Sea Bass and Rosé a Wine Pairing fit for an Anniversary

Anniversaries are always worth celebrating, and in our house, that means a meal to suit the special day. However, the dilemma was what to serve with a Commanderie de Peyrassol rosé (2016)?

Wine pairings are always a bit of a gamble. Will the wine stand-up to the food or overpower it? In this case, I ended up choosing Chilean sea bass, which I marinated briefly in herbs and olive oil, then grilled and served it with Romesco sauce. Well, more a Romesco-esque sauce. I redesigned a recipe for the traditional Catalan sauce, rebuilding it because I wanted to make sure it wasn’t too intense for the wine — or the fish.

The result? Food and wine perfection.

Winery Details

The Commanderie de Peyrassol vineyard lies about 30 miles northwest of Saint Tropez in the Var. Wine has been produced on this property near Flassans-sur-Isole for hundreds of years. The original vineyard dates back to the Knights Templar in the 13th-century. This domaine was also known as a safe resting place for pilgrims.

Today, this vineyard with a total of 950 hectares is part of the Côtes de Provence appellation. There are 100 hectares dedicated to grapevines. Olive groves, oak trees and plenty of natural space make up the rest of the property. It’s worth paying a visit to the winery for the wine, of course, but also to visit the contemporary sculpture installations. Château Peyrassol’s owners Philippe Austruy and Valérie Bach are astute art collectors with a gallery in Brussels. The couple has turned their vineyard into a fabulous setting for 50+ monumental pieces by handpicked artists.

Treat yourself to a real visit and stay in one of the five (5) rooms. These chambres d’hôtes (B&B) suites are beautifully decorated and offer all the modern comforts, including breakfast with a view of the vineyard.

Commanderie de Peyrassol (website)
RN 7, 83340 Flassans-sur-Issole
Telpehone: +33 (0) 4 94 69 71 02

Susan Newman Manfull

It was love at first sight when my family and I arrived in the charming village of Lourmarin for a short vacation, nearly 20 years ago. We returned home to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and the next thing I knew, we were planning a much longer sojourn in that village and making arrangements to enroll our daughter in the local school there. That led to buying a maison de village— actually two, then a courtyard, a parking spot, and a bergerie— in our favourite Provençal village where we (readily) adopted that certain joie de vivre, established dear friendships, and, to this day, endeavour to blend in with the crowd at Café Gaby.

We no longer own property in Lourmarin, but we continue to hang our hats there frequently and gather fodder for our souls and The Modern Trobaors and Provence WineZine. There is never a shortage.

The Modern Trobadors, conceived in 2008, is about all things Provence: its markets, hilltop villages, lavender, art, literature, culture, history, food, wine, and news. Provence WineZine, launched in August 2014, focuses on wines from Provence and the Southern Rhône Valley regions—with a special emphasis on Provence's world-renowned rosés—and the men and women who make them.