The great advantage of convivial (but limited) evenings around one of these meals is that they allow you to taste several wines during dinner, and thus create your own personal best pairing! Especially since opinions often differ on the ideal wine color for this type of meal. At Envie de Champagne, we wanted to find the best champagne cuvées that could bring out the best in these rich winter dishes par excellence.
The richness of the ingredients in a tartiflette, raclette or fondue cannot be satisfied with a sad champagne. To match the flavors of bacon, onions, potatoes, reblochon or raclette cheese, be intrepid!
Champagne and tartiflette
Pair a tartiflette, for example, with a champagne from Maison AR Lenoble, the Cuvée Gentilhomme Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs 2013, which is as incisive, clean, with a hint of smokiness, as it is elegant. With its acidity and smoothness, it balances the fatness of the dish and blends its flavors with those of bacon and onion.
Champagne, raclette or Mont d'Or
Raclette and Mont d'Or are not exclusively reserved for winter vacations. They are the dishes of choice for simple, convivial meals, where everyone does as they please without spending hours in the kitchen. Melted cheese and a variety of cold meats will coat your palate with a fragrant fat, tinged with saltiness. Don't hesitate to enhance it with a truffled salad and pommes grenailles. Champagne will be the saving grace and a little decadent, bringing freshness and lightness! Choose brut nature or zero dosage cuvées to preserve a chiselled mouthfeel.
Go for the lively Royale Réserve "Non Dosé " from Philipponnat, or the cuvée Palmyre Brut Nature from Michel Loriot, raised to the rhythm of music, full of freshness, with a long, salivating, taut, citrusy finish. Maison AYALA's Zéro Dosage is a very refreshing, pure champagne. It's daring, but it's a match made in heaven!
Champagne and fondue
Savoyard fondues undoubtedly prefer terroir combinations, but they'll also accept blending their flavors with neighboring grape varieties like those of Champagne. You can opt for a white coteau champenois, even if its production is rare, or for a red you can go for the cuvée La côte aux enfants 2014 from Maison Bollinger. Tasted blind, it's often likened to a Burgundy pinot noir. A gourmet pairing with a Savoyard fondue.
