A successful food and wine pairing: some pitfalls to avoid!

We all have habits, related to our beliefs, our education, our culture. Yet in the matter of food and wine pairings, many received ideas fall by the wayside as soon as we break into what really matches. For some people, it is complicated to change the “bad” habits. A successful food and wine pairing is like a successful marriage, it’s a matter of respect. There are no miracle recipes to ensure that a marriage between two people will succeed, but after a few years of experience, we know some pitfalls to avoid. For food and wine pairings it’s exactly the same.

Food and wine pairing with red Chateauneuf du Pape.

The wine of Châteauneuf du Pape can be pairred with many foods. Here, 13 different grape varieties are cultivated, each with specific taste characteristics. Harvested on more than 8 different terroirs it is possible here to change several times of terroir in a few hundred meters, such a diversity of soils is more than amazing.
Diversity of terroirs rhymes with diversity of styles, and this is what ensures these wines a versatility appropriate in terms of food and wine pairing with fine cuisine.
For example, special vintages are made from very old vines that produce rich, powerful and complex wines in which we can find aromas of laurel, rosemary, cherry cherries, sometimes slightly kirschy. Such wines require a longer aging time and often new barrels will be used to support the tannins of this type of wine. These are long-term wines (10 to 15 years old) that will be paired with game, a rack of roast lamb with tomatoes, truffle dishes and spicy cuisine.
However one can also find red wines easier to drink, even from their youngest age more easy to pair with certain cheeses and even certain desserts.

Food and wine pairing with white Chateauneuf du Pape.

The most surprising for the visitor may be the discovery of the white wines of Châteauneuf du Pape. Unique white wines, where the old Roussannes grapes for example, can produce white wines, silky, rich, generous and a great finesse to accompany for example a Saint-Pierre roasted with bay and thyme or a sea bass cooked in a crust of salt served with a gratin of fennel.

Chateauneuf-du-Pape Food and wine pairing program:

Evening Session only – (minimum 8 persons – maximum 15): starting from 110€/person.
This tour includes:  
Commented Food & Wine pairings session in an authentic underground wine cellar from the 14th century which has been entirely redone and with the best comfort.
Tasty dishes such as local traditional cheeses, delicatessen from the Chateauneuf du Pape region.
The 4 great wines of the Rhône Valley and Châteauneuf du Pape.
Pick-up and drop-off services from Châteauneuf-du-Pape and in the near vicinity of Avignon.

Additional comments:

• Day Session is not available for this tour.
• The minimum number of people possible is 8.
• The maximum number of people possible is 15.