Asian BBQ Sauce-Glazed Pork Chops + Domaine Trosset's Mondeuse d'Arbin #Winophiles #GodforsakenGrapes #Sponsored

This is a sponsored post written by me in conjunction with Vin de Savoie.

Wine samples were provided for this post and this page may contain affiliate links.

Last month we focused on godforsaken grapes from any region with January's #WinePW group. You can read the results of that exploration in my post: An Unlikely Match: A Thai Favorite + A Qvevri-Aged Wine from the Republic of Georgia.

This month, I invited the French Winophiles to post about an indigenous or godforsaken grape from France. Before I get to my post, here's the rest of the #Winophiles' offerings...

• A Special Wine for A Special Night by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Aligoté Emerging from the Shadows by Food Wine Click!
• Asian BBQ Sauce-Glazed Pork Chops + Domaine Trosset's Mondeuse d'Arbin by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• A Wine Geek Explores Jura’s Native Grapes, Part I by My Full Wine Glass
• Cooking to the Wine: Clos Cibonne Tibouren Cuvée Tradition Rosé & Savory Citrus Chicken with Couscous by Somm's Table
• Drinking Les Rocailles Apremont Savoie Jacquère and Eating Homemade Fish Paste by Chinese Food & Wine Pairings
• Forlorn in France, Flourishing in the New World? Malbec! by Wine Predator
• Great French Wines You Might Not Know...But Should! by Cooking Chat
• Alpine Fresh, Sulfite Free Jacquère Wine Is Not Pure White by Asian Test Kitchen
• Tannat and Pasta, a Surprising Combination! by Our Good Life
• Time to Give Some Love to Godforsaken Cinsault by The Corkscrew Concierge
• Though the Mountains May Crumble...Apremont and Some Alpine Pairings by Crushed Grape Chronicles 

In the Glass

Also this month, Jill of L'Occasion hosted an event for #WinePW when we turned our eyes on Savoie. Luckily, several of us received wine samples from Vin de Savoie*. And it turned out that one of the bottles I received - Domaine Trosset's Mondeuse d'Arbin - fit perfectly into my post for this month.

Located between Chambéry and Albertville, at the base of the Bauges Mountains, Domaine Trosset inhabits over 16 hectares of those south-facing slopes. And Fabien Trosset, along with his partner Chloé, is the first producer of Mondeuse d'Arbin in Savoie.

If you're asking 'What is Mondeuse?' that is the point of this post - to explore a less than familiar grape varietal from France. Mondeuse definitely falls into that 'godforsaken' category as it is largely unknown outside of the Savoie region of France. There are a few bubbles of cultivation in the Bugey area between Lyon and Switzerland and a smattering of vineyards in Australia and California, but it is certainly an obscure grape.

Jason Wilson, in Godforsaken Grapes, recounts a dinner he attended hosted by Michel Grisard, "a tall, ruddy-faced winemaker with a huge smile...whom everyone called 'the pope of Savoie.' ...[and with] the wines under his label, Domaine Prieuré Saint Christophe - in particular the grape mondeuse noire, which he almost single-handedly saved from extinction in the 1980s" (pg. 78). Wilson goes on to describe Grisard's Mondeuse as "a revelation: floral, fruity, smoky, foresty, but so light and dangerously drinkable" (pg. 79).

While I didn't get to pour a Domaine Prieuré Saint Christophe, I poured a Domaine Trosset whose Mondeuse d'Arbin's is a single varietal - 100% Mondeuse - made from vines that are over half a century old. The grapes are hand-harvested and vinified in whole clusters before being aged in stainless steel for up to a year. This Mondeuse was characterized by deep color, healthy tannins, and a unique note of bitter cherry that verges on spicy.

To the eye, the wine pours an inky garnet with flecks of purple on the rim. On the nose, I got an intense floral note with underlying fruits of plum and blackberry. On the palate, this was deliciously spicy with a full mouthfeel and tart tannins.

On the Plate

I wanted to make something that would highlight and complement the piquant, spicy flavors of the wine. I opted to make a homemade hoisin sauce as the base of an Asian-inspired barbeque sauce. Then I slathered it on top of a grilled pork chop. What a tasty match! My hoisin sauce is flavorful, easy to make, and is made from ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. It lasts for a week.

Homemade Hoisin Sauce

• 1/4 C soy sauce (or gluten-free tamari)
• 1-1/2 T creamy peanut butter
• 2 T organic dark brown sugar
• 1 T honey
• 1 T apple cider vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and pressed
• 1" knob fresh ginger, grated
• 1/8 t sesame seed oil
• 1/2 t sriracha (or other hot sauce) + more, if needed
• 1/8 t freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 t ground white pepper

Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk well to combine. Store in a lidded jar in the fridge for up to a week. You can use this as a dipping sauce for lettuce wraps, as a seasoning in all types of Asian dishes, or - as I do below - as part of an Asian-inspired barbeque sauce.

Asian BBQ Sauce-Glaze

• 3/4 C unsulpured molasses
• 1 T soy sauce (or gluten-free tamari)
• 3 T Hoisin sauce (above)
• 1/4 C organic dark brown sugar
• 2 T minced candied ginger
• 2 T bourbon
• ½ t ground Chinese five-spice powder
• 1 whole star anise
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, peeled and pressed
• 2 T corn starch
• 2 T warm water

Place all sauce ingredients - except the corn starch and water - in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the corn starch into warm water to form a slurry. Add 1 T of the hot sauce into the corn starch and whisk to combine. Slowly add the cornstarch to the sauce pan, whisking until smooth. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook for 10 to 15 minutes.

Let cool and refrigerate until needed. I slathered this on top of grilled pork chops to serve with the Mondeuse. I also served a fresh coleslaw made with a sesame vinaigrette and oven-roasted broccoli. Delicious!

You may find Vin de Savoie on Facebook.

Find Domain Trosset on the web,

*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.