Food and Wine Pairing:
Fire Pit Grilled Poussin with Thyme and Chateauneuf-du-Pape

December 29th, 2006

I enjoyed a nice Friday night dinner with my wife with a great food and wine pairing.

I fired up the ol' fire pit grill with some almond wood and got nice hot coals rockin' before putting on the grill.

One of my favorite and simplest recipes is this grilled Poussin with Thyme. Poussin is a young chicken, a bit smaller than a Cornish Game Hen. Marinated with fresh thyme and rubbed with fresh cracked black pepper, olive oil and finally salt, this is an easy and delicious dish.

Clos St. Jean Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2004

A little young for this wine but I thought I'd give it a try. Immediately the nose was giving off great aromas of Provençal herbs like thyme and rosemary roasting on a fire. No, I wasn't just smelling the poussin cooking! I started tasting this before I even started up the fire pit! Other notes of mint, licorice and ripe black fruits came out too. I hadn't had much experience with this domaine before and was impressed. Very southern French and nice spiciness with a solid core of fruit. The nose immediately suggested a great food and wine pairing.

When I finally got around to tasting this beauty, it was spicy and vibrant with black fruits and fresh pepper. Still young and quite tannic but it is already supple and very tasty. My only complaint was that the fruit seemed a bit candied and medicinal, but I think that is just some young heat that hopefully will integrate in the cellar.

This was simply great with the grilled poussin with thyme. A great food and wine pairing for my taste!