Every year in the deep, darkness and pouring rain of winter in Vancouver, we have Dine Out Vancouver, to try to get us out and excited about food, wine, and hopefully life. I booked a dine out experience at Provence Marinaside. A top notch restaurant in Vancouver, serving excellent French cuisine. Here are a few pictures of what I enjoyed for my three course meal, which cost only $49, and was so filling. To the dishes, I selected the wine pairings suggested by the restaurant. The wines all come from Ontario’s Tawse Winery, which I am familiar with and have reviewed in the past. I am happy to see that we are able to bring in Ontario wines to BC, and hope more BC wines get into Ontario. Elbows Up!
The dishes I enjoyed, with the associated wines are:
- Escargot paired with Tawse Winery Lawrence Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc
- Confit Duck Leg with Tawse Winery Grower’s Blend Gamay Noir
- Crème Caramel with Tawse Winery Riesling Ice wine
The Dishes With Wine Pairing Notes
All three pairings worked very well together. All complementary. I enjoyed the Escargot, lightly chewy, in a good way, and full of the garlic and butter sauce. The Sauvignon Blanc was not overpowering, but provided the citrus flavour and acidity to balance the richness and butter of the escargot.
You can never go wrong with Confit Duck Leg. This dish came with cannellini beans, spinach and a green peppercorn sauce. Again, rich flavours from the duck and sauce, with smooth texture from the beans. The Gamay Noir had a wonderful candied red cherry flavour, was lighter bodied and fresh acidity which again worked well with the sauce and duck.
Lastly, for dessert the Crème Caramel, was sweet and silky smooth on the palate. There was a crunchy palmier cookie which I topped with fresh whipped cream to go with it. The Riesling ice wine was thick and sweet and tasted like lovely ripe apricots. Again flavours from the dish and wine worked well together.
Dine Out Vancouver finishes on Feb. 8. If you have a chance, go to Provence Marinaside. You will have a terrific meal. Here is the Dine Out Vancouver link to reserve your table.
