Southern France at a Midwest BBQ #Winophiles

I thought it only proper that I open this bottle of Rhone Rouge to go along with our 4th of July Celebration for Independence Day.  After all, France was a constant ally to us during the Revolutionary War from which we gained independence from England.

God Bless the USA and Viva La France.

Ad you may have guessed, we are celebrating the wines of Southwest France today over at The French Winophiles.  This month's party is being hosted by Jeff of foodwineclick and he invited us to head down south in France to explore the wine regions available to us.

I know next to nothing about French Wines but I am learning slowly but surely by taking part in these monthly adventures.  One of the problems I have is that the nearest wine store that has selections from around the world is an hour away on a good day.  The last time I made a visit I took my list of upcoming Winophiles events and just handed it to the owner, explaining that I needed wines from these areas and that I preferred dry wines, normally drinking Cabs for red and Chards for white.

This is the bottle he provided for this month's Southwest France event.  Now when I look at a map I think the Rhone Valley appears to be more Southeast but being geography illiterate, I wasn't going to argue with a professional.  I gladly paid for three bottles of wine and headed home to cook....I am much better at cooking than map reading.

Evidently, though, this time I am better at map reading than the owner of that wine store.  This wine is not from the region which we were assigned.  Jeff graciously invited me to go ahead and post anyway stating that many were finding that locating a bottle from southwest France was very difficult.

Thanks Jeff.....we had a great Independence get together where the star of the buffet were New York Strip Steaks accompanied by Grilled Mushrooms and Onions.  I opened this bottle of Cuvee des 3 Masses Besses from Cotes du Ventoux.

It poured a beautiful rich garnet with aromas of black pepper.  It was spicy on the tongue, which I absolutely love.  This is a wine that I would enjoy drinking all on it's own.  It didn't require food to make it enjoyable but it did pair very nicely with the grilled steak.

Make sure you stop by to see what the other's are sharing from Southwest France.  I'm sure that they did a better job than I.

French Winophiles Explore Southwest France Take a look at all the discoveries made by our Winophiles group!

• Jill at L’occasion shares “Périgord Wines: Bergerac and Duras”
• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “Southern France at a Midwest BBQ”
• Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Cam shares “Pistachio-Armagnac Sabayon with Strawberries and Meringues”
• Michelle from Rockin Red Blog shares “#Winophiles Showdown: Madiran vs Applegate Valley”
• Rob from Odd Bacchus shares “Bergerac: Underappreciated Wines & Controversial Cuisine”
• Martin from Enofylz shares “Gros Manseng, Petit Manseng and Arrufiac? Oh My!”
• Olivier from In Taste Buds We Trust shares “If it makes you happy…”
• Nicole from Somm’s Table shares “Cooking to the Wine: Paul Bertrand Crocus Malbec de Cahors with Lavender-Herb Ribeye and Grilled Veggies"
• Lynn from Savor the Harvest shares “Basque-ing in the Sud-Ouest: Wines of Irouléguy“
• Lauren from The Swirling Dervish shares “Toast #TDF2017 with Wines from the Côtes de Gascogne“
• Gwen from Wine Predator shares “Finding and Pairing Southwest France Wine Cheese & Spirits for French #Winophiles”
• Mardi from Eat.Live.Travel.Write. shares two posts (!) “Clafoutis, Southwest France style” and “Armagnac: A Primer”
• Jeff from Food Wine Click! shares “Exploring Madiran with Vignobles Brumont”

Join our chat on Saturday at 10-11am CDT (11am EDT, 8am PDT, and 1700 hours in France)! See what we think of Southwest France, and tell us about your experiences with the wine, food, or travel in the region! Simply log into Twitter and search for the #winophiles tag, and you’re in!