Help me with this wine, please!

TastyReuben

TastyReuben

Nosh 'n' Splosh
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Ok, I do this far more than I like to admit: I bought this wine, pictured below, to use in a specific recipe, probably back in October.

Do I have even the vaguest idea what that dish was, or even what family or cuisine that dish fell under? Of course not! I’m 56yo and losing my 🤬 memory!

Wait…what was I talking about? Oh yeah, this particular wine:

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I’m planning on doing some research on this myself, but I thought it might be fun to give our resident experts and aficionados a crack at it as well, so…

If you had this bottle of wine in your hands, what would you cook with it?

If you wanted to drink it all, what would you pair it with?

Lastly, what serving temp would you aim for?

Let’s have fun! Maybe we can even get an ongoing, “I bought this, now what?” topic going!
 
Well the internet tells me

Product Details
Rue De Perle does French wines with flair. <snip> This red wine from the CĂ´tes-du-RhĂ´ne village reveals delightful aromas of dark fruit with old oak notes and deep spice and finishes with dense black currant and soft peppery spice flavors. Pairs well with meats, stews, charcuterie, and hard cheeses.

1 bottle = 5 glasses of wine
Grapes produced in CĂ´tes-du-RhĂ´ne village, France
Award-winning wine
Pairs well with meats, stews, and hard cheeses
Flavours of plum, oak, and spice
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It's probably mostly a Grenache. If I were cooking something for myself, it would likely be something with mushroom and cheese. Classic accompaniment to CdR is strongly flavored meat dishes like daubes.

edit: A CdR Village is typically a step up from generic CdR and will limit the grape-growing areas that can supply the wine. Other varieties in there will be Syrah and Mourvedre, maybe some Cinsault. But expect Grenache to be the biggest contributor.
 
Oh Ruben, Ruben Ruben, only 56 and losing memory already. Just wait for another 5, 10 and 15 years and you'll look back to now thinking there was nothing wrong with it ! Time to get pencils and pads in stock?

- If you had this bottle of wine in your hands, what would you cook with it?
I'd bung it any red meat dish that likes a slow cook e.g. beef stew. Could also work with lamb, pork or even cod/monkfish dishes. Or anything that called for red wine.

TastyReuben said:
If you wanted to drink it all, what would you pair it with?
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As above. As a generalisation, any wine that goes into a pot for cooking is also good to drink with that dish.

This is not a great wine but neither is it rubbish - good everyday red. Often good value.

The OMWC is spot on. Grenache, syrah, mourvedre are main grape varieties. Others may be included, including white grapes. It is a step up from generic CdR and a step down from CdR with a named Village e.g. Sablet, SĂ©guret, Plan de Dieu etc. May be regarded as a lesser version of Gigondas or Vacqueyras. Or a poor wo/man's Chateauneuf du Pape. But seeing how expensive that is these days, that is a little unfair!

Also spot on with a boeuf en daube.

TastyReuben said:
Lastly, what serving temp would you aim for?
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Room temperature. This does not mean around 20°, which is what most folk heat their homes at. It comes from a time when central heating did not exist, so best to serve around 12° - 16°.
Do not get too hung up about temperature for serving wine. Generally, if its white it needs to be cool, if red it needs to be warmish.
 
With the guidance here, I found a recipe in one of my Food & Wine cookbooks for a red wine beef stew that uses a Rhône - surprise, surprise, the recipe is from Jacques Pepin, so that’s another plus.

Look for this to be on the menu soon!
 
Ok, wine experts (Shadow , The OMWC , anyone else who fancies they know a thing or two), how about some thoughts on this one?

Now, I want to add that this is a wine I’ve used several times before - it’s our preferred wine to go into our cheese fondue, with the remainder going into ourselves while we eat the cheese fondue.

That’s what this bottle is destined for, but I thought it’d be fun to see what other folks here think about it.

Opine on the wine, please!

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My husband and his cousins make wine, and it doesn't always get a label on it. We always have a few mystery bottles of red wine lingering about (they don't make as much white and I always drink it before it becomes a mystery). My husband brings it home in those big glass carboys and it sits in the basement until he is ready to bottle, and then when he bottles it he racks it in a certain spot on the wine rack and there it sits until we want to drink it or he wants to give a bottle to someone (and then it gets a label and a shrink capsule over the cork). And speaking of the foggy memories of men in their mid 50s, he often forgets what it is and we don't know until we open it, then we can figure out that it's a cab-zin, cab merlot, etc. And then we can also hazard a guess as to the year. He will be like, "I think this is an '09?" And he might have to text one of his cousins and ask what year they made such and such.
 
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DH's Uncles made wine back in Pennsylvania.
The first time DH took me "Back East" (we weren't married and I wasn't quite sure how this good American-Italian family would take that) our first stop was to Aunt Jeanette and Uncle Vic's.
Aunt Jeanette bustled about and put out a spread that made the table groan, while Uncle Vic went down into the basement and came up with two huge unmarked jugs of Red Wine. DH warned me very quietly, "this stuff is homemade and strong, be careful."
DH doesn't drink, but he politely had a small glass and told me later that evening that was the best batch they'd made yet!
I still drink from a glass just like Aunt Jeanette's
cheers red wine.jpg
 
TastyReuben said:
Ok, wine experts (Shadow , The OMWC , anyone else who fancies they know a thing or two), how about some thoughts on this one?

Now, I want to add that this is a wine I’ve used several times before - it’s our preferred wine to go into our cheese fondue, with the remainder going into ourselves while we eat the cheese fondue.

That’s what this bottle is destined for, but I thought it’d be fun to see what other folks here think about it.

Opine on the wine, please!

View attachment 95900
Click to expand...
That's a perfect fondue wine. Skurnik is an excellent importer.
 
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