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Pairing Les Clos de Paulilles 2008 Banyuls Rimage with Anette's Chocolates' Micro Brew Beer Brittle

Wed, 01/25/2012 - 12:45 — rich

Les Clos de Paulilles is the winery, restaurant, and B&B of Jean & Bernard Dauré in Banyuls, in a communal wine-grape growing area within the larger AOC of Banyuls that also encompasses the communes of Côte Vermeille, Cerbère, Collioure and Port-Vendres, sitting in the penumbra of the Pyrenees on the Mediterranean coast, a few kilometers north of Empordà, Catalonia, Spain.

This southernmost AOC in Languedoc-Rousillon is best known for its' dessert wines, madeira-like ports, and steeply terraced old vines. On the 80 acre Dauré estate, the winery produces its' signature 100% Black Grenache at
16% alcohol, which in a Rimage (a very good year) yields a bouquet redolent of black currants, accompanied with hints of Arbequina, while the palate ranges from Medjool dates up front, transforming to Mission figs in the middle, followed by Darrow Blackberries in the finish. This full bodied wine stands up to strong cheese and chocolate, yet begs to be challenged with new ideas.

Last night, with Les Clos Paulilles in hand, I stumbled across Anette's Chocolates' Micro Brew Beer Brittle, and remembered both how much my wife enjoyed this confection as well as how nothing every really seemed to go well with it. The idea that a madeira-like port would pair with the body of a brittle appealed to me, seeming worth the risk that it might entail.  Arriving home a bit late, as it had been Napa Facebook Wine group meetup night, I assembled my tasting panel of the four curious wine enthusiasts who are my family.  They rose to the occasion, and in no time, neither Les Clos de Paulilles nor Beer Brittle remained. The unanimous opinion was that I should have brought more of everything home with me.