Friday, May 20, 2022

Visiting the Wines of Southwest France outside of Bordeaux #Winophiles

The French Winophiles are heading to Southwest France today and I have three wines to share with you that are perfect for the warm summer months that we are all looking forward to.

Chilean Sea Bass with Bergerac Sec

When Linda of My Full Wine Glass  announced that we were going to visit the wines of Southwest France, I went out and bought this bottle of Belingard Bergerac Sec.
I had some Chilean Sea Bass in the freezer that I made Matecumbe style because I thought that it would be a nice pairing with this Sauv Blanc/Semillon blend.  Here are the tasting notes that I wrote at that time......
  • Poured clear, almost like water
  • no nose....I could smell a touch of citrus but very little
  • light, bright, crisp. lemony and dry 
  • it was an okay pairing but the dish really needed a heavier wine.
  • wonderful as an apertif

I then promptly forgot that I had bought the bottle and did a pairing for this theme, so the next time I was out on an excursion to Total Wines, I bought 2 more bottles, a Rosé and another Bergerac Sec. 

Wine

 I have turned itno a big Rosé fan, especially during the summer months.  So I gravitated towards this Mont Gravet Rosé from the Languedoc region.  Bonus because it was less than $10 at Total Wines.

I was having friends over for dinner and opened this bottle that I sipped as an apertif while we enjoyed appetizers and waited for the main course to finish cooking.  It is a lovely sipping wine, very crisp and acidic, perfect for the lovely Spring evening.

rotisserie chicken

I had gotten a sponsor gift of Blackberry Smoked Honey Seasoning and Rub for participating in #BBQ week.  I sprinkled the chickens inside and out with this rub and put them on the rotisserie.  

Guests had brought potato salad, vegetables and dip and pasta salad.  I had made this Cucumber, Corn and Tomato Salad.  The wine was a perfect pairing with the chicken and all the sides.  I was too busy having fun at this point to get any photos of the food and wine together.

chicken voul a vents and wine

The following night I used the leftover rotisserie chicken to make voul a vents and opened the second bottle of Bergerac Sec.  This bottle was from Chateau Laulerie and was bought at Total Wines.  I don't remember the price but I know it was less than $15.

This wine was very citrusy, heavier than first bottle but still light and crisp.  It paired perfectly with the Chicken Voul a Vents.  

One of the best things about belonging to the French Winophiles is learning about and tasting affordable, delicious wines from all around France.  Prior to joining this group I, mistakenly, thought all French wine was expensive or not worth buying.  I was soooooooo wrong.  There are so many wonderful wines available from all over and I am looking forward to trying them all.

We get together on the second Saturday of each month to talk about the wines we are tasting.  You are welcome to join us.  You will find us on Twitter at 11 AM ET by following #Winophiles.  Here are the topics we will be discussing this Saturday.  Hope to see you there.........

13 comments:

  1. I love that you did a pairing and forgot! I purchased a wine earlier this year for one of our #ItalianFWT pairings and then accidentally used it for a #WinePW post! LOL! Ah well, it caused me to go out and find another wine, and that is never a bad thing!
    Your voul a vents by the way sound delicious!

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    1. Thanks Robin. The wine store is quite trek for us and now wine.com cannot deliver to Michigan any longer so I buy way ahead of time and have to mark them or they get opened and enjoyed without a planned pairing.

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  2. All looks fabulous, definitely will try the corn salad and the other foods. So delicious looking.

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  3. Just love your enthusiasm to try new wines Wendy! I've visited Belingardad, they have a lovely property, quaint tasting room and nice wines.

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    1. How fun. One day perhaps I will have the opportunity to visit.

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  4. Those rotisserie chickens look amazing! They're so gorgeously colored and done right on the spit grill, wow! I love that you didn't give up on the pairing and tried again. I would have thought fish would have worked with the rose but glad the chicken worked out so well.

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  5. These look like three delicious meals and I love your joy at continuing to discover new things. I totally agree!

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  6. Oh, the places we get to go with the French Winophiles and the food & wine we get to taste! Nice dishes for the summer months ahead.

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  7. Southwest France is so underrated. Lots of value for price and relatively easy to find. Love your pairings.

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