Celeriac, celery and caerphilly soup with Coteau des Treilles Anjou blanc

It's always difficult to decide what to drink with soup - one liquid with another never seems quite right as I've remarked before - but the thicker the soup is the easier it is.

This was a smooth rich vegetable soup made from celeriac and celery with a little finely sliced Gorwydd Caerphilly and a good slosh, I would guess, of double cream.

It was a brilliant foil for a sumptuous barrel-aged organic Chenin Blanc, the 2008 Pithon-Paillé Coteau des Treilles which had the opulence of a great white burgundy. Pithon Paill is a partnership between Jo Pithon and Joseph and Wendy Paillé who act as négociants sourcing fruit from different parts of the Loire. The Coteau des Treilles is their own vineyard of which there is a very good account on Chris Kissack's site here.

You can buy it - and the '09 vintage from Caves de Pyrène for £28.70. Smiling Grape sells the '09 for £34.99. (So top white burgundy prices too, then.)