The French Know Their Stuff: Beef Bourguignon and Chatteau Messile-Aubert

Pris and I really like the beef bourguignon from H.E.B. Central Market, but last Sunday I decided to try my own had at making it.  After 5 hours of cooking it was finally done, and it was time for dinner and wine.  To go with a quintessential French dish you have to have a French wine.  Pris and I selected the 2006 Chatteau Messile-Aubert from the Wall Street Journal Wine Club.

The Chatteau Messile-Aubert was a great big red with a deep dark color.  On the nose there was plenty of cherry, currant, and dark berry.  This was a great rich wine, and the cherry, black currant continue on the palate.  Intermingled with the dark fruit is a nice undercurrent of oak and herb.  The finish was juicy and lingering.  Even though this is a big full bodied wine, it was full fruited but lacking the heavy tannins that you find in most Cabs and other big reds.

The Chatteau Messile-Aubert went great with the beef bourguignon, I mean really fantastic.  The rich wine was a perfect compliment to the wine infused beef and mushrooms.  To go with the beef and sauce I included a couple slices of French bread slathered with herb infused chevre cheese.  Again, the wine was the perfect compliment to the rich goat cheese and bread.  Basically you can't go wrong pairing the Chatteau Messile-Aubert with succulent beef dishes and tangy rich cheeses.

The wine was a gift, and it came from the Wall Street Journal Wine Club, but it seems to be out of stock now.  You can find it online at a couple different sites though.  For more information on Chatteau Messile-Aubert you can visit: http://aubert-vignobles.com/messile-aubert.php?specid=3&langid=2