Food:

• White Shrimp, Cuttlefish Ball and Cabbage Porridge

Wine of my Choice:

• Domaine de la Pépière Clos des Briords Muscadet Sérve et Maine Sur Lie Loire Valley France 🇫🇷  2018

The Cabbage Porridge was one of my mom’s signature dishes and it is also one of my favorite dishes. Mom knew that I like the cabbage porridge very much, so she always made the dish whenever she got all the ingredients handy.   

Mom always took her time to make her own stock. She learned the idea from my granny and believed the stock made by pork bones has calcium and other nutritions that are good for our body. She believed nothing is better than homemade food nonetheless it takes time to make them. 

I made this porridge last year when I was back in Taiwan visiting my dad.  One day, I really miss mom’s Cabbage Porridge, so, I got all the ingredients ready and followed mom’s recipe of Cabbage Porridge but added white shrimp and cuttlefish balls, a specialty of my home town, in the porridge to give additional flavors. 

While my father and I sat down at the dinner table and having the porridge together, we talked about Mom and shared our memories of her with each other. It was like Mom was sitting on the dinning table with us like she never left. Mom’s home cooking has pulled my father and I more closer. Her love to our family will always live with us and through her home cooking.

The Grape: Melon de Bourgogne

This Muscadet Sèrve et Maine is made by 100% Melon de Bourgogne grown in Muscadet Sèrve et Maine in Nantais, Loire Valley, France. Rising in the Cévennes range of the French Massif Central and with a length of 625 miles, the Lorie is the longest river in France and it flows west towards the Atlantic. Due to its vast territory, Lorie valley is grouped into four sub regions. The climate, soil, terroir and the natural factors are very different from region to region.

Melon de Bourgogne is mainly grown in Natais, a costal region experiencing a maritime and cool climate. Melon de Bourgogne ripens early and frost-resistant, making it well suited to the climate in the region. The best expression of Melon de Bourgogne can be found in Muscadet Sèrve et Maine of Marais. 

Wine made by Melon de Bourgogne is known for its high acidity, with light to medium bodied and the maximum permitted alcohol is 12% abv.  The wine displays faint white floral notes with lemon, green apple, pear, yeast, sour beer, and the aromas of yogurt drink. It has noticeable notes of minerality, sea spray and saline. The wine goes very well with any kind of seafood, especially with shellfish.

The Producer: Domaine Domaine de la Pépière

Located in the village of Maisdon-sur-Sèvre, Domaine de la Pépière is 30 minutes away from the city center of Nantais.  Established by Marc Ollivier in 1984, the estate has grown from 7 hectares to 37 hectares nowadays. Rémi Branger joined the domaine in 2007 and has actively worked on the conversion of the organic farming. In 2013, Gwénaëlle Croix came on board as she pushes the viticulture further and aims for a full transition of the biodynamic practice. 

Clos des Briords, a 4.4 hectares cru, is filled with old vines Melon de Bourgogne with the average age of the vines are over 60 years old.  Situated on the hillsides of the river Maine, a tributary to the Loire, Clos des Briords is a parcel that has the oldest vines of the estate.  The grapes are grown in organic practice and hand harvested.

This wine is made by 100% old vine Melon de Bourgogne from the single parcel Clos des Briords. While I opened the bottle and poured the wine into the glass, immediately, the delicate white floral notes jumped out from the glass; the notes of Granny Smith apple, Bartlett pear, lemon peel and unripped yellow peach came second. After a sip, the sea spray, minerality and saline over-washed the palate and finished with hint of yeast. Muscadet（ Sérve et Maine）Sur Lie is a specialty to the area. “Sue Lie”, a technical term, applies to wine making process that means wine will be aged with its lees over the winter in order to gain body, complexity and round mouthfeel. 

The special minerality and the yeasty flavor goes so well with the White Shrimp, Cuttlefish Ball and Cabbage Rice Porridge. Even my father, who is a novice to food and wine pairing can tell the differences and the chemistry happened between them. The best part is the high acidity and the tart fruit notes bring out the sweetness of the cabbage and pork bone stock. I’m glad that I can create this food and wine pairing for my dad to experience and have him acknowledged what a successful wine pairing is. If I can convince my dad, who knows nothing about wine and one of the most stubborn person in the world, to understand the ideas of food and wine pairing, then nothing is impossible. 

當海鮮高麗菜粥遇見瑪斯卡黛

餐點：

• 高麗菜鮮蝦花枝丸粥

餐酒：

• Domaine de la Pépière Clos des Briords Muscadet Sérve et Maine Sur Lie Loire Valley France 🇫🇷  2018

媽媽有很多拿手好菜，高麗菜粥是其中一道。媽媽知道我愛吃這道菜，三不五時就會煮這道菜給我們吃。媽媽總會親自熬排骨湯做湯底，她深信，熬出的排骨湯裡有很多鈣質與營養。自己熬湯，不僅讓家人吃得健康也安心，即使多一道工序，也從不嫌麻煩。

這道菜是我去年回台灣的時候，突然想念起媽媽做的高麗菜粥， 於是動手做這道菜給爸爸吃，也給我自己吃。我也學媽媽，親自熬了排骨湯做湯底，煮了高麗菜粥，多加了草蝦與花枝丸，來增添海味。

粥做好了，和爸爸一起享用的同時，還聊起好多關於媽媽的事。做媽媽的拿手料理，跟爸爸一起思念媽媽。即使媽媽不在了，她給予我們的愛也依舊纏繞在心頭。

葡萄品種：勃根第香瓜（Melon de Bourgogne)

這瓶 Muscadet Sèrve et Maine 是採用生長於法國羅亞爾河谷Nantais 產區裡的最具盛名的法定產區 Muscadet Sèrve et Maine 裡種植的白葡萄勃根第香瓜所釀製而成的。由於羅亞爾河是法國最長的一條河流，起源於塞文山脉，綿延一千公里後流入太西洋。其谷地幅員廣大，座落於羅亞爾河的各地產區的氣候、土壤及風土條件也大相徑庭。

勃根第香瓜主要生長於 Natais 產區，是最靠大西洋的產區，以海洋型氣候為主。葡萄主要生長季節的平均溫度落在16.5 - 18.5 攝氏溫度。最靠海岸的產區其平均生長季節的溫度甚至會低於16.5 度以下。也因為如此，勃根第香瓜相當耐寒，屬於早熟型的白葡萄品種，非常適合在這樣的氣候條件下生長。Natais 產區裡，又屬 Muscadet Sèrve et Maine 產區裡釀出的勃根第香瓜最具代表性。

使用勃根第香瓜釀出來的酒擁有相當高的酸度，酒體輕盈，其法定的酒精濃度最高上限為12%。鼻息之間散著若有似無的白花香氣 ; 檸檬、青蘋果、西洋梨，有時還帶一點點酵母、啤酒、養樂多乳酸的味道是勃根第香瓜的經典風味。礦物感氣味相當明顯，像是走在海邊迎面吹拂著海風一般，亦或像是浪花濺起的鹹鹹水氣瀰漫在空中的感覺。搭配鮮蝦、貝類、生蠔等等，都非常的合適。

酒莊： Domaine de la Pépière

Domaine de la Pépière 酒莊位於距離 Nantais 市中心三十分鐘車程的 Maisdon-sur-Sèvre 的村莊裡，是由 Marc Ollivier 在1984年建立的。從剛建立時的7英畝地發展到今日的37英畝。Rémi Branger 在 2007 年加入 Domaine de la Pépière 後便開始致力於葡萄園的有機耕作改良。在2013年時，Gwénaëlle Croix 加入這個團隊，不遺餘力地推動自然動力農法的耕種，以更為自然，純粹的方式來種植葡萄，同時也致力保存當地特有的風土。Domaine de la Pépière 酒莊所生產的酒都經過有機認證，莊主期盼在不久的將來能取得自然動力農法的標章。

Clos des Briords 是一座僅有4.4 英畝的單一田園。座落於 Maine River （羅亞爾河的分支）一旁的山丘上，地塊上種滿了平均年齡超過 60 年以上的 Melon de Bourgogne 老藤，是酒莊裡擁有最老的葡萄藤的地塊。這塊田園使用有機農法耕種及人工採收。

這瓶採自於單一田園 Clos des Briords 所生產的100％ 老藤 Melon de Bourgogne ，一開瓶入酒杯後便能感受其魅力。鼻息間捎來悠長綿延、清麗淡雅的白花香氣。再次探頭一聞，青蘋果、西洋梨、檸檬皮及未熟的黃桃香是迎面而來，令人喜不自勝。酸度強而有韌度，有個性卻又不失其風雅。一聞一嚐之間，時空變換，好像來到了水氣迷漫的海邊，空氣中佈滿了鹹鹹的海水味 ，好似接受了大海的洗禮一般。這瓶Muscadet Sérve et Maine Sur Lie 還有一個特別的地方，酒標上的「Sur Lie」是指酒在釀好之後會與發酵過後的酵母一起浸泡，進行陳釀，這樣的過程不僅能為葡萄酒增加厚度、風味、在口感上也更加的飽滿圓潤。這樣的釀造方式在 Muscadet Sérve et Maine 是相當盛行的，也算是當地釀酒的特色之一。

這瓶酒特有的礦物感及隱隱的酵母味搭配白蝦及花枝丸做出的高麗菜粥一起享用，真的是無敵完美，令人嘖嘖稱奇。連我爸爸不是很懂葡萄酒的人，也都能感受的這微妙的滋味變化。最棒的是，這酒的爽脆酸度及果味還帶出了高麗菜與排骨湯的鮮甜，倆倆相互融合，妙不可言。

我喜歡做餐酒搭配的原因是，既能打破品飲者對葡萄酒搭配特定餐點的固有成見，又能利用餐酒搭配讓大家了解，原來在我們日常生活裡吃的家常菜也能找到一瓶葡萄酒與之搭配，來增進我們用餐時的愉悅感。餐酒搭配不應只局限於在高級餐廳或特定節日才能享受，而是在平常的日子裡，也能唾手可得，這才是我心目中理想的餐酒搭配。

Domaine de la Pépière