Points : 9/10

Price : 145 TL from Eylem

A week ago I saw on the insta page of pintade_montpellier some beautiful pics of a local recipe : squid stuffed with meat “à la sétoise”, a recipe from Sète, a great seaside little town near Montpellier in the south of France called the little Venice of Languedoc. A big feeling of nostalgia came back to my face so I couldn’t help but ask my wife to try to cook this for me. She did a wonderful job! I’m such a lucky man…

At the same time, I was wondering what wine could go well with squid stuffed with meat in a tomato with garlic sauce? People always advise you to choose a wine from the same region as the recipe…

What are the grapes that you meet more often in Languedoc? White, rosé or red wine? You think it won’t be easy to find squid in Istanbul? Not difficult.

What about the grapes? For a rosé or a red wine I would go for a blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre.

A red would be too heavy with this temperature but Barbare winery was a good option.

I immediately thought about Selendi Gülpembe which is the closest you could get to a Languedoc or Provence rosé. It’s a blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvedre and Syrah and it’s just the perfect wine for this dish.

I decided to add a second option : A Roussanne, a very popular white grape in the south of France, especially in Languedoc.

Let us taste it together:

Floral nose, honey, apricot and some oaky notes like Vanilla and butter.

Aged in french oak barrels for 7 months. Made of organic grapes.

Full bodied, rich creamy texture and good acidity.

On the palate : Baked apple, brioche, honeysuckle, ginger, wax, apricot, pear and honeysuckle in the long finish with a delicate salty note.

This wine is crazy. It’s so rich and delicate, generous and refined. This new vintage comfort me in the idea that this is one of the best white wines of Turkey.

Not a wine for an aperitif. It’s food wine.

Enjoy! Afiyet olsun!