“I love skiing!” piped up the young girl from the next stall at the mid-mountain SnowFlake Lodge at Diamond Peak, Incline Nevada on a sunny but brisk January day. 

“I do too!” I chimed in. “How old are you?”

“I’m five but I’m going to be six on my birthday January 9!”

“Well, happy birthday to you! My birthday is January 11!” 

While young Juniper loves skiing and wanted nothing more than to go skiing for her birthday, I love cassoulet and wanted cassoulet for my birthday. I didn’t tell young Juniper but her birthday is the same day as a very important one: CASSOULET DAY! Fortunately for me, my birthday and Cassoulet Day are so close Sue has almost no choice but to make it for me as a birthday gift and we had the gift of three samples of three AOC Côtes du Rhône wines to pair with it tying this post into this month’s Winophiles prompt; I’ll add links to participants.

So Happy Cassoulet Day today January 9! And Happy Birthday to Juniper, and to me too!

Do you know Cassoulet? I had my first Cassoulet when I was in my early 20s, and I recount that remarkable story here, and it’s the first time Sue made Cassoulet for my birthday.

We’ve also written about Cassoulet and wine pairings here in 2023, here in 2021,  and here in 2020.

Why? Cassoulet is a rich bean stew made with at least three kinds of meat combining duck, sausage, lamb, rabbit, and pork and it often takes three days to make. Thanks to the magic of already prepared duck confit, an Instant Pot, and a Dutch oven, it took about as much time to round up the ingredients as to do the dish. 

As we settle into the colder months, we seek hearty, rich dishes and wines to match like wines from the Côtes du Rhône.  The winemakers of the Côtes du Rhône are famous for their ability to create blends of primarily Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre with possibly 20 other varieties ideal for cutting through a delectable dish such as cassoulet.

WINES

• Maison Sinnae AOC Côtes du Rhône Villages Chusclan Rouge Eléments Sol 2021 ($15)
• Famille Ravoire AOC Côtes du Rhône Rouge Banderet 2022 ($15)
• Domaine du Pegau AOC Côtes du Rhône Villages Rouge CHATEAU PEGAU CUVEE SETIER 2021 ($25)

MENU

• baked brie and warm bread  
• Cassoulet Instant Pot Style: makes about 18 servings 
  1# lamb chops, 1# pork chops, 1/2 # applewood bacon, 1 # duck legs confit, 1# great northern beans,   1/2# pork sausage, 1/2 #chicken basil garlic sausage, 2 hamhocks, herbs and spices; finished in a Dutch oven with bread crumbs; more detailed directions in an upcoming post 
• pear, pecan, pomegranate salad with Yuzu goat cheese 

2021 Maison Sinnae AOC Cotes du Rhone Villages Chusclan Rouge Eléments Sol

ABV: 14%
SRP: $15
Grapes: Grenache Noir, Syrah, Carignan, Mourvèdre

“Luna is like a reference to the cool nights of summer and the elegance of the moon. This cuvée, with its fruity and fresh aromas and smooth tannins leaves an impression of balance, suppleness and roundness,” they say. 

Appearance:  Medium density, a bit cloudy, ruby, raspberry rim, 

Aroma: Raspberry, red and black vines licorice, a bit of savory, garigue, 

Palate: Bright tart fruit, cranberry, raspberry, a bit of rhurbarb, green grass, sour grass, a bit of garigue, a wine that can easily cut through rich food, 

Pairing: The orange essence in the salad marries perfectly with the wine. The baked brie works nicely with the wine bringing out the fruit in the  wine, the tannins and the acids in the wine embrace and swallow it all up, absolutely perfectly with the cassoulet, the wine reveals the richness in the cassoulet, and the cassoulet brings out a bright beauty in the wine. 

 

2022 Famille Ravoire AOC Cotes Du Rhone Rouge Banderet

ABV: 14%
SRP: $15
Grapes: Grenache 70%, Syrah 30%

The name Banderet relates to the knight bannerets in the Ravoire family for several generations.

Appearance:  Medium density, ruby rim, fushia rim

Aroma: Raspberry, tons of raspberry, sage, garague, with food there are notes of vanilla on the noe, 

Palate: Very tart raspberry, fresh tart raspberry, lots of acidity, cherry phosphate, pine tar, woodsy, (feels like whole cluster)

Pairing: Great with the warm bite, there is a sweetness when the two meet, with food on the palate it brings out lovely baking spices in the wine. The wine loves the pear the orange and the Yuzu cheese, the rich cassoulet brings out a brown butter and caramel  flavor in the wine, the rich salty meal is perfect with the fabulous complex dish. 

2021 Domaine du Pegau AOC Côtes du Rhône Villages Rouge Chateau Pegau Cuvee Setier 

ABV: 14.5%
SRP: $25
Grapes: 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 20% Mourvedre

Importer: Handpicked Selections

Learn more about Domaine du Pegau AOC Côtes du Rhône Villages Rouge CHATEAU PEGAU CUVEE SETIER 2021 ($25).

Appearance:  Medium density, ruby, garnet rim

Aroma: Musk, forest, forest animals, wet earth, violets, blue fruit, pepper, black pepper, white pepper, peppercorns, savory, bacon?, there is a lot going on in this wine, violet, rhubarb, 

Palate: Very interesting, tart, bright interesting, complex, cherry, raspberry, menthol, bright acidity, sage, balanced and present tannins, cranberry, lavender. I found it a bit on the natural, funky side, but not too mousy. 

Pairing: Loves the pear in the salad, is in harmony with the orange rosemary olive oil on the salad, While white wines are what you might generally want with a salad, this wine works nicely with this course. The brie and the wine work quite nicely together, they both have a bit of a funk that hit it off quite nicely, The funk in the wine loves the lamb in the cassoulet, for Sue the minute the wine hit her mouth with the residual flavors it was a great pairing, it loves the richness of the beans, the salt from the ham hock and the umami from the tomato. 

NOTE: I am so obsessed with Cassoulet that I often have a Cassoulet song in my head, especially when I am thinking about Cassoulet and writing about it. No one has ever heard me sing it; it just plays in my head, and it makes me happy like Juniper skiing on the mountain. It’s from a song by Virunga Volcano; I know it from a tape my friend made for me many years ago. That tape with the song on it is long gone, and the friend committed suicide almost two years ago so he is gone too. I love this video below but it’s not quite it. 

I found it! It’s at the 5:45 mark and clearly they are singing about CASSOULET. Doesn’t it make you want to sing along also? 

You might like this one also…

For more gifts of wine check out:

• Camilla of Culinary Cam shares “A Red Blend from the Slopes of ‘The Giant of Provence’, Slow-Braised Venison Stew, and Merci“.
• Terri of Our Good Life says “Thank You for the Bordeaux! Plus the cassoulet we paired with it“. 
• Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm is “Celebrating a New Wine Collaboration with a Bottle of Cahors gifted to me from Family visiting from France“.
• Jeff of Food Wine Click tells “How to Gift a Wine for Your Wine Geek Friend“.
• Linda of My Full Wine Glass tells of “A Gift to the Planet: Biodynamic Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley“.
• Susannah of Avvinare is “Drinking Aged Bordeaux from Chateau La Mission Haut Brion“. 
• Here at Wine Predator we do double duty with “Birthday Wishes, Gifts: Cassoulet with Cotes du Rhone from Domaine du Pegau, Maison Sinnae, Famille Ravoir” and “The Gift of Wine and A Gift of Wine: 2019 Famille Perrin Cotes du Rhone Reserve with Cassoulet“