Hi, I am alohaj's sister. I want to thank everyone for their suggestions for the French dinner. I am taking my first wine class at school and am very excited to learn more. I did end up changing the broiled roquefort toasts to just toasted baguettes with olive tapenade. I do not know very much about pairing wine and food. Would a sparkling wine pair with this? Any suggestions? Thank you.

Welcome to VC Amy! Have fun while you're here. There are lots of helpful forumites who would love to hear how the class is going!

Welcome!

Welcome, amy. If the tapenade is not too laden with vinegar, Champagne or a sparkler would be fine.

Another vote for Champagne. I love olive tapenade. mmmm

Welcome!

Glad to see you here Amy, welcome. Another thumb's up for a sparkler from EW's corner.

In matching food and wine, when in doubt match the food to a wine from the same region as where the food came from. Sparkling wine with tapenade (while it might work) is a rather weird combination imo. I'd match tapenade to a Provencal wine. A Rose from Bandol (Domaine Tempier is the best) or Tavel would be my first choice.

I agree w/Jones: I've never had olives served with Champagne, and I think there's probably a reason for it. I think a Bandol Rose would be excellent. A fino or other dry Sherry would also be a more traditional match.

Thanks for the info. Do you know of good a Bandol rose or tavel that would fit in the price range for the project?(around 20 and under)

Domaine Tempier Bandol Rose can be had for $20.

The Tempier is over $20 at most places (seems to average about $25. The Tavel rose can be had just about anywhere for about $15. If you are near Berkeley you should head down to San Pablo avenue and check out Kermit Lynch. Just let them know what you want to pair the wine with and they will be more than willing to pick out something. They are the importer for Tempier (or they were at one time) and they have many other Rose's

wow coulda swore i heard you could get it for $19.99.

By putting all the info. together that I recieved from VC, books, and people at a few wine shops, this is what I came up with for the dinner.
*Toasted baguetts with olive tapenade
demi-sec vouvray
*Stuffed zucchini (stuffed w/garlic,onions,olives, tomatoes,breadcrumbs,parsley,thyme,basil...)
Tavel
*Steak w/roquefort cheese sauce served w/sauted potatoes and roasted green beans w/slivered almonds.
Bordeaux
*Almond butter cookies
sauternes

Does anyone think that I am way off ? I am nervous because our teacher shows up at our dinner. Thank you for all your help
Amy

For your price range of $20 and less, I would change your Bordeaux for a Chinon (Loire Valey). If you can find the one I recommend last week, it'd be perfect. $16 bottle, that's pretty highly rated. 2001 Baudry Chinon Les Granges.

Now that I think about it... I should have given your brother one when I saw him yesterday.

I think this looks good. For the Bordeaux try to find something from the 2000 vintage. It was a great vintage and the inexpensive wines did very well.

Go Broncos!

Cool my sister joined the site!!! I'll make her a wine drinker yet.

So I can better understand, can someone please tell me why the wines I decided on for the dinner pair with the dishes. I need to know asap so I can explain and understand the rationale.
Thanks