semi-dry Bordeaux paired with savory, salty, and semi-sweet meal

Who doesn’t love kettle corn, that salty and sweet combination? If you like me are a fan, then consider this: semi-dry Bordeaux white wines paired with savory and salty fare! We compared two completely different semi-dry wines, one that leads with apricot and citrus notes from Sauvignon Blanc, and the other that’s all tropical fruit and leads with Semillon.  

These are low-alcohol semi-dry wines with plenty of acid and structure that we think Americans would appreciate, but not necessarily know to order, when to drink them, and what to pair with them.

WINES

• 2019 Lion De Tanesse  L Amour  Bordeaux Moelleux
  
• 2019 Chateau La Hargue “Moelleaux” Semi-Dry Bordeaux 

yes these wines are wonderful with dessert but pair them with the meal too!

MENU 

• cheese board
• oysters
• sourdough batard by my Ventura neighbor Lauren Mosinka 
• herbed brie and pear and pomegranate tart
• filet of cod and snapper poached in parchment with beurre blanc 
• apple, persimmon, pomegranate gallette 

2019 Lion De Tanesse  L Amour  Bordeaux Moelleux
ABV 11%; SRP $15
85% Semillon, 15% Sauvignon

Color: Very, very pale, straw and gold, but still very pale

Nose: Tropical fruit, banana, kiwi, I got petrol, where as Sue who always picks up on petrol, didn’t agree, We did agree on the tropical fruit, guava, fresh pineapple, 

Palate: Lots of tropical fruit, pineapple, guava, rich mouthfeel, luscious round mouthfeel. Caraway finish,

Pairing: Herbed brie pear tart is so fantastic with the wine, an out of the ball park pairing. Salt and sweet were so fun together when sampling the wine with our oysters. A pairing almost like kettle corn, so satisfying — bold flavor meets bold flavor, with salt and sweet playing with each other.

Fantastic with our white fish with beurre blanc. Asparagus also went great with the wine which is such a hard thing to pair with wine. Because the asparagus was roasted, it married very nicely with the wine, bringing out the fruit and sweet in the wine without it being too sweet. 

La Hargue semi-dry Bordeaux

2019 Chateau La Hargue “Moelleaux” Semi-Dry Bordeaux 
ABV ; SRP $15
Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris, Semillon 
80k bottles produced 

Color: Pale platinum 

Nose: Apricot, as it opens more citrus notes like grapefruit, gooseberry, wet stone.

Palate: Fresh apricot right from the tree, tart and sweet in all the right places. 

Pairing: We’d love to have this with spiced Asian cuisine from Indian curries to Thai crab fried rice to spiced tuna sushi to Kung Pao shrimp. With the oysters the wine was quite nice, it brought out the salinity of the sea, while they oyster became very melon fresh and cut the sweetness of the wine.

The rosemary herb brie and pear with pomegranate tart was such a fantastic combination with the wine. Sue wanted to keep going back for more. The tart was not very sweet, but still seemed sweeter than the wine. The wine went better with the savory pear brie tart than the fish. The bright tart pommegranate not only brought out  a great flavor, but also a nice texture and crunch.

Shelia did not find the wine to have much of a finish, but with food the finish is there and compliments each other.  The dessert was like a sweet tart pairing, but the pie crust was a bit too sweet. If the purchased pastry crust (from Trader Joe’s) was homemade without sugar, Sue thought it would have been better with the wine. The cooked fruit was perfectly sweet enough to go with the wine, however.

Check out more Sweet Bordeaux from the Winophiles:

• • Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla: “Surprise! Pairing Spicy and Savory Dishes with Sweet Bordeaux”
  • Terri at Our Good Life: “Spicy Hot Tacos and Sweet Bordeaux”
  • Martin at ENOFYLZ: “Pairing Golden Bordeaux with Southern Fare”
  • Lauren at The Swirling Dervish: “Golden Bordeaux Meets Savory Pumpkin and Smoked Bacon Tart: a Delicious Thanksgiving Twist!”
  • David at Cooking Chat: “Pairings for Sweet Bordeaux Wine”
  • Katrina at The Corkscrew Concierge: “Golden Bordeaux Delights in Louisiana’s Cajun and Creole Cuisine”
  • Payal at Keep the Peas: “Four Sweet Bordeaux Wines with Four Courses”
  • Jane at Always Ravenous: “Golden Sweet Bordeaux Wines: Tasting and Pairings”
  • Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm: “Hot Chocolate and Halva Pudding paired with Lion De Tanesse L’Amour”
  • Jeff at foodwineclick: “Sweet Bordeaux Meets the Smoke”
  • Jill at L’OCCASION: “Sweet Bordeaux Wines Aren’t Just for Dessert”
  • Lynn at Savor the Harvest: “Sweet Bordeaux Wines Get Savory Pairings”
  • Rupal at Syrah Queen: “Sweet Bordeaux Is A Sweet Delight – Savor These Perfect Food Pairings”
  • Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles: “Sweet Bordeaux Wines and pairings from opposite sides of the globe”
  • Pinny at Chinese Food & Wine Pairings: “Sweet Bordeaux Paired with Asian Carbs – Chinese Sticky Rice and Korean Japchae”
  • Susannah at avvinare: “Delightful Sweet Wines from Bordeaux”
  • Nicole at Somm’s Table: “Château Loupiac Gaudiet with Cinnamon Apple Crème Brûlée”
  • Gwendolyn at wine predator: “Successful Pairings of Salty and Savory with Sweet Semi-Dry Bordeaux”
  • Jennifer at Vino Travels: “A Look into the Sweeter Side of Bordeaux Wines”
  • Linda at My Full Wine Glass: “Appetizer, entrées and yes, dessert please, with sweet Bordeaux”

Sweet Bordeaux Twitter Questions; follow the #Winophiles hashtag. 

• • • 11:00 am ET
      A1 Welcome to #Winophiles chat for November on Sweet Bordeaux! Where are you tweeting from? Introduce yourself, share a link to your blog. Visitors and wineries too! @SweetBordeauxUS
    • 11:05 am ET
      Q2 So we’re talking about sweet Bordeaux for today’s #Winophiles. Have you ever visited the region? Tell us what you thought. Share a picture if you have one! @SweetBordeauxUS
    • 11:10 am ET
      Q3 Have you tasted sweet Bordeaux before? What surprised you about the wine(s) you poured? #Winophiles @SweetBordeauxUS
    • 11:15 am ET
      Q4 Bordeaux’s primary sweet wine region is located 20 miles south of the city of Bordeaux and spans both banks of the Garrone River. Where in this area was your wine(s) produced? Share a link to your blog if you wrote on the topic today. #Winophiles @SweetBordeaux
    • 11:20 am ET
      Q5 Bordeaux sweet wines are either Liquoreux (produced from grapes having Botrytis or noble rot) or Moelleux (“mellow,” semi-sweet wines). Which wines did you pour? What was the difference? #Winophiles @SweetBordeauxUS
    • 11:25 am ET
      Q6 Tell us something interesting about the producer(s) of sweet Bordeaux. Does anything notable stand out? #Winophiles @SweetBordeauxUS
    • 11:30 am ET
      Q7 Anyone hungry? Let’s talk food! Did you pair your sweet Bordeaux? What did you choose? Reasons? Post a link! #Winophiles @SweetBordeauxUS
    • 11:35 am ET
      Q8 Thoughts on your pairing? How did the flavors in the food complement your wine? Was it a success, failure, or something in-between. No matter! #Winophiles @SweetBordeauxUS
    • 11:40 am ET
      Q9 Thanksgiving is coming up! Thoughts on pairing sweet Bordeaux with turkey and all the trimmings? Thumbs up or thumbs down? #Winophiles @SweetBordeauxUS
    • 11:45 am ET
      Q10 Will you be looking for sweet Bordeaux in the future – either the same wines or something different? #Winophiles @SweetBordeauxUS
    • 11:50 am ET
      Q11 Do you have any final thoughts or new questions for the group? #Winophiles @SweetBordeauxUS
    • 11:55 am ET
      Thanks for joining the French Winophiles today for this Twitter chat on sweet Bordeaux and special thanks to Jeff @foodwineclick for arranging samples. #Winophiles @SweetBordeauxUS
    • 12:00pm ET
      Be sure to join the French Winophiles in December as we explore Oregon + Bourgogne Tied Houses with @LMArcherML. See you then! #Winophiles @SweetBordeauxUS

PS This is post #1003 of all time and 132 for the year. Participating with the #Winophiles these past few years have meant a lot to me and expanded my tasting opportunities for French wine for sure!