Joue de boeuf and a rich Roussillon red

I've been in Paris for the last few days so this week's pairing had to be from here. There are so many possibilities but as I haven't written about a meat match for a while I'm going to pick the braised beef cheek and vegetables we had with a quirky wine called KM31 from the Roussillon.

Beef cheek or joue de boeuf as it's called here seems to be one of the most fashionable main courses in Paris at the moment, judging by the menus we've been reading but I doubt if anywhere does it as well as Le Baratin, a natural wine bistro in the 20th just off the rue de Belleville. (You can see my review here). Normally if it's cooked until it's falling apart - as it should be - it's quite soft but this had the most amazing rich crust - presumably by popping it in a hot oven again before serving it. There was also a subtle touch of vinegar in the dish and some fresh tasting seasonal vegetables which added a welcome lightness to the dish

The wine was a warm, generous blend of Grenache and Carignan blend from the 2009 vintage from a mad Roussillon winery called Domaine YoYo. A natural wine but not a weird one, in case you're worried. Just perfect with the rich, beefy flavour of the meat and also pretty good with the joue de veau that I ordered. They like their cheeks in Paris ;-)

Anchovies and Grenache Gris

Anchovies are always reputed to be difficult with food but I found a great match for them over the past few days down in Collioure and Banyuls. Which of course there should be as they’re a speciality of the area.

It was Grenache Gris, a grape that used to be used to make strong sweet wines like Banyuls in the Roussillon but which is nowadays used to make some particularly interesting strong, savoury almost oily, whites. (Oily I admit, doesn’t sound great in relation to wine but it’s a texture rather than a taste thing. Think lush and viscous.)

The anchovies are served two ways - fresh as boquerones which are cured in vinegar and salted - sometimes in the same dish but the Grenache-based Roussillon whites seem to cope with both. They were also delicious with sundried tomato paste and tapenade.

There’s a good post on how to prepare your own boquerones here.

Catalan sausage and beans with southern French Syrah/Grenache

Last week’s highlight without a doubt was the meal I had with my Guardian colleagues at Brawn, Ed Wilson’s new restaurant in Columbia Road. As you may know it’s the new City outpost of the hugely popular wine bar Terroirs with a similar natural wine list which you can read about on my natural wine blog here.

Ed suggested wines to go with different stages of the meal which was served tapas-style - we must have tried practically every dish on the menu.

I loved the exuberant La Guillaume Gamay with the charcuterie and the Domaine Matassa Cuvée Alexandria, an extraordinary dry Muscat of Alexandria, with the zander boudin in shellfish sauce but the combination that just pipped the others to the post was Jean-Franois Nicq’s 2007 Domaine Les Foulards Les Glaneurs from the Roussillon, a generous spicy blend of Grenache and Syrah with the mongetes, a ribsticking Catalan dish of sausage and beans.

Although the wine was full-bodied - and funky - enough to need carafing it was still fresh enough to offset the richness of the beans. And just perfect for this freezing cold weather.

Wild boar and Monty's French Red

If you've been following the new alternative lifestyle programme Château Monty on Channel 4 you’ll know that ‘Monty’ is wine writer Monty Waldin who set out to make his own biodynamic wine in the Roussillon down in the far corner of south-west France

I got to taste it last week and was really impressed. It’s a typically gutsy, spicy southern red based on Carignan and Grenache but with quite a raunchy ‘animal’ character (yes, that is a tasting note!) which suits it perfectly to game. Especially the wild boar that frequent the area and I gather cause Monty not a few problems in a future episode so he’d probably like to get his own back on them. Slow roast pork with garlic and fennel seeds or shoulder of lamb with garlic and rosemary would also be good.

It costs a very reasonable £7.99 from Adnams who only have a limited amount to offer so I’d get in quick if you want to try it.