Cannot think of a better pairing. Got together at the home of great friends whom the Mrs. happens to be an amazing cook. The dinner was duck cassoulet with with three types of sausage and gigante beans cooked over several days. Delicious and filling!
We started out with Krug Rose in magnum. Our guests served the champagne in coupes. At first I was not sure it was the best for the Krug but it turned out to be a great glass for the Krug power.
With giant chilled shrimp was the 2011 PYCM Corton Chalemagne GC. Outstanding showing. Mature, rich but plenty of edge and minerality.
With the cassoulet, three outstanding red wines:
2005 Gaunoux Pommard ‘Grands Epenots’ 1er
2009 G. Mugneret-Gilbourg NSG ‘Les Chaignots’ 1er
2009 M. d’Angerville Volnay ‘Fremiet’ 1er
Everyone one of these wines served as a perfect match with the cassoulet. The Pommard was surprisingly open with ripe and sweet tannin. The M-G NSG was open displaying the M-G balance and elegance. The Fremiet was singing. Each one after a bite expressed a different component in the complex dish.
Finally, with the cheese, dessert and after dinner nibbles:
2005 G. Raphet Chambertin Clos de Beze GC - Complain all you want about the decidedly un-Burgundian looking label, this was a perfect way to end the evening. Unmistakably Beze in presentation. Dark with rich fruits and lovely long spice finish.
I probably would not pair with a fine older Burgundy, but younger ones are fine. I have a cache of old Bandols for Cassoulet which I think is the ultimate match.
Dartagnan has a very good cassoulet kit.
Great notes Kelly. We did Coq Au Vin in August in Banner Elk. It was like fall weather in the mountains. Matched it with 08 Bachelet Gev Village. Your post on coq au vin dinner was the inspiration. Great match for Burgundy.
That sounds great. Hachis Parmentier was my favorite family meal when I worked a season at restaurant in Carcasonne. Had Cassoulet there paired with a local Minervois. What grows together goes together.
Nice bottles! It is not the way that I would have gone, but maybe that they were on the young side helped. It seems like it worked wonderfully, so when then do I know?
Looks awesome Kelly. I’ve had my eye on my last bottle of 2011 PYCM Corton Charlemagne for a while, and your note seals it. For some reason I’m in the “drink them up” mode on 11’s.
do you follow a recipe for your cassoulet? would be curious to know which one! the one I use ends up being covered with a bread crumb layer as it cooks… but I was listening to a podcast with the founder of D’Artagnan the other day and she was talking about all the different regional styles of cassoulet.
Recipe there is fantastic. You can skip the gelatin if you make homemade stock, especially if you use chicken feet. I’ve cooked with the best of French ingredients across the board and agree with Kenji re: using chicken instead of duck (heresy, I know), but in fairness, I was using poulet de Bresse. In France, everybody has a different version of what’s included and, funny enough, the one place with no real cassoulet tradition that I saw… was Paris itself. I must have tried 15 different places, but the eventual winner was a place I found here - L’Assiette. No substitute for a six hour cook with seven cracks.
I think of cassoulet as a regional specialty of southwest France. Specifically the three towns of Carcasonne, Castlenaudry and Toulouse with each having their own mix of meats. With many French tourists traveling there on vacation to eat it. I’m not aware of a Cassoulet tradition in other parts of France.
I used bon Appetits recipe the last time I made it and it was very good. I always have used duck just as much because I always have duck legs available for confit as anything other reason. But I’ll have to try it with chicken since I do go through significantly more chickens than ducks haha
I should add, however, that I do kind of like the thicker, more stew-like consistency, as I’m just not much of a soup person.
My friend who makes this for us once or twice a year cheats and serves it with a spoonful of crème fraîche in every plate… don’t tell the purists or your liver!
