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+--- Thread: burgundy and port (/thread-900.html)
- Karen O - 02-15-2003
Hello. I am hosting a gourmet dinner and my theme is "An Evening in Burgundy". It is a french meal and I want all wines coming from the Burgundy region of France. I am having a difficult time finding the pairings listed in the recipes, so I need to substitute. I don't know alot about wines, and certainly not Burgundy wine. I would like a bit of education on Burgundy wines, as well as ideas for substitutes. I will be having a total of 8 people, so I also want to watch the costs for my wine. I was hoping for a price around $15.00 a bottle. For my entree I will be serving escargots in an herbed cream sauce. The recipe calls for 1999 Marc Colin St. Aubin La Chateniere or 1999 Domaine Denis Clair St. Aubin Les Murgers des Dents de Chein. What other white burgundy would be a good substitute? For the main course I will be serving Filet Mignon with a burgundy wine reduction. This will be a very bold sauce made with burgundy wine, cognac and a french demi glace. The recipe calls for 1999 Louis jadot Pommand or 1999 Bouchard Pere & Fils Beaune Greves Vignede l'Enfant Jesus. Any suggestions for a red burgundy substitute? Also, for dessert, I will be serving Creme au caramel, which is a baked custard with a sugar caramel sauce on top. I was hoping to serve a port with dessert...any suggestions for that? Is there such a thing as a French port that would go well with my dessert? I truly appreciate any suggestions, advice, or education you could provide me.
- Innkeeper - 02-15-2003
Hi Karen, and welcome to the Wine Board. For the White Burgundy look for a Rully such as "La Pucelle" from Giradin. For the Red Burgundy look for a Marsannay such as the 2000 from Louis Jadot. Both of these are under $20 by the case. Don't know of any Burgundian Ports. For a current list of nice ones from Portugal and Australia look at our Port thread.
- joeyz6 - 02-15-2003
Otherwise, if any French, sweet red will do, try a Banyuls.
- Karen O - 02-16-2003
Thanks for all the suggestions. They were very helpful. I will look for all the wines in my liquor store. I was hoping to at least keep with the broader french theme for all my wines, so I believe I will check out the banyulus for the sweet wine. I have been doing alot of research on french wines and I am learning alot of interesting things. By the way, does anyone know of a sparkling wine from the burgundy region? Thanks for any input! I appreciate it!
- joeyz6 - 02-16-2003
Karen, make sure the Banyuls you get is sweet ... I might be a little over my head recommending it, since I'm not extremely familiar with the appelation (yet). But I've had a sweet Banyuls that was good. I'm not sure if this was made in the same method as Port, or if it's just a normal red wine. Maybe one of the experts could help clarify that.
Also, I don't know about sparkling Burgundy (never heard of that), but if you get a Champagne, you'll most likely be drinking a wine that was made from the same grape varietals that are found in Burgundy (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay). Otherwise, if any French sparkler will work, then try a sparkling Vouvray, which will almost certainly be cheaper than Champagne.
- Innkeeper - 02-16-2003
Banyuls, a.k.a. Late Harvest Grenache is, to the best of my knowledge always sweet. For table quality (i.e. dry) grenache from the area, look for Cotes Du Provence and similar appellations.
- Georgie - 02-16-2003
So Banyuls is a type of wine, like Port or grenache? I've never heard of it and have been trying to figure it out. I should go to the store and ask for banyuls or late harvest grenache and they'll know what I mean? It's French? I like sweet wine.
- hotwine - 02-16-2003
Banyuls is a resort/fishing village on the Med, near the Spanish frontier. The Banyuls appellation requires at least 50% Grenache Noir, 40% Grenach Gris and Blanc, and 10% of other varieties of grape, such as Carginan, Cinsault, Mourvedre, Counoise and Syrah.
Banyuls is a fortified wine, that is, fermentation is arrested prior to completion by the addition of alcohol, to stabilize the level of sweetness.
(Above was taken loosely from the Larousse Encyclopedia of Wine.)
If you don't own a wine reference, get one. Or a bunch.
- Georgie - 02-16-2003
Thank you, hotwine, for your taking the trouble to explain. It was very helpful. G.
- Karen O - 02-17-2003
Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions. You have all been so helpful! I will have to take some of my new knowledge and advice to my liquor store and start trying out the french wines. I'll take everyone's suggestions and sample a few before my party. What a hard task that will be!!! If anyone else has some suggestions, please feel free to add...my party isn't until the end of March, so I have plenty of time to sample a few suggestions and choose the best fitting for me. I'll have to let everyone know how my "Evening in Burgundy" goes. Again, thanks a buch for your insightful hints and suggestions. I'm a beginner, so it is very helpful to me. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]
- Thomas - 02-17-2003
Isn't there a Burgundian who produces late harvest Chardonnay?
- Karen O - 02-18-2003
Late harvest???Would that make it a sweet/dessert wine? Again, forgive me, I'm a definate novice at this.
- Innkeeper - 02-18-2003
Late Harvest is more or less a New World tip off for dessert wines. Old World regions tend to have their own terms. In France look for the term Vins Doux Naturel. When Foodie said Late Harvest Chardonnay it was more or less a figure of speech, such as when I referred to Banyuls as a Late Harvest Grenache. The locals would never use such nomenclature.
- wondersofwine - 02-18-2003
I can't top IK's suggestions for the appetizer and entree wines. But if you can't find the Marsannay you might look for a Savigny-les-Beaunes. They are relatively inexpensive for red burgundies and do not require extensive aging. 1999 or 2000 should be on the market now.
- Karen O - 02-21-2003
Thanks for the suggestions. I will be geeting some "sample" bottles this weekend to try some of the suggestions before my party. Keep 'em coming! [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/smile.gif[/img]