A Sauvignon Gris from Bordeaux paired with a Chicken Stew from Zambia #Winophiles

When I purchased this bottle of Sauvignon Gris from Bordeaux, I had intended to pair it with the Crispy Salmon and Lentils that I made as our Welcome Home dinner on Friday.

Barton & Guestier Chateau Magnol and Instant Pot Beef Brisket #Winophiles

Beef Brisket doesn't have to take all day.  You can feel free to go to work, run your errands, go on a shopping spree, or go for a hike.  When you get home, pull out your trusty Instant Pot and dinner will be ready a short time later.

I paired this dinner with a Bordeaux Blend from Barton & Guestier for our French Winophiles event this month......

Fall is in the Air #Winophiles

Fall is a very busy time of year.  Folks are getting back to school and work, sports and after-curricular events are scheduled each night of the week. In this household, we are pulling out the fall decor, closing up the pool, and getting back to choir, as well as preparing to leave in 10 days for our trip to Egypt.

7 Generations of Women providing Grand Vin De Bordeaux #Winophiles

In celebration of National Women's Month our French Winophiles group was asked to share French wines by Women Winemakers.  I found this lovely bottle of White Bordeaux that made by Château Haut Guillebot, a winery that has been passed down through 7 generations of women winemakers.

Difficult? Yes....Impossible? No #WinePW

Cheese and wine is a natural pairing, right?  Well, not always.  Sometimes those stinky cheeses that I love so much, Blue, Gorgonzola, Roquefort, etc. do not play well with wine.  They are too strong.  Don't get me wrong I still put at least one on my cheese platters when serving wine. I would just ignore that it wasn't wonderful.

So when Linda of My Full Wine Glass invited the members of Wine Pairing Weekend to join her in sharing Wine Pairings for Hard to Pair Foods my mind went immediately to this pairing.

Chateau Haut-Pognon and Mediterranean Stew #Winophiles

This Bordeaux from Entre-deux-Mers is reasonably priced and delicious, making it the perfect wine for a casual weeknight dinner of Mediterranean Stew.  The stew, chock full of vegetables and flavor, is slow cooked requiring only minutes of hands on time.  Perfect meal to come home too after work or a day of running errands.

Join the French Winophiles as we start the New Year off discussing What's New in Bordeaux.......

Each day should be a celebration. #FrenchWinophiles

French wines don't have to only be for holidays and special occasions.  You can get fabulous wines from France at great prices to enjoy each and every day.

Jason and Jill from L'Occasion has invited us to share our favorite French wine under $20.  Yep, that's right.  We are going to tell you all about some amazing wines that you can enjoy with dinner any time because after all........Each day should be a celebration!!

In this case, we were celebrating our first day home after being gone for a week on an Alaskan Cruise.  The cruise was amazing and we had a great time but we sure did miss our Little Angel Face.

So as soon as we got home, we invited her and Mama to join us for dinner.  We grilled some steaks and everyone knows that nothing goes better with beef than a nice bottle of Bordeaux.

I picked up this bottle at the recommendation of the owner of a wine store I visited while at Eastern Market down in the City.

I was not familiar with this winery so I conducted a little research when I got home.  Chateau Argadens is a new winery, especially by French standards, only opening in 2002.  The estate itself was founded in the 13th century by the noble Argadens family for which it is named.

The Sichel family, who bought the estate, worked extremely hard to "allow the quality of the terroir to be expressed to the full". They only have two wines a red and a white. You can learn all about the Chateau at their website by clicking on their name in the paragraph above.

While on our cruise we had many wonderful meals, including a Chef's Table with 7 courses and 7 wines matched to the courses.  It was an amazing experience that I will be sharing with you very soon.  I don't know if it was the wine, the home cooked meal, the comfort of being surrounded by family or being able to totally relax but this meal topped any of those that we enjoyed on the ship.

I served up the steak with a side of sweet and spicy redskin potatoes and a cauliflower gratin.  The redskin recipe will be shared tomorrow and you can link back to our Birthday Party for Julia Child for the cauliflower dish.

The wine is medium bodied and very smooth.  I think it is a great pour for the price and I intend to head back to the City and pick up some more as well as some of the white to see how that compares to my normal choice of Chardonnay.

Now let's go find some more amazing wine deals with the rest of the Winophiles.......

• An Affordable Red and Tapenade, Languedoc-Style by Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla 
• Navigating the Languedoc with Domaine Magellan by Lauren at The Swirling Dervish 
• 4 French Wine Finds $20 and under with Croque Monsieur and Monte Cristo from Gwen from Wine Predator 
• Each day should be a celebration by Wendy from A Day In the Life on the Farm 
• Surprisingly Affordable Wine Region: Bordeaux! by Jeff at FoodWineClick! 
• My Favorite Under $20 Pet Nat; Patrice Colin “Les Perles Gris” by Martin at ENOFLYZ 
• Affordable French Wines Paired with Simple Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner by Jane at Always Ravenous 
• Two Bargains from Bordeaux and Bergerac by Lynn at Savor the Harvest 
• Mapping France in Wine Bottles: Where to Get Affordable French Wine from Jason and Jill at L’occasion

A Gravelly Bordeaux for #FrenchWinophiles

I had never heard of Graves nor Entre Deux Mer wines when it was announced that these were the wines we were showcasing this month in our French Winophiles group.  It turns out that both of these wines are districts in the Bordeaux area of France.  Now, Bordeaux is a wine with which I am familiar.

Normally, when I think of Bordeaux, I think of a rich dark red that I love to have with a nice juicy steak.  This was what I had in mind when I headed to the City to buy my wine.  When I arrived at Cost Plus Wine Warehouse, I spoke with the owner and found that he carried one Graves and no Entre Deux Mer.  That made my decision very easy.  The Graves that he carried was a white.  There went my juicy steak!!

Graves, literally means, gravel soil.  This wine is named after the soil in which the grapes are grown. It is a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Sauvignon Blanc is a wine with which I am familiar and often enjoy.

When I think of Sauvignon Blanc, I think of hot summer days on the deck with a seafood salad.  I knew I wanted to serve this wine with seafood and, as luck would have it, we were celebrating Stuffed Fish and Seafood in this month's Fish Friday Foodies.  I decided to serve this wine to our friends, Kim and Kurt, when they joined us for dinner where I served up a Crab Stuffed Flounder.

I shared the recipe for Crab Stuffed Flounder with you yesterday but if you missed it you can link to it here.  The wine that I was able to get is from Chateau des Perligues.  Fortunately, this winery is known for "producing classic Graves of extraordinary quality, at very reasonable prices", according to Vision Wine.

This 2013 Graves was very affordable at $14 and was bright and crisp like a Sauvignon Blanc but the blend of the Semilllon was apparent.  It paired very nicely with the Crab Stuffed Flounder.  It poured a pale yellow and was clean and grassy on the nose.  Flounder is also a light fish which makes it perfect for stuffing.  The stuffing was a little bit heavier which made it a wonderful match with this wine.

I enjoy, so much, being a member of the French Winophiles. Prior to joining this group I was not familiar at  all with French wines sticking mostly with California wines with an occasional foray to Washington, Australia and Chile.  The more French wines I try the more I like them. I think that this will not be the last Graves I enjoy.

Each month, the French Winophiles gather on their blogs and on twitter, illustrating the best in French food, wine and travel. We are finishing up our visit to Bordeaux, and we invite you to join the following writers and bloggers:

French Winophiles Tackle Graves

Illustrating the best in food, wine and travel from these spots are the following writers and bloggers: 

• Jeff from Food Wine Click! gives us a Quick Weeknight Meal: Cod Packets with Graves
• Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm offers A Gravelly Bordeaux 
• Michelle from Rockin’ Red Blog is Diving Into Bordeaux Wine with Winophiles: Graves
• Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla is having Pizza Night with a Lalande de Pomerol 2011 
• Jill at L’occasion we are celebrating Harvest in Bordeaux

Join us Saturday, September 17th at 10:00 am central for a live twitter chat using #Winophiles and share your favorite food, wine and travel experiences featuring Graves and Entre-Deux-Mers.

 

Join us for our upcoming tours:

October 15th – Jura

November 19th – Cahor and Beaujolis