Match of the week

Couscous and Languedoc rosé

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on April 25 2011 at 10:28

It's funny how your attitude to food and wine matching changes when you visit a wine-producing area like the Languedoc which is where I've been for the past few days. You tend to drink the local wine because it's what the locals drink. It may not be the best match but it doesn't really matter, particularly at lunchtime when you want something light.

The other day we went for a couscous royale at a local café in Grau d'Agde which does it as the plat du jour every Thursday. It was a pretty substantial but not particularly spicy one including chicken, lamb and merguez sausages. We ordered a carafe of the local rosé which I guess was about 10-11% - not a serious wine obviously but it hit the spot.

I think a local Grenache or Cinsault-based red would have been marginally better but it would probably have been a degree or two more which would have made us feel more soporific. And as we're engaged in the sad and rather taxing task of clearing my late mother-in-law's house, there's no time for a siesta.

So sometimes the occasion is more important than the food. The wine was just fine - that's all you want at times.

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