Cold roast veal with herbs and St Chinian rosé

It’s been so hot over the last couple of days here in the Languedoc I haven’t felt much like cooking so we raided the very good local traiteur (takeaway) in Murviel yesterday for our weekend’s eating. The highlight was some beautifully cooked rare roast veal with herbs - in the style of Italian porchetta.

I accompanied it with a tomato, rice and basil salad and a green salad (which I did manage to rustle up from scratch) and paired it with our neighbour’s very good St Chinian rosé. His estate is romantically named Domaine Belles Courbes which translates as ‘beautiful curves’. (Referring, I hasten to add, to the vineyards . . . )

He has two rosés - an oaked and an unoaked version - both based on Cinsault and Grenache (the oaked version also has Carignan). We were drinking the unwooded version which also paired brilliantly well with some French style stuffed tomatoes with sausagemeat we had the other night and - to my surprise - with some very ripe Charentais melon. (I would have thought it would have been too dry)

I didn’t think you could get hold of it in the UK but it is apparently available from a company called Wines Unfurled (www.winesunfurled.co.uk 01280 847422) for £8.99 a bottle. Here it's only 5 euros ;-)

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