Pair Up with La Sommelierre - July 2010
French Riviera in Summer
The Côte d’Azur or French Riviera is one of the most beautiful and relaxing places on earth. This menu is anchored by the classic salad of Nice — Salad Niçoise. And, while the menu may seem daunting, do give it a try. There is a lot of chopping for the salad but no complicated cooking techniques and the rest of the meal is ‘purchase and plate.’
Start off this French inspired meal with a classic Italian sparkler, lambrusco. Light red in color, lambrusco is low in alcohol and lightly sweet. It is delicious with salty, fatty salumi. Salumi are Italian cured meat products predominantly made from pork, like prosciutto. The word salumi is not a misspelling or variant of salami (sing: salame). Salame is a specific type of salume.
Rosé is a quintessential summertime wine. Some like it dry, others like it a little sweet. One of my favorite dry rosés is from a little town in Provence named Bandol. Bandol is light salmon in color and has the aroma of fresh picked strawberries. It also has a lovely herbal quality that is the perfect complement to the green flavors of the Niçoise salad.
Sauternes is a French winemaking region that specializes in very sweet, dessert wine. The wines are made from a blend of sauvignon blanc and sémillon grapes that have been affected by the fungus Botrytis Cinerea. Blue cheese is one of sauternes best pairings. Stay in the French theme and pick Roquefort or choose another of your favorites.
So, go on. Pair Up!
Find recipes online at www.lasommelierre.com
