Croissants aux Framboises + Château Sabliere Beauséjour 2016 #Winophiles

Bonne Année! This month the French Winophiles kick off their 2021 series with Jeff of Food Wine Click! at the helm. He has the group looking at what's new in Bordeaux; read his full invitation here. But the gist of it was this: "Let's look for something new going on in Bordeaux! Organic, biodynamic, natural wines? Cru Bourgeois? Outlying areas? You pick and share!"

If you are reading this early enough, feel free to join our live Twitter chat on Saturday, January 16th at 8am Pacific time. Follow the hashtag #Winophiles and be sure to add that to anything you tweet so we can see it. In the meantime, here are the posts the group has planned. These will all be live by early morning on Saturday the 16th.

• Susannah at Avvinare shares Cru Bourgeois - A Closer Look At Chateau Labadie.
• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm pairs Chateau Haut-Pougnon with Mediterranean Stew.
• Terri at Our Good Life matches a Hearty Seafood Chowder with a Special Bottling from Chateau Tour de Bonnet.
• Allison and Chris at Advinetures post Fronsac: Out of the Shadows of Bordeaux.
• Linda at My Full Wine Glass writes This Francs Côtes de Bordeaux Lets the Fruit Shine Through.
• Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla serves Croissants aux Framboises + Chateau Sabliere Beausejour 2016.
• Gwendolyn at Wine Predator says For a Special Evening at Home: Bordeaux's Sweet, Sparkling, Savory Surprises.
• Lynn at Savor the Harvest shares two posts: Sustainability, Adaptation and Oenotourism Evolve in Bordeaux and A Fresh, New Approach in Fronsac: Chateau George 7.
• Lauren at The Swirling Dervish asks Are Dry Wines the New Sweet Spot for Sauternes?
• Nicole at Somm's Table writes about Faux Fancy Bordeaux.
• Lisa at The Wine Chef offers Learn About Cru Bourgeois Wines: What's New and Why You Should be Drinking Them.
• Jeff at Food Wine Click! declares What's New? Natural Bordeaux!

In My Glass

Je suis désolé! Well, I'm a little out in left field with this post as my wine isn't organic, biodynamic, or natural. Nor is it from an outlying area. So, hopefully Jeff won't be too much of a stickler for the theme. Also, I didn't pour the wine with the food I'm sharing. I'll get to that. But I did learn something about Château Beauséjour and the 'Grand Vin' designation, so I'm running with it anyway for this month's post.

When I ordered this bottle, I was swayed by the 'Grand Vin' on the label...only to discover that the designation is highly subjected and unregulated. It really is just a way for the château to indicate its best wine. Though, if they think it's their best showing, that might mean something subjectively. But it's definitely not a term that has set criteria to earn that label. Oh, well.

The Château Sabliere Beauséjour 2016 comes from the Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux AOC (appellation d'origine contrôlée). The vineyards in this area reside on a mixture of clay, limestone, and sandstone substrates and consistently produce high-quality red wines. I was stunned that this wine retailed at less than $15.

I was able to read that this is a 70% Merlot blend, but the composition of the remaining 30% is a mystery to me. Does anyone know?

In any case, the wine was bursting with red fruit and made me think of raspberries which I'll get to in a second. But this was a beautifully balanced wine with  mellow tannins and a good amount of spice.

On My Plate

When I was researching foods from Bordeaux, I keep coming across beautiful pastries, including a family favorite: Cannelés. I had already shared those with this group last March when I posted Definitively Bordeaux: Cannelés + Crémant without the Champagne Price Tag. Jeff posted a little bit of trivia during the chat and I learned their history.  Do you know? If not, you'll definitely want to read about the 'Bunghole Pastries' and a Little Culinary History.

There were the intriguing Les Dunes Blanches, but after tasting the wine, I had my mind on raspberry pastries. So, I landed on homemade Croissants aux Framboises. They aren't only found in Bordeaux and I didn't even serve them with the wine since we had the croissants for breakfast. If you have never made your own croissants, you definitely should. They are well worth the effort. I promise.

Ingredients makes 10

• 1 cup milk, warmed slightly (so that it's comfortable to touch, but not steaming)
• 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
• 2 eggs, divided - one for the dough, one for the eggwash
• 2-3/4 cup flour, divided + more for sprinkling and rolling
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) cold salted butter
• jam or jelly for filling
• Also needed: parchment paper, rolling pin, silicone brush

Procedure

Combine the milk and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Let stand for 15 minutes for the yeast to bloom. Whisk in one egg. Add 2-1/2 cups of the flour, keeping 1/4 cup for later, and the salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms.

Cover the mixing bowl and let the dough rise until doubled in size, approximately one hour.

Once the dough has doubled, place it in the fridge to chill for at least an hour or as long as overnight. Pound each stick of butter into rectangle. Some people use a ruler and make it very precise. I am less-precise. Wrap the pounded butter in parchment and chill with the dough.

When you're ready, sprinkle a piece of parchment paper with flour and place dough on top. Roll the dough into a rectangle roughly 12"x 20". Remember, I'm less than precise, but it was around that size.

Remove one rectangle of butter from the fridge and lay it in the middle of the dough. Fold the corners of the dough in to form an envelope. It should look like this...

Using the rolling pin, roll it out to 12" x 20" again. Place the second rectangle of butter on the dough and make another envelope. Then roll it out to the 12" x 20" rectangle, but this time, fold one third of the dough over the other third, like folding a letter. 

Now you have to turn the dough. Turning the dough, by rolling and folding, creates very thin layers of butter and dough. This recipe needs to be turned 4 times. If the butter pushes through a layer of dough, rub it with a little flour. If the butter seems to be melting, chill the dough between each turn. Keep the parchment, the rolling pin, and the surface of the pastry well-floured.

To turn: Rotate the package of dough and butter so that the narrower, open end is facing you, like the pages of a book. Roll the dough out to a rectangle and fold the top third down and the bottom third up, again like a letter. Rotate the dough 90 degrees so that the open end is again facing you. Repeat. Roll the dough out to a rectangle and fold the top third down and the bottom third up. That's 2 turns. Repeat two more times.

Place the dough in the fridge and let rest for 30 minutes. 

Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out to approximately 1/4" thick. Then cut a zigzag pattern to create ten thin triangles

Smear a scant tablespoon of jam down the center of the triangle.

Starting at the base of the triangle, roll all the way up and place the croissants on a baking sheet.

Beat the second egg and brush the egg over the top of the croissants. Let rise for 30 minutes while the oven preheats.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the croissants in the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

Pastries are finished when the tops are deep golden and the tips look as if they might be just starting to burn.

Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes on the sheet but be sure remove them after that. Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Best served the day they are baked.

That's a wrap for the January 2021 edition of the French Winophiles. We'll be back next month with a focus on the red wines of Provence with Payal of Keep the Peas at the head. Stay tuned...