How do you approach wine pairings when you have limited resources and want to open that specific bottle of wine you have been waiting to try.

For dinner, I wanted to use a couple of NY Strip Steaks and a bottle of Brouilly Chateau de La Chaize that I had not tried before.

Brouilly is from one of the 10 village areas of Cru Beaujolais in South Burgundy, France. I wanted to make something simple and did not want to grill the steaks as I had done the night before.

I decided to sample the wine first.
Color: beautiful intense and bright deep ruby.
Nose: fruity and slightly floral.
Palate: matching the nose in floral and fruity, but the acidity was fairly intense.

Beaujolais wines are usually enjoyed young. They are made with the thin-skinned Gamay grape using a Carbonic Maceration technique that keeps the wine light and lively. This particular 2012 vintage, had slightly more depth and character than a Beaujolais Villages, although in my opinion, it could benefit from a couple more years of holding. Nevertheless, besides the acidity, the wine was promising.

The acidity of the wine and the fresh fruity undertones reminded me of sweet and sour. Sweetness and acidity are two of the characteristics in a wine that should be mirrored when pairing with food.

My background in cooking pointed me immediately to gastrique. In its simplest form, gastrique is a French term for caramelized sugar deglazed with vinegar.

In addition to this, the flowery aromas could be mirrored with some Herbes De Provence. See what is going on here? French wine, French technique, French flavors. At least that was my plan.

First, I started by browning the cubed meat with a minced clove of garlic in olive oil. Removed the meat, added a little butter and heated until it stopped foaming. I then added 1 teaspoon of all purpose flour and cooked it on medium until slightly browned. This would be the roux to thicken the sauce.

Meanwhile, I dissolved 2 teaspoons of brown sugar with 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar and 1/4 cup of the Brouilly wine.

As soon as the flour started to brown I added the sugar, vinegar and wine mixture and let it cook slowly until thickened. I then returned the browned meat to the pot and heated it gently.

Steamed vegetables finished in browned butter, seasoned with a pinch of Herbes de Provence and a little sea salt, finished bringing the dish together.

The pairing result was delicious. The intensity of the gastrique tamed the acidity of the wine, and the richness of the sauce was balanced by the lightness of the wine which I served slightly chilled to about 58ºF.

I hope you will try this technique and share it with your friends.

Questions, comments and suggestions are most welcome.