Domaine Bomary “Absolutely” Carignan and Tian

If you, like me, like to carry-on with Carignan, for Carignan Day held on the final Thursday of October, consider Domaine Bomary “Absolutely” Carignan! paired with a tomato Tian for a vegetarian celebration! Not familiar with this ancient grape? You may know the Spanish version, Carinena, best known from Aragon where the grape likely originated. And you may be surprised to find out that not long ago it was the most planted grape in California, and in 1988, the most planted grape in France! But with its prolific nature, it was popular: when it’s hot and happy, it can produce grapes like crazy.

It’s a rare wine to find these days on its own in California but Carignan has its fans.  Ridge’s David Gates says “It’s the perfect blending grape…that’s why it’s still around.” According to Gates, Carignan brightens acidity, brings out aromas, and pushes fruit flavors forward. With climate change, we may be seeing more Carignan grown in California because It handles heat well, including heat at night when the grapes want to cool off in order to have acidity. According to Gates, the warmer the weather, the better the yield. It’s also a great mildew indicator– “the Carignan in the coal mine,” someone joked in the ZOOM I attended where Gates spoke. Read more here in “Curious About Carignan.”

Then yesterday I drove to DTLA to attend a Symington Family Estates hosted wine dinner with Gretel Compton, we talked about harvest at her winery Clos des Amis as they have just about finished with just the riesling left on the vine with hopes for a late harvest bottling. She told me their rows of Carignan did great this year, and they decided to add it to their GSM which they decided to do as a field blend by just picking and pressing and fermenting it all together. She says it’s tasting really good, and she thinks the secret to the sauce is the carignan. 

So when I saw this old vine Carignan for sale at Wine House LA, and with a cute cat on the label, I had to get it! I’ve had it for awhile, saving it for the right day — this day.

Hooray for Carignan! Happy Carignan Day!

Domaine Bomary “Absolutely” Carignan and Tian

For a pairing, I had found a recipe for classic Provençal vegetable casserole called a Tian, which is the name of an earthenware dish that is used to make a type of gratin of alternating zucchini, eggplant, and tomato that is also called Tian. The dish caught my eye because I have a wealth of gorgeous garden tomatoes growing, and eggplant is also still in season. I wish we had homegrown zucchini but powdery mildew and gophers got mine (my eggplants also). Since I am not a fan of onions, we cut way back, and I didn’t have the Tian dish either; scroll down to find out recipe with our adaptations below. Gretel says she thinks they have a Tian so sometime soon — before the tomatoes run out!–I hope to try it that way. 

Menu

• Tian: Provençal Vegan Casserole (adapted from here; recipe below) 
• Green salad with agrodulce vinegar, fennel flowers
• Fresh hot French baguette 
• selection of French cheeses 

Domaine Bomary “Absolutely” Carignan and Tian

2018 Domaine Bomary “Absolutely” Carignan, IGP Pays d’Hérault

ABV: 14.5%
SRP: $20; purchased at The Wine House LA 
Grapes: 100% Carignan Vieilles Vignes
Importer: Caroline debate selections
2000 bottles produced 

Bohdan Pruski grew up in Durango, Colorado, and following college, he traveled Europe, staying in Paris to teach English, and falling love with wine — and a Parisian. After raising two sons there, they moved to  Southern France near the medieval village of Neffiès, in the Occitanie region. Bohdan completed a year long viticulture and oenology program at a local agriculture school, then apprenticed with local winemakers. In 2015, he purchased two acres of old growth vines and became a winemaker. Today he has 21 hectares in four locations near Neffiès.

 Grown on limestone and chalk from ancient coral reefs with a southern exposure,  the 100 % Carignan vines are OLD– older than 50 years! Carignan got a bad name for having high yields but these old vines only deliver 30 hl / Hectare which are harvest by hand, selected on the vine. Not aged in oak, but tank.

Appearance:  Dark, dense, deep and rich, the color sticks to the side of the glass, ruby with a raspberry rim.

Aroma: So very fragrant, roses and carnations, spices and fruit, a very dramatic nose, amber, warm rich fragrance. The aroma is picked up before the nose even gets close to the glass. 

Palate: Tart fresh fruit, blackberry, cherry, raspberry, boysenberry, even though this wine is unoaked there is a lot of woodsy flavors, you can taste and feel the stem inclusion, bold tannins, great acidity, so nicely crafted.

Pairing: The interesting combination of the oven roasted, and vine ripened veggies are perfect with the wine. It is so much better than we thought it was going to be and so much better than we thought it would be with the wine. Perfect combination with the sweet roasted veggies. The vinegarette in the salad had a slight sweetness that married perfectly with this wine that was not sweet at all before the meal. I threw fennel flowers over the top of the salad at the last minute thinking it would be great, and I was not wrong, the fennel flowers set the entire salad over top with the wine, such a perfect pairing.

Domaine Bomary “Absolutely” Carignan and Tian

Tian: Provençal Vegan Vegetable Casserole

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more
• 1/2 large yellow onions, sliced fine
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp. chopped thyme
• ¹⁄₄ tsp. crushed chile flakes
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 1 small firm eggplant, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 1-2 large red and 1 large yellow ripe heirloom tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

Instructions