Sole Véronique with a Château Thivin Brouilly #Winophiles

Here we are at the November event for The French Winophiles, a wine-swilling, food-loving group started by Christy of Confessions of a Culinary Diva and jointly coordinated by Jill of L'occasion.

The Conversation

Join us for a live Twitter Chat Saturday, November 19th at 11 am EST/8 am PT. You may join in the revelry by following hashtag #winophiles. Join us for our upcoming events by emailing your post title to Christy at culinarydiva@icloud.com or Jill at jillbarth@msn.com.  A Vôtre Santé!

The French Winophiles Beaujolais Team (written by Jill of L'occasion)

When Michelle from Rockin’ Red Blog sent me her title for our French Winophiles visit to Beaujolais this weekend I realized she’s hitting on a topic that is resonate with the wines of Beaujolias: Beaujolais: Ah ToBe Young Wild and Free. Michelle has some of the best wine and meal recommendations (set to music) so I know I’ll need to shop for wine immediately after I read her post!

I’m really excited to see what Jeff from FoodWineClick has in store for us, because he’s recently returned from a trip to Beaujolais. His title for our session will be A Fall Day in Beaujolais. I’m so looking forward to the soothing and inspirational photos that Jeff always captures in his posts. He is seriously talented with the camera in the kitchen, and has a great spirit for noticing the best and brightest.

Martin from Enofylz Wine Blog is going to reveal how Beaujolais is  A Great Everyday Red Wine. Martin has excellent taste in wine and he’s got a way of bringing people together over a great bottle. I’m always inspired to invite friends over to enjoy his suggested wines and food. He has a great time with his writing, his friends and family and is an exceptionally talented blogger.

Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm inspires me with her creativity. First, everything she makes sounds delicious and is sourced from incredible places…Second, she always has something cooking not only in the kitchen but on her blog. This month, she’s combining two topics to share Look What I’mBringing to the #TastyParTEA and Sharing with #Winophiles. I’m so curious about this!

Are you ready for something outstanding at your table? Morning, noon or night; special occasion or regular day; sweet or savory: you need to consult Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla. Her blog seriously has the most comprehensive collection of kitchen creativity anywhere. She’s so generous with sharing. Take her Beaujolais post for example: Sole Véronique with a Château ThivinBrouilly. Wow.

Gwendolyn from Wine Predator has something special in store for us as we visit Beaujolais. She’s actually got a chef involved and while that doesn’t seem fair, somehow I think it will be in our favor because we’ll get to steal her inspiration. Gwendolyn started blogging as Art Predator and took her eye for detail (she’s on the prowl) into the world of wine. She wrote An In-Between Wine for In-Between Times.

Jill of L'occasion forgot to list her own post: The Crus of Beaujolais.

In My Glass

Brouilly is an appellation in central-north Beaujolais where the lower slopes of Mont Brouilly are dominated by the Gamay varietal. Gamay is used to make a relatively robust and full-bodied style of wine, unlike the lighter, fresher Beaujolais Nouveau wines. Brouilly wines are more fruit-forward than many of the other Beaujolais crus.

Château Thivin has a unique winemaking process that relies entirely on gravity and exclusively uses whole grapes that are preserved in stainless steel vats through the winter.

I was a little bit unsure of the pairing initially, thinking that it would overpower the fish, but I was happily mistaken! I found this wine delicate and food-friendly. 

On My Plate

It just so happened that, on the night I found my wine, my CSF (that's community supported fishery, if you weren't sure) - Real Good Fish - was delivering fresh caught sole. Yum, yum, and yum again!

I know that my boys love Sole Meunière and would never complain if that made it to the table, but I wanted to try something new. So, I read about a new-to-me dish called Sole Véronique. Oh, and before anyone screams that this isn't a traditional Sole Véronique, I know. It's my take on the recipe with what I had on-hand.

I will admit it's a rare evening when all three of my food critics (that's husband and two boys) agree that a dish is fantastic. This was one of those dishes. But you really can't go wrong with fresh fish, butter, cream, herbs, and roasted grapes! 

Ingredients

• 2 C fresh grapes on stems, cut into small clusters - about 4 or 5 grapes to a bunch
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 pound fresh sole, cleaned and sliced into filets
• 2 T butter
• 1/2 C organic heavy cream
• 1/4 C dry white wine
• bunch of fresh chives, some chopped and some kept whole for garnishing
• freshly ground salt
• freshly ground pepper

Procedure

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place grapes in a rimmed baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Roast until grapes have burst and some have charred, approximately 30 minutes. Let cool slightly before handling.

Season each fish filet with salt and pepper and roll as tightly as you can. Melt butter in a large skillet and place rolled filets in the pan. 

Pour cream and wine over the top of the fish. Sprinkle with chopped chives. Bring the liquid up to a simmer. Cover and poach until the fish is opaque and firm, approximately 5 to 6 minutes.

To serve, move 2 to 3 rolls onto an individual serving plate. Season with salt and pepper. Top with longer sections of chives. Spoon the sauce over and around the fish. Garnish with roasted grapes.