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Poulet au Citron et Lavande + La Lôyane 2016 #Winophiles #rhonevalleyvineyards #lirac #liracwines #Sponsored

This is a sponsored post written by me in conjunction with the October #Winophiles event.
Wine samples were provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links.

This month the French Winophiles are exploring the wines of Lirac. And Rhône Valley Vineyards and Teuwen Communications graciously provided some of the bloggers with samples.* If you're reading this early enough, jump on Twitter and follow the hashtags #Winophiles, #rhonevalleyvineyards, #lirac, or #liracwines. We'll be live on Saturday, October 20th at 8am Pacific time. Or you can peruse the stream at your leisure anytime by searching for those tags.

Lirac
Lirac, named for the village, is a wine-growing Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) that sits in the low hills along the Rhône river in the southern Rhône region of France. Vineyards have been cultivated there since the Roman times almost two millennia ago and by the 1500s the wines were lauded by the French royal courts for their quality. This AOC is completely new to me, so I was grateful for the chance to explore it.

The Other Lirac Pairings

In My Glass

Though I received four different red wines from Lirac, I opted to share my pairing for the La  Lôyane 2016 - mainly because I liked the name! “La  Lôyane” is the historical name of the region where the domaine was built; in ancient times it meant a “territory occupied by wolves.”


Domaine La  Lôyane was established in 2001, but the estate has been growing grapes in Lirac for four generations. Today, the estate is managed by Romain Dubois and his wife Laure; they oversee 75 acres in Lirac and Tavel and farm them all organically.

This single vineyard release comes from an area called “Les Theys” which boasts the oldest Grenache vines in all of Lirac, hence the 'vielles vignes' on the label.

A blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah, this wine has strong garrigue aromas which refers to the wild, aromatic low-growing vegetation on the limestone hills of the Mediterranean coast. Think juniper, thyme, rosemary and lavender; 'garrigue' refers to the lot of them. For this ruby-hued wine, I got mostly lavender and thyme on the nose. And the salinity on the tongue definitely made me think of the Mediterranean.

On  My Plate

I decided to mirror those garrigue notes by making a pan-crisped chicken dish rubbed with lavender, thyme, lemon zest, and sea salt.


Poulet au Citron et Lavande

Ingredients 
serves 4 to 6, depending on appetite
  • 6 to 8 organic bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 T butter
  • juice and zest from 1 organic lemon + lemon slices for serving
  • 1 T crushed lavender + more for serving, if desired
  • 1 T flake salt
  • 1 t dried thyme
  • freshly ground pepper, as needed
Procedure

 In a large bowl, combine lavender, thyme, lemon zest, and salt. Mix well. Rub the mixture on both sides of the chicken thighs and let stand for 10 minutes.

In a heavy skillet, melt 1 T butter in olive oil. Place the skin side of chicken down and cook for 25 to 30 minutes.


Turn the chicken over. Squeeze lemon juice over the top and cook for another 25 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, as desired, and serve immediately.


 I served this with smashed red potatoes and a salad.

Find the Sponsor...
Rhône Valley Vineyards on the web, on Instagram, on Twitter
*Disclosure: I received sample wines for recipe development, pairing, and generating social media traction. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the organizer and sponsors of this event.

Comments

  1. Your chicken looks and sounds delicious. I love how you used herbs that you noted in the wine. I use a similar herb mix of Herbs of Provence with fennel pollen, perfect for the Rhône wines.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That chicken looks amazing. The skin is perfectly crisp and browned.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't know that I have ever included lavender in a dish, must give it a try!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What an awesome pairing. The herbal garrigue is a perfect match to the wines of Lirac. Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love this recipe! I tasted the La Lôyane and loved the nose on it. Your recipe pulls in on those beautiful elements. Now I just have to find another bottle of this wine, so I can make this recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks great... love the lemon zest in the mix! I mirrored the same "garrigue" herbs - lavender, thyme, sage, marjoram etc. - to make a crust for lamb and it was delicious with the wines!

    ReplyDelete
  7. We used a generous amount of herbs of provence in our dishes as well -- really worked out well! This dish looks like something my family would love!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like the way you picked up on the garrigue notes in the wine with your recipe! great pairing.

    ReplyDelete

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