Cassoulet wine pairing

Hi, new here and am looking for some help with a wine pairing. Going to a potluck this weekend for which the wife is making a cassoulet and I'm charged with finding a wine to go with it. Saw the discussion you had recently about cassoulet where a Madiran was paired with it. Unfortunately, I haven't much time left for shopping and have been having a hard time finding any northern rhones around my small town (Woodland ca.). Could anyone suggest a Ca. syrah with N. rhone characteristics that might be readily available?

Terre Rouge Syrah, Shenandoah Valley, "Sentinel Oak."

Hi, new here and am looking for some help with a wine pairing. Going to a potluck this weekend for which the wife is making a cassoulet and I'm charged with finding a wine to go with it. Saw the discussion you had recently about cassoulet where a Madiran was paired with it. Unfortunately, I haven't much time left for shopping and have been having a hard time finding any northern rhones around my small town (Woodland ca.). Could anyone suggest a Ca. syrah with N. rhone characteristics that might be readily available?

Armand,

First welcome to the forum, and we hope you get some good advice concerning your question.I would like to point out that Madiran is not in the Northern Rhone, rather it is in Southwest France near the Pyrénées mountains. Madiran is made from the tannant grape and I am not sure it would pair well with cassoulet. If I were in your shoes, I would think more of a decent to good wine made from the pinot noir grape. This wine may be from the USA or from France, or even from the southern hemisphere...especially from New Zealand. If You choose a California pinot noir, I would suggest it be from the Carnerous region, or from the Russian River valley. Some great pinots are being made in Oregon, and even decent pinots can be found from Chile. Of course the pinots from New Zealand are well received too. If you would like to go with a wine from the home of pinot then you need to look at red Burgundy...however for a good one be prepared for the cost. If your budget can stand it, I would think of something in the $30 - $40 range will give you a wine you won't be bashful about opening for friends and wine geeks alike. Again welcome to the forum, come back and tell us what you decided to buy, and how it went with the cassoulet.

Could anyone suggest a Ca. syrah with N. rhone characteristics that might be readily available?

Look for wines from Edmunds-St. John. Steve's wines are fantastic, affordable, and should be readily available in California.

[Jenise]

Could anyone suggest a Ca. syrah with N. rhone characteristics that might be readily available?

Look for wines from Edmunds-St. John. Steve's wines are fantastic, affordable, and should be readily available in Southern California.

Couldn't agree more, and I support Carl's recco of the Terre Rouge too. Another good name in Rhone-y syrahs (and mouvedres, and grenache-syrah-mouvedre blends which mimic Chateneuf du Pape which would be my favorite cassoulet wine even over a straight syrah, is Jade Mountain. Or at least it used to be--haven't had a recent release Jade Mountain in years, but I'm not aware of any change in style/direction.

Welcome to the forum, Armand.

While this is hardly a Northern Rhonesque wine, Cline's Ancient Vines Mourvedre is a really solid value-for-money red that's more like a southern Rhone/Provencal red but ought to be a pretty good match with cassoulet.

Thanks all for the welcome and the sugesstions.
Bob
Because of the duck I first thought of pinot, but feel that the other ingrediants would overpower the wine. Thanks for the education on location and grape type. I've got a lot of learning to do concerning french wines and locations. I guess I shouldn't necessarilly be looking for a northern rhone or syrah for this dish.
Carl
Thanks for the reminder. I've tasted Terre Rouge in the past and remember their wines being more eurpoean in style.
Cynthia
Not familiar with that winery. More research to do!
Jenise
Chateneuf du Pape shouldn't be to hard to find, thanks. What do you think about a GSM?

Finally, I hope this reply goes through. I've tried several times already and may have to ask for help!

GSM is often frankly sweet. Not a match in this case. Keep away from Australia here.

The three towns that "invented" Cassoulet are Castelnaudary, Carcassone, and Toulouse. If you look at a map they are not in the Rhône valley but in southwest France, look about halfway across the border between France and Spain near Lourdes and St. Gaudens. The best possible beans for the dish are the Tarbais beans, Tarbes is even a little farther west. So the Tannat grape is hardly inappropriate. Bob Henrick did a good job of locating the Madiran area but it overlaps very nicely with the Cassoulet area.

On the other hand the dish more or less boils down to a very fancy version of Franks and Beans and from that point of view it is almost hard to go wrong. On a flavor basis, beer wouldn't even be bad.

What I generally serve with Cassoulet is Châteauneuf du Pape. A cheaper choice would be a Côtes du Rhône. CNdP is delicious with Cassoulet though and there are lots of good examples easy to find. If you want a California wine, Cynthia was right on the money, Edmunds St. John is the obvious choice, being the most European of all California Syrahs. And Steve Edmunds posts here so you can tell him how much you enjoyed it afterwards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassoulet

Frank

Just a coincidence but my wife is doing cassoulet for friends this Friday. This is something she does for 3 groups every winter.We've served N. Rhones, S. Rhones, SW France, one year on Steve Edmund's suggestion we served Barolo which went well. My wife has had the confit melding for the cassoulet since last Sept. Bob H. old friend, real cassoulet would blow away any Burgundy or Pinot Noir that would be drinkable. Many of Steve's wines will go well, in fact he'll be here for the dinner this weekend with Hoke, JBL, etc.

Just a coincidence but my wife is doing cassoulet for friends this Friday. This is something she does for 3 groups every winter.We've served N. Rhones, S. Rhones, SW France, one year on Steve Edmund's suggestion we served Barolo which went well. My wife has had the confit melding for the cassoulet since last Sept. Bob H. old friend, real cassoulet would blow away any Burgundy or Pinot Noir that would be drinkable. Many of Steve's wines will go well, in fact he'll be here for the dinner this weekend with Hoke, JBL, etc.

Thanks Lou for straightening me out. I was going with the match of duck and pinot, but guess I went wrong. I know that after all these years you have the pairing down pat, and should have told Armand to check with you. I envy Steve, Hoke, and Jason for being able to just stop by when BettyLu puts cassoulet on the menu. Heck, I even envy you for the wines that these guys will be packing! So, what are you going to be opening for the entree?

Thanks Lou for straightening me out. I was going with the match of duck and pinot, but guess I went wrong. I know that after all these years you have the pairing down pat, and should have told Armand to check with you. I envy Steve, Hoke, and Jason for being able to just stop by when BettyLu puts cassoulet on the menu. Heck, I even envy you for the wines that these guys will be packing! So, what are you going to be opening for the entree?

Old friend there's no way you should apologize to me for anything. we go back too far. I think 98 Ogier Cote Rotie will find it's way to the table. Maybe we'll get a summary posted of all the juice we drink a few days after we indulge.

Armand,
Since it is probably my cassoulet posts you saw, let me add to the excellent advice you've already received. Every year that I've made cassoulet I've chosen different wines to pair with it, much as Lou has done with his wife BettyLu's legendary cassoulet. Both of our cassoulets are quite traditional and therefore are rich and somewhat fatty. As a result, somewhat tannic red wines tend to do the best with it. My list would be Tannat, Mourvedre, Malbec and gutsier Syrahs. Thinking of what you've got in CA, I endorse the Terre Rouge and ESJ choices, but would add Tablas Creek to the list, too. Their more Mourvedre-heavy cuvées would do quite well IMO. If your wife's cassoulet isn't terribly traditional, that could change what wines you'd serve with it. And if it is a traditional casouulet, don't be afraid of serving a fairly young wine, as the fat will tend to smooth out the tannins and bring out the fruit. Although I haven't tried Petite Sirah with cassoulet, I'd guess that that would also be a good combination.

Have fun!
Mark Lipton

I think 98 Ogier Cote Rotie will find it's way to the table. Maybe we'll get a summary posted of all the juice we drink a few days after we indulge.

Huh? Stuart's flying in for the event?

Mark Lipton

Hello Armand, and welcome. I will warn you that although the Edmunds St. John wines are around NorCal, they're more available in the Bay Area than around than the Woodland-Sacramento-Davis region. The only place I know of that stocks any at all is Taylor's Market in Sac. (If you run across any in Woodland, please let me know.)

From my cassoulet experience, I'd agree with the Terre Rouge and Tablas Creek suggestions. The Terre Rouge Noir would be an alternative to the Sentinel Oak, if you find it. The Tablas Creek wines seem to be in a lot of stores around here so that one shouldn't be hard to find.

Again, welcome, and I hope you resist the temptation to overeat the cassoulet (although I rarely do!)

[Jenise]

GSM is often frankly sweet. Not a match in this case. Keep away from Australia here.

But GSM blends aren't the exclusive property of Australia. Many are made in California which is what I was reccomending, for more complexity and less California-syrah-sweetness, since it seemed Armand was leaning toward a California wine.

GSM is often frankly sweet. Not a match in this case. Keep away from Australia here.

But GSM blends aren't the exclusive property of Australia. Many are made in California which is what I was reccomending, for more complexity and less California-syrah-sweetness, since it seemed Armand was leaning toward a California wine.

Thanks Jenise, I wasn't responding to your post but to Armand's question. "GSM" on the label means a specific wine to me, a sweet red wine from Australia. I was assuming Rosemount GSM (was I right Armand?) Of course I would agree with you about CA wines made from those grapes. He asked about "GSM"

F

Hi Frank
Yes I understand the association of GSM with Austrailia, but in this instance I was thinking of a Ca. GSM. I have a bottle of Clos Saron Holy Moly that was gifted to me. Have not had this wine before so am a little unsure of its character, only know what the website says. Anybody familiar with this wine. Is it sweet as in the Austrailia style?

[Jenise]

While this is hardly a Northern Rhonesque wine, Cline's Ancient Vines Mourvedre is a really solid value-for-money red that's more like a southern Rhone/Provencal red but ought to be a pretty good match with cassoulet.

Good call. Learned last weekend that Cline's source is what used to provide the grapes for Ridge's Mataro; someone poured a '93 at that event (a cassoulet dinner, btw!), and while it showed a certain inescapable California sweetness it was a deep and complex wine.

While this is hardly a Northern Rhonesque wine, Cline's Ancient Vines Mourvedre is a really solid value-for-money red that's more like a southern Rhone/Provencal red but ought to be a pretty good match with cassoulet.

Good call. Learned last weekend that Cline's source is what used to provide the grapes for Ridge's Mataro; someone poured a '93 at that event (a cassoulet dinner, btw!), and while it showed a certain inescapable California sweetness it was a deep and complex wine.

Jenise,
If by that you mean that Cline has the Bridgehead Vineyard, which Ridge did use for some of their Mataros, then I agree. However, Ridge also made an Evangelo Vineyard Mataro, which I don't think Cline has ever used, and many of Cline's Mourvedre plantings lie outside of the Bridgehead vineyard. Also, the '93 that you had (and the '99 Small Berry that I own) were made before Matt(?) Cline left the his position as winemaker at Cline. Recent Cline wines that I've had have not lived up to my memory of the earlier wines.

Mark Lipton
(Contra Costa County native)

My local cassoulet place ("Quercy") serves madiran or cahors. But, really, as long as the wine can stand up to all that duck fat (and pork fat and butter), it should work.