Minervois Wine and Indian Food: The Perfect Pairing Guide Through 3 Typical Recipes
Summary about how and why Minervois wine is a great pairing for most of Indian food
6 minutes reading for this whole article
Minervois wine and Indian food can be an excellent match, particularly dishes built around spices, lamb, vegetables and lentils as we often find in this culinary culture. Minervois CDO is from the South of France Languedoc-Roussillon region. It pairs well with Indian cuisine thanks to grape varieties composing the blend which enhance the Indian typical food taste :
The Syrah with its features of smooth tannins and a flavor of aromatic herbs and spices as pepper and cinnamon.
Grenache thanks to its characteristic of roundedness, fat with flavor of black fruits and aromatic herbs as laurel and thyme.
Mouvèdre marries perfectly thanks to great melted tannins, cocoa, liquorice and black fruits aromas.
To adjust the type of Minervois wine for a perfect pairing with typical Indian dish we can sum up into lamb with sauce dishes, vegetables curry and lentils curry :
A Minervois with freshness features will go along spiced lamb with sauce.
A Minervois with a fruity and spicy profile will match vegetables curry.
A Minervois with smooth and light features will marry with lentils curry known as Dhals.
The Minervois C.D.O is a not so well known wine which will pair very nicely with most of the main Indian recipes. Let’s unveil the secret of a perfect foodie match.
What is Minervois Wine? A French Wine from Languedoc
Hills of Minervois culminate at 2825 feet at the town of Caunes Minervois, and are bathed by the Mediterranean climate with a slight influence from Atlantic Ocean and the Black Mountain bringing fresh air on the vineyards while abating humidity. The land of Minervois dwells in Occitania region and streams its name from the old Cathar city of “Menèbra” in occitan language and its Controlled. Designation. of Origins was created in 1985. Main historical timelines were starting :
during Ancient Greece era, the vineyard there was created since the 2nd century before Christ.
In 1680 the Canal du Midi was built allowing the wine production to be carried by river boats so that it can be sold in big cities of France.
Next main historical step was the phylloxera crisis in 1863 when all the French vineyards were destroyed and renewed thanks to graft of North American grapevines.
Other big event in this area occured in 1907 with an overproduction crisis making the wine price collapse which involved violent riots and demonstrations from the wine maker during “La Revolte du Midi”.
Then over a long period of time, wines from this overall Languedoc-Roussillon area were considered as the army provider with low quality bulk wines.
This is since the 70’s/80’s that winemakers of Languedoc-Roussillon among which Minervois focus on improving wine crafting quality to maintain profitable prices by developping bottled wine as a primary concern.
In 1999 was officially created the first genuine Cru of Languedoc-Roussillon bringing the specifications of one wine of the CDO to a higher level with recognised quality of the vineyards environment and conditions for a better grape maturing and quality. The Minervois La Livinière Cru was born giving way, further on this quality development move in the area of Coteaux du Languedoc La Clape, to the creation of a wine crafted and sold at more than 100 $ a single bottle.
Grand Cru as superior wine CDO were created and we saw developing wines with a similar pricing and marketing as the Bordeaux Grands Crus in spite of the fact that prices weren’t oftenly exceeding hundreds dollars a bottle.
Why Minervois Wine Works with Indian Food
Genuine wines often match genuine cuisine as the Minervois wine and Indian food pairing do with many tasty and traditional recipes. This culinary culture boasts incredible vegetarian dishes. In spite of the fact that cow is sacred in India and is not doomed to finish in Indian plates, this wonderful culture offer delicious meat recipes with lamb along with “massala” which means spices mix. Tikka, korma, biryani, vindaloo are part of various massalas and this is the point of this article demonstrating how Minervois wine and Indian food marry perfectly with this French wine and Indian food combo.
Actually the intense tasting power of spices will require a wine with a good flavour intensity conveying powerful aromas, very aromatic and especially important will be the touch in the palate delivered by the tannins texture and structure. The tannins texture has to be silky and not too thick, preferably melted in the wine and with patina. Indeed if the tannins are too thick and overwhelming the sensation in the palate will be burning and it won’t be a delight as the indian spices are already pretty hot for the flavor and mouth feel.
Of course the pairing with such a cuisine will call for a wine having spices notes as pepper and cinnamon matching the cooking ingredients and with a complementarily black fruit flavor prefered to red fruits which are too sweet and a fresh mouth feel like the one brought by mint aromas and a slight acidity. All these features are often brought by the grape variety Shiraz and Mouvèdre especially when its grown in Minervois. Luckily the specifications of the C.D.O lay emphasis in the component of the wine with Shiraz and Mourvèdre that has to be the most important part of the grapes varieties.
Grenache grape variety playing an important part too will bring roundedness and jammy black fruits features to the wine which pairs fantastically too. Grenache will also bring laurel and thyme aromas which definitly go well along with spices and aromatic kind of cuisine as the Indian food is.
This is thanks to the grape varieties’ flavor signature that you can find in the traditional crafting of this C.D.O that Minervois wine and Indian food goes along so well.
Let’s see, inside the wines offered by the Minervois C.D.O, how wine with Indian food will work thanks to this fantastic beverage.
Three different Minervois styles available online to make Indian food pairing more intentional.
This one will tame the heat and gently balance the spices
This one will match the dish's intensity without getting lost in the spices
This one will complement the dish without overpowering its delicate flavors
Best with a lamb curry as: a Rogan Josh, a Seekh Kebab, a Lamb Tikka
Best with a vegetable curry as : an Aloo Gobi, an eggplant Curry, a Palak Paneer
Best with lentils curry as: a Chana Dal, a Dal Makhani, a Masoor Dal
This one will tame the heat and gently balance the spices
This one will match the dish's intensity without getting lost in the spices
This one will complement the dish and go along with its strong flavors
Best with a lamb curry as: a Rogan Josh, a Seekh Kebab, a Lamb Tikka
Best with a vegetable curry as: an Aloo Gobi, an Eggplant Curry, a Palak Paneer
Best with strong and rich lentils curry: as Andhra Pappu, Lasooni Dal Tadka
Best Minervois Wine and Indian Food Pairings for Typical and Traditional Dishes
Minervois Wine with Lamb Curry
For lamb cooked with sauce a minervois wine pairing with freshness features will be perfect for a wine with Indian food as the sauce is often dairy product as a yogourt or creme fraiche or sour cream which are a bit thick and fat. And the acidity will cleanse the palate while coming to cut on the heavyness of the sauce.
Château Maris Cuvée « La Touge » 2020
Minervois-La-Livinière AOC
- The Syrah from the blend brings fine tannins to avoid dry and heavy mouthfeel with the intense dish’s spices. Velvety texture to echo the rich sauce consistently.
- The grenache in the blend brings black fruits and herbs that both soften and complement the typical lamb with spice sauce aromas
- A blend for subtle complexity
Domaine de Courbissac Cuvée « Pandora » 2020
Minervois AOC
- The single Syrah grape invovles a consistent peppery and spice palate while remaining fresh and lively to cut through the lamb sauce. The velvety and well-integrated tannins don’t interfere with the chili pepper. A whole harmony where every flavors has its place with intensity but abiding by the other aromas.
- A varietal for refinement and bright aromas
CHANGER LES BOUTEILLES POUR VEGETABLES CURRY ET METTRE EN PAGE EN DIVISANT LES BLOCS DE TEXTES ET INSERANT CE BLOC EN DESSOUS
Château Maris Cuvée « La Touge » 2020
Minervois-La-Livinière AOC
- The Syrah from the blend brings fine tannins to avoid dry and heavy mouthfeel with the intense dish’s spices. Velvety texture to echo the rich sauce consistently.
- The grenache in the blend brings black fruits and herbs that both soften and complement the typical lamb with spice sauce aromas
Domaine de Courbissac Cuvée « Pandora » 2020
Minervois AOC
- The single Syrah grape invovles a consistent peppery and spice palate while remaining fresh and lively to cut through the lamb sauce. The velvety and well-integrated tannins don’t interfere with the chili pepper. A whole harmony where every flavors has its place with intensity but abiding by the other aromas.
Minervois Wine with Vegetable Curry
A fruity and spicy flavored Minervois wine with Indian food will be a great match, especially if it has a larger part of Grenache in the blend of the grape component of the wine, along with vegetables curry. The Grenache will be particularly fitting the savor of vegetables curry with tomatoes as an ingredient within. As the spices and fruits flavors will complementarily go along with the taste of tomatoes. The famous chicken tikka massala dish which has a lot of tomatoes as a sauce ingredient will be also a good match with this kind of Minervois French wine with Indian food.
Domaine Anne Gros & Jean-Paul Tollot Cuvée « Les Carrétals » 2023
Minervois AOC
- The Carignan blended brings black fruits notes and a lively fresh touch of menthol and liquorice, which perfectly complement vegetables flavors. A touch of cocoa reminds how beautiful it is to add a little piece of dark chocolate while finishing to cook a stew.
- The grenache in the blend brings black fruits and herbs that both soften and complement the typical vegetables curry aromas.
Château Massiac Cuvée « Sentinelle de Massiac » 2022
Minervois AOC
- REPRENDRE ICI
Minervois Wine with Dhal and Lentil Curry
A smooth and light Minervois type will perfectly pair with lentils curry, also called dhal in Indian. The fact that such a kind of wine will have less tannins is a great asset for a successful match. As the Dhal sauce is light and slightly covering the lentils, the smoother tannins are in the wine the better the pairing will be. Also the light features of the sauce won’t call for a lot of freshness in the wine. No need for a lot of alcohol, thickness and roundedness as the sauce is just enought to avoid the pairing being dry or lacking of onctuosity. Moreover the lentils can offer a creamy and silky texture on the palate. Thus no need for a dry or acidic wine as it will make the palate very tense and aggressive. With Dhal dishes everything amounts to balance and a smooth and light minvervois will foster such a subtle and harmonious mouth feel.
When it comes to Minervois wine and Indian food pairings it all resides in matching an intensively flavoured wine with an intense and powerfully spiced cuisine. Though some sommelier will go for another option as a food pairing perspective. Instead of coming to a fight about how aromatic and intensive is the component of the match, we can choose the easy way and give up the fight. The selection of a light and soft wine which won’t go for a round against the dish will point out the Rosé wines. Fruity and light wine as Côtes de Provence will abate the fire of spices and ease the powerfull mouth feel of Indian cuisine while bringing soft fruits as red berries, white flesh fruits, exotic fruits as pommegranate and citrus aromas. The idea is to soothe the Indian dish within the softness of the Rosé wine to bring a delicate mouth feel to the pairing.
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