Salade Niçoise and this cheeseboard with red or rose wine from Languedoc

What wine region stretches “from the rugged coastline of the Mediterranean Sea to the dramatic peaks of the Pyrenees mountains” and “is one of the largest wine regions in the world” boasting “a breathtaking mosaic of vineyards, olive groves, and medieval villages” that “make it the archetypal Mediterranean wine country?” France’s Languedoc– this month’s Winophiles these with host Martin Redmond Enofylz. He introduces the May theme of Languedoc by saying that the Languedoc’s “diverse terroir, combined with a Mediterranean climate characterized by warm, sunny days and cool breezes, provides the perfect conditions for cultivating a wide range of grape varieties.” But we love it because we love Grenache and the Languedoc also loves Grenache! 

The Romans brought grapes and winemaking to the Languedoc region first, before anywhere else in France, and during the 1980s, Martin reports that the “Languedoc was regularly producing 10% of the entire planet’s wine output.” More recently, bulk cheap wine has been shoved aside by higher quality, small production, low intervention, and organic and biodynamic wines. The Languedoc, according to Martin, has “the largest proportion of organic vineyards in France, accounting for approximately one-third of the nation’s organic vines, but also ranks among the highest globally.”

Reds dominate the Languedoc vineyards, especially Grenache, followed by Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Carignan with plenty of rosé made from those red grapes. Whites include Grenache Blanc, Bourboulenc, Maccabéo, Picpoul, and Clairette Blanche. Some of the grapes are made into sparkling wines. 

Because it’s spring, we decided to pair a rose and a red with a cheese board and a Salade Niçoise– simple yet special and tasty too!

PS SURPRISE: Languedoc wines aren’t typically considered long lived– but this 2017 rose and this 2012 red were still great!

Salade Niçoise

Menu

• Charcuterie:
  Brebirousse d’Argental (sheep’s milk cheese), mimolette, truffle mousse pate, mushroom brie. St. Auger blue cheese, caper stuffed anchovies, anchovies caper tapenade

While we loved having the cheese plate first with the wines, we decided that this particular cheese plate with the wines would be served best as a dessert course after the salad. 

• Salade Niçoise:
  Romaine topped with homegrown Chinese pea pods (omg so good!), hard boiled eggs, capers wrapped in anchovies, red potatoes, heirloom tomatoe and a classic Salade Niçoise dressing using fresh herbs from my garden   

Wines from Languedoc 

• 2017 Laurent Miquel Chateau Cazel Viel, Saint Chinian, AOP, Languedoc
• 2012 Domaine Les Aurelles “Solen” Pezenas, Languedoc   

Salade Niçoise and this cheeseboard with red or rose wine from Languedoc

Laurent Miquel Chateau Cazel Viel, Saint Chinian, AOP, Languedoc

ABV: 12.5%
SRP: ?
Grapes: 40% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 30% Cinsault
Importer: Vandervoort and Co.
Purchased on sale at BevMo for my review for $16

Appearance:  pale golden sun blushed roy apricot

Aroma: Smells like when you light a match–petrol, flint, silex, daisy pollen, Chinese pea pods

Palate: rich, slick, mouthfeel, dry,  refreshing, tart lemon, chamomile, balanced acidity, dry finish with peach skin, not a pool pounder but a porshsipper with appetizers,

Pairing: The creamy sheep’s milk cheese is so delicious with the wine, it brings out beautiful fruit in the wine, the wine is peachy, beautiful with the mimolette, the cheese becomes caramel candy and the wine is enhanced with beautiful apricot flavors, the wine works with the caper stuffed anchovies, the anchovies are very salty and bring out beautiful fruit in the wine, the wine brings out the moussey liver it becomes very light and delicate on the palate and the mousse pate highlights the salinity in the wine. Fantastic with the St. Agur blue, you don’t often think about pairing light wines with blue cheese but it can work. This wine loves the salty creamy richness. Lovely with the mushroom brie. Over all this cheese plate brings out lovely apricot fruit in the wine the is not apparent until you pair this way. The Niçoise salad is so fantastic with the wine, the tarragon and the dijon with the chardonnay vinegar and the garlic are just such a perfect marriage with the wine, what a great brunch or lunch meal.

Salade Niçoise and this cheeseboard with red or rose wine from Languedoc

2012 Domaine Les Aurelles “Solen” Pezenas, Languedoc

ABV: 14.5%
SRP: ??
Grapes: Biodynamic 60% Carignan, 40% Grenache 
Importer: Martin’s Wines
Purchased at Wine House LA for my review

Appearance:  Garnet with a cherry cola rim; color of prune juice 

Aroma: vibrant, deep, and surprisingly full of fruit– cherry, rhubarb, baking spices– cinnamon, ginger, clove, cherry, cherry pipe tobacco, earth 

Palate: so smooth, rhubarb, slickness, silty, rich cocoa nibs, fresh mushrooms, fruit is dim, totally drink now but very enjoyable

Pairing: This wine completely absorbs the pate, they are so cozy together like spooning a partner, so good with the mushroom brie the earthy richness of both the wine and the cheese are enhanced, brilliant with the mimolette, kind of like having a brown butter salted caramel with the wine. The rich and creamy St. Auger is so delicious with the wine, the cheese brings out lovely fruit in the wine and the wine enhances the cheese perfectly, the sheep’s milk cheese is also quite nice with the wine making it seem as fresh as a daisy. We loved the wine with the Niçoise salad, again, you don’t often think of serving a salad with a red wine, but this salad works perfectly with the wine, it is a hearty fulfilling salad that is bursting with flavor the wine becomes fresh light and bright with this meal, the wine picks up the black pepper in the salad dressing and brings out the fruit in the wine.