Fine wines for your festive spreads

Something seriously delicious for your aperitif

For the aperitif, surprise your guests with a Condrieu Laurus 2017^[1]. It may not be bubbly, but this wine is rich and bursting with flavour. An ideal companion for celebrations, this fresh, mineral wine is as easy to drink as champagne. Patiently matured in a barrel for 15 months, this white wine is perfectly at home with finger food and conversations.

Elevate your main course with elegance and finesse

Enjoy a taste of the mountains with Domaine de Longue Toque’s Gigondas Lieu-dit Les Trois Yeux. This 2017 vintage was made using exclusive parcel selection. At Domaine de Longue Toque, Maison Gabriel Meffre develops special expertise that reflects its distinctive terroir-variety pairings. The place known as ‘Les Trois Yeux’ is located at an altitude of 450 metres in the Dentelles de Montmirail mountains, where old Grenache vines are planted in a Cretaceous marl soil covered in limestone scree.

In the magazine Terre de Vins^[1], journalist Chantal Sarrazin writes that:

“At these altitudes, Gigondas wines behave similarly to wines from the northern Rhone Valley. This cuvée, a concentration of finesse and elegance, is an illustration of this.”

This wine will pair superbly with venison and mushrooms, as well as larded or roast game. The flavour of the meat will be balanced out by the wine’s structure. To fully enjoy the flavours when tasting, avoid sauces and cream, and opt for roasting and grilling instead.

If you have any left for the next day, Véronique, our winemaker at Maison Gabriel Meffre, suggests enjoying your ‘Trois Yeux’ Gigondas simply with a few boiled potatoes topped with a thin slice of raw ham.

To go with your cheese, the Domaine de Longue Toque Côtes du Rhône white transports you to the Causses limestone plateaus

For the cheese course, you can play with colours by combining a white wine with blue cheese, for example. The Domaine de Longue Toque Côtes du Rhône white is a mineral wine made with grapes grown at altitude. Fresh and complex, it will pair superbly with blue cheeses.

Wine writer Marc Van Hellemont² particularly recommends it with the ‘Bleu des Causses’ cheese. He writes: “Its golden robe has shades of emerald, while its bouquet immediately reveals its sunny character. This character is expressed through a mixture of candied citrus fruits, pear and white peach marmalades, sprinkled with almond, spicy white pepper and rosemary. This marries wonderfully with the blue cheese, complemented by the wine’s unctuousness and slight bitterness, which brings out its spicy fragrances and its minerality that recalls the limestone of the Causses. It is bursting with herbs and dried flowers a superb bouquet that elegantly completes this unexpected encounter.”

And for dessert, an exotic journey

To end the meal on a fresh note, go for a simple dessert made with zesty fruits, or exotic fruits such as mango and kumquat. Véronique recommends the Muscat de Beaumes de Venise Laurus^[1]. This natural wine is sweet, rich and airy all at once.

If your palate is calling out for nougat and chocolate, try a Châteauneuf-du-Pape Saint-Théodoric 2015^[1], from our Gabriel Meffre “signature”. This wine has a pleasant patina, with notes of prune, cocoa and fresh spices. It will provide excellent balance to a molten chocolate cake or candied fruits.

If you are looking for some more inspiration for the end-of-year festivities, we will also be delighted to advise you at our Cellar.

We wish you a happy festive season!