each dinner since that first scary night has been part of an early Thanksgiving, and these wines have all played a part in that for me.

THE WINES AND THE GEEKY DETAILS

Beaujolais Nouveau gets the big party every year (the third Thursday in November), but as far as I’m concerned, the Crus are where it’s at. The Nouveau wines are wines made shortly after the harvest. They’re easy drinking and fruity and made to be consumed young. They rely on a technique called carbonic maceration that extracts a lot of flavor and color without taking out much tannin. They tend to have a candied, bubble gum, tutti-frutti vibe going on. The only problem is that these wines don’t really age well and you lose complexity in the process.

If you look for Beaujolais (sans the Nouveau) and Beaujolais Villages, you move a couple rungs up the quality ladder. Next step up are Crus. These wine come from ten different communes whose wines are so distinctive that they’ve earned their own appellations. You probably won’t even see Beaujolais on the label, so they’re worth knowing. They are: Brouilly, Chénas, Chiroubles, Côte de Brouilly, Fleurie, Juliénas, Morgon, Moulin-à-Vent, Régnié and Saint-Amour.

All the red wines of Beaujolais are made from Gamay, but the difference in flavor between Nouveau wines and the Crus can be a world apart. As you move up the ladder, you’re likely to find less use of carbonic (or semi-carbonic) maceration. The winemaking style will look more like Burgundy with barrel-maturation and bottle aging. (Beaujo is often lumped in with Burgundy for administrative purposes, but it’s really different in terms of terrain, not to mention the grape.) That tends to mean more earthy and terroir-driven flavors. Nonetheless, Gamay will usually have lots of tart red fruits, herbs and flowers, bright acidity, moderate alcohol, and only moderate tannins even at the Cru levels. All of this makes them extremely versatile food wines. They’re particularly perfect when you need a wine to go with many different dishes . . . hint, hint Thanksgiving!

Today’s wines are from Stéphane Aviron, a small négociant that really focuses on highlighting the Crus. Aviron grew up in Beaujolais and relies on his relationship with growers of the best sites to create expressive wines that can age. All the wines are sourced from sustainably farmed sites, and quite a few of the plots are farmed through organic or biodynamic practices. All of today’s wines are labeled “Vieilles Vignes,” as all vines are at least 40 years old.

Fleurie Domaine de la Madrière Vieilles Vignes 2015

Like the name implies, Fleurie is known for having a pretty floral fragrance and this one definitely had that going on. However, it was otherwise being really shy, which I found a little surprising given that 2015 was such a good vintage. In my limited experience, wines from that vintage are usually more generous.

Despite the fact that it was playing hard to get, I got notes of red fruits, black cherries, a little blackberry, and a little Welch’s grape juice on the nose. Notes of white peppers and stones joined in on the palate. The fruit was more decidedly in the red camp on the palate as well; it reminded Greg of Red Vines. It was clean and fresh with bright acidity. It was on the lighter end of the spectrum, with very light (medium -) tannins and did well with a chill.

Terroir: The grapes for this wine are sourced from a family owned hillside vineyard on the western side of the appellation. Exposure faces south and southeast. Farming: Biodynamic
Soil: Clay, limestone
Alcohol: 13.5%
Vinification: Grapes are handpicked and sorted upon arrival to the winery. Must is macerated in stainless steel vats for 12-15 days.
Maturation: Wine is aged in a combination of new and old barriques for 12-15 months.
Average Price on Wine Searcher: $21
 

Chénas Vieille Vignes 2015

I wasn’t that familiar with Chénas, but apparently that’s not surprising as it turns out that it’s pretty rare. In 2011, the vineyard area was down to 243 ha/600 acres and not a lot of examples are exported to the U.S.

We really enjoyed this wine. It had notes of black cherries, bruised raspberries, and a little grape on the nose. It was deeper on the palate than the Fleurie, with red plums and more red fruits joining the mix, along with a little pepper and mixed herbs. There was also a lot more minerality on this wine. It registered as notes of clay and iron. Apparently, that mineral intensity is typical of this Cru. This was still lithe and medium bodied on palate with plenty of freshness.

Terroir: Produced from pre-phylloxera vines that average over 100 years old from a 13.6 acre parcel that Stéphan Aviron has been producing from since 1993.
The soil is light and made up mostly of sand and small pebbles over a layer of clay and quartz. The old vines and poor soils combine for incredibly low yields and highly concentrated grapes.
Farming: Biodynamic
Soil: Sand, clay, quartz pebbles
Alcohol: 13.5%
Vinification: Vinified using traditional methods, with absolutely no carbonic maceration. The must is macerated for 12-14 days prior in temperature controlled stainless steel vats.
Maturation: Aged for 12 months in a combination of 1 to 4 year old oak barrels.
Average Price on Wine Searcher: $18. I think this is a solid House Wine, if you can find it.

Morgon Côte du Py Vielles Vignes 2015

Morgon is famed for being one of the boldest and most structured Crus, along with Moulin-à-Vent, and the wines have the ability to age well. According to Jancis, “the appellation has even been used as a verb, as in describing the process by which a young Beaujolais becomes more like a Pinot Noir-dominated red burgundy with time in bottle: il morgonne.” The good news for U.S. drinkers is that this Cru is fairly easy to find here, and there are quite a few good producers working in the area. There are six named vineyards in Morgon and Côte du Py, an ex-volcano, is the most famous.

True to type, this was definitely the most structured and layered of the three wines. We picked up a host of red fruits, as well as some darker notes: black cherries, pomegranates, raspberries, and persimmons. There were hints of star anise and thyme on the palate, as well as pepper, lavender, violets, and a pleasant bitter note on the finish. It was bright with lots of minerality–stones and pencil lead–and light, dusty tannins.

Terroir: The grapes are sourced from the slopes of an 1150-foot inactive volcano that is regarded as one of the top terroirs in all of Beaujolais. Vines face due south on a well pitched hillside of pour sandy soil. Can be aged as much as 10 years.
Farming: Biodynamic
Soil: Sand
Alcohol: 13.5%
Vinification: Grapes are vinified separately until time for the final blending and bottling. The must is macerated in temperature controlled stainless steel vats for 12-15 days.
Maturation: Info says it’s aged for 1 “months” in combo of new and used oak casks. I think that’s a typo give the structure of the wine.
Average Price on Wine Searcher: $21. This one's a really Solid Value.

Note: As I previously mentioned, these three wines were provided as samples, but all opinions are my own. All of the technical details here are taken from Frederick Wildman’s website, and you can find more details there.

THE PAIRING

We originally decided to plan this dish around the Chénas. We thought it would be perfect with the lighter end of the fall flavor spectrum–cranberries, pomegranate seeds, lightly sweetened nuts, and herbs. Seeing as Thanksgiving is so close, I originally wanted to create a turkey dish to pair with this wine. However, by the same token, turkey cuts other than the whole bird seem to be hard to find at the moment. Therefore, we decided on a pork tenderloin.

I really love my sous vide circulator and I find it particularly useful for cuts that are easy to overcook like pork tenderloin. Cuts like these become pretty foolproof in the circulator and always come out sooo tender and juicy! You can also hit medium-rare on pork without any safety concerns.

Alongside the pork, I planned a farro salad incorporating a lot of those light fall flavors. Since I thought the wine could handle a little bitterness, I finished things off with simple braised endives–you can find the recipe at The Spruce.

As I shared with you above, some pretty big hurdles got in the way, so we ended up having the dish with the Morgon Côte du Py. It worked really well with the pork and the pan sauce I made to go with it, showing the white pepper and herbal notes. It also made a solid pairing for the rest of the food, and it was able to handle the bitterness of the endive decently well. That said I do think that the Morgon could stand up to some bigger and meatier flavors.

I still think the comparatively lighter Chénas would have made an even more seamless match. After all, it was the wine I was creating this dish for. (I did actually try a little bit of the Chénas that was leftover with the food. Even though it was oxidized by that point, it seemed like it would have been great.) But hey, we were definitely rolling with some major punches here.
 

THE WINE AND PAIRING

GEEKY DETAILS

OTHER POSSIBILITIES