Langoustine cannellonis and citrus with Pacherenc de Vic Bilh

It's always a challenge to pick a single wine with an elaborate tasting menu but the Jardins de Bouscassé 2008 Pacherenc du Vic Bilh sec from Alain Brumont we ordered with our meal at La Renaissance in Argentan last week hit the spot with almost every dish.

My favourite match by a whisker was an intricate dish of 'cannelloni' formed from pieces of squid, wrapped round some beautifully fresh langoustines and served with an intense seafood broth flavoured with pomelo and dots of mandarin and basil (I think) pure. I'm not normally that keen on the French obsession with 'sucré-salé' but the combination of fish and citrus worked perfectly with the light, lush, tropical fruit-scented wine. (There was also a hint of Sichuan pepper in the dish.)

It also went brilliantly well with the next course of John Dory with small, sweet crevettes grises (shrimps) and carpaccio of pigs trotter, an extraordinarily intense surf'n'turf combination.

I'll be writing a bit more about the restaurant in due course but it was an outstanding meal. Bizarrely it doesn't have a Michelin star.

'Meat fruit' with Pacherenc du Vic Bilh Larmes Célestes 2004

I know I’ve already raved about this stunning combination at Heston’s new restaurant Dinner but it's already a candidate for one of my top 10 pairings of 2011, never mind my match of the week.

The dish - a smooth foie gras-like chicken parfait inside a mandarin-shaped orange jelly - also bids to be a modern classic but it was the combination with the Pacherenc, a lesser known dessert wine from south-west France with a deep, apricotty flavour that was so pitch-perfect.

I visited Alain Brumont a couple of years ago when I was in the region and loved his wines.

The ‘Larmes Célestes’ is actually remarkably well-priced at £9.99 for 50cl at Stainton Wines. And Noel Young of Cambridge has it for £10.25. Obviously it would also go with foie gras and I reckon with blue cheese or a simple apple tart.

Image © karandaev - Fotolia.com

Pear frangipane tart with Pacherenc du Vic Bilh

If you want to show off a fine dessert wine the ideal match is a simple French apple or pear tart, so there should be no surprise then at this pairing of a pear frangipane tart (pears with a spongey almond base) and a Pacherenc de Vic Bilh cuvée 'Octobre'.

The most interesting aspect of the partnership was the wine which was came from one of the region's most celebrated producers Alain Brumont. Pacherenc du Vic Bilh is a tiny appellation in the south-west of France which makes wines similar in style to a Jurançon, both ideal partners for the local foie gras. Despite coming from the 2000 vintage it was still full of life with luscious peachy fruit and perfectly balanced acidity.

The tart was neither home-made (very few French make tarts from scratch, taking the view that that's what boulangeries - and even supermarkets - are for) nor particularly distinguished but paired with the wine and accompanied by a good scoop of crème fraïche d'Isigny the combination took on an extra dimension. Which is what food and wine matching is all about.

Image © Silvano Rebai - Fotolia.com