Ok, so this post actually dates back to a meal we had a while ago, so it is not completely in season. I do however found it very interesting in winepairing, so just keep it in mind until next winter, okay?
For a long time, wines with a bit of sweetness were the bane of the wine world. Mosel wines with Prädikat or not, Vouvray demi-sec, a whole range of Alsacien wines; all of them have fallen or are still falling in disarray. Sure, the producers are at times to blame as well, like the whole Blue Nun fiasco still impacting the image people have of German wines, or the complete lack of residual sugar indication on the label in the Alsace in the past. Nonetheless, there still seems to be an at times stupefying aversion when people find something sweet, yet not overly sugary in their glass. They can wax lyrical about the wine’s aromas and presence on the palate, all to ruin it with a nasty ‘it is a bit sweet, isn’t it’ which more often than not is the end of their judgement. It is like they don’t know what to do with them. ‘Do I drink it on its own, do I pair it with food and oh God, what the hell am I going to eat with this?’
The average wine literature on food and wine pairing has not played the best of roles, as it goes for correct but safe choices: If you taste the sugar, go for a desert, if it is red, go for anything with chocolate and if it is Riesling, stick to spicy and Asian to match with. There is however so much more. I have said it before and will continue to drive home the message: Once you start considering sweetness as a component of the wine’s entire structure instead of just a precursor to a specific set of aromas or the addition of sugar, your food-pairing universe will expand exponentially. To put this to the test, a standoff between two wines: Frisson d’Ombelles 2013 by Domaine de la Marfée vs. Xavier Weisskopf’s Les Borderies 2014 démi-sec.
First up though, the food! Seared salmon has a reputation as being one of the few fishes that can be matched with red wines, pinot noir specifically. I, however, totally disagree. The rather intense flavor will completely overwhelm whatever nuance the wine possesses, and more often than not I end up enjoying neither the dish or the wine. In white, I would look for something with structure, not too opulent but still with a certain density to it.
The risotto is prepared the classic way, with parsley root, Jerusalem artichokes and salsify (‘a poor man’s asparagus’) added. These are almost archetypical winter vegetables with distinctive earthy notes, and in the case of the Jerusalem artichokes, quite a fragrance as well. The wine to match would need to be grounded, not too much on the fruit, yet sufficiently intense on the nose to not being crushed. All in all, I would definitely go for something medium in body, not too much overt acidity, and reasonably aromatic on the nose.
Our first contestant is Domaine de la Marfée’s Frisson d’Ombelles 2013. This estate, located near Montpellier so mainly working in the Languedoc, has been doing great things. I bought a couple of their wines to try once, kind of forgot about them for a few years and only started to drink them recently. They were wonderful, really underplaying their humble VDP origins. and I can wholeheartedly recommend them in both red and white. This cuvée is a 70% rousanne & 30% chardonnay blend, aged in oak for about a year. The rousanne is really dominant in the nose with hints of apricot, yellow peaches and a creaminess that I associate with the wood. Rousanne is a variety that often focuses more on the gras than on liveliness, so the addition of chardonnay is quite nice here as the body has weight, yet does not pull you down.
Contestant number two is Rocher des Violettes’ Montlouis les Borderies 2014. I met Xavier’s girlfriend two years ago at the Salon des Vins de Loire and was struck in awe by the white wines I tasted. Gentle, nuanced and a succulent quality that is a natural motivator to empty a bottle. Les Borderies is an exemplary wine of what Montlouis is capable of, gentle on the nose, quite mineral actually, but much richer on the palate. No one tasting this blind would call this sweet, yet it is at 10g/l of residual sugar, which really lends it an almost velvety quality. At less than 15 euros, this is an absolute steal.
Now, both wines are worthy contestants, a bit to my surprise to be honest. There is a nice, grounded quality to Frisson d’Ombelles that matches perhaps just a bit better with the risotto, especially aromawise, yet les Borderies’ palate manages to put up a better fight to both the quite intensely flavoured salmon as well as the creamy texture of the risotto. All in all, there is no wrong match here, but looking at what was left in the bottles afterwards, les Borderies was clearly enjoyed more, so that has to count for something!
First up, the German selection may be familiar with those who have been following my writing since the beginning: Am Stein’s Innere Leiste Silvaner 2012. It just goes to show that I don’t just 
For years the Jura remained a blind spot on my wine radar. About ten years ago I followed your very basic wine course which was more about drinking than actually learning anything. I was ticked off that I had to miss the one class on regions that I knew nothing about, Jura and Savoie, but quickly forgot about it. A couple of years later, when I was getting more and more into wine, I came across an invitation for a Jura wine tasting in Antwerp, organized by Terrovin. It turned out to not only be my first real introduction to the wines of the Jura, but also to the world of natural wine. I have visited a lot of tastings over the years, but this is one that stayed with me, because the wines were so different from what I had drunk up until that point. My tasting notes can be summarized by ‘subdued, coolness, crunch, length, stinky, pure, shifting in the glass, and geuze, geuze, geuze’.
This week I will be joining the Winophiles, a group of bloggers united in their love for French wine who commit to an article on a shared topic. This month: Cross-cultural food pairings with French wine! This is really something that I love, as it forces you to think outside of the box; to put aside wine conventions that are mostly based on regional cuisines and that have been developed and semi-set in stone.
Now, the safer and classic match was Roc des Anges’ Reliefs Cotes de Rousillon 2013. I have to admit that the South of France has been a blind spot on my wine radar for too long, and every year, when I encounter one of those fantastic wines that show that the Rousillon is so much more than a cheap swill factory, I tell myself that I need to pay far more attention to it. For now, it is but a note on my never-ending list of wine-related to-do’s.
Dive is the type of chaos with a flair that only the French know how to do right. Get annoyed at the lack of navettes between the Saumur station and the Ackerman cellars where la Dive takes place or walk. Get pissed off at the crowds of backpack-carrying groupies who just hang out with their revered winemaker of choice, or simply mingle with them. Finally, get paralyzed by the fear of swallowing due to the lack of spittoons, or carry around your own in a trolley, trumping backpacks in annoyance, like a certain couple of Dutch wine merchants (although you never know with the Dutch, they may as well have been creating their own very special blend of salvia-textured wine vinegar).
As a bonus, Domaine Plageoles’ Prunelard 2013! Prunelard is ancient and actually an ancestor to Cot (malbec) which is the key grape in nearby Cahors. There is very little of it left, about 30ha I’d guess, and it is only permitted in IGP Cotes du Tarn, probably as there is so very little of it. The wine itself is a bit muted as first, prunes and a bit rustic on the palate on the first day, yet drinking along nicely at the same time. Very different on the second day with liquorice and spiciness, especially on the nose. Aromatically it is a wintery wine, warming yet low in alcohol, the tannic structure and density on the palate would make it the perfect match for a big, juicy cut of boar!
When is a wine faulty? There are plenty of times when this is clear from the start; a messed up colour, raging volatile acidity, vinegar,…. Other times it is not always clear. For a long time, I did not like Cabernet Franc as there is often something unpleasant in the nose at first, especially in the case of young wines. You get aromas of degraded fruit, barnyard or just plain shit. This most often happens with wines that have been created in an oxygen-depraved environment, like I mentioned already when talking about 
The 2016 RAW fair took place in London this weekend, and just like 
The culinary reputation the Netherlands has with its southern neighbours is sketchy at best. A first day in Rotterdam sadly confirmed this view when we were served what was supposedly Basque cuisine in a restaurant on which the less is said the better (the only two Basque wines on the menu where even sold out!). Being friends with wine merchants on Facebook does have its benefits, and so on a sunny Sunday evening we ended up in Restaurant De Jong.
The main courses were terrific on their own, but whereas one was intensified by my wine choice, the other one was more enjoyable on its own (the slight disadvantage of not knowing what you will get beforehand). The match was spot on with the Baamburgs Big, which Google tells me is a unique species of pig cultivated near Utrecht, and different preparations of beetroot. The earthiness of the wine and the juiciness of the meat worked terrific together. The other main course, potato gnocchi with smoked peas served with crunchy potato skins was a bit more difficult. On itself the dish was delicious, but the peas did not work well with the wine.
When talking about pinot noir in France, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who links it to another region besides Burgundy. Granted, it is nigh unbeatable reputation-wise, as the recent auction at Hospice de Beaune proved with a whopping 39% price increase versus last year. Nonetheless, other regions are perfectly capable of producing unique pinot noir. For instance, Jura wines may not be the easiest, are from time to time hijacked by hipsters and enjoy sudden bursts of popularity on the sommelier scene, but on plenty of occasions they are utterly delicious.
You cannot get a full picture of German Riesling without talking about the country’s tradition in sweet wines. At one point in time they ranked amongst the most expensive wines in the world, even beating a couple of Médoc First Growths. Unfortunately, they took a turn for the worse in the eighties. ‘liebfraumilch’ is largely to blame for the image of sweet German wines that still persists in many parts of the world. 
Despite my love for Riesling, I’ve never really gotten to know the Alsace, France’s one and only home to the variety. Part of this is because of the limited availability of Alsacien wines, as I do not think that there is one merchant in Belgium who really specializes in the region; most of them only have a limited range just because they think that they need it to complete their offer. 
As those who follow me on 
Burgundy remains one of the great destinations for many a winelover. Highly reputed for the finest wines in both white and red, known for the nearly incomprehensible patchwork of microclimats and tiny terroirs it is certainly not the easiest wine region, something which I discovered myself over the past weekend. 
