Pairing:  Périgordian Cuisine and 2011 Clos La Coutale Cahors.

Food: Twenty years ago we were fortunate to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in the Périgord region of southwestern France. While there we enjoyed a memorable dinner at a tiny bistro called Chez Tarrade. Arguably one of our best meals ever … multiple courses; delightful chats with Madame, the seventy-year old chef; an unnamed local red wine that went with everything… heavenly. This is our attempt to recreate that amazing dinner. We’ll take it course by course. Then select a wine to go with all of it.

For the first course, Madame served Pâté de Fois Gras with Truffles, accompanied by Pain de Maïs (a baguette made with corn). For our version, we had Chicken Liver Pâté made with chicken livers, onion, garlic, cognac, heavy cream, nutmeg, thyme, salt & pepper.

The second course was a cêpe omelette. Madame used fresh cêpe mushrooms. We made our omelette with dried porcini mushrooms.

The main course at Madame’s was a simple 1/2 inch thick pan-seared Bistro Steak served with Potatoes Sarlat (Our version consisted of thinly sliced potatoes, each slice dipped in melted duck fat, seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic. Then stacked the slices in three-layer piles in a heavy saucepan and baked at 450F for about 20 minutes.) For a perfect medium rare steak, cook on a hot grill pan, hum the first verse of The Marseilles, then flip the steak and hum it again. I’m serious. No need for a timer!

The steak and potatoes were followed by a simple salad and a plate of assorted cheeses.

And, finally, for dessert we enjoyed homemade Neapolitan Ice Cream (a block of raspberry, pistachio, and chocolate with chocolate chunks).

To complete the illusion of dining at Chez Tarrade and capture some of the ambience of this charming bistro, we ate at a table in front of our own fireplace. Very special!

Wine:  Cahors is a small wine-growing area that surrounds the city of Cahors located on the Lot River in southwestern France a little ways south of the Périgord region. Here, Malbec is by far and away the mostly commonly grown grape. Many people will immediately associate Malbec with Argentina where it is widely planted. However, it is this lovely little corner of France that is the birthplace of Cot which is the original name for Malbec. Wine-making in this locale dates back to Ancient Roman times. This wine from the Clos La Coutale winery is 80% Malbec and 20% Merlot.

Tasting Notes:  The predominance of Malbec (80%) in this Cahors wine produces an extraordinarily deep dark red, almost black, color. (Note:  Tiny amounts of Malbec are often added to Red Bordeaux wines to darken them.) On the nose, one enjoys blackberry and earth. The palate is a big, robust, complex melding of blackberry fruit leather, tobacco, earth, and hints of licorice and chocolate. The earth notes in particular go beautifully with the pâté, the mushrooms, the beef, and even the chocolate components of the dessert. Amazing how one wine can pair so nicely with a multi-course meal such as this one.

Other Foods That Pair Well with This Wine: Cassoulet, Roast Duck, Duck Confit, Mushrooms, Roast Lamb

Other Wines That Pair Well with This Meal: Bergerac, Red Bordeaux, Tempranillo, Côte du Roussillon

Read About:  http://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-cahors

A Source:  www.klwines.com  or Whole Foods Market