Food and wine pairing

Warm pélardon and smoked duck breast salad, with Grenache Terre Sauvage

Name: Warm pélardon salad with honey, smoked duck breast and walnuts
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Languedoc — Cévennes
Ingredients: 4 pélardons (about 60 g each); 8 slices of country bread; 120 g sliced smoked duck breast; 150 g mesclun; 40 g walnut halves; 2 tablespoons garrigue honey; 1 sprig of thyme; 4 cl olive oil and 1 cl walnut oil; 2 cl red wine vinegar; 1 teaspoon mustard; Salt and freshly ground pepper

A small goat’s cheese from the Cévennes, pélardon is wonderful on hot toast. Paired with a few slices of smoked duck breast, walnuts and a drizzle of honey, it makes a convivial salad, the kind you serve as a starter or a light meal. Grenache Terre Sauvage, supple and fruity, matches it effortlessly.

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Food and wine pairings
Warm pélardon and smoked duck breast salad, with Grenache Terre Sauvage

The recipe

Warm pélardon salad with honey, smoked duck breast and walnuts

Serves 4Preparation 15 minCooking 10 min

Ingredients

4 pélardons (about 60 g each)
8 slices of country bread
120 g sliced smoked duck breast
150 g mesclun
40 g walnut halves
2 tablespoons garrigue honey
1 sprig of thyme
4 cl olive oil and 1 cl walnut oil
2 cl red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon mustard
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

1
Preheat the grill to 220 °C.
2
Make the vinaigrette: whisk the mustard, vinegar, a pinch of salt and some pepper, then add both oils.
3
Toast the walnut halves in a dry frying pan for 3 minutes, stirring. Set aside.
4
Slice each pélardon in half horizontally and place each half on a slice of bread.
5
Drizzle honey over each half-pélardon and strip the thyme leaves over the top.
6
Place in the oven for 5 to 6 minutes, until the cheese is melting and lightly golden.
7
Dress the mesclun with the vinaigrette and divide it between the plates. Add the slices of smoked duck breast and the walnuts.
8
Place two piping-hot pélardon toasts on each plate and serve immediately.

Why this pairing works

Grenache

Grenache Terre Sauvage, 100 % grenache noir grown on clay-limestone soils, reveals a nose of fresh red fruit lifted by a hint of white pepper. It actually pairs with smoked duck breast salad: the smokiness and salt of the duck call for this generous fruit, and the white pepper echoes the freshly ground pepper in the vinaigrette. The supple, mellow and rounded palate does not clash with the warm pélardon, whose fresh, milky character marries with the wine’s fruit. The honey and toasted walnuts extend this indulgent side. A full-bodied, polished wine for a simple, warming starter.

Serve the Grenache lightly chilled, at around 14 °C. In summer, swap the mesclun for rocket leaves and add a few fresh figs.

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