Wild Thing, I Think I Love Le Pont Bandol and Wild Caught Orange Roughy #Winophiles

This month the #Winophile bloggers are continuing the love with dishes that appeal to your romantic side!  Who says February is the only time for romance?  You can use these inspirational dishes any time you want to set the mood.  A big thanks to Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm for hosting us.

The #Winophiles are here to help you use and understand French wines better.  Each month we have a theme, typically around a specific grape or style, and we all share various wines we found centered around the theme.  Often there are food pairings to help you know what to serve with the dish.

"The Bandol wine region of France, located near the coast east of Marseille and Cassis, is one of Provence’s most internationally recognized wine regions and one of the very first to have its name registered as an “appellation”  in 1941.

Based around the fishing village of Bandol, west of Toulon, the Bandol appellation covers the production of 8 communes with silicon & limestone soils. Those soils and the warm, coastal climate are ideally suited for the late-ripening Mourvèdre grape which is the major varietal of the region. For both the red and rosé wines, Mourvèdre must account for at least 50% of the blend, though most producers will use significantly more, with Grenache & Cinsaut usually filling out the rest of the wine’s composition."  from bettertastingwine.com

I chose a Le Pont Bandol to share with you today.  This wine has soft tannins, it's earthy and juicy on the nose (meaning the first few whiffs of the aroma) and tastes of dark cherries or plums, and some spice. We served this with an orange roughy dish, which may seem a little odd, and yes, I think the wine was a bit overpowering of the dish. Le Pont Bondol also makes a rose, which may be a better choice for this dish.

Our fish dish was made using orange roughy on this recipe. The fish was delicious, my husband knows how to cook it, but the sauce was very light. With mustard and lemon, I felt like we would have had a more flavorful sauce.  Because the sauce was so light, the wine was a bit overwhelming.  Both were delicious, just not together.

As promised, check out these other wine lovers posts and pairings here:

• Susannah of Avvinare is "Falling In Love All Over Again, With Champagne".
• Robin of Crushed Grape Chronicles shares "Finding the right wine for Romance…we chose a trip to the Loire". 
• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla is "Keeping It Spicy: Blackened Salmon + Domaine Lafage Cuvee Nicolas 2018".  
• Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm says "Love is in the Air and We are Spicing Things Up with a Cahors Wine paired with an American Steak".
• Cathie of Side Hustle Wino tells us "Love is on the Table".
• Terri of Our Good Life  sings "Wild Thing, I Think I Love Le Pont Bandol and Wild Caught Orange Roughy" 
• Nicole of Somm's Table shares “A Girls’ Weekend, Grilled Branzino, and a Mag of Palmer & Co. Champagne “
• Gwendolyn of Wine Predator dishes up a twofer with "It’s Loveuary! Romance from France: Fun Fondue, Coq a Vin" and "Clink sustainably: Create climate conscious conversations with Bordeaux Wines and Stemple Creek Ranch Beef "