Wine & Recipe Review : Vignobles Foncalieu Grenache Rosé*

[Ad-gifted] When it comes to Fridays I love nothing more than meeting up with friends! Three of my friends and I have a little group called Fridaaaayysss where we try to meet up at least once a month, most often for tea and cake but every now and then we host a lunch. So when we were asked to review Grenache Rosé by Vignobles Foncalieu wine this was a great reason to meet for lunch and wine!

So, in our latest wine review, as you know we always have a handy recipe for you to re-create as an accompanying dish, I wanted a salad to accompany the creamy pasta dish (which has been featured before on Yeah Lifestyle) which I found a while back by Chef Jonny Marsh which is the most gorgeous courgette salad (zucchini if you’re from across the pond).

About the wine and how to make Zesty Crunch Courgette Salad

Chef Jonny’s recipe requires you to get Kaffir lime leaves so I have actually adapted this recipe to my taste and ingredient availability. The salad is crunchy as it uses raw courgette and a fabulously tasty and easy dressing to re-create that you can make ahead of time. The salad paired so well with the creamy pasta (the recipe you can find above) and the very delicious rosé wine by Vingnobles Foncalieu.

Firstly, let’s talk about the wine before we get to how to make the salad. As you know, this was a group tasting as we all sat down to enjoy our food and drinks on our friend’s Friday catch-up lunch. The wine was crisp-tasting, we all had a glass each and drank it whilst eating our meal. everyone found it fun to pretend they were wine tasters, slurping and smelling the wine to get the most out of the taste.

We all could taste fruit, however, unlike the description, we felt that citrus was more prominent than raspberry. The wine was pleasant on the palette and had a dry edge but with a freshness that made it lovely to drink. It worked so well with the lime in the courgette salad and broke down the creaminess of the pasta dish; all in all, it was perfect together.

Zesty Crunch Courgette Salad (serves four – five as a side dish)

2 large courgettes
1 garlic clove (one segment, not one whole clove)
1/2 bag of mint (the supermarket-sized bags of herbs – I got mine from Aldi but most stores have them)
1 bag of coriander (if you really hate coriander as I know it’s a little like marmite – you could swap this for parsley although it will make it taste different you will have an equally good-tasting salad)
1/2 a red chilli
salt and pepper to taste
4-5 tablespoons of olive oil
4 limes – the juice of two limes for the dressing & two limes to go over the courgettes

ethod

Using a potato peeler or a mandolin, slice the courgette into thin strips. Then place the courgettes in a ceramic baking dish or a salad bowl – then juice two limes and pour over the sliced courgettes. Leave this to the side whilst you make your dressing – it should sit for around 30 minutes – once it has sat for the time recommended, tip out the water that will have come out of the courgettes.

Making the dressing – put the garlic clove, mint, coriander, salt, pepper, olive oil and lime juice (of two limes) into a smoothie-style blender (if you don’t have a blender, finely chop all the ingredients and use a mortar and pestle to bring it all together). Once it has blended, you can pour it onto the lime courgettes and mix. You can then leave this overnight or serve it right away, but I think it’s best to prep it the morning before you eat it or the night before so the flavour gets into the courgette.

Ro serve – make the creamy pasta we have made or whatever pasta dish you want to accompany this crunchy side dish. You could also serve it on a sourdough toast as a lighter lunch.

Then remember your glass of Vignobles Foncalieu Grenache rosé for the yummiest treat lunch!

Where can you get your bottle of Vignobles Foncalieu Grenache Rosé?

You can buy yours here – another interesting point about this bottle that you are able to buy is that it is the 5th Limited Edition bottle with an illustration by the artists Victoria Roussel and Marion Begue – “Art and wine share the same philosophy. In each piece, I strive to infuse: joy, positivity and a palette of vibrant colors” said artist Amy Jones.

How much is Vignobles Foncalieu Grenache Rosé ?

At Hennings Wine, this bottle is priced individually at £20.00 although the more you buy the better the deal.

About Vignobles Foncalieu

Vignobles Foncalieu is a collective/union of 801 winegrowers, situated in the heart of the Languedoc region.

I love how they have been united in their values of cooperation since their creation, with their winegrowers having sustainability at the heart of their wine creations.

Within their collective – are the following wineries – The Celliers du Nouveau Monde in Puichéric, the Vignerons de la Cité de Carcassonne, the Vignerons du Pays d’Ensérune near Béziers and the La Redorte & Castelnau d’Aude. All forming part of this fabulous group.

They have been building Les Vignobles Foncalieu since 1967 and the men and women that form the group of vignobles, when creating this wonderful wine reveal their winegrowing souls.

About Hennings Wine

Hennings was founded by Charles Hennings in 1960. His first shop was situated at London House, Pulborough and was a deli offering a handful of wines to its local patrons. It has now been passed from father to son and since then the business has evolved into the online store you can now buy from having moved from his father’s starched shirts to a more casual approach. Hennings have several shops as well as an online presence and has moved away from foodstuff in its original days to specialise in a variety of wines.

Review by: Lex Ward

You may also want to read this:

Wine & Recipe Review : Chateau Viranel White Wine

Wine & Recipe Review: Coup de sang by Maison Ventenac

Review & Recipe: Chemin de Moscou Wine with Beef Stew