Match of the week

Navarin of lamb and 2002 Chateau des Estanilles Faugères

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on April 27 2015 at 09:26

Last week we were down at our house in Languedoc mainly cooking from home* and raiding the cellar for wines we thought needed drinking up - at least that was our excuse!

One foray unearthed this 2002 vintage of Chateau des Estanilles Faugères a wine we used to buy regularly from its previous proprietor Michel Louison who is now making wine at Domaine Lamartine near Limoux. It’s a full-bodied syrah but age has mellowed it and made it silky and delicate - the ideal match for a simple spring navarin of lamb, carrots and turnips made with white wine rather than red.

I wouldn’t have drunk the same wine with it while young - it would have been too tannic and powerful for the dish but this grand old wine matched it perfectly. You could also drink a typical Languedoc white - we tried a glass of a Chateau Paul Mas 2014 Belluguette Coteau du Languedoc** we’d been tasting with the leftovers and that worked very well too.

* Though we did have a very good meal at the Auberge de Combes. See my review here.

** a blend of Grenache Blanc, Vermentino, Roussanne and Viognier

If you found this post helpful and would like to support the website which is free to use it would be great if you'd make a donation towards its running costs or sign up to my regular Substack newsletter Eat This, Drink That for extra benefits.

CONTRIBUTE HERE