Lamb, goat yogurt, ratatouille, and Rhone

Hmmm.. No, it doesn't really rhyme. But it's what was for dinner tonight. Lamb rib chops, marinated as usual in lemon-garlic-oregano, paired with a garlic-goat yogurt sauce (Yes, this is amazing stuff! And it's rather goaty! In the very best way!). But tonight, I paired it with ratatouille as a side. Now, what is ratatouille? Basically a stew/saute/casserole combining bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant. Tonight, I roasted my veggies before adding them to the piperade of onion, pepper and tomato. It brought out an extra layer of flavor that was very nice, above and beyond sauteeing them in olive oil. Yum.

I had picked up a bottle of the Domaine de la Tourade 2007 Cotes du Rhone, and though I figured it might be young, I wanted to try it. You may remember reading my waxing poetic about this producer's 2003 Vacqueyras, and the CDR did not disappoint. It's incredibly big and complex for a CDR, tons of raspberry fruit, some garrigue, minerality, cocoa notes, roast meat, holy cats! I love this wine already, and it's showing well; it also has all the hallmarks of a wine that should last for years, maybe a decade or more. I intend to pick up at least 4, probably 6, bottles of this to watch it age over time. I also have a few bottles of their 2005 Gigondas, and a couple of their 05 CDR in the cellar. I'm just incredibly impressed by this producer. By now, you may have realized that I'm a Rhone freak--if I could only drink wines from one region fo the world for the rest of my life, I'd likely pick these--for their rusticity, their complexity, their diversity, their friendliness to food, their accessibility when young and the rewards of cellaring. (Burgundy would be a close second, but that's another post.)

Much as I expected, the wine and food also paired beautifully. First of all, lamb and Rhone tends to go well (for that matter, lamb and most red french wines go well...) together. Second, ratatouille comes from the same general region as Rhone wines (for that matter, so does lamb). Finally, there are the flavors and traits of the wine and food that really make it work. The tannins and acid in the wine nicely cut through the fat in the lamb. The fruit accentuated the sweetness of the lamb meat and the veggies in the ratatouille. In short, a lovely pairing.