French Fringe Wine Fun: Back That Wine Up!

Back Up Wines for Entertaining

A couple of weeks ago we invited some friends over for an evening of French Fringe Wine Fun. During the evening we served wines from grapes and/or regions that were new to pretty much all of us. Each wine had a course that included a pairing from its origin. Four of the wines were from the Southwest France area, one (Marcillac) of which I described in the last post. 

Again we were playing the “Is it a grape, wine, or place?” game amongst ourselves as we tasted through the wines. An unsuspecting star was the rustic Irouleguy from Domaine Ilarria.  In this case, Irouleguy (pronounced ee-rool-ey-ghee), is the name of the region and appellation. It is one of the smallest wine producing areas and the only AOC located in French Basque country near the Spanish border. Had this wine region been on my radar when we were skulking around San Sebastian, Spain a few years ago? This would have been the detour du jour; it’s only an hour and a half drive away!

Photo courtesy of winesofsouthwestfrance.com

Madiran, You’re Up!

Admittedly, this wine was originally in the starting lineup of reds, but when I opened it I wasn’t so sure. So I pulled a 2007 Domaine du Clos Baste’ Madiran off the bench (from the wine chiller) and opened it instead. See, I’ve been to so many functions where the wine was corked, the recipe failed, or the pairings didn’t jive. Therefore, I had backup wines. 

OK, I had backup courses too.  In the event I hosed up La Tarte a’ la Tomate (tomato tart) I had a Tarte aux Champignons (mushroom tart) from Trader Joe’s on standby in the freezer.  Well the tomato tart was lovely, and thank you to my long-time bloggy friend Kristin Espinasse from French Word-A-Day for the recipe! It was paired with a Tibouren from Provence (a crazy wine for another crazy day). It was also breakfast the next day (the tart, not the wine, people) before the ceremonial washing of the 50+ wine glasses.

Even the Macarons? Yes, Backup Dessert.

There was also a backup dessert in case I failed miserably in my attempt at mini tarte tatins. Did you know Trader Joe’s carries Macarons des Fêtes? Why yes they do. And they now live in my freezer.  So if you ever come to Val’s house for dinner and I’m serving Macarons? Chances are I either screwed up dessert or forgot about it. The tarte tatin recipe and mango sorbet were a success with a lovely Jurançon. Again, is it a grape? A place? We’ll find out next week. I can tell you it was an unsuspecting scorer, as I had another pinch hitter, an Alsace SGN (dessert wine) chilling in the wine fridge … just in case.  
Back to the Irouleguy wine. It opened up nicely and almost everyone at the table preferred this wine with the pork tenderloin and prunes in a shallot Dijon sauce. Some liked the Marcillac, a couple preferred the Madiran. However, this bottle which cost a mere $20 hit a home run! Domaine Ilarria is a blend of Tannat, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, and after some time in the glass really showed off some dark fruits and sturdy tannins (that would be the Tannat grape at 70% of the blend talking) as we tried it with Prosciutto (sorry, no Bayonne ham was available) and an herbed triple cream cheese.

You know, drinking around unknown wine regions cannot replace actually traveling to these beautiful (bucket list!) places, but it sure comes a close second. I always ask my clients, “Where do you want to go in a wine glass?” because that’s just it. Not everyone can galavant around the planet … but we can get out some wine glasses and have just as memorable a time with friends.

Oh, and a backup plan never hurts.

(Originally Published 2015/08/19)