White or red: which wines to choose to accompany your different New Year’s Eve menus ?

Hugues Mialhe, œnologue depuis vingt-cinq ans et caviste, aide chacun à trouver sa bouteille idéale. MIDI LIBRE – J.M COGNOT

Un œnologue et une caviste de Saint-Affrique vous accompagnent dans votre choix.

Which aperitif, which wine, which digestif to choose to accompany your New Year's Eve menu ? Christine Palet, wine merchant at Verres de Vignes, offers organic aperitifs such as Les liqueurs du Larzac from the Domaine des Homs, in Nant, with gentian, wild rose, pear or quince. All served with ice cubes or in a cocktail with sparkling water or Prosecco, an Italian wine. “These liqueurs are made with very fruity plants from Larzac,” explains Christine Palet. “There is also pastis from the same estate with local plants. It is much more natural than other industrial pastis and does not anesthetize the taste buds.”

Muscat de Saint-Jean-de-Minervois

For people who do not drink alcohol, the wine merchant offers Espalion lemonade, natural or with flavors, as well as Aveyron Cola. As a tonic, she sells one made with hyssop, a plant that grows in particular in the Larzac. “To make gin, we mix hyssop tonic with causses gin”,indicates Christine Palet. In her cellar, the connoisseur will find grape juice from Saint-Jean-de-Fos, in Hérault, but also muscat from Saint-Jean-de-Minervois: “since it grows at altitude, it is much finer in the mouth than muscats from the coast. I also have sweet wines, natural sparkling wines and champagnes.”

The Les vins magnifiques brand is run by Hugues Mialhe, an oenologist for 25 years. “For all foods, you can indulge in different colors. Seafood and oysters will be accompanied by wines that have a connection with the marine world. The terroirs of the food and wine complement each other.” For example, for oysters, there are Chablis wines whose limestone terroir has a marine origin of 150 million years. Similarly, it is possible to pair wines from Languedoc or Bordeaux with sea fish.

Sweet whites, elegant reds…

“Foie gras is special,” continues the oenologist. “It can also be accompanied by sweet white wines, elegant reds, but also festive sparkling wines (champagne, crémant) and even dry but round and fruity whites. For poultry, such as guinea fowl or capons, we will often go for velvety reds. For example, wines from Burgundy, the Rhone Valley and of course nice, well-chosen Aveyron wines like Marcillac.”

For game, it is advisable to favor fleshy local reds. For wild boar, it will be the Terrasses du Larzac, for venison “good Gaillac” and for game birds, Saint-Émilion or Pomerol. “For cheeses, everyone has their favorite wines,” notes Hugues Mialhe. “For the king of cheeses, Roquefort, you can just as easily appreciate a good sweet wine as a light red like Gamay, whose finesse will tame the strength of the blue. For desserts, I offer a very wide range of wines in the cellar, from semi-dry to very sweet. And of course, sparkling wines such as champagnes, Gaillac, and Clairette, which can be enjoyed from aperitif to dessert. ”