A Red Wine from Provence? Yes, meet Bandol; a New Old Wine paired with a Slow Cooked Goulash #Winophiles

The weather has been frigid here in Michigan for the last few days making me yearn for comfort food, a good glass of wine and a seat in front of the fireplace.  So I slow cooked a roast and turned it into Goulash because what is more comforting that pasta?  The answer?  Pasta with a glass of strong, spicy, hearty Bandol wine from Provence.

The French Winophiles are visiting Provence this month.......

Jill of L'Occasion invited us to join her in sharing Wines from Provence with her and our fellow Winophiles this month.  We are going to be getting together with her as she leads us in twitter chat on Saturday, January 15th, at 11 AM ET.  You are welcome to join us and will find us by following #Winophiles.  Here are the topics we will be discussing........

• A Red Wine from Provence? Yes, meet Bandol; a New Old Wine paired with a Slow Cooked Goulash from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• The Art of Miraval in Provence and a Lovely Drunken Seafood Stew from Our Good Life
• Bandol – A Provençal Red for the Winter Table from Food Wine Click!
• Embrace Rosé de Garde, Age-Worthy Provençal Wine on L’Occasion
• Weekend Brunch Starts with Rosé from Coteaux d’Aix en Provence from Grape Experiences (Note, check out Cindy’s upcoming Southern Rhône cruise with AmaWaterways, which culminates in Provence.)
• A Provençal Wine for Winter: Domaine La Suffrene Rouge on Avvinare
• Rosé all year with Côtes de Provence on Wining with Mel
• Pasta au Gratin + Ste. Venture Aix en Provence Rosé on Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• A Different Perspective from Provence: Chateau Vignelaure Coteaux D’Aix from Wine Predator... Gwendolyn Alley
• Rosé With Elizabeth Gabay and Château de Pibarnon from Savor the Harvest

Normally when I look to Provence for wines I buy rosé.  Rosé from Provence was an awakening for me when I first tried it several years ago.  Prior to that I had always thought that rosé was white zinfandel that we found here in the USA.  It was sweet and reminiscent of Koolaid.  I had no use for it but bought it a lot because my folks and Frank's mom loved it.

Now you can find some very nice rosés from California and other parts of the New World, however, in my humble opinion, if you want a nice quality and delicious rosé you need to go to the source and that source is Provence.

So when Jill asked us to share a wine from Provence I automatically thought of rosé.  Then I remembered that when I was reading A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle and hosted the Winophiles event in February 2019, I featured a red wine in my post and it was delicious served up with a rabbit lasagna. The wine in that case was primarily Tibouren which reminded me of a Pinot Noir.

For this month I found a Hecht and Bannier Bandol to share.  Bandol is home to the dense, deep and earthy Mourvèdre grape.  Bandol, a fishing village,  has a long history of wine production and, according to this site, ever since the Phylloxera epidemic in the 18th century, has focused its efforts on Mourvèdre.   The Hecht and Bannier Bandol is 80% Mourvedre with Grenache and Cinsault evenly making up the remaining 20%.

The last time that I enjoyed a Bandol was for last years February Winophiles.  I paired that Mourvedre blend with a Beef Daube and it was a very successful pairing.  

Bandol is not an inexpensive wine so I don't enjoy it as often as I might like.  This bottle from Hecht and Bannier was purchased from Wine.com for $40.  It was all the things I loved about the last bottle we enjoyed.  It is spicy and musty with a touch of bitterness.  My husband does not love this wine as much as I but it suits my palate beautifully.

I had earmarked a recipe for Slow Cooker Goulash that I found while perusing my Cuisine at Home magazines.  It caught my eye because it is made with root vegetables including beets.  I knew that the earthy flavor of this dish would pair very nicely with the Bandol and it was spot on!!