Wine & Recipe Review : Chateau Viranel White Wine*

[Ad-gifted] When it comes to white wine and pairing it with food we often think of fish, goats cheese and green salads – but when you want to avoid a fuss and simply enjoy a quick and easy meal with your favourite wine – or in our case a glass of Intuition by Chateau Viranel – then we have a fabulous review for you.

We have received several wines over the course of the year and our latest to review is from Languedoc and is “mis en bouteille” by Nicolas & Arnaud Bergasse who own Chateau Viranel and produce all their wines.

What we thought of the wine 

The wine is well-balanced and easy to drink. It has more fruity notes on the citrus side and a hint of peach. I enjoyed this wine and it went well with our pizza pairing. It was light and I can see it is a wine that would accompany most foods and could definitely be a go-to everyday wine. I wouldn’t say white is my go-to – but I would be happy to drink this as it really was a nice-tasting wine. Not bitter, with no sharp aftertaste. I think all this is down to the blend of grapes they use, allowing them to create the most pleasant-tasting wine – the blend is 60% Grenache blanc, 20% Vermentino, 15% Roussanne and 5% Bourboulenc.

The Bergasse brothers are passionate about their wine and are there at every stage of the wine-making process and have been for generations. As well as the Intuition white wine, they also have Rosé and Red version – which I imagine has been made and blended in the same way in which the white has been made.

Pairing recipe

For our pairing, we made some homemade pizza – which is a recipe that has been featured on Yeah Lifestyle already but as baguette bread – simply follow the initial part of the recipe and instead of making it into baguettes separate the dough with floured hands into the size you will need to make your pizza then leave it to rise again for another 30 minutes – then stretch it out into your desired shape – we made rectangular ones that would fit on baking trays and top them how you would like – but if you want to make it like ours see our ingredients below and how to do it.

For the tomato base 

1 tin of tomatoes (chopped or whole) – with your hands squash the tomatoes to make a sauce
3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of oregano (my favourite for pizza as it reminds me of Italy) but you can use mixed herbs

Empty the tin of tomatoes into a bowl (squash them as mentioned above) and grate the garlic (or finely mince) and mix in the herbs and salt and pepper to taste

Put this on the base of your dough and then add with the toppings of your choice such as cheese/cheese and pepperoni – we made ours with grated cheddar cheese – however, for a more authentic taste, you can use grated mozzarella.

Cook the pizza at 200 C for 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the base has begun to brown (temperatures/times may vary depending on your own oven)

Then to make our pizzas more interesting we also like to top them with garlic veg – so here is a quick recipe for that.

Garlic veg for one pizza (double/triple the recipe as required) 

1 small courgette
4 chestnut mushrooms (of mushrooms of your choice)
1 small red pepper
2 cloves of garlic
1 knob of butter

Chop your veg into equal-sized pieces and add to a hot oiled pan, cook until starting to soften, then grate/mince your garlic and add to the pan – lower the heat at this point so the garlic doesn’t burn – then continue to stir and just before serving add and knob of butter and allow it to melt and then pop it on top of your cooked pizza and serve.

The veg adds another dimension to the pizza and for me fills me up and ensures I don’t eat too much dough!

As you can imagine the wine went really well with this simple meal. As non of the flavours of the food took over the taste of the wine and visa-versa.

Where can you get your bottle of Intuition Chateau Viranel Wine? 

Intuition retails for £9 and you can purchase it from wine-searcher directly here.

About Chateau Viranel

The vineyard has been in use since the 1500s and has passed through 16 generations. The brothers who now run the vineyard are Nicolas and Arnaud Bergasse and are in the makings of producing the 17th generation of family that will pass through the land of the Languedoc region.

They are situated in the South Centre of France in a town called Saint-Chinian, which is inland between Montpellier and Perpignan. The wind from the North and the cool air in the summer makes the grapes have a distinct flavour and mature in a way that is unique to the location of the vineyard.

They have old vines on site which adds to their wine’s elegant flavour profiles. Some vines date back 50 years which shows you some of the skill that this family have in growing and in turn, having a wide variety of grapes and producing quality wines for the past 600 years.

Review by: Lex Ward

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